Major International Games Competition Launches In England

Dare to be Digital | DATE OF ISSUE: MONDAY 14th FEBRUARY 2005

Organisers of Dare to be Digital 2005 head to England this week, on the hunt for the world's brightest games talent who must prove they've got what it takes to make it into the unique games competition, hailed as having a major impact on the global games industry.

For the first time talented students from across England, hoping to enter the highly competitive games sector, will be given the chance to compete in the high profile competition - which provides a unique working experience and is hailed by games industry bible, Develop Magazine, as "the closest you can get to commercial game development."

Students are being asked to attend two special events for a briefing session, where they will hear leading members of the industry talk about the benefits of Dare to the games sector. Organisers expect a large turn out for both events - the first of which is on Wednesday 16th February at 11:30hrs, at Leeds Metropolitan University, followed by an event on Thursday (17th February) at The Old Library, The Custard Factory, Birmingham at 10:00hrs.

Dare 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.

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.

"NESTA is delighted to be involved in this initiative as one of our major objectives is to uncover the very best in creative talent", comments Helen Gresty, Head of Nations and Regions for NESTA (the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts), who will be speaking at the Leeds event. "Dare to be Digital is doing just that and is the most exciting opportunity around for students wishing to make a creative or technical impact on the digital industry."

Supported by some of the biggest names in the games industry, Dare not only has teams from across the UK entering for the first time, but goes global for 2005, with additional support from the Scottish Executive, providing eight scholarship places to talented programming or computer art graduates from Singapore, Hong Kong, China, India, Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand.

"Dare to be Digital has attracted the attention of the top European studios," said Jim Woods, Executive Producer, from leading games firm, Codemasters, who will be speaking to students in Birmingham. "This innovative competition provides an excellent opportunity for budding game developers to demonstrate why they are the future of the industry."

Due to Dare's rising profile in the industry over the last four years and with its growing reputation for producing some of the most promising talent entering the games sector, the competition receives invaluable support from sponsors, Microsoft, NESTA (National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts), BBC Scotland Interactive and NCR - all of whom remain as sponsors for 2005.

Judged by a panel of leading industry experts, Dare's profile is growing every year. "When I was judging the (2004) teams, I judged them against what we produce in-house at Electronic Arts", said Richard Leinfellner, VP of Production, Electronic Arts "The teams were very focussed and really thought about their products. The actual demos were mind-blowing given the time they've had on them. I'm really impressed."

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 closing date for applications is Monday 18th April 2005. Interviews will be held Wednesday 4th May 2005. The competition takes place from June 13th to August 19th at the University of Abertay Dundee.

Press

Stephanie Robertson

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