This is my first contribution to the group - Mr. Roger M. Christian
Dare to be Digital 2008 The winners of the UK’s premier computer games design competition, who are also nominees for a unique BAFTA for new talent, have been announced at an awards ceremony in Edinburgh. Dare to be Digital, praised by BAFTA as the ‘perfect pathway’ for young talent in the games industry, held its 2008 Awards Ceremony at the Edinburgh International Exhibition Centre at the culmination of the Edinburgh Interactive Festival. The three prizes went to: Blue Skies (Abertay University Dundee) for their game ‘Origamee’, Ctrl_D (Peking University) for ‘VegeMe’ and Dark Matter Design (Wolverhampton University) for ‘Boro-Toro’. Each team takes home £2,500 and a BAFTA nomination for the BAFTA ‘Ones to Watch’ award which will be awarded in March next year. Origamee is set in a 3D pop-up story book themed world incorporating traditional adventure style puzzle solving. Environmental issues such as recycling and pollution are raised subtlety throughout the game. Boro-Toro is a side scrolling platform puzzle game which uses an innovative control system using Wii technology. VegeMe allows the player to grow and style their own world in a race against their opponent Organised and promoted by the University of Abertay Dundee in association with Channel 4, Dare to be Digital this year saw 17 five- strong teams of students haling from Birmingham to Beijing spending the last 10 weeks in host centres across the United Kingdom. Six teams were based at Abertay University (including teams from India and China), four were based at Brighton, three at London, two in Birmingham, and two in Dublin. In conditions as close to real commercial games production as possible, they have been working around the clock to develop fully-functioning prototypes of their game ideas. Earlier this week, the teams went head to head in a unique public showcase, Dare ProtoPlay, staged as part of the Edinburgh Interactive Festival. Over three days around 3000 visitors attended the event, trying out the new games and voting for their favourite. In addition to the public vote, the teams were also put under the unforgiving scrutiny of a panel of junior judges – aged 6-13 years old. Contrived (Edinburgh University) were the team to receive the most public votes, for their game Grav, they won the Audience Award sponsored by Microsoft and a prize of £1500. Grav is set in a ‘retro- futuristic’ environment where robots are your enemies and your surroundings are your best friend. A panel of seventeen judges, made up of representatives from fifteen different companies including Sony, Babel Media, Channel 4 and Sport Interactive, then had the task of picking the three winners based on creativity and innovation, use of technology and market potential. This is the ninth year of Dare to be Digital, which originated at Abertay University. Professor Bernard King CBE, Principal of Abertay said: “As the originators and organisers of Dare to be Digital, Abertay University is extremely proud to be working with all the sponsors and supporters of Dare in promoting the talents, skills and creativity that contribute directly to the success of the computer games sector both in Scotland and across the UK and Ireland. This includes the other universities who joined with Abertay this year to run hosting centres across the UK and Ireland. They are: Birmingham City University, Brighton University, Goldsmiths, University of London and Trinity College Dublin. “It’s success is demonstrated by the very high proportion of previous contestants who have been hired by a whole range of companies such as Electronic Arts, Rare, Denki, Realtime Worlds and Lionhead; others have even set up their own games development companies, and during this year’s contest we were delighted to note the first commercial launch of a game developed in Dare to be Digital.” Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Culture Linda Fabiani said: “The Scottish Government is delighted to provide support of £56,800 to Dare to be Digital which brings the world’s leading games design competition to Scotland showcasing our top class academic institutions and successful games industry. Through Fresh Talent we are committed to attracting and retaining talented international students and Dare provides a great opportunity for these cutting edge experts to see the benefits of studying and living in Scotland”. Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning Fiona Hyslop said: “I’m delighted to see young Scots competing at an international level and collaborating with students from around the world. Dare to be Digital demonstrates the excellent learning environment that Scotland offers to the growing number of international students choosing to come and study in Dundee and throughout Scotland.” Richard Leinfellner CEO of BabelMedia who chaired the judging panel said: “As chairman of the judging panel it is my pleasure to relay that the panel of game industry experts felt the overall standard of this year’s entries exceeded all their expectation both in terms of breadth of subject matter and overall game quality. “In a climate of spiralling costs and product slippages Dare consistently manages to highlight what is achievable by the best new talent looking to enter the games business in just 10 weeks.” Ray Maguire, UK Managing Director of Sony Computer Entertainment and judging panel member said: "Once again, Dare has revealed some true talent. The quality is the best we have ever seen and it is possible to see some of these prototypes becoming commercial. We are delighted to be involved again this year and look forward to revealing the winner of the BAFTA Ones to Watch Award at the British Academy Video Games Awards on in March 2009" London sweeps