JP
Jonathan Pulsipher
  • Salt Lake City, UT

Jonathan Pulsipher all-aboard for 52-hour Train Jam

2017 Mar 2

Five RIT game design and development students, including Jonathan Pulsipher, are on track for the annual Train Jam, a 52-hour video game building event held on an Amtrak train from Chicago to California.

The graduate students are joining more than 300 game developers Feb. 23-25 as they form teams, conceptualize their ideas and create games. The train's final stop is San Francisco, for the Game Developers Conference (GDC) held Feb. 27-March 3.

Train Jam not only serves as a mode of transportation to GDC, it will allow the students to make connections with a diverse group of gaming professionals from around the world. Games created on the train will also be showcased on the GDC expo floor throughout the week.

Organizers of Train Jam encourage participants to create teams of three to six people, often with people they don't know. Most teams will designate someone to focus on art, someone to create sound and programmers to work on game play mechanics, among other key roles.

Developers will create a game that relates to a broad theme, such as waves or rituals. This year's theme is "Unexpected Anticipation."

RIT's School of Interactive Games and Media (IGM) began reserving seats for students to attend the Train Jam three years ago.

"The tickets for Train Jam generally sell out within a few minutes of the event going live," said Jessica Bayliss, associate professor and associate director of IGM. "The students are able to do so much close networking with these professional game developers and it's important to give students that experience."

RIT's game design and development graduate and undergraduate programs have been ranked among the Princeton Review's list of top schools for video game design for more than five years. Graduates of RIT's game design and development programs have gone on to work at some of the industry's top employers, including Amazon Games, Apple, Bungie Studios, Blizzard Entertainment, EA Games, Epic Games, Google, Konami Gaming Inc., Microsoft, Rockstar Games, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Valve Corporation and Walt Disney Interactive.

More than 100 RIT students, faculty, alumni and staff are traveling to Game Developers Conference 2017, the world's largest professional gaming industry event. To learn more about Train Jam, go to trainjam.com.