CS4480 Game Pitch

Fall Session 2011



Purpose of the Deliverable

The general purpose of this deliverable is to develop a pitch for an iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad video game. The project is intended to be open-ended, to give you the freedom to explore game creation in a manner that best suits your own background and interests. Consequently, it is up to you to decide:

Please take the time to carefully consider these issues when developing your pitch. Remember that you may ultimately be developing a game based off of this pitch, and so you must ensure that your game is actually feasible.

Assigned

Tuesday, September 20, 2011 (please check the main course website regularly for any updates or revisions)

Due

The pitch is due Tuesday, October 4, 2011 in class, accompanied by a very short (5 minute) oral pitch of the core ideas of the game. Electronic submission of your assignment must also have occurred by this time, as discussed below in detail.

Individual Effort

Your pitch is expected to be an individual effort. Feel free to discuss ideas with others in the class; however, your pitch should be your own work. If it is determined that you are guilty of cheating on this assignment, you could receive a grade of zero, and you may be penalized further by the value of the assignment.

What to Hand in

Your game pitch must be typed, not written. The pitch should include a cover page including the course name, proposed game name, and your name and student number. (Note that this page does NOT count towards the page count of your pitch.) Details on the pitch content are discussed below.

As well, you are required to submit your pitch electronically. You must store the document in a directory called Pitch. From the directory that contains Pitch as a subdirectory, you will issue the command:

submit cs4480 Pitch to submit your pitch electronically If you've done it right, you'll receive an e-mail confirming the fact shortly afterward. You are reminded that the department reserves the right to use similarity detection software in an effort to detect cases of plagiarism and other forms of cheating.

The Game Pitch

In general, the purpose of a game pitch is to sell your idea and vision for a game, in order to get approval (and resources) to proceed with its development. In this course, the pitch is intended to give us sufficient information to determine which games we will be developing in the remainder of the course.

Contents of the Pitch

The pitch is not intended to be a lengthy and detailed document. It should be somewhere in the range of 5 pages in length, and provide enough information for someone to get a feel for what your game will be all about. Your pitch must not exceed 10 pages.

Information on game pitches can be found in most references on game development. This includes the lecture notes on the early game development process for CS4483/9541b. For this submission, your pitch will be a combination of elements from a traditional pitch/concept document and game proposal used in the industry. (With some elements omitted and others condensed down together for brevity.) We will be focussing more on the game concepts and less on the business side than one would actually do in reality.

As such, your game pitch must include the following sections and information. Note that you do not need to do risk analyses, budgets, and so on. You are not doing this for money, so do not worry about those aspects. Likewise, you do not need to discuss scheduling and time-lines, since these are already set for you. Just focus on the elements listed below, and that is all that is needed. While not strictly required, concept art and mock-ups could greatly assist in demonstrating your vision for the game you are pitching.

The Premise (also known as the High Concept)
This is a short description of what your game is all about and what its unique hook is. It should interest and excite the reader, and set your game apart from others.
Player Motivation
This section should discuss the player's victory condition and what will drive the player to actually play the game to that end. For example, a player could be driven to complete, solve puzzles, or explore the game world.
Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
In essence, this section describes what makes your game stand out from other games. What makes your game unique? Why is it special? What are its distinguishing characteristics? Think of the things you would like to put on the back of the packaging for the game, and you are on the right track.
Competitive Analysis
Choose three games which are similar to yours and critique their pros and cons and how your game measures up. (Consider other games in the same genre, other games with a similar base concept, and so on.)
Genre
What genre(s) are you choosing for your game? How will your game be following or breaking with genre conventions? Explain any new twists your game provides on genre conventions or on the genre itself.
Gameplay
This is a section describing what the player does in the game. It should list several (10-20) elements that describe the experience of playing the game. What challenges does the player face? What actions can the player take? What activities does the player participate in?
Story Synopsis
If your game has a plot, summarize it. Introduce the main character, identify the problems faced by the character, describe any villains in the game, and explain how the player will ultimately overcome all of this. If there is important backstory, be sure to include it here as well.
Target Market
This is a statement as to who the intended players of the game are. Is it targeted towards children, everyone, or a particular niche of players (e.g sports fans)? What is the target Entertainment Software Review Board (ESRB) rating that your game is aiming for? Be sure to also think about the geographics, psychographics, and demographics for your game.
Target Platform
Here, you identify the target platform on which your game will be played. This should include hardware requirements, operating system requirements, and any additional software requirements.
Summary
In this section, you reiterate why your game will be a great game. Include anything else here that you think is necessary to sell your idea and gain final approval.