VR-Zone

From left: Tetsuhiko Yasuda, President of Sony Computer Entertainment Asia; Ronnie Tay, Chief Executive Officer of IDA; Makoto Yamanaka, Japanese Ambassador to Singapore; Chan Lee Mun, NYP’s Principal and CEO; and Katsunori Yamaji, CEO/Executive Producer of Premium Agency Inc

SINGAPORE, 9 April 2009 – Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP), in collaboration with Sony Computer Entertainment Asia (SCE Asia) and Premium Agency Inc,(PA), has set up a S$4m Games Resource Centre at NYP to train students and industry professionals to develop games on the PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) computer entertainment system and PSP™ (PlayStation®Portable) handheld entertainment system. This milestone collaboration makes NYP the first education institution in Singapore to be equipped with PS3™ and PSP™ development kits.

The NYP Games Resource Centre, which opens in June, will provide training and develop software technologies, content, and tools centred on PS3™ and PSP™ platforms. This marks the first time local game companies will be building development capabilities on the PlayStation(R) platforms and the Centre hopes the accessibility will help to propel the growth of Singapore’s games and interactive digital media industry.  

Companies can tap on the Centre’s facilities to develop proof-of-concept games using PS3™ and PSP™ platforms. Industry professionals taking NYP’s Specialist Diploma in Games Development will also be trained at the Centre. It will also provide short courses catered to specific needs of the industry.

In addition, students studying for the Diploma in Digital Entertainment Technology and the Diploma in Digital Media Design (Games) at NYP’s School of Interactive & Digital Media will also receive training at the Centre. The Centre is expected to train some 450 students and industry professionals over the next two years and SCE Asia will assess games developed from this Centre for deployment suitability on its PlayStation(R) platforms.

Premium Agency Inc. (PA), SCE Asia’s training partner, will train NYP staff at their facilities in Japan.

A signing ceremony was held at Nanyang Polytechnic today to commemorate the collaboration between NYP, SCE Asia and PA. Witnessing the event was RADM(NS) Ronnie Tay, Chief Executive Officer of IDA and His Excellency Mr Makoto Yamanaka, Japanese Ambassador to Singapore.