Dare ProtoPlay 2010

Friday, 30 July 2010: Dare ProtoPlay, the renowned event which showcases innovation in gaming, has unveiled its 2010 highlights. Headlined by Dare to Be Digital, a leading international computer games competition, the event includes talks, demonstrations and the opportunity to play and vote for the games of the 15 competition finalists.

The three-day gaming extravaganza is a free event organised by the University of Abertay, and takes place from 13th to 15th August at Venue 150 at EICC in Edinburgh. The Dare to Be Digital competition is now in its 11th year.

Sponsored by Turner Broadcasting, in association with its comedy brand Adult Swim, the international competition attracts students from across the globe to take part in a 10-week challenge in an attempt to come up with the next big game. 75 students have 10 weeks to complete their prototypes at the University of Abertay Dare hothouse, at the end of which the teams will showcase their games in front of thousands of visitors at Dare Protoplay, which is part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Dare Protoplay 13-15 August 2010 at Edinburgh International Conference Centre Programmes:

15 new Dare games: created by young talent from across Europe, Asia & America. Creativity, market potential and use of technology are the primary objectives for the young developers, which the audience will see reflected in games produced for iPad, PSP Go, Android Phone, Windows 7 phone, Wii, Xbox and PCs. Visitors can play and vote for their favourite games at Dare ProtoPlay Studio games & technology showcase: Members of the public will be able to play for free: Kinect Sports by Microsoft; Adult Swim by Turner Broadcasting; Realtime Worlds’ APB; Blitz 1UP’s indie games; Denki’s new Xbox 360 game Juggle! alongside Quarrel and Denki Blocks! and LittleBigPlanet, WipEout Pulse, MotorStorm: Pacific Rift by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE).

Intel partnered with SCAN will bring TEAM DIGNITAS, a SCAN/Intel sponsored gaming team to Dare ProtoPlay and the public will be able to play against some of the best e-sports champions on the latest 3XS custom gaming PC’s.

Dare Workshop 13/14/15 August: For serious young participants, Dare ProtoPlay is offering 12-16 year olds the chance to learn the skills of developing a video game in a mock-up studio. A two and a half day workshop partnered with BAFTA will see teenagers working as a team, creating their first title.

Dare ProtoPlay Bamboo: The world’s largest graphic developer Wacom will showcase the Finalists’ work from the Dare with Bamboo competition.

Industry talks: Industry leaders will introduce the audience to the latest technology including Kinect from Microsoft, development tools from Adobe and the most powerful gaming machines from Intel. BAFTA will discuss how to get into the industry and the vital role that education plays through the UK's first Centre for Excellence in Computer Games Education at University of Abertay.

How to get into games: Representatives from Abertay are offering assistance through the Support for Business programme, which will provide prototype grant funding to small games development companies. Students and graduates will be employed to undertake part of the grant-funded projects. There will also be a chance to look at some of the games created by the students from the UK’s first Centre for Excellence in Computer Games Education in University of Abertay.

- Ends -

Press contact:

Stephanie Robertson

Weber Shandwick

T: 07809 665 773

E: srobertson@webershandwick.com

Yinka Akindele

Turner Broadcasting

T: 020 7693 1105

E: yinka.akindele@turner.com

Notes to editors:

About Dare to be Digital

Dare to be Digital is organised and run by University of Abertay, with sponsorship from Turner Broadcasting, Intel, Wacom, NCR, the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise and Dundee City Council. The teams are mentored by prominent video games studios including BBC, Blitz Games Studios, Cohort, Rare, Realtime Worlds, Rockstar North, SEGA, Sony and Ubisoft. Technology support is provided by Adobe, Autodesk, Codesion, Crytek, Emergent, Hansoft and Sony. Teams of student programmers and artists compete in a 10-week 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, scheduled for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August.

The three winning teams from Dare to be Digital each year become the sole nominees for the BAFTA “Ones to Watch” Award, and the 2009 Dare and BAFTA winning team also won a BAFTA Scotland New Talent Award.

About Adult Swim

Operated by media giant Turner Broadcasting, Adult Swim is a cutting-edge comedy brand aimed at adults 18-34. The hub of Adult Swim content in the UK is online portal www.adultswim.co.uk, which features both long and short form content, games and social networking extensions. A TV deal was struck in June 2010 to showcase some of the best Adult Swim shows on FX, as part of the channel’s Saturday night comedy line-up. Adult Swim programming is non-conformist and irreverent, with a comedy soul. Shows such as Robot Chicken and Aqua Teen Hunger Force have earned the brand a discerning and loyal following in the UK.

Adult Swim is available in the UK on www.youtube.comadultswimuk, Playstation Home and iTunes, via mobile on Mobix, Sky mobile and Orange Mobile, and on VoD services BT Vision and LoveFilm. It can also be found on social networking sites www.facebook.com/adultswimuk, www.fxuk.com/shows/adult-swim/ and www.twitter.com/AdultSwimUK. Additionally there is a DVD distribution deal in place with Revolver.