The first NASSCOM Game Developers Summit ended with first ever Game Super Pitch. The Jury of the Game Super Pitch consisted of Shahid Ahmad, European Account Manager, SCEE, Hrishi Oberoi, Director Indiagames Studio, Quentin Staes Polet, Co Founder, Kreeda Games, Ernest Adams, Game Designer, Author, Co founder International Game Developers Association and Anand Ramachandran Creative Director – Interactive Media and Gaming, A Bellyful of Dreams Entertainment. The pitch was won by Dhruva Interactive’s Bazzle, while 99 Games’ Odyssey: Frankie & Jim: The Mysterious Castle and Createplayshare’s Hooga Booga were the first and second runner up respectively.

From left to right. Rajesh Rao, Quentin Staes Polet, Vijay Sharma, Anila Andrade, Hrishi Oberoi, Anand Ramachandran, Basangouda Inamdar, Shahid Ahmad, Ernest Adams

Sharing what was in store for the winner of the super pitch Rajesh Rao said, “The winner gets to refine his or her idea and present it back to the jury through email once again. NASSCOM would then arrange for a conference call with all the Jury members for feedback. So the winner gets one hour time of all the jury members once again. Next year we are looking at putting up a cash prize or cover the cost of developing a proto type.”

It was encouraging to see small and big developers coming and pitching on the same platform on the same terms. The feedback given by the judges would definitely help the future super pitch aspirants and the Indian game developer community as a whole in climbing the quality and innovation ladder.

Here are the pitch entries that were presented and the feedback given by the Jury on each of them.

Bazzle by Basangouda Inamdar, Game Designer, Dhruva Interactive

Basangouda Inamdar	In game screenshot of 'Bazzle'

As Libo the protagonist, the player in this mind bending, action-puzzle platformer, must gather all the fruits (seven of which hold Magical elements) before an evil wizard does. Libo’s special powers allow her to transform in to a heavy magnetic character or a spiky creature to tackle the zaniest characters, plants and obstacles. Quick thinking and reflexes will serve you best on this world saving mission. 3D characters and interactive game elements lend depth and a realistic feel to the game.

Jury Comments
Hrishi Oberoi- The game looks interesting but there was no costing mentioned and there wasn’t clarity on platform front.

Quentin Staes Polet- I felt the slides were too crowded. Also you spent too much time on the characters of the game which don’t really matter. The marketing traits, what is different about the game, information on technology and target market were missing. Some of the stuff was encouraging. And you need to make eye contact while pitching and don’t read slides.

Shahid Ahmed- If you would have mentioned that it’s a ball physics puzzle game in the beginning it would have been good. It has a nice game play.

Anand Ramachandran- I felt the game was pretty nice. Just one thing, it would have been nice if you explained how the controls for the game work.

Ernest Adams– It was a very well organized pitch. The idea of three alternate states of the character was its unique selling point. The video that you showed was also good. The only objection I have is that the main characters are ball like so I expected them to roll. Apart from that it was quite well done.

Odyssey: Frankie & Jim: The Mysterious Castle by Anila Andrade, Mktg Manager, 99games

Anila Andrade	Game intro screenshot

The game involves solving puzzles and doing tasks of varied kinds to get clues from the townspeople about the castle. Jim (a character in the game) receives a letter from his grandfather about a secret, which sets him and his friend Frankie on an adventure in a strange town. The story unfolds in 4 chapters, as the end of each chapter throws subtle hints about the secret. The target group is 15+ year old, casual gaming iPhone users.

Jury Comments
Shahid Ahmad– The game looks like ‘Simon Cow’ to me. And I thought the presentation was little confusing. Also you should have given the sneak peek of the game earlier in the pitch before going into the details. While pitching you should keep your initial message small. More important than having the unique features is the game has to be fun and I don’t I know if its fun unless I see a sneak peek. Am glad that you told the release date of the game, that is very a positive thing.

Anand Ramachandran– The USP of the game or the reason why I should I buy your game was missing.

Quentin Staes Polet- Its good that you talked about the budget but the budget of USD 170,000 scared me. It would have been nice to talk about the development and how you plan to market it as it is very difficult to get visibility on App Store. Also it would have been good if you had shared how many hours of game play will it have as it helps to determine the pricing.

Hrishi Oberoi- The budget was confusing. I would have liked a little bit of break up. The game play was not clear. What is the game is about is what we would like to know first. The background art work looks good but that is secondary game play comes first when you are talking about 60 mini games within a game.

Hooga Booga by Vijay Sharma, Founder, Createplayshare

Vijay Sharma	Game intro screenshot

Hooga Booga is a realtime, multiplayer, ancient style war game. It’s a first realtime multiplayer war game on the same Iphone (1-6 players can play on same iPhone). Players can play with or against each other and/or with bots. Players select a variety of weapons (arrows and spears) from the inventory. Each weapon has individual properties and effects. Each army has to kill the enemies on the other side. Weapons follow the parabolic path as per the direction, angle and power set by player.

Jury Comments
Ernest Adams- The slides of the presentation were far too busy, if you would have shown some of the gameplay that would be helpful. I was really intrigued by the idea of the real time multiplayer iPhone game but the graphics didn’t help.

Anand Ramachandran- The idea of a multiplayer game on single iPhone was not appealing at all. I couldn’t see how this game play will fill out a longish game as there was no variety of gameplay showcased.

Shahid Ahmad– If it’s a product pitch you need to showcase the product straightaway, other things come after that. You should have shown a teaser for that. Also since you put forth the idea of real time multiplayer game for iPhone, you should have spoke a little about the technology, as how will the device differentiate between different touches.

Quentin Staes Polet- The idea of real time multiplayer game works for two, but having six is like kind off pushing it. Also the graphics didn’t work for me.

Hrishi Oberoi– We didn’t get to see the gameplay, a video of game play would have made sense. The pitch also didn’t mention about costing.

Tuttifrutti by Ajish G Habib, CEO, Kirkykitty Games

Ajish G Habib	Game intro screenshot

Tuttifrutti is a casual action and arcade/adventure platformer, where "tutti", a kid princess is on a quest to retrieve her dearest twin sister "frutti" from the itchy evils, who come from a mystic islet beyond seven seas and seven mountains

Jury Comments
Hrishi Oberoi– I think it’s a very interesting concept for a casual game but you didn’t show much of the game play. Also you failed to mention which platform is it meant for.

Quentin Staes Polet– I felt that you didn’t have enough training before you came here. Why should I be interested in you and be interested in doing business with you, you have to give me three good reasons. This is something you have to work on.

Shahid Ahmad- Pitching is like developing book after book. You really got to work on the presentation aspect. The game looks like a nice cute platform game. It was nice idea to use the images of cute twin babies in presentation but when it comes to the game play we don’t see the twins, which is apparently the important part of the game story. Your idea of the pitch is to get a yes or a no as quick as possible. For that first you develop your relationships with the person you are pitching to and of course you develop a better pitch.

Anand Ramachandran- With the images of the twins you were setting expectations and they were never met as we didn’t see the twins in the game. Also when it comes to the game, the visuals are a little oudated, the state of the art these days is quite high, and I was expecting variety in levels. The visual design from the creative stand point needs an upgrade.

Ernest Adams- The background art work was good, but animation was not interesting. There needs to be more work on the animation. The pitch of course needs to be reorganized, get the punchy material out there upfront.

The first Game Super Pitch was undoubtedly a great initiative that would help more and more developers to come forward and showcase their ideas and concepts. Looking forward to many more successful game super pitches in the coming year.

Winners of the Game Super Pitch