
The three terrifying minutes that created The Gunstringer - unwantedLetters
http://www.joystiq.com/2011/09/26/the-three-terrifying-minutes-that-created-the-gunstringer/
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spoondan
On the other hand, I'd much rather a client pitch a great idea that's
technologically infeasible than just come up with something spur of the moment
that they deem possible. If you start the conversation at, "This mechanic may
not be possible, but the rest of the game is great," then you can discuss how
to change the mechanic or maybe an engineer will have some brilliant insight
about how to do the impossible. At the very least, you're starting with your
best and working towards the technological compromise rather than starting
with something that's already a compromise and may not reflect your best
thinking.

~~~
SoftwareMaven
Any pitch that starts with "this may not be possible" (even if that is
inferred) is going to quickly get turned off by anybody who listens to pitches
all the time.

This is why engineers generally don't make good sales people: the desire to
tell the _whole_ truth is usually too strong. The world of software is an
incredibly dynamic space, so sales and marketing can use a little of that to
their advantage. :)

~~~
MartinCron
And this is why we can't have nice things :)

It's impossible to know with 100% accuracy if a great idea will be possible or
not. This is one of the reasons why I like the Lean Startup stuff so much,
where you can be honest (with yourself, at least) about doing just enough to
prove if something is possible/marketable/whatever before investing years and
millions into it.

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missy
Your story reminds me of how Bill Gates apparently pitched MS-DOS to IBM.
Looked around the scene and came up with the solution on the spot.

I think you need Guts, wide knowledge and the skill to create synergies at an
instant to do this.

Very Ninja!

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5hoom
Loved it, you could really feel the authors pain :)

I always sort of imagined this seat-of-the-pants type behaviour was unique to
tiny indie shops & that you grew out of it once you became a 'real business',
but I'm sure you'd kick yourself if you blew a big opportunity like that.

Anyway, can we extrapolate from this story and assume that most innovative
game studios are geographically situated near vibrantly decorated restaurants?

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weeksie
Completely unrelated and a bit off topic, Matador restaurants were started by
two friends of mine in '03 or '04 and are HUGE now. Just seeing the name-check
pop up makes me proud of those guys and how far they've come from being a
couple of bar managers in Queen Anne.

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joshu
This is how creativity works. You are boxed into a corner, there is a spark,
and you short-circuit to some other place entirely.

