1988 Retro Game Tycoon - Chapter 121



Only Noblemtl

Episode 121 – Fantasy Game Company

When reporter Misato received an order from the editor-in-chief to cover Star Beat, she was actually dissatisfied.

The main content of gaming magazines is, without a doubt, game analysis and review articles.

But, covering a game company isn’t very fun and is a lot of hassle.

Misato had been covering game companies for the past few years, and found them to be a bit strange.

At first, she also had some illusions about working for a game company. She thought that if a company made such exciting and fun video games, then the company would definitely be different and fun.

But when I actually went to the company to cover the story, it was completely different from what I expected.

There was nothing special about being a game company, and many of the people working there were more boring than average people.

If it weren’t for the numerous computers and special equipment the company built for game development, it would be hard to tell if this was a game company or just an electronics company.

Rather, if we only consider individuality, people from game magazines have more individuality in their clothing, and they have better speaking skills and a better sense of humor.

But none of the witty magazine writers who make people laugh every now and then with their puns can make games.

On the other hand, shy, reserved, and quiet game company programmers keep releasing games that surprise the world.

Misato realized through her career as a reporter that not all interesting people make interesting games.

Anyway, since I received the order, as an employee I have to carry out my work without a hitch.

Misato was a bit confused at first.

Even in Japan, it is quite troublesome to cover stories in other regions, let alone in Korea.

She first asked Sega for Starbeat related materials without much expectation.

“Are you talking about the company introduction? Yes, yes, I have a detailed introduction. I will send it to you soon.”

Misato was surprised when she received the introductory material.

At best, I expected to receive a poorly written document with a few lines of resume or something like that. I was worried that it would be in Korean.

The material contained important information, including the reason for founding the company, the games created after founding the company, the process of publishing the games at Sega, and an introduction to the CEO and developers, written in easy-to-read Japanese over several pages.

“nice!”

Misato felt better because things seemed to be going smoothly. The company introduction article that was going to be published in the magazine wasn’t that long anyway. If I just organized the content here and summarized it, it would be easy to make a page.

I thought I was given the most troublesome task, but instead, I ended up getting an opportunity to eat raw food.

Excited, she quickly wrote a draft of the article and began reading Starbeat’s introduction material carefully, intending to participate in the game review herself.

However, she soon ran into an unexpected wall.

“What is this? Are you kidding me?”

Misato banged her head on the desk and was frustrated. The content written in the introductory material was so absurd.

“You’ve been running your business for less than a year, and you’ve even created an arcade system board and released a game? Even in Japan, not just anyone can make an arcade board.”

The story of Starbeat’s founding was as absurd as it gets.

The story of how a single MSX game made Korea’s national gaming company overnight felt like reading a fantasy novel rather than a corporate introduction.

“Well… that’s right. The Korean game market is so small. There’s no proper data, right? There are hardly any proper companies.”

Still, I could understand this as a bit of an exaggeration and move on.

But it was hard to believe that they had developed the arcade system in such a short period of time, and that too in-house.

What she couldn’t believe wasn’t that the game was crappy. Quite the opposite.

She also played the original arcade version of at the Sega Game Center.

To be honest, I was surprised. It wasn’t just that it was comparable to Japanese games, but in some ways it felt like it was ahead of them.

Even Japanese game companies usually spend hundreds of millions of dollars on developing a new arcade system. It’s amazing that a company that was just starting out, founded by a 20-year-old CEO, has done it so quickly.

‘Did you lie on your introduction? Yeah, maybe.’

She thought that it might be that the company had actually been in business for two or three years instead of just one, or that the board was developed through a technical partnership with an American or Japanese game company and that they were hiding this fact.

There were many ways to do this, even if the affiliated company wasn’t necessarily a game company. For example, they could have developed the technology by requesting an American computer company or semiconductor company.

It’s understandable to add a little exaggeration to a company’s introduction when exporting overseas. However, in Misato’s opinion, Star Beat went too far.

She called just in case.

“Oh, Starbeat? Well, we were out of our minds at the time. We didn’t have the time to go into detail about the company. And, what could be great about a Korean company? Maybe we got lucky and made a fun game or something.”

I happened to know a reporter so I asked him, but he wasn’t much help.

Everyone was clamoring about how fun the game was, but they didn’t seem to care much about the company that made it.

It ended with, ‘A Korean company is amazing for making such a game.’ It was surprising because it was a Korean company, but at the same time, it seemed like they didn’t even read the materials properly because they didn’t need to be interested in a place that was far behind Japan.

Misato hung up the phone and thought about it for a moment.

She had two options.

One way is to just turn a blind eye to this and write an article by organizing the content appropriately based on the introductory material.

