Gamer Camp

Birmingham City University’s industry-endorsed ‘finishing school’ for gamemakers – Gamer Camp: Pro, runs for 9 months from September 2011, but for those unsure whether to take the plunge there’s a free taster session. To register for the Open Day, simply register via gamercampopenday.eventbrite.com.

“Today's top graduates are under no illusions that finding a job in the highly competitive games industry is easy,” says NTI Birmingham’s Oliver Williams, who helped create the programme. “Those really serious about working in games should sign up to the Gamer Camp: Pro Open Day on Saturday 19 ^th March at NTI Birmingham.

“We’ll be providing taster sessions of the highly practical training course – which features training and mentorship from experienced, working developers to top up young developers skills and experience before they enter the industry.”

The course is led by Guy Wilday, who was Studio Manager on the Colin McRae Rally games at Codemasters, and recreates a studio environment as a sandbox for developers to hone their talent and give themselves a kick-start in games development.

Backed by the likes of Sony, Codemasters, Rare, Blitz and Freestyle Games, there are three shapes and sizes of Gamer Camp, Nano, Mini and Pro.

The longest of the courses, Gamer Camp: Pro, runs over nine months during full-time hours at NTI Birmingham’s city centre studios from September, and has students working towards producing a PlayStation®3 (PS3™) game, in project teams, for the PlayStation®Network.

Pro graduates will also be awarded an MA in Video Games Development from Birmingham City University. Gamer Camp: Pro will cost EU students £8,000 and non-EU students £10,050.

The Open Day will also provide a chance for potential students to quiz mentors, and find out more information about facilities, accommodation and loans available.

To attend, students should register online via gamercampopenday.eventbrite.com as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

The shortest of the three sessions, Gamer Camp: Nano, runs for 1 month from 4 ^th to 29 ^th July, and costs £499.00 per person, as up to 8 programmers and 4 artists or animators create games for a smartphone platform.

Gamer Camp: Mini, the intermediate version of the course, lasts 3 months from 20th June to 22nd August 2011 and costs each participant £1,499.00. Mini focuses on handheld gaming, with students using advanced PlayStation® development hardware.

People can apply for each course can be made online via www.GamerCamp.co.uk, where details of the courses can also be found. Payment is made upon acceptance onto a course, all of which are subject to an interview.

NTI Birmingham ( www.ntibirmingham.co.uk), a software training centre and design studio is part of Birmingham City University, hosts each Gamer Camp course in its city centre facility.

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS

-          Gamer Camp was run for the first time in 2009, with Gamer Camp: Nano running the first time in November 2010.

-          For all press enquiries, including comments from course mentors, to arrange filming during an upcoming course, or to request further written content for your publication, please contact David Allen on 0121 202 4816 or dave@gamercamp.co.uk.

-          Check out http://vimeo.com/channels/gamercampuk for an embeddable video behind the scenes of the last Gamer Camp.