1988 Retro Game Tycoon - Chapter 112



Only Noblemtl

Episode 112 – The Fourth Shock

“It’s finally today, Managing Director. I think this will be the last time I see the face of Managing Director Nishikawa, whom I hate to see.”

Before entering the meeting, Senior Vice President Ueki smiled broadly and spoke to Managing Director Yamada.

“Well, well, let’s just wait and see.”

“As expected, the Managing Director is very careful. But isn’t this something that is obvious?”

“Yes, sir. I guess I’ll probably be halfway through the game at best and then beg for more time since I’ve done this much.”

“Ah~, that could be possible. Honestly, it would be great if it was only half-finished, but I can’t let it go, right? You were the one who said a month in the first place.”

“Of course. It’s a promise between men, so you shouldn’t back down even if they ask you to.”

“I’m so excited to see what and how much I’ll be able to do in a month. I should laugh a little bit now, because I might laugh too hard during the meeting. Hahahaha!”

“Oh, that’s a good idea? Hahahaha!”

“Hahahahahaha!”

Everyone in the game research and development department, including Ueki, laughed out loud.

“ha ha ha?”

However, the quick-witted Ueki noticed that Executive Director Yamada was not smiling and immediately shut his mouth.

Managing Director Yamada said heavily.

“You’ll know what the game is like when you see it. Let’s not judge it yet. If it’s a mess, there’ll be plenty of time to laugh about it.”

“Indeed…! Those are wise words.”

People stopped laughing and nodded, but the smiles on their faces did not disappear.

Managing Director Yamada was always concerned about Managing Director Nishikawa, who came to see him before work hours.

He didn’t like Managing Director Nishikawa, but he didn’t think Nishikawa was stupid. Rather, he thought his eye for games was relatively accurate.

Maybe that’s why I was even more displeased with Nishikawa. His criticism was quite painful.

No matter how hard you work on a game, you can never make a perfect game. Every game has its own limitations.

Sometimes hardware specs are a drag, sometimes tight release schedules are the shackles, and sometimes inexperienced developers rush to release a game.

Sega stood tall as a powerhouse in arcade games, developing numerous masterpieces, but that doesn’t mean that every game they released was a hit.

The best games of the time are consistently loved in arcades for a long time and continue to attract people. On the other hand, there are games that shined at the beginning or disappeared without a name.

Why can’t you even embrace such a sore finger from the inside?

Anyway, these are games that will be judged coldly by people once they go out.

Developers grow as they create games. There are bound to be numerous failures along the way. Furthermore, no one can be certain of the success or failure of a game until it goes out to the arcade.

But Nishikawa often said the right thing even though it was already irreversible.

The factory will soon be producing circuit boards, so what good will come from nitpicking about trivial matters?

However, Nishikawa, who had been causing pain to the developers at the R&D headquarters, began to speak out even more as he gained strength from overseas sales of the console.

As the hatred grew, the more true Nishikawa’s words became, the more annoying it sounded. Everything he said seemed to be belittling Sega games.

But Nishikawa came to him before the meeting and bowed his head.

He said that he has no selfish motives and that he is only doing it for the company, so he asked people to evaluate the game objectively.

After Nishikawa left, Managing Director Yamada sat alone in his room, lost in thought.

There is no one in the company who does not know that they are on bad terms with each other. However, it is not common for them to come to me personally and bow their heads. It was impossible without completely putting aside their own pride.

‘Do you think it’s worth that much?’

When was demonstrated, Executive Director Yamada also thought it was a good game. However, he thought it was clearly a bubble.

It’s like an effect that makes a game look even more amazing because it’s made in Korea, a country that doesn’t even bother with the game market.

If it were a game made by Capcom, it wouldn’t have been this surprising.

The preconception that Korean games are like this also works in reverse. The surprise of “Korean games are like this?” makes people rate the games higher.

‘Okay, Nishikawa. I’ll do as you say. I’ll evaluate it as objectively as I can. Whether that’s good for you or not, we’ll just have to wait and see.’

