Has anyone seen Dragons Den Canada Season 6 Episode 13 part 1 & 2
May 17th, 2012 at 7:40:15 PM
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My observations.
When I had a booth at G2E, I have never met so many people who looked like they were kicked when they were down. These were all game developers that were trying to break into the business for many years and still have not broken through. As I observed Bernie make his sells pitch, he seems so acquiescent. He even asked permissions to take off his jacket.
Since I just started less than 6 months before renting a booth at G2E, I had no idea how hard it will be. First O'Leary is an ass. 2 out of 5 dragons didn't even bother to get out of their seat to look at the game. They already wrote it off. None had any constructive criticism, only that it is impossible to put a new table game in.
Most new game suck and that is the fact. You have less than 0.1% chance at success. Don't be optimistic, pessimistic, just be a realist. Let the fact speak for itself. If you did everything you need to do to succeed, and it has not happened, it won't. If you want to give it your all till then, I say take a chance and fail rather than never take a chance and wonder for rest of your life, "What if ?"
Bernie, If you should read this post, never sell yourself short and never let anyone take a pot shots at you without giving it back. Don’t bother calling them sir when they are informal with you. Give respect in kind, never more and never less.
When I had a booth at G2E, I have never met so many people who looked like they were kicked when they were down. These were all game developers that were trying to break into the business for many years and still have not broken through. As I observed Bernie make his sells pitch, he seems so acquiescent. He even asked permissions to take off his jacket.
Since I just started less than 6 months before renting a booth at G2E, I had no idea how hard it will be. First O'Leary is an ass. 2 out of 5 dragons didn't even bother to get out of their seat to look at the game. They already wrote it off. None had any constructive criticism, only that it is impossible to put a new table game in.
Most new game suck and that is the fact. You have less than 0.1% chance at success. Don't be optimistic, pessimistic, just be a realist. Let the fact speak for itself. If you did everything you need to do to succeed, and it has not happened, it won't. If you want to give it your all till then, I say take a chance and fail rather than never take a chance and wonder for rest of your life, "What if ?"
Bernie, If you should read this post, never sell yourself short and never let anyone take a pot shots at you without giving it back. Don’t bother calling them sir when they are informal with you. Give respect in kind, never more and never less.
Edward Snowden is not the criminal, the government is for violating the constitution!
May 17th, 2012 at 9:24:26 PM
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the poor guy lost a lot on that game....we had it in our casino for a short trial.
May 18th, 2012 at 2:22:29 AM
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I think part of the MO of being a Dragon is to be obnoxious. Alas, it's part of the show.
May 21st, 2012 at 4:22:49 PM
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I found both parts on YouTube. There have been a surprising amount of these game demo's on Dragon's Den......I would try and go down the distributor route first before going to DD. The distributors can get you in to casino's and they have the licenses in place. The Dragon's have money, but you still have the logistical nightmare of getting licensed in multiple jurisdictions......there is real value in climbing aboard SMI/DEQ licenses once you have a viable game. Time to market is important when the patent clock is ticking.
You didn't get to see a lot about how the game worked, the one Dragon did say he liked it better than Craps, but I think Craps would fail in a casino today as well.
I couldn't find the game on the web anywhere....only site I found linked to them was Chuckem.ca and the site does not exist anymore. You would think with $300K spent on the development, they would have a basic website up and likely have demo software available. It looked like this episode aired in March which means they must have filmed it within the last 12 months......really, no website at this point, are they completely out of $$?
From Capital Raise website, it looks like they have had three trials: Falls View Casino in Niagara Falls, Casino Royale in St. Maarten & on the casino cruise boat "Sea Escape". If you can't get a game to stick with 3 trials, it may be time to change the game.
I feel bad for these guys, but this is the game development business. Even if you work hard, create some luck and get a field trial.....the players still need to like the game and that is tough, particularly with a brand new game concept.
But really....they valued a game with 3 failed trials at $1,750,000!! I bet the "Boston Pizza" Dragon that liked the game better than craps would have given them $75,000+ for 50% of the company and that would be a gift. They could have tried G2E with that kind of money and/or got licensed in a jurisdiction they thought had the best chance of getting additional trials. Or simply had some marketing money to hit the sales road.
Problem is the main guy, Bernie, is now working as a roofer for a living and he doesn't have the ability to hit the sales road anymore. Maybe he didn't need to be present for the full 90 days down in St. Maarten, he has to have burned through a lot of his capital on that 90 stint.
Unfortunately, O'Leary is right.....they are done unless they can get a distributor to pick it up mainly because they can't add the most important ingredient when going the "non-distributor route": Free/Low Cost Sales Manpower. Your money runs out quick if you are trying to pay your living expenses as well as travel and promo expenses.
As Roger Snow was quoted as saying to game inventors, you need to put away your ego and find a nice comfortable pair of shoes to get that field trial.
