Just a reminder to all that the 48 hour game making challenge, Global Game Jam is on this weekend! We've got two big hives of GGJ activity happening in Melbourne and Sydney (Perth is having a more quieter one this year, it seems!) starting tomorrow.
IGDA Melbourne has helped organise one of the big events this side of the equator with great support from local developers, Firemint, as well as a great and diverse panel of judges to look over the entries. Game Jam Sydney also boasts some great support from local industry including Nnooo, Qantm Sydney, and UNSW. Cory Barlog (God of War II) and games journalist, Jeremy "Junglist" Ray, are helping out with the judging duties here.
You can keep in touch with all the local GGJ excitement at the IGDA Melbourne website or the Game Jam Sydney website.
Best of luck to all those entering!
IGDA Melbourne press release
Over 70 game makers are heading to La Trobe University’s Melbourne campus in Bundoora to get their game on next weekend as part of the Global Game Jam.
The Global Game Jam takes place on January 28-30 and sees volunteer teams of video game designers across over 174 venues and 44 countries working together for two days and nights to create games from scratch. This Melbourne event is organised by the International Game Developers’ Association (IGDA) Melbourne chapter, and includes nearly 80 professional developers, indies and students in the eclectic mix of participants ready to fuel up and create. One of the big players in the local games development scene Firemint, the Melbourne based developer best known for worldwide hits Flight Control and Real Racing on iPhone and iPad, sees the benefit of such events and are pleased to be sponsoring.
Rob Murray, Firemint’s CEO says "Firemint is very happy to feed the hard-working teams at this year's Melbourne Game Jam. We're big believers in prototyping games in a short amount of time as there's no better way to see whether a concept is actually fun. As well as the "Game Days" we run internally at Firemint, Steve and I each prototyped a game in just a few days - Puzzle Quest and Flight Control - so you never know whether Game Jam might see the next great Aussie game emerge!"
Infinite Interactive, the talent behind Puzzle Quest led by Steve Fawkner, was recently acquired by Firemint. “There is a heap of creativity in the local development community,” Mr Fawkner said, “so we're excited to be supporting that. Rob and I are looking forward to heading to Game Jam on Friday and chatting to the teams!"
The judging panel for the local competition is as diverse as the participants and includes Tassos Stevens, Co-Director of Coney (UK), Sam Mayo, the Community Support Coordinator from Firemint; Neil Rennison , Co-founder and Creative Director of Gamebook Adventures creator Tin Man Games; Leena van Deventer, Indie Games Section Editor over at Resolution Magazine, and Donald Duong, co-host and reviewer for Channel 31’s Level 3 .
Participants of the Global Game Jam will find out this year's mystery theme at 5 p.m. on Friday 28 January before breaking into teams and starting the long 2 days of making code, art, music and gameplay. Finished games will be uploaded to the Global Game Jam web site on Sunday 30 January.
IGDA Sydney press release
On behalf of your local IGDA we invite you to witness a very special event, 3pm this Sunday 30 Jan at Sydney's Powerhouse Museum, Darling Harbour.
The Global Game Jam takes place every January, simultaneously in over 130 locations in 38 countries! (http://www.globalgamejam.org/). In each city a gathering of creatives including (but not limited to) programmers, digital artists and sound designers will divide into small focused teams and engage in 48 hours of intense game-creating mayhem, with a focus on new connections and fostering unique & experimental gameplay ideas. - it all begins when the Mystery Design Brief is revealed worldwide on Friday, and the concludes when the finished prototypes are displayed on Sunday. Come join us as our Sydney-based teams unveil their games on the big screen before a live audience, to be judged by a diverse panel of industry-experts, and support our local independent talent!
Keynote by local Indie star - Sash MacKinnon of Bitbattalion Games - www.bitbattalion.com
Celebrity guest Judge - Cory Barlog (God of War)
Seats are selling fast - only $10 (or less for families) and include full admission to the museum.
Tickets Online - ( http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/bookings/gamejam.php )
We look forward to sharing with you the highlights of the GameJam weekend!