LO4: Analysis of current market trends

The only other main basketball games on the console market are the NBA 2k series and the NBA Live series. The cheapest Xbox One price for NBA 2k16 is £26.70 and the cheapest for PS4 is £29.76. It will be difficult for our game to initially compete as their are two main games that are widely recognised and well played in the current market. As we promoted our game and more people started playing it, we hope that it would grow in the market to compete with the main games like NBA 2k. NBA 2k16's sales hit 4 million within its first week of release. Our game, NBA U, won't be achieving those kind of figures as we will be releasing a brand new game onto the market. But as there are only a couple of basketball games on the market for console, I feel like our game could fit into this market. As the sales of NBA Live are declining too, only selling 8,300 copies in September, I think that there is now room for another basketball game to enter the market.

LO4: Platform Details

These are the platform details that Salik wrote out for our presentation.


The platform is PS4, Xbox one and we could expand to PC if it succeed.  We need high graphics on the game like 1080p and 60fps which make the game smooth. PS4 will have exclusive deal where they will get some content earlier like the DLC. PS4 could get earlier cars pack and they could get some clothes and some cars only for that platform. Xbox One will get it month later like Call Of duty do with their franchise. It going to be available on the disk and digitally which are PlayStation Store and Xbox Store then if its get successful we will port it over to PC which will be available on Steam. It going to be on a blu ray disk because it can fit more storage on the disk and higher quality. The reason why we going to release it on Consoles and PC instead of Mobile is that it will bring out the best in this game and if we put it on mobile we have to takes all assets out and be a low graphic game which we don't want to do. PS4 allows us to create a game that is best of our ability that is not pixalted, low resolution.

LO4: Target Audience

This is the audience that we are planning to sell our game to and imaginary audience entry that Salik wrote.


The audience is 12+ because it is suitable for teenagers which will have driving, basketball.  teenagers like cars and basketball this is a suitable concept. They can go to the clothes shop buy clothes for the press conferences like a suit, there will be variety of shops where they can buy clothes, it will have a online feature where people can interact with other players like GTA V. They can play basketball with each other in a rooftop, one vs one, two vs two, three vs three and four vs four. they can earn upgrade points and make their character better. earn badges, after finished they can buy something eat, drinking which makes it little bit like Grand Theft Auto.

Imagery entry- Jordan is a 16 old year, who plays for his high school basketball team loves basketball. Watches NBA whenever it comes on, his favourite team is Los angeles Lakers, he owns a Kobe Bryant jersey all of them. he lives in Los Angeles, he's plays video game like NBA 2K16 and he plays with his friends. He buys Jordan's sneakers and he got collection of them like the Jordan 4 retros which are his favourite. He like wearing snapbacks, and he wears designer jeans and shirt but sometimes he wears hoodie which he wears Nike He listens to hiphop rap and rnb. His faverate artist are Augest Alsina, Future and Chris Brown. He sometimes play Call Of Duty but mostly he loves basketball games.

LO4: Plot Synopsis + Characters

Here is the information on the plot and the characters that Keenen wrote.


The synopsis of our game takes place in a real world environment where you create your own custom character that will have characteristics that suit your ideal self.

Within the game you, as your character, will be aiming to make a career in the NBA, but this can only be achieved through the high school and college basketball career.

If you choose to select college or skip straight into the NBA. You will encounter various challenges that can either mean the rise or the fall of your star.

LO4: Legal and Ethical Considerations

Here are the legal and ethical considerations that I wrote about for our game. I took into account the audience that we are planning to sell our game to when writing the age ratings consideration, how copyright will affect our game and the ethical side of the characters in the game.


Age Ratings:

The age rating of the game must be applicable to the PEGI age ratings for games.


We have decided to make our game suitable for people of 12 years and older. This is because it will contain mild violence during the situations and will involve online gaming. The examples of mild violence that will be included in our game are injuries and confrontations between the players on the court.

                                                                        Copyright:


The main copyright issue that we will have to deal with is that of using the ‘NBA’ in our game.

Another issue that we will have to investigate is the music that we will be using in our game. We are going to use music from the Hip-Hop genre in our game as this is the type of music that is generally associated with basketball. We are planning to contact a record label/artist to ask for permission to use some more wider known songs that users would enjoy listening to.


                                  
                                                                           Ethical:


To make sure we have no ethical issues with our game in terms of the characters, we will give the users the option to either choose a player from the NBA to play as or the option to create their own player.

In this option we will make sure we have no racial issues so the user can choose to be a black, white or brown player. The user will also have the option to select what nationality they would like their player to be, therefore eliminating any ethical issues that could appear in the game.

LO4: Treatment

This is the treatment that Shayi wrote. He analysed how long our game would take to complete, the target audience that our game is aimed at, the resources required and the profits/costs that we will gain and put into our game.

