Virtual Reality Game The Apprentice

I'm not here to make any friends.

The process is not personal.

It's business.

Lord Sugar is on the lookout for a brand-new business partner.

It is a very competitive situation.

I need to see who's got a good business brain.

Fighting it out for his funding...

..18 aspiring tycoons.

Not one of you geniuses ran this thing properly.

I feel so angry!

You're coming across a bit thick.

At stake, a quarter of a million pounds...

..and a 50-50 deal with a business heavyweight.

Your best hope for 250 grand is to buy yourself a scratchcard.

-Ah!

-Come on, we've got no time to lose!

It's an investment worth fighting for.

Why are you lying, then? We've just had that here.

Just bear with me. Bear with me a minute.

Not having this conversation with you.

18 candidates.

If you don't think that what's going to happen is effective,

-you've got to tell her.

-I said it to her there!

Argh!

12 testing weeks.

This is getting really, really childish now.

If I was project manager, I'd be trying to motivate my team.

So that's not cool. That's not cool.

One life-changing opportunity.

You're fired. You're fired.

You are a loose cannon.

You're fired.

Previously on The Apprentice...

Your task is to host special events at a famous London attraction.

..Paul took control...

I'm going to be clear now - if you fail to sell the tickets, it's on you lot.

..bossing his sales team.

-That's my decision.

-I know. I'm pissed off.

Be adult about it. It's not hard.

And at their casino night...

You were sold on the basis you were getting hot food?

..he saw red.

Everyone's saying that you sold them a ticket

-and you told them they were getting hot meals with their tickets.

-No!

That's not how you do business.

On the other team...

My vision for dressing the event

-is to have kind of a sparkly grotto feeling.

-OK.

..Dillon took centre stage.

# I only like the upper part

# I did not like the tail... #

-While his sales team...

-Ohoy there!

-..sank.

-Is that something of interest to you?

-No, thank you.

At their party, the tide turned...

CHEERING

..propelling them to a win in the boardroom.

-100% customer satisfaction.

-Really?

On the losing team...

There's a lot of bad decisions made.

..Sofiane passed the buck.

That first location, that's where it all fell apart.

You say "fell apart", but you were there.

Emotions ran high.

A lot of people would have crumbled, losing week after week...

-Relax, Frances. Just relax.

-But I still put...

But Paul lost control...

I put the three salespeople in the sales team

and you're criticising me for it.

You're starting to show your aggression again, Paul.

..and became the ninth casualty of the boardroom.

You made a very big error.

You're fired.

Now, eight remain to fight for the chance

to become Lord Sugar's business partner.

7am.

For the candidates, so far, no call.

God, as if we're down to the final eight now!

I feel like it's gone so quickly.

Have you got an idea who the final five's going to be?

I think it's absolutely anyone's game.

You're my worst nightmare!

Here's your blanket!

Ugh.

You know what? I was having some horrible nightmares.

I think it's all getting a bit inside your head!

DOORBELL RINGS

Oh, the door's ringing.

-Good morning.

-Morning, Karren. Morning, Claude.

-Morning.

-Can you get everyone together and meet us downstairs?

-Yes, no problem.

Guys, Karren and Claude are here.

Has anyone offered them a cup of tea yet?

Karren, Claude, would you like a cup of tea or coffee?

-No. Get down here so we can get on, please.

-OK.

-Good morning.

-ALL:

-Good morning.

As you can see, in front of you, you've got headsets.

I'd like you to put them on.

Oh, wow!

Amazing!

-Oh, my God!

-You can actually turn your head.

THEY LAUGH

Invisible!

THEY EXCLAIM

Wow!

It is amazing!

Good morning.

Welcome to the future.

This is my virtual boardroom, and I've invited you here

because for the next task,

you will be entering the world of virtual reality.

Now, globally, the computer games industry is worth over £70 billion.

This year, technology firms are going to be pushing virtual reality,

releasing headsets and games into the mainstream markets.

So, for this task, you're going to design a new virtual reality game.

But as important as the game will be the brand that you create.

To succeed, you're going to have to push your imagination

and design skills to the maximum.

Now, don't forget, in virtual reality, anything can happen.

Wow!

Once you've created a playable level of the game,

you will launch it to the public and leading industry professionals

at a world-famous entertainment expo.

The professionals will be reporting back to me.

A word of advice - make sure your brand captures the imagination.

So, good luck, and I'll see you in the real boardroom,

where at least one of you will be fired.

As you now know, this task is all about cutting-edge technology.

Sofiane and Trishna, your business plans are in the technology sector.

So, Sofiane, you'll be moving over to Titans,

and to even up the numbers, Courtney, move over to Nebula.

-All clear?

-ALL:

-Yes.

On your way.

Ooh!

Worth four billion a year in the UK alone,...

Wow! This is amazing!

-It's, like, destroying you!

-THEY LAUGH

..fun video games are serious business.

Today, the teams must create a new virtual reality game...

-Argh!

-THEY LAUGH

..before pitching tomorrow

at one of the world's largest pop culture conventions.

OK, so I think this might be the first-ever meeting

I've done in my dressing gown!

THEY LAUGH

I would like to put myself forward.

Obviously, I do know about technology.

Reaching for the top job, IT recruiter Trishna.

Although my expertise is not virtual reality or gaming,

I used to play a lot of computer games.

-I'd be completely happy and confident in doing that.

-Yeah?

Looking forward to having you as PM again, Trishna.

Let's hope this one works out better.

It is going to work out better - it's the winning team!

You're not competing against me this time, so...

Aww!

On the other team...

I am an illustrator.

I have a lot of experience creating characters.

..drawing on his skills, art director Dillon.

I have a degree in design, so I can work on branding.

I would like to put myself forward.

I'd definitely put myself forward.

The store I worked at, we had a massive launch

of one of the top, top brands of virtual reality.

I sold one of the first headsets in the country.

Maybe if you have so much experience in selling it...

Not just selling it - I know how this industry works.

I know the virtual reality,

I went to trainings, I know exactly what the market is.

The only experience I have -

my 14-year-old son is actually studying to do computer programming.

But I'm 100% to back yous.

