Greg Chow
An event described as a launching pad for Ontario post secondary students in gaming and animation program opened its doors Wednesday night, offering a glimpse in what might be the future of the gaming industry.
Ed Park from AMD, a software performance company sponsoring the Level Up showcase, said students will be smart to learn more about virtual reality in gaming.
Attendee Samantha Buensuceso is taught the basics controls of a virtual reality video game. (Greg Chow)
“What I’ve seen tonight is nothing short of amazing. We have so many innovators in the room tonight, so many groups who have really stepped it up with VR. It’s the next best thing in gaming and if you have not tried virtual reality, you have to try it,” said Park.
The showcase brought student masterminds to the attention of major gaming companies and potential employers.
Albert Lai, CEO of Big Viking Games, said there are a lot of job opportunities at events like this, even for students who were only in first or second year.
“It’s incredible with how little time and experience how incredibly professional and great effort the work is here,” Lai told Humber News. “Especially in such a short period of time as well. We’re always interested in being inspired by the students work and hopefully we’ll be able to find some folks that will want to work with us and also we want to work with.”
Close to 2000 participants and spectators showed up for the event at Design Exchange Toronto. The show awarded prizes for winners and leaders in gaming categories.
The gaming team from Sheridan took first place for overall game production. (Greg Chow)
Despite all the pressures and competition, everyone in the building was a winner with all the recognition by the public.
Scott Lee, an art director for Ubisoft Toronto, said competition aside, everyone in the building was a winner.
“I think it was super successful. So many games were on the cusp of being a top 3 game tonight. There was a lot of back and fourth. The quality bar, again was set so high but it exceeded last year and I didn’t think it was possible but it happened again this year,” Lee told Humber News.