Det började med Ridge Racer till Playstation (1). Vi kunde lira Galaga medan själva racingspelet laddades in i konsolens arbetsminne och en briljant idé var född. Namco lyckades snabbt-som-attan söka om patent för idén vilket de fick igenom kort därefter. Sedan dess, i 20 års tid, har Namco fått betalt för varje gång någon annan spelutvecklare valt att stoppa in minispel under tiden som titeln i fråga laddar. Något som det snart blir slut med. Patentet löper ut, släpps fritt. Många andra spelutvecklare över hela världen kommer att fira att Namco blir av med sitt patent genom att hålla ett Loading Screen Jam där alla utvecklar minispel under tiden som det laddar...
"US patent 5718632 filed on November 27, 1995 by Namco, forbids the use of interactive loading screens. This patent has held back a ton of creative ideas for so long, and i- what's that you say? Patents expire after 20 years? 1995, 1996, 1997... woah! It's 2015! We're in the clear! Let's stick it to the man! Loading Screen Jam's "theme" is creating interactive loading screens (or anything that infringes on the abstract) and defiling the patent that held back game design for so many years! Create games/interactive material based on infringing the now-defunct patent in any way possible!
The games/loading screens made can either be games based around interactive loading, or a game that happens to have an interactive loading screen. The judging will be based on the loading screens themselves (and/or how they tie into your game), subtext/commentary on patents/trademarks that hold back design, and sheer disrespect to the original patent. I'd suggest a game to play while you wait for the jam to "load", but that could get you in some serious trouble with Namco! See you in November, enjoy staring at this screen until then..." Länk till Loading Screen Jam.
