Located just outside one of America’s great cities, Philadelphia, Villanova’s 254-acre campus is tranquil, serene, and beautiful. Consistently ranked number one in the North by U.S. News and World Report, Villanova is a comprehensive Roman Catholic institution that welcomes students of all faiths and offers a wide variety of degree programs through four colleges. Graduates of Villanova’s Engineering Program have been widely recognized for their professional performance, establishing Villanova as one of the country’s best engineering educational programs.

Getting to Campus: Our specific location on campus at this Pennsylvania summer camp, along with maps and driving directions, will be found in your Camp Account after you register.

Big Time Game Development Studios in Pennsylvania: iD Gaming Academy participants will visit the renowned studio, Mythic Entertainment™, an EA™ Studio. The studio publishes major titles including Dark Age of Camelot, Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, and Ultima Online. Overall, the local industry is pursuing an aggressive investment and development strategy to gain a national and internationally-recognized reputation for excellence in game design. As an example, The Philadelphia Videogame Growth Initiative (PVGI) is a new initiative started by several game developers and professionals in Philadelphia and surrounding areas. They are seeking to develop a stronghold in Philadelphia to promote top name studios to set up shop in the greater Philadelphia area.

The Next Hot Spot for Gaming? Philadelphia is ideally located between 5 major video game hubs, which lends it a massive, local talent pool. Game studios are delighted to select from the top students with noteworthy portfolios. Recent university graduates are a well-educated, hungry bunch. The Philadelphia area boasts many nearby prestigious universities (over 40 within 30 minutes–and many with new game design and programming degrees), an artistic community, lower cost of living than Los Angeles, New York and San Francsico–which equates to lower start-up costs for game studios. So, where do you get the relevant skills to start building a game development portfolio before entering college? The answer is the iD Gaming Academy at Villanova University.

Studio Tour

Last season our Villanova University students took a tour of Big Huge Games. Founded in 2000 by four veteran game developers who together have brought strategy gamers such classic hits as Rise of Nations®, Alpha Centauri®, and Civilization II®, Big Huge Games is a video game studio focused on cutting-edge technology and aimed at mass-market game development. Big Huge Games founders Brian Reynolds, Jason Coleman, David Inscore and Tim Train continue in the tradition of creating inspired and innovative games for PC and next-generation consoles. Creating games that have received numerous “Game of the Year” awards and accolades, Big Huge Games is headquartered in Timonium, Maryland. For more information about Big Huge Games, please visit bighugegames.com.

We are currently solidifying tour information for our 2010 season. We look forward to returning to the studios we visited last season. Please Note: The studio venue may change based on availability.

Gaming Tournaments at the iD Gaming Academy

What better way to learn how commercial games are created then to fire up the most cutting edge titles and play! LAN parties are a big part of what makes the iD Gaming Academy so immersing. With industry leading names like NVIDIA®, Unreal Tournament® 3, Call of Duty® 4: Modern Warfare™ and Valve® Steam™ technology, you know you are in for many incredible nights of ducking, dodging and fragging.

Our Computer Gaming Tournaments use some of the hottest and most recognized game titles on the market, and all students will have opportunities for gameplay with local tournaments, as well as regional tournaments across Academy locations. We have partnered with NVIDIA® to ensure the most cutting-edge network gaming possible and use NVIDIA GeForce® gaming cards for peak PC gaming performance When we need to get out of our chairs for some console action, we’ll break out the Nintendo® Wii, Guitar Hero® or Xbox 360®.

Gaming Tournaments are an exciting element of our teen activities, but do not replace or infringe on instructional time. NOTE: Games in our Gaming Tournament are rated “T” for Teen and “M” for Mature and are selected at the sole discretion of iD Tech Camps staff.

Students use industry-standard applications including Autodesk® Maya®, Adobe® Photoshop®, XNA for the Xbox 360®, Unreal® Engine 3, and of course some of the latest, most popular commercial video games for instructional purposes and serious game play. This Atlanta area game design camp for teens is taught by top tier instructors with demonstrated game development skills. Course Details.

	ACADEMY HOURS	MEALS	EARLY BIRD TUITION	WHAT’S INCLUDED
iD Gaming Academy Ages 13-18	Sunday 6:00PM to Friday: 3:30PM	Includes all meals and 24/7 supervision.	US $3,249 Save $50* off regular $3,299 price.	Each 2-week session includes computers & peripherals, software, instruction & supervision, camp t-shirt, outdoor activities, games and gaming tournaments, team building & life skills development, official iD diploma, free year-round online learning and more. Tuition also includes all meals, housing, supervision, and extra time for social activities. Also included are the Studio Tours and excursions. Tax is included with the prices listed. Prices are quoted in $ U.S.
Ultimate Gaming Weekends Ages 13-18	Friday: 3:30PM Sunday: 3:30PM	Includes all meals and 24/7 supervision.	US $349	Stay the weekend and game with us!

*$50 savings applies to your first 2-week session (per student).

Note: Minimum deposit of US $400 is required at time of registration.

Weekend Stays / Ultimate Gaming Weekends are great options for students looking to bridge the weekend with us. Most Academy students choose this option, so we recommend it.

Students registered for our Teen Academies (ages 13-18) can bridge the weekend between consecutive overnight camp weeks. The cost is $349 per weekend and is all-inclusive (housing, meals, supervision, gaming, activities, etc.)

Not a serious gamer? We’ve got you covered. You can take it easy in the labs, play retro games, read a book, play outdoor sports, or just keep a low profile.

Please visit Weekend Stays / Ultimate Gaming Weekends for availability and more details.

Teen Summer Camp Savings

• Save $50 per student with our Online Early Bird Special. Ends March 15, 2010.
• Save $50 when referring a friend. Your friend saves $50 too!
• You can also save with our multi-week savings.