I'm putting myself forward. I'm confident that we can

-actually win this task if we go...

-I'm confident with you to be PM.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

Sofiane sold a few headsets in a leading department store

and now he wants to project manager.

I don't know why the team didn't back me.

I'm an illustrator. I'm into branding and design.

This is a perfect task for me.

I could have led this team to victory.

Next door, focusing on the market...

The majority of people that are playing are males.

The target market's 15 to 34 years of age.

..Trishna's team play with game ideas.

I really like outer space. I think this gives you a broad appeal.

You could have a Martian adventure sort of game,

where you're racing through each galaxy.

-Yeah.

-Space race.

-That's quite a good idea.

I can just imagine a little invasion of these Martians coming to earth

and they're racing to get to earth before another set or something.

I might sound like an idiot, but what do Martians look like?

Well, we don't know, we've never seen one,

but you can just create one, can't you?

So are you happy to choose outer space as our environment?

-Yep, happy.

-I think Courtney will be the sub-team leader

for the branding side of things. I know you're very good at that.

I'd like to work on the branding as well, cos obviously I've got a branding agency.

I'd be completely happy and confident in doing that.

-I think it'll be exciting. Perfect.

-OK.

Also searching for a winning formula...

I was kind of thinking a medieval context.

-You have to defend the Royals.

-..Sofiane's team.

Obviously, game of a castle, that game...

-It's one idea. We need more.

-Yeah, no, no, it's a great game,

but that game I can play on a normal game console.

I mean, puzzle is what everyone plays.

You're sitting on a train and people are sitting there

going crazy about all these puzzle games.

A simple example of puzzle

would be you're in the water, swimming around,

and you're finding different pieces of different coloured shell

that connect together and create one big shell,

and that's that puzzle solved and you move onto the next one.

And I think definitely underwater. I think it's visually beautiful.

-Yep. I like that.

-Yeah.

Dillon, definitely I want you on the creating the game team with Alana.

Which team deals with the character creation and...?

That's the branding team, yeah.

Yeah, see, I'm an illustrator and stuff,

so I've worked with creating characters.

I have a brand. Out of everyone here, I have a brand already,

which I've created myself, so...

-OK.

-She's got a son that plays loads of games.

She knows about what people want in games.

I don't think so. It's very simple.

Dillon and Alana, you go and create the game

and me and Grainne will go and work on the branding.

-Are you sure?

-Yep, 100%.

Clearly, Dillon should be on the branding side.

He lets his imagination run away with him, but he is creative.

But where's he actually ended up? Not there.

11am.

Guys, with regards to the sub-team,

are you absolutely sure, the way they are, that you're happy?

-Yeah. Why?

-Are you sure? Because I work in branding,

I have a degree in design and I'm also an illustrator,

and part of the sub-team's duty is to illustrate a character.

-Dillon, listen, stay positive. I'll call you.

-OK.

I'll call you and go through that again, you?

-All right, OK.

-No worries.

While half of each team sets off to make their game...

This team split is crazy.

I mean, I feel like we should be on that team

and they should be on this team.

I don't do any gaming at all and he wants me to create a game!

..the rest will come up with characters

and build a brand identity.

I've come up with a little idea. Obviously, have, like, a character -

I've put Spaceman Sam here, just for reference -

but then he could have lost his pet.

-His pet could be something completely random, or...

-Badger!

-LAUGHING:

-Oh, my... Yeah!

He could have, like, a big quiff, couldn't he?

-Yes!

-Cosmic Badger.

-Cosmic Badger! Like the Fonz!

-Yeah, I love it.

# Spaceman Sam and the Cosmic Badger! #

I'd prefer the name, like, Galactic Sam.

-What about Galactic Gary?

-Galactic Gary!

SHE LAUGHS

What are you doing that for? Do you not?

It's just getting weirder and weirder, isn't it?

Central London.

Essentially, our character is this Atlantian.

He's from Atlantis.

Placed in charge of Sofiane's puzzle game...

So we have pieces of shells that he has to rescue

and they're falling down in bubbles.

..Alana and Dillon.

They'll be colour-coordinated and they'll be different pieces.

And our job is to grab the right coloured pieces

and click them together to make a whole shell.

Who are we targeting this at?

Cos if we're targeting at someone that likes puzzles,

in my opinion, that's not particularly a puzzle.

If we're going with puzzle, it needs to be a puzzle.

Yeah, but I don't know if it needs to be a traditional puzzle.

You know, I didn't want to overegg it, like,

because otherwise it becomes complicated.

Dillon's always going to think that his creativity is the right way,

because that's what he does for a living.

Every time I suggest something, it's a bit like, "No,"

cos he's got it in his head already, he knows what he wants.

It's Dillon's creation today.

Instead of bubbles, it could be jellyfish, and if they're alight,

you can't touch them and they've got the pieces on top of them.

It might be making it a bit more complicated,

but I'm not sure how complicated we should make it.

OK.

So they're going to obviously take from, like, route A to route B.

From here and they've got to get here.

So this would be our end planet.

Mission for Frances and Trishna...

-We should add a timing element here.

-Yeah, I did want to have the timing.

-And if you run out of fuel...

-You're dead.

-..you die, yeah.

..turn outer space into virtual reality.

I want it to be complex enough

-that it feels like it's exciting and interesting.

-It's interesting, yeah.

-PHONE RINGS

-Hi, Jessica.

-Hi, Trish. You all right, Trishna?

-'Yeah.'

'So my idea would be that you've lost your pet in space

'and you're searching for your lost pet,'

and that's the Astrobadger.

-OK.

-OK.

-You don't sound too excited, Trishna.

Why is it a badger?

-Could it be something else?

-'We wanted his pet to be, like, random.

'Like, if we used a cat or a dog, it won't be as exotic.'

When you're designing it, just think really unusual and fantasy.

-Yeah.

-'They want to be able to experience something

'they never would be able to experience.'

Yeah, fine, which is why it's in space,

'cos it is meant to be that whole, you know, coming out of reality.'

OK. Good luck, girls.

I had a slight worry from the start

that Courtney and Jessica wouldn't be as focused as they need to be.

