Fans can submit their best video game ideas and join free
coding workshops with Microsoft
REDMOND, Wash., Dec. 14, 2020 /CNW/ -- Microsoft Corp. and Warner
Bros. are tipping off an epic partnership, celebrating the release
of the new movie "Space Jam: A New Legacy," coming in 2021. The
campaign launch teams up Xbox with basketball champion and cultural
icon LeBron James, Bugs Bunny and
the rest of the Looney Tunes Tune Squad to amplify coding education
and create an original Xbox arcade-style video game inspired by the
movie.
As announced on on his Instagram, LeBron and Bugs
Bunny are on the hunt for the best fan-submitted video game ideas.
Starting Dec. 14 through Dec. 30,
fans aged 14 and up can visit the official contest
website to review official rules and submit their
game ideas. To enter, fans select the gaming genre of their
choosing using a key image, and then describe the game idea in less
than 500 words.
Two winners will have their ideas brought to life in the
official "Space Jam: A New Legacy" arcade-style video game,
available as a Perk for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members in 2021.
Winners will also receive the following prizes: their names
featured in the game credits; an exclusive winner's bundle with
signed and authenticated LeBron
James memorabilia, "Space Jam: A New Legacy" merchandise and
Nike VIP packs, and a personalized Xbox Series S console; a private
friends and family screening of the film; and a virtual
Microsoft coding workshop for their local community.
To help coders of all ages jump-start their creativity,
Microsoft Stores are hosting free, one-of-a-kind "Space Jam: A New
Legacy"-themed virtual workshops on video game creation. Students
will build a playable prototype of a video game using block-based
coding on the MakeCode Arcade platform, while learning
about the professional skills and STEAM careers involved in game
design. Additional resources and other free workshops that
teach new skills and keep kids entertained this holiday season can
be found on the microsoft.com virtual student workshop
page.
There are also two film-themed Microsoft Learn lessons,
targeting more experienced coders, older teens, high school and
college-aged students, and adults, that focus on how to
use player stats to make real-time decisions in
the middle of a game. The first lesson includes predicting
efficiency ratings with machine learning and Visual Studio
Code, using data from human and Tune
Squad basketball players. The second lesson includes
building a web app that uses additional machine learning models in
real time to help a coach decide who needs a water break
and who should be put in the game to yield the highest likelihood
of winning.
The video game contest, coding workshops and lessons align with
Microsoft's greater skilling initiative, which aims at helping 25
million people — including those from underrepresented
populations —acquire new digital skills and apply them to
their passions.
ABOUT SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY
Welcome to the
Jam! Basketball champion and cultural icon LeBron James goes on an epic adventure alongside
timeless Tune Bugs Bunny with the animated/live-action event "Space
Jam: A New Legacy," from director Malcolm
D. Lee and an innovative filmmaking team including
Ryan Coogler and Maverick
Carter. This transformational journey is a manic mashup of two
worlds that reveals just how far some parents will go to connect
with their kids. When LeBron and his young son Dom are trapped in a
digital space by a rogue A.I., LeBron must get them home safe by
leading Bugs, Lola Bunny and the whole gang of notoriously
undisciplined Looney Tunes to victory over the A.I.'s digitized
champions on the court: a powered-up roster of basketball stars as
you've never seen them before. It's Tunes versus Goons in the
highest-stakes challenge of his life, that will redefine LeBron's
bond with his son and shine a light on the power of being yourself.
The ready-for-action Tunes destroy convention, supercharge their
unique talents and surprise even "King" James by playing the game
their own way.
ABOUT MICROSOFT
Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT" @microsoft)
enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud
and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and
every organization on the planet to achieve more.
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SOURCE Microsoft Corporation
