1988 Retro Game Tycoon - Chapter 123



Only Noblemtl

Episode 123 – The Fist of Advance

As the end of 1989 approached, we were busier than ever.

The development team was working on two new projects and porting, while Lee Ki-cheol was working on upgrading the A1 board and preparing for 16-bit consoles.

At the same time, there were also collaborative projects underway externally.

Myeongseong Electronics was rushing to produce the game pockets for and .

Since the Game Pocket is structured so that consumers cannot directly change games, a new terminal must be created to release a new game.

Since the screen and circuit board were already in place, Myungsung Electronics was working on the case design while slightly refining the internals, and we decided to provide the game software.

Since a game pocket can only hold one game, it must be designed to have as unique a feel as possible.

There were also some parts that needed to be changed for practical reasons. For example, can be played with just one button in addition to the cross key, but requires three buttons as standard.

This time, the president of Myeongseong Electronics came to us first and suggested that we create a new game pocket.

“ game pocket is currently quite popular in Mexico and South America. It is not a huge hit, but it is very good. There are many cases where people come to buy a TV and buy a game pocket for their children. I think it would be a good idea to expand the game line and explore the Southeast Asian market as well.”

When Myungsung Electronics exported TVs, they sold the game pocket together in some countries. Although it wasn’t as big a hit as in Korea, the response seemed to be better than expected.

“Well, baseball is a pretty popular sport in Mexico, right?”

“That’s right. And since they’re so close, it seems like the game pockets somehow ended up in Cuba. I was so happy to hear that Mexican kids might not know Sony, but they know its reputation. Hehehe!”

Except for a few wealthy countries, we live in a time when children in every country have a dire shortage of toys to play with.

Uncomplicated 8-bit video games are a great pastime for kids, but in countries where economic hardship is greater than South Korea’s, it’s hard to find a home console in every home.

It seemed like Game Pocket had dug into that gap. It was a sports game that could be played anywhere as long as you had batteries, and it was easier to approach because it could be played even if you didn’t know the language.

The only problem is always the price.

Myungsung Electronics, which judged that there was marketability, decided to increase the types of games and production volume to lower production costs. Now, it was looking at the Central and South American and Southeast Asian markets more than the Korean market.

“ is a game of the latest genre, so it could be a hit in places like Taiwan or Hong Kong. We will translate the game into English and prepare it without any problems, so please expand the market as much as possible.”

“Yes. The game pocket doesn’t account for a large portion of sales, but it makes a lot of profit. It’s also great for bundling with TVs, so it’s a very profitable product.”

The president of Myeongseong Electronics also tried the game and now knows the sweetness of the game.

Right now, I’m so focused on developing the Japanese and American markets, the heart of video games, that I don’t have the time to worry about anything else, but Myungsung Electronics is stepping in and filling that gap.

That’s true mutual assistance.

We port the games we have already developed, and once we check the quality of the completed game pocket, Myeongseong Electronics takes care of the complicated process from production to export and takes our share.

Thanks to us, Myungsung Electronics has entered the video game industry, expanded its export items, and even opened up new markets.

Product categories such as TVs and radios already have a lot of competition in the global market, but compared to that, there are only a handful of companies that make portable game consoles.

Although it can’t compare to the overwhelming gaming consoles like the Nintendo Game Boy, the Game Pocket had its own advantages.

It costs only 1/3 the price of a Game Boy, requires no additional costs, supports two-player play via a communication cable so you can enjoy it with a friend, and above all, the game is fun.

In fact, it is not that difficult for most large companies to make terminals like the Game Pocket.

But, as always, the problem is the game.

Since large corporations have to conduct business on a large scale in proportion to their size, it is not easy to run factories to sell tens of thousands of units.

When it comes to mass production, the more you produce, the lower the production cost, so it is important to produce as much as possible to create economies of scale.

However, no matter how good a game console is made, it is useless if the game isn’t fun. It might become a hit once in a while thanks to the power of marketing, but that’s the end of it.

However, Myungsung Electronics makes games that have already proven their popularity in Korea into Game Pocket thanks to us. That alone significantly reduces the risk.

Just as we can easily earn additional income by using Myeongseong Electronics, Myeongseong Electronics can also get their hands on unique items thanks to us, so it is a win-win situation for both parties.

The game pocket porting work was also done by the 8-bit team.

Coincidence or inevitability, 8-bit porting continues to involve working with major companies. For the Gemix Mega V, it was Jewoo Electronics, for the Geumboy, it was Oseong Electronics, and for the Game Pocket, it was Myeongseong Electronics.

