The fifth annual IEEE GameSIG took place at the Cove @ Applied Innovation on May 7. GameSIG is a Intercollegiate Computer Game Showcase that allows Southern California college game developers to present their best student developed video games to an elite judges panel of video game professionals. The Cove’s state of the art video displays and space allowed the attendees to see each of the finalists’ games up close and in person.
The 10 finalists went head-to-head and demonstrated their games for students, alumni and sponsors. Some sponsors included IBM, iD Tech, Unity, and their Platinum Sponsor, Intel.
This year, GameSIG opened a high school track which allowed high school teams to enter the competition along with the 10 finalists.
The 10 finalist games were A Brush with Danger from UCI, Blip from UCLA, Cavern Tavern from UCI, Finite Tower from Santa Ana College, Karma Trauma from UCI, Sidelined from Cal State Fullerton, Spectrals from Chapman University, Spooky Spoils from UCI Sundown from USC, and Witches vs Aliens from UCI.
Each team had five minutes to present a demo of their game and five minutes for Q&A from the judges. This was the first year where there was a tie for the best overall game. This was the first year where there was a tie for the best overall game. The winners of the competitions are as followed:
WITCHES VS ALIENS FROM UCI GameSIG Cup – Best Overall Game
CAVERN TAVERN FROM UCI GameSIG Cup – Best Overall Game
SUNDOWN FROM USC GameSIG Cup – Third place
CAVERN TAVERN FROM UCI Best Game by a Woman-led Team – Sponsored by Intel
RESTORATION FROM NORTHWOOD HIGH SCHOOL Best Game by a High School Team FINITE
TOWER FROM SANTA ANA COLLEGE People’s Choice Award – voted on by the audiences
SPECTRALS FROM CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY Special Best Visuals Award BLIP FROM UCLA
Special Engineering Award SPOOKY SPOILS FROM UC IRVINE Special Creativity Award
“Being on the winning team has been a wonderful experience. Since we started at the beginning of the school year, we have been meeting every week and updating our game regularly to the current four-player blast that it is,” said Alvin Huang, a second year UCI student and a programmer from Witches vs Aliens.
Afterwards, the audience walked around the Cove and demoed the games. “The mission of GameSIG is outreach and helping students in computer science develop their careers and develop their skillsets,” said Bill Fisher, the chair of the IEEE GameSIG.