Dare to be Digital teams unveiled for 2011 contest
30th May 2011
- 15 teams hand-picked by the computer games industry
- Teams to arrive at University of Abertay Dundee in June
Dare to be Digital today proudly announces the 2011 finalists, following a tough selection process where applications from over 70 universities worldwide were whittled down to just 15 teams.
The final team members come from 16 different universities across China, Denmark, India, the Irish Republic and the UK, with games being developed for iPad, iPhone, Kinect on Xbox 360, PC and Windows Phone 7.
Exceptionally strong entries were judged – and will be mentored – by the computer games industry professionals who belong to Dare’s Developer Accord: Blitz Games Studios, Cobra, Codemasters, Crytek UK, Jagex Games Studio, Outplay Entertainment, Rare, Rockstar North, Ruffian Games and Sony Computer Entertainment.
The world’s leading computer games design competition, which is hosted and run by the University of Abertay Dundee, is now preparing for launch on Monday 13 June.
Andrew Semple, Studio Director at Rockstar North, said: “Dare provides an important platform for fostering and bringing on new talent to the videogames industry. Rockstar is honoured to once again lend its support and provide mentoring to this year’s competitors.”
Karl Hilton, Managing Director of Crytek UK, said: “We are very excited to see so much enthusiasm and talent. Dare to be Digital is a great platform for entrants to develop and show their skills and to interact with the UK videogames industry.”
Kim Blake, Education Liaison at Blitz Games Studios, said: “We’re delighted to once again be supporting Dare to be Digital as part of the Developer Accord. It gives students invaluable experience of working together to develop creative and innovative games and we’re looking forward to supporting the teams over the coming months.”
Richard Hare, co-founder and President of Outplay Entertainment, said: "Dare to be Digital has pioneered the search for new talent, championed the 'indie' games ethos and supported the next generation of developers like no other event in the world.
“The competition is now over a decade old and has been recognised as one of the most valuable experiences a student can gain if they're serious about entering the games industry. We're delighted to be supporting such a unique and challenging event and we look forward to seeing what the teams can produce in such a tight timeframe."
Francesco Genovese, Recruitment Manager at Jagex, said: “Dare to be Digital is a brilliant platform for undergraduates to explore, develop and showcase their talent and we are always delighted to see bright new stars within the videogame development arena emerging. There have been some amazing ideas come out of the competition in the past and we are really excited to see what will be presented this year.”
Dr Louis Natanson, Academic Director of the Institute for Arts, Media and Computer Games at Abertay University, added: “The standard of applicants is extremely high this year. It takes a right game idea, the right team and the right pitch to convince the industry judges.
“The finalists for Dare to be Digital 2011 now have a fantastic opportunity to start their career in computer games development.
“We also like to thank all the games industry judges who have spent their valuable time assessing the applications and will mentor the teams when they arrive at Abertay University in June.”
The teams arrive at Abertay University to start designing their games on Monday 13 June.
Following nine weeks of intense competition, the finished games will go on show to the public and the games industry at the free Dare ProtoPlay computer games festival.
(Ends)
For media enquiries, please contact Chris Wilson (Communications Officer) – T: 01382 308522 M: 07837 250284 E: chris.wilson@abertay.ac.uk
NOTES TO EDITORS
The finalists are:
| Team Name | Game Name | Platform | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ape-y Eyes | Paper Quest | Kinect | UK |
| Crispy Nugget Studios | Galaxy Guardians | Kinect | UK |
| Digital Hazards | Shadow Light | PC | UK |
| Digital Knights | Joust it Out! | Kinect | Denmark |
| Evolved Ape | Dreamweaver | PC | UK |
| Faraway Games | Aida | iPad | UK |
| Fatdog Games | The Tale of Yog | iPad | UK |
| FunBox | Ants the Lost Memories | PC | India |
| Furnace Games | Scorcher | Kinect | UK |
| Necessary Evil | Carne Carne | PC | UK |
| Rebel Donut | Plunder in the Jungle | Windows Phone 7 | UK |
| Swallowtail | Tick Tock Toys | iPad | UK |
| Tea and Techno | Full English Fusion | Windows Phone 7 | UK |
| The Weather Factory | The Balloonist | iPad | Ireland |
| Yummy Tummy | Who is the Lucky Ghost? | iPhone | China |
The universities participating in Dare to be Digital 2011 are:
- City University London
- ICAT (Bangalore)
- Institute Of Technology Carlow
- IT University of Copenhagen
- Liverpool Screen School (Liverpool John Moores University)
- Newcastle University
- Northumbria University
- Norwich University College of the Arts
- Peking University
- Sheffield Hallam University
- University of Abertay Dundee
- University of Central Lancashire
- University of Huddersfield
- University of Ulster
- University of Wales, Newport
- University of the West of Scotland
About Dare to be Digital:
Dare to be Digital is a video game development competition for undergraduates at universities and colleges of art, organised and run by the University of Abertay Dundee.
Teams of student programmers and artists compete in an intensive 'hot-house' development environment over the summer vacation, building fully-functioning prototypes for assessment by industry judges and a public vote at Dare ProtoPlay in August.
The three winning teams from Dare to be Digital each year become the sole nominees for the BAFTA ‘Ones to Watch’ Award.
For more information, please visit http://www.daretobedigital.com
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