The 8-bit team seemed to have finally adapted to the completely different environment they were in at Gemini.

In addition, the game pocket has a reference called , so there was no problem in developing it even though I didn’t have to use it much.

Thanks to this, I also have the time to focus on marketing my game pocket.

Overseas exports are handled by Myungsung Electronics, but Korean marketing is still our responsibility. No matter how important overseas sales are, we must first sell a lot in Korea, our home base.

In addition, the Game Pocket advertisement was a work that left a big mark on our country’s game marketing.

Since they are advertising , which has already become a trend in arcades, they need to be careful this time as well.

“It would be a good idea to split the commercial into two parts. One with the most popular Kim Do-kwon, and one with the Suzy character. I saw in the newspaper that they are filming a movie called next year, and the actor who was cast as Kim Du-han is a good one. Let’s use that person as the model for Kim Do-kwon.”

“But that actor is a real rookie who hasn’t even debuted yet?”

“But he was the one who got the role of Kim Du-han through a fierce open audition. The film production company must have put a lot of effort into selecting him, and that means he’s a great fit for the role. Do we really need to waste time looking for someone new?”

“Well, let’s try to contact them first. Who do you think would be the Suji Station?”

“I don’t think we need to think too much about this. People already have the game pocket in their heads as Im Yeong. I’ll cast Im Yeong again.”

In this way, the game pocket advertisement quickly completed the most important model selection and began preparations for filming.

Actor Park Sung-min, who plays Kim Do-kwon, was able to sign a modeling contract at a relatively low cost because had not yet been released.

We commissioned a famous clothing designer to design several modern boy and girl suits from the 1930s for the commercial shoot, and we also spent a lot of money on a set that had a 1930s Gyeongseong feel.

The company currently has a huge amount of cash in its bank account from sales of A1 boards, so it was in a situation where it had to spend money on marketing to save on taxes.

At the advertising filming location I visited to check on her, I met Im Ji-young again after a few months.

Her visuals were just like Suzy breaking through the screen.

“I’m really speechless. I thought we’d be a good match, but I didn’t know we’d be this good together.”

“Well, what would not suit me? But, the clothes are all really pretty. I really like them.”

“Thank goodness. I went to all the famous designers in Seoul and made it.”

“Somehow. It was different after all!”

Before filming began, Im Ji-young simply looked like a high school student who was excited to wear pretty clothes for the first time.

But the moment she, who looked like a typical high school student, entered the filming, she started to control her emotions and the air around her immediately changed.

In the past, I emphasized freshness to maximize the feeling of youth, but in fact, there was no need for Im Ji-young to act like that. That feeling already radiates from her presence.

However, this time, Soo-ji’s role was a difficult one that required strong yet inner acting, as she buried her sadness in her heart and calmly pursued revenge.

Since Im Ji-young had already established herself as a pocketing goddess, we cast her without much hesitation, but we were curious about how well she would digest the role, but there was no need to worry at all.

As the camera began to roll, her eyes took on a depthless sadness.

Whether she was wearing a white veil, a black veil, a suit, a ball gown, or a jazz stage dress, she exuded a 30s modernity, hidden sadness, and an undeniable femininity.

So much so that I would believe that there was someone else hiding inside that person.

I watched the filming, completely captivated by Im Ji-young, who gave me a completely different vibe than before.

“Cut! Okay. Let’s take a break!”

“This isn’t coming off well. Sir, can I have this?”

“Oh, wait a minute.”

During a break in filming, I helped Im Ji-young take off her black veil. There were as many veils as there were dresses, but this one was a bit larger.

In that moment, the distance between me and Im Ye-young became less than a span. Im Ye-young looked up at me with her pretty face, and her breath tickled the back of my neck.

Was it because of the beautiful aura? My heart started pounding a little in the strange atmosphere where it was hard to even breathe.

When I first met Yim Ji-young’s eyes, I almost unconsciously confessed my love to her.

“Uh···, it’s done.”

“Thank you.”

“No, thank you. I’m resting.”

I turned around, pretending like nothing happened so as not to let anyone know my heart was pounding for no reason.

As expected, a beautiful woman is so harmful to the heart.

Yim Ji-young was clearly a good person, and physically, she was about my age, twenty.

But my mentality has now become such that I am no longer swayed by such momentary emotions.

