Game Jam a success for students and grads
10/1/2013 12:59:50 PM
These fangirls traveled from St. John’s for the Atlanti-Con convention and are dressed as Andorians from Star Trek.
Sixteen students and graduates from College of the North Atlantic’s Video Game Design program participated in the Game Jam as part of the Atlanti-Con festivities this past weekend.
Sixteen students and graduates of College of the North Atlantic’s (CNA) Video Game Design program took part in a game development jam as part of Atlanti-Con this past weekend.
Atlanti-Con 2, a convention which focuses on sci-fi, fantasy, comics, gaming and anime, ran from Saturday, Sept. 28 through Sunday, Sept. 30 in Corner Brook and saw some 1,000 participants come through the doors.
During the convention, CNA once again sponsored the Game Jam, a 48-hour organized event for rapidly prototyping game designs where small teams design a video game based around an overall theme.
“When I found out about Atlanti-Con two years ago I wanted to involve the students with an event,” said Video Game Design instructor, Janice Hertel. “Holding a game jam was a good fit because it generates so much excitement among the students and interest by the public.”
Seven teams participated in the game jam, while students from CNA’s Film and Video Production program captured the process on video.
“I am very proud of the CNA students and grads that participated,” said Hertel. “They proved their creativity and hard work ethic during the event and conducted themselves professionally.”
Games were presented to Atlanti-Con patrons during the closing ceremonies on Sunday from 5-6 p.m by the Video Game Design Instructors Janice Hertel and Greg Wells. Hertel and Wells introduced the games, showed images from the event and briefly explained the process to the audience. Teams then had a chance to present a brief live demo of their game.
“They captivated and engaged the conference audience with live demonstrations of their games during the presentation, which was a highlight of the weekend. The game jam was a huge success.”
After the presentations, patrons were able to interact with the teams and ask questions.
“This was a great way to engage the audience and explain the process of development, and to answer questions.”
The students enrolled in the Video Game Design program spoke highly of the weekend event, and the game jam in particular.
“Game Jam was an invaluable experience,” said second-year student Andrew Cutler. “My group ended up making a game we are really proud of. Special thanks to Janice Hertel for making it possible.”
Hertel says most of the teams plan to continue development on the games now that the Game Developer’s Jam is over.
“The game prototypes are amazing and unique. I look forward to seeing the games develop further.”
Some students are already looking forward to participating next year.
"I was really impressed by the creativity of the games from this year's game jam, as well as the positive and supportive atmosphere of the developers throughout the weekend,” said second-year student Claire Robbins. “I can't wait until next year."
For more information about the Video Game Design program visit www.cna.nl.ca.
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Media Contact:
Glenda McCarthy
Public Relations Specialist
College of the North Atlantic
709.643.6408
glenda.mccarthy@cna.nl.ca