The history of Dare
Dare to be Digital was established by partners Scottish Enterprise Tayside,
Dundee City Council and the University of Abertay Dundee in 2000, when the competition was piloted to students at Abertay. The following year, Dare opened its doors to all students in Scottish Universities and Colleges of Art.
Teams in Dare 2005 were composed of 4 Scottish teams, 1 Irish team, 1 Northern Ireland team, 1 team from Yorkshire and a team from the Midlands. In 2006 the competition comprised 4 teams from Scotland, 1 from Northern Ireland and 1 from Algoma University College in Canada.
Dare 2007 was held in hosting centres in Scotland, England and Northern Ireland. We had 4 Scottish teams, 1 team from India and 1 from China, 4 English teams, 1 Northern Irish team and 1 Irish team. Dare 07 proved to be one of the most exciting and diverse where many things happened 'for the first time'! Firstly, the 2 International teams each comprised 4 team members from their respective countries, with the 5th member of each team being a "Dare Scholar" from Scotland. It was the first year of Dare ProtoPlay, a talent showcasing event in Edinburgh which witnessed the general public playing and voting alongside a panel of industry experts! It was also the first year of Dare's involvement with the BAFTA Video Games Awards, with the 3 winning teams forming the shortlist for a new BAFTA Ones to Watch Award, won by Voodoo Boogy for their rhythmic RPG musical adventure game Ragnarawk.
Dare 2008 was held in hosting centres in Dundee, Birmingham, Dublin, London and Brighton. We had 4 Scottish teams, 1 team from India and 1 from China, 2 from Birmingham, 1 from Ireland, 1 from Northern Ireland, 3 from London and 4 from Brighton.
This was the second year of Dare ProtoPlay, which increased in size and popularity with the public! The 3 winning teams and those who shall form the nominees for the Bafta Ones to Watch Award were Blue Skies (Origamee), Ctrl_D (Vege Me) and DarkMatter Designs (Boro Toro). The ProtoPlay Audience Award went to Contrived for their game Grav. DarkMatter Designs picked up the BAFTA in March 2009.
Dare 2009 was a milestone year as it meant the competition had been running for 10 years! This year the teams were all hosted at Abertay University. There were 5 Scottish teams, 1 team from Wales, 1 team from Canada, 1 team from China, 1 team from India, 2 teams from England, 1 team from Norway, 1 team from Northern Ireland and a team from the Irish Republic. This was Dare ProtoPlay's third and largest year to date, taking up 2 floors of the EICC in Edinburgh. The 3 winning teams and nominees for the BAFTA Ones to Watch Award were Pixel Pirates (Colour Coded), Gentlemen of Fortune (Quick As Thieves) and The Butterflyers (Shrunk!). The ProtoPlay Audience Award went to Five Armed Bandits (Quick As Thieves). The Intel Visual Adrenaline Award went to CottonBall Physics (Hoe down Show down).
Dare has grown from a local competition with local sponsorship to an international competition with multinational sponsorship.
This ethos runs throughout: the students start the competition with ideas and enthusiasm and come out of the competition confident and highly skilled with sought after experience under their belt.
So whats going to happen in 2010? Find out more here.