Prolessor Fribble (left) and Pikkol (right): two of the characters created by students at Dare to be Digital
Who dares wins
Henry Northmore talks to the organisers of Dare to be Digital, the world’s leading student videogame
design competition.
collaltd is one ol' the global
pl;t)t‘l‘s in the vvorld (II.
videogame design. We all knovv about the Iidinhurgh's Rockstar .\'oth and the phenomenal (irum/ 'I'lic/‘I .-I/Hu
l'ranchise. But that's AllISI the tip ol'
the iceberg. Dundee in particular is a hotbed ol‘ talent. Names like Real Time \Vorlds. 'I‘I’I.D. Denki. D_v'namo (iames. Digital (ioldlish and (‘ohorl Studios have been
involved in the developtnent ol'
evervthing l‘rom .IIu/u/ o/‘llonour and III/icon! to mobile gaming and Sk_v Interactive‘s gaming strand. And Icl‘s not huge! (ilasgovv‘s I)(‘ Studios. vvhose clients include Disnev. 'I‘IIQ. Konami and l'hisol't: I5ort William‘s (ienuine (lame vvho vvant to expand gaming hevond its male tan—Inise: Dalkeith's ()uterlight. currentlv vvorking on its lirst product. The Ship; or Stirling’s 'I'ral'lic. vvhich has vvorked on (i'lf-l and State of Ifnu'tjewtcv as vveII as acting as consultants to Atari. BBC. Rockstar and more. liven then vve've harer scratched the .surlace ol‘ the programming and design talent this country has to offer.
So vvhv has Scotland become the I'K's videogame Silicon Valley? Projects .such as :\herta_v l'niversitv‘s Dare to he Digital
success of
might he part ol' the ansvv er. 'I’ut simplv. Dare to he Digital is a project lor students to vvork in real lilie conditions to create a videogame prototvpe.‘ explains project manager .Iackie .\Icl\'en/ie. ()t‘iginallv begun as a project vv ithin Ahertav l'niversitv. over the last live _v'ears it has expanded to include teams l'rom Northern Ireland. lingland. the Republic ol‘ Ireland and ('anada. as \vell as American and (ierman post—grads .sttidving in Scotland. ’I’Iiis _vear it has taken a more international approach. vvith computer graduates l‘rom llong Kong. ('hina and India joining the programme tor the lirst time \‘iil the c‘Xc‘c‘lllch‘K I‘il'csll Talent initiative. ‘\\'e took seven ol‘ these graduates. proven technicians in their ovv it right. and allocated one person to each team. so the} vv ill be assimilated into the teams.‘ explains .\IcI\'en/ie. ‘Because vve are bringing people from dill'erent cultures vvith dil'l'eient perspectives. thev' vvork in a dill‘erent vva_v.'
K Rajesh Rao. ('Ii() ol' leading Indian games companv Dhruva Interactive. vvhich assisted in the selection process. adds. ~IIltII11.\ games industrv is grovving rapidlv and the Dare to he Digital experience is an excellent
\c‘l‘j
iv‘.”
opportunitv l'or talented graduates to test out their ahilitv in a real vvorld env ironment.‘
Perhaps most important is hovv scriouslv Dare to he Digital is taken h} the games industrv. The students have to go through an entire games cvcle. l‘rom pitching a concept to programming. character and art design to marketing. 'I‘hev have ten \\ ceks [H take their concept and make it a realit_v. 'I’he linal results are judged h} a panel. including members ol‘ BBC Scotland and Iilectronic ;\rts.
‘\\'c have people vvorking across the industrv. at Ii.v\. l.ionhead. Rare. liver} companv in Scotland has a Dare graduate.‘ savs \chett/ie. vvith ohviotis pride. ‘In tact people in the industrv have said to me. it graduates have Dare on their (‘\'s. the_v're guaranteed an intervievv. The) don‘t care vv hat degree the} ‘ve got. the) 'II get an interv ievv. Ii.-\ vv ere so impressed that the last three wars ther asked the vvinning
'PEOPLE IN THE INDUSTRY HAVE SAID, IF GRADUATES HAVE DARE
ON THEIR
CVS, THEY'RE GUARANTEED AN INTERVIEW'
:\‘s
teams to come dovv n to I: slttdio.‘
.‘\nd rememher Ii;\ are the biggest videogames conipanv in the vvorld so the_v knovv vvhat the_v‘re talking ahoul. "I‘he l'irst time I took the vv inning three teams dovvn and the} silld It) IIlL'. "lhcsc pitches are better than some ol' the proliessional pitches vv e see ever} da_v". .-\nd the head ol IIR turned to me and said. "so vvho‘s readv lor hiring?" and I stltItIL‘llI} I‘L'ullscd vved turned ()ttl [)L‘lec vv Ilt) vv ct'L' \cl‘}. \‘L‘l'_\ industrv read'v.‘
It's that level ol competence. coupled vvith a deep understanding ol the pt'ttccss ol hovv a \idcogattlc is created that is spavvning the nevv ht‘ccd ol' Scots-trained dcvclopct‘s across the industt'v. We can’t vvait to see vvhat digital vvorlds the} dach tis vv ith next.
The winning teams at this year’s Dare to be Digital will be announced on 18 Aug.
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