From Zachery Davidson, the Microsoft student rep:
Hey Computer Science/Computing Students!
Next week is Clubs & Socs week, which for the uninitiated, is one of your only chances to catch all of DITs societies in one place and sign up. This year, along with the societies, Microsoft will be in attendance to promote Dreamspark, which is a new programme to give free development and creative Microsoft tools and software to students across the globe, and all you have to do is spend a minute or so signing up for Dreamspark on the website, and you can avail of the free software and tools instantly. The free tools are:
- Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition.
- SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition.
- Microsoft Expression Studio.
- XNA Game Studio 2.0.
- Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition.
- Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition.
Along with this, you also get 1 year of free XNA Creators Club membership, which will allow you to develop Xbox 360 projects and titles with XNA Game Studio. This is worth 100$ and is a great thing to get into, regardless of the year you're in (Yes, even first year).
To sign up for Dreamspark, you can visit this link. You will need to use your @student.dit.ie email address to confirm you are a DIT student.
I will also be outside the Student Union shop in Kevin Street throughout the week, promoting Dreamspark. You will also be able to find out more information at the Gamesoc stands during Clubs & Socs week at both Kevin ST and Aungier ST.
The Kevin ST & Aungier ST Gamesoc will be holding signups for two days in both Aungier ST and Kevin ST during Clubs & Socs week, we will be in attendance with a stand with promotional material, some gizmos and games, and possibly some free stuff.
There are several Irish programming competitions which have a gaming focus, and we will be sponsoring teams to enter these. We will also offer mentoring to every team who enter Robocode. Here is a short summary of some of the competitions.
A Microsoft programming competition. Worldwide scale. Winners in Ireland get sent to Egypt to compete against colleges from around the globe. Many categories available.
Games development competition in Ireland. You don't need to be a hypergenius or a really experienced programmer to enter so don't be shy.
A game development competition using XNA, basic idea is you have to recreate a classic game with a new twist for the Xbox 360 (This would be good use of your Dreamspark account ;) ), last year was Space Invaders. Rumoured themes this year are Asteroids or Atari. Very fun. Takes place simultaneously to Robocode at the same event in Tipperary.
An Artificial Intelligence programming competition using Java. VERY easy to pick up, designed purely for 1st years (Only first years can enter). Great fun, you can program your robot in seconds or hours depending on the complexity. Takes place in Tipperary simultaneous to XNA Challenge.
UNCOMFIRMED
Robocode 2
Identical to Robocode, but designed for 2nd Year students.
We also have a website.
Register away and have fun!
Also keep an eye out for Microsoft! Posted by: Bryan Duggan