It may seem like a bit of a joke, but it’s not like she committed a huge scam, and the game is still fun anyway, so no one was harmed. In fact, she could finish her work quickly and join the game review side.

Another way is to go to Starbeat directly and do some reporting.

If you only look at the data, it’s hard to believe that a game company like this came out of Japan, but if a Korean game company is ‘really’ growing this rapidly, it’s worth reporting on.

On the other hand, if the introduction is full of lies as she thinks, it would be better to leave out the company introduction. After all, writing a fictionalized story of a startup under the pretext of telling an interesting story is no different from betraying the readers.

Should I go for something easy, fun, and fast?

Or will you take the troublesome, cumbersome, and tiring route?

She sat still, twirling the pen in her hand, a habit she had when she was deep in thought.

“Hey, I feel uneasy.”

Finally, she made up her mind, leaped from her seat, and strode over to the editor’s desk.

“What? Why? Why?”

editor-in-chief Ryo Ishima asked in confusion as Misato approached.

“I haven’t said anything yet?”

“It’s written exactly like that when you look at his face. It’s the face he makes when he’s about to have an accident.”

“Are you saying I had an accident?”

“Why aren’t you here? You had this exact same face when I told Kishima-kun in front of me that the manga manuscript I had barely received wasn’t funny and it caused a huge uproar. Was it last year? You had this exact face when I brought you an article about game companies that were more interested in real estate than games.”

“That’s because the manga is really boring. I was worried that if it came out, Mr. Kishima’s reputation would suffer. I also wrote it because executives from game companies were investing in real estate and then their companies went bankrupt.”

“I get it, but why are we pointing that out? Are we an economics magazine? Or a game management magazine? It’s up to the game company to do whatever they want. We just have to do what we have to do. If you’re thinking of writing weird articles, stop and just write the articles I tell you to. Next January’s issue is a special New Year’s edition of Belt Scroll. It’s very important. You know that, right?”

“Yes, that’s why I came here for that important matter.”

“Really? What is it?”

“Please give me some money.”

“Money? What kind of money is this out of nowhere?”

“It’s a business trip. I’ll be going to Korea for a bit. I think Starbeat needs more reporting.”

“Do you really have to go that far? Didn’t Sega send you the data?”

“I checked everything. There are some suspicious parts, or rather, there are many, so I want to check them with my own eyes.”

Misato stood at attention and looked straight at the editor-in-chief.

The editor averted his gaze from hers.

But Misato continued to stare at the editor, and eventually their eyes met. Ryo sighed, knowing that Misato would never back down.

“Okay. Go. But it’s a day trip. Whatever it is, don’t dig too deep. This isn’t the main story anyway. Got it?”

“thank you!”

That’s how Misato came to Korea. It was an article that could have been dealt with simply, but she didn’t want to leave any unpleasant feelings.

I contacted Starbeat to make an interview appointment and arrived at Gimpo Airport early in the morning.

At the airport, a young, handsome man was holding a sign that said [Gemest, Reporter Misato]. Thinking that she had seen him somewhere, Misato spoke to him.

“Hello. I am Misato.”

“Hello. Thank you for coming. I am Seo Nam-joon, the CEO of Starbeat. Nice to meet you.”

“Did the representative come out in person?”

“Yes, we drew lots among the people in the company who could speak Japanese, and I was chosen. But it still seems a bit odd for the CEO to come out in person. Should I have insisted on drawing again?”

Misato was slightly embarrassed as she watched CEO Seo Nam-joon laughing and saying things that she couldn’t tell whether he was joking or being serious.

It was a refreshing experience for her, having always seen only serious game company people.

“Then, since the schedule isn’t that long, should we go straight to the company and talk?”

“Oh, yes. Please.”

Misato was worried that someone called the CEO might come out and show her around Seoul instead of going to the company, but fortunately that didn’t happen.

“Thank you. You came all the way to Korea to cover the story. It’s not that far away, but it’s still quite a hassle. Actually.”

“It’s a hassle. As a reporter, it’s natural for me to do my own reporting and find out.”

Misato couldn’t say that she came to check up on you because she thought something was fishy about your company, so she just gave a standard answer.

“But still. It’s not that easy to take the obvious for granted, is it? Anyway, welcome. Today, I’ll tell you everything about our company.”

“I’m looking forward to it too.”

Misato couldn’t tell if this was confidence in the company or a smokescreen to blur her vision.

She thought that she should smile on the outside but feel very nervous on the inside.

Seoul, at least in the city center, was much more developed than she had thought. The building where Starbeat was located was also a fairly tall building.

The moment she got off the elevator and entered the office, she was shocked.

“Isn’t this the emergency staircase? Why is it here?”

“Oh, that would be a bit long to explain.”

