Video games bring families together
Forget The Sims, now you’re family can be transformed into video game characters with a new competition from Ukie.
Launched to find the UK’s most collaborative and creative video game playing families, the winners will have their families created as video game characters.
“Games are a great way to bring families together. They also get children thinking creatively..."
The competition, which is now open for entries, asks children aged 4 to 15 years old to describe their families as video games characters, with questions including what the name of their video gaming family would be, what the aim of their game would be and how their family’s special skills would work together.
The competition has been launched to highlight the benefits of family gaming, as part of the Control.Collaborate.Create. campaign, run by Ukie.
Ukie CEO, Dr Jo Twist said: “Games are a great way to bring families together. They also get children thinking creatively, not just about the games themselves but also the cutting edge technology, art and computer programming that go into making them.
“We hope that this competition and our new askaboutgames website highlights this and helps families to get the best from their game playing experiences.”
Of those who enter the competition, one family from England, Scotland and Wales will be selected as the finalists, each 
winning a games console and a selection of video games for their family to play together.
One of these three finalist families will then go on to be selected as the overall winner, winning a day trip to a UK-based games studio and the chance to have their family transformed into video games characters by a top video games designer. They will also be named PEGI Family Gaming Ambassadors, and have the opportunity to share their stories of playing video games together with other families and the media.
What’s more, as Ambassadors, the winning family will have the opportunity to receive and test games together, to be reviewed on askaboutgames.com and appear in videos to be featured on the website.
Andy Robertson, editor of askaboutgames.com, said: “This competition is a great way to highlight to families the many benefits of gaming together, and I’m looking forward to seeing the entries that we receive.
“Video gaming can be a really collaborative and creative experience for families and we hope the competition will encourage children to think imaginatively and see their thoughts come to life!” he added.
To celebrate the launch of the competition, Ukie has commissioned an image of what the Royal Family might look like as video games characters, otherwise known as the ‘Wonderful Windsors’.
The closing date of the competition is 27th August 2012.
FemaleFirst
Shabana Adam @Shabana_FAM