The final Pitch to the Sony executives happened last week. We had achieved everything we wanted to and I had practiced the pitch many times to ensure the key points would be covered. I also ensured I incorporated the feedback from the previous meetings.

I made sure I left early to avoid possible delays on the M62. Luckily I was OK and had time to have a tea at McDonalds close to the Sony offices.

The plan was to show the powerpoint presentation which includes a video file. This part should all work fine. The game itself had developed a long loading delay due to all the new artwork we had added in. So we devised a way for me to load the game and leave it in the background until needed, I would then press a key and it would play the game. I knew from a previous meeting that my laptop worked on the big Sony screen. When I went into the room I discovered they had an even bigger and newer screen and typically my laptop refused to work with it! We eventually used the original screen but then my laptop forced itself to change modes and so my mid presentation video did not play and I had to come back to windows and run it through media player. Then the game crashed and had to be re-run due to the mode changing. Even with all these issues I was able to stay on message and deliver my pitch. The game seemed to be well received and now we wait to see if Sony wants to move ahead with us on the title.

The key insight I have leant through this whole process is that my team and I have to own the game idea, concept and plan for making it happen. It’s no good hoping someone else has the answers for you. The various meetings helped identify areas we had not defined and resulted in a crystal clear plan for the game.

• My advice to others would be;
• Understand the technology you’ll be coding for.
• Know your target market and define why your game will stand out and be different.
• Work with people who can create great results, both visually and coding wise.
• Create a buzz within the team about the game and get everyone singing from the same song sheet (with the aid of an X Statement).
• Don’t be afraid to change things. If areas need to be improved, removed or added, then do it.
• Get plenty of feedback. Not just at the meetings but from other game players and friends.
• Do your best to clarify the end vision for the game, visually, audibly and if possible with a simple game play prototype.
• Spend your budget wisely. Until your game is green lighted and given full funding it’s best to spend with caution. We used freelancers for the artwork, so when they were done on these jobs we did not have to keep paying them.

We’ve enjoyed the whole process, it’s been exciting to be involved. Finger crossed now for Carnage!

Rick Vanner

Financial Director

The Game Creators Ltd

This entry was posted by The Game Creators, on Thursday, April 30th, 2009 at 8:51 am and is filed under Blog, GITG1. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.