1988 Retro Game Tycoon - Chapter 100



Only Noblemtl

100th – Sega Pride

Managing Director Isamu Nishikawa was used to being rejected.

It was a fate that the seller had to accept.

But sometimes the weight of fate became too much.

Not only Nishikawa himself, but the ‘Sega Pride’ of those who work at Sega is amazing.

The pride in the company has always led to the idea that it should create the best games, and indeed, Sega has reigned as a powerhouse in the arcade game industry, creating numerous masterpieces.

When a new game comes out, the sales department can also try out the game before it’s released.

Each time, Nishikawa actively expressed his opinion.

But the development team’s response was unanimous.

“I understand what you’re saying, but we know more about games. We believe it’s important to trust each other and do our best at our jobs.”

It was a euphemism, but it meant that sales should not criticize the game the development team made.

But when a game doesn’t sell well, the sales department is always the first to get hit.

The company’s rebuke could be summed up in one word.

“We made the best game ever, so why are the sales like this? Is there something wrong with our sales strategy?”

We at Sega are the best game company. We always make the best games. If the best games don’t sell, it’s the sales department’s fault.

To refute this would be to deny that Sega is the best gaming company.

“Let’s try harder next time, Nishikawa. We’re Sega.”

“I have no face.”

For sales, the development department was an untouchable sanctuary.

Nishikawa had no complaints about that part. After all, if the development department doesn’t make games, he can’t sell anything.

“Still, I wish the development department would listen to us more. It’s impossible for people who make games to be error-free, right?”

“That’s right. But you understand. The ‘pressure-’ that our development department people receive is also enormous. In order to make a game worthy of the Sega name, we have to fix, fix, and fix what the management points out.”

Nishikawa became friends with a colleague from the development department, and they would occasionally drink together and vent their grievances. Nishikawa would become somewhat convinced when his friend consoled him.

“If my boss asks me, ‘Wouldn’t the Nintendo people laugh at this?’ after seeing the game I was working on, I’d be speechless. We all put our best efforts into making games to protect Sega’s pride. If I showed the game I made to the people at work and they didn’t say, “Well done,” or “Great,” but instead criticized me for being strange, I honestly couldn’t help but feel offended.”

“Yes, I understand that feeling. That’s why I think we need to open up the process to the company a little bit before we finish making it. Wouldn’t that make for a better game?”

“Well, Nishikawa. Anyway, we each have our own roles to play. I think it’s important to fulfill our own responsibilities.”

The conversation always took a roundabout route like that.

However, Sega, inspired by Nintendo’s huge success, entered the home console market, but the Sega Pride did not help in the console market.

At that time, Nishikawa was still the manager. He insisted that Master System should also actively recruit third parties.

“Our game is the best. Why do we have to go through all that trouble when we could just port Sega’s arcade games?”

Many people took the position that third parties were not necessary, as Sega’s games were sufficient.

But home game consoles didn’t sell as well as expected.

Although the SG-1000 was improved upon to create the Master System, Sega was overwhelmingly defeated by Nintendo in the most important Japanese and American markets.

Although Nintendo did well in Europe and South America, where its influence was relatively weak, the video game landscape has always been dominated by the United States and Japan.

Sega, feeling that it could not end like this, jumped into 16-bit game development before Nintendo and quickly completed development of the Mega Drive by utilizing the System 16 arcade board design.

This time, he tried to show Sega’s strength by meeting with several game companies and recruiting them as a third party, but Nishikawa once again had to face a wall of rejection.

“Sorry, we haven’t finished our exclusivity contract with Nintendo yet.”

“You used a 16-bit CPU. We’ve never developed with 16-bit before… Is there a development manual? Not yet?”

“When we came to you last time with a plan to develop a game for the Master System, didn’t you reject us without even looking at the plan?”

Sega Pride, which was promoted while developing an 8-bit game console, returned as retribution in the 16-bit game market.

People did not easily believe Sega’s sincerity.

Still, the Mega Drive was released in Japan, and after much persuasion, third parties began to join one by one.

But this time, the 16-bit CPU was the culprit.

Everyone was still focusing on developing 8-bit games, which were still popular, so they had a hard time developing games for the Mega Drive, which used a 16-bit CPU.

Whenever Nishikawa visited to check on the situation, the head of development always greeted him with a troubled face.

“The work is harder than I thought.”

“We need more support from Sega.”

“It is technically difficult, and because the resolution is high, there are many backgrounds and characters to draw, so it will take longer than expected.”

Nishikawa always heard from every developer he met that it was impossible, difficult, and hard.

The meeting usually ended with a resolution that said, “I still have to work hard,” but with a determination to get it done with determination.

Meanwhile, the game’s release schedule kept getting pushed back, Mega Drive sales were falling short of expectations, and Nishikawa’s frustration continued to grow.

Originally, Nishikawa admired developers who could quickly create the games he liked. However, the more he worked, the more he began to feel that game developers were “people who always say no.”

