The GameX Industry Summit today announced it will host the 2nd Annual Philly Game Jam — the Northeast’s premier game-building event. Co-located with GameX (Games & Media Expo) on October 24-25, 2009, GameX Industry Summit is presented by the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) chapters in New York, New Jersey, Boston, Baltimore and Philadelphia.

The Philly Game Jam is a 48-hour game building marathon where game professionals, students and amateurs alike compete to build new game concepts based on a theme announced at the start of the contest. The event returns in 2009, this time as part of GameX Industry Summit.

Co-hosted by IGDA Philadelphia, Philly Game Jam invites game developers from all over the Northeast to bring together teams of 3 to 10 developers for 48 hours of game building excitement. Game developers bring their own computers and equipment to create original games as teams. Philly Game Jam runs form 12 pm on Friday, October 23 and ends at 12 pm on Sunday, October 25, concluding with a special lunch reception and awards ceremony co-hosted and sponsored by GameDev.net, a featured media partner of GameX Industry Summit.

Philly Game Jam team registration includes complimentary passes to GameX Industry Summit In addition to having the chance to participate in Philly Game Jam, team members can join game industry professionals in attending two days of games-focused lectures, panels, roundtables and keynotes from the best and brightest minds in the games business. Philly Game Jam participants will also be given the opportunity to attend GameX, a game convention supported by a major media sponsor, NBC Local Media in Philadelphia – WCAU TV/NBC 10.

Daniel Hettrick, Philly Game Jam producer and director of Serious Game Solutions at IP Keys in New Jersey, states “The first Philly Game Jam was very much a grass roots event — very low profile and community driven. This year we really have an ideal environment to make this event as grand as it deserves – a large venue, easy access, 24-hour support and an enthusiastic crew ready to take care of us. The GameX Industry Summit allows us to accommodate a much larger number of teams than before. We are thrilled at a chance to create more great games with all of our game developer participants.”

Ian Perera, Chapter Coordinator, Philadelphia IGDA continues, “The first Philly Game Jam was a wonderful introduction to the IGDA organization for many people — myself included. It’s a brilliant way to network, meet other enthusiastic game developers from the region and truly showcase your talent on a national stage.”

Mike Worth, president at Game Music Inc. and show producer of GameX Industry Summit, adds, “The Philly Game Jam is quickly becoming a game developer tradition in this region. We know there’s huge interest in game development collaboration in the Northeast, especially with the involvement of our numerous regional IGDA chapters.”

Team registration for Philly Game Jam costs $61 per team and is available online at www.gamexindustrysummit.com/. Complete details on team sign-up process and site logistics are available online, plus help forums are provided by IGDA Philadelphia. Final team registration must be made by October 10, 2009.

About Philly Game Jam
www.phillygamejam.com/
The Philly Game Jam, Philadelphia’s premier game building event is a 48-hour game building marathon where professionals, students and amateurs alike can compete to build new game concepts based on a theme announced at the start of the contest. The second annual Philly Game Jam is being held in conjunction with the GameX Industry Summit allowing participants unprecedented access to seminars, lectures and networking opportunities with some of the top names in the commercial games industry.

About GameX Industry Summit
www.gamexindustrysummit.com/
GameX Industry Summit is two-day game industry conference presented by the IGDA chapters in New York, New Jersey, Boston, Baltimore and Philadelphia. GameX Industry Summit is co-located at GameX (Games & Media Expo), a national game consumer show and “pop culture” festival produced by Virtual Rush Gaming, designed to draw from local, regional and national audiences of game players, film and TV fans, comic book buffs and tech enthusiasts. Sponsors and partners include GameDev.net, GameRecruiter, GameJobs.com and Hypernia.

For more details regarding the GameX Industry Summit, contact Morgan Ogburn, ThemePark Studios, 512/916-9633 or morgan@themeparkstudios.com.

To learn more about the IGDA chapters in New York, New Jersey, Boston, Baltimore and Philadelphia, please visit www.nycgames.org/, www.njchapter.com/, www.bostonpostmortem.org/, www.igda.org/baltimore and www.igda.org/philly.