1988 Retro Game Tycoon - Chapter 113



Only Noblemtl

Episode 113 – Fast Track

“Then, no one has any complaints, right?”

President Tanaka asked after finishing the game .

It was a formal, procedural question. The officers present unanimously agreed.

Now, for Mega Drive will be published directly by Sega and released to global markets including Japan and the United States.

A sense of relief at having accomplished something big passed through my heart.

But it wasn’t quite over yet. There was still a lot of work to be done before the game could be packaged and released to the world.

“We kept our promise with Starbeat and brought it to you in just one month. What do you think? Can we release it by November?”

“Yes, Director Nishikawa has already made some preparations for the launch, so production and distribution within Japan will be possible by the end of November.”

“Really? Then what about marketing?”

“That is… the deadline for the November issues of the game magazines hasn’t ended yet. If we start preparing quickly from now, I think we’ll be able to somehow get it done.”

“Then hurry up and do it. If it gets pushed back to December, it’ll overlap with , right? That’s why you’re making this mess to avoid that.”

When the topic of marketing came up, I took out an envelope and handed it to President Tanaka.

“We have already prepared some related materials in advance. Some of them are translations of content that was published in Korean magazines, and we have collected essential materials such as the Isamu character and company introduction materials that are only available on Mega Drive.”

“You must have been busy making games, when did you prepare something like this?”

“Isn’t it the case that a thirsty person digs a well? For Sega, is just one of many games, but for us, it is an important first step toward advancing overseas. We can’t do anything carelessly.”

“I heard that Starbeat is the only proper game company in Korea. I guess that’s not true. There aren’t many game companies like it in Japan. You said it hasn’t even been a year since it was founded? But it seems like we have more to learn. Don’t you think so?”

President Tanaka glanced around at the faces of the executives and employees gathered in the conference room as he praised us.

Everyone had embarrassed expressions and couldn’t raise their heads properly.

“Thank you for your compliments. Personally, I think it would be very meaningful if was published in . I also find the magazine very interesting.”

“Do you like it? Hahahaha! You really know a thing or two. Then we should grant your wish. Hey, Director Hasegawa.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Please put an ad for in the November issue, and make sure that the article is at least two pages long. Give it priority over other magazines. Oh, and if you’re going to do it, it’d be even better if it’s on the cover.”

“The cover might be a little tricky, but I’ll do my best.”

is a Japanese gaming magazine founded in the mid-80s.

As befitting a country that is both a video game paradise and a publishing powerhouse, Japan has also published a number of gaming magazines from early on.

However, since the Nintendo Famicom was so strong as a home console, most people mainly played Nintendo games.

On the other hand, after the release of Mega Drive, the magazine title was changed to and Mega Drive games were put at the forefront.

Naturally, since it is the magazine most subscribed to by Mega Drive users, it was clear that if it was covered in detail, it would be of great help to the game’s success.

“Sir, it’s important, but it’s also important to appeal to people who don’t have a Mega Drive. That way, we can increase Mega Drive sales through . I think we need a variety of advertisements, including outdoor advertisements and even men’s magazines like .”

Managing Director Nishikawa, who had been quiet throughout the meeting, scratched an itch when the topic of marketing came up.

If my goal is to advance into Japan and the United States, then Managing Director Nishikawa’s real goal is to sell more Mega Drives through “Fist of Jongno.”

In order for me to export a lot of , there must be a lot of Mega Drive users.

So our goals were similar yet slightly different, and connected like a Möbius strip.

“Well, that’s right. Mr. Nishikawa, you should take care of that. Organize the media and budget and let me know later. Since you were the one who suggested importing this game, you should be responsible for selling it all the way through, right?”

“I will do my best, sir!”

President Tanaka entrusted the advertisement to Managing Director Nishikawa.

Now, under Nishikawa’s plan, Sega will advertise “The Fist of Jongro” throughout Japan.

This is why I strongly pushed for Sega to publish it directly.

Even if production is done in Korea, it is not easy to distribute ROM packs to Japan and the United States, which are much larger than Korea, and it is nearly impossible to prepare advertising/marketing in a short period of time.