I hope they can pull it together with the logo and the strapline

and the character, cos I think me and Frances have done very well

on this side, and I expected more from them.

Lunchtime.

At a London costume house...

Oh, Lord!

I look like a right idiot!

..Grainne and Sofiane find themed outfits for tomorrow's launch.

-Have you got the tights on?

-Yeah.

-They're too small.

-Are they too small on you?

They are small, yeah.

Grainne, are you done?

Yeah. Don't laugh.

It's fun, come out.

I've got this vision, the world we're in, which is under the sea,

and then you've got these seashells and all that,

which is the concept of the puzzle.

I can see Trishna in that, can't you?

Exploring their space theme...

No, I do not like that, Jessica.

I will not look cosmic in that.

..Courtney and Jessica.

I actually like this. What does it look like?

-Doesn't look stupid at all.

-Does it not? Oh, my gosh!

-I love it.

-Does my bum look big in this?

No, it's an improvement.

'I feel like me and Courtney work well together.'

I like being creative, Courtney likes being creative.

It's been fun, yeah.

Still up in the air, the name of the game.

Badger Quest, Badger Hunt.

Badger Hunt? Badger Hunt sounds like you're culling them.

Lost Badger. Lost Badger In Space.

-Galactic Gordon.

-Gordon?

-Gordon, yeah.

-Galactic Gordon.

-I quite like that.

Gordon's Lost His Badger.

Yeah, I like it.

Gordon's Lost His Badger.

Coming up with their main character...

Er...

..make-up artist Grainne and salesman Sofiane.

Deep Diver? No.

The Ocean Kid.

Or the Sea Man or the...

Just keep it simple, innit? The Aqua Kid.

Coral Kid, eh?

Cos it's under the water and he's trying to resolve this...

do this puzzle. You know what coral is, right?

-Do you know?

-Yeah.

Coral, it's... Under the sea, you've got the coral.

Alana and Dillon, this is their field, this is what they're good at.

I think they could've put another bit of creativity

into the branding part, because they're experienced in it.

Trying to draw, like, a happy, smiley face.

Oh, come on!

SOFIANE LAUGHS

Next, what to call their underwater caper.

The main thing is "shell",

so it could be like Shell Stash or something.

-Stell... Sell, shell?

-Shell Stash.

You've got magic shells.

-What did you say?

-Hold on a second, so it's all about magic shells,

so maybe you could just call it Magic Shells.

Magic Shells sounds good to me.

If I turned around to a four-year-old

and said, "Magic Shells," they'd know what it is.

PHONE RINGS

-Hello?

-Hi.

The name of the game,

-'Magic Shells.'

-Wow. Are you serious?

'Seriously, that's the name of the game.'

OK, it's a bit literal, but...

Is that changeable, or is that set in stone?

-'No, this is it.'

-Lovely.

-'Do you know what?'

We wanted to make it something catchy,

'but also combined with what you're doing in the story.'

I don't know if these shells are particularly magic.

No, it's OK. We'll just have to make it work.

'Basically, this character is a little infant, it's a kid,

'he's under the water...'

OK, but he's not like a baby, is he?

No, no, it's not a baby. It's not a baby.

'If you can imagine, like, a furry forest type

'of lost boy, infant type of style.'

OK, thanks, guys.

It's a bit like they haven't really thought about it,

-they've just gone, "Magic Shells?"

-Yeah.

It's just tragic.

Mid-afternoon.

I imagine the black hole to be a little bit like a tornado.

Trishna and Frances take their space game from sketch pad...

-And then some, maybe, mini spaceships around the place.

-Yeah.

..to launch pad.

We want it to be as vivid,

so the main things are the badger, the comets,

the planets and the stars.

And the jet pack juices are going to look like a little canister.

That's quite a lot to do in the time.

-Let me see what's possible.

-Perfect, thank you.

They are thinking about very small details -

where does the swirly thing go? A bit more space dust.

They actually have to get on and make this game.

They need to be thinking about a lot more things

than just how many little stars go in one small section of the game.

We need to think about how many planets

we actually want in the first level.

So I was thinking this has got five,

maybe have, like, eight?

Fathoming out their underwater game...

I think there should be a character

that flies round that can attack you.

..Dillon and Alana.

Things that fall from the sky that can attack you,

but I do think that should be something that we try and fit in.

I'd rather a game that functions, so...

-That's what we're doing.

-Yeah, I know.

What I'm saying is "done" is better than "perfect", so...

Puzzle games wouldn't be my forte,

but I've always noticed that they're really simple,

so my biggest worry is that we overcomplicate it

or that it's just not fun. We have to keep it simple.

Let's focus on having an actual game

and then we'll worry about the details

if we have the luxury of that time.

5pm.

-After you, Jessica.

-Thank you, darling.

A central London design agency.

-PHONE RINGS

-You all right, Trishna?

'So, the name of the game is...'

-'Gordon's Lost His Badger.'

-That's the name of the game?

'I don't really like it. Is there any way that you can change it?'

Maybe we make the title smaller and the strapline bigger?

All we need to make sure from you

is that you send us a 2D image of the badger and the image of Galactic Gordon.

-OK, bye.

-Catch you later.

I really can't stand the name. Honestly. I'm just livid about it.

I'd love to know who suggested that name.

I think we can take a wild guess!

I had a worry from the start, from today, when the teams were decided,

shall I put them two together?

And they've come up with Gordon's Lost His Badger!

What have they done and have they been focused

and actually been thinking about things seriously?

-I think it's pathetic.

-Because, yes, I'm the project manager,

and, yes, if we lose this task, I'm already in that boardroom,

but at the end of the day, if we lose this task cos of that name,

I'm not going anywhere.

On the other team...

So I want the bubbles and the shells to come out of the logo.

If it's in 3D... You know what I mean by 3D?

..Sofiane's Coral Kid comes to life.

It's an infant, it's a kid, very cartoony,

very strong features, big eyes, very cute, smiley face.

In previous tasks,

I've thought that Grainne was quite a strong candidate.

She says her piece and she has something to say.

Here, Grainne's not challenging Sofiane

and she hasn't really contributed too much.

Do you think we should, like, put a helmet on it?

Like, with holes?

