Show us Your Game -- win cash, high-end gaming PCs, software, and more!

Your game demo could earn you serious cash, high-end Dell* Alienware* gaming laptops, software tools, and great exposure. Just for entering the contest, we'll give you access to Intel's powerful software development tools. Keep reading for all the details including important eligibility requirements and restrictions.

Official Rules

The contest has prizes in categories based on features of Intel® platforms. An initial round of public voting and judges' selections will determine ten finalists in each category. For final judging, a panel of Intel and game industry judges will review finalists and grade them according to both general criteria and category-specific criteria. The sum of these grades will compose an overall score. The entry with the highest score in each category will win the category prize.

Best Threaded Game – Sponsored By Dell*
Your entry must run noticeably better on an Intel® Core 2™ Extreme PC when run with four cores enabled vs. only one core enabled. Your program will need at least two threads running substantial amounts of code in parallel in order to win this category. Entries will be scored based on quantitative (frames per second) and qualitative (extra features, user experience) improvements when run on multi-core. 1 to 10 points awarded.

Best Game on the Go
Laptops provide special challenges and opportunities for games. Entries will be scored based on how well they support the laptop gaming experience with unique mobile features. Examples of unique mobile features are power monitoring, power consumption, displaying network connectivity, dealing with interrupted networking, altering game settings to adjust for battery and handling standby mode. 1 to 10 points awarded.

Best Game on Intel® Graphics
Intel Integrated Graphics is the largest selling graphics chip solution for the mainstream audience. Design games that would be compatible and playable¹ on Intel Integrated Graphics chipsets – G35 and/or GM965. Winners in this category will be games that have optimized their shader model and memory accesses for Intel Graphics or those that scale graphics effects when running on Intel Graphics. Special credit would also be given for innovative use of the current mainstream G35 graphics chipset and the future G45 graphics chipset that would be available in Q2 2008. 1 to 10 points awarded.
In addition to the category-specific criteria, each entry will be graded on the general criteria of:

• Gameplay: Is your game fun to play? 1 to 10 points awarded.
• Graphics: How visually appealing is your game? 1 to 10 points awarded.

Please see our FAQ or visit our Discussion Forum for more information.

¹ Acceptable performance guidelines for gaming according to the PC Gaming Alliance Performance Definition

Pass/Fail Game Metrics (fps):
First Person Shooters: 24+ frames per second
Real Time Strategy: 20+ frames per second
Role Playing Games: 20+ frames per second
Racing Simulation: 50+ frames per second
Flight Simulation: 20+ frames per second
Playability = FPS + Responsiveness + no Graphical Problems.

 

Each category has first through fifth place winners, who will all receive regular single user licenses of Intel® Thread Checker, Intel® Thread Profiler, Intel® VTune™ Performance Analyzer, and Intel® Threading Building Blocks, as well as one-year memberships to the Independent Game Developers Association.  First place winners will receive $12,500 USD.  Second place winners will receive $7,500 USD.  Third place winners will receive $3,000 USD. Fourth and fifth place winners will receive $1,000 USD. 
 
In addition, first place winners in each category will receive an All Access Pass to Game Developers Conference 2009 courtesy of CMP Game Group and valued at $2,000 USD.  Travel expenses are not included.  The GDC All Access Pass will get you into everything at GDC 2009.  First place winners will receive a conference pass for the Austin Game Developer Conference, held in Austin, Texas on September 15th through 17th, 2008.  Travel expenses are not included.  At Austin GDC, Intel will publicly announce the winners of the contest and showcase winning entries in the Intel booth.

Judge's Choice Awards
In addition to the category prizes, there are special Judge's Choice Awards which will be awarded to qualifying entries, purely at the judge's discretion.

Judge’s Choice Award – Dell*
An entry may be selected from among the finalists of the contest as the winning entry for the Judge’s Choice Award from Dell. The winning entry for this award will receive a Dell Alienware* High-end Gaming Laptop valued at $2,500 USD.

Judge’s Choice Award – Intel® Graphics Developer Community
As part of your entry, provide coding or game design tips and tricks to improve compatibility and playability on Intel® Integrated Graphics.  Intel judges will select two (2) winning tips and tricks entries.  The first prize winner will receive a Dell Alienware* High-end Gaming Laptop valued at $2,000 USD and the runner-up will receive an Intel® Core 2™ 45nm Quad-Core Extreme Edition processor valued at $1,000 USD. All valid entries will be recognized at the Intel® Graphics Developer Community site.

Intel Software Community Bonus Prizes
Cash gift cards for $100 USD will be awarded on a weekly schedule based on greatest number of positive votes from the community.  Cash gift cards for community bonus prize winners residing outside of the United States will be awarded in the local currency for an amount equivalent to $100 USD.  The community bonus prizes will be awarded starting April 1, 2008 and every week through July 28, 2008.  Limit of one community bonus prize per entry.

By entering the contest, you agree to be bound by the judging criteria. See Prizes for more information.

The contest is open to individuals and companies worldwide.  Individuals must be 18 or older to enter.  Residents and companies of countries under U.S. embargo, including Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria are not eligible to enter.  Employees of Intel Corporation, its affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising and promotion agencies, and the immediate families of each may not enter.  Companies with an existing technology enabling account with Intel Corporation are not eligible to enter.  Past winners in any category will not be eligible for re-entry with the same game that previously won.  Void where prohibited.

Entries competing in the Best Threaded Game Category must install and run on a Microsoft* Vista Ultimate 32-bit OS and DirectX®9.0c or DirectX® 10.1 with:
• Intel® Core™ 2 Extreme processor QX9650
• Intel® Desktop Board DX38BT OR 3rd party X38 express chipset based board
• 2GB DDR3-1333 memory in 2x1GB configuration
• Dual ATI Radeon HD3870 in CrossFire™ mode

Entries competing in the Best Threaded Game category will have their framerate speedup measured from one core to four cores when running at resolutions up to 1920x1200.

