Miami only tri-state location for 2010 Global Game Jam

Miami University will be the only host location in the tri-state area for the 2010 Global Game Jam, an event at which teams of participants (age 16-35) from around the globe will create the next great independent video game in a single, intense game-making weekend, Jan. 29-31. 

Opening ceremonies will kick off the event at 5 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 29, in 09 Benton Hall (in the basement). Closing session, when the finished games will be on display, will take place at 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 31, in the same location. 

At Miami, participants will eat, sleep and work at the event. Miami is one of 112 venues in 30 countries where game makers will develop a computer game from paper prototype to finished marvel. 

Sponsors include Autodesk, Microsoft Imagine Cup and VGVN and, for the local event,Armstrong Institute for Interactive Media Studies at Miami and J!nx Clothing for Gamers, a company founded by Miami alumni. 

According to Lindsay Grace, Armstrong assistant professor of interactive media studies, “A game jam is not for the faint of heart. It’s two days of hard work, experimentation, little sleep, collaboration, cramped quarters, new friends, great idea, laughs, technical issues and the time of your life.” 

For more information on Miami’s event, go to http://Aims.Muohio.edu/gamejam or contact Grace at 773-577-0768 or gracel@muohio.edu. 

To learn more about Global Game Jam, visit www.globalgamejam.org.