He looks good. It's perfect.

He's going to be a black and white fun badger,

but he's got his big rainbow colourful quiff.

Like Elvis or how the Fonz would have it.

30 minutes of design time left.

We need to have the badger's face in a circle, and then with the flag,

-"Leave no badger behind."

-Yeah.

But, also, do you not think we need Galactic Gordon, though?

Galactic Gordon is not actually going to be seen in the game,

-so that's what I think we should advertise it as.

-Yeah.

The game is all about Galactic Gordon

and his quest to find his badger,

but they've decided not to feature

the character Galactic Gordon in any of their branding.

That's a bit like booking a huge Hollywood star for your movie

and not featuring him on your poster to advertise it.

-OK, so this is the logo that's been sent over first.

-OK.

-Is that a badger?

-What is it?

It looks like an armadillo.

Have you got Galactic Gordon?

This was all that was given to us.

No...Gordon?

So, hold on, they haven't sent you Galactic Gordon?

No, just this.

The branding is, frankly, pathetic.

What planet are they on?! He's got a bloody quiff.

The badger's got a quiff!

It's just embarrassing. It's utterly embarrassing.

I don't understand. I made it clear what we needed of them was...

Yeah, why have they not done it?

We've got, "Gordon's Lost His Badger",

but no-one knows what Gordon looks like.

Who Gordon is. It doesn't make sense, where's Gordon?

It's like Gordon's lost, not the bloody badger.

Branding finished...

..designs complete.

Demo levels of both games will be built overnight.

9.30am.

Comic Con -

celebrating the latest in the world of comics, films and gaming.

First, for both teams...

There's the famous badger.

..a chance to check out their games.

-Oh!

-Wow!

For Sofiane, Magic Shells.

I mean, the helmet, I don't know if he needed a helmet,

cos he lives under the water.

He's quite young-looking, as well.

The character is a lot more cutesy

and less Atlantic hero than I would like.

Sofiane put me on the game development team,

that was a mistake,

and I think I could have brought a lot more to that.

Going over Gordon's Lost His Badger...

I think you were quite clear that we weren't really that happy with the name.

-..Trishna's team.

-We didn't think it was that imaginative,

we didn't think it showed that much vision, but...

-Oh, I think it does.

-I don't.

-I think it's completely random and different.

That's fine, but I don't, and I'm the project manager.

-Oh, OK!

-I didn't think it showed that.

I know you're laughing, but if you were project manager and you didn't like it...

But also, if I was the project manager, I'd try to motivate my team.

No, but I've got to tell you what I feel,

this is the whole point of this. If I tell you I love it,

I'm lying to you, and I'm telling you that I don't really like it.

At the end of the day, it's done, we're all going to work with it,

we're going to be passionate about it and we're going to make it work.

-We're going to need to split into teams of who's doing the pitch.

-I'd like to do the pitch.

I've started getting ideas together for the pitch,

and I think I'm quite good at captivating a room.

-I want Courtney to pitch...

-OK.

-..cos I've seen you pitch before, and I need to do the pitch.

-OK.

Jessica wants to pitch, so I think Jessica's better placed than myself.

'Jessica was probably the last person I wanted to pitch.'

At the same time, Courtney didn't seem like he wanted to do it.

He was pushing it onto Jessica,

but if he doesn't want to do it, what can I do?

-Go on, get it, get, get it.

-You can, you can, you can.

Over, over. Squeeze it.

Testing the water with Magic Shells, Grainne...

So, you've got a shell now. Try and get the other shapes of it.

..and Alana.

The overall game concept, what were your thoughts?

I thought the game was quite set for someone of a younger age.

What's your feelings on the character?

To me, personally, seems a bit childish.

-So, who would you say this game is aimed at?

-Kids.

-OK.

Dillon and I thought the concept was going to be more towards all ages.

Actually, in hindsight, you're creating little shells by popping bubbles.

It's a child's game.

But I think, actually, as a child's game, it's very good.

You've got to catch the badger

-in a certain amount of timeframe, OK?

-Oh, OK.

For Frances and Courtney...

You see, go slowly, slowly... That's the clue, that's the clue.

Go up to the clue slowly.

..a chance to find out if their space game will fly.

-Did you understand what you had to do in the game, the purpose?

-Not really.

Badgers is a bit strange, like, in space.

I just think I need, like, a bit more instruction.

-Did you actually find him, sorry?

-No.

-Oh, you didn't?

-Did you find any of the clues, or..?

-No.

It's maybe a little hard to understand the actual gameplay.

As this is a demo, maybe some more information

to guide you through that first level.

It could be a little clearer.

Mid-morning.

-Here you go, mate, put the masks on.

-Going undercover...

The Coral Kid!

Hey!

..Dillon and Sofiane.

Keep your mask on, they'll see you.

Go up to the clue slowly.

Oh, you went past it!

Tiptoe, tiptoe.

Turn around and you can see the clue.

Gordon's Lost His Badger?

Gordon's Lost His Badger. It's so random.

Go right, the badger's to the right. I'm giving you a good hint here.

-So, I'm not worried, really.

-Looks terrible, don't it?

I mean, who wants to be a badger?

Let's go.

Lunchtime. For Jessica and Trishna...

Try and tie in the fact that the player is Galactic Gordon.

Obviously, we don't have a picture of Galactic Gordon.

..a chance to perfect their pitch.

Then I'll go through everything about the game.

The player actions, the grab, the hit, talk all through that,

about getting to the start,

how we've come up with that sort of world in that sense.

Trishna remembers facts and figures to the nth degree.

But, actually, what's really important about a pitch is personality,

it's having a bit of charisma,

and it may well be lucky that she's brought Jessica.

She certainly has a personality.

I want Astrobadger to be an adventurer,

and he wants to find, like, the big golden star and visit the planets.

And then Galactic Gordon has to go and find him, as his pet,

and then kind of bring him back.

-Fine, I actually quite like that.

-Yeah.

On the other team...

I'm opening the pitch, so I'll grab the audience,

I'll talk about VR, I'll talk about our game, the name.

..Sofiane sets out a clear running order.

I'll pass it on to Dillon.

