As far as coding resources, it doesn't have any in and of itself. All the GlobalGameJam is, is an event for people interested in game design to get together and build a game. What they do end up providing just by it's nature is programmers, artists, designers, sound engineers, and anyone else with a skill that can help in making games (and people without relevant skills that are just interested in games). Also, most of the games that come out of a thing like this are very small scale simple games. No real engine unless you decide to use something like Unity to make it. If it's something you are interested in, just sign up on the site (I think registration opens in November), list any skills you have, show up and have fun. As far as reference to a good simple graphics package, check out http://www.unity3d.com/ and http://create.msdn.com/en-US/education/tutorial/2dgame/getting_started/ Both are quite easy to use and have tons of great documentation and tutorials.

I don't know about Ludum Dare, but at the GGJ (at least the site that I go to.) The games are fully original creations, Not some preexisting game that has been adapted to the key words. Sure someone might reuse a physics library that they have written before, or some other module. But that happens in any development. But the games are definitely not premade. A large part of this is due to the fact that most of the team members don't even know each other before the event.

Go to http://globalgamejam.org/ it is the same thing, (a 48 hour design and build a game session) but it is organized globally. I have done it twice now and it is so much fun. You don't need any real experience in game development, but any helps. But, even if you don't know anything about coding, art, music, or anything like that, you can still help out by being a tester, or a gopher. It's free, and very fun. The one coming up is January 27-29 and chances are, there is a site near you. If there isn't, you can start one. All you need to know is on the web site I linked. Have fun, and game on.

http://www.lytro.com/picture_gallery

What he said.

If you have any interest in games then I would suggest Full Sail University in Orlando, FL. If you can afford it without working a job at the same time. The reason is, it is a 40Hr per week school. The Bachelor degree takes 21 months and it is almost exclusively CS. There are a couple of English type classes but they relate directly back to game design and development. And, because it is an accelerated program they are only one month long. So, in my opinion, this is the fastest way to a CS degree. http://www.fullsail.edu/degrees/game-development-bachelors Here is a link to the program.

Why is this a big deal?

I too miss the old story icons. . .

No, the mechanic wouldn't stop you, new people become mechanics all the time. People make their own version of star wars all the time, usually fan tributes or parodies. But, there are other laws to try and stop you from making your own exact version of the original film. (good luck at that anyway) Finally, whatever word you want to put on it, it's still wrong.

Ok, I should have phrased it so that people should get paid for good work. Of course, if no one buys it because it's shoddy work then that is entirely the sellers problem (though stealing it is still wrong). But the excuse that "other people bought it so they still make money" is not a good excuse for stealing it. If everyone thought that way then no one would buy it, and they would quit making things. And the analogy works. It is the same as stealing their time. They spent years working on it, just as the mechanic spent hours fixing your car. And as far as watching him and learning how to fix it. No one is stopping you, just as no one is stopping you from learning how to write and sell your own Movies/Songs/Games.

I don't understand how some people feel that others don't deserve to be paid for their work if it doesn't result in a physical product. Movies and Games take several years of many peoples time to make. You don't believe that time is worth anything? Sure they don't "lose" anything by you making a copy, but they don't make anything either. Thats the point, they invested years of their time to make the product, they should get something out of it.

except the physical DVD itself is worth about $0.25 that $15.00 - $20.00 that it cost is not for the physical disc, it's for the content on that disc, and for all the time and money that went into making it. Stealing a movie/song/game whatever, is the same as if you hired a mechanic to fix your car and the drove off and stiffed him for the payment. Sure, you didn't steal anything "physical" but you did steal the mans time, and that is just as valuable as something physical.

Totally this. http://www.youtube.com/user/robcockerham#p/u/30/FB2_5euShD4/

Drop.io is a good platform. It can be used for either personal storage or for sharing files. As far as I can tell it's secure (though I have not fully verified). The free version you can have up to 100mb per drop, or there are paid versions with more storage. And they do have a "dead mans switch" that you can set the time limit on (up to 1 year).

"I'm sorry but for me it is imperative that if they want to set this 3 year limit" They are not setting a 3 year limit, they are saying that they guarantee that the game will be there for at least 3 years. As they said in the article there is a 99.9% chance that the game will be available much much longer than that but it is conceivable that they will not be able to keep it up after that. Once they get new servers, if the game still runs on those servers the game will continue to be available. I do think though, that considering the possibility that the game "could" go away in 3 years that they should charge less than they do for the games. I would rather see a slightly higher monthly fee for the service and be able to play any game they have available.