Global Game Jam

With rapid advances in science and technology, there is a greater demand and need to revolutionize higher education with strong emphasis on creative convergence. Lately STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) has been deemed as a possible solution to stimulate creative convergent education. Aligning with STEAM pedagogical philosophy, this paper presents a case of game jam as an alternative educational platform that helps to encourage creativity and collaboration across diverse cultures and disciplinary boundaries at the global level. Game jam is a social event at which programmers, graphic designers, producers, and game mangers work together to make a playable game within given time constraints. Based on empirical experimentation with and observation on global applied game jam over the past few years, this paper suggests that global applied game can serve as a creative convergent educational platform within and beyond traditional classroom settings.

Videogame production events, particularly the Global Game Jam (GGJ), is an activity par excellence aimed at the development of the world’s largest games, enhancing the form of personal expression, critical thinking, and appropriation of new media through collaborative work. The general objective is to explore the development process within the context of the GGJ, calculating the correlation between level of education and source of inspiration, the correlation between level of education and purpose of the game to be designed in the Global Game Jam and the correlation between level of education and skills. The main source of inspiration is defined by game genre, game mechanics, or other video game, in addition the purpose of the game is mainly due to learning a technical skill, enjoy doing it, and generate satisfaction in the players. Finally, the skills that prevail are 2D Design, Programming, and 3D Design. People with a high level of knowledge have the same passion as those who hav...

At the ten year anniversary of the Global Game Jam] we collected community provided stories and images from around the globe. We simply asked our community to share their experiences, which we have arranged chronologically for our readers. Some of the stories are funny, some demonstrate perseverance, and yet others just remind us how wonderful the Global Game Jam has become. The stories are included in the original language of the author, with English translation, and provided without major editing. They share the tone and spirit of the authorÍs own experience. The Global Game Jam] experiment started 10 years ago and it has grown from 1,650 participants in 2009 to the more than 42,000 people who participated in 2018. This growth and successes comes from the tapestry of individual efforts that makes each year bigger and better than the previous. Much like a Global Game Jam, this book was created by pooling the time and effort of people all over the world.

Making digital games can help people learn collaboratively. Recent advances in game education allow for experimental game development in a short time period with low cost. To examine the possibilities of game development and learning, we focus on the recent ``game jam'' approach in collaborative game development. The concept of game jam becomes well-known these days, however, its historical development, goals, and strategies have not yet been explored.
To bring game jam into the education and learning, we first look at its historical development and key concept referencing Global Game Jam, the biggest annual game jam in the world, and then we discuss the recent case of ``localized'' Global Game Jam--style events embedded in the social context of a specific region.

Game jams are social events involving the integration of various game making disciplines (e.g. programming, art, design) to make games under constraints, such as a short fixed time. Game jams are emerging in areas such as research, education, and industry as events to facilitate game making for designed outcomes; i.e. outcomes elicited from appropriately designed game jams. Game jams continue to grow and be appropriated to new contexts, however, little is known about how to design game jams to facilitate designed outcomes. We identify participation in game jams as a constructive form of play defined as ludic craft. Consequently, we investigate the properties (e.g. rules) of game jams under the lens of play on the playful vs. gameful continuum. Reflecting on our experiences as facilitators and participants of jams in indie, industry, and academic contexts, we have derived a set of guidelines for game jams to facilitate ludic craft in its playful and gameful forms. We present this set of guidelines for jam facilitators to cultivate experiences that support designed outcomes in contexts such as research, education, and industry.

In this paper, an analysis of game jam descriptions and definitions in academic papers is presented. A total of 20 papers from various publication venues from 2006 to 2014 are analyzed in terms of their conceptualizations of a “game jam”. The background of the papers and their contribution to game jam research are also critically examined. A further explication, “an advanced definition”, is proposed as a basis for future academic discussions and collaborations. The advanced definition sums up game jams as: accelerated, constrained and opportunistic game creation events with public exposure.

In this paper, the tentative results of an online ethnography on the Global Game Jam 2012 Theme Committee are presented. The role of the committee was to come up with a globally distributed theme and a list of optional design constraints for the participants of Global Game Jam 2012. Within the brainstorming and discussions, several different ideas were proposed. A picture of an Ouroboros and a list of 15 “diversifiers” were eventually selected. The ideation process of the theme was not straightforward: within the discussions, different arguments were presented in support or refutation of the candidate themes. The opinions explicated within the discussion echo different views on game design paradigms.

Can games be made at the pace of news? The Newsjam, an event held in Miami, Florida in November of 2017, aimed to investigate whether short, simple games about current topics could be made in less than two days. While the plethora of game jam events does demonstrate that such games can be made, the larger questions was by whom and how? The Newsjam event convened a mixture of media professionals and non-gamers to test the hypothesis that game-making tools have become so simple those who have never made a game previously could make a game in a single weekend. The results indicate that while it possible to make simple digital toys, the highest quality contemporary newsgames were made by teams that had previously existing experience in game making. 19 participants, produced 5 games in just over 36 hours. Their expertise ranged from first time game maker to seasoned independent developers.

