Channel 4's Mobile Game Pitch

I spent last Monday at Channel 4's offices, taking part in the Mobile Game Pitch organised by Channel4, EA and Nokia. For once, I wasn't the one doing the pitching: I went along as a mentor, helping 4Talent's young producers prepare for their presentations.

It ended up being a long and intense day, but there were plenty of positives.

One was meeting Scott Foe - considering that he is recognised as the highest profile game producer in the mobile industry, I should have know of him before. Still, he turned out to be a great character, had some nice American sigarettes and gave an insightful presentation about the mobile games industry:

• The importance of creating trans-media characters
• The significant difference in the marketing of console games (shock & awe) v.s. mobile games (sustained trickle)
• The importance of word of mouth
• The significant value associated to game concept creation - i.e. pre-production
• The 2.5 yrs he and Nokia have invested in the development of Reset Generation (I now have to play it)

It was great to listen to the 8 game concepts selected for the final, mostly because they game for people wihout mobile background. They were ideas in their infancy, a few of them with some potential, but they show a growing understanding and interest in mobile and its potential.