Microsoft has announced the launch of the 5th annual Imagine Cup, Project Hoshimi Programming Battle, part of an international student competition that calls on young gamers around the globe to explore their creativity by using technology to draw up their own strategy and submit AI code to determine the fate of Professor Hoshimi and his faithful crew of scientists and elite programmers in a fantasy world of life and death. The Imagine Cup comprises a number of categories, one of which is the Project Hoshimi Programming Battle. Last year over 65,000 students from 100 countries participated in the Imagine Cup, a competition likened to the “Software development Olympics”.

The theme for the cup this year is “imagine a world where technology enables a better education for all”. This means, as well as encouraging talented programmers around the world to use Microsoft’s tools and technology to allow them to compete online to see who has the fastest program to save the day, students must also channel their vision to address a wider, real world problem.

This year students will contend for a share of the US$15,000 total prize fund and an opportunity to kick start their careers. Project Hoshimi challenges programmers to write code that conjures up the behaviour and strategy of a team of characters undergoing a range of adventures. Participants are being called upon to create an exciting and gripping new world through which people can interact with others and compete directly online. With the potential to reach a burgeoning international audience, students have the ability to make a real impact on the way people think and feel about education.

“Project Hoshimi offers students the opportunity to combine their classroom-learned AI theory together with their programming prowess, and compete in a real-time head-to-head gaming environment,” says Andrew Sithers, Academic Lead, Microsoft Ltd. “We see the audience for Hoshimi competitors coming from A.I., gaming and traditional computer science courses. It really is a unique way of bringing the subject to life, and leads to some really nail-biting situations as each game unfolds.”

To compete, students are encouraged to pair up and participate in two preliminary rounds before the grand final. To enter the competition, each team will be required to upload a Project Hoshimi strategy file developed using one of the .Net family of languages. The deadline for first round submissions is March 1st 2007.

After the second round all qualifiers will be distributed into pools by country. An elimination format is used to determine the favoured three teams per country. Those top teams are then all put together in one pool. An elimination format is used to determine the top six teams to move on to the final round and compete at the final in Seoul. The judging panel will consist of notable industry figures and academics as well as this year’s sponsors: BT, Capgemini and HP.

Finalists in this category will battle it out for some highly sought-after prizes. Team players in third place will collect US$3000, those in second place will celebrate with $4000 and the overall winners of the Project Hoshimi competition will triumph with an $8000 prize.

Students vying for the all-expenses trip to Korea, the kudos of representing their country, the opportunity compete on an international stage and unrivalled exposure to the IT design industry’s biggest players are urged to visit the Imagine Cup website at imaginecup.com.