By Zareef Muzammil
SHAH ALAM, Feb 21 — The inaugural video game-building workshop by Menteri Besar Selangor (Incorporated) or MBI drew some 75 primary and secondary school students from all across the state.
MBI corporate social responsibility head Ahmad Azri Zainal Nor said the workshop, in collaboration with the Selangor Public Library Corporation (PPAS) and the Shah Alam branch of the Federation of Peninsular Malay Students (GPMS), was well-received by the participants who are aged between 10 to 15.
The three-day workshop, held in conjunction with the school holidays, is aimed at discovering any hidden talents among youths in creating their own video games, with guidance from local mobile app company Raxbit.
“The workshop consists of three sessions, with the first today attended by 25 primary school students, while 25 secondary school students will follow the same module tomorrow, and the third session by primary students again on Thursday (February 23).
“Alhamdulillah, the participation has been quite encouraging, as all participation slots were filled up in under a week after they were opened,” he said.
Ahmad Azri, speaking to SelangorKini after visiting the workshop at Perpustakaan Raja Tun Uda earlier today, said the participants did not generally face any problems in following video game-building methods, since they had sufficient guidance from the four instructors.
“I am certain they will be able to build a complete game and play it by themselves by the end of this session. Games created in the workshop stand the chance of being sold on the Google PlayStore and the Apple AppStore.
“MBI is prepared to help them reach those levels, as because the video game development industry is capable of generating profits if an individual has the interest and the creativity to do so,” he said.
Meanwhile, SK Section 14 student and participant Sofia Mohd Fuad, 10, said she was fairly excited as it is the first time she has had the opportunity to participate in such a workshop.
“It was fun since this is the first time I learned to make my own games. so far I have only known how to play games on smartphones and laptops.
“The module in the workshop is easy to understand. If there is something I do not understand, I ask the teaching staff so I can get some pads at the end of this session,” she said.
For SJK(C) Subang student and fellow participant Jhen Wean, 11, it has been a life-long dream to create a game of his own, yet was unable to do so due to the lack of a platform.
“I want to make the most of this workshop so I can produce my own game. It is challenging, but becomes easy when the teaching staff provides one-on-one guidance,” he said.