So far, that has certainly been the case.

That’s what happened-.

Nishikawa was having a new experience in Korea where no one cared.

“You’re porting to Mega Drive? Of course. It’s possible.”

“Oh? Is that so?”

The representative of a small game company called ‘Star-Bitto’, who came to visit me on the last day of his business trip, answered my question without any hesitation that it was possible.

Nishikawa was secretly happy, but he thought calmly based on his experiences so far.

Of course, among the developers he met, there were some who were enterprising and proactive.

But most of them had something in common: they were small companies, startup game companies. They were companies that had just been established and needed to make a mark, and companies that wanted to get some help by riding on the Sega title.

Nishikawa was happy to actively accept such companies as third parties, but once the development project actually began, their enthusiasm soon subsided.

Their skills did not keep up with their words and confidence.

’16-bit game development is a difficult task that even experienced developers have difficulty adapting to?’

Nishikawa, who had been in trouble many times because of developers, couldn’t help but be suspicious of Seo Nam-joon’s confident attitude.

“But, from what I’ve heard, and I’m not a developer, 16-bit game development is incredibly difficult.”

“For those who are still only familiar with 8-bit, that might be the case. I guess I’ll have to show you our board in person.”

Seo Nam-joon left the conference room and came back carrying a large circuit board.

He said, pointing to the A1 board with his finger.

“Do you see two identical chips here? That’s the CPU. The A1 board uses two 16-bit CPUs to process two computational processes simultaneously. We control this process perfectly without any bottlenecks through our own software design. Is this level of technology the answer?”

“Not one, but two at the same time?”

The moment Nishikawa saw the A1 board, he instinctively felt that Starbeat’s technological prowess was not an empty boast.

Sega also released a board using two 16-bit CPUs called the ‘System 24’ last year. However, there weren’t many games for it yet, and it wasn’t a board that was going to be the main product for some time.

However, the fact that Starbeat succeeded in designing with the same structure means that the technological capabilities of Sega and Starbeat are only about a year apart.

Furthermore, was flawless in every aspect, including its characters, action, story, directing, and completeness.

If there was one thing that bothered him, it would be that the Japanese people and the Japanese military were portrayed as villains. But Nishikawa put that minor detail aside for now.

Games like made by Capcom were a huge hit in Japan, as they involved the Allied forces defeating the Japanese.

The question he has to think about now is whether is a game that is worthy of being released for the Mega Drive and is suitable for Sega Pride.

‘Of course···, yes!’

Nishikawa was confident.

In order to win the competition with Nintendo, they had to release at least one excellent game, as soon as possible. There was no time to worry about whether it was a Korean game or a Japanese game.

“So how long would it take to develop this for Mega Drive?”

“Well, that’s a problem you’ll have to try to figure out···.”

Nishikawa had hoped to come out at the end of this year, but he thought it was too greedy.

“If we do, we have to release it by the end of the year at the latest. We can’t miss the end-of-year season. Besides, isn’t Mega Drive in a situation where it needs one game right now?”

But surprisingly, he got exactly the answer he wanted. Seo Nam-joon had a clear understanding of the reality and needs of Sega and Mega Drive.

“Then it’s perfect. I highly recommend Star-Vitto as a third-party developer for the Mega Drive.”

“Okay, just a minute. Jotto, jotto mate gudasai!”

While the conversation was going on, Mr. Hwang, the director of Osung Electronics, intervened urgently. He spoke quickly to the interpreter, and the interpreter changed his words to Japanese.

“Starbeat is an important partner of Oseong Electronics. If is transplanted, I think Korea has the first right.”

“iced coffee···?”

Managing Director Nishikawa looked embarrassed.

Although the Korean market was not that large, Osung Electronics was still a competitor that could not be ignored.

“Didn’t I tell you yesterday? Korea is in a situation where game software sales are urgent right now. We also asked to port but haven’t heard a response. If Sega does this, we will be in a bit of trouble.”

Director Hwang, who had been extremely hospitable to Managing Director Nishikawa until now, now took a somewhat more aggressive stance with a stern expression.

Director Hwang also thought that Sega was a more important partner than anyone else, but he couldn’t just sit back and watch as Sega, who was supposed to help him, intercepted the game in the middle.

Both of them needed for their own reasons. However, because of their entangled relationships, it was difficult for them to come out stronger.

The two people looked at CEO Seo Nam-joon.

In the end, the one holding the reins in this situation was Starbeat’s CEO, Seo Nam-joon.

***

‘This is a mess.’

Seo Nam-joon looked at Sega and Osung Electronics, who had suddenly barged into the company, claiming to be first without any prior coordination.

When Nishikawa, who I thought was just there to look around out of curiosity, brought up the topic of porting Mega Drive, I was honestly intrigued.

