Games for Learning Institute Announces $2,000 Prize in XNA Design Contest

The Games for Learning Institute, a joint project of Microsoft Research and a consortium of universities in the United States, announced a Game Design Challenge to encourage the creation of educational minigames for Microsoft's XNA Game Studio 3.1 platform. Submitted designs must outline a specific learning task, then describe how the game determines if the learning goal was achieved. Entries will be judged in the areas of technical implementation, educational appropriateness, and integration of design with gameplay and educational goals. The contest's top four entries, as chosen by a panel of Microsoft judges, will receive a total of $2,000 in cash prizes. Winning titles will be announced and demonstrated at the Game Developers Expo, to be held on December 17th at New York University. For consideration in the contest, contestants must complete and submit a registration form by December 5th, 2009. Final entries are due on December 12th.