Anime Festival Asia 2008 (AFA08) will host the inaugural Singapore Arcade Showdown, a nationwide Arcade Gaming Competition organized by Singapore Cybersports & Online Gaming Association (SCOGA) and machines sponsored by TKA World. The landmark competition will take place in The Arena Zone, the seventh and newest Experience Zone of the AFA08 on the 22nd and 23rd of November 2008 at Suntec International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Players will compete in any of the three upcoming arcade gaming titles: King of Fighters ’98: Ultimate Match; Street Fighter IV; and Tekken 6.

The King of Fighters ’98: Ultimate Match, which is slated to be released this coming December, is from the famous King of Fighters series from SNK. In the game, players select three characters out of 43 and pit them against each other in the classic style of last man standing brawling.

Street Fighter IV, which will be released by early 2009, is the latest installment in Capcom’s long-running Street Fighter game series. Its fighters and environment are rendered in stylized 3D while the gameplay is on a traditional 2D plane.

Namco Bandai’s Tekken 6 scheduled for release at the end of 2008 has the largest line-up of characters. It features a deeper character customization to further enhance the incredible fighting intensity as players knuckle up against each other.

Competition Registration
Players need to pre-register by 18 November via the official AFA08 website at www.afa08.com and have to pay registration fees (in addition to entrance fees):

$5 for participation in any one of the games above
$8 for participation in any two of the games above
$10 for participation in all three of the games above

Tournament Mechanics
Upon successful registration, all registrants will be entered into a pool where they will be randomly picked into individual groups by drawing lots after the sign-up deadline.

In round robin fashion, the top 2 of each group will qualify into the play-offs which will be a double elimination format.

Schedule will be released on November 20, 2008

All players are allowed to participate in all games but if schedules clash, players will have to make a choice between which game they will be continuing to participate in.

All enquiries can be directed to eugene@scoga.org

About AFA08
Anime Festival Asia 2008 (AFA08) is organized by I-Promo Events & Marketing in partnership with Dentsu Singapore. AFA08 is sponsored by Bandai, Japan’s leading toy manufacturer, with Animax as the official regional media partner. The festival, made possible with support from the Embassy of Japan and the Japan Foundation, will be attended by directors, producers, manga artists and creative individuals from Japan’s entertainment industries.

Anime Festival Asia 2008 (AFA08) will showcase a wide array of Japanese Pop Culture related content, spanning over 5,000 sqm of space with 7 experience zones: Akiba Town, Anime Live, Anime Blockbusters, Industry, Mangaka, Planet Mech and The Arena, where visitors will gain access to exclusive content, merchandise and live acts straight from Japan. Tickets for AFA08 will cost S$5 for a single day pass and S$8 for a 2 day pass.

For more information, please visit: www.afa08.com

About SCOGA
SCOGA was formally registered as (Singapore) Cybersports and Online Gaming Association in Feb 2008 with the mission “to develop local gaming communities, through education, to achieve international success and recognition for Singapore in competitive gaming.

With the aim of making Singapore known in the world for great gaming initiatives, the executive committee is made up of some of the top cyberatheletes, coaches, managers of the Singapore eSports scene as well as concerned parents, educators and medical doctors. SCOGA’s patron is Dr Yeo Ning Hong, who is also the current patron of Singapore National Olympic Committee.

The association has many exciting plans of national scale lined up for 2009 and details will be released along the way. More information can be found on http://www.SCOGA.org

Source: www.reddawncommunications.com

Source: www.ite.edu.sg

SINGAPORE ???€?THE FIRST TO HOST INAUGURAL TOON BOOM ANIMATION FESTIVAL

ITE, TOON BOOM OFFICIATE OPENING OF NEW CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE DEDICATED TO NEW MEDIA

Singaporean students fascinated by the delightful two-dimension animation cartoons of Sponge Bob Square Pants, The Simpsons and The Rugrats now have the opportunity to master the Emmy Award-winning technology behind these celebrated cartoon series and showcase their creative works for international voting and judging as part of a digital animation competition.

Toon Boom Animation Festival 2007 ???€?first in Singapore
Singapore will be the first country to host the inaugural Toon Boom Animation Festival, which kicks off on 2 April 2007.

Co-organised by Toon Boom Animation Inc (Canada), Canadian High Commission and Media Development Authority of Singapore, with the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) as a Technology Partner, the Inaugural Toon Boom Animation Festival aims to encourage Singaporean students to express their creativity and talent through creating animation content using Toon Boom software, which has been used extensively by industry professionals to create popular animation series such as Spongebob Squarepants and the Simpsons.

Upon the success of the Singapore edition, the Festival will travel to the other parts of the world, starting with Brazil later this year.

Ms Joan Vogelesang, President and Chief Executive Officer, Toon Boom Animation Inc., said: ????ecognising the wealth of creative potential Singapore has to offer and their intent to become a Digital Animation Hub, we are proud to launch our first-ever Toon Boom animation competition in Singapore and dedicate it to all its students. We thank the Canadian High Commission, the Institute of Technical Education and the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA), for their tremendous support and look forward to creative entries of students.????

Dr Christopher Chia, Chief Executive of MDA said: ????e are pleased that Toon Boom has chosen Singapore as the first country to hold this digital animation competition. By providing Singaporeans with the opportunity to learn how to use media for work, learning and play, the Festival is one way to help raise the capabilities of our students and equip them with the skill sets relevant to the booming IDM (Interactive & Digital Media) industry.

????his competition is another milestone that reflects the close collaborations between Singapore and Canada. It follows the Audio Visual Treaty on co-production signed in October 1998 between the Prime Ministers of Canada and Singapore, and the MOU between the National Film Board of Canada and the MDA signed last year on November 29 during the Asia Media Festival.????

