During the 6th Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA) Conference, The Global Game Jam Research committee will host a workshop on Global Game Jam. The aim of this workshop is to explore research opportunities within Global Game Jam 2014.

Research Committee member Allan Fowler writes:

On Tuesday August 27 at the DiGRA conference in Atlanta GA, we will host a workshop on the Global Game Jam. The objective of this workshop is to promote the discussion forward towards synthesis of methodological knowledge. The outcome will be a greater understanding of the academic and professional research potentials of the GGJ. This information will be available to the Global Game Jam (GGJ) and game development community through the Global Game Jam website.

The workshop will be spent discussing case studies, existing literature, and sharing the experiences of the group. The plan for the DiGRA GGJ workshop is thirty minutes of presentations from key GGJ/Jam organizers which will be followed by an hour participatory workshop where groups brainstorm potential future research opportunities within the GGJ.

 There are thousands of games made each year during the annual event – so many it is impossible to play them all (thank heavens for my grad student Vince who played through this diversifier). This year I was asked by the Games for Change Festival to curate games that highlighted the diversifier, the Bigger Picture, beyond the theme of the jam, jammers were challenged to create games for social good.

GivingGivingGone.png Tags:  G4C G4C13 Giving Games for Change ggj13 Media Folder:  Media Root Giving, Giving, Gone

thirst.png Tags:  G4C G4C13 ggj Games for Change Thirst Media Folder:  Media Root Thirst

Privilege200.jpg Media Folder:  Media Root Privilege

wtf.jpeg Tags:  WTF What the Frack ggj ggj13 G4C13 Games for Change Media Folder:  Media Root What the Frack?

More than 300 Bigger Picture games were created at our 2013 jam. This year the games selected above will be on display in a special arcade at the 10th Anniversary Games for Change Festival along with games selected from the amazing people at Babycastles and Hide&Seek.

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Dear researchers and educators,

The inaugural workshop on the Global Game Jam (GGJ'13) held at the FDG 2013 conference is accepting submissions up until March 21st, 2013 (extended).

• Notification date: March 26, 2013
• Call for Papers
• Workshop submission page

We had an amazing GGJ 2013! Bigger and better than our previous jams. We received a great reaction to our theme and diversifiers, to our keynote speakers Erin Robinson and Bret Victor, to Adam and Amanda's great "day after" teaser and the wonderful message from the great Sid Meier. All of this is thanks to the hundreds of volunteers from around the world.

The games are available to be downloaded, played and discussed. Here are some interesting numbers about GGJ 2013.

GGJ Lagos

(GGJ Lagos 2013 jammers hard at work)

• Locations
• 319 jam sites in 63 countries, 38 US States and 6 Canadian Provinces
• Number of countries hosting for the first time: 12 (Bolivia, Chile, Egypt, Greece, Hungary, India, Latvia, Macedonia, Morocco, Nigeria, Serbia and Tunisia)
• Jammers
• Total number registered: 16,705
• Total number credited in at least one project: 11,474
  
• Games
• Total projects registered: 3248
• Total projects associated with a jam site: 3128
• Team sizes

At the time of writing the timezones that started first have already finished the 5th anniversary edition of the Global Game Jam and uploaded the games. Hawaii is the last to finish and will do so around 14 hours from now.

321 sites, 63 countries, all working at once. New Zealand will be finishing first, in about 15 hours. Thousands of people all over the world working on games around the same theme, that of a beating heart. Go jammers go!

At the time of writing: All locations in all timezones have started jamming including Hawaii, which means about 300 sites worldwide are jamming simultaneously! With every GGJ13 location properly kicked off, it is time to reveal the theme for Global Game Jam 2013 to the public!

Four locations in New Zealand (Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch & Hamilton) have just kicked off the 5th annual Global Game Jam. Good luck everyone, happy jamming!

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The day of the jam, before 5PM, is usually a good time for a couple of a tech talk, just to get people familiar with some of the technologies they may choose to use for the jam. We have a few videos submitted to us that you are welcome to use. The latest one is a 4 part series from NoOpArmy submitted as gift to GGJ 2013 participants on How to support a multiplayer game in Unity. Also don't miss the tech talks from Mixamo and Corona that we let you know about before. Other submission are welcome in the comments. GGJ 2013 Tech Talks. 

The Global Game Jam research committee is proud to announce our acceptance of the following research proposals. The authors of these proposals have a chance to survey the GGJ community during Global Game Jam 2013 in a pre-event and a post-event survey, and submit their findings to the GGJ Workshop at FDG. Congratulations to all.

• Gender and Global Game Jam Participant Motivation; Carly Kocurek and Arlen Moller; Illinois Institute of Technology; USA                               
• Experiential Learning in a Game Jam; Jeff Chastine, Ali Arya, Allan Fowler and Jon Preston; Multiple Institutions; USA, Canada, New Zealand
• The Latin American independent communities of creators of electronic games compared to the large-scale industry; Germán Dartsch, Valeria Fernández Hasan and Sebastián Touza; National University of Cuyo; Argentina
• Team dynamics and development processes of the Global Game Jam; Jay O'Toole and Michael Ciuchta; Multiple Institutions; USA             
• Investigating the lack of accessibility in game design; Joseph Mansour; Phi Laboratories, USA
• Level Up- GGJ Catania Chapter; Marta Mingrino, Ambra Bonaiuto, Salvo Fallica and Salvatore Mica; E-ludo Lab association, Italy      
• Game Design Processes in Rapid Game Development; Alexander Zook; Georgia Institute of Technology, USA
• Enhancing experience with digital design and production tools in high pressure, rapid prototyping environments; Foaad Khosmood; Cal Poly; USA

It's almost time! After months of preparation Global Game Jam is almost upon us! With over 300 registered locations this year and just a couple of days left before the jam kicks off starting in New Zealand, we have officially closed registrations for local hosts.

