2005 Dare Teams Announced
DATE OF ISSUE: THURSDAY 19TH MAY 2005
The eight teams who will take part in Dare to be Digital 2005 have been announced by organizers of the international games competition, which kicks off next month.
Following a tough interview selection the teams to make it through include: 'Switched on Entertainment' from Sheffield, Hallam and Leeds Metropolitan, 'Team Play' from Wolverhampton, 'Silver Tongue Software' from North West Institute of Further and Higher Education, Northern Ireland, 'RacXing' from Ballyfermont College of Higher Education and Dundalk Institute of Technology, 'Missing Link' from the University of Abertay, 'Evil Machines' from Glasgow Caledonian and Glasgow School of Art 'Gene Therapy' from the University of Abertay and 'The Frozen North' from Abertay and Duncan of Jordanstone.
A further eight scholarship places will be given to talented programming or computer art graduates from Singapore, Hong Kong, China, India, Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand - supported by funding from the Scottish Executive as part of its "Fresh Talent" initiative which enabled Dare to go global for 2005.
The teams were chosen from a series of interviews, which took place across the UK and Ireland. A record number of students entered Dare to be Digital 2005, with 39 teams prepared to fight it out in a games competition hailed by industry bible, Develop, as "the closest you can get to commercial game development."
Dare to be Digital is a competition open to students from Universities and Art Colleges and is based at the University of Abertay Dundee, which runs the competition in partnership with Scottish Enterprise Tayside and Dundee City Council.
'Dare 2005 is going to be an exciting competition" said judge, Julia Bond, Games Producer for BBC Scotland Interactive. "The quality of entries this year is high with a variety of game concepts ranging from educational software through to hard-core gaming. The addition of an international team member will introduce an exciting dynamic to the competition. It's going to be a fascinating ten weeks and I look forward to seeing the final products."
The eight teams - made up of five students - are asked to submit a concept for a new and original computer game or educational entertainment product. Judges will be looking for the most creative ideas and those that fulfil the greatest market potential. Receiving help from industry specialists and a project fee of £1700, teams who make it through will have only 10 weeks to present a finished digital prototype and business sales document which can be pitched to investors.
New sponsors on board for 2005 include Electronic Arts and Develop - the international trade publication for creators of interactive entertainment software. With its growing reputation for producing some of the most promising talent entering the games sector, the competition continues to receive invaluable support from, Microsoft, NESTA (National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts), BBC Scotland Interactive and NCR.
The eight teams - which will work from Dundee and have access to the cutting edge facilities at Abertay University - will be paid on a weekly basis and supported by experienced industry specialists, who will offer technical, creative and business advice, mentors who are inaccessible to any student outside the Dare project.
Predicted as having "a major impact on the global games industry in the near future", by Richard Leinfellner, VP of Production at Electronic Arts, Dare to be Digital has produced a long line of graduates who are now working for some of the top names in the Electronic Entertainment industry, including EA, Lionhead Studios, Visual Sciences and Real Time Worlds.
The competition takes place from June 13th to August 19th 2005.
Contact:
Dare to be Digital
Jackie Mckenzie,
Dare to be Digital Project Manager
T:01382 308920
M:- 07813951082
Press
Stephanie Robertson
T: 01333 451 122
M: 07919 447 231