“Canada is recognized internationally as a leader in new media and animation technologies. Our unique strength coupled with Singapore????s vision in becoming a world leading digital media capital give us great synergy to work together as partners,????said His Excellency Alan Virtue, High Commissioner of Canada to Singapore. ????e are extremely delighted to be a co-organiser of this competition and I hope it will inspire creative expressions in new media from young Singaporeans. I would like to extend my warmest congratulations to ITE and Toon Boom on the occasion of the Official Opening of their joint Centre of Excellence and I hope this will be the grooming ground for Singapore????s next generation of world-class animation artists.”

Through the Festival, Singaporean students will have the opportunity to create and showcase their works to an international audience and have their works judged by a global panel of expert judges, so they can gauge for themselves where they stand internationally.
Free workshops will be conducted by ITE to train students who are not familiar with the Toon Boom software. Said Mr Bruce Poh, Director & CEO, ITE: ????hrough the ITE-Toon Boom collaboration which was forged last year, ITE lecturers were equipped with the skills in using the Toon Boom software solutions. They will now impart their knowledge in Toon Boom technology to participants to prepare them for the competition.????

What????s In It for Winners
The top team to emerge from this competition will be rewarded with a one-month industry internship to top production studios, such as Nelvana Studios, located in Canada. The full details and Terms & Conditions of the Festival are listed at Annex A.

Official Opening of ITE-Toon Boom Centre of Excellence in New Media
In conjunction with the Launch of the Festival, ITE and Toon Boom Inc (Canada) will also officially open its joint Centre of Excellence in New Media at ITE College Central. The Centre, which facilitates the execution of industry project development works by ITE staff using the Toon Boom software, is part of the two-year Memorandum of Understanding which ITE and Toon Boom Inc (Canada) inked on 19 June 2006.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Definition

Scheduled from April 2 to July 1 2007, this Digital Animation Competition is co-organised by Toon Boom Animation Inc (Canada), the Media Development Authority of Singapore and Canadian High Commission to showcase the creative potential of students in Singapore. The Institute of Technical Education in Singapore will also be supporting this competition as a Technology Partner. The theme “Singapore in Animation” hopes to inspire students to develop a vision of their country through animation.

Eligibility

Only students from MOE schools, Junior Colleges, ITE Colleges and Polytechnics in Singapore are eligible.

Only Internet movies created using Toon Boom????s animation software solutions can be submitted based on the theme “Singapore in Animation” in any language.

Only original works including accompanying music or sound scores will be accepted.

All eligible students must use their real name for registration of this competition.

A free one-month trial use of Toon Boom Studio software suite is available for downloading for all eligible contestants.

Technical Criteria

QuickTime (MOV) movies of less than 2 minutes, with a file size not to exceed 5Mb, with a resolution of 640×480 pixels and compressed with the H264 codec.

One thumbnail image with a resolution of 640×480 pixels, PNG Format.

The production date must be between September 1, 2006 and May 11, 2007. Interactive creations that run on Auto play only will be accepted. Games are not eligible.

Registration

Between April 3 and May 11 2007, participants will be able to enter the contest from the registration form on Toon Boom????s website.

Soundtrack

The movie soundtrack must be an original score.

Selection

A Committee comprising Toon Boom, Media Development Authority of Singapore and Canadian High Commission????s representatives will be mandated to select the movies and decide of their admission in the final contest by May 31. The evaluation committee will not have to justify its decisions.

A minimum of 5 movies and a maximum of 10 movies will be chosen and screened publicly between June 18 - 30. The public voting will start from June 19 to June 30 nationally and internationally. The authors of the selected movies will need to provide and send a high-resolution film in 720×540 QuickTime movie, Encoded with the Animation codec (High Quality) and one thumbnail image of 2048×1536, PNG format to prepare for the screenings, no later than June 11 2007.

By May 31, 2007, each selected finalist who created his/her animation using Toon Boom Studio trial version will need to send Toon Boom the complete project folder containing the .tbp file, and the templates and sound sub-folders. Files can be uploaded to Toon Boom????s ftp site at:

ftp.toonboom.com

login: anonymous

password: {your email address}

place the files into the Incoming directory

(Please let us know if you will be placing files here)

He/she will need to notify Toon Boom that a file has been successfully uploaded and provide the file name to animatedsingapore@toonboom.com. Toon Boom will take care of re-exporting the animation from the Toon Boom Studio commercial version to remove the watermark.

Promotion

The authors and rights owners grant to the organisers a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use, reproduce, and distribute the Image(s)/Clip of their respective films solely for promotional purposes in the printed and online media. They also grant them the right to present excerpts of their respective films, up to 25%, on the various TV channels or other media.

Vote

The selected movies will be posted on Toon Boom????s web site and other public media in Singapore for voting from June 19 to 30.

Winners

The three movies that obtain the highest vote will be showcased online for a year on Toon Boom????s website as well as the author????s contact information, should they choose it to be displayed.

The top team who receives the highest number of votes will win a one month internship program with renowned animation studios in Canada (living and accommodation expenses in Canada are not included).

The top team (3 students) will receive an academic license of Toon Boom Solo (3 licenses).

Other prizes include:

2 Runner-up teams: One complimentary copy of Toon Boom Studio to each of the teams???? participants (6)

Merit Awards: One tee-shirt and Festival Finalists Certificates to each of the 7 teams???? participants (21)

Unforeseen issues and complaints:

The contest organizers shall not be liable for any decision that they make related to unforeseen issues and for granting special derogation for requests sent in writing. Participating at the contest implies full agreement with the contest rules, without exception.

????

Content Contributor: www.ite.edu.sg Press Release 2 Apr 2007