On Friday, January 29th, Flashpoint Academy students across multiple disciplines came together to join in a worldwide event called the “Global Game Jam 2010″ held at universities and game studios around the world (well over 1000 participants are now working in 38 countries! — these crazy people are known as “jammers”). At Flashpoint’s sound stage in Chicago’s Merchandise Mart we started a 48-hour marathon to build games according to parameters kept secret from our jammers until the launch of the event at Flashpoint at the start of their 48-hour adventure. Jammers at Flashpoint are working in teams of about ten students to build these games by 3 pm on Sunday local time.

This year the theme is “deception” and jammers must include one or more of the following in their games: a man, a plan or a canal. Key outcomes include providing an intense opportunity for jammers to collaborate and work together in “crunch mode” doing what they love doing…making games. This is not a school assignment and it is not a business-driven game studio console game effort. These jammers are the true artists of the future. This weekend will stay for them for the rest of their lives.

We have a few special guest “judges” for the end of the weekend where we will allow the teams an opportunity to present their games to the judges. Teams will be awarded recognition in different areas, but only one game will get trophies for top honors here.

I started the ball rolling at Flashpoint after we had a student team join in with the wonderful people at DePaul who graciously invited them to be a part of the experience there in January of 2009. We would have been there again this year but we had such high interest here that we had to set up our own location. After months of preparation and the efforts and dedication by a really enthusiastic team of staff and faculty…here we are, starting up day 2. I am honored to be directing our location, but I could not have done it without them — and without our really amazing students who surprise me from time to time when they finally realize that they have the potential to do anything in the world they want to do.

2009 was a big year for iPhone apps, seeing the development and release of thousands of mobile applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch. At the beginning of 2010, the editors at The Portable Gamer consulted on the best App Store games and selected bitFLIP as one of the top TPG Picks of 2009.

“BitFLIP has got a unique take on the gem matching casual game that has been so popular for the last several years. By giving each piece two sides, there are multiple ways to create your combos. Add to that the variety of power-ups that are available, and you have a game that is always different. Whether you have a few minutes, or all the in the world, the multiple game modes have an option to fit into your schedule. Honestly though, one of the best things BitFlip has going for it is the music by Robert Clouth, it’s energetic and fun which sets the tone for gameplay well. – Frank Delaney”

bitFLIP was developed by Flashpoint Academy graduates at Metamoorephosis.

An announcement from Simeon Peebler, chair of Flashpoint Academy’s Game Design Department.

I am thrilled to share that two students from the Game Development program at Flashpoint are featured as winners in a recent Game Design Challenge held by one of the industry’s most important websites. First year student Emily Greenquist won as Best Entry, and Terumi Tamaki won an honorable mention. Follow the links to check out the full details!

From the article: “Results from Game Design Challenge: Literary Inspirations”
We have hundreds, even thousands, of years of literature to draw from — yet so little of it has been used for source material for games. Early next year, Electronic Arts will release Dante’s Inferno, a very loose adaptation of part of Dante Alighieri’s epic poem The Divine Comedy, written in the 14th century.

What follows are the best and most original entries we received. Here are our top picks.

Best Entries:

Emily Greenquist, Student, Flashpoint Academy (Year One Student)
“The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.”
- Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Greenquist takes a complex story and weaves it into a solid game concept. The Picture of Dorian Gray, as a horror-themed RPG, puts players in the role of an amoral protagonist who must eventually face the consequences of his actions. Though the experience would be a largely passive one for the player, the depth in narrative promises a rich payoff.

Honorable Mention:

Terumi Tamaki, Romeo and Juliet: Happily Ever After (Year Two Student)

Congratulations to both of these outstanding students on their accomplishment!

The following is a guest post from Game Development student Andrew Prete reflecting upon his experience at Flashpoint Academy’s Jumpstart session with Rich Moskal, director of the Chicago Film Office.

Rich Moskal

My name is Andrew Prete. I attend Flashpoint Academy and I am “a gamer.” I am studying to become the greatest game producer that ever lived. Everything I do revolves around games, from seeing who can eat a giant piece of pizza (with pepperoni) the fastest, to driving down Lake Shore Drive weaving in and out of traffic because I can, or playing head games with my friends. Now, you might be asking yourself, how is this guy a film fanatic? Well, I will tell you.

When I am watching a movie I am emotionally vested from the very beginning. I experience what the character experiences. I laugh, cry and get scared. I am there in the thick of it every step of the way — even when the movie is not so great. I accept their reality and run with it. These things called “motion pictures” give me an escape I could have never imagined. They are my biggest muse and hold much power over me. I don’t criticize or look down upon them; I simply enjoy them like a baby discovers his or her own fingers: with wonderment and awe.

