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Humble Bundle Mojam makes nearly $500K for charity
Mojang is everyone's favorite studio to blindly throw money at these days, so it comes as little surprise that the Sweden-based Minecraft creators raised nearly $500K ($458,215.95) this past weekend during a live "game jam." The conceit was that Mojang would arrange a game jam (a "Mojam," if you will) and stream it live across 60 hours, with the resulting product being added to the most recent Humble Indie Bundle, as well as two games developed under similar constraints from Oxeye Game Studio and Wolfire Games.What games did the three studios end up making? Mojang created an Egyptian/Steampunk-themed RTS slash shoot 'em up called "Catacomb Snatch," which we'll refrain from making lurid jokes about, while Oxeye made a game named "Fists of Resistance" and Wolfire made "The Broadside Express."As over 81K bundles were purchased, the three studios collectively raised just under half a million dollars, all of which will be donated to Child's Play, Electronic Frontier Foundation, charity:water, and the American Red Cross. Now, if you'll excuse us, we've got some lurid jokes to make in private.
Capy posts ideas from its internal game jam, and they all sound pretty good
Given the talent of the folks at Capy Software (who've made the excellent Critter Crunch, Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes, and most of the programming behind Sword and Sworcery), you'd expect them to prototype an interesting game in less time than it takes some to develop a full game. You're partially right -- they made seven.All seven games from Capy's internal game jam are now listed over on the company blog, and to a title they all sound pretty good. The Final Act has the player acting on stage to win a battle, Ferret Wings features Captain Farris the Ferret fighting against Adolph Hamster, and Jetman Adventures (above) is described as "a kind of touch screen Panzer Dragoon/Defender hybrid with Fruit Ninja influence." Yes please!Unfortunately, these are just prototypes developed over the two-day period of a game jam, so they're all unfinished (one turn-based tactical game, for example, didn't get any further than having just one unit), and most likely unplayable by the public. But one of these might plant a seed for Capy's next title, and when that flower blossoms we'll be happy to stick our noses right in it.
Ludum Dare hosting anti-SOPA game jam, Notch is in
Wikipedia and a few other sites around the Internet will be going under a blackout on Wednesday to protest SOPA, PIPA, and any other legislation that threatens to shut down parts of the Internet for the interests of a few in power. But shutting down for the day is a less creative way to go about it, so Ludum Dare has a better idea: Why not make some indie games instead? The famous indie game competition is hosting a virtual game jam throughout the day, asking indie game developers (or anyone off from usual work) to make games inspired by the fight against SOPA. There are already a few submitted, and you can make and add your own, or see what other developers have done throughout the day. It's just a freeform jam, so there aren't any real prizes to be had, except that we all get some fun (or crazy, or hastily designed) indie games to play afterwards. The #sopajam hashtag is being used to follow the conversation on Twitter, and at least one major indie developer has taken up the cause himself. Last time Notch jammed on a game it turned into a real Mojang release, so who knows what we'll get this time?
Media Molecule hosting its second annual LBP Game Jam (now with Move)
A year ago, Media Molecule brought in a handful of LittleBigPlanet's most skilled creators to see what they could create using LBP 2's theretofore unreleased toolset. Today, the developer is holding a second "Game Jam" event for 15 of the community's talented architects -- now that they actually know what they're doing with the tools, we can't imagine what kind of supercreations they can throw together. Like, self-aware artificial life using a series of binary logic switches really isn't out of the question here. These lucky Jammers will also have the opportunity to get their hands on the upcoming PlayStation Move compatibility pack. So, we guess they'll be able to make their self-aware artificial intelligence jiggle and dance around using a sphere-tipped wand. Yeah, that's certain to not make it angry.
TUAW's Daily App: Star Fighter X2
Star Fighter X2 is a brand new App Store release that actually started development way back at the 360iDev Game Jam that I attended in April. Developer Dan Byers originally began the game as a tank combat title, but with the help of some other programmers and artist Mike Berg of We Heart Games, it's become Star Fighter X2, a two-player iPad space combat game that has you trying to shoot down real-life opponents with the help of power-ups and health drops. You can check out the video above to see how it works. You just use one touch to control your ship (two, if you turn on the manual aiming), and then it's just a matter of maneuvering in and out of the way to try and grab goodies and/or avoid opposing fire for as long as you can. The first ship to run out of health loses the battle. The game is simple, but the cool graphics and smooth, intuitive gameplay make it worth a look if you've got some ready and willing players around. Plus, it's pretty interesting that the foundation for the title came from that all-night party a few months ago. If you have an iPad and an opponent to shoot at, the game is on the App Store right now for US$1.99.
360iDev: Game Jam creations
Tuesday night at the 360iDev conference in San Jose, around 60 developers gathered in a room on the eBay campus around 8pm as security locked them in for the night (one developer joined the group via Skype -- that's him on the big screen above). Their goal? A game jam. Before 8am the next day, they would put together working prototypes of games, either based on their own ideas, or revolving around the night's theme of "Tiny." Not all developers were there to make new games -- a few were there to work on current projects or offer up their help to others. But up until 2am and beyond (that's about when I chickened out and let them work), the room was full of developers punching away on their keyboards, writing code, designing art, and, well, developing. I originally thought that it was just a lark; a fun project that gave everyone an excuse to spend the night on the eBay campus. But no, this was serious stuff -- apparently at least one App Store game has its origins in past game jams at these conferences. So while developers were just testing their skills at putting their ideas into motion, it's possible that we may see some of these prototypes show up on the App Store eventually as working products. After the break, we'll provide a look at what a few developers were up to at Tuesday's game jam.
India and Russia are down for the Global Game Jam
Saying that their participation "further exemplifies the global nature of the event," Global Game Jam founder Susan Gold has announced that locations in India and Russia will be joining the two-day game creation marathon, which gets underway on January 29. The event will span 38 countries, with the mad dash to make a game in under 48 hours beginning in New Zealand. A complete list of Game Jam locations can be found at the event's site, including the ones in the former Soviet Union -- from which we fully expect to see a Project Natal-compatible Cossack dancing game emerge.
Lid comes off Global Game Jam 2010 on Jan. 29
Grab your mason jars and pectin, because it's time to make another batch of "Mario Mulberry." Oh, right, this is about the IGDA's Global Game Jam. Specifically that the annual event -- during which individuals and teams jam for 48 hours to make a game from scratch -- is right around the corner. In fact, it was announced today that all jamming will be performed between January 29 and 31 at locations in 36 countries. You can check out last year's creations at the Global Game Jam 2010 site, or, should you want to join a jam session, there's a location finder there, too. We know it's not mentioned in the official rules, but we figured you should know that bringing your own vacuum sealing gear is generally frowned upon.
24-hour LittleBigPlanet design at the Parsons School
Parsons The New School For Design is partnering up with SCEA for a 24-hour LittleBigPlanet "Game Jam." The design competition will feature over 120 students from various disciplines. Their task? To create the "most inventive and challenging" game levels within a 24-hour period for LittleBigPlanet. The levels will be judged by a Media Molecule panel and various school faculty. Winning level swill be feautred in a special Parsons section within LittleBigPlanet when it launches in October. "We are thrilled to be partnering with some of the most imaginative talents in the world at Parsons The New School For Design," said Scott Rohde, vice president of Product Development, Worldwide Studios America. "The LittleBigPlanet Game Jam is the perfect way to showcase the original and innovative aspects of LittleBigPlanet as well as the exceptional design abilities of the students at Parsons."We'll be reporting from the event and plan on speaking with a few of the students there. The event takes place from September 21st to 22nd.
