COMPETITION HELPS GIRLS GET INTO COMPUTER GAME DESIGN

Sussex multimedia students battled it out in the final heat of a computer game design competition, which is designed to encourage more young women into the industry.

The Game Girl competition, which was organised in conjunction with City College Brighton and Hove and Wired Sussex, challenged the students to develop a new lifestyle game that would help redress the male-centric focus of the computer gaming industry.

Mark Greco, CoVE (Centre of Vocational Excellence) Manager from City College, said: 'Unless specific initiatives are launched to help young women into gaming careers and studies, then the industry will remain male-dominated. The Game Girl competition not only helps to raise the profile of women in gaming, but also provides both male and female students with a real-life games development scenario.'

Three winning teams were selected for their innovative concepts, which included an interactive music game, a fun mobile-based quiz and a TV-style trivia contest. The concepts used the latest technology, such as Bluetooth and eye toys, to help put the players at the centre of the action, enabling them to participate directly in the game rather than having to play through characters, such as Street Fighter's Chun-Li.

Lindsay Stevens, a 21-year-old from Brighton, who was on one of the winning single-sex teams, said: 'The Game Girl competition is a great way for us to relate our studies to the real world of gaming. It also helps us understand the changes that need to be made to help encourage more women to both play and develop computer games.'

The entrants were judged by top gaming experts from local firms Babel Media, Kuju and Galaxy Life, who also sponsored the competition. Kuju is a pioneering developer of lifestyle games, which are specifically designed to widen the appeal of gaming to women, family groups and older generations.

Chloe Giusti, Marketing Manager at Babel Media, commented: 'The lack of women involved in games development means the industry is not only missing out on a massive pool of talent but also on the potential to create products that appeal specifically to women and girls. The Game Girl competition helps encourage young women into the industry and provides them with a platform for developing new gaming ideas.'

As part of the competition prize, Babel Media will be hosting the winning students, who are studying for a Higher National Diploma in Multimedia or a National Diploma in Design at City College, for a day's work experience in April.

The first Game Girl competition was pioneered by business development and networking agency Wired Sussex last year.

Tara Solesbury, Project Manager for Wired Sussex, said: 'This competition is an effective way to encourage young women into the gaming community, and to highlight the current male domination of the industry. Women have a huge contribution to make to computer and mobile games development, and it is important that we help to redress the balance before the industry as a whole begins to suffer. We are delighted to have the support of City College for a second year running, and were impressed by the creativity displayed by all the students who entered the competition.'