The You Make IT Smart campaign invites you to “Code – Play – Win”. Find out how to program your own spaceship game, win a free Xbox 360® Arcade console, download free software, complete free online learning courses or take part in competitions with great prizes.
Up to 150 Free Xbox 360 Arcade Consoles Waiting for You – Take Part Today and Win!
1. The Game Programming competition is closed
: 120 students completed successfully Game Programming Exercise with Microsoft XNA Game Studio according to the instructions provided in the Online Tutorial, and were awarded with one console each. If you still want to try out the Exercise, please find the tutorial below (please note however that the competition for free Xbox 360 Arcade console was closed 14th January 2010).
Game Programming Exercise Tutorial
Game Programming Exercise Tutorial for Secondary and High School StudentsThe person developing the most creative game will win 10 Xbox games
You can pass the Game Programming Exercise just by following the Online Tutorial, but we encourage you to take your game one step further – why not add additional features or levels to the game, or create stunning visuals? We will be evaluating all the games submitted to us by the closing date of the campaign and awarding
an additional prize of 10 Microsoft Game Studio Xbox games for the most creatively customized game. Microsoft holds the sole right to judge the submitted exercises and will contact the student receiving this additional award in person via e-mail**.
Imagine Cup is an annual worldwide student competition with categories ranging from digital arts to software design. As in the Olympics, Imagine Cup finalists compete at the world finals, which will be held in Warsaw, Poland in the summer of 2010. For Imagine Cup 2010, students are invited to submit innovative projects with an important topic: “Imagine a world where technology helps solve the toughest problems facing us today.” Students can find inspiration from the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.
We want to encourage Swiss students aged 16 or older to take part in the Imagine Cup 2010 competition by awarding the best 15 Swiss competitors of Imagine Cup 2010 an Xbox 360 Arcade console. Please note that simply registering for the competition is not enough; you need to successfully compete the task (submit an entry as defined in the category’s Round 1 instructions) in order to participate and you need to qualify as the best Swiss competitor in the category you are competing in.
The number of consoles is limited. Only the best 15 Swiss competitors submitting an entry at the minimum to Round 1 in any competition category and qualifying as the best Swiss competitor in that particular category will receive an award (maximum of 2 consoles per entry, also in cases of group entries). Details on how to compete in each of the Imagine Cup 2010 category are available at www.imaginecup.com.
Microsoft holds the sole right to judge the students eligible to obtain the award. The awards will be distributed only in the Swiss Imagine Cup Finals in May 2010 in Zurich; no awards will be shipped by post. Microsoft will contact each student who is invited to the Swiss Imagine Cup 2010 finals and receives an award in person**. Read more about Imagine Cup activities in Switzerland: www.microsoft.ch/imaginecup.
We will be distributing a total of 10 Xbox 360 Arcade consoles in on-site competitions during the Academic tech•days 10 on April 6, 2010 in Basel and on April 14, 2010 in Geneva. Participation to the event requires registration, secure your place and register today:
- Academic tech•days 10 Basel, Congress Center Basel, Messeplatz 21, 4058 Basel, Tuesday, 6 April 2010, 13:00 – 23:00 incl. party (registration starts at 12:30)
- Academic tech•days 10 Geneve, CICG, 17 rue de Varembé, 1211 Genève, Wednesday, 14 April 2010, 13:15-21:00 incl. Party (registration starts at 12 :45),
The Microsoft IT Academy program is designed for accredited academic institutions. The program provides, among other things, online courses for students on Microsoft technologies. These courses prepare students for professional Microsoft Certifications. Check from your professor or IT administrator if your institution has an IT Academy subscription, and ask for access to the online training courses (via your institution’s subscription, the online courses are free of charge for you). If your institution doesn’t have an IT Academy subscription, you also have the possibility of finding some online training courses via your institution’s MSDN AA subscription (at no cost for the student).
The first 5 students completing a professional Microsoft Certification in any field and submitting a copy of the certification to us stating their full name, their postal address and the name of the institution at which they are studying* will win Xbox 360 Arcade console. In Switzerland you can complete professional Microsoft Certification at Prometric Test Centers. You will find the available Prometric Test Centers at: http://www.prometric.com.
Microsoft will provide free certification voucher (valid at Prometric Test Centers) for the first 5 student (in order of receipt of the e-mails, on a “first come first served” basis) who apply a certification voucher by contacting us by e-mail (swissarm@microsoft.com) with your full name, your postal address, the name of the institution at which you are studying and details which Microsoft Certification you are planning to complete*. Important to note is that when requesting free certification voucher, you commit to do the professional Microsoft Certification at Prometric Test Center within one month from the day you have applied for the voucher.
The number of certification vouchers is limited and only the first 5 students applying for certification voucher (in order of receipt of the e mails, on a “first come first served” basis) will be awarded one voucher each. A student who completes professional Microsoft Certification on his/her own costs is also eligible to participate. Note however, that the number of consoles is limited and only the first 5 students submitting a copy of certification (in order of receipt of the e mails, on a “first come first served” basis) will be awarded one Xbox 360 Arcade each. The certification must be completed between September 16, 2009 and May 30, 2010. The competition will be closed when we have distributed either the 5 certification vouchers or the 5 consoles, or at the latest on May 30, 2010.
Download free*** software!
Microsoft Developer Network Academic Alliance (MSDN AA) is an annual membership program for technical departments in the area of Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, Design or a similar field. If your institution is an MSDN AA program member, the MSDN AA subscription provides you access to Microsoft platform, servers and developer tools software. You can download and install the software to your personal computer, please note that the software must be used for educational and research purposes only as defined in the license terms.
Swiss DreamSpark gives you direct access to basic development software titles free of charge. To be able to download software from DreamSpark, you must be studying at an accredited academic organization that is connected with the Swiss Authentication and Authentication Infrastructure from SWITCH.
*We will process the personal data and/or communication data provided by you within your e-mail submission in order to run and handle the competition and in conformance with our General data privacy rules. Please ensure that any personal data that you provide to us is accurate.
Please note that you must send us your entry from your personal e-mail address at the university or university of applied sciences at which you are studying. If you are studying at a vocational, high, secondary or primary school and your school hasn’t given you personal e-mail address, you may send your entry from your private e-mail address, but you must also send us a scanned copy of your student card.
**Microsoft Switzerland has no obligation to disclose any results, reasons, names or any other information connected with the competition (no correspondence). Competitors have no entitlement to reimbursement of any expenses they may have incurred in order to take part in the competition or to any remuneration whatsoever against Microsoft.
***Special terms for usage apply
No correspondence will be entered into concerning the competition. No recourse to legal action is permitted.