Posts tagged: Pitching
So only a couple more days before this blog is locked down. If I can calm my Avengers excitement down enough I’m planning on doing a recap / retrospective kind of thing before Thursday. Although with the Interactive module having such a focus on looking forward I feel maybe I shouldn’t be looking back. Does that make sense? My mind is kind of fried as I put the finishing touches to my Project Proposal. Everything I wanted to say on pitch day (even typing that sent a shiver down my spine) but didn’t have time.
At the moment I probably have too much stuff. Just need to figure out exactly what is necessary to communicate the essence of the project (After pitch day (there it goes again) I’ve really tried to focus on the gameplay and mechanic of the thing) and what maybe isn’t so important. Maybe I can lump some of the other stuff on here? I’ll see what I can come up with.
Onward!
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So going back to the pitch I was left with a decision. I could stick with the format of the Facebook game and completely overhaul the game mechanic or move to a different format (thereby losing the chance to go after the neglected male market of Facebook gamers) and keep the game mechanic intact.
What I decided was that it was more important to keep the spirit of the game intact. The whole Anti-Fifa ethos of a football game that’s about the joy of playing with your mates rather than the glitz and glamour of the premier league. I think if I stayed with Facebook and tried to make it a turn based game I could conceive of a project that’s Anti-Fifa but only so much in that it wouldn’t be a football game at all. Sports games are about immediacy (if you look back to my History of Gaming that’s something I respond to) and this is something I can’t lose.
So what is Fives now? Inspired by the sophistication of some of the live multiplayer games available for the I-Pad and I-Phone I’m going to go down the route of the App. It’s still a five-a-side game with a focus on the fun and instinctual but now its touch screen.
I’ve referenced Nintendo World Cup Soccer before. That game was based on the use of the direction pad and two buttons. With Fives you control your one character’s movement via the tilt of your device. You control their actions by virtue of a single (pass) or double (shot) tap. These controls change based on if you’re in defence or attack and if your player has the ball or not.
The problems picked up on in my pitch resulted from overreaching and overestimating the technology currently available. As we get to these final stages I want to keep my focus on something that is do-able (especially in terms of live multiplayer!) but also fun and customisable. Building a community is such an important step and I’m fully committed to creating a project that can truly be controlled by the fans.
This blog has proved an invaluable tool as a kind of rough notepad but now I need to separate and define each stage.
So the horror of pitch day is over. I won’t go into the specifics of what went on. I’ll just say I have a new found respect for the type of person willing to go on shows like the X-Factor. Brutal.
I actually think I got off lightly. After a few pre-pitch jitters and one sound issue that kind of threw me the actual presentation went down well. There were laughs in the right places and I hit most of my points inside the five minutes. The feedback of the judges was very positive toward the Anti-Fifa ethos, visual approach and thought behind the marketing. There was just one major problem… GAMEPLAY.
It’s just not going to work. Connecting large numbers of people over Facebook in real time is not possible. That’s not to say it won’t be possible one day but right now - not a chance.
So I need a new approach.
- Option 1: Stay with the Facebook game. Change what the game actually is. Make it turn based (eg - Farmville).
ADVANTAGES
- Keeps USP of a Facebook game targeted toward the neglected 18-34 male section of the social media game market.
- Easier to implement social aspect of the game.
- Turn based games have already proved immensely popular.
DISADVANTAGES
- It’s not the type of game I set out to make. How would a turn based 5 a side game even work.
- Why wouldn’t they just play a management sim?
- Turn based games have proved popular with female market. No reason just including football would make them popular with men.
Option 2 - Change the game platform. Make Fives a separate entity linked into social networks. Reduce number of players.
ADVANTAGES
- Can keep game appearance and mechanics I envisioned. Including Anti-Fifa ethos.
- Play on multiple platforms (Phone, I-Pad, Laptop). Access to a different market.
- Immediacy of gaming experience.
DISADVANTAGES
- Loses the link to Facebook. The USP and ease of incorporating social aspect.
- Moves into a more crowded and competitive market.
- Harder to make work.
It’s basically a case of deciding what’s more important to the project I want to make. I’m leaning toward Option 2 but I need to do more research before deciding.
Guess I’ve got work to do.
I’ve been kind of dreading pitch day. I’m not terrible at public speaking but the whole set-up (in front of a crowd, to a mystery panel, strict time limit) seems to have been designed to make things as nerve wracking as possible.
However, preparing for the pitch has actually been really helpful in figuring out exactly what my project is. Because of the time limit everything has to earn its place, has to work as a whole. It’s streamlined my thinking.
Social is a word I use a number of times in my pitch. The social aspect of Fives is a big part of my USP. As interesting as a single player version of the game could be it doesn’t fit with my brand. It won’t be in my pitch and now I don’t think it’ll be in my project.
Words I want to use - Involvement, Community, Social, Platform. It’s not a game I’m pitching it’s a story world. I don’t know if I would have reached this realisation without the pitch.
On Thursday we’re pitching our Alternate Reality Games. Ours has a few similarities to the Hangover. For my money the greatest mystery film of the 21 Century.
