As you know we love our documentaries here at Operation Reality, and of course we also love our gaming, combine the two and well, we’ve got something of real interest. This is why we’re pleased to hear that Headlight Pictures is doing just that in an upcoming documentary series they’re calling Crunchtime. It will apparently be a three-part series which which will first air on Sunday 27th, at 7:25AM, on Channel 4 (UK), and it will examine the Dare To Be Digital video game development competition run by the University of Abertay, Dundee. The other two episodes will air across the two following Sunday’s and will continue to detail and record all the ups and downs facing the students participating in the competition to build the award winning video game.
Individual students participating in the competition will receive a £150 GBP weekly allowance, and their 5 member teams will receive £200 GBP for hardware etc. Accommodation during the duration will also be covered free of charge to the participants. Cash prizes, a BAFTA Ones To Watch award up for grabs, and industry networking and experience for your CV, what more could you ask for if you’re a aspiring young games developer. The deadline to apply is April 3rd 2011, which as of this blog posting leaves just a little over a weeks time. To apply, all you got to do is get a team of 5 students from a university or art college and submit your application and information at the Dare to be Digital website. If applying from outside the UK they advise you to check the web site first for any exceptions that might relate to your country.
We will try to come up with a follow up piece for this article and if the documentary turns out to be any good, you may just have the privilege of seeing it showcased on OpReal Documentaries alongside other quality documentaries. So with that, Operation Reality would simply like to wish all participants in the competition good luck and of course, a ton of fun! We’ll leave you now with the Dare 2011 Intro video presented by fromer DARE winner Matt Bett, now a Games Engineering Lecturer at Abertay, University. As their slogan says, “Design, Build, Play!”.