Innovation charms Dare judges

Devised to encourage game production skills amongst students, Dare to be Digital is run by the University of Abertay, Dundee.

Three main prizes of £2000 went to three titles. Artisan, a group of Abertay students, won the Most Commercial Potential prize for the DS game Metalheads, which uses magnetism as its main gameplay device.

Elsewhere, Log2n’s mouse gesture-based Flux won Greatest Innovation and Creativity, while Rule of Thumb’s Gal-Ex: Spatial Delivery took home Best Use of Technology.

A full listing of the winners for the student-facing awards is given below.

Richard Leinfellner, Electronic Arts’ executive producer and vice president compared the award ceremony and was chairman of the judges: "It has been great to work with Dare for the fourth year running," he commented. "I am continually impressed with the quality of talent this innovative & unique experience manages to attract. It is by far the best pre-employment proving ground for the interactive entertainment sector."

The winners in full:

• Best International Scholar – Pradeep Dewars of Artisan
• Best Team Leader (£500) – Gavan Acton of Log2n
• Best Artist – Jason Su of Phaigo Interactive
• Best Programmer – Alan McNicholas of Rule of Thumb
• The Virtuoso Prize – Nicholas Koumentakis of Phaigo Interactive
• Best Team Players (£500) – Rule of Thumb
• Most Commercial Potential (£2000) – Artisan (Metalheads)
• Greatest Innovation and Creativity (£2000) – Log2n (Flux)
• Best Use of Technology for Product Delivery (£2000) – Rule of (Gal Ex: Spacial Delivery)
• Best use of Screenwriting (£1000)  – Phaigo Interactive (Spaceport)