Guest Feature by Stephen Knightly;

Every year the Global Game Jam brings together thousands of amateur and professional designers to build games from scratch in just 48 hours. The 2011 GGJ took place over the weekend, starting with New Zealand. Coordinator Stephen Knightly shares his thoughts on on the event.

Quote: AUCKLAND ANNIVERSARY WEEKEND was marked by some seriously big winds outside, but inside the Media Design School in Auckland and the University of Waikato in Hamilton 70 gamers were in the eye of the storm. They were there to make games – fast. It was part of the Global Game Jam, a worldwide event wherein developers, artists and musicians get together to make games in less than 48 hours (sleeping and eating are optional). Most videogames are created by teams of developers over several years on budgets in the millions. We had teams of 4-6 and just one weekend: It’s what’s euphemistically referred to in the games industry as “crunch time.” By the end of the weekend over 7,000 people around the world had participated in the Global Game Jam and churned out over 1,400 games. It all kicked off here in New Zealand on Friday.

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Stephen Knightly is on the board of Playmaker, the independent game developers association of New Zealand. He runs the games consultancy InGame and hosts the monthly Auckland Game Developers Meetup.

Woah that's cool. It is nice to hear of these events and associations in nz.
I might get myself involved when the next time comes.

AirSalad wrote: Woah that's cool. It is nice to hear of these events and associations in nz. I might get myself involved when the next time comes.

Keen

@AirSald @exis Everyone's welcome. Just follow the links at the bottom of the article ...

I was a programmer for Planet Buster, and Just Ladders. Big thanks to everyone involved, the weekend was epic!