Game Jam 2009 Announced
Wild Pockets, Microsoft and Crispy Gamer have announced details on Wild Pockets Game Jam 2009, an event for developers of all levels of experience to get together and make great games for fame, cash and prizes. Taking place April 4 – 5th 2009 at the Microsoft Silicon Valley Campus in Mountain View, California, two hundred developers will get together and try to make great games using the Wild Pockets development platform in a 24 hour period.
The winners will have their games highlighted and playable via crispygamer.com, win a modest cash prize and XNA creator licenses for all team members. A special prize will be given away to one individual who has the most referrals, so get your friends involved (and make sure they mention your name) to qualify.
Wild Pockets is a free 3D web-browser based game engine that supports integrated physics, lighting and shaders, exporters from standard 3D modeling packages, Scripting in Lua, an integrated community for sharing game assets, a distribution model that is easy to understand and use and a transaction / payment system to be announced at the event.
Space is limited to 200 for this event and individuals are encouraged to bring their own friends or team members to compete. Rules, restrictions, and other important details can be found at the official Game Jam 2009 web site. For some examples of games built using Wild Pockets be sure to check out our Build Your Own Game Page.
Be sure to check out the official press release announcing the event after the break – it offers details on who will be judging submissions, the excellent entertainment that will be on hand and a whole lot more..
GAME DEVELOPERS CAN CREATE GAMES FOR FREE
ON THE WILD POCKETS PLATFORM
WILD POCKETS, CRISPY GAMER AND MICROSOFT WILL HOST
A FREE 24-HOUR BAY AREA GAME JAM
SAN FRANCISCO, CA — March 17, 2009 — Wild Pockets (www.wildpockets.com), currently in open beta, is giving indie and casual game developers a powerful platform to create Web-based games for free. Using Wild Pockets browser-based tools, developers can create elaborate games, interactive training, and 3-D advertising, which can then be posted easily on just about any Web site by using an embed tag similar to YouTube videos.
Wild Pockets is working together with Crispy Gamer (www.crispygamer.com) and Microsoft to host the Bay Area Game Jam, which will be held at the Microsoft Campus in Mountain View, CA on April 4 and 5. This 24-hour game creation event is open to game developers of all skill levels, backgrounds and disciplines; space is limited to the first 200 registrants. It is recommended that participants form teams of 2 to 5 developers.
The Bay Area Game Jam keynote speakers are Aaron Tarnow of Wild Pockets and Andrew Sheppard of Hi5. The judging panel is comprised of the following industry veterans: Anne-Marie Rousselt of Microsoft, Robert Ashley of Crispy Gamer and A Life Well Wasted, Jamil Moledina of EA, Jameson Hsu of Mochi Media, Andrew Sheppard of Hi5 and Alan Yu of Ngmoco. Developers will compete for fun, fame and prizes, including a grand prize of $2,500 in cash. Featured live entertainment includes the band The OneUps (http://www.theoneups.com/)famous for their loose interpretations of classic gaming tunes in a jazz / funk style, and the Megas (http://www.themegas.com/), an independent video game cover band based on the Capcom game, Mega Man 2.; they will perform on April 4 starting at 10 p.m.
“We believe that it is important to break down the barriers to entry for indie developers, and especially in this tough economic environment,” said Shanna Tellerman, CEO of Wild Pockets. “With the help of our very generous sponsors, we’re able to provide participants with 24 hours of free networking, food, fun and entertainment, plus some really fantastic prizes. “
“Wild Pockets opens the door to would-be game developers who lack the financial freedom to pursue their dream of making a game. And, we know our audience of gamers will be interested to play these games for free on our site,” said Chris Heldman, CEO of Crispy Gamer.
“We are excited to host the 24-hour Bay Area Game Jam at our Microsoft campus in Mountain View,” said Anne-Marie Roussel, senior director of digital media in the Strategic and Emerging Business Group at Microsoft Corp. “Sim Ops is part of Microsoft’s Accelerator program, which is designed to foster the success of high-potential start-ups. We view their Wild Pockets product as truly innovative for the game developer community.”
Crispy Gamer has a deep editorial bench of games journalists aiming to provide independent, intellectual and entertaining coverage of the videogame landscape. Crispy Gamer has also differentiated itself by taking a bold stance in refusing to accept advertising from game publishers, setting a benchmark for fearless and credible industry reporting. Crispy Gamer is averaging over 1 million monthly unique visitors.
All completed games from the Bay Area Game Jam will be available at wildpockets.com and crispygamer.com. For more information and to register for the Bay Area Game Jam, visit http://www.wildpockets.com/sfgamejam/.
About Wild Pockets
Sim Ops Studios, the creator of Wild Pockets, is a spin-off from Carnegie Melon University. Founder and CEO Shanna Tellerman alongside co-founder Jesse Schell and a team of extraordinarily talented engineers and game developers, created the Wild Pockets platform to simplify the creation and delivery of 3-D content through the Web browser. The vision is to create a complete, single source solution for the creation, distribution and monetization of 3-D content on the web.
Wild Pockets is headquartered in San Francisco, CA with development offices in Pittsburgh, PA.
About Crispy Gamer
Crispy Gamer (crispygamer.com) is the independent destination for the thinking gamer. Experts and gamers come together to form critical opinions and share essential information around their passion for games and games culture. Crispy Gamer is headquartered in New York City. Privately held, the company’s backing is led by Constellation Growth Capital. For more information about Crispy Gamer, please visit: www.crispygamer.com