I recently had the pleasure to hear Rich Moskal talk at Flashpoint and give us his point of view of the film industry. Rich Moskal has served as the director of the Chicago Film Office for thirteen years, but before that he was a kid and a student — a student trying to find his way in the world not knowing what to do, say, or think. He attended Loyola for a short time and studied some form of medical mumbo jumbo. Trust me when I say he has done a ton of jobs both in and out of the film industry.

What I connected to most was the kindness and generosity Rich seemed to have. When he works, he does so not only for himself but for those around him. He wants to be the best he can be. Not the best producer or editor or actor. Not the best location scout or writer or camera operator. Not even the best director of the Chicago Film Office. He wants to be the best person he can be — a person who wants not only to see himself succeed but also wants those around him to succeed as well. All the stories he told and the things he accomplished boil down to just one thing: that this person came to Flashpoint, talked with the students, and answered our questions because he wants to see us have the success that we want.

I am thirty-two years old, newly married and have started my life over by coming to Flashpoint. I hope to have the same success that Rich has had but in the game industry.

On Tuesday, June 30th, 2009, Flashpoint Academy was proud to host the first ever IGDA Chicago Demo Night, an evening dedicated to what’s new and upcoming in the world of game development.

Headlined by Robomodo’s Tony Hawk: The Ride and Vogster’s Robocalypse: Beaver Defense, IGDA Demo Night also gave teams from Flashpoint Academy, DePaul University, Columbia College, Chewysoft, Entertaining Games, and others the opportunity to present works-in-progress and recently completed projects to an audience of their peers. Other presenters included Joseph Hocking, Charlie Hoyt, Zooptek, and Flashpoint’s own Simeon Peebler.

Turn out was great, and we’re so happy that everyone arrived early enough to enjoy some snacks and socialize a bit in Flashpoint’s Digital Garage before the presentations began. It was very cool to have so many talented minds together in one place and we’re very excited to participate again next year.

Flashpoint Academy’s own Simeon Peebler is featured in the NBC piece, “iPhone Gold.”

“Years ago [iPhone technology] wasn’t on the radar as game developers, and now look how central it is to our lives,” said Simeon Peebler, who recently published his first application, “Blip Bloink.”

The Tetris-like game costs $.99 per download, of which he gets to keep 70 percent.  Apple keeps the rest.

As the Game Development Chair at Flashpoint Academy, Peebler said the opportunity to make money is what attracts many to the application-building business.

Read the full story here.

I came across this really great piece — it is short — but there is part of it that is in my view rather important for game developers in training and indeed anyone working to prepare for tomorrow’s digital media careers — “…the nature of the game industry [is] one that requires DaVincis — not in the sense that only geniuses of DaVinci’s caliber can succeed, but that like DaVinci, successes in the industry are people with a diverse group of interests who are constantly working to master and refine their singular core skills. This was as DaVinci did with painting throughout his life. He also pointed out that DaVinci was not an overnight success, but a man who began his career with years of apprenticeship. ‘What is presented to us about games and game designers are little sound bite moments that only talk about went right,’ said Daglow. The stories of long years in the trenches, like medieval apprentices had, and public fumbles, strikeouts and errors of judgment and moments of doubt like those borne by professional athletes are also part of a long career — unless, of course, you quit. ‘If you quit,’ Daglow joked, ‘you won’t have a long career. I can prove that to you mathematically.’ He also emphasized the need for team skills…”

For the full piece, click here.

One of our second year game development students, Patrick Mousel, has won yet another game design challenge from the Game Career Guide !

This is an important, highly visible industry competition, and is part of http://www.gamasutra.com, THE central website for the game industry. This work was executed in conjunction with the second year Focused Game Design course lead by Richard Coons.

Recently, a Game Design Challenge asked you to create a fantasy game for game development. Fantasy sports are one of the biggest games around, and what’s interesting is many people don’t consider them games or their players to be gamers.

The heart of fantasy sports lies in tying real-world performance of something (such as an athlete) to points. Players of fantasy sports have to gauge the real world in some way to win with their game, and that’s what the best entries did in response to this challenge.

There are multiple ways to tie real-world performance to a fantasy game in the game industry. One way is to draft actual developers, and they can be rated by history. For example, Shigeru Miyamoto could be rated 10 in game design, where as Manveer Heir may be ranked 1. To get at these ratings, we can consider factors such as titles shipped, years of experience, and quality of titles (based on Metacritic scores, for example), to name a few.

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