because they''re not lethargic bureaucracies?

Maybe cuz they''re not very big? I mean, really, IBM has...I dunno how many people, but a lot . Now compare to the average game company...50-60 people at most?

Hey, it''s cheap labor, of course they use interns. I would say produce something that demonstrates you can provide a useful service to them, get a recommendation from a professor and beat the bushes. Almost every game company lists job opportunities on their website. Use that to find who to send your resume to and send it to everyone you can think of. Mention that you have a demostration program, but don''t send it to them. That way you can identify whose attention you got with the resume. When you send them the demo give them a little time then ask them for comments. Tell them even if they are not interested you would like any comments they might have about the demo so you can improve it. It might not be a bad idea to break it up into tiers. Start early and go for the lowest tier so you can use any feedback you get to improve it before sending it to one that matters to you more.

I wouldn''t try going for the 3D graphics engine as a demo. They are highly unlikely to have an intern write that for them. Rather go for a nice to have, but not critical function. Just to use an example from another post something like integrating Python into an application. Actually a rather simple task, but something they may never have looked into. Make sure it is something you actually want to work on though. If graphics is your interest then get the source from something like Hexen that is available and add a feature it doesn''t have. The idea is to think realistically about what they might have you do. That is going to be something that is low risk. High risk is something that you not completing it means they don''t make the next milestone on time and the money that goes with it. They may have no intention of using an intern, but if they think they can have you do something off their wish list they might decide it is worth the relatively small bit it costs them.