The International Game Developers Association (IGDA), in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, has announced it is organizing game jams in at least six major U.S. cities on the weekend of May 21st to harness the creative and technical capabilities of video game developers in support of the Apps for Healthy Kids competition (www.appsforhealthykids.com).
The game jams will draw game developers, graphic artists, and local youth together to brainstorm ideas and produce video game prototypes from scratch in just 48 hours. The prototypes will be displayed at the sixth annual Games for Health Conference, to be held May 26-27, 2010 in Boston, further refined, and submitted to the Apps for Healthy Kids competition before the June 30th deadline.
The game jams, hosted by the IGDA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, are a joint initiative of the Games for Health Project and Health Games Research. The Games for Health Project (www.gamesforhealth.org) works to build the overall field of games for health through a variety of activities including the annual Games for Health Conference, which brings together game developers, technology experts, health professionals, researchers, policy-makers and investors. The Health Games Research national program (www.healthgamesresearch.org), headquartered at the University of California, Santa Barbara, provides resources and scientific leadership to the field and supports 21 research projects across the U.S., all focusing on the research and design of effective health games aimed at improving players' physical activity and or their prevention and self-care behaviors. Both Games for Health and Health Games Research are supported the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Pioneer Portfolio, which seeks out innovative ideas that may lead to significant breakthroughs in the future of health and health care.
There are jams working to be organized in Pittsburgh, Albany, Boston, Atlanta, San Francisco, etc. If you want to participate visit the web site at http://www.healthgameschallenge.org and/or send an email to info@healthgameschallenge.org.
