First Game Jam hosted by Game Developers Guild

Holly McCoach/Staff Writer

Playing video games isn’t the solitary activity it once was. Within just the past decade, players across the globe have united thanks to the rapidly growing field of technology.

With programs such as Playstation Network and Xbox, gamers have the ability to communicate with one another instantly, through webcam and a connected microphone.

Whether it is to plan out digital warfare in the latest Call of Duty game or just to chat, people can socialize at a new level through video games.

This weekend in Miami, artists, musicians, engineers, designers, programmers, and even game enthusiasts have the chance to partake in a worldwide 48 hour phenomenon this weekend. The cost? Just an interest in video games, and a probably a few Red Bulls.

Hosted by the Game Developers Guild, the Global Game Jam will be held in Miami for the first time. Frank Hernandez, a third year Computer Science major, helped put together the Game Developers Guild in December 2011, in hopes to gather game enthusiasts. Hernandez, along with other individuals created this group in order to combine the talents of many. After their hopes to travel to the Global Game Jam in Orlando didn’t work out, the idea of hosting it in Miami struck Hernandez.

This computer programming event occurs in over 44 countries across the world, which allows game developers to produce videos games over the span of the weekend.

As gamers collaborate to produce a work of art in a few short days, each station in the world will be provided with live streaming to show their progress to the rest of the Jam sites.

There is no competition here: each Jam site’s goal is to generate entertainment for onlookers and the developers beyond the screens. Free of charge, anyone and everyone are welcome to attend this event held at the University.

“We don’t want money. We don’t want [people] to feel like we are getting money out of this,” says Hernandez.

To spread the word and get support, Hernandez contacted the School of Music, the School of Architecture, and even Panther Dining. According to Hernandez, the hardest ordeal of the plan was finding a place to host the event, but thanks to support from the Collaborative Open Innovation Lab, the Jam has the ability to use a handful of rooms at the College of Engineering and Computing.

The Jam will provide computers to registered participants, speeches by guests from the game industry, and the ability for students and other interested guests to pass by and watch the entire process.

Registered guests are divided into teams based on level, and are separated into rooms to start creating their own unique game. Each person has a role, and together they work adamantly for two days to create a work of art.

As for the Guild, anyone who has an interest in joining is free to sign up. A lack of programming skills will not keep you out of the group; in fact, Hernandez encourages musicians and artists to join, due to the fact that the existing members are the ones that have an upper hand on programming.

One of the purposes of the Guild is to bring together students from different departments, such as computer engineering, architecture, music, and so forth. All these elements have to come together to create the escapist environment necessary for a good game, so many different kinds of expertises are required.

“We are looking [to support] what you do. You come in, you produce, and you go to the next thing,” states Hernandez.

The Global Game Jam is not the only event gamer enthusiasts can look forward to this year. The Guild is planning to develop a local game jam that should be hosted sometime between Summer A and Summer B at the University. By the end of the summer, the collaboration of the Guild, the Miami Global Game Jam, and the local game jam would have been developed within a span of less than a year, any gamer’s or tech aficionado’s fantasy.

“It’s a dream, but you sometimes you cannot be afraid to dream,” says Hernandez, who hopes to have the Guild grow bigger at the university, even after he graduates next year.

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