As the afternoon approached, after a quick lunch it was time to head back over to Confetti for the second Industry Week lecture. This was from a man named Rob Yescombe a man who was introduced with having a wealth of industry knowledge and experience. Needless to say I was eager to hear what he had to tell us, I sat back ready for what I hoped would be a compelling lecture filled with stories and explanations of his achievements.
This was not the case, well not exactly what I thought to begin with that is. As the lecture began Rob opened by asking the room who had met him in a previous guest visit he made to Confetti, this was because he wanted to explain how the physical activity that he had planned for us today was on the same lines as one he had arranged previous. With that aside using a nicely put together flash based presentation on the projector Rob began to speak about onion gravy, not strictly on onion gravy as a product, but more the process involved in getting the ingredients and the cooking process involved in making the final result. Not exactly what I had been expecting for an industry lecture about video games but I am an open minded person and listened closely to see where this was going. Rob then began to explain how the process of making onion gravy can be applied as a foundation of a successful video game concept and even the way in which it is pitched to potential investors and customers.
This is starting to make a lot more sense I thought. At this point Rob began to talk about the importance of reduction when pitching a game to professionals and the public alike and explained how we would watch a short interview as an example of this. This was in fact a video of himself pitching the game ‘Haze’ to a camera crew and presenter at a games convention, surprised I watched and absorbed the point he was making. In this interview a younger Rob Yescombe listed every last feature that this game entailed and subsequently drowned the pitch in mindless facts resulting in a muddled mess. The message was clear, Rob was showing us how not to pitch a game and from this I learnt a very important lesson which Rob then stressed was a very important part of the point he was making. “If your pitch is over 3 minutes then you are dead!” This came as a big surprise to me as I thought that it would be considerably longer before hitting the point of no return as they say! This information is fantastic for a student like me with a Presentation based assignment coming up later in the year; it was at this point that Rob really caught my full attention.
So with that said Rob moved on to talk about “Pitch Ingredients”. This is a list of assets which are essential in the creation of a game concept. This was; internal/external flaws, desire, bad guy, plan, battle, self-revelation and a walk off into the sunset. If you would like to take a closer look at this list and hear Rob expand on the points in detail you can watch a live stream of the lecture on the Confetti website. With that said and explained Rob then opened the floor to us, the audience, to get involved and asked us to brainstorm answers to the criteria listed. After hearing a few responses from the audience he then brought up a hypothetical foundation for a story, this was “Poisoned, he has 2 hours to solve his own murder before he dies” a simple but effective start to a potential game concept. From this he went on to explain how a typical example of a story arc for a game concept is that every hero is broken, and at the end of his journey he fixes himself.
With the answers given to the pitch ingredients alongside the hypothetical game concept we then elaborated further into this concept. Rob began to explain more about the different types of hero using examples like Harry Potter and Marty McFly to show how they all share traits featured in what we had discussed. As well as emphasising how certain points are essential to the structure of the story such as the huge role that desire plays. He went on to explain how a great way of pitching your ideas to the public is to use references to already successful franchises and how your game concept compares. I found this very interesting and took a lot from it.
Following this Rob then split up the audience into groups determined by rows, this was because he had arranged a practical exercise for his lecture as mentioned before. With the information he had given us Rob set us all up with the task of creating an initial game concept that we would pitch to the rest of the audience as well as being timed to stress the aforementioned pitch timescale.
After a 10 minute interval of each group brainstorming and then writing down their ideas we began to pitch one by one our game concepts. These varied majorly with some people pitching futuristic ideas to some even being very loosely based on the criteria and yet still on topic. I am not a huge fan of overly social interaction when it comes to workshops like this however Rob did a fantastic job of making each representative for each group feel welcome and appreciated for their contribution. I was very impressed by this as I know that speaking in front of a big audience as well as the cameras set up in the event is very nerve-racking and yet Rob did a brilliant job of ensuring everyone was enjoying themselves. This was so successful in fact that even the Tutors sitting in on the lecture were taking part; it was certainly an exciting and entertaining experience, with one group going twice to pitch a second concept.
With all that said and done Rob then gave his own pitch using all the examples of previously mentioned criteria as well to show in contrast how all of the concepts discussed where linked. To end the lecture Rob then opened a Q and A to which he was asked repeatedly about his evolvement in the video game Haze and how he got to where he is today to which he replied enthusiastically and positively. I can safely say that with everything that Rob Yescombe explained and taught us about the elements and core assets of a game concept and how it is pitched to the public that I am hugely grateful. With assignments coming up that stem from these concepts and presentation techniques I now have a much better understanding and a more confident outlook on the whole process. I can honestly say that from now on I will not be the least bit sceptical if a lecture begins with a recipe despite how relevant I believe it to be.
By Samuel Johnston, FDSC student in Games Technology
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