Dillon's going to go into, like, the story behind the kid, the character.

Alana, I feel like you should be on the VR kit.

I wanted Grainne explaining what Alana's doing, while she's playing.

Would it not make more sense if I was sort of talking about it

-as I was doing it?

-Is that what you want?

-Not really, no.

-You just want me to just be in there?

Yeah, just literally demonstrate the game.

I mean, I helped create this game yesterday

-and I feel like I would like to be a little bit more involved.

-OK.

-I will demonstrate the game for us, indeed, yeah.

-Brilliant.

So I'll leave it to you, but I don't want it to be, like, chaotic,

-where you end up falling down.

-It's not going to happen like that.

Just work on that, are you happy with that?

Yeah.

Mid-afternoon.

Both teams will present their new games

to an audience made up of experts and enthusiasts.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

First up, Gordon's Lost His Badger.

How's everybody enjoying the expo today?

-CHEERING

-Yeah!

OK.

A 20-year-old female described the...

Oh, I've got a squeak in my throat, sorry.

A 20-year-old female described the game as family friendly.

We wanted to... We wanted...

We wanted to design a game that stands out

from the 200 virtual reality games that are currently on the market,

and I think it's safe to say with the name Gordon's Lost His Badger,

we're certainly going to be memorable

and create consumer curiosity.

A long time ago in a cosmic land,

there lived an Astrobadger and an adventure he planned.

The mission had started, the journey began.

Galactic Gordon was set with an Astrobadger plan.

Leave no badger behind!

CHEERING

Um, grabbing and hitting complete our two player actions.

Twinkling stars, debris, asteroids, comets,

planets and jet juice are the main visual aspects of the game.

Comets will attack the spaceship.

Boost jet juice cylinders are available for Gordon to grab.

We really hope you've enjoyed Gordon's Lost His Badger

and we welcome any questions from our experts.

I like the lead character you have there a lot,

but it's just interesting - he's not the player's character.

The player will be Galactic Gordon,

but the main character for us is definitely Astrobadger.

The badger is the key character in this game.

The aim is definitely to, at the end, find Astrobadger.

I'm interested in the title - Gordon's Lost His Badger.

Doesn't sound so much of a game, more a cry for help.

RIPPLE OF LAUGHTER

We quite like the idea of having something a bit random and obscure

that would help you stand out within the market,

and it's certainly not forgettable.

Thank you so much for listening to us today.

THEY WHOOP

-Hang on, Trishna.

-It's done.

-Do you like the badger now?

-Yeah, I do.

-Yes!

-Do you like the name now?

Next...

-Thank you.

-..sink or swim for Magic Shells.

We chose the ocean because the ocean is a place

that is the most immersive in the universe.

We're going to invite my colleague Grainne to play the demonstration

and show you how this works.

-Want me to do that now?

-Yep.

I've got to take my shoes off! I don't want to fall.

-(What's going on?)

-Oh, God.

-Right.

-(Yeah?)

-Oh!

OK, everybody, so... Grainne's just...

Oh, sorry!

Sorry!

OK, so Grainne is Coral Kid,

and she's going to get as many puzzle pieces as she can.

You have to collect three pieces of each individual shell.

-Oh, God. Oh!

-So, Grainne's got the...

-Come on, Grainne!

-I'm trying! I'm trying!

Once you've collected three correct pieces of the shell,

you'll create a whole shell which will go into your sack.

-Grainne, try and find a...

-Yeah...

-Try and find a...

I'm trying to get them in. God, Grainne, come on!

OK, so thank you, guys, for watching.

I'm going to hand you over to Dillon. Thank you.

Many magical artefacts have been stolen,

including these magical shells.

So our character, Coral Kid, is on a mission to get these shells back.

This is our first adventure and our beginning level,

so this game is quite simplistic.

That's it, and I'll hand you back to Alana.

No. Oh, sorry, back to Sofiane.

Yeah, thank you very much,

and I welcome any questions you guys might have.

On the one hand, I see a very likeable character in the Coral Kid.

But then I also see Magic Shells,

which sounded almost like hallucinogenic drugs or something.

Who is this really targeted at?

Very interesting question.

I think... So, this game is targeted at...

it's targeted at children,

but it's mainly targeted at families,

it's targeted at... You know, you get your family round together.

It's a fun family, everyone-round-together game

that all the family can enjoy.

I'm David from PlayStation.

I'd like to say, obviously, loads of the guys here are wearing amazing costumes.

Do you think in a year's time, you'll see people dressed up as the Coral Kid?

Absolutely. It is very distinguished, he's very unique.

We had this little lad come up today, 11 years old,

and he was going to actually create a comic book for us.

So watch this space, guys.

There's going to be a Coral Kid comic book coming your way soon.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

I think it went kind of a little bit messier than we structured it originally.

-Yeah. I was confused about the story.

-Yeah, what happened?

I started talking, then I kind of...

But I think they bought into the concept, they really liked the game.

Pitches over...

..while the audience vote...

..and the experts give their feedback...

The character design is a bit confusing.

For me, it was, frankly, a little predictable and not hugely creative.

..there's nothing more the teams can do.

We had a plan going into this pitch,

we discussed clearly the order of the way things were going to go.

Sofiane just went off and did his own thing.

That kind of threw us off and it looked unprofessional.

It was not ideal.

I chose Courtney as my sub-team leader yesterday, and the key reason I've done that

is cos I've seen his graphic design skills,

I've seen his branding skills,

and I really wanted him to show that passion in the pitch.

So I really hope we win this task, cos if we don't,

then he will have a lot to answer for.

Tonight, votes will be counted.

Tomorrow, the results play out in the boardroom.

You can go to the boardroom now.

So, I'm going to be the first to admit, I'm not a gamer.

What I do understand is that this is massive business.

We'll start off with Nebula.

Trishna, you became the project manager here.

That's correct, yeah. My business plan is based around technology.

I felt I was the best person to put myself forward.

All right. Tell me what happened, then.

Creating the game was myself and Frances, with the developers,

and the sub-team went off to do the branding side.

Yeah. Gordon's Lost His Badger. That's basically the game?

So, the user plays the game as Galactic Gordon.

