Hasta La Motion!

Unity Technologies, creator of real-time 3D development platform, today announced their first gaming hackathon in India in partnership with BYJU’S, the world’s most valuable EdTech company. Starting on 16 October 2019, this two weeks challenge will bring together over 1300 budding and professional game developers, artists and designers from across India to come up with creative solutions to disrupt the way kids learn today using innovative games and interactive formats.

The hackathon aims to develop games/simulations/interactive formats for children under eight years of age. Developers behind the top 15 entries in Unity Hackathon 2019 will have the opportunity to present their work to a panel of industry experts at the third edition of Unite India in Kochi from 14 to 15 November 2019, while the ultimate winners will walk away with cash prizes worth Rs3,00,000. In addition to the hackathon, Unity and BYJU’S have formulated three challenges to give the participants a real sense of the excitement and thrill behind developing highly innovative learning games. Winners of these challenges will get the opportunity to win an additional cash prize up to Rs 50,000 per challenge.

On announcing the partnership, BYJU’S chief product officer Ranjit Radhakrishnan, said, “We strongly believe that the power of gaming is truly realised when your solutions manage to demystify concepts and actually help someone become a better, life-long learner. These four unique challenges will offer a great perspective to developers and designers about how much the learning ecosystem has evolved and how their skills can generate unbelievable impact in this industry. At BYJU’S, we are committed to disrupting learning with highly innovative gameplay and delight our students with unmatched learning experiences.”

Anumukonda Ramesh, country manager, India subcontinent, Unity Technologies said “We are very excited about the partnership which brings forward the first-ever skilling hackathon in India to solve real-world challenges with emerging technologies. The purpose of this hackathon is to bring together creative ideas on how to use the new age technologies in bringing awareness and crafting a digitized learning environment for children.”

This is a flagship initiative by Unity Technologies in partnership with BYJU’S – The Learning App and Skillenza.

About the events:

Hackathon: Build a game/simulation/interactive format that serves a playground for kids to explore, experiment and learn via play.
Game Design Challenge: Craft a design that uses rich ways of learning via innovative gameplay mechanics, art and narratives at your advantage.
2D Game Art Challenge: Create entertaining and engaging game art and elements for young kids.
2D Animation Challenge: Breathe life & personality into a character and tell a story by using just animation.

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Abhishek Verma, National Award winning animation filmmaker for his animated short, Maacher Jhol has another award to his credit! After winning the Académie des César- National Film Academy -France at Les Nuits en Or for ‘Best Short Film’ (Maacher Jhol) from India, Verma’s another short film, Lukka Chuppi on open defecation and poor sanitation, has now bagged a Select Respect Award at TAF Festival, Greece. 

‘Lukka Chuppi’

“This is a special award we received for the relevance of the content and it’s presentation in animation. It’s great to receive an award for, Lukka Chuppi, a film on a big problem faced by girl children and women in india – open defecation and its adverse effects. I am sure this content is completely alien to the European nation but it’s has been acknowledged well by the festival,” commented Verma on the win.

Abhishek Verma

Despite receiving the award and lot of appreciation, Lukka Chuppi remains unreleased in India, apparently owing to some administrative issues. 

Verma stated, “I think I will be bashed for answering this in public, but it’s a grave problem that Indian Government Film Commission does. Firstly, For the sum of money allocated for the first installment of the project, you have to keep a deposit for the same. Secondly, the deadlines are skewed. It was commissioned in December 2016 under the ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ and now it’s 2019. May be because the target of number of toilets under the campaign is already achieved. The film was supposed to release in Villages and three tier upscale PVR.”

Verma seemingly sounded dejected on the current situation of the film. He and his team have approached the authorities to check what can be done about this situation and might also approach few OTT platforms for distribution.

He further added, “We’ve approached the PMO about the relevance of the film and also about its release by any Government body. We asked the permission from Government film bodies and they denied. It has been more than five months since our last interaction [with the concerned authorities]. Each feedback comes after six months, emails go unnoticed as a lot of people don’t care much.”

Verma and his team is currently working on another animated short Kitchen, which is being crowdfunded on Wishberry.

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With the third edition of their initiative ‘Pawsome Diwali’, the channel has teamed up with leading NGOs of the country to spread awareness about the adverse effects of bursting crackers during Diwali.

