UPCOMING EVENTS

Hey all,

We took a week's break after the Global Game Jam to get our bearings, but we're coming back this week with two events:

Firstly, EA is doing a technical presentation on Tuesday Feb 9 at 5:30pm in the South Campus Hall Festival Room. I actually don't know much about it, other than that Alex Hyder, Executive Producer from EA Montreal, will be the one giving the presentation. Executive Producer of a studio is a pretty big deal, so I'm sure he'll have plenty of interesting stuff to talk about. You should all come out, as there's going to be free pizza and the opportunity to network with people in the industry!

Secondly, Jonathon Rodriguez and Stephen Whitmore will each be giving a post-mortem talk regarding their Global Game Jam entries. They'll talk about what went right, what went wrong, and what they'll do differently next time. It should be an interesting set of talks, both for people that were in the Jam (that can relate), and for people just making games in general, as much of what they learned can be applied to longer projects. The talks will start at 6:00pm on Wednesday night, though we still haven't gotten confirmation of a room yet, so I'll let you know where they'll be in a later post in RCH 205!

I hope to see all of you at both events! They should be a good time!

Cheers,
Sherban Gaciu
UW-GDC President

POST GLOBAL GAME JAM

Hey all,

Before anything else, a huge congratulations to everyone who participated in the Global Game Jam. I am still feeling the tiring after-effects of getting 7-8 hours sleep over two days, but, as I'm sure everyone at the Jam can attest, it was well worth it!

Here our games; bask in their glory!

http://www.globalgamejam.org/sites/university-waterloo/games

It was hard, and I'm sure we'd all do things slightly differently next time, but I hope everyone who went enjoyed it, and I really hope some friends were made in the process.

If you did come to the Jam, post a quick comment about what you thought. It'll help us make it better next year, and hopefully get even more people to participate!

Cheers,
Sherban Gaciu
UW-GDC President

P.S.: Here are some photos taken of some participants. Special thanks to AJ Fraser for taking them. There's also video coming soon!

GLOBAL GAME JAM

Hey guys,

First post of the new year! We've already had our introductory event, where we outlined our plans for the future of the club in the coming semester and beyond. There will be a news post covering that, for those who couldn't make it to the first meeting, but this post isn't that.

Instead, this post will talk about the Global Game Jam:

The Global Game Jam is a challenge for groups around the world to make the best game they can within 48 hours. It's a huge event run worldwide. This is the 2nd annual Jam, but check Kotaku's story of the first one:

http://kotaku.com/5153545/youve-got-48-hours-make-a-game

This year, it's going to be even bigger. Take a look at the Global Game Jam website, which describes the event in more detail:

http://globalgamejam.org/

That's why we registered the University of Waterloo as a host location. We have a place (the Math Comfy) rented for 48 hours, with couches, vending machines, internet, and a close-by Tim Hortons. We have a projector where we can watch some GGJ Keynotes from important people, and (I'm hoping for) a fairly decent group of participants. The cool thing is, because it's a team event (probably teams of about 4-6 people) you don't need to know how to program to get in. You can do just art, or just design, or whatever you're good at. Even testing can be a great help!

Also, you don't necessarily need to be at the Jam for the full 48-hours. Need to do some schoolwork, meet with some friends, or even, you know, sleep? (as if UW students do that!). Come out anyway! It'll be a lot of fun and you'll get something done to be proud of!

It starts on Friday at 5:00pm in the Math Comfy (the 3rd floor of the Math building; the room with the couches beside the C&D).

Some experience, no experience, all levels welcome!

See you out there!
Sherban Gaciu
UW-GDC President