Global Game Jam 2010 registration opens

Registration for the 2010 Global Game Jam will begin this Saturday, November 21, allowing those interested in securing their spot at one of more than 90 locations worldwide. The 2010 GGJ will take place January 29-31, 2010 and is expected to eclipse last year’s success which saw 1,650 participants across 23 countries and 54 venues.

Global Game Jam is an interesting competition where creative types team up to create games in a short amount of time and then share them with the community. It’s fun stuff and exciting to watch – let alone participate in.

Chances are there’s a location that is in your general vicinity if you want to participate or just stop by to see all the magic happen first-hand; for example, there’s one location in Albany, NY and another in Troy, Ny - both about an hour away from where I live - and another location in New York City, should any of the Crispy Gamer staff want to check it out.

Confirmed locations for Global Game Jam 2010 after the break.

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The Guildhall at SMU career fair attracts big players

The Guildhall at SMU’s upcoming career fair will feature eighteen major studios and publishers this week to interview 50 December graduates and alums as future artists, designers and programmers for their companies. Studio and publishers participating in the event include Acropolis, Activision, America’s Army, BioWare, Blizzard Entertainment, Bonfire Studios, Budcat Creations, Controlled Chaos Media, Disney Interactive, Edge of Reality, LucasArts, Insomniac, KingsIsle, Obsidian Entertainment, TimeGate Studios, Total Immersion, Volition, and ZeniMax Media Inc.

The Guildhall at Southern Methodist University is a graduate video game education program. In the last six years, the program has graduated over 300 students, and alums who work at more than 80 video game studios around the world, with several graduates now serving in leadership positions. SMU offers both a Master’s degree and a graduate Professional Certificate of Interactive Technology in Video Game Development, with specializations in art creation, level design, and software development.

For more information on the school and this week’s career fair, visit guildhall.smu.edu.

Video Game Tycoon goes online

The next version in the  series promises to let would-be game designers build their own video games and post them online to GAMESweet.com, a web site where anybody can play the games with the free-to-play GAMESweet Player. GAMESweet claims that the original title has been a huge success among young players, particularly in the educational market noting that some middle school programs have incorporated it into their curriculum for teaching video game design. The new online edition of the game promises to give users building blocks that they put together to create a variety of game play scenarios. Each game can have multiple levels, and each level can have many different objectives, bonuses and upgrades.

The ONLINE EDITION also offers new game types to tinker with like first-person-shooters sports games like golf, and new features like the ability to customize object images. The software also includes a simple online posting option so that players can ‘publish’ their games online to GAMESweet.com. The GAMESweet Player, which players will use to play the games people create with the software, is supported in Internet Explorer on the Windows PC platform.

You can find out more about the software by checking out www.GAMESweet.com.

Game development a regular vocation at many American colleges

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) wants you to know that colleges are now heavily supporting curriculum that is directly or indirectly related to the vocation of video game development. According to the ESA, a record number of colleges, universities and other institutions of higher learning – 254 in 37 states and the District of Columbia – now offer courses and degrees in computer and video game design, programming, and art. These include certificate programs in 3D Animation & Interactive Media to master’s degrees in Computer Graphics and Game Technology. The ESA sees the uptick of institutions offering these programs as a reflecting of the growing importance of video games on the economy and culture of the United States.

Research conducted by the ESA found that California has 46 institutions of higher learning – the most of any state – offering such courses or degrees. Other states in the top 10 are New York (21); Texas (20); Florida (19); Illinois (16); Pennsylvania (12); Massachusetts (11); Washington (9); Georgia (8); Arizona, Michigan, and Colorado (7).

“Today, video games are not only the fastest growing entertainment medium, they are also increasingly used in education and business for professional training and e-learning,” Rich Taylor, senior vice president. “These new college programs underscore the importance of the video games industry, which is well-poised to create additional employment and professional opportunities in the coming years.”

While it certainly heartening to see more schools offer these kinds of educational opportunities, it would be interesting to see some statistics from schools that have offered a game development curriculum; do graduates find jobs after college - not just intern work, but real honest-to-goodness jobs at companies of all shapes and sizes? These are the questions I want answered as a parent.

You can check out the full list of schools by visiting The ESA.

SOE opens Usability Lab to the development masses

Sony Online Entertainment will now provide in-house “Usability Lab” services to outside companies. it announced today. So just what the hell is a “Usability Lab?” SOE says that it is a disciplined approach to product development that incorporates user centric feedback throughout the process to produce a better end product.

SOE’s Usability Lab was originally created to test the company’s in-house products, with Free Realms being the first major game title to benefit from the process. During the development process Free Realms was vigorously tested in the lab; everything from the tutorial and user interface to the gameplay mechanics were tested and tweaked during the process. This allowed the development team to make necessary changes to the game prior to launch, and made it so that users didn’t have to endure massive changes after the game was in service..

The SOE Usability Lab consists of “top of the line” PCs and PS3 systems, and is able to accommodate projects varied in size and scope - unless they are on the Wii or Xbox 360 - I would assume (they are owned by Sony after all). The services offered include usability testing, heuristic evaluations, focus group testing and feedback, and product evaluations.

For more information about the Usability Lab visit www.soedevservices.com.

GDC Austin opens its doors

The 7th annual Game Developers Conference Austin (or GDC Austin for short) returns to the Austin Convention Center today, kicking off 4 days of sessions focused on the connected gaming space, covering MMOs, virtual worlds and social networking games. New to GDC Austin this year is a lineup of two day of summits centered on Game Writers, Game Audio, iPhone Games and Independent Games development. 

GDC Austin serves up more than 130 lectures, panels, keynotes, and roundtable discussions, presented by 230 industry insiders and an expo floor with more than 80 exhibitors and sponsors. The event ends Friday, September 18.

Speakers include John Smedley, President, Sony Online Entertainment; J. Allen Brack, Production Director, Blizzard Entertainment and Frank Pearce, Co-Founder & Executive Vice President of Product Development, Blizzard Entertainment; and Sebastien de Halleux, COO & Co-Founder, Playfish.

Learn more at www.GDCAustin.com.

BioWare has teamed up with Tor Books to publish Dragon Age: The Calling, a new novel set in the world of Dragon Age: Origins, BioWare’s newest role-playing game franchise set for release in November of this year. Dragon Age: Origins lead writer David Gaider, follows up his debut novel, Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne, with a new adventure set in the dark fantasy universe of Dragon Age: Origins. Dragon Age: The Calling is scheduled to release on October 13, 2009, for $14.99.

Dragon Age: Origins is scheduled to release on November 3, 2009 in North America and November 6, 2009 in Europe for the PC and Xbox 360, with the PS3 version coming later in November. The game is rated “M” for “Mature” by the ESRB mostly because of the sex BioWare has talked about - or at least that’s my guess.

High Voltage Software signs lifetime license for Infernal Engine

High Voltage Software announced today a partnership with Terminal Reality. The two companies signed a long-term agreement with High Voltage Software, who has decided to purchase a lifetime license to use the Infernal Engine. Man, that’s worse than getting married! Here’s why High Voltage pulled the trigger on this one:

“We already have the most advanced Wii technology available. By incorporating some of the best PS3/360 technology, we are able to really push the envelope with our next wave of titles.” said Kerry J. Ganofsky, founder of High Voltage Software.

And there you go. You can learn more about the company by visditing www.high-voltage.com.