In Korea, the advertising market is so far behind, and game advertising in particular is so miserable, that I took the initiative, but not in overseas markets.

At first, it is better to leave it to experts who are familiar with the local situation and observe and learn from their methods.

Although the revenue we receive when the game is sold will be reduced as we are entrusted with publishing, we have to accept a certain amount of commission from our position as a publisher on the Sega platform.

It would be even more trustworthy if Nishikawa, who is definitely on our side, takes charge of marketing.

For now, we’ll leave it to Sega and just make sure that the advertisement doesn’t go too far from the game.

So the meeting ended with us getting everything we wanted.

Now, it was Sega who was in trouble.

In about a month, we need to produce the ROM pack, distribute it in Japan, and set up advertising and marketing without a hitch.

Sega is already a large company with over 1,000 employees, so its circumstances are different from those of startups like us.

We only have a few dozen people working, and I make all the important decisions. On the other hand, Sega has a lot of organizations and subsidiaries that divide up the work, so it’s not easy for us to move quickly.

But was a little special.

Everyone ignored it, but since we actually finished the game in one month, and since this is an issue that President Tanaka is paying attention to, we will not follow the normal process and will take the fast track.

“I will continue to take responsibility and make sure that there are no problems. Director Hasegawa is not a closed-minded person, and from now on, this is a matter of pride for Sega, so we will all give it our all. Don’t worry.”

Managing Director Nishikawa reassured me.

Of course. We made the game in a month, and it doesn’t make sense for Sega to not have it ready for release in a month.

However, it wasn’t just marketing and sales that moved quickly and systematically.

Even the Sega Game Research and Development Headquarters unexpectedly reached out to me.

“There will still be some time before the ROM pack is produced, so we will have our development headquarters help with QA. No matter how great your development capabilities are, if you work in a rush like this, there will inevitably be holes that you don’t even know about. This kind of work needs to be thoroughly examined by as many people as possible.”

“Would you really do that? I was a bit uneasy because the QA period was too short. Thank you.”

After the meeting, Executive Director Yamada approached me and made a suggestion.

If he had made this suggestion with a smile before the meeting, I would have declined. I don’t know if he had any hidden agenda behind his kindness.

However, he was truly impressed by and gave great support to Sega in taking over publishing.

I accepted his offer without question and gratefully accepted it.

“To be honest, I was planning to focus on the Isamu character in today’s demonstration, so I did the QA solely around Isamu. I was really nervous about what would happen if they suggested trying other characters during the meeting.”

“Oh, dear. I missed that weakness! I was so surprised by the fact that there was a new character that I got distracted by it.”

Now that everything is over and we are on the same side, I honestly confessed my shortcomings, and Managing Director Yamada laughed and joked.

Until just a moment ago, they were just looking for an excuse to destroy us, but once a decision is made, everyone moves in unison.

Like it or not, once they make a decision, they run in one direction without complaint. That was definitely one of their scary powers.

In fact, if you think about it, the driving force behind Sega choosing us, a completely unknown company in Japan, as their partner was people like Managing Director Yamada.

Thanks to the masterpieces they created that dominate the game center arcade market, Sega can continue to make bold investments in the console market, which requires huge amounts of capital.

Now the benefits are ours.

It’s starting to feel real now.

The game we developed is being released by Sega for the Mega Drive!

At a time when companies like Gemini and Umjisoft were still thriving in Korea, I succeeded in setting a completely new milestone.

“Thank you so much for your help, sir.”

“No. Rather, I am grateful. It is because you were the first to speak frankly. I almost overlooked what was most important to us. Isn’t everything done for the sake of our company and for the sake of a fun game?”

Managing Director Nishikawa and Executive Director Yamada also seemed to have reconciled, and exchanged polite words with each other.

I don’t know the details, but I think there was some kind of communication between the two without me knowing.

Managing Director Yamada shook my hand again and said:

“And Mr. President, this is the first console game that I have ever played that is so immersive and fun. It completely shattered my prejudices about console games. It made me wonder if even we, the creators of Mega Drive, didn’t know the true potential of Mega Drive.”

