Thanks to video game engines, you don’t have to have a studio the size of Pixar to create a computer-animated film these days. In support of the new artform known as Machinima, Electronic Arts today announced that has partnered with the University of Southern California–School of Cinema Television to launch The Sims 2 Student Life Movie Contest.
Aspiring filmmakers will use the hit PC game, The Sims 2, to create short films with its in-game movie-making feature. Participants will compete for a grand prize of $5,000 or a four-week associate intern position, working alongside the Sims 2 development team at Electronic Arts’ Maxis Studio in Redwood City, Calif. One second-place winner will receive a state-of-the-art NVIDIA-powered PC computer system and three third-place winners will each receive one NVIDIA video card. Submissions are now being accepted through the end of May. Winners will be announced this summer.
Electronic Arts VP Steve Seabolt comments, “This contest is further affirmation of the EA/USC partnership. The ability to customize the gameplay experience and tell your own story is an increasingly important part of the interactive entertainment experience. This contest taps into USC’s legendary expertise in cinematography and the art of storytelling and marries it to EA’s state of the art technology.”
The fastest-selling PC title ever, The Sims 2 allows players to control their Sims over an entire lifetime, making decisions that will affect characters’ lives from the cradle to the grave. Since the game launched in the Fall 2004, players have used it to create approximately 7,000 movies and posted them on the game’s official web site, www.thesims2.com.
For more information on The Sims 2 and The Sims 2 Student Life Movie Contest, go to www.thesims2.com.
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