Mckenzie Family as Gaming Characters
An 11-year-old-girl from Rotherham has won a national competition run by Ukie (UK Interactive Entertainment) to find the UK’s most collaborative and creative games playing family, after pitching her game idea featuring her family.
Mackenzie Clarke, from Clifton Village, impressed the judges with her idea and her description of what her family game characters’ powers would be. In her game, her family work together, using their special moves to make other people happy and protect the world from turning evil.
When I entered the competition I took lots of time on my entry to make it good, so it’s great to see it come to life - I’m really pleased...
Her ‘Magnificent Mum’ can stretch to over 50 metres to protect her family, ‘Dynamic Dad’ can push any objects no matter how heavy, Mackenzie can turn anything hot or cold and her brother can run as fast as light.
Jo Twist, CEO of Ukie said: “Games are a fantastic way to bring families together. We’re delighted that Mackenzie and her family are our overall winners.
“We loved her competition entry and the way she used her creativity to come up with a great game idea and characters who all worked together to save the world. We look forward to working with her and her family as PEGI gaming ambassadors in the future.”
Having come top in the regional round of the competition, winning a Kinect for Xbox 360 console bundle, Mackenzie then went on to win the national prize. As part of this, the family visited Microsoft’s Soho Productions facility in London, home to developers of interactive entertainment experiences, such as Kinect Sesame Street TV and Kinect National Geo TV, exclusively on Xbox.
They met staff at the studio, and were given an insight into the many roles involved in creating these new experiences, where kids can engage and learn in an entirely new way through full-body, interactive television. They were also given the opportunity to play the recently launched season two of Kinect Sesame Street.
At the end of their visit, Mackenzie was presented with an image of her family created as games characters, based on her competition entry. The family are also now official PEGI Family Gaming Ambassadors and get to test games together, and review them on askaboutgames.com.
After the visit to the studio, Mackenzie said: “I’ve really enjoyed today. I’ve learnt a lot about games, and how much work goes into making them. I love my family picture too – it actually looks like us! When I entered the competition I took lots of time on my entry to make it good, so it’s great to see it come to life - I’m really pleased that I won.”
Her mother, Lisa, added: “Our visit today has shown us that games are more educational than ever, and seeing the technology behind them has been fantastic. We’ve definitely been inspired to play even more as a family now!”
The competition was launched to highlight the benefits of family gaming, as part of the Control.Collaborate.Create. campaign, run by Ukie, the organisation that represents the games industry.
Families who want to know more about how playing games together can be a collaborative and creative experience for the whole family can be found at www.askaboutgames.com.
Tagged in Parenting Games Parenting News