1988 Retro Game Tycoon - Chapter 101



Only Noblemtl

Episode 101 – Akihabara

Managing Director Nishikawa returned to Japan first.

“There is no one in Japan who knows about Star Beat or . I will introduce them to the company and contact you after setting up a meeting.”

Games that are popular in the US or Japan tend to spread to other countries on their own. However, on the other hand, it is very rare for a game that becomes popular in Korea, a remote area for games, to spread to Japan on its own.

The reason Nishikawa visited our company was to see for himself what kind of company we were.

While waiting to hear from Nishikawa, I prepared for my upcoming business trip abroad.

Since founding Starbeat, we have been developing and selling console games, portable game consoles, and even arcade games without rest.

And finally, I got the opportunity to advance overseas that I had been longing for.

“Captain Ko, and Captain Park. The two captains and AD Choi Han-il will come with me. Just visiting a world-class game company will be a great learning experience. It would be good to go more, but since we are not going on a field trip right now, please understand.”

“I envy you. Bring lots of presents when you come, Captain.”

“I’m jealous. I’m not even going out to play. I’m already getting nervous just thinking about meeting the Sega people.”

“Then should I go instead?”

“No. We can’t just place this burden on anyone. This is the responsibility of the captain.”

Even the members who couldn’t go together couldn’t hide their excitement at the opportunity to advance overseas.

Sega is currently ranked among the top five gaming companies in the world.

If we can just release through Sega, we can go out to the global market in one go.

A few days later, the four of us left for Japan via Gimpo Airport.

I finally took out the suit my mother had bought for me and put it on. In Korea, I could do whatever I wanted because it was my company, but in this day and age, any Japanese company, even a game company, would be quite conservative.

“Really, when did our Namjoon grow up so much?”

The morning I left for my business trip, my mother put on her suit and looked at me with a complicated expression.

How can I possibly fathom the feelings of a mother who looks at her son who has outgrown his teenage years and has become a completely different person, even though they live in the same house for years without seeing each other?

“It will be much bigger than it is now.”

I just gave my mother a big hug and headed to the airport.

Me, AD Choi Han-il, and the two captains took a flight from Gimpo Airport early in the morning and headed to Tokyo, where Sega’s headquarters is located.

When I arrived at Narita International Airport, a staff member sent by Nishikawa was there to greet me.

“Welcome. Mr. Nishikawa asked me to convey his apologies for not being able to greet you in person.”

“No. Thank you for coming. Are you going straight to work?”

“No. Since the meeting is in the afternoon, he asked me to go and see Tokyo a little. How about stopping by Akihabara first and taking a look around?”

“Akihabara is great. Please show me around.”

“Okay. Now, come here.”

We got into the prepared car and headed towards Akihabara.

“What kind of place is Akihabara?”

“You could call it the mecca of Japanese electronics stores. There’s so much to see.”

“In terms of Seoul, is it somewhere like Cheonggyecheon or Seun Shopping Mall?”

“Well, it’s similar, but different. There are a lot of electronic products, video games, and animation-related products, but in terms of scale, they can’t compare.”

“ah···!”

The ancient dragon agent, who likes Japanese animation as much as video games, changed his gaze into one of great anticipation.

And those eyes changed to looks of admiration and awe upon arriving at Akihabara.

“Oh my god…!”

Clean, stylish buildings lining the streets, countless people, endless amounts of the latest electronic products and large neon signs in every store.

In the 1980s, Seoul had grown enough to host the Olympics, but it could not compare to Tokyo, Japan, which was at the peak of its economy.

“I dare compare Cheonggyecheon and Seun Shopping Mall to places like this.”

Captain Ko was speechless as he looked around Akihabara.

If you add up Cheonggyecheon, Seun Shopping Mall, and Yongsan Electronics Market, would it be only 1/10 of Akihabara? It was truly overwhelming.

National, Toshiba, TDK, Aiwa, Sony, Hitachi, NEC, Pioneer, Fujitsu, Sanyo, JVC, Seiko, Casio, Yamaha, etc.

In Korea, the streets are endlessly filled with the world’s best electronic products that would make anyone envious if they had just one.