I still have a lot of work to do. I have no intention of dating right now, and I certainly have no intention of meeting someone as glamorous as a celebrity.

If a scandal were to break out, it would be obvious how noisy the world would become, as it would create synergy with my background as the son of a conglomerate.

If it’s someone I truly love, I can walk that thorny path, but to begin with, she and I are people with different paths to take.

Of course, I don’t know what she thinks of me either.

I felt a moment of confusion and excitement, but it was only a momentary feeling.

Still, I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve felt excited for a woman rather than a game.

I watched the filming a little longer, keeping the feeling that came to me like a spring breeze in the middle of winter as a gift, and then returned to the company.

Outside the building, the cold December wind blew fiercely.

But for some reason I didn’t feel cold at all.

***

The end of the year, wrapping up the year.

This is the biggest shopping season for companies that have achieved great results and for companies that have underperformed, it is a time to make one last push.

Our company was no different.

, which was released in arcades this summer, has now sold over 10,000 boards and has become a complete hit in Korean arcades.

And goes beyond the arcade and enters the home console and portable game market.

We announced the release of the eagerly awaited from Osung Electronics at the end of December, and Myeongseong Electronics is releasing two new game pockets, and .

Having completely dominated the Korean gaming market for 1989, we are fully prepared to end this year with a bang.

But an even bigger event came from Japan.

reporter Misato contacted me and offered to connect me with a Japanese game center distributor.

This was great news for us, who had no concrete plans to enter the Japanese game center market.

“Next year, in the January special issue, we will publish a large-scale comparison and analysis article comparing with . There are Mega Drive games, but since we are an arcade magazine, we hope that will be available in game centers at least once.”

“The Mega Drive version is sold exclusively by Sega, but it is not an arcade game. The one currently in the Sega arcade is also rented for promotional purposes. If you could connect it, we would be very grateful.”

“That’s fortunate. In fact, there are only a few companies that distribute arcade boards to game centers in Japan. There aren’t that many game companies that can produce boards, so it’s often done through people who are known to one another, so it’s not well known.”

“Yes, thank you very much, I was already wondering how to start. I wanted to ask Sega, but it’s a bit awkward to ask because they are competitors in the arcade.”

“It’s even more so because there aren’t many game companies that start completely from scratch. Most of them either acquire other game companies or employees from game companies start their own companies. That’s why a few distributors dominate the market, and they don’t really show themselves unless it’s a game show. In fact, there are many areas where it’s difficult for new companies to enter.”

Reporter Misato explained to me the opaque structure of distribution in Japanese game centers. In Korea, most companies that copy game boards take charge of distribution, but in Japan, it seems that a few distributors dominate the vast Japanese market.

So, it was even more difficult for us as a foreign company to obtain information about Inner Circle.

“Our editor-in-chief is also close to distributors, so if you get introduced to them through us, you will be able to proceed without difficulty. The editor-in-chief is currently making a marketing plan to gather games of the belt-scroll genre in one place at famous game centers across the country and create a sort of belt-scroll game zone.”

“I didn’t know that game marketing was so specific in a gaming magazine.”

“As we compile high scores, game centers often hold various game competitions. So we have relationships with game developers, distributors, arcades, and high score experts from all over the country. In this review article, experts from all over the country will try out the game and share their comments and scores.”

“If the score is low there, wouldn’t the game distribution and everything be useless?”

“Honestly, we don’t know yet because we haven’t counted yet, but we think it will be about the same. The purpose of this magazine is to promote the belt scroll genre itself. If the results are too slanted, the editor-in-chief will say to just remove it. But we can’t manipulate it.”

A while ago, reporter Misato came to cover the special issue and explained it to me, but after hearing the detailed story, I got the impression that is very active in making a move.

As we were just trying to enter the market, we had to beg them to let us in even if it meant paying a lot of money. But they were beckoning and calling us to come in.

“Please set a date for a meeting with the distributor. I will fly out with the circuit board.”

“I’ll tell the editor. We’re also busy preparing the New Year’s special edition, but we’ll try to get it done as quickly as possible.”

“Yes, please.”

Just as was about to completely take over the video game market in Korea, it had the opportunity to advance into Japanese game centers.

This was a good thing for Sega, considering that arcade hits were also popular on consoles.

If we go head-to-head with as planned by , it will become a hot topic in itself and word of mouth will spread naturally.

A giant board that would rock arcades all across Japan was being created for us.

All we have to do is climb on the tiger’s back.

Be alert and don’t fall down in the middle.