Event helps prepare aspiring game developers for the business world.
The University of Baltimore’s Simulation and Digital Entertainment Program, in partnership with The Universities at Shady Grove (USG), hosted a site for the annual gaming industry event, Global Game Jam, January 28 - 30, 2011, at the USG campus. Six teams totaling 30 designers, programmers, developers and artists worked around the clock to create the most outstanding video games possible in just under 48 hours.
Participants, ranging from high-school students to industry professionals, worked alongside groups from 170 registered sites around the world to challenge themselves and inject new ideas into the gaming industry. The mandatory theme of "extinction" was announced at 5 p.m. on Friday in each time zone across the globe. Teams worked steadily until 3 p.m. Sunday, breaking minimally to sleep and eat. Nearly 1500 games were prototyped and registered on the Global Game Jam website during the event.
At the USG site, the premier “Jury Award” was granted to the five-person team, Five Sheep, for their comprehensive project, scrEWEd. The game positioned the player as a Sheppard trying to defend his last herd of sheep from preying wolves. The winning team included three graduates of the University of Baltimore’s Simulation and Digital Entertainment Program at USG, one current Montgomery College student, and one graduate of The Guildhall at Southern Methodist University.
The eight judges, who represented several aspects of the gaming industry, praised scrEWEd’s creative expression of the theme “extinction” and its completeness, noting the game was practically marketable after only 48 hours. The winning team plans to market the game in XBOX LIVE’s Indie Games section in the near future.
“It feels great to come out of this weekend with a finished product that we can really do something with,” said Five Sheep team member and graduate of University of Baltimore at USG, Mic Couture. “You go into these events never knowing what you’ll be able to accomplish and we can all see that the teams here have produced some really impressive games”.
A second prize, the “Audience Award” was given to a team of Sherwood High School students for collecting the most anonymous votes from audience members. Team Blue took the honor for their colorful and humorous project, Unicorn vs. Narwhals, a game that took the form of a unicorn trying to destroy a species of mocking narwhals. During the award ceremony the judges congratulated all teams, commending the risks that were taken, the art and sound aspects of the games, the excellent simulation and complex mechanics.
The event kicked-off with two speakers from the local gaming industry who also served as judges. Ben Walsh, CEO of Pure Bang Games talked with participants about the differences between small game development companies and the larger, more corporate opportunities. The keynote speaker, Barry Caudill, Executive Producer at Firaxis offered a presentation titled, “10 Rules for Game Development and Beyond”.
“Game jam events help prepare aspiring game developers for the business world,” said Barry Caudill. “With a deadline of only 48 hours, it teaches collaboration on important decisions – it teaches about how to make the hard choices.”
View more information and see more game concepts developed during the Global Game Jam.
Read more about the Global Game Jam at USG in The Gazette and the Rockville Patch!