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The Academy Interactive Arts & Sciences
AIAS' New Twitter Username!
We are pleased to announce that we have updated our Twitter username to @Official_AIAS to make it easier for our members and fans to find us! If you already follow us on Twitter, no need to change anything – it automatically updated. If you don't follow us already, feel free to add us to get breaking news from the Academy and get up to speed on industry news.
Submissions for 2012 AIAS Foundation Scholarships Open
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences' AIAS Foundation, has announced that submissions for the annual Randy Pausch Scholarship and Mark Beaumont Scholarship are now open. The deadline to apply for the scholarships is June 29, 2012.
The Randy Pausch scholarship, which awards two $2,500 scholarships, was established to honor the memory of Computer Science Professor and Co-Founder of the Entertainment Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon University, Dr. Randy Pausch. This scholarship has been established to support students who are pursuing careers specializing in the development of interactive entertainment like art, animation, programming, engineering, game direction, game design, sound design, and music composition.
The Mark Beaumont scholarship, which awards two $2,500 scholarships, was established to honor the memory of the previous COO of Capcom North America and Europe, Mark Beaumont. This scholarship has been established to support students who are pursuing careers specializing in the business of interactive entertainment such as executive leadership, law, marketing, public relations, and business development.
For more information about the scholarships, qualifications, and the application form, please visit our scholarship page.
2012 Into the Pixel Submissions Now Open!
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) and the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) announced today that submissions for the Into the Pixel (ITP) 2012 exhibit are now open. Created in 2004 by the Entertainment Software Association, ITP is an exploration and celebration of the art of video games from around the world. Into The Pixel features a representative sampling of video game art, selected by a panel of jurors from a field of submissions.
Submissions are open beginning March 19, 2012 and close April 20, 2012. The 2012 ITP Collection will be revealed and featured at the E3 Expo June 5-7, 2012 and tours worldwide.
This year's esteemed group of jurists:
- Bob Rafei, Big Red Button Entertainment, Founder, CEO and Visual Director
- Eddo Stern, UCLA Games Lab, Director
- Glenn Phillips, Getty Research Institute, Senior Project Specialist & Consulting Curator, Department of Architecture and Contemporary Art
- Ian Milham, Electronic Arts' Visceral Games, Creative Director
- Jon Gibson, iam8bit, Founder and Partner
- Matt Hall, Timbuk2 Studios, Senior Partner Production Designer
- Nora Dolan - Independent Curator
- Ryan Wilkerson, Microsoft Game Studios, Senior Art Director
- Seth Spaulding, Blizzard Entertainment, Art Manager
- Shane Caudle, Epic Games, Principal Artist
For jurist bios.
To submit your piece.
For more information.
For any questions, please visit www.intothepixel.com or contact Debby Chen at debby@interactive.org.
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences Announces Speaking Sessions, Feature Into the Pixel Art Exhibit at PAX East
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences is pleased to announce its debut at PAX East 2012, a three-day game festival for tabletop, videogame, and PC gamers. The AIAS brings to the PAX East Naga Theatre some of the most recognizable and passionate game makers of our time from the prestigious D.I.C.E. (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit to interact with fans and reflect on the past, present and future of games.
Additionally, many PAX East attendees will have a first glimpse at the seventeen pieces from the 2011 Into the Pixel art exhibit. The Into the Pixel exhibit will be displayed in the South East Lobby on level one of the convention center.
Presented by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, the two sessions will be live streamed via Twitch.tv:
- Best of the 2012 D.I.C.E. Summit: Friday, April 6th, 2:30pm - 3:30pm
Richard Hilleman, chief creative director, Electronic Arts, will present his session titled: “Games as a Language” and will share how a Hippy, a Chinese World Champion, a New Hampshire Engineer, and two Nobel Prize winners invented the modern video games business, by accident.
- Epic Games: Past, Present and Future: Saturday April 7th, 1:00pm - 2:00pm
Fans of the Gears of Wars franchise will have a chance to get personal with Epic Games Design Director, Cliff Bleszinski and President, Mike Capps. Listen as they answer 10 questions from their biggest fans on topics relating to design, inspirations and the secrets to staying around for 20 years! Following the 10 questions, Martin Rae, President, AIAS, will get even more in-depth with these two on the past, present and future of this EPIC studio.
View the official release here.
Check out the PAX East schedule here.
15th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards Winners Announced
The 15th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards (IAAs) took place this evening, with a veritable who's who of industry talent and this year's hottest titles. Since 1996, the Interactive Achievement Awards have recognized outstanding games, individuals and development teams that have contributed to the advancement of the multi-billion dollar worldwide entertainment software industry.
The night's big winner was The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, which grabbed Game of the Year honors and a total of five (5) awards in recognition of its excellent storytelling and extensive and immersive world. Other big winners included the blockbuster Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, which was recognized for technical achievements that brought the game to life, walked away with a total of three (3) IAAs. Likewise, the cross-over hit puzzle-platformer Portal 2 walked away with three (3) IAAs. The energetic motion game Fruit Ninja Kinect sliced and diced the competition to come out on top as Casual Game of the Year. Continuing to be a hot topic in the industry, Social and Mobile gaming took flight with Infinity Blade II taking Mobile Game of the Year and The Sims Social winning Social Networking Game of the Year.
Hosted by comedian, actor and proud game enthusiast, Jay Mohr, at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas, industry luminaries, development personalities and talent from around the world came together to celebrate, share and comment on the status of the industry and where they see it going in 2012 and beyond. For those who may have missed the live same-day webcast of the IAAs in its entirety on GameSpot.com, the video will continue to be hosted on dice.gamespot.com.
View the official release here.
Closure Takes Top Spot at
2012 Indie Game Challenge
The AIAS, GameStop and The Guildhall at Southern Methodist University are proud to announce that Closure was awarded the top prize at the third annual Indie Game Challenge. The winning team was named on the closing night of the annual D.I.C.E. ™ (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit at the Red Rock Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.
$100,000 Grand Prize Winner
Closure was submitted by San Diego-based Eyebrow Interactive and the three-person team consisting of: Tyler Glaiel, team leader; Jon Schubbe, art/animation; and Chris Rhyne, sound/music. Closure is a unique and stylistic puzzle platformer that focuses on the concepts of light and shadow. Players are challenged to manipulate lights to effectively change the shape of the world they're in and bring gameplay objects in and out of existence.
Category winners include:
Technical Achievement ($2,500): Symphony
Achievement in Art Direction ($2,500): The Bridge
Achievement in Gameplay ($2,500): The Bridge
Gamer’s Choice Award ($2,500): Nitronic Rush
In addition, for the first time, GameStop gave special recognition to finalist game Symphony by offering a promotional exposure prize on their GameStop PC Download service worth up to $50,000 normally reserved for major game releases. The recipient of the Indie Game Challenge $50,000 SMU scholarship will be announced later this year.
For more information on the competition and to learn more about each of the winners.
Past News