“This is… really amazing.”

Akihabara was very different from what I remembered.

Akihabara is also a mecca for retro games, so I used to visit there often. I can’t count the number of times I exclaimed, “I really wanted to try this!” while looking at the nostalgic games and game consoles neatly arranged in plastic bags.

But when I went to Akihabara, games and anime were already more mainstream than electronics. It felt more like a mecca for otakus than an electronics district.

The large animation characters and numerous figures that were attached to each building were still nowhere to be seen.

Even the people walking around the streets feel much more ordinary. There are no people dressed as maids promoting maid cafes on the streets, AKB48 is still a long way off, and of course underground idols are still around.

Akihabara looked much more plain than I remembered.

But the impact was greater than when I first saw Akihabara. I guess my eyes have become too accustomed to Seoul. Even I felt like I was in a city of the future.

Besides, for people like us, Akihabara appealed to us much more than the bustling and luxurious streets like Shibuya or Ginza.

Everyone kept looking around with surprised rabbit eyes. AD Choi Han-il kept taking pictures with his camera.

The Sega staff walked slowly through the streets, taking care not to let us get lost, and gave us a brief explanation.

“Well, if you come to Akihabara, you can’t miss this place. Next time, I’ll introduce you to the best spot in Akihabara.”

“The best spot? Where is it?”

“You will find out soon enough.”

He led us to a red building on the main street, which had a large SEGA logo and the words “Store 1” written in Chinese characters.

“It’s Sega Game Center!”

“Yes, it is the best game center in Japan, and certainly in the world. It is full of our proud Sega games. Come in and take a look.”

He confidently guided us to the Sega Game Center.

“No? Here? Is this whole floor filled with Sega games?”

“No, that’s not it. It’s not one floor. This entire building is a game center with only Sega games. It’s called Sega Tower.”

When Captain Park Geon-hyung asked in surprise, the employee explained with a proud expression.

True to his word, this entire four-story building was filled with nothing but Sega games.

Of course, Japan also has neighborhood arcades with the same concept as ours. They are about the size of one or two regular stores and have a variety of arcade game machines. The owners are also just ordinary self-employed business owners.

However, Japan, which is now more advanced than the United States in the console and arcade industries, has established and operated large-scale arcades, also known as game centers, in which major game companies create their own games.

“The Japanese game industry is truly endless. They can fill an entire building with their own games…”

“But Sega isn’t the only one with game centers. Other famous game companies also create game centers dedicated to their own games. Namco Land, Taito Station, Plaza Capcom, etc. There are many. It’s really great.”

I added my explanation to Captain Park, who was looking around the game center with eyes of surprise and disbelief.

“Japan is definitely different from us in terms of its foundation. I thought Gangnam Computer Arcade was huge, but looking at this place, I realized I was just a frog in a well.”

“That’s right. It said it was the first store earlier. So, does that mean Sega operates several game centers like this?”

“I vaguely thought that Japan would be big, but I didn’t think it would get to this size.”

“That’s right. It’s really amazing. Even Nintendo, which is focusing on consoles and no longer making arcade systems, is doing this.”

I was surprised as well. I knew about Japan and the status of Japanese games during that era, but seeing it with my own eyes felt completely different.

Although Starbeat is confident that it has grown quite quickly, it is still far behind Japan.

The first floor of the Sega Game Center was filled with Sega’s proud sensory game machines.

There were games like , which made you feel like you were actually on an airplane, as well as , where you rode on a motorcycle body and drove it, and , which had a steering wheel and pedals.

Rather than playing games with a small stick in a typical cabinet, the cabinet itself was customized for a single game, giving the game a realistic sense of presence.

The game center was operated by dividing each floor into genres and themes.

In a few years, shooting masterpieces like The House of the Dead and Virtual Cop will be added here, and Virtua Fighter, which opened the door to 3D fighting action games, will be widely available. And as time goes by, the trend will move to rhythm games.

A panorama of how countless games would come and go in this space in the future played out in my head.

“Take your time looking around and try out a game.”

The proud faces of Sega employees overlapped over that appearance.

