Implementation

[Business Strategy]

San Jose State and NASDA Summer School 2001 joint team only provides the basic concept of the game. The actual development should be consigned to our partner game software companies (e.g. Electric Arts Inc., SEGA, etc.) We are preparing to consult with a few game developers (e.g. Electric Arts Inc., etc) about the possibility of developing the software itself, upon approval from NASA Means Business Competition 2002 committee. There is no technical barrier that will prevent the developers from developing the game, as long as the content is delivered to them. Existing channels can be used for software distribution without much hassle.

We will incorporate SimCity's figures into our consideration in making business plans, including, but not limited to, marketing, development and advertisement strategies.

Encouraging SimMars educational edition as part of educational material for schools would ensure the demand. Utilizing simulation games in classrooms has been commonly used in high school education in the Sates. Thus it should not be difficult to introduce our product in the market.

Since SimMars emphasizes on international collaboration, it shall be released in multiple languages (e.g. English, Japanese, Spanish, French, Chinese, etc.) to be used in various countries.

By the end of the competition (May 2002), we wish to post a downloadable demo version of the game at developer's website.

[Tentative timeline]

See attached PowerPoint chart

[Possible technical partners (to be contacted)]

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
National Space Development Agent of Japan (NASDA)
Electric Arts Inc.

[Possible sponsors (to be contacted)]

Japan Space Forum
NASDA
San Jose State University

[Organizations and relationship (tentative)]

Outreach plan

Due to spread geographical locations of each team member, community level outreach is difficult.

Building a homepage is the most effective outreach strategy for our case. Website includes team activities, member profile, bulletin board, links, and so on. It is still under construction, but contents will be enriched shortly.

We are consulting with many Japanese and U.S. space-related organizations for advertising our team activities, by setting a link from their homepages to ours. Organizations and companies being, or to be, contacted are Keio University, NASDA, ISAS, and many others. Since the plan is to release the game in multiple languages, we plan to talk to space development organizations from all over the world about advertising the software in their countries.

Use of media is always effective. We plan to use TV, web, magazine, and other mainstream media. Our team member, Takashi Ito, is in fact a reporter for AIAA Student Journal, working on an article about our activities. This journal is one of the major aerospace periodicals in the world. Thus a wide range of audiences can be informed of our existence.

Agenda

Feasibility check and market research for SimMars should be performed. For further implementation and development of the product, having a business consultant may be required. Tentative timeline should be revised according to estimated necessary time of software development.

For the contents, thorough well-plotted storyline should be created. The storyline should be entertaining enough to attract the customers. Yet, it has to be deliberately designed to satisfy NASA's need to raise the public understanding of their work, incorporating outcome from Mars Exploration Programs.

We also need to enthusiastically discuss the sponsorship from various companies, organizations and space agencies. Seeking for technical partnership should be encouraged as well.

Supplemental Information

Our team is a unique collaboration between Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) department at San Jose State University (SJSU) and the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) Summer School 2001. For information on MAE department program at SJSU, please visit http://www.engr.sjsu.edu/mae/. Dr. Nikos J. Mourtos of MAE department is our supervising faculty. SJSU is a rather small team with Dr. Mourtos, Robbie Singh, and myself.

Rest of our members is volunteers from NASDA Summer School 2001. The NASDA Summer School 2001 was a three-day workshop held in NASDA Tsukuba Space Center from August 1 - 3, 2001. 36 selected students from high school senior to a father, with various occupation and backgrounds gathered at TSC from all over Japan. Activities included discussion with Akihiko Hoside, a Japanese Astronaut, group presentation, lectures, a tour of TSC facilities, and so on. For more information, visit http://jem.tksc.nasda.go.jp/astro/report/0108_e.html. On the final day of the workshop, have decided to keep in contact to exchange information and organize some activities.

Due to our team nature (geographically separated between Japan and California), we are participating in this competition totally voluntary, mainly for our own enjoyment. However, MAE Department at SJSU is starting to recognize our activity as a valuable opportunity to obtain real life experience that cannot be learned from textbooks. Written commitment of our team's home institution is in the process of being signed by the department chair Dr. Fred Barez.