In March this year a competition called pitchWinPLAY was announced that'd give creative gamers an opportunity to see their game produced by Renegade Kid, of Mutant Mudds fame, and then released on the 3DS eShop. It was an exciting grand prize, but a lack of interest since launch has brought the contest to an end.
Our very own Philip J Reed had entered the competition and received the following email from the organiser.
First off I would like to humbly thank you for your patronage of the pitchWinPLAY competition with your submission of *******. However It is with a heavy heart that I have to end the contest prematurely.
Your submission fees will be reimbursed to you within 60 days of the time I receive a reply to this email letting me know you got it and are aware of what is going on.
Because I respect the time and effort you put into your submission I am providing you some feedback free of charge as I do not want your effort to be for naught. Expect it in the coming weeks.
It started with a simple idea: give creative people who may not have the time, money or means to turn their ideas into a reality a way to see their ideas come to life. However this only worked with support. As stated from the beginning, money from the submissions was to go directly into the contest paying for everything including the development of the winning entry.
In short we over estimated gamer and media reaction. Such a unique and rare opportunity... But alas it just didn't pan out. With only 15 submissions there is no way to continue forward with the pitchWinPLAY competition.
It gives me hope for the industry to see such passionate creative gamers. While PWP did not pan out as an outlet for your endeavors I hope you do not lose hope and still pursue your dreams. Should you end up developing your idea yourself I would love to be kept in the loop on your project.
...I wish you the best in all you do and thank you again for being a part of pitchWinPLAY.
Sincerely,
John F. Kaiser III
Comments 33
...15 submissions?!?! I thought there would be like AT LEAST 100!
Well it's not surprising, I haven't heard about it at all... you'd think there would be more advertising about this, but I guess not.
I hate seeing the word cancelled in Nintendo Life articles. It happens all too often.
I heard about this a while back on here, and went over to enter, but ultimately didn't because of the $30 fee. Granted, it's understandable why they had it. A shame, regardless.
Well it's not surprising, I haven't heard about it at all.
If it weren't for this very site, I wouldn't have heard about it either. It's a shame...I think they expected word of mouth to do the advertising for them, but sadly that didn't happen. I think there would have been far more submissions if it were advertised better.
@Phil: what were you gonna submit, anyway? :3
We could use the idea for NL Game number 2.
"First off I would like to humbly thank you for your patronage of the pitchWinPLAY competition with your submission of *******....."
@Philip_J_Reed When I first read that sentence I saw it as an uncomplimentary reply to your game idea entry. I'm sure it wasn't *******!
They could have at least put a video on YouTube or something about this. Because if I knew about it before now, I would have given it a shot!
Never heard of this until today .... why?
what were you gonna submit, anyway? :3
I actually did submit the proposal, or whatever it was called. It was going TO BE AWESOME BELIEVE ME. But now you will never play it. Unless I get that Petit Computer thing, and teach myself BASIC, and already I'm bored so no.
Whaaat!? Aw shucks, I send them my pitch too. It's sad that only 15 people even tried.
No! As man that sucks!
Whaddaya mean lack of interest!? It's a long submission form! I was right about to sit down and try to finish the thing, too...
If they had decided to do a Pitchwinplay contest for ps vita instead of (crappy) 3ds at least 500 people would've entered.
I think you mean at most 500 people would've entered. That would've been everyone who owns a PS Vita.
Seoi lo...
I wish I knew what those 15 people submitted...
Hopefully others would make them reality...
I heavily dislike ideas going to waste...
Too bad. Only 15; it sounded interesting, so you'd think at least 50 people would enter.
Actually, I was planning to submit something... but then I thought I had already waited too long to submit it (Wasn't sure if there was a deadline or not). ._. ...oh, well now I suck.
I thought there would be a lot of submissions too!
I guess they might have needed to advertise it more. I've only heard of the competition TWICE. And if it was an ongoing event that lasted longer than I thought it would have - then I would've suspected that it would have had more advertisements here and there.
I had made an original idea for this contest and was waiting to turn it in. But then I read the news. Too bad, it wasn't revolutionary but I had fun working with the submission form.
I think the biggest problem for this contest wasn't the entry fee, but the notion of people's ideas staying owned by their creators. I can say I want a zombie game where the zombies are self aware and trying to cure themselves but now everyone who reads this will have the idea in their head. Whether they want to or not, people are influenced by what they see/hear all the time. What guarantee did any of the entrants have that their idea would not show up before they could get if off the ground themselves.
That was why I made an original concept for this concept, so I wouldn't feel bad if the judges used some of the mechanics down the line.
But irregardless, this is too bad that it didn't work out. I thought it was a great idea.
It was a cool idea =(
I was contemplating entering. I have a pretty well developed game idea. But in the end I did not have a spare $50 to spend on an entry that had no guarantee. And besides that, I'm not sure I would really trust Renegade Kid with my game. Sure, they made Mutant Mudds, which is love-it or hate-it. Sure, they made a few horror games on the DS and a very simple puzzle game. But I haven't seen anything that would assure me that my game would be of the highest quality. I may never get around to making my game, but at least it's still mine.
i think more ppl would have entered if they made the entering age younger then 18
Chicken/Philip, you think we can hear your pitch? and @Sakeraf agreed
I entered too, what do you guys think: http://www.scribd.com/doc/99889237/Yin-Yang-the-Monochrome-Mission-JB Please don't spam my phone/mail or steal my idea if you like it
I was just about to turn in my game idea when I saw on the site that it was cancelled (I was so angry because all of my written work had gone to waste), I was so let down. I thought I had a chance at winning.
@Phillip I don't think it would have been as awesome as my pitch too bad for the cancellation though
@Phillip I don't think it would have been as awesome as mine too bad for the cancellation.
Maybe I'll post it in the forums if there's interest. I'm still hoping somebody comes along and makes my game for me though. It's totally bound to happen!
"Lack of interest to blame"
Sounds a bit like the excuse Capcom used for cancelling Megaman Legends 3!
Neat idea, but:
-There was a $20 fee.
-The form was extremely intricate and took tons of time.
-You had to be 18.
-You had to be a fan of Renegade Kid.
I knew this wouldn't work from the beginning. Sad, because it seems like a neat alternative to Kickstarters.
Well that sucks!
@Birdy: Need more pictures. It doesn't fire the imagination, you know?
Cancelling early when demanding long tedious form (if you want a chance to win) will upset a lot of people. At least give a shout and ask how many are still interested.
I don't see how $20 submission entry can pay for development. Ever heard of Kickstarter? Just pick a winning entry out of 15 and put a price on it on Kickstarter. Easy. "Not enough interest" isn't a reason. It's an excuse. If all entries are like Birdy's, then I can see why their enthusiam would fall. But to properly draw characters, level designs, etc takes time, you know?
Well, I'm glad I didn't submit my idea. Now that I have Petit Computer, I think it will have better chance of being made than if I'd submitted it.
If all entries are like Birdy's, then I can see why their enthusiam would fall. But to properly draw characters, level designs, etc takes time, you know?
Actually Birdy followed the rules. That's what they asked for. They wanted general overviews with room for creativity on the part of the actual design team...they didn't want properly drawn characters and level designs.
Remember, you're pitching an idea...not a game. That's a different approach.
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