-They go and try and find Astrobadger.

-That's him?

-Yeah.

You're not exactly Van Gogh, are you?

We wanted him to be an Astrobadger, so Jessica had the idea of the quiff

and I wanted to put the rainbow in there.

I wasn't too happy with the name. I felt like it did lack a little bit of creativity.

I mean, the whole concept was -

-the badger's got lost in space.

-Yeah.

-What else can you say?

-It could have been, like, Gordon's Badger Quest,

or something like that.

Not that it makes any bloody sense whatsoever,

I imagine it would be in space anyway.

That's why the idea's quite an unusual idea.

And we wanted it to be quite humorous when you were playing.

The experts did think it was rather unusual that Galactic Gordon,

the main character, didn't appear on the branding.

Obviously, as you're playing a virtual reality game,

you're not actually seeing the character of who you are,

so we focused the character on who we're trying to find, Astrobadger.

We've got the game here.

One of you can play it.

And she is Gordon, right?

She's Gordon, yeah, so she's in that spaceship.

As you're navigating through that, you'll have comets that are coming at you.

So she's found the clue, which has directed her to a brown planet.

Got to smash through those comets. Now she's got 20 seconds to find the badger.

-She found him.

-She found the badger.

Frances, I think you'd better take it off before you get seasick.

OK, thank you.

Maybe I'm a little bit old, but one of the things

that you'd hope to see in the game is the badger.

-The badger was out there.

-He did?

-Yeah.

-But he's very small, isn't he?

-He is very small.

-And the experts did say there wasn't enough badger.

-Right.

-OK.

-Day two, now.

-Me and Jessica did the pitch,

Frances was demoing the game and Jessica was Astrobadger.

And, Courtney, what about you?

Originally, Trishna asked me to do the pitch.

However, Jessica, I thought she was better suited...

So, you kind of, like, stepped back a little bit?

You looked terrified.

I've given speeches at my old university in front of 250 people.

Gordon's Lost His Badger.

This might be a sequel to Courtney's Lost His Marbles, for example.

I completely disagree with that, Lord Sugar.

-I thought you looked terrified on stage.

-I was a little hot.

It was a great shame, because you were Galactic Gordon,

so you should have played the game,

which would have overcome some of the criticism

-about why Gordon wasn't in the branding.

-OK, sure.

Jessica, did you manage to control yourself,

or was you like your usual Duracell bunny?

-Jessica Rabbit, for example?

-Not quite.

For the first sort of five seconds, I did get a little flustered,

but I felt I delivered the pitch with confidence,

and when the questions and answers came, I believe I answered them well.

I have to say, when I asked the experts afterwards,

they thought you were really engaging

-and you impressed the most of everyone on the pitch.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

-Now, then, let's get over to Titan.

And, Sofiane, you became the project manager.

That's correct. I felt like I was the right person to lead the team,

but I've got Dillon, who's very, very creative,

he's a genius in terms of imaginary worlds and ideas.

I am an illustrator, so I have a lot of experience in this area.

Good ally you had there, then, right?

Yeah, and I wanted Dillon and Alana to build the game.

-This is your product here, right?

-That's correct.

Magic Shells, and the genius Coral Kid.

Dillon came up with the idea of what the game was going to be.

Grainne came up with Magic Shells, very simple.

It was about magical shells, collecting them and putting them together,

so I just wanted to make it exactly what it says on the tin.

I don't want to sound rude here, Sofiane.

I'm trying to establish what you actually did, then.

I came up with the...

the name of the Coral Kid, so that was my idea.

Do you think that "kid" was a bit dangerous

in the sense that this might have been a game for a kid,

rather than the target market?

-Who is the target market?

-Between 15 and 34.

But, I mean, a 15-year-old doesn't really want to play a game made for a kid of five or six.

But, anyway, who's going to play the game for me here?

-OK, let's go.

-Go for it, Alana.

These are the hands of the character,

and we have to squeeze the bubbles and get fragments of the shell.

This is our first fragment, so now we have to focus on the orange.

I actually do need to move. I can't do it in one place.

It's quite an active game.

-That's the bad guy, and he says, "Ouch!"

-'Ouch!'

All right, I think I've got it. Take the mask off now.

-OK, lovely.

-OK.

So, on day two,

you're now in an auditorium in front of 300 people

and seven industry experts sitting in the front row.

So you needed to kind of lay out the proposition to your audience.

According to Claude, that was clear as mud.

The idea was that Sofiane would introduce,

I would talk about the character and the story

and hand over to Alana, who would then explain the game.

What happened is, I started and actually opened the game, which was my mistake.

You played the game, and no-one knows what the game is about.

I had to sort of come in and fill in the blanks.

As I said, it was my mistake that I actually opened the game.

OK, so...good project manager?

Mm.

-I see.

-I think we made a really good game.

-I really like the game...

-I am so grateful to have the opportunity to develop an actual VR game. That was amazing.

-Right.

Let's find out how we got on, yeah?

The experts, out of the seven,

five of them said that with a bit of improvement,

they would invest in Nebula's game.

As far as Titan was concerned, all seven of them said...

they're not interested at all.

Zero.

And then we go to the public vote.

It's a landslide victory here.

Nebula,

you got 222 votes out of 300.

So, you've been getting creative with all this VR stuff.

So for your treat, you're going to go for the Chambers Of Flavour.

It's a top-secret immersive dining experience that you won't forget.

So, very well done,

-and I'll see you back here on the next task.

-Thank you.

DELIGHTED LAUGHTER

All right, go away, and I'll see you soon

and we'll discuss it a bit further.

Unlike your games, you don't have five lives.

For at least one of you today, it's going to be game over.

-Are you hungry?

-ALL:

-Yes!

-ALL:

-Wow!

-Might I say what a pleasure it is to have you all at our table once more?

This tastes like Astrobadger, doesn't it?

The brand was stronger than the product.

I don't have a clue what Trishna and Frances were doing on the game side,

but from the feedback we had, the game could have been better.

What? This is genuinely like a plane!

Doors to manual, crosscheck, thank you.

Where's the eject button?

To win as project manager, the feeling's just unreal.