Executive Director Yamada entered the conference room to pay his final respects to Nishikawa.

The owner of the store, who had come a month ago, confidently took out a black ROM pack from his black bag. He certainly had a knack for catching people’s eyes.

But CEO Seo Nam-joon turned on the Mega Drive and said something surprising.

That is, Japanese characters have been added.

Executive Director Yamada was surprised. It would take a lot of time just to transfer the original game, and they even added new characters to it?

‘Are you in your right mind? No one told you to do that, and you’re making a new character in such a short amount of time?’

Of course, there was another possibility. If I had already created a Japanese character before meeting with Sega a month ago.

But if that was really the case, you would have said at the last meeting that you were prepared for sales in Japan.

It was hard to believe that such a card had been hidden on purpose.

‘This is a mistake. No matter how confident you are in your development speed, you can’t do something like that. The game balance will be ruined. This is too hasty. There’s nothing more to see.’

Executive Director Yamada shook his head inwardly.

He glanced at Managing Director Nishikawa. Managing Director Nishikawa kept his mouth shut and stared intently at the screen.

‘Don’t blame me. You started it all.’

Soon the game began. At the same time, Executive Director Yamada was shocked as if a lightning bolt had struck his head.

At best, I thought it was just a slight change in appearance from the previous Hong Gong-woo character. In fact, considering the time, that was the norm.

However, Isamu’s standing posture and fighting actions were completely different from Hong Gong-woo’s.

– Avenging your friend is true patriotism!

The voice recorded in Japanese came out with a bit of rough noise. I thought the noise added to the raw feel of the character.

“Isamu is a typical problem student who can’t get along with anyone and causes trouble. He fights relying only on his size and strength, and he lacks the guts to learn karate and judo. He thought he could win everything.”

Seo Nam-joon demonstrated the game and explained the character of Isamu.

“He caused trouble at school and wandered around, and then went to Joseon with the intention of making money. He was shocked when he first lost in an alley fight, but he ended up becoming friends with him. When his friend was killed by a Japanese person, Isamu set out to avenge him.”

The character narrative is naturally connected to the action that is close to a fight. The characters are clearly hastily created, but there is no sign of hastily created anywhere.

Although he is a large, powerful character similar to Hong Gong-woo, he is differentiated by wearing a school uniform, and one sleeve is torn to give him a visual point.

‘That’s why there was no need to change the power balance drastically!’

Managing Director Yamada’s face continued to distort without him knowing it.

As the game progressed, I found myself thinking and feeling in complete opposite situations.

The game’s port was surprisingly good, with movements and actions that felt natural. If anything, it felt more striking than the previous arcade version.

The hastily created characters that I thought were a flop were so harmonious that they seemed like they had been there from the beginning.

All of this was accomplished in just 27 days.

Complex emotions were condensed in Managing Director Yamada’s mind.

He couldn’t stand it any longer.

I wanted to try this game myself.

“I’m really sorry to interrupt your meeting, but sir, can I try playing that game myself?”

He interrupted the meeting, taking the pad from Seo Nam-joon. He was so curious about this game that he couldn’t stand it.

“A is punch, B is kick, and C is jump.”

Seo Nam-joon was right next to me, telling me the keys and also teaching me the signature action commands. I was able to use the techniques without difficulty even with the Mega Drive pad, which only had directional keys and no stick.

Executive Director Yamada wanted to hold the pad and check it out himself.

Is the real game as fun as it looks?

Is this surprise real?

I wonder if this isn’t some play created by a guy named Seo Nam-joon.

The moment he picked up the pad and started playing the game himself, a thrilling shock ran down his spine.

It was a shock I had never felt before with a home console.

When the Mega Drive was released, it had three shocks that set it apart.

Speed ​​Shock! Visual Shock! Sound Shock!

But now he was feeling the fourth shock.

It was a tangible shock that made me feel like I was inside the game.

He deliberately tried to manipulate the game in a haphazard manner. Every time he did, Isamu on the screen reacted quickly to the keys he pressed.

