Thorold student wins video game contest

Inspired by the frenetic combat of fighting games like Mortal Combat and Street Fighter, 16-year-old Matthew Webb dreams of digital fisticuffs.

His video-game idea, to pair characters drawn from everyday life to duke it out, from baseball players to criminals, won a contest hosted by Brock University's interactive arts and science program and nGen, Niagara's new-media incubator.

His game concept, called Smash'Em Up, was selected as the winner by students of the Brock program this week.

The students felt Webb's idea was well thought out and put the most thought into character and level design.

Webb said he attended a seminar last month on game design held by Dragonchess Interactive, one of the companies that work at nGen's offices on St. Paul Street, where he learned about the contest.

"I thought it was something I could do," said Webb, a Grade 10 student at Thorold Secondary School.

Webb, who said he would like to eventually work in game design, submitted his idea Jan. 26.

NGen hosts monthly seminars on subjects from game design to tax credits for startup companies in digital media, said executive director Jeff Chesebrough. The game design seminar last month was something he felt would be of interest to students and put the word out to the local boards. About a dozen students from five schools attended.

Chesebrough said although there are no plans to develop Webb's concept into a working game, the teenager did win an iPod Touch for his work.