It
all begins with an idea. An idea which inspires
the team enough, so much so as to make the team consider implementing
it.
Cut
to Jan 2004: The mobile gaming market was gearing up to the
trend of branded games. Acquiring licenses of games based on sports and
popular Hollywood titles was fast becoming a fad in the gaming industry.
An ever increasing number of wireless games were being based on
Hollywood blockbusters and sports personalities.
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Concept sketch
from the Initial Storyboard |
The ideators
at team Paradox were thinking hard about how they could break clutter
and come up with a product that would have higher visibility and
recall. They finally decided to modify the ongoing trend of branded
games, "Rather than a Hollywood film, lets sign on a Star" they
thought. "For starters, movies that you take on may or may not work,
but a popular star makes for a much safer bet" shared Paradox Chief
Marketing Officer, Salil Bhargava.
Paradox
was clear as to what it wanted to do, it had a clear concept.. it
wanted to make a celebrity based action game. Now it was time to
expand the idea.
In the mobile gaming universe any idea, besides its creative
merit, is weighed on many parameters
measurable characteristics or features
including...
- Market for the idea i.e the
commercial viability,
- Technical feasibility,how
practical or possible something is
- Production and pre-production
costs,
- Marketing strategy and Timing of the launch.
Jean-Claude
Van Damme, after much deliberation and consideration of the above
parameters, was zeroed upon as the personality Paradox wanted to
make the game on. The choice was much influenced by the fact that
the mobile market was big in Europe and Asia and Van Damme was hugely
popular as an action figure there. He almost had a cult following
in the US as well. This was also backed by the fact that his personality
fitted in with the action game the team at Paradox wanted to create,
making him an obvious choice.
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|
Concept sketch
from the Initial Storyboard |
The studio
tied up with 2ThumbZEntertainment, one of its partners in the US for the
same. It was time now to pitch the idea to the celebrity.
Convinced
with their idea and vision for the game, the team at Paradox jointly set
about the pitch along with 2ThumbZ Entertainment. The catch was that
they had to sell Van Damme the idea of licensing the mobile game rights
to an Indian game development company, not a very probable thing in
those times.
As a
preparation for the pitch, the team had created an elaborate storyboard
complete with detailed character designs for Van Damme, which was a
culmination of some thorough research done at Paradox.
On their
first attempt Anurag, the CEO of Paradox and Salil, the Chief Marketing
Officer couldn't get in touch with Van Damme. His agent, however, agreed
to meet up and discuss. The Hollywood agent was impressed with the
groundwork done by the teams and with the clarity of the concept. The
first round of approvals was done at this stage. This was followed by a
volley of ideas being bounced, back and forth between them and Paradox.
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