Nordic Game Jam 2012, Summary & The immediate aftermath

First of, allow me to apologize for previous post. I was in a rouse created by a combination of alcohol, lack of sleep, and extreme happiness.

So, on wards! Two days have passed since the Jam, and it’s time to look back at this incredible weekend: More than 300 participants from all over the world gathered at ITU, each with different goals for the busy days ahead. Whether they came to meet new friends, rediscover old ones, create something, testing ones limits, learning, create a name for themselves or just to have fun doesn’t matter. What really connected these people was a passion for games in all shapes and variations. Now I am aware that I have been numbering the days wrong, but to me the Jam started already one day early: The pre-party! The party was arranged so that the participants could meet each other at a more relaxed setting than the jam. The Copenhagen Game Collective had set up some of their projects for the people to try out, and special game related drinks where available for the occasion. (If you are still looking for the recipes, you can find them (and more) at the Scrollbar homepage.

The following day, Friday, was a day filled with many interesting talks from a huge variety of people and companies. Lego was here, Manveer Heir from Bioware and Damien Morello from Recoil Games was here, just to mention some. The talks where split into two sessions that ran simultaneously: The Main track and the Indie track. There where people arriving throughout the entire day and when we gathered everyone in one auditorium there simply was not enough room. People where standing around the edges and sitting on the stairs eagerly awaiting the opening speech by none other than the Danish Minister of Culture, Uffe Elbæk. Following the Minister was Manveer Heir from Bioware, who held the keynotes for the Nordic Game Jam. Following that was the Global Game Jam keynotes and the theme for this years competition: The Ouroboros. Then the groups where formed, and the Jamming began!

Saturday was Jammerday! I did not have as much time to walk around and look at projects as I had hoped to since I spent most of my time working on our. It was some time during this day we realized we actually had something worthwhile, and that led directly to us not getting nearly as much sleep this night as the previous. Still, it was a great experience to see the game as it took shape.

Most of us where ready to fall asleep after the award ceremony, but it seems like some still have the energy to party!

Sunday was the day of the finals. A lot of stress of getting everything done in time, and then submitting it correctly. We realized, about half an hour before hand in, that we needed a video, a screenshot and a picture of the team. The last picture was the first to get done, as we all just gathered behind the now busies member of our team. It took about 1.8 second after the photographer said “smile” till she was back to work. Screenshot was easy, as we just laid out a “game in process” and took a picture of it. The video, however, turned out to be a problem. First thing we did was to stop7restart shooting after every subject to reduce the need for editing. That was actually a good idea, until we transferred the files to the computer, and opened them in Windows Movie Maker. I know there are split opinions about WMM, but for situations like this its fast and easy. Or so we thought. Turns out that we filmed in HD, and that WMM automatically converts AVI to WMA. And even with just a few minutes of video, this takes a long time. Well, try again! This time we just ignored potential mistakes, and filmed it all at once. We did not have time to watch it, and it went straight to YouTube. Phew…

The award ceremony. I have to admit that I remember very little from this. Still, with the help of friends and pictures, I’ve managed to compose a list of the winners. Remember folks, you read it here first! (I was planning on “borrowing” the list from the NGJ site, but they haven’t uploaded it yet)

Finalists: 9 finalists where voted onto the list by other participants, while the final 3 where hand-picked by the Jury.
Infinite Swat – Infinite SWAG (Youtube link)
Spelunca – Spelunca Habitante (Youtube link)
Blind Monk – IOU Games (Youtube link)
Switch Naga Go! – Adorable Nagablob (Youtube link)
Boing Wauw (Youtube link)
Who Took The Apple – Laus Fantastic Team (Youtube link)
Eskil’s Adventure – [Placeholder] Studios (Youtube link)
AAAAAAAARRRGGHHH!!!!! – Tim (Youtube link)
Spläsh Dämäge - Team Mothership  (Youtube link)
Mussades – Sugarush (Youtube link)
Mein Panzer – Robocat (Youtube link)
Simon Gustafsson Two And A Fjers Men [Haha] – Redgrim (Youtube link)

Jury’s Choice Awards:
Prize: Diplomas and a stack of beer-tickets for the after party
Jeppe Carlsen from Playdead: Blind Monk – IOU Games (Youtube link)
David McCarthy from GREE: Mussades – Sugarush (Youtube link)
Manveer Heir from Bioware: Simon Gustafsson Two And A Fjers Men [Haha] – Redgrim (Youtube link)
Ole Teglbjærg from Press Play: Boing Wow (I was unable to find the links for this game)

Winner of the Nordic Food Game Competition:
Prize: 10.000 DKK and a trip to the Nordic Food Conference in San Fransisco
jumping Suzy (YouTube link)

Board game competition winners:
Prizes: Stack of board games. Winners received a gift certificate (5000 DKK) for making a professional prototype of their game.
1st: Mussades – Sugarush (Youtube link)
2nd: Blue Print – Hexagonians (Youtube link)
3rd: Ring the Gong – The Brotherhood (Youtube link)
4th: Who Took The Apple – Laus Fantastic Team (Youtube link)

Winners of the Nordic Game Jam 2012
Prizes: T-shirts, diplomas and beer tickets for the after party. 1st place got a trophy.
1st: Simon Gustafsson Two And A Fjers Men [Haha] – Redgrim (Youtube link)
2nd: Spelunca – Spelunca Habitante (Youtube link)
3rd: Who Took The Apple – Laus Fantastic Team (Youtube link)

If you have any of the information I’m missing, please do share. Also, I would love to post your pictures here, should you have any you want to share. (I want to thank Rositsa, Katerina, Tim, Dajana and Deen for helping me with the information/links.)

So, thank you everyone for a fantastic weekend! Hope to see all of you next year. We, Sugarush, will soon start planning our next move towards releasing the game, and I will keep you updated!