Isamu’s reaction to being hit by a flurry of punches and kicks, screaming and falling down, and then being hit by an enemy who cleverly approaches and attacks without overlapping, made his hands tingle.

In the conference room now, there were no moving chairs like those used in Sega’s sensory games, nor were there any dedicated controllers.

All I had was a Mega Drive, a palm-sized ROM pack, and a pad that was already soaking wet with sweat.

But Director Yamada was in Gyeongseong, Joseon in the 1930s, a place he had never been to. And he was beating up thugs, venting his anger for his dead friend.

I flinched involuntarily when I saw judo athletes running out of a burning theater, and I enjoyed the exhilarating feeling of speed when I chased a military truck on the road.

When I walked through the dark hallways of an illegal gambling den, my heart raced as if it were a scene from a spy movie, and when I fought the final yakuza boss in the stone building that was even more gloomy than the original, I was so nervous that my shoulders tensed up.

“Ahhh…!”

Even after finishing the game, Managing Director Yamada was unable to easily recover from the afterglow and continued to fiddle with the pad.

He has always thought that Sega’s obsession with home consoles was a mistake.

Sega believed that the heart and soul of the company should lie solely in the massive, sensory games that would be found in arcades.

But after playing the Mega Drive version of The Fist of Jongno, he realized he was wrong.

There was nothing wrong with home game consoles.

Game consoles didn’t necessarily have to be big and flashy.

The problem was that until now there had been no game that properly utilized the Mega Drive’s performance.

Executive Director Yamada realized his oversight and shut his eyes tightly.

Countless thoughts passed through my mind.

I tried to look at the game more objectively than anyone else, but I ended up getting completely absorbed in it.

Executive Director Yamada had forgotten that this was the true charm of ‘games’.

Managing Director Yamada now put down the pad and stood up straight toward Seo Nam-joon, looking him in the eye.

And he bowed his head and said.

“I was very rude last time. It’s been a long time since I’ve had such an emotional game. Thank you for making such a great game for Mega Drive.”

“No, sir···!”

When Executive Director Yamada bowed his head to Seo Nam-joon, the people in the development headquarters started to stir.

Managing Director Nishikawa was blankly staring at Managing Director Yamada with a surprised expression on his face.

“Thank you, sir.”

CEO Seo Nam-jun reached out first and shook hands with Managing Director Yamada.

Everyone was at a loss as to how to take this sight.

President Tanaka, who had been watching the scene and smiling, suddenly tilted his head and asked.

“So, was it that fun? Managing Director Yamada?”

“Yes, sir. It’s fun, but the level of completion is also very high, and I felt like I was one with the character, as if I was actually fighting in the streets of Gyeongseong. I think it’s a game that is on par with the Mega Drive.”

“Really? Is that all you mean?”

President Tanaka crossed his arms and spoke in a sharp voice.

“I’m really disappointed in you, Managing Director Yamada.”

“I’m sorry, boss. Last time, I couldn’t evaluate the game objectively because of my personal feelings. I’m really embarrassed.”

“No, no. That’s not what I’m talking about.”

“Yes? Then···?”

“If it’s such a fun game, shouldn’t you be the one to tell me to play it? How long are you going to keep it to yourself?”

“Ah! Excuse me, sir. Please come here.”

Managing Director Yamada took out a handkerchief in a fluster and quickly wiped the pad.

President Tanaka smiled, stood up from his seat, and picked up the pad himself.

“Oh! This is really great! It definitely feels different! What kind of magic did you use, Namjoon?”

President Tanaka personally played the game and asked Seo Nam-joon questions in a friendly manner.

All of Sega’s executives and employees stood up and gathered around President Tanaka and CEO Namjun Seo.

Now the conference room has been transformed into a game experience site for .

“Ohhhhhh~!!!!”

Every time President Tanaka blasted an enemy, people clapped their hands and shouted loudly.

“Why are you guys like that? It’s embarrassing.”

President Tanaka smiled faintly and continued playing the game.

Only one person, Executive Director Nishikawa, was watching the scene from a distance with a heavy expression on his face.