The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Caird Hall, Dundee August 10 - 12
WHERE MIGHT you find a three-day video games festival this weekend that’s absolutely free? The answer is Dundee: Scotland’s game-making capital. Now in its second year in the city, Dare ProtoPlay was originally part of Edinburgh’s Festival Fringe but last year it came “home” to Dundee and witnessed a record-breaking attendance of 9,000 visitors.
It is Scotland’s biggest free video gaming event with more than 40 games waiting to be played and also includes education programmes for people looking for a career in the industry, or tips on how to become a games developer. ProtoPlay also sees the climax of internationally-renowned video games design competition Dare to be Digital, which is hosted and run by the University of Abertay, Dundee.
For the past nine weeks, 15 teams consisting of five students based at the university have been battling it out to design brand new computer games that go on show to the public this weekend. The 75 finalists have been mentored by members of Dare’s Developer Accord, including respected games companies with global reach such as Blitz Games Studios, Codemasters, Cobra Mobile, Denki, Digital Goldfish, Ruffian Games, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and Ubisoft.
Nations represented at Dare to be Digital 2012 include China, England, Finland, India, Ireland, Israel, Scotland and Spain and games have been developed for a number of devices such as: Android tablet, iPad, iPhone, PC, PlayStation Vita, Smart Goggles, Xbox 360, Xbox Kinect and Windows Phone 7. The themes vary from a “socially misfit snail” that produces too much slime, manic moustache grooming, outlaw bikers and helping a crash-landed astronaut return to his home planet, to having the power to manipulate gravity.
Over the weekend, the games will be assessed by industry judges as well as members of the public and the top three teams will be announced on Sunday. These will go on to compete for the exclusive BAFTA Ones to Watch award, a category created specifically for Dare to be Digital that will be announced at a ceremony early next year.
The event takes place in Caird Hall but will also spill out into the City Square, where for the first time a large marquee will host the 15 student games.
Inside the Caird Hall will be games made by independent games companies, taking part in the first Dare Indie Fest, designed to help “indies” become more successful.
An industry conference will run alongside the festival, sharing the expertise of the BBC, Channel 4 and games companies on how to run a successful business. BAFTA is also hosting its Games Question Time in Dundee for the first time as part of the conference. Tickets for this must be purchased.
Nikita Bewley (21) from Northern Ireland is preparing for her fourth year studying at Abertay. She is in team Dapper Hat Games which is behind iPad game Mr Montgomery’s Debonair Facial Hair, set in a wacky barber shop. She said one of the team members had had the game idea since his first year at Abertay and Dare had given them the opportunity to develop it.
“We thought this would be a game a lot of people would like – even casual gamers who don’t play much. We also wanted to make sure it was a game someone could pick up for five minutes and enjoy it, but not feel you had to keep on playing it! It is great to get feedback from industry mentors who say your game looks good. All the contacts we have made have been so nice.”
Meanwhile, Dave Taylor (22) from Stirling graduated from his game design course atAbertay in June. His team Gastank Games has been working on Interstate Outlaws, which is a motorcycle racing game for Kinect that needs two players.
He said: “The hook for our game is we want it to be really competitive and the main goal is to pick up points. We know there will be a lot of kids at ProtoPlay so we made sure it wasn’t violent.
“The experience has been incredible and we have had nine weeks to make a game we wanted to make and to put our personality into the game.”
Paul Durrant, director of business development at the University of Abertay, will be one of the judges this weekend. He said the striking thing about Dare is the way the professionalism of competitors increases every year.
“It’s been running for a long time now and as teams in successive years see the focus and profile they get from being in the competition, every new cohort comes along and takes it more seriously and more professionally.
“One of the good things about judging when ProtoPlay is on is you see the consumer’s reaction because the games are being played in front of you and you can see people enjoying them and being engaged. “There’s really no substitute for that. “The other exciting thing we have is the Indie Festival and the games available for people to play range from the Dare teams to professional and professional independent developers.
“The Dare participants become highly employable because they have taken part in the event and the industry recognises this.
“This is also becoming a big cultural event and it has already put Dundee on the map.
“I think over the next few years we can hope for it to grow significantly and there is potential for it to become an international event.”
The event begins at 10am every day. For more information visit:
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