The Guildhall at SMU in its newly formed Innovation Laboratory is going to integrate XNA in its general computing and game development academic programs as well as researching new approaches to game design, development and education for students and game developers alike.

“With more than 120 video development graduate students in residence and a faculty of video game industry veterans, technology companies are beginning to realize that The Guildhall at SMU is a living laboratory for the video game industry, That is why we formed our Innovation Laboratory focused on video game development,” said Dr. Peter Raad, founder and executive director for The Guildhall at SMU. “By working with industry technology leaders such as Microsoft, we believe we will be able to help set new standards in video game development and provide new research, case studies and curriculum that drive advances in interactive media educational programs across the country.”

XNA Game Studio Express is a new game development solution aimed at students, hobbyists and independent game developers. It is based on Visual Studio and .NET technologies, allowing developers to code more easily for both Windows and Xbox 360.

“What we are trying to do is open the door a little wider with XNA tools from Microsoft and see how they can fit into video game development not only for students, hobbyist and independent game developers but what role XNA Game Studio Express may have in professional video game development as well,” said Michael McCoy, SMU level design instructor and project lead on the XNA research project. “We have already produced two case studies on 2D game production using XNA Game Studio Express and have a starter kit developed for use in a middle school video game development camp this summer. We also have incorporate a more advance starter kit into our course work for SMU students who starter at our program in July.”

Three SMU faculty members, four post-graduate students and two graduate students are currently working with McCoy on the XNA project; the team hopes to publish results from the research in the near future.

EA and Vancouver Film School (VFS) jointly announced Sasha Dunfee as the recipient of the $25,000 EA Game Design Scholarship to attend the institute. The largest private post-secondary entertainment arts institution, VFS asked scholarship applicants to submit videogame concept proposals this past January. Eighteen-year old Dunfee impressed the scholarship committee with his maturity and creativity, as well as his technical talent.

Dunfee, who was born in Thailand and graduated from Centennial Secondary School in Coquitlam, has had a lifelong interest in design, but is fairly new to working with games. “I only really got into video game design about three years ago with the release of Half-Life 2,” he says. “I find level design to be a fantastic and rewarding way of creative expression. This is a great opportunity for me, and it is an honour to have been selected out of what I am sure was a very talented entry pool.”

The Game Design program at VFS began its 2007 session at the end of June. Dunfee and his classmates have had the privilege of being taught by industry professionals, helping to foster the growth of some of the best new gaming talent in the industry.

Benjamin Colling, Director of Admissions & Student Services at VFS, says, “Having EA sponsor one of our incoming Game Design students presents an opportunity that is difficult to achieve for many Canadians. To have this opportunity go to a young, local recent high school graduate excites VFS, and it allows EA to make a meaningful investment in the youth of today that can literally change the life of the recipient.”

Graduates of the one-year program Game Design program at VFS are employed at nearly every major gaming studio in Canada, including scholarship sponsor, EA.

Dunfee is blogging about his experience at VFS on his personal blog.