I just took part in a Code-a-thon at the Mashery in San Francisco this last weekend. The theme was "Changing health habits for the better" (aka eliminating bad habits or encouraging good habits). There were main prizes and sponsor prizes (for using new APIs in interesting ways). Out of 23 teams, my team took second place overall ($3,000 and a "deep dive" monetization strategy meeting if we want to go forward with the app) and first place in the FoodEssentials sponsor LabelAPI usage (Kindle Fire HD for each team member).

I had a great time, and I wanted to invite anyone in the San Francisco Bay Area to the next Code-a-thon / Hack-a-thon I'll be at. This one is based around a new UIKit in iOS 6, and will be held at VonChurch HQ (VonChurch is a recruiting company) during a networking event (which anyone looking for work should be going to anyway).

The details are here:
http://www.meetup.com/sanfranciscoios/events/66175242/

There's also going to be a GameJam in the city this weekend which I'll be at:
http://www.meetup.com/Hackathons/events/85887452/

GDC 2012 begins in 7 days. I was wondering if any of you go or have gone to GDC, and whether you'll be going this year? I try to go every year, and this year I'll be there all week. Since I live in the Bay Area now, it's just a trip on the train in the morning to get there every day, so it's much less hassle than usual.

I'll be trying to get a few people to give me directions on which way my newest project should go. I've got a basic engine built and some gameplay in, but it's all very generic and I need to decide on a hook for the game.

I'll be a Conference Associate this year, meaning I'll be a volunteer working for the conference. If you've never been to GDC, it's a great way to get a free full access pass and meet the speakers and the people behind the conference. You basically trade 20 hours of work for more networking in the industry than you can shake a stick at. This will be my second year of it and it's indescribable. It's too late to sign up for it this year for anyone interested, but you should all look into it. Registration will probably open in September for next year's CA program.

If anyone wants to meet up and talk about game development stuff during GDC, just drop me a line. I've been in the industry three years now and I'm doing pretty well so I should be able to help steer any aspiring kids in the right direction. If you bring me something to show like your art or game prototypes, I'll give you an honest review and tell you what you need to do to them to get hired for your first job.

As some of you may know, I left 64Digits for the most part about three years ago during college. I had a lot to do in a short amount of time and it just fell to the wayside in the midst of the life story blog trend. Since then I graduated directly into the height of the recession (September '08) and ended up taking a job with Petroglyph Games in Las Vegas. I went from there to Bally Technologies to work on embedded systems in the digital casino games industry. From there I went on to G2 Game Design, doing design and math work alongside programming prototypes and tools.

I've been in Las Vegas too long (not just for social reasons but also because I don't want to be trapped in digital casino games), and just this Friday I accepted a great job in San Francisco. I'll be moving within the next week and a half and starting before the end of the month, so it's all a big rush to get everything ready for my move and find a proper place to move or a place to stay until I find a proper place to move. I have it all under control, so I'm not looking for help here, it's just worth mentioning that I'm a bit scared of the move, since the last move was for my first job and this is for my first big industry jump (big pay bump, very different / strange city).

I just wanted to let you all know that I'll be in San Francisco working for BigPoint Games and although I don't really come here often, I am still interested in meeting anyone who would like to hang out once I'm situated in the city, and possible anyone looking to learn C/C++ or needing advice on entering the industry. So if anyone is interested, shoot me a message or leave a comment.

Hey guys. I'm sure a few of you have heard of this but just in case you haven't:

Indie Game: The Movie is in the final stages of production and they just released an official trailer. I'm one of the official backers of the movie and I just wanted to share it with you guys. It follows the creators of Braid, Fez, and Super Meat Boy throughout production and their psychological states during production as well as what independent gaming means to them and why they do what they do. It's really looking great so far and I think you all should check out the trailer on their site if you have some time today.

Official Site:
http://www.indiegamethemovie.com/

Trailer on Vimeo:
http://vimeo.com/25268139