This means that there will be no more new sites added, of course participants can still sign up (if the local site still has openings left).

World Record Breaking Event to take place January 25-27, 2013

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – January 15, 2012 - Global Game Jam Inc.™ today announced an incredible line-up of speakers for this year’s keynote. The Global Game Jam™ annually presents cutting edge speakers and this year’s line-up promises to keep with that tradition. On board to motivate this year’s jammers are Erin Robinson, award winning indie game designer and Bret Victor, inventor & designer of experimental UI concepts at Apple.

The video keynotes are being translated into more than 15 languages to be shown in over 300 locations in 63 countries around the world. The keynotes go live in every location at 5pm January 25th, shortly thereafter the package will be posted to the Global Game Jam YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/globalgamejam If you go to the channel now, you can see the GGJ teaser trailer which was created by Adam Barenblat & Amanda Ligman from Cause and FX - A Creative Workshop.

On January 25-27 hundreds of game makers around the world

will create games for social impact in a single weekend

New York - January 9, 2013 - Global Game Jam Inc.™ (GGJ) today announced a new partnership with Games for Change (G4C), to celebrate G4C’s 10^th anniversary and allow GGJ13 participants from all over the world to visit sites that focus specifically on positive social impact.  Jesse Schell, renowned game designer, author and Carnegie Mellon Professor will deliver a special video keynote to launch this unique effort on January 25^th.

Through this partnership, GGJ site organizers will be offered the opportunity to register their site as a “G4C” site, and invite participants to create innovative digital games that go beyond entertainment. G4C has a purpose to raise awareness around real-world issues, promote learning, change behavior or recruit other players to support a cause.

With a record 275 sites already registered, the annual event has successfully enlisted new “G4C”-dedicated sites including the MIT Game Lab, the School of Visual Arts in New York, the Art Institute of Portland, George Mason University in Virginia, Bento Miso in Toronto Canada, Akademia Leona Koźmińskiego in Warsaw Poland, the University of Sao Paulo Brazil.

GGJ now has now put up a tech talks page, where participants can watch introductory talks from our sponsors. The page is available here. The first talk, from our Gold Sponsor Mixamo is embedded below 

The Global Game Jam is proud to announce GGJ Radio. GGJ Radio will be streaming from the Global Game Jam servers and anyone who wants to listen can do so.

GGJ Radio will go online when the Global Game Jam starts at 5 PM in New Zealand, and will turn off when the last location finishes in the western Americas.

World’s largest 48 hour game design event takes place worldwide January 25-27, 2013

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – December 4, 2012 - Global Game Jam Inc. today announced that Microsoft Studios & Imagine Cup 2013 have extended their leading role within the games industry by becoming GGJ’s Headline Sponsor for 2013. The Global Game Jam™ is the world’s largest game creation event that fosters the development of innovative and experimental game concepts while promoting global collaboration and teamwork.

GGJ is a creative incubator for game makers to challenge, innovate and experiment within their craft. GGJ brings together thousands of game development enthusiasts participating through many local jams around the world on a single weekend.

Academics, game industry professionals and enthusiasts, students, and all involved and/or interested in computer games are invited to submit research proposals to the Global Game Jam Research Committee.

New deadline for sending GGJ13 Video Greetings: Jan 15th, 2013

Due to popular demand, we are bringing back the hellos from around the world. Due to the fact that we just had too many things on our plate, we had first given up on the idea, but Kai Lynk from Melbourne Australia has stepped up as a volunteer to help us and you out.

This year we are asking for something a little different for the videos. We are looking:

Almost 160 sites are now online for GGJ 2013, and it's time to open registration for participants. Jammers can now register for their favorite jam sites on globalgamejam.org. This is done by editing your user account page, and choosing the right jam location from the pull down menu called "Jam Site 2013".

Also, if you are visiting any approved 2013 jam site page, you should see a small block on the right column that has information about current jammers and a link to register for the site. Every jam site now has a /jammers page that shows everyone currently registered online. It looks like Staffs Uni Games Academy already has quite a few people registered!

Largest Game Jam in the World Sees More Signing Up Daily

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – November 7, 2012. - Global Game Jam, Inc. announced that over one hundred locations have signed up to take part in the next epic global jam. Locations from all over the world are signing up, with 2013 looking like it will be the largest Global Game Jam (GGJ) to date.

New jam site registrations are now open for Global Game Jam 2013. Applications will continue to be accepted until at least December 15, 2012.

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To register a new location, follow these simple step.

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As part of a series of changes to Global Game Jam, we have changed hosting facilities and upgraded our website to Drupal 7. It went live with a brand new theme earlier this week. I'm very impressed with our new cloud hosting company Joyent. We met this company at GDC 2012 and it's clear they really value games and have the right expertise for this community.

Among other benefits, they spin their own Solaris based OS and server image ("smart machine") with a complete pre-installed and optimized LAMP stack to make hosting easier. We had been using standard CentOS images with Rackspace in the past. But enough about the geeky stuff!

Will you be at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco this week? Come and meet jammers, local & global organizers, partners, sponsors and other friends of the Global Game Jam at the most multi-cultural event at GDC. Come and mingle, share experiences and meet friends you didn't even know you had.

Place: The IGDA Booth
Time: Thursday, March 8, 2012, at 9 a.m. (Pacific)