awards and emerges clear winner as 'European city of the future' London has swept the board and emerged as this year’s number one European location in fDi magazine’s 2008 Cities of the Future shortlist, published by the Financial Times. Cities and regions were asked to provide information in areas such as economic potential, volume and number of investment projects. London scored top marks in the following categories: Top 50 European cities overall: London Top 25 Most attractive for FDI: London Top 10 Major European Cities: London Top 10 Most Business Friendly: London Top 10 Best quality of life: London and Top 10 Best Infrastructure: London. Commenting on the results, Michael Charlton, Chief Executive of Think London, the foreign direct investment agency for London said: “ This is fantastic news for London. We continue to be the number one European destination for foreign direct investment for businesses looking to globalise and this is thanks to key strengths including our top ranking infrastructure and business environment. On top of these individual achievements, we have claimed the biggest prize too - top European City overall - something we can be truly proud of.” Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone said: "London is the international city of the world not only in terms of the business it conducts but also with more nationalities in the capital than any other place on the planet. It is a city that has moved ahead of all others because it has embraced globalisation and is again now opening itself up to the rapidly growing market economies of China and India. It is a city that is on the cutting edge of international technology, finance and business with the greatest choice and life styles available to its citizens of anywhere on earth. At the same time its Climate Change Action Plan is internationally recognised as one of the most advanced in any city in the world. “In short London is leading the world in terms of the key trends at the beginning of the 21st century. This is reflected by this and other surveys that show why internationally London is held in such high regard.” Think London has a proven track record of helping overseas businesses set up, succeed and grow in the capital, and has helped more than 1,000 companies from 43 countries since 1994. MORE AUSTRALIAN STUDENTS AND SCHOLARS BOUND FOR EUROPE More Australian students and scholars are enjoying study, teaching and research opportunities in the European Union thanks to the European Commission's Erasmus Mundus program. For the 2008/2009 academic year, 24 Australian students and 25 Australian scholars have been selected to participate in the Erasmus Mundus Scheme. Erasmus Mundus is a global scheme which aims to enhance the quality of European higher education through continuous worldwide dialogue and cooperation with third countries. It supports the international mobility of scholars and students, through offering scholarships to students to study, and scholars to teach in, selected European Masters Programs. Currently there are 103 Masters Courses to choose from, ranging across all academic disciplines. Australian Institutions are partners in 13 of these courses. Students have been awarded more than A$34,500 per academic year for a maximum of two years, and scholars have been awarded more than A $21,300 for a maximum period of three months Ambassador and Head of Delegation of the European Commission to Australia and New Zealand, Bruno Julien, congratulated all scholarship recipients and said Erasmus Mundus is the opportunity of a lifetime for students and scholars alike to lean more about European cultures, languages and academic systems . “Last year Australia and the European Commission signed a Declaration of Intent to further improve collaboration on education. Initiatives such as the Joint Mobility Projects, co-funded with the Department of Education Employment & Workplace Relations, the Europe Centres and Erasmus Mundus will continue to build and foster relationships in order to uphold strong bonds between the EU and Australia for many years to come,” Ambassador Julien said. He was also pleased to learn that among the many talented recipients this year there are some whose Universities are part of the Europe Centres Network including Macquarie University, Griffith University, Monash University, University of Melbourne, James Cook University, Australian National University, La Trobe University, Murdoch University and University of Newcastle. For the 2008-2009 academic year, 1957 students and 459 scholars were selected for Erasmus Mundus scholarships worldwide. To date, more than 6000 students and more than 1000 teaching staff from across the globe have received an Erasmus Mundus scholarship. This latest selection completes the first phase of Erasmus Mundus. The second phase of Erasmus Mundus (2009-13) is expected to start in 2009. The new phase will include doctoral programmes, increased scholarships for European students and promote further cooperation with higher education institutions worldwide. In addition, the new phase will integrate a mobility scheme for all levels of higher education. For more information on Erasmus Mundus and EU education initiatives, visit our education pages Contacts: Lynne Hunter Adviser Tel +61 2 6271 2742 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Roger Camilleri Senior Adviser - Media & Public Affairs Tel +61 2 6271 2744; mob: 0412 14 21 28 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Official information of the European Commission is available at any time at http://europa.eu/rapid/ --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "google-talk-open" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/google-talk-open?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