It was everything I wanted to do, I did, I went with my gut,

I went with all the decisions I wanted to do, and I won.

INDISTINCT SHOUTING

Scurvy swine!

It's quite frustrating - Trishna was against what we'd done,

but seems to now be taking the credit for it.

Just feels a little strange how someone can be so far one way

and then so pleased the other.

INDISTINCT SHOUTING

CHEERING

Cheers!

I think it was obvious that we lost our way on the pitch.

I think the game was great.

The problem was, we didn't sell it to the audience.

I don't think that's the key reason

why the whole room didn't buy into it.

The actual game itself plays a part.

Dillon is very, very creative, he lives in this imaginary world,

and that's the reason I put him on building the game.

But our game was very, very simple and basic.

-We've ended up with a kids' game, basically.

-But that was both sides.

That was from our side and from your side.

We made our world more colourful

after you guys told us that this guy was a little kid, so...

Alana and Dillon are trying to say that the character's childish.

The whole darn game's childish.

They can't blame it all on the character.

They designed the concept and that's what we went with.

Just be aware that when you called me,

you told me the character was an infant.

We created a character that wasn't edgy, that wasn't zippy,

that wasn't dynamic, it was just this infantile character

and this crap name, and that's why we failed this task.

PHONE RINGS

Could you send the candidates in, please?

Lord Sugar will see you now.

Now, the feedback says this is a kids' game,

and the kids' game is the smallest market in virtual reality gaming.

The starting point was the Coral Kid.

I thought of a kid, like an infant, a child.

We had to get on with it and I had to draw this character

and by the end of it, we ended up with this, obviously, because...

You talk about it like it's your last resort.

This character was a dynamic hero.

THIS was the dynamic hero?!

No, no. That was in my mind and that was the world I was creating.

When I spoke to the PM team,

they relayed to me that they wanted, quote, "an infant".

I started drawing this character.

I wanted it to be cheeky but I'm not great at drawing,

so I ended up with this kid.

You had access to a world-class designer.

You could've done anything.

Yeah. If it was up to you,

Super Mario would be better known as Fat Plumber.

I mean, you've got... There's no imagination here.

I don't get it.

As an illustrator, there was an illustration of a character required

and I thought I could be more helpful on the branding and design team.

Looking at the other team's game,

I think our game sort of didn't have too much creativity in it.

It's just you're standing in one place.

The experts didn't like the brand and they said it had limited appeal,

and that's what makes people buy into the game.

After a whole day's work, you came up with the brainwave of...

Magic Shells.

I decided on the name, obviously, because the theme of the game

was Magic Shells, so that's what we went with.

Grainne, honestly, hand on heart, what do you make of this logo?

You were part and parcel of this.

Yeah, I know. Erm, hand on heart, yes, it's very simple,

but I don't think there was any other ideas coming.

It wasn't dynamic enough for what I was hoping at all.

The thing is, I'm hearing all this now, but I don't think

any of you kind of just gave anything during the actual task.

You kind of agreed with everything we went along with.

-We said on the phone...

-It's a bit late that

-you actually bring this up now.

-..it's not very imaginative.

But what would you have rather us done? Had a go at you?

-No, but the...

-Obviously, it was too late.

I'm getting you coming out with all these, it sounds like excuses,

but you should have brought this

into the actual room we was doing this in.

We did explain to you what the game was...

We did question the name but unfortunately you said we were stuck with it.

The experts are also critical of the actual game itself.

They said it was not very exciting.

When I came up with that puzzle idea, no-one else gave any other ideas.

But I do think that the Magic Shells didn't tie into the game

that we were trying to create.

But you can say that when you gave me a brief of

15 shells underwater, in bubbles.

-No, that wasn't the complete brief.

-This is what yous told me on the last phone call...

The brief was that it was an underwater puzzle game.

I had written down, the keywords I was trying to incorporate into...

I can't listen to both of you at the same time. I don't know about Lord Sugar.

I think combined, it just didn't quite add up to the game we were trying to create.

Well, I don't know much about this virtual reality stuff

but what I saw there, the exploiting of

the virtual reality side of it didn't come across to me.

I wanted to have jellyfish coming from the top of the sea,

so that if they landed on you, you would get stung,

and I wanted things coming towards you as well, so it would be more...

You was on the team which created the game.

I really was pushing to have them.

Why are you telling me now, after the event?

What did you do, stand in the corner and whisper?

Sofiane was very adamant that,

"Dillon, you're a creative person,"

and I think he almost forgot that I was even there.

No, the reason I put you there...

-No, let me explain.

-I put you there and I said you are very creative too...

Let me say what I'm trying to say. So, I think

Dillon took it upon himself that everything had to be his idea

and I was coming up with a few things...

-That's not true.

-No, I don't mean that in a bad way.

I'm very supportive of you and unfortunately we had to prioritise

the actual gameplay.

I think the game is very creative, I do stand by it.

-Do you?

-I do.

-Well, seven experts don't.

Day two now. Let's talk about the pitch, then.

You had actually rehearsed exactly who was going to do what, right?

-Is that right?

-That's correct.

I rehearsed the story element of the character...

But you didn't do it! Sofiane,

bad enough you go against some project manager's instructions -

you've gone against your own instructions here!

-Yeah, I had...

-I lost the order of the thing we was doing.

There's not a big order. Only three or four things.

But what happened, when we reunited with the girls,

we added the girls' input. So you kind of last-minute adjustments...

Sofiane, that's not accurate at all.

He, he came in and he did actually deliver his part of the pitch.

Yeah, but after the horse had bolted!

My concern was that to start talking over all of us at once

was going to look even more of a mess.

But when you see a car crash about to happen,

you can find a diplomatic way of just coughing loud

and then grabbing the mic and taking over.

Hindsight's an amazing thing, you know?

-Too polite.

-Yeah, I should have just...

You were frozen. You were frozen.

OK, so Sofiane,

which two people are you bringing back into this boardroom?

The two people I'm bringing back is...

Come on, I haven't got all night.

-..Dillon...

-Yeah.

..and...

-..and Grainne.

-Really? You took long enough. I mean, you know,

I thought I was watching Simon Cowell on X Factor.