NBA U

Name or title of Game: NBA U

Length of playtime: Would roughly take 82 hours to complete if the player played every single game in the season and didn't miss a match through injury or other reasons. The player would have the option to skip through games if they wanted to simulate them, this would bring the playtime down to around 7-8 hours.

Genre or type of game: Sports game

Brief description / synopsis:

It is a decisions basketball game in which the decisions you make outside of the sport have an effect on your playing career.

Platform chosen:

Target audience

Intended age of audience: The target audience is 12+ as this age are into basketball and sport games, also driving games which make it suitable for the genre as there is a free roam option in which you can drive around.

Other target details: The game has no violence or explicit content which therefore makes it for young teens like 12 year olds for example

Game style: Decisions/sport style game in which your decisions can affect your teams performance and moral.

 

Resources required

                  Human: 4 humans

                  Equipment : Computer, software (auto desk maya)

                  Location: UTC Sheffield

                  Production time : 18 Months

                  Additional specific Resources:

Additional information

Content of game (items, features and articles):  The game will include things like unlockable accessories e.g. basketball shoes, also customisable characters.

Examples of challenges and themes:

Some of the challenges will of course be the decisions you face and have to decide on throughout the game

Styles of comparable games: The style of  NBA 2K15 is different to my game  as it is not a decisions based game and therefore only has sports features.

Profits/Costs

Our game will cost £42,391,046.82 to produce for the next-gen consoles, PS4 and Xbox One. This includes the actors costs, developers cost, the engine and licensing. We plan to sell 5,000,000 units of our game at a price of £39.99 each, making or overall revenue stand at £10,928,953.18. 

LO4: Financial and Budgeting

This is the financial table that I made. I used an excel document to work out how much our game will cost to make, produce and our estimated profits.

According to our financial spreadsheet, our game will cost £42,391,046.82 to produce for the next-gen consoles, PS4 and Xbox One. This includes the actors costs, developers cost, the engine and licensing. We plan to sell 5,000,000 units of our game at a price of £39.99 each, making or overall revenue stand at £10,928,953.18. 

However, as we would be using the NBA brand in our the production of our game, our profits would be severely hampered upon. The NBA company would charge us to use their brand image in our game and would take a final cut in the overall profits of our game.

LO4: Game Visuals

These are the visuals that I designed in Adobe Photoshop to show what the story mode of our game would look like in its different stages; Level 1 - Practising at the local court to show yourself as a prime basketball player, Level 2 - School level basketball to show the teacher and coach your quality as a young basketballer, Level 3 - Gaining a basketball scholarship to college and playing college level basketball, gaining attention from NBA scouts and Level 4 - Getting drafted into an NBA team and playing in this elite league.

Story Mode:

Level 1: Practising on your own at the local court

Level 2: School level basketball

Level 3: Getting a scholarship to college level basketball

Level 4: Getting signed to a team in the NBA

LO4: Production Schedule

LO4: Group Responsibities

a) Treatment or proposal for the final game. - Shayi

b) Competent production schedule for the final game. - Sam

c) Gameplay with associated visuals. - Keenen

d) Target audience - mood-board, description, imaginary entity. - Salik

e) Relevant legal and/or ethical issues - PEGI rating, copyright, music etc. - Sam

f) Platform details and requirements - justification for selection. - Salik

g) Examples of levels - visuals and layouts. (title screen,  characters). - Keenen + Sam

h) Plot synopsis and characters. - Keenen

i) Financial breakdown of development costs. - Shayi

Pitch Feedback

We pitched our presentation to Dave Blewett from Sumo Digital. He gave us some feedback for our game and the presentation.

He said that acquiring the license to use the NBA logo in our game would be a very expensive procedure. Also by having the NBA title in our game he said we would be almost selling our game to them, as the NBA would take a percentage share in all the profits from the game.

He praised us for the story concept of our game saying that he understood the way in which the players progressed from school level to professional 'NBA' level.

LO4: Game Cover Design

This is the game cover that I have designed for our game. I used Adobe Photoshop to create this design.

What I have done today - 29/2/16

Today I have designed the logo for our game, NBA U. I have also nearly completed the work for the legal and ethical considerations. Next week I will finish off this presentation.

LO4: Moodboard - NBA U

Your Pitch

This is our pitch that we presented to Dave Blewett, art manager at Sumo Digital.

When Sumo is coming in...

(Wednesday) 14th April 2016.

LO4: My Responsibilities for NBA U

The game idea that we are working on is a real life basketball game showing the development of the player from a younger age, to when he will be playing in basketball's top league, the NBA.

My role in the team is creating the graphics.

This will involve developing backgrounds, character visuals, clothing, basketball courts and more.

My Game Idea

1) The best possible hardware for my game would be iOS/Android (iPhone, iPad, Phone).
2) The target audience of the game would be males and females in their 20's and 30's.
3) It would be in the simulation genre of games (business simulation games).
4) It would be competing with games like Theme Park World, The Simpsons: Tapped Out and Business Tycoon Online.