 Diwali, is inarguably one of the most awaited occasions in India. The entire country is in the festive mood, children on their holidays and all geared up to revel in the celebrations. In all these festivities, one usually tends to overlook how these celebrations affect the animals around us. 

Animals have an acute sense of hearing and smell, the features that are a part of their survival mechanism. But the same attributes cause them acute disturbance and discomfort with the loud noise of crackers and the leftover gunpowder. For their landmark campaign – ‘Pawsome Diwali’, kids’ favorite feline characters- Honey and Bunny from Sony YAY! Have been entitled to drive this message forward.

Commenting on this initiative, Sony Pictures Networks India, Kids’ Genre business head Leena Lele Dutta said, “Diwali is a festival of lights and not noise. With the first two years, we encouraged and introduced kids to the message of celebrating noise and pollution free Diwali. With the third edition the call for action evolves to inspire kids to make ‘cracker-free Diwali’ a habit. We want our next generation to understand the repercussions of bursting crackers and its adverse effects on pets, animals and even the environment. With Honey and Bunny being kid’s two favourite toon characters, our hope is that their message will positively translate into a concrete change on these young and bright minds.”

 As a part of the entire drive, Honey and Bunny with their young fans donated ear mufflers to animal shelters and NGOs working towards animal welfare, to shield animals against the noise of fire-crackers. They also got together with NGOs like Jeev Basera, Stray Relief and Animal Welfare, India and Almighty Animal Care Trust to organize workshops across various key cities like Lucknow, Delhi and Chennai respectively to educate young minds about the importance of a noise-free Diwali.

Jeev Basera (SPCA Lucknow) president Rakhi Kishore noted, “In my opinion it’s a great initiative by Sony YAY! that they are recognizing animal distress as a real problem. People should not forget that animals are an important and integral part of the ecosystem and they need to be loved and nurtured and cared for. Honey and Bunny in their adorable form and character are spreading the beautiful message of having a safe and cracker-free (noise free) Diwali and Jeev Basera loved to be a part of this initiative of Sony YAY!.”

 Not only this, social media celebrities also joined hands with YAY! to address all age groups and amplified the message through engaging videos and explanatory posts. Through their  digital outreach platforms, Sony YAY! also shared informative posts, contests and messages featuring Honey and Bunny requesting their fans to be more considerate to their pets and animal friends.

Almighty Animal Care Trust, Chennai founder and president Sai Vignesh added, “I support the initiative of Sony YAY! to raise awareness among kids about celebrating Diwali by not bursting crackers. Crackers are harmful to our health, environment and animals around us.”

The overarching thought was to instil a sense of empathy amongst the young fans so that they can celebrate Diwali in a pawsome way for years to come and bring happiness not only to their friends and family but also to animals.

STRAW (Stray Relief and Animal Welfare),Delhi co- founder and managing trustee Vasanthi Kumar stated, “My experience with Sony YAY! has been Fantastic. Sony YAY! is a wonderful fun channel for children to connect with the world of animals & environment. Inspired from the initiative of Pawsome Diwali kids along with our NGO volunteers took a pledge on not bursting crackers this Diwali.”

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The grand finale of OPPO PUBG MOBILE India Tour witnessed two days of intense gaming sessions with Team ‘Revenge esports’ emerging victorious and walking away with the prize of Rs 50,00,000. The tournament finale took place with a larger than life setup at Biswa Bangla Convention Centre in Kolkata with the top 20 squads from across India qualifying across four groups for the prize pool of Rs 1.5 crores.

OPPO’s partnership with PUBG MOBILE is an ideal opportunity for the brand to highlight its commitment and connection with the youth. The finals garnered an overwhelming response from PUBG MOBILE and esports enthusiasts who witnessed a closely contested competition, culminating in the victory of Revenge eSports, followed by ORANGE ROCK and TeamINS in the second and third position, respectively.