Alana, go back to the house.

Thank you.

Good luck, everyone.

You three step outside and I'm going to have a chat with Karren

and Claude and at least one of you is going to be fired.

Sofiane tends to disregard authority.

In this particular case, he disregarded his own authority.

He thinks he's better than he is.

Dillon's spoken so much about how he's a great, creative person.

If you say it enough, you kind of believe it.

He was running away with his own idea without thinking,

"How am I going to get a public to really buy into this?"

Grainne, living around Sofiane for nine weeks,

she must know she'll be wasting her time arguing with him.

But when you see something going very wrong, you've got to step in,

-you've got to say, "That's not good enough."

-Exactly.

"This appeals to a four-year-old, not a 24-year-old."

PHONE RINGS

-Yes, Lord Sugar?

-Can you send the three of them in, please?

Lord Sugar will see you now.

Sofiane, why have you brought Grainne back into this boardroom?

The reason you're sitting here, Grainne,

cos it's the first time I've worked with you,

but you just sat there watching me doing everything.

-Sofiane, that is...

-Do you understand?

I gave as much input as I could to this character...

-I asked you, "Can you draw?"

-You drew.

You're a make-up artist but you came up with the name, Magic Shells,

-that's about it.

-Why are you saying this now when, on the day, you were

happy with my input? You were grateful for my input on the day.

I kept coming up with hundreds of ideas...

What did you bring Dillon back in for?

It's mainly because I think you got lost in your world of imagination.

-I don't think there were many other...

-The game is very basic.

There weren't any other ideas brought to the table,

other than the ideas that I presented.

The game wasn't good enough.

The experts said they didn't buy into it at all.

I still think it's a good game.

I mean, I take on the critique that it isn't complex enough.

If I was in your shoes, I would probably have done a better game.

Hang on a second. I was a creative genius 30 minutes ago,

-and now I'm the reason the task failed.

-You are very creative.

I'm talking about the actual task, you had to build this game...

Lord Sugar, I've spent my whole life trying to be a creative designer.

I came from not much, I had to leave a small town,

I had to go to the big city and make it on my own.

People talk about women having equality in the workplace.

As a gay man, I came across a lot of adversary.

I tried my best to make a career for myself.

It didn't come easy to me.

That's nice and commendable and I understand what you're saying.

But he also just came over here with 180 quid in his pocket 13 years ago

-and taught himself how to speak English...

-And I'm not disrespecting that at all.

-Yeah, but I want you to know that...

-And she's a mother also, that's got her own business...

Lord Sugar, I am a businessman, you know, I work for someone,

I turn over £2 million and that's a lot for what I do,

and I've got an amazing business plan.

Who should get fired?

Erm... Who should get fired?

Definitely not me.

QUIET GUFFAWING

Based on this task, I would say Dillon.

Based on whole performance, I don't know a lot about you, Grainne...

-Exactly, so don't say it.

-..I would probably say Grainne.

-You know, in the middle of this task...

-You can't say, based on the whole task.

-Who should be fired, then, Dillon?

-Sofiane.

-Sofiane.

-Absolutely.

Listen, I don't think there's anything more to be gained

in talking to you, so I'm going to summarise this the way I see it.

So, look, Sofiane...

..so many people tell me that you've got no regard for their ideas,

you do your own thing,

and I can't deal with people like that, as far as I'm concerned,

in business.

Grainne, on this particular task,

I do not know what you did at all,

and I just think that you took the opportunity to sit back.

Lord Sugar, in the last nine weeks, you know,

I've never took a back seat in anything.

How many tasks have you won?

Three.

I know that's not good.

Dillon, you've been labelled the creative person,

but at the end of the day, this wasn't creative.

You know what? Sof disregards instructions,

but you're exactly the same, I think.

I think once you get something in your head,

-you're not going to listen to anybody.

-I guess,

in hindsight, if I could change the game, I would've put the...

This is not a case of hindsight.

I keep hearing, had you had your time again, had you did this again,

had you rethought it again...

and whilst you are a very, very, very nice person, Dillon...

..I don't think you have the potential of being my business partner.

-Lord Sugar...

-So, it is with regret

that you're fired.

Thank you, Lord Sugar. Thank you, Karren and Claude.

It's getting very, very close to the end now.

Sofiane,

you go on your own, you do your own thing -

I'm finding it difficult to believe that you are...

..a potential winner.

Sofiane, you're fired.

Thank you, Lord Sugar. Thanks, Claude. Thanks, Karren.

HE SIGHS

Grainne...

go back to the house, OK?

Thank you.

I'm still shocked that I got fired.

There's still a lot of dead wood,

but I'm still going to achieve my dream and build my empire.

I am extremely creative. Lord Sugar didn't see that

because I'm dealing with a bunch of monkeys on a task.

The plan is to get back to Dublin,

get a spray tan and conquer the magazine world.

My money would be on Sofiane going.

But he was putting a lot of the blame on Dillon as well, I think.

If Dillon goes, I will be absolutely gutted.

It was obvious that the game wasn't quite right

and the game idea came from Dillon.

Dillon and Grainne are coming back.

-Woo!

-Woo!

Just... Wait!

Dillon's back. Dillon's coming back. No, he is, he is.

-What?

-They're gone.

-No, he is. No, Dillon's coming back.

-They're not here.

-Just you?

-Oh, my God, well done, Grainne.

-Is he really not coming back?

It was horrific.

It literally is dog-eat-dog in there.

Dillon fought his side, he really, really did.

But he's gone.

Lord Sugar's now looking at a potential business partner.

There's only six of us left,

and there's only going to be one winner.

-Last man standing.

-Yeah.

Now, six candidates remain.

Lord Sugar's search for his next business partner continues.

Next time...

I want you to create your own gin.

Choose your concept, which one?

..high spirits...

I have to stop drinking this.

No-one's listening to me and it's starting to really piss me off.

..low shots.

I feel like there's a negative vibe here right now.

I heard you! 'No, I heard you, Frances!'

And in the boardroom...

The product has got so many faults with it.

..headaches all-round.

Truth of the matter was, if she was undermining your authority,

she was just the messenger.

You're fired.