I can understand this person’s feelings. Sega is definitely qualified to do this. Sega has the outstanding technology to create the most advanced sensory games, as well as the game play and creativity to create hit games.

But even this powerful gaming empire, Sega, would crumble in 10 years. The people at Sega now would never believe it.

It’s nearly impossible to remain on top of the video game world.

After an impressive tour of Akihabara and the Sega game center, I went to have lunch, where Director Nishikawa was waiting for me at the restaurant.

“CEO. Everyone. Welcome. It’s so nice to see you again. It’s only been a few days, but it feels like a year has passed.”

“We too. We have been waiting for this day.”

“How was Akihabara?”

“If I had time, I would have stayed in Akihabara for two nights and three days and just looked around. It was really fun to be able to see with my own eyes things I had only seen in pictures.”

Managing Director Nishikawa nodded as if he was relieved.

Akihabara and the game centers were something we had to chase and jump over.

The people from the company that accompanied me seemed to still be in a dream. For people like us, Akihabara is like a fantasy Disneyland.

The fact that the world I had never dreamed of existed just two hours away was a huge shock and at the same time a powerful stimulus.

“By the way, how is the atmosphere at the company?”

Over lunch, I asked Nishikawa whether Sega would be willing to take on the role of publisher.

“Well… to be honest, I’m not very positive about it. People don’t seem to believe that such a game was made in Korea. But once they see the game, they’ll change their minds. Just like I did.”

Managing Director Nishikawa spoke with emphasis. But it felt as if he was intentionally trying to make it brighter.

I see.

Becoming a third party for the Mega Drive won’t be as difficult as it was for Sega in the old days.

They must have learned something from the failure of the Master System.

But it’s a completely different matter for Sega to take charge of publishing directly.

Of course, it has to have the game play, graphics, and volume that befits the name ‘Sega’. This is because it is distributed just like a game made by Sega itself.

But does that mean we are popular, well-known, or have a history in Japan or the United States that can stand shoulder to shoulder with famous Japanese companies?

To be blunt, in Sega’s eyes, we are just nobody, worthless.

We have risen to become the best game company in Korea in just one year, and we are trying to impress big companies like Oseong Electronics and Jewoo Electronics, but since we came to Japan, we are starting from scratch again.

I too take great pride in our company, but exploring Akihabara has reaffirmed our position.

“It’s okay. I never thought it would be easy.”

“As expected of a CEO. That kind of unyielding spirit is necessary. The key man is President Toshio Tanaka. He values ​​harmony and listens to the opinions of his employees. However, he sometimes makes a firm decision.”

Managing Director Nishikawa briefed us on important matters while we had dinner.

There seemed to be many mountains to climb, but I had no choice but to face them.

After dinner, we headed to Sega headquarters.

We left Akihabara and entered a bustling area filled with high-rise buildings. The Samil Building where we work is one of the tallest buildings in Seoul, and there were many buildings similar to the Samil Building here.

“Okay, let’s go in. Unfortunately, I can’t show you the inside of the company. There are a lot of development projects going on. I hope you understand.”

“it’s okay.”

We took the elevator and went straight to the conference room. Just walking down the hallway gave me a rough idea of ​​the company atmosphere. The hallway was clean and white, and aside from a few game posters, it didn’t really feel like a game company.

“Please wait here for a moment while I prepare the demonstration. There is another meeting going on right now, so it will be our turn once it is over.”

We took out the A1 board we had prepared and connected it to Sega’s Aero City cabinet. It powered up and the demo screen appeared without a problem.

“Phew~.”

The Ancient Dragon representative sighed in relief. It was natural for things to go well, but it was inevitable that he would feel nervous before something big happened.

After making sure there was nothing wrong with the play, I stopped by the bathroom before an important meeting.

“Wow, the view from this bathroom is a work of art.”

I sat by the bathroom window and took a moment to admire the stunning view overlooking downtown Tokyo.

At that time, several people came in. But in their conversation, the name of Managing Director Nishikawa came up.

“Director Nishikawa, even though it’s urgent, don’t you have any pride or anything? I heard you recommended a Korean game company?”

