By Jill Sperling

Kamloops students prepare to present video games to industry judges

Jan 17, 2019 | 3:37 PM

KAMLOOPS — School is usually a place where youth are separated from their video games, but at Sahali Secondary, students have been learning to create them. 

DigiPen Tech Academy students have put the final touches on the video games they have created. 

The high-school students have been researching, building and designing for the past month, leading up to a presentation in front of industry judges at the school tonight (Jan 17). 

“I’m nervous, but I’m also excited,” said student Dawson McLeod. “It’s my first time showing off a game that I’ve created with friends and group members and stuff like that.”

Sound Off

SOUND OFF: Culturally appropriate food goes beyond the ingredients on a plate

3h ago

Two and Out

PETERS: Whether building up or tearing down, Kamloops is what you make it

21h ago

Sound Off

SOUND OFF: How to reduce food waste in Kamloops during the festive season

Dec 13, 2024

McLeod is brand new to coding and game development, but through the DigiPen Tech Academy he has learned fundamental skills to create a functional product. 

“People may think it’s easier, like a lot. It’s actually a bit of a struggle to create a game, especially with a limited amount of time,” McLeod said. 

The students, who hail from all over the school district, gave their presentations a trial run in front of their peers this afternoon. 

“The dress rehearsal’s always a bit rough,” said instructor Andres Ruberg, “but that’s sort of the point of the dress rehearsal to get that one out of your system and to build their confidence, because every one of those presentations has something great about it.”

Ruberg says each student is given a role according to their interests and abilities. 

“Every group has somebody who’s very passionate about art, programming, design,” he said. “It allows students to really focus on their area of expertise and interests.” 

“I think it’s kind of fun,” said student Hope Leonard. “You get to work with other people, try to make a game together and hopefully it all works out and you get along.” 

Joining the afternoon session was Glen Hamilton, an instructor at the Vancouver Film School, and one of the judges of the final presentation. 

“It’s kind of funny,” Hamilton said. “We kind of grow up playing video games and our parents go ‘mah mah mah video games this and that’ but this is a real industry. This industry makes more money than movies, television, and music combined.” 

Hamilton provided advice to the students as they tweaked their final presentations. 

“For me as a judge coming around, I take a look at the quality of the work,” he said. “So, I look at the art, and I talk to the students about the design and why they made certain design decisions.”

His greatest piece of advice to the students was to follow their dreams.