Dare to be Digital 2009

Dare to be Digital, Abertay University’s international student computer game design competition, has announced support from some of the top technology providers in the world.

Tens of thousands pounds’ worth of the latest technology in developer hardware and software will be provided by Intel, Autodesk, Adobe, amBX, Emergent Game Technologies, Hansoft, Microsoft and CVSDude during the teams’ 10 week development period at the Dare hothouse in Abertay, starting on 8 June.

Intel are providing Intel® Core™i7 processor based PCs as the Dare development machines and the Intel® Graphics Performance Analyzers.

Autodesk are providing copies of 3ds Max, Maya, MotionBuilder and Mudbox to all Dare participants

Adobe are providing Adobe Creative Suite 4 Master Collection

amBX are providing their amBX hardware, amBX SDK and technical support

Emergent Game Technologies are providing Gamebryo LightSpeed™

Hansoft are providing their collaborative project management tool for agile development.

Microsoft are providing Visual Studio 2008 Professional and XNA 3.0 Game Studio tools and technical support

CVSDude are providing on-demand source control management (SCM) services for all contestants

This news follows the recent announcement that Dare is being supported by several top UK development studios to take part in mentoring the Dare 2009 participants.

Paul Durrant, Director of Business Development at Abertay University said: “We are delighted to have such huge buy in from our technology partners, in addition to the industry support we are receiving from developers. The students taking part in this year’s competition will now have the chance not only to work with some of the best talent in the business, but also to develop their games on industry-standard hardware and software. One of Dare to be Digital's strengths in workplace simulation is the provision of both mentoring by the games industry and studio-standard technology in a close to real world environment.”

Fourteen five-strong teams of students and recent graduates from all over the world will be gathering at Abertay University in Dundee for the competition which culminates in a live final at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival where industry members will choose the three winning teams. Those teams then go onto become the nominees for the BAFTA Ones to Watch Award, which was created through a partnership between Abertay University and BAFTA.

For more information please visit www.daretobedigital.com.

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Notes for Editors

Dare to be Digital 09 – Sponsors

Dare to be Digital is sponsored by many of the world’s leading technology and media companies and organisations including: Intel, Turner Broadcasting, Autodesk, Adobe, amBX, The Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise Tayside, and Dundee City Council.

Dare to be Digital 09 - Develop Accord

Black Rock Studio, Blitz Games Studios, BBC Scotland, Cohort Studios, Denki, Ninja Theory, Rare, Realtime Worlds, Rockstar North, SEGA and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) have all joined the ‘Developer Accord’, to provide mentoring support for this year’s Dare to be Digital teams.

Dare to be Digital is a video games development competition for undergraduates at universities and colleges of art. Teams of five students, usually a mix of artists, programmers and audio specialists, assemble in the development hothouse for 10 weeks to develop a prototype video game, receiving daily support and weekly training sessions from industry specialists.

At the end of the competition, the prototypes are displayed at a special talent showcasing event in Edinburgh, Dare ProtoPlay, alongside the Edinburgh Interactive Festival in August. The general public as well as industry experts get to play and vote for the games. Prizes are then awarded to the winning teams at a special awards ceremony. Later in the year the winning teams attend the BAFTA Video Games Awards to compete for the coveted ‘Ones to Watch’ Award