Even though the Mega Drive’s sales were poor due to being pushed out by Nintendo, it is a large console that ultimately sold more than 3 million units in Japan alone, and more than 30 million units worldwide.

We also have plans to develop a home console, but we haven’t even started yet.

Compared to arcade boards, where you could just slap chips on and cover the quantity if that didn’t work, home consoles had far more limitations.

It would still be at least another year before the game could be released on the Mega Drive, and it would certainly be a huge help to the company if it could make money while building international recognition.

We were thinking of finding capable partners through CES for overseas expansion. If we can create a Mega Drive hit game, overseas expansion will be much easier.

However, this will inevitably lead to readjustments between development projects currently being planned, which could potentially cause problems with CES participation.

It’s definitely a good opportunity for a pumpkin to roll in, but you have to be careful.

There was something I absolutely had to check.

“Director Nishikawa, thank you for your suggestion. First of all, it is true that Osung Electronics brought up the topic of transplanting when requesting bundled game supply. However, we have never responded to that. Also, the bundled game contract is limited to the two bundled games, so Osung Electronics has no preferential rights.”

“But, sir!”

“Director Hwang, when we signed the contract, it was your request to limit the scope of the contract to the bundled game. We were considering a general license, but you said that it would require further legal review and that we should look into it little by little.”

“that···.”

Director Hwang couldn’t open his mouth any longer to listen to what I said.

After I finished organizing the traffic, I asked Director Nishikawa.

“And, Mr. Nishikawa, of course we can port games to the Mega Drive. But that’s just saying we can do it, not saying we want to or have to do it.”

“Is that so? If were to be released for Mega Drive, it would be a great benefit to your company, right?”

“I understand that Mega Drive sales are still quite low. It has only been on sale in the US for a few months. In this situation, how much sales can we expect from a game we release when we have no recognition in Japan or the US?”

“It will definitely not be easy at first. But I am sure that it will get a good response quickly because the game is so good.”

“That would be great, but that’s just an expectation. Besides, we don’t have any distribution networks in Japan or the US. If you want to port to Mega Drive, you have to promise me something first.”

“What do you want?”

“Please, Sega, take charge of publishing the Mega Drive version of . That is the condition.”

A game isn’t something that just gets made well and released.

In this age without the Internet, it was obvious what the outcome would be if we, who did not have a proper distribution network, simply waited for word of mouth to spread among gamers.

This requires a wide distribution network and systematic marketing.

But we were not ready yet in Japan or the United States.

Even if they made a game, they wouldn’t be able to sell it properly unless Sega took care of distribution and marketing themselves.

So what I’m saying is this.

Are you telling me to become a third party?

Okay, honestly that’s what I wanted too.

But then you become my publisher too. I have no intention of getting involved in filling the quota for Mega Drive games.

“Otherwise, even if we port the game, it’s useless. We can’t sell it properly. Starbeat is still a small company. We have a lot of work to do, and we don’t have the luxury of wandering around. We have to focus on things that have high potential.”

If we became a third party for Sega, we would naturally benefit as we would be able to experience the global console market first.

However, if you rush in just because of Sega’s name value, you are more likely to have the bitter experience of wasting time and money.

Nishikawa said with a troubled expression on his face at my words.

“But, this is not a matter that I can decide here on my own. There are many things that need to be coordinated.”

“Then that’s too bad. I have no choice but to pretend that the story never happened.”

“Wait a minute, sir. I’m not saying it can’t be done. I’m just saying that some decision-making is needed at headquarters. However, even if I go back and try to persuade you, it’s impossible with just words. No one will believe that a game like this was developed in Korea until they see it with their own eyes.”

Certainly, that is so.

Even if I were a Sega employee, I think I would be asked if someone was crazy if they told me to publish Korean games.

“I can’t do it alone. How about you demonstrate the game with me and try to convince the management?”

“Am I in Japan?”

I was lost in thought.

The original plan was to focus on new games until CES, and then get some attention at CES and then enter the US first. The plan was to gain popularity in the US, the world’s largest market, and then use that as a base to move to Japan.

But there was no guarantee that things would go as planned just because I went to CES. There was a good chance that I would go unnoticed and come back empty-handed.

When I raised my head, Director Nishikawa was looking at me with serious eyes.

If you’re in charge of sales, you’re probably worried about Mega Drive sales right now. If so, you’ve at least secured one solid ally in Sega.

Anyway, we have no choice but to use other console platforms until our own console comes out.

In that case, it would definitely be a good choice to make the most of the Mega Drive third-party slot when the opportunity arises.

What if Sega refuses to publish it? Then we can just go back to our original plan and focus on CES.

I decided.

“Okay, sir. I will go with you. To Japan.”

“Thank you, sir!”

The two of us shook hands firmly. The firm determination was transmitted from hand to hand.

Let’s not overcomplicate things.

First of all, you have to grab the opportunity that comes your way.

1988 Retro Game Tycoon Episode 101