Yeah it’s pretty crappy out this morning — ice, slush, impending snow. Great time to stay inside and play some videogames. No signs of spring for quite a while. However, if you’re a hard-core gamer or dabble in building your own games, Pittsburgh will be paradise this weekend.

More than a thousand video game enthusiasts scattered across 14 time zones, including a contingent at Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment Technology Center (ETC), will spend 48 hours building games as part of the first Global Game Jam. Game-building marathons, known as game jams, have grown in popularity in recent years, but this is the first time that anyone has attempted to use the Internet and its streaming video capabilities to tie together simultaneous jams around the globe. Game design themes, constraints and mechanics will be announced at the beginning of the jam, with constraints altered for each time zone to mitigate any advantage of global location.

ETC alumnus Kyle Gabler, developer of the award-winning “World of Goo” game, will be the global event’s keynote speaker. The Global Game Jam is an initiative of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) Education Special Interest Group.

The ETC and the Pittsburgh chapter of the IGDA have partnered to host one of the venues, which is open to any and all comers. Participants from as far away as Cleveland already are confirmed.

When: 5 p.m., Friday, Jan. 30, through 5 p.m., Sunday Feb. 1.

Where: The Randy Pausch Interdisciplinary Studio, ETC, 700 Technology Drive.

Sim Ops Studios, a CMU Spin-off company had just launched their newest technology, Wild Pockets, into private beta. As part of that launch, they held their first ever Wild Pockets Game Jam on October 18 – 19 at the Entertainment Technology Center.

Seventy six people attended the 24 hour marathon coding event. Sim Ops Studios presented a 2 hour Wild Pockets tutorial before setting the participants loose to see if they could code a 3D game of their choice in 24 hours using the Wild Pockets platform. Of the 18 teams present, 12 submitted games and 2 additional teams submitted rough prototypes.

After 24 hours, the games were judged by a panel of industry professionals and the winners were:

1st Place
Miner Mania

Team Mechanimal
Nicholas McClay, Matthew DeLucas, Victor George and Dan Dwire

2nd Place
Asteroid Apocalypse

Dream Team
Enrique Ma. R. Sarmiento, Sarah McGee,Kyle Dolan, Chun-ta Chen

3rd Place
Happy Happy Doom Fall

Game Designers on an Plane
Aaron Vanderbeek, Monil Monil Gandhi, Francisco Souki, and Carlos Hurtado

You can play the games that were submitted on the Wild Pockets website or check out photos from the event on their Flikr page. 

People’s Choice Award

The Game Jam judges chose their favorite games but now Sim Ops would like to see what you think! Voting begins on Election Day – November 4 – and continues until November 20. On November 4 – visit the Game Jam Voting Page to cast your vote for your favorite games. The results will be announced on November 24.

If you’d like to create your own games, sign up for thier beta.

Plug-in, Play, Vote!

Sim Ops Studios, Inc., a spin-out from Carnegie Mellon’s Entertainment Technology Center, has developed Wild Pockets, a new web-based technology platform that enables anyone to easily create and share 3D games, interactive ads, and other virtual online experiences.  Wild Pockets is launching an exclusive beta for developers this fall following its first ever Wild Pockets Pittsburgh Game Jam!  You can be a part of the Wild Pockets history . . .

What is a Game Jam?

A Game Jam is an event where video game enthusiasts come together for a weekend of creativity and competition.  Using the brand new Wild Pockets platform, teams will compete to create a game in under 24 hours.  At the end of the event, the top three games will be selected by a panel of game professionals, and these top games along with an audience choice award winner will be placed in the running to compete against our other regional Game Jams to become the national winner.

When & Where is the Pittsburgh Game Jam?

Saturday, October 18, 10 a.m. – Sunday, October 19, 2 p.m. at the Entertainment Technology Center. 700 Technology Drive (off of 2nd Ave), Pittsburgh, PA 15219

Etcetera Edutainment announces NSC Safetyworks™ Lift Truck, a 3D game based training simulation designed to improve th effectiveness of forklift safety training by making it an immersive experience. The product launched at the 2008 National Safety Council Congress and Expo and is now available for pre-order. The product will ship at the end of October.

edge videogame technology and game design techniques with OSHA forklift safety regulations to deliver a revolutionary, highly engaging forklift safety training experience suitable for new or experienced forklift operators.

the-job training.”

Video Games in the 21st Century: Economic Contributions of the U.S. Entertainment Software Industry is the first study that quantifies the specific contributions of the U.S. entertainment software industry to the nation’s economy. Conducted by Economists Incorporated and released by the Entertainment Software Association in November 2007, the study found that from 2003 to 2006, the entertainment software industry’s annual growth rate exceeded 17 percent. Over the same period, the entire U.S. economy grew at a less than four percent rate. Last year, sales nearly quadrupled from 1996 figures to $9.5 billion. And, despite uncertain times in other economic sectors, recent data shows that current 2008 sales are up 30 percent over last year.

The gaming industry has impacted the Pittsburgh economy and will continue to be a valuable part of our regional growth. Join The Economic Club of Pittsburgh and Michael D. Gallagher, President and CEO, Entertainment Software Association, as they explore how this billion-dollar industry is growing in leaps and bounds. Pittsburgh Technology Council members may attend the event at the “Member” rate.

Michael D. Gallagher, President and CEO, Entertainment Software Association

Omni William Penn Hotel
Tuesday, September 16
11:45 a.m. – 1:15 p.m.

Register by E-mail by September 12.