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Moscow and Atlanta Join Forces in Video Game Quest

Video Game Jam to Focus on Emotional Health and Wellness of Teenagers

Atlanta, GA, USA, June 18, 2014:  Artists, game designers, and developers in Atlanta and Moscow will work together to assist teenagers with emotional health and wellness issues the weekend of June 20^th – 22^nd, 2014. The 2014 Jennifer Ann’s Group Game Jam is presented by Jennifer Ann’s Group, Southern Polytechnic State University, Teplitsa of Social Technologies, and Georgia Game Developers Association.

A game jam is a gathering of people for the purpose of planning, designing, and creating one or more video games within a short span of time, usually between 24 and 48 hours. Game jams are generally made up of game programmers, game designers, artists, composers, and others who are interested in video game development and design.

Since 2008 Jennifer Ann’s Group has produced video games to prevent teen dating violence. The 2014 Jennifer Ann’s Group Game Jam is the charity’s first game jam and will be working with the participants to develop video games to assist adolescents with issues like bullying, digital abuse, depression, dating violence, and suicide prevention.

The game jam will be held at Southern Polytechnic State University (SPSU) in metro Atlanta and Teplitsa of Social Technologies in Moscow. The teams will collaborate via Skype to talk with some of the world’s leading experts on emotional health issues and to discuss game design ideas during the 48 hours of the game jam.

The game jam will kickoff 6PM on June 20^th at SPSU. Jennifer Ann’s Group will begin the game jam with an announcement of the winners of their annual game design challenge which began earlier this year on February 15^th. This will be followed by a discussion about the health issues facing teenagers and the rules of the game jam. The game jam will conclude 5PM on Sunday, June 22^ndwith prizes and awards for the winning games.

To register for the jam, go to:

http://stopTDV.com/2014-summer-game-jam.htm (English)

http://te-st.ru/2014/06/09/game-jam-2014/ (Russian)

Organised by Jennifer Ann’s Group.