Get in the Game gave us a unique opportunity to step away from contract work for a while and focus on our game proposal. Over the months we have really defined the project from a design and production point of view. We used the time to go away and concept an area of our game and produce artwork for this segment. After our final production meeting it was suggested we focus our efforts on our pitch and the accompanying PowerPoint for the final weeks of ‘pre-production’ and we were keen to act on this advice. We got some great one to one quality time with Matt Southern to help us sort the PowerPoint. 100s of slides and two ripomatics later we were ready to go.

Stepping in at the 11th hour, as I rested in my sick bed, Steve – Citrus Suite’s own Super Mario (a bit inappropriate considering the pitch was to Sony) – did the presentation and as the icing on the cake we showed a simple demo illustrating gameplay on the target hardware. Seeing that Sony are still talking to us I guess Steve stuck to the script!

It’s been great to be part of this process and I’m sure Get in the Game will go from strength to strength. Thanks for inviting us along.

Chris Morland

Well the final presentation to SCEE and the GITG panel was given on Wednesday 22th and luckily, due to an afternoon appointment, Catalyst were able to go first. I had rehearsed the presentation several times and had decided to do the whole presentation on the PS3. This enabled me to show the slides, images and the ripomatic movie all on a HUGE HD screen and controlled using the PS3 pad. My script was prepared and printed and ready to go. I know the argument of should you read from a script to present or memorise your presentation will always rage but through numerous presentations I feel more comfortable with my script printed in front of me. I’ve seen too many speakers lose it during presentations and stage fright and winging it are no way of providing confidence. The mocked up PS3 screen shots worked well and the ‘photo gameplay talkthrough’ did exactly what it needed to do. The feedback from the panel was positive and also provided some new areas of consideration. Overall I was pleased with the final presentation and hoped the panel thought it was polished and professional. Besides the nerves that are always there for these type of presentations, I really enjoyed it and felt happy that I had conveyed what we want to do with our game. The project as a whole has been enlightening and it has been great to see things from the other side of the fence and being able to explain something simply is actually harder than you think. It doesn’t matter how many time you do something, you can always learn more and improve.

I appreciate that I haven’t mentioned the name, type or style of game I’ve been working on and this might frustrate some readers, as my comments without being put into context may appear very vague and pointless. However IP protection is something I feel strongly about and without signed publishing agreements, it’s really the only thing a developer has.

Now it’s just a case of watching my inbox to see what the final decision on moving forward will be…..

Cheers,

Ivan