A couple things I noticed . . .
Starting off with the beginning of the Jam, it seemed that a standard element of introductions was discussing the technical specs of potential projects. The participants seemed to discuss what program languages and platforms they felt more confident in exploring, rather than discussing game ideas and mechanics. It seems the programmers took charge early on, rather than more design or art-oriented participants. I suppose you can only make a game as complex as your technical team can program, after all.
That didn't come until 5 PM, when the thematic conditions of the Game Jam were introduced. At that point, design became paramount, ALMOST to the point of ignoring technical limitations completely. Almost. You never really forget the technical limitations (as much as some would like to try).
http://globalgamejam.org/