You didn't get to see a lot about how the game worked, the one Dragon did say he liked it better than Craps, but I think Craps would fail in a casino today as well.
I couldn't find the game on the web anywhere....only site I found linked to them was Chuckem.ca and the site does not exist anymore. You would think with $300K spent on the development, they would have a basic website up and likely have demo software available. It looked like this episode aired in March which means they must have filmed it within the last 12 months......really, no website at this point, are they completely out of $$?
From Capital Raise website, it looks like they have had three trials: Falls View Casino in Niagara Falls, Casino Royale in St. Maarten & on the casino cruise boat "Sea Escape". If you can't get a game to stick with 3 trials, it may be time to change the game.
I feel bad for these guys, but this is the game development business. Even if you work hard, create some luck and get a field trial.....the players still need to like the game and that is tough, particularly with a brand new game concept.
But really....they valued a game with 3 failed trials at $1,750,000!! I bet the "Boston Pizza" Dragon that liked the game better than craps would have given them $75,000+ for 50% of the company and that would be a gift. They could have tried G2E with that kind of money and/or got licensed in a jurisdiction they thought had the best chance of getting additional trials. Or simply had some marketing money to hit the sales road.
Problem is the main guy, Bernie, is now working as a roofer for a living and he doesn't have the ability to hit the sales road anymore. Maybe he didn't need to be present for the full 90 days down in St. Maarten, he has to have burned through a lot of his capital on that 90 stint.
Unfortunately, O'Leary is right.....they are done unless they can get a distributor to pick it up mainly because they can't add the most important ingredient when going the "non-distributor route": Free/Low Cost Sales Manpower. Your money runs out quick if you are trying to pay your living expenses as well as travel and promo expenses.
As Roger Snow was quoted as saying to game inventors, you need to put away your ego and find a nice comfortable pair of shoes to get that field trial.
May 21st, 2012 at 4:40:25 PM
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Don't know the episode, but did anyone see Dragon's den when the guy was pitching Fortune Teller BJ. He wanted $150,000 for 10%. Said casino's were dying to get the game and $3,000 fee a month. It was going to replace 50% of all the BJ tables in the USA.
Finally the deal was he got $150, 000 to travel to Vegas, when CEO on MGM was already lined up, for 50% of the company. He got the $150,000 as soon as first casino signed on board.
He later backed out of the deal. Anybody seen Fortune Teller Bj lately ? Just curious.
Finally the deal was he got $150, 000 to travel to Vegas, when CEO on MGM was already lined up, for 50% of the company. He got the $150,000 as soon as first casino signed on board.
He later backed out of the deal. Anybody seen Fortune Teller Bj lately ? Just curious.
May 21st, 2012 at 5:09:06 PM
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What is Dragons Den I`m not familiar with this?
The mountain is tall but grass grows on top of the mountain.
May 21st, 2012 at 5:12:50 PM
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GOOGLE dRAGONS dEN ON uTUBE.
May 21st, 2012 at 5:15:33 PM
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Here is link to the episode on Fortune Teller BJ: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gy3IwKTbuGw
For what it is worth, Cary has developed a lot of games that I think are pretty good. His Copy Cat BJ side bet is in at Santa Fe Station. I think it is easy to criticize, but he did get a deal offered and he has a game placed and it has been in play for a while.....unless you are PaiGowDan or Switch, you have to respect the results.
Here is the link to 3 Dice Game, Chuck 'em: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwkToK076-E (starts at 9:10 mark)
and continues here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LeCBK6LAwg
For what it is worth, Cary has developed a lot of games that I think are pretty good. His Copy Cat BJ side bet is in at Santa Fe Station. I think it is easy to criticize, but he did get a deal offered and he has a game placed and it has been in play for a while.....unless you are PaiGowDan or Switch, you have to respect the results.
Here is the link to 3 Dice Game, Chuck 'em: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwkToK076-E (starts at 9:10 mark)
and continues here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LeCBK6LAwg
May 21st, 2012 at 8:10:09 PM
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I saw Fortune Teller BJ in California, but I believe the version is different from he was pitching then. Anywhere else? It takes in $2.7M each year?
May 21st, 2012 at 8:20:27 PM
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How to spend $300K on game development, I'd like to know? Someone need to tell them, $10 could give you a domain name for one year, come with beautiful web templates; a game software on Internet cost about $2,500; a sexy model showing the game in a show cost $300 per day. Man, $300K is a lot of money.Quote: ParadigmI couldn't find the game on the web anywhere....only site I found linked to them was Chuckem.ca and the site does not exist anymore. You would think with $300K spent on the development, they would have a basic website up and likely have demo software available. It looked like this episode aired in March which means they must have filmed it within the last 12 months......really, no website at this point, are they completely out of $$?