“Yes, that’s a lot of talk. Although there are some uncomfortable aspects, he’s not the type to talk nonsense. How dare he suddenly ask for such an absurd suggestion.”

“Didn’t they take some money from a Korean company? They’re having a hard time right now because of MD (Mega Drive) sales.”

“Well, even so, if you do something wrong, you could really lose your head. Do you really need to go that far?”

“I don’t know. For example, if you give about 100 million yen as a bribe.”

“Huh? No way. If it’s to that extent, I can do it too.”

People left the bathroom, making ridiculous jokes among themselves.

I see.

I heard things like that from Managing Director Nishikawa, who recommended us.

When I came back from the bathroom, Director Nishikawa was doing “Fist of Jongro.”

“Oh, sir! I’ve been itching to play this game for days. I tried it again and my thoughts were right. It’s a real masterpiece!”

Managing Director Nishikawa had a happy expression like a child.

I was about to bring up the story I heard in the bathroom earlier, but I stopped myself. It was pointless anyway.

“Don’t worry, sir. After the meeting, you’ll be able to play on your Mega Drive.”

“Yes, I definitely want to include this game in MD!”

After a while, it was finally our turn and we headed to the main conference room.

The conference room looked very familiar to me.

If it weren’t for the Sega people, I wonder if I would be in a conference room of a Korean conglomerate right now.

The tables were arranged in a long, square shape, and the seat at the head of the table was, of course, that of President Toshio Tanaka. The atmosphere in the conference room was heavy, serious, and solemn.

Sega executives sitting along a long table whispered in low voices as we set up our equipment.

“The next agenda is…. Stabento. Oh, no! Sorry. It’s Sta-Bitto, Sta-Bitto. Mr. Nishikawa, the managing director, said that while porting the game of Sta-Bitto to MD, we should all consider taking charge of publishing it.”

“Yukio. Isn’t it rude in front of the guests?”

“sorry.”

There was a small laugh in the conference room. President Tanaka gave a light warning.

Like the incident in the bathroom earlier. That person must have gotten our names wrong on purpose.

“Please be careful.”

As Director Nishikawa stepped forward, Yukio bowed his head again. However, his words were not sincere.

“What are you saying?”

“It’s nothing. I think there was a slight mistake.”

The two captains who couldn’t understand Japanese asked me, but I didn’t bother to tell them. AD ​​Choi Han-il, who understood Japanese, noticed what I meant and didn’t say anything.

As we carefully placed the Aero City cabinet into the conference room, the Sega staff member who had come out to greet us brought out cables and adapters and reconnected them to the cabinet.

As it turned out, there was a large triode projector installed on the ceiling of the conference room.

Even in large companies, we still often have meetings where we handwrite charts. I was worried whether we could properly display our game screens in such a large conference room, but it turned out to be a useless thought.

Managing Director Nishikawa asked me with his eyes if I was ready, and I nodded.

“Then let’s get started. Respected Sega employees, I, Nishikawa, went to Korea on a business trip to Oseong Electronics and encountered an amazing game called at a game center. I thought it was strange that such an excellent game was not known at all in Japan, so when I heard that it was a Korean game, I went to the office in person.”

Nishikawa explained to the crowd the background to today’s meeting.

Nishikawa explained in a serious voice from his seat, and the people who had been whispering until just now listened to Nishikawa’s words while looking at the company introduction.

“…So today, Star-Bitto’s CEO Seo Nam-joon and his staff would like to show you in person. Please put aside all prejudices and only look at the game. We earnestly ask the CEO and all the staff members to do so.”

When Nishikawa finished speaking and bowed his head, the people applauded.

Nishikawa’s speech during the presentation was different from when he spoke to me, as if he were in a courtroom. The people listening were also blatantly ignoring us until the meeting began, but once the meeting started, they seemed to be paying attention.

No matter what their true feelings were, they were people who never did anything carelessly in official settings and kept to the formalities. If they showed even the slightest mistake here, it was clear that not only our company and Nishikawa, but also the entire Korean game industry would become a laughing stock.

“Please help me.”

President Tanaka personally gestured to me and told me to start.

I got up from my seat.

1988 Retro Game Tycoon Episode 102