Entries competing in the Best Game on the Go category will also be evaluated on a default Microsoft Windows XP installation with Service Pack 2 and DirectX 9.0c on a Lenovo ThinkPad* T43 with an ATI Mobility Radeon* x300 graphics card.

Entries competing in the Best Game on Intel Graphics category will be evaluated for performance and features on a Windows XP installation with SP2 and DirectX 9.0c running on platforms with:
• Intel® Core 2 Dual-Core Processor
• Intel® G35 (Extreme Edition) and GM965 (Mobile edition) Graphics Chipsets
 
You must have legal right to commercially distribute your entry in order to be eligible.  Your entry can use third-party libraries, as long as the legal distribution requirements are met.  Intel Corporation maintains the highest standards of quality and positive relationships with our customers -- at our sole discretion we will disqualify any entry which we feel will not represent Intel well in the global marketplace.

To enter, you must complete the online web registration form, detailing your demo abstract, and submit it electronically, by July 1, 2008. During this phase, the contest will be open in three languages – English, Russian and Chinese.  Intel reserves the right to choose the submission in which an entry is submitted in more than one language.  When your registration form is accepted, you will receive information on submission deadlines and procedures. Your entry will be eligible for community-voted "bonus" prizes. Bonus prizes will begin being awarded based on popularity starting April 1, 2008 and every week through July 28, 2008.

All entrants will also be given a limited-duration license for the following Intel® software:

• Intel® C++ Compiler 10.1
• Intel® VTune™ Perfo rmance Analyzer 9.0
• Intel® Thread Checker 3.1
• Intel® Thread Profiler 3.1
• Intel® Threading Building Blocks 2.0
• Intel® Integrated Performance Primitives 5.3

Licenses are valid from February 18, 2008 to August 15, 2008. These tools will be especially useful for the Best Threaded Game category. Use Intel® Thread Checker and Intel® Thread Profiler to correctly thread your game demo for maximum performance.

All contestants must upload screenshots and movies of their demo to the contest website by July 1, 2008. From July 1, 2008 to July 25, 2008 at 3:00 pm PST (Pacific Standard Time), community judging of entries on the contest website and official judging will take place. Visitors to the site can vote on the screenshots and movies.  Judges will also evaluate screenshots and movies of all entries from each language-specific site combined. At the end of the judging period, the top ten scoring entries in each category will proceed as finalists for final judging. Intel reserves the right to pick alternate finalist entries if any of the chosen entries are deemed ineligible to compete for a category prize.

The top movies in each category will be chosen and finalists notified by e-mail on July 28th, 2008. Contestants with finalist entries will receive instructions for submitting their entries (the executable programs) by August 15, 2008 at 3PM PST (Pacific Standard Time) for final Intel judging. Winners will be notified by mail, and winning entries will be announced publicly at the Intel booth at the Austin Game Developers Conference on September 15, 2008. In order to claim a prize, winners will be required to sign an affidavit of eligibility and release that grants Intel the right to use their executable program and their name and likeness for advertising and promotion without further compensation. All deadlines will follow 3:00pm PST (Pacific Standard Time).

Contest begins February 18, 2008.

Registration Forms must be received by July 1, 2008 at 3:00PM PST (Pacific Standard Time).

Community judging to determine finalists will begin July 1, 2008 at 3:00pm PST and run until July 25, 2008 at 3:00pm PST.

Finalists will be notified by e-mail by July 28, 2008 at 3:00pm PST.

Executables of finalists must be received by August 15th, 2008 at 3:00pm.

Winners will be announced at Austin Game Developer Conference on September 15, 2008 and published on the contest website the same day.

Intel Corporation (the "Sponsor") is not responsible for executable programs (an "entry"), movies, entry forms, or CDs not received due to lost, failed, delayed or interrupted connections or miscommunications, or other electronic malfunctions, or due to lost, late, mutilated, illegible, incomplete, postage due or misdirected mail. Any material received by the Sponsor will not be returned. Sponsor not responsible for incorrect or inaccurat e entry form information, whether caused by persons entered at the web site or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or used in the contest or by any human error which may occur in the processing of the entries in this contest.

Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel or suspend this contest should a virus, bug or other causes beyond the control of the Sponsor corrupt the administration, security or proper operation of the contest.

Winners will be notified by mail, e-mail, or phone within 7 days. Winners must complete and return an affidavit of eligibility and release within 5 days by return prepaid Federal Express overnight notification or prize may be forfeited and awarded to an alternate winner. Winners agree that all prizes are being provided "as is".

Sponsor makes no representation or warranty regarding any prize. Winners must look solely to the manufacturer for any such warranty or guarantee. Prize is not transferable and no cash alternative or prize substitution is available, except that the Sponsor reserves the right to substitute cash or a similar prize of equal or greater value should the prize be generally unavailable at contest end.

All federal, state, and local taxes on prize are the sole responsibility of the winner. Winners who are not citizens of the United States are responsible for reporting the prize or income as required by the applicable government. Acceptance of prize constitutes permission to use winner’s executable program, name and/or likeness for advertising/trade purposes without further compensation, except where prohibited.

By supplying your screenshot, movie, and/or executable entry to the contest, you are giving the Sponsor a non-exclusive, non-binding right to distribute your entry materials in any ways the Sponsor sees fit, without any additional compensation to you. You also grant the Sponsor the right to use material from your entry for promotional purposes. Prize winners may not publicize their victory in the contest except as mutually agreed with the Sponsor.

Void where prohibited. This contest is governed under U.S. law. All federal, state and local laws and regulations apply.

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