Hello and Welcome to the 7th year of Wolverine Soft.

We exist with the goal of being video games at the University of Michigan. We wish to be a resource for any game developers, artists, programmers, enthusiasts, or players at the University.

The primary focus of our group is to make video games. While it sounds like a daunting task, even someone with no formal skill can still play an integral role in a game project. And those skills can lead to personal growth, a fun time, and even a job in the game industry.

If you are aiming for the industry, we can put you into contact with recruiters, introduce you to our own alumni who are already solidified in the industry to put in a good word, and we can help guide you towards becoming an impressive applicant for a job.

If you are here because you just like video games, you are just as welcome. We are almost always discussing video games, be it the industry, minute game mechanics, or the latest hyped up drama taking place.

This year, we hope to reach out to more students, improve our development methods, and increase our scope as an organization. We have our weekly meetings, called Development Sessions, in the Media Union (Duderstadt Center) on North Campus on the 3rd floor Windows Training Rooms from 6pm to 9pm on Thursdays.

Our club does not have any formal member restrictions. We ask that members, for the purpose of counting, be those who are on our discussion list> . We also encourage all members to make an account on our website. However, you are free to come to a meeting whenever you can regardless of having done the above.

In additions, some of the events we plan to do are as follows:

WSoft 101:
Are you a programmer who wants to make a game but does not know where to start? Often, you will not see everything you need to know to make a game on your own until your junior or senior year. Here is where we step in to familiarize you with graphics and other components you might not have seen until much later on.

48 Hour Game Design Contest:
Forget sleep! A fun contest held in the Media Union where teamed up participants have 48 hours to make a game based on a theme. No experience is required, and however daunting it may sound, this contest is one of the most fun things our members enjoy. The payoff of seeing a game done in 48 hours is immense. Not to mention everyone left last year with a good prize thanks to our generous sponsors (though you may end up playing your own game the most of all).

Video Game Tournaments:
Prove you are the ultimate Halo 2 champion. Prove no one can beat Pikachu in Super Smash. We hope to host a number of video game tournaments this year. Our very successful Halo 2 tournament saw a great turn-out with numerous door prizes and generous prizes for the top 3 teams.

Game Design Contests:
More to come later. Bring your incredible game ideas!

Cardboard Tube Fight:
Maybe I?m kidding, maybe I?m not.

Game Nights:
After every meeting, we usually go out and play video games together. Setting is laid back and a fun place for friends to hang out. Members are welcome.

Making Games:
Most of all, we plan to maximize this section. Do you have a great game idea you want to try to make, or do you want to work on someone else?s project? Bring your enthusiasm and work ethic to the table and the fruits of your labor will show.

Workshops and Talks:
This year we plan to bring in a number of alumni to speak to the group. On Thursday, August 21st, Wolverine Soft alum Matt Gilgenbach will be visiting us from High Impact Games to talk more about his work in the game industry. See more at his blog at Binary Creativity. The following Thursday, we will see former WSoft President Alex Kerfoot present on his work with EA and Spore. Jackie Shuler from EA will be visiting us and free food and game giveaways will be provided.

In addition to these upcoming and more talks, we host a number of workshops to teach skills to our members. Be it basic Photoshop, Direct X, the website itself, the engine of a new game, modeling software, or anything else; we will do our best to teach you how to use it.

But this is just an overview of what we do. The only way to really see it all happen is to come to our meetings. I hope to see you over the coming weeks and I welcome you to Wolverine Soft.

Mohammad Dar
Wolverine Soft President

Note: views and opinions expressed in this article are the author's and are not necessarily those of Wolverine Soft.