USW Games Design Students – Team Unorthobox competing at Dare to be Digital 2014

Posted: July 14, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Events, Student Successes | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Team Unorthobox from the USW Computer Games Design course have got themselves a place on this year’s highly acclaimed Dare to be Digital competition.

Dare to be Digital describes itself as a video games development competition for extremely talented students at Universities and Colleges of Art. For the competition, teams of five students – usually a mix of artists, programmers and audio – develop a prototype video game, receiving mentoring from industry.

Team Unorthobox created AIIY, a playable fast-paced, 2D platform video game that is entirely focused on cooperation and teamwork, where every personal goal achieved unifies the team.

Lead Designer and Computer Games Design student Joey Richards says: “We couldn’t be more excited to take part. The team has been working hard for months, so it’s so rewarding to see that work pay off. It actually feels unreal, seeing it all coming together.”

At the end of the competition, the prototypes are displayed at talent showcase event Dare ProtoPlay, where the general public and industry experts will get to play the games and vote for the winner.

To find out more and keep up with progress check out the Team Unorthobox Blog.

Team Unorthobox

Joey Richards – Lead designer (USW)
Adam Curtis – Animator and designer (USW)
Aaron Moss – Level designer (USW)
Jim Havard – Sound designer (USW)
Danny Quarmby – Programmer (University of Hull)

Mush is released

Posted: July 4, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Alumni, Press, Releases | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

It gives us great pleasure to announce that Newport alumni Kate Killick and Henry Hoffman (Angry Mango) are releasing Mush today, it is avilable to download now from the Windows Phone Marketplace.

About Mush
Discover the emotions in this award-winning exclusive to Windows Live, a quirky puzzle adventure that lets you change how your character feels! Touch, tilt, rotate and shake up Mush to alter his mood. Gain new abilities, evade beasties and solve puzzles as you tumble through unique and beautiful worlds!

Henry has been talking to the Guardian Games Blog about the experience of developing Mush over the last three years, take a look at the article ‘Five key lessons for every young game developer‘.

Kate has been also chatting with the BBC Radio Wales Breakfast Show about the experience, skip to 22:57

There is a great article about Mush on Hookshot Inc.

For more information and to see lots of lovely screenshots go to the Mush website and follow Angry Mango on Twitter.

Mush will be released on July 4th

Posted: June 28, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Alumni, Awards, Releases | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

We are very pleased to announce that Mush by Angry Mango will be available for Windows Phone on the Xbox Live Marketplace on the 4th July 2012.

About Mush
Discover the emotions in this award-winning exclusive to Windows Live, a quirky puzzle adventure that lets you change how your character feels! Touch, tilt, rotate and shake up Mush to alter his mood. Gain new abilities, evade beasties and solve puzzles as you tumble through unique and beautiful worlds!

  • Touch, tilt and shake the phone to change your character’s emotions!
  • Each emotion unlocks a brand new ability!
  • Stunningly textured artwork, cute characters and physics based puzzles!
  • 20 Xbox LIVE Achievements!
  • Trophies to earn!
  • Leaderboards!

Evolution of Mush

Mush evolutionimage copyright Angry Mango

For more information and to see lots of lovely screenshots go to the Mush website and follow Angry Mango on Twitter.

Mush demo gets shown off at E3

Posted: June 11, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Alumni, Events, Student Successes | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dare to be Digital and BAFTA Cymru winner Mush for XBOX Live on Windows Phone has been shown off by Microsoft at E3.

Hopefully we will see Mush released in the coming weeks.

More on WPCentral.com.

Mush is featured in the Xbox LIVE on Windows Phone Gamescom Trailer

Posted: August 19, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Alumni, Student Successes | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Great news for Angry Mango as their game Mush is featured in the Xbox LIVE on Windows Phone Gamescom Trailer.

So keep a look out for Mush as it will be available soon.

The Newport Dare to be Digital teams talk to Develop Online

Posted: August 10, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Events, Student Successes | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Both teams from the University of Wales, Newport – Rebel Donut & Tea and Techno have been speaking to Develop Online about their experiences at this year’s Dare to be Digital competition.

