Fukushima Game Jam to stimulate development following disaster

IGDA Japan is organising the Fukushima Game Jam to help stimulate game development following the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan last year.

The Game Jam is organised in conjunction with 9Leap, a student development contest, and will take place from August 27 to 28 in Minami-Souma city.

The event is modeled on the Global Game Jam hosted by the IGDA each year, in which development teams are given a theme and asked to create a game in a limited amount of time.

"Fukushima faces great difficulties in its future. Not only are the scars from the earthquake and tsunami deep and fresh, but the effects of the nuclear disaster will be long felt as well," a statement released by IGDA Japan read.

"Game developers will tour the area and build a game together with students from the Tohoku area. They will create a game in only 30 hours, testing their creativity, talent, and abilities."

The event will be broadcast live via Ustream, with contributions from Q-Entertainment's Tetsuya Mizuguchi. The games produced during the competition will be available for download online.

This is just the latest in a series of efforts to help the Japanese games industry, which was seriously affected by a series of disasters earlier this year.