When you open the door and enter a Japanese game company, most of the time there is only the game company logo on the wall, and the reception desk appears right away. There is no special decoration in the company.

Starbeat was different.

When he heard the story of how he took the emergency stairs apart to make sure he wouldn’t forget the first game he’d ever developed, Misato began to think that maybe this company really was something different.

Although they take great pride in their games, it is a rare sight to see in Japanese game companies that pursue a rather dry and practical approach.

She took pictures with her camera, carefully framing the shot.

When she entered the office, she was surprised again.

“Is this really your office?”

“I thought about how to make it practical so that it can be moved around flexibly depending on the project, and also how to secure as much personal space as possible. I put a lot of thought into it, but I kept the interior design to a minimum. After all, the real space is filled by the people who work here.”

Misato felt as if she was looking at an office of the future. This was not an office with dozens of desks lined up neatly, but one that was organized variably according to the work unit and unit.

However, the space was neatly divided with partitions to prevent it from being too open, and each partition had various materials and photos attached to it, which was very stylish even though it wasn’t specially decorated.

The way each employee worked varied.

Some people were looking at their monitors alone and typing intently on their keyboards, others were talking to each other and laughing, others were listening to music and drawing, and some were just playing games in the arcade.

Everyone seemed to be working seriously, but at the same time, people seemed very free. I couldn’t understand what they were saying because it was in Korean, but I could feel the unique atmosphere.

While taking office photos, Misato suddenly realized that this place was very similar to the image of the game company she had been fantasizing about.

She felt goosebumps all over her body. She had thought that he must be hiding something, so she had gone on a business trip overseas. But the reality in Ma Ju-hyeon was the exact opposite.

I never thought I would see such an advanced sense and free atmosphere in a Korean game company that even Japanese game companies don’t have.

“But where do you develop arcade boards? I don’t see any space where you can research hardware.”

Misato, who was absorbed in the atmosphere and absentmindedly listening to the company’s explanation, taking notes, and taking photos, suddenly remembered the purpose of her coming there.

“Ah, that is···.”

‘As expected! My guess was right. Is there something?’

When Seo Namjoon showed signs of hesitation for the first time, Misato thought she finally had a handle on it. Seo Namjoon made a phone call and spoke to her.

“We have a separate research lab that studies boards in partnership with us. We don’t usually show it to the public, but since you came from Japan, we’ll show it to you today.”

“Is the research center in Korea?”

“Yes, it’s not that far from here. You can walk there.”

Misato’s heart pounded with excitement at the thought that she could finally solve her curiosity. The Hardware Research Institute had only mentioned in their company introduction materials that they had ‘developed it themselves’.

It was even more suspicious because it was mentioned too briefly compared to the detailed success story.

What would an alternative research lab look like? If the office is this cool and ultra-modern, would a hardware lab be even neater and cooler?

It may have been something that was kept hidden away, giving it the feel of a secret laboratory.

“This is the building. The building above the commercial building was originally used as an apartment building, but the director of the research institute lives there and conducts research.”

“Huh? Are you saying that you do research while eating and sleeping?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

This is impossible! Misato was shocked. The building called Seun Shopping Mall was large, but it looked very rough and old. Furthermore, the surrounding environment was not at all organized.

If it were a secret research lab, I could understand this kind of environment. But the director eats, sleeps, and researches. Isn’t that like being treated like a slave by the company without a life of his own?

“This area near Cheonggyecheon has been a place where electronics stores have been concentrated since long ago. It’s not comparable in scale, but it’s like Akihabara in Japan. Now, with the opening of the electronics store in Yongsan, many have moved there, but there are still quite a few left. Here, here.”

Misato stood in the apartment hallway and took a deep breath first.

Since Starbeat was so different from what she had expected, she couldn’t predict what the lab would look like either. She told herself not to be surprised by anything she saw.

Seo Nam-joon rang the doorbell and called someone.

“Brother Ki-cheol!”

“Okay, I’m going out now!”

Misato was already trying her best to smile.

But, the moment the door opens.

“Ugh!”

She screamed in surprise.

A short-haired man opened the door, wearing only a towel around his neck and wearing only his underwear.

Misato, flustered, quickly turned around, and Seo Namjoon shouted something at the man.

“Ah, bro! I told you I was coming with a Japanese reporter!”

“Oh, right. That’s right. I was washing up like that. I was so happy to hear your voice that I just ran out. Sorry.”

“Go in quickly and put on your clothes. Hurry up! Misato-san, I’m sorry. Just a moment. Please wait here for a moment!”

Seo Nam-joon, whose face was red from embarrassment, went inside with the naked man.

Misato calmed her startled heart by fanning herself with her hand in the hallway.

There was nothing ordinary about Starbeat or the research lab.

As expected, gaming companies in Korea and Japan were all strange places.