Games.com hosts its first ever hackathon March 8-9

Most of the time we feature details on what other companies are doing, but on occasion we actually have our own news to share. Such as: This weekend, Games.com has partnered with the NYC Games Forum to host its first-ever hackathon/indie game jam at our NYC offices.

If you have not been schooled about hackathons or game jams, it's an event where you gather a bunch of game makers together, give them a theme and 24 hours to create a game based on that theme. The winners take home a prize, and quite possibly, a prototype for a salable game.

Established game companies have co-opted the idea and have started holding game jams as a way to brainstorm new ideas. PopCap's social game Solitaire Blitz was the product of its periodic PopCamps.

But I digress. For our hackathon this weekend the theme will be Launch, in honor of the Games.com Development Center's impending launch. The "Dev Center," as we fondly call it, will be a way that game developers can distribute their games on AOL / Games.com. For more details on the Dev Center, point your browser to developer.games.com.

And, for more info on the hackathon, check out the official Meetup site: http://www.meetup.com/gaming/events/99743472/. Registration is now closed, but you will be able to play the winning games on Games.com as early as next week.