OPPO PUBG MOBILE India Tour was the country’s first multi-tiered tournament witnessing over 400,000 players participating across four groups in four regions. The teams that battled it out at the Grand Finale in Kolkata were:

Day I of the PMIT 2019 Grand Finals kicked off with power-packed action across all four maps. Team ORANGE ROCK dominated Erangel in round one, while Revenge eSports won the second round played in Miramar. The third round in Sanhok went in favour of TEAM ALL-STARS. With two more matches left for the day, Rising Hydra went on to rule the fourth round played in the snow-capped landscape of Vikendi. The last match of the day played in Erangel was won by Revenge eSports, skyrocketing them to the top of the game charts.

Excitement levels doubled up on Day II with ORANGE ROCK once again winning the sixth match of the Grand Finals played in Erangel. The following round played in Miramar went to All-Stars, while 8BitRampage took down rest of the squads in Sanhok. The atmosphere inside the arena intensified as the game rankings continued to shuffle. TEAM ALL-STARS dealt some serious damage in Vikendi winning the ninth match of the day. The final and the deciding round played in Erangel was won by Rising Hydra.

Following the PUBG MOBILE India Tour, Tencent Games India general manager, Aneesh Aravind said “Our congratulations to team Revenge esports for winning the tournament with a mix of intelligent squad strategy, clever zone movement and ability to pick up a high number of kills. PMIT 2019 is a manifestation of our efforts towards making esports accessible to every gaming enthusiast in the country. We have successfully curated a world class tournament and look forward to many more to come. Also, we extend our heartfelt thanks to OPPO, our title sponsor for taking the initiative to grow esports in India”.

As is customary with PUBG MOBILE tournaments, the OPPO PUBG MOBILE India Tour also saw numerous players awarded for their distinctive skill set.  The title of The Wanderer went to SnowFTW for the longest foot travel. 8BitGill was awarded the titles of Chosen One with the maximum MVPs, as well as The Annihilator, for causing the maximum damage. INSJokerFTW won the title of the Headshot Expert for dealing the highest number of headshots.

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Class is in session! Electronic (EA) and Maxis announced that The Sims 4 Discover University expansion pack is coming to PC and Mac on 15 November 2019 and on PlayStation4 and Xbox One on 17 December 2019. The highly anticipated expansion pack introduces a new chapter for Sims where they can enroll in their dream school and take classes in engineering, education or law, decorate their dorm room to feel like home, dabble in extracurricular activities and make everlasting memories with new friends.
“Easily the most requested piece of content by our players, we’re excited to reveal The Sims 4 Discover University and can’t wait for everyone to make the world of Britechester their classroom. Players can have their Sims live out whatever college experience they choose and create unique memories during an opportunistic chapter of their lives.They can enroll in classes that pique their interest, whether that is biology, computer science, art history or even villainy! Players could set up their Sims for success and join a study group with friends or hit the snooze button and miss their morning lecture. They can also enjoy extracurricular activities such as joining college organizations and attending school spirit events,”  said The Sims 4 senior producer Michael Duke.

The Sims 4 Discover University introduces the brand-new world of Britechester and two unique schools for Sims to pursue their higher education: the historical University of Britechester for arts and humanities majors, and the modern Foxbury Institute for careers in science and technology fields. Both campuses offer a variety of new experiences that ultimately prepare Sims for the real world with new career tracks in teaching, law and engineering, and help them excel in existing career paths. Players can choose how Sims embrace college life, how often they attend class and study hard to keep their grades up or choose to skip class to hang out with friends instead.

The expansion also introduces a slew of new activities and items to help Sims settle into life as a student. Sims can have study sessions at the library or take a break and mingle with new friends in the student commons, play juice pong, explore the campus on a bicycle or pull pranks against the rival school. Sims can also join school organizations like robotics, debate, art, or a mysterious secret society, and show off their school spirit at special events. Players can customize their Sims’ new digs, whether they’re living in a dorm or off-campus, with new décors like posters or a mini-fridge and transform the space into their own personal haven. Sims can also develop their personal style with new clothing items inspired by the latest trends, including late-for-class attire, professional ensembles, or new pieces featuring their school’s colours.

As Sims start this new chapter in their lives in The Sims 4 Discover University, they’ll have plenty to learn both inside and outside of the classroom. Whether they’re studying hard or playing hard, Sims will become their best selves and discover experiences that will shape them into what they want to become.
The Sims 4 Discover University Expansion Pack is rated T for Teen.

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