I am thinking about integrating the Unity game engine into our classroom.  It is FREE.  It works well with Maya and I have used it before.  Try it out this week and and let me know what you think.  You can download it and get started right away.  It has a great demo game to try out.

It is a great way to show off architectural models . . . At least that is what I did with my first project.

Unity is a multiplatform game development tool, designed from the start to ease creation. A fully integrated professional application, Unity just happens to contain the most powerful engine this side of a million dollars.

http://unity3d.com/

http://unitytutorials.com/