Resumen

En los últimos años diversos estudios han abordado los límites y posibilidades de los videojuegos como expresión cabal de la industria cultural globalizada pero también como frontera resistente al capitalismo. No obstante, estas conceptualizaciones suelen omitir los rasgos fundamentales de los videojuegos como dispositivos o agenciamientos de las sociedades contemporáneas así como sus relaciones con los modos de subjetivación forjados en el engagement (ritornelo). Nuestra propuesta buscará recuperar los elementos que permiten pensar a los videojuegos como condensación de regímenes de signos (imágenes) y materialidades identificando las líneas (moleculares, molares y abstractas) que componen (re/territorializan) a los agenciamientos de juego digital (semióticas intensivas de la espacialidad, de las mecánicas y de la gameplay), así como sus posibles líneas de fuga (desterritorializaciones). Asimismo, si el modelo analítico encuentra sus fundamentos teóricos en el posestructuralismo francés, la investigación se apoyará en los principales aportes de la ludología aplicada. Por ello nuestro escrito estará basado en recorridos empíricos (grillas comparativas) sobre un corpus de 45 videojuegos producidos entre 2010 y 2016 en las Global Game Jams de la ciudad de Santa Fe.

Palabras claves: regímenes de signos; materialidades; agenciamientos de juego; Global Game Jams; engagement; ludología aplicada.



Abstract: Recently several studies have explored the limits and possibilities of videogames as  expression of globalized cultural industry but also as a resistance point to capitalism. However, these conceptualizations often omit fundamental features of videogames as apparatuses (dispositifs) or assemblages (agencements) of contemporary societies as well as their relations with modes of subjectification forged in engagement (refrain). Our proposal will recover the elements that allow videogames to be studied as condensation of sign regimes (images) and materialities by identifying the lines (molecular, molar and abstract) that compose (re/territorialize) digital video game assemblages (intensive semiotics of spatiality, mechanics and gameplay), as well as their possible lines of flight (deterritorialization). Likewise, if our analytical model finds its theoretical foundations in French post-structuralism, this paper will rely on the main contributions of applied ludology. Therefore, our paper will present a empirical analysis (comparative grids) on a corpus of 45 developments produced between 2010 and 2016 in Global Game Jams of the city of Santa Fe.

Keywords: sign regimes; materialities; game/play assemblages; Global Game Jams; engagement; applied ludology.


Resumo: Nos últimos anos, vários estudos abordaram os limites e as possibilidades dos video games como uma verdadeira expressão da indústria cultural globalizada, mas também como uma fronteira resistente ao capitalismo. Contudo, essas construções teóricas geralmente omitem as características fundamentais dos video games como dispositivos ou agenciamientos das sociedades contemporâneas, bem como suas relações com os modos de subjetivação forjados no engagement (ritornelo). Nossa proposta buscará recuperar os elementos que permitem que os video games sejam vistos como condensação de regimes de signos (imagens) e materialidades, identificando as linhas (moleculares, molares e abstratas) que compõem (re/territorializam) as agenciamientos de jogos digitais (espacialidade, mecânica e gameplay), bem como suas possíveis linhas de fuga (desterritorialização). Além disso, se o modelo analítico encontre seus fundamentos teóricos no pós-estruturalismo francês, a pesquisa contará com as principais contribuições da ludologia aplicada. Portanto nosso artigo será baseado em experiências  (quadros comparativos) em um corpus de 45 video games produzidos entre 2010 e 2016 nas Global Game Jams da cidade de Santa Fe.

Palavras chaves: regimes de signos; materialidades; agenciamiento de jogos; Global Game Jams; engagement; ludologia aplicada.

Cuaderno completo: https://fido.palermo.edu/servicios_dyc/publicacionesdc/cuadernos/detalle_publicacion.php?id_libro=836

O áudio é um elemento que, apesar de não existir nos primeiros jogos digitais, se tornou importante neste contexto. Com o desenvolvimento de novas tecnologias, o áudio tem se apresentado como um elemento essencial e que amplia as possibilidades de diferentes experiências para os jogadores, tornando necessária a capacitação de profissionais específicos para a área de game audio. Nos últimos anos, os eventos conhecidos por game jams se tornaram uma ferramenta de aprendizado no processo de desenvolvimento de jogos digitais, possibilitando aos desenvolvedores iniciantes conhecerem pessoas que trabalham na área, trocarem experiências e principalmente desenvolver portfólio. Entretanto, não existem pesquisas científicas sobre a inserção profissional na área de game audio como consequência da participação em game jams, principalmente no contexto nacional. Esta pesquisa destaca as contribuições das game jams para os profissionais de áudio após a realização de um estudo de caso sobre a Global Game Jam Curitiba 2019. Para isso, foi realizada uma observação participante durante o evento e um levantamento de dados com os profissionais participantes desta edição por intermédio de entrevistas e um questionário.

Can games be made at the pace of news? The Newsjam, an event held in Miami, Florida in November of 2017, aimed to investigate whether short, simple games about current topics could be made in less than two days. While the plethora of game jam events does demonstrate that such games can be made, the larger questions was by whom and how? The Newsjam event convened a mixture of media professionals and non-gamers to test the hypothesis that game-making tools have become so simple those who have never made a game previously could make a game in a single weekend. The results indicate that while it possible to make simple digital toys, the highest quality contemporary newsgames were made by teams that had previously existing experience in game making. 19 participants, produced 5 games in just over 36 hours. Their expertise ranged from first time game maker to seasoned independent developers.

Can games be made at the pace of news? The Newsjam, an event held in Miami, Florida in November of 2017, aimed to investigate whether short, simple games about current topics could be made in less than two days. While the plethora of game jam events does demonstrate that such games can be made, the larger questions was by whom and how? The Newsjam event convened a mixture of media professionals and non-gamers to test the hypothesis that game-making tools have become so simple those who have never made a game previously could make a game in a single weekend. The results indicate that while it possible to make simple digital toys, the highest quality contemporary newsgames were made by teams that had previously existing experience in game making. 19 participants, produced 5 games in just over 36 hours. Their expertise ranged from first time game maker to seasoned independent developers.