In less than three weeks, more than 10,000 people from 44 countries will take part in the annual Global Game Jam (GGJ), a two-day event that brings together amateur and professional game developers to prototype and develop an original game over one weekend.

　　The event, run internationally by the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) and its various chapters around the world, will land in New South Wales and Victoria once again this year.

　　In NSW, the GGJ event will be held in two locations from Friday, January 27 until Sunday, January 29--Rosehill Racecourse Expo Centre in Sydney, and the University of Wollongong. In Melbourne, the event will be held during the same weekend at La Trobe University in Bundoora. The event will begin at 5:00 p.m. in each time zone.

　　Ultra Happy Death Virus was voted best game at the 2011 Melbourne Global Game Jam.

　　Participants will work in teams and have a nonstop, 48-hour period to create one game from scratch based on a brief that will be revealed at the start of the competition. Each location will cater food and drinks for the duration of the competition, with presentation and judging of the final games taking place on Sunday afternoon. Intellectual property remains with the creators.

　　In 2011, over 1,500 games were made in 174 locations around the world as part of GGJ.

　　This year, a number of high-profile game developers have signed up to introduce the start of GGJ 2012 in a video presentation, including Gonzalo Frasca, Brenda Garno, John Romero, and Will Wright.

　　Registrations of interest to participate are still being accepted for the Sydney GGJ events. Interested parties can apply here. Participants can register as a team or as an individual.