Media Design School beats high score at Global Game Jam 2015

Media Design School beats high score at Global Game Jam 2015

29 January 2014

Media Design School managed to beat its own high score by attracting 102 registered participants to take part in this year's Global Game Jam; the largest number of game jammers ever registered at one site in New Zealand.

The Global Game Jam is a 48-hour game jam (or a gathering of game developers, artists, creators and enthusiasts) that takes place simultaneously around the world.

The event, which is organised globally by the International Game Developers Association (IGDA), took place at Media Design School’s central Auckland campus last weekend.

Each year, a theme is revealed at the beginning of the game jam and participants are asked to devise and create their own game – all within the span of two days!

This year’s theme, “What do we do now?” proved to be both challenging and enjoyable for all the Global Game Jam 2015 participants (or “jammers”, as they are commonly called).

Jackson Wong, a second year Media Design School student studying for a Bachelor of Creative Technologies in Game Art, said that it was “a thrill” to put the skills that he had learnt whilst studying at Media Design School to the test.

“The Global Game Jam provided us with a safe environment to make new friends, experiment freely and discover what we're capable of. In such an easygoing atmosphere, everyone was more than happy to put their heads together, share tips and teach each other a thing or two!” said Wong.

“Attending the Global Game Jam is like an annual LAN party or hangout - except you come away with more experience and another game under your belt.”

Lecturer in Game Programming and Global Game Jam Auckland organiser Tece Bayrak was thrilled both by the high rate of attendance and by the calibre of games created over the course of the weekend, describing the event as a “fantastic weekend full of game-making.”

“We were also pleased to be able to reward some of our hard working jammers with a series of prizes, including a brand new PlayStation 4, that were very generously donated by our sponsor, Sony PlayStation New Zealand,” said Bayrak.

The prototypes for the games created by jammers at this year’s Global Game Jam Auckland site can be viewed by visiting the following link: http://globalgamejam.org/2015/jam-sites/media-design-school/games.

About Media Design School
Media Design School is New Zealand’s most-awarded private tertiary institution and distinguished by its close alignment to industry. The Auckland-based school offers specialist degrees for emerging creative industries including Bachelor of Art and Design (3D Animation and Visual Effects), Bachelor of Creative Technologies (Game Art), Bachelor of Software Engineering (Game Programming) and Bachelor of Media Design. A range of foundation diplomas and graduate qualifications are also available. Media Design School is part of Laureate International Universities, the world’s largest private university group with over 80 institutions in 29 countries, including dedicated design schools in San Diego, California, and Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA; Berlin and Hamburg, Germany; and Milan, Italy. For more information, visit www.mediadesignschool.com

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