Rebel Donut Article – Plunder in the Jungle Game Trailer
Team and Techno Article – Full English Fusion Game Trailer

Their finished games can be seen at Dare ProtoPlay from the 12-14 August in the Caird Hall and City Square of Dundee.

Both games have also been noticed by the Official Windows Phone 7 UK blog My Kind of Phone. Angry Mango’s  Mush (which was one of the winners at last year’s Dare to Be Digital competition) also get a mention in the article.

Two Newport teams at Dare to be Digital 2011

Posted: June 3, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Student Successes | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

This year two teams from Newport have been selected for the Dare to be Digital 2011 finals competition.

Rebel Donut (Toby Clements, Stuart Cooper, Rhys Thomas, Thomas Wood and Stephen Mccrann) , with  Plunder in the Jungle for Windows Phone 7.
Rebel Donut on Twitter
Rebel Donut Blog
Rebel Donut Official Dare to be Digital Page

Tea and Techno (Daisy Spiers, Jasmine Moore, Megan Goodwin, Matthew Jackson & David), with Full English Fusion for Windows Phone 7.
Tea & Techno on Twitter
Tea and Techno Facebook Blog
Tea and Techno Official Dare to be Digital Page
Tea and Techno YouTube Channel

Hopefully this year’s temas will follow in the footsteps of last years Newport team Angry Mango, who went on to win the competition and a BAFTA Cymru Award for their game Mush.

Dare to be Digital 2011

Dare to be Digital is an annual video games development competition. Teams of 5 students, usually a mix of artists, programmers and audio, assemble at Abertay University for 9 weeks during June to August to develop a prototype video game.

Following the 9 weeks of intense competition, all of the finished games will go on show to the public and the games industry at the Dare ProtoPlay computer games festival in Dundee from 12-14 August.

This year the finalist teams come from 16 different universities across China, Denmark, India, the Irish Republic and the UK, with games being developed for iPad, iPhone, Kinect on Xbox 360, PC and Windows Phone 7.

The exceptionally strong entries were judged  and will be mentored during the competition by computer games industry professionals from: Blitz Games Studios, Cobra, Codemasters, Crytek UK, Jagex Games Studio, Outplay Entertainment, Rare, Rockstar North,Ruffian Games and Sony Computer Entertainment.

Newport students talk about games design on C4’s Crunchtime

Posted: May 25, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Student Successes | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Our students Kate Killick & Henry Hoffman  have been busy discussing their experience at Dare To Be Digital 2010, on Channel 4’s Crunchtime. Kate & Henry a part of Team Angry Mango, went on to win Dare to be Digital and were nominated for a Games BAFTA ‘One’s to Watch’ Award.

You can watch the 3 part series (for a limited time only) on 4oD… Crunchtime Series 1.

Angry Mango win at Dare to be Digital

Posted: February 16, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Awards, Student Successes | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Angry Mango a team of students from the University of Wales Newport, which includes Henry Hoffman, Kate Killick (from Computer Games Design), Ahmed Zaman, Matt Dennis, Greg O’Brian (from Games Development & AI), have won at the 2011 Dare to be Digital competition.

Their game Mush is a single player, side-scrolling platformer for Windows Phone 7. You take control of your characters emotions, unlocking new abilities with which to progress.  Five emotional states are present, each enabling new abilities such as floating, sinking, smashing and gravity shifting.

Emotions are changed directly by the player through either drawing a smile, a sad face, a single line or rotating or shaking the phone. Simple movement is controlled with tilting and unlike other platform games you can neither jump nor die.

Mush has been also been announced at a nominee for the BAFTA Games Awards – Ones to Watch http://www.next-gen.biz/news/bafta-games-awards-nominees-announced

Mush Website
http://www.mushgame.com/

Mush in the press
Develop Online
WM Poweruser
1800 Pocket PC
Mobile Tech World
Mobility Digest
PC Applications
Everything WM