“Because the Mega Drive is such an excellent console machine. It’s true that it has its tricky aspects and some disappointing aspects, but it’s definitely a console with powerful performance and outstanding charm that makes up for it.”

What these people don’t know is that I actually used over 10 years of accumulated Mega Drive development technology.

It was a bit embarrassing to hear such praise from the people who created the great 16-bit consoles, even though I didn’t create the technology.

But I wouldn’t have been able to get to this point if there had been no game called .

I think it’s okay to feel a little proud now.

“Sir, can I talk to you for a moment? What is your schedule for returning to Japan? How do you usually keep in touch with Managing Director Nishikawa?”

After I finished greeting Executive Director Yamada, the marketing and distribution executives and practitioners who were most anxious rushed in and started asking me questions.

“Okay, let’s stop talking like this and move to another conference room. The return schedule is tomorrow, so pack what you need and meet again. There’s not much time left to get valuable information. Hurry up.”

Managing Director Nishikawa took over to direct traffic, so we took a short break and then went straight into additional meetings.

“I’m really glad I scheduled it for 1 night and 2 days. Otherwise, I would have changed my schedule again like last time.”

AD Choi Han-il, who went on this business trip with us like last time, said.

“Because I was confident. AD, please explain the necessary parts such as advertising style, rom pack, and package design during the meeting today.”

“All right.”

AD Choi Han-il, who can express himself clearly in Japanese, although not as well as I can, attended distribution and marketing meetings with me and worked out major plans together.

He brought a hard disk with various graphic sources he had created while transplanting them to the Mega Drive, and he brought a large art bag with various hand-drawn backgrounds and concept art by him and the art team.

“Most of them are original images. I’m afraid that the quality will deteriorate if I give you copies. Please make sure to return them to me when the project is finished.”

“I didn’t know you had prepared this thoroughly.”

Sega executives gathered back in the conference room and were amazed as they received the marketing materials.

“As with the introductory materials you gave us earlier, I think there will be no problem in publishing advertisements and magazine articles at this level. We will quickly organize it and do our best to cover it in the November issues of various magazines, including .”

“You can even make ground advertisements by combining just a few things. I thought the game art was cool, but the concept art is even better.”

“What did I say? I already have posters of all the characters, including Suzy. Aren’t you jealous?”

When Managing Director Nishikawa started to act all sullen, laughter erupted in the conference room.

“Honestly, I went into the meeting thinking that this would never work out, and then suddenly it was released a month later, so I was really anxious, but seeing the prepared materials made me feel relieved. Thank you so much for preparing it in advance.”

“Don’t worry. We just prepared for it because it would be difficult for us if we were late. Please take care of us.”

While AD Choi Han-il and I were having a marketing meeting, Captain Ko and Captain Park came with a Mega Drive ROM pack to show the game to the people at Sega’s development headquarters.

“But two of them don’t speak Japanese, so how did you do it? Was there anyone among the developers who spoke Korean?”

“No. I just spoke in English. I spoke simply, using a few words and using hand and foot gestures. I sweated a lot, but I think I somehow got the point across.”

“They were just going, ‘Awesome, awesome’ amongst themselves, but I really didn’t have any sense.”

The two returned exhausted, as if their souls had been sucked out of them.

To Sega developers, our game must be the hottest game right now. It wasn’t surprising, since it was suddenly thrown to developers with sparkling curiosity without me or AD Choi Han-il.

After recharging our batteries over dinner, we chatted with Nishikawa at the hotel and reviewed our plans for the future.

First, we planned to release in Japan by the end of November, and then, depending on the mood, release it in North America during the year-end and New Year’s season.

“Thank you so much for keeping your promise. Now it’s our turn. We’ll do our best to make it a hit.”

“I will trust you and wait. Please contact me anytime if you need anything.”

The next morning, we said goodbye to Managing Director Nishikawa, who had come to see us off, and set off on our way back home.

Unlike yesterday when I was confident but couldn’t help but feel nervous, I felt so light and refreshed on the flight back.

We are now a strategic partner with Sega.

It’s unclear how many more games they’ll release for the Mega Drive in the future, but it’s clear that they’ll be a great help to each other while they’re together.

I am already curious about what kind of results will have in the global market.