1988 Retro Game Tycoon - Chapter 125



Only Noblemtl

Episode 125 – The Bell

‘s New Year special edition was published, and began appearing in game centers across Japan.

I decided to spend this Christmas in Japan to see the reaction there with my own eyes.

I plan to travel around Japan as much as possible, but the most important point of attack is the capital, Tokyo.

Japan is much larger than Korea, and each region has its own distinct character. The area alone is already about four times that of South Korea.

In Korea, if you start in Seoul, and especially in the Seun and Yongsan electronics markets, you can gain nationwide popularity. The supply itself is too insufficient to begin with, and the software power is not yet great.

On the other hand, in Japan, there is no guarantee that something that becomes popular in Tokyo will succeed in other regions. Conversely, if something does not become popular in Tokyo, it becomes even more difficult to gain popularity in other regions.

In any case, in the end, we need to create a flashpoint for a hit in Tokyo.

I’ve been back and forth to Japan several times in the past two months, but I’ve never been this nervous. I’m actually more nervous now than when I went to Sega to do a game presentation.

This year-end is an important turning point for Starbeat.

If it becomes a big hit in Japan first and then takes advantage of that momentum to advance to CES in the US, Starbeat will grow beyond Korea into a global gaming company.

The reason it’s important to become a global gaming company is because then we can make 16-bit home consoles.

First of all, the most important thing is sales.

Of course, I have already made hundreds of billions in sales in just one year in Korea. In 1989, in Korea, to have achieved this level of success with only games is like a miracle that has happened several times.

There were some real miracles among them, though.

With this amount of capital, it is possible to develop games in Korea, train developers while running a chain of computer academies across the country, and acquire promising game studios overseas, thereby achieving steady and stable growth.

That route is much safer and has a much higher chance of success.

In Korea, Starbeat has already established itself enough that it no longer needs advertising.

But if we stop here, our dream of a world-class 16-bit home console will never come true.

Home consoles are different from arcade boards in terms of business scale, strategy, and customers.

Home consoles are different in terms of production units. At least several hundred thousand units are standard.

Otherwise, the production cost will be too high and no matter how many consoles are sold, they will end up in the red.

The console business is really risky. If it succeeds, it can dominate an era, but if it fails, the company can disappear in an instant.

Even Sega, which is doing well now, led the 3D era of arcades with , but the company almost went bankrupt after losing the Sega Saturn and Dreamcast in the console market.

Even Nintendo, the undisputed leader in the video game market, was left reeling after the back-to-back failures of the Nintendo 64 and GameCube.

Home consoles increase business difficulty to hell due to increased costs and management factors such as development costs, raw material purchasing management, production management, global distribution/logistics management, marketing, exchange rate risk, inventory management, etc.

We will outsource a significant portion of this process to Myungsung Electronics, but it will cost us a huge amount. We can never afford to pay hundreds of billions.

And another reason why we must succeed in Japan is because of awareness.

Whether or not a game company has a successful predecessor makes a huge difference in marketing.

If we were already a successful global gaming company, that alone could save us at least several billion in marketing costs.

Even Sony, the world’s best electronics company, when it first entered the gaming market with the PlayStation, people laughed at it, saying, “What on earth does Sony know about gaming?”

As a result, Sony succeeded by gathering numerous third parties based on its excellent 3D graphics processing capabilities, but there were also many difficulties and strong internal opposition.

It was similar when Microsoft made the Xbox.

While both companies ultimately achieved great success, the investment they made to enter the gaming industry was staggering. Microsoft even considered acquiring Nintendo.

Not only Starbeat, but even Myeongseong Group is not on the level of Sony or Microsoft, so we cannot invest as much as they do.

We need to raise as much money as possible before we can create a 16-bit console, and we need to carve the name ‘Starbeat’ into the hearts of gamers with great games.

So, now is the important time.

The company people are excited that is being promoted on a large scale in Japan, but in reality, we are at a crossroads.

Of course, I will continue to push for game consoles no matter what the outcome, but whether the road will be a bed of roses or a thorny path full of scars will largely be determined this holiday season.

I arrived in Tokyo with a complicated mix of anticipation and nervousness and headed to Sega.

Sega was also busy during the year-end season. Among them, marketing/sales was practically a battlefield.

“Are you here?”

Mr. Nishikawa, the managing director, was operating a large conference room as the ‘Mega Drive Year-End Situation Room’.

There was a large Japanese poster on the wall, and sales figures for Mega Drives and major games were being tallied by region.

Several telephones on the table rang incessantly. Sega sales representatives spread across the country regularly called to check on the situation and report it to us.

“It looks like a headquarters during a war, sir.”

“It’s a wartime situation. Mega Drive is very important right now. It’s still confidential, but we’re preparing a game next year that will feature a character strong enough to compete with Mario. There’s still a lot of talk about the character design, but anyway, we have to sell as many Mega Drives as possible before then.”

Of course, I know what the game is and what the outcome will be, but I pretended not to know anything.

Managing Director Nishikawa explained the year-end plan in conjunction with .

“ said that they will be pushing belt-scrolling action games in the future. It’s a good thing for us, since is coming out for Mega Drive at the end of the year, and is also popular. We are actively pushing both games as Christmas and year-end promotions. and were also featured as a joint special feature.”

On one side of the desk were stacks of New Year’s issues of various Japanese gaming magazines.

Looking through it, I found that in addition to , there were many gaming magazines that had advertisements and even briefly covered belt-scrolling action games.

I’m going to buy all of these and scrap them, and then scan them later.

The Sega arcade in Akihabara also placed along with on the first floor to promote the belt scroll boom.

“Although we started with , we also considered the response to when making our decision. We are putting all our efforts into this, considering that now is our last chance since Nintendo has not yet released a 16-bit console.”

Sega doubled down on its Mega Drive holiday TV commercials, featuring The Fist of Jongno and Golden Axe.

Mr. Nishikawa showed us a video of the new Mega Drive TV commercial. Our game was being broadcast all over Japan right now, riding on the Mega Drive commercial.

“To be honest, between us, until suggested it, we didn’t realize that the genre that could best show off the capabilities of the Mega Drive was a belt-scrolling action game.”

“After all, shooting and platform games don’t have as many complex movements as action games. You don’t fight that many enemies at the same time. The presentation is also much more splendid, and it’s perfect for showing off the excellent responsiveness of the Mega Drive.”

The action genre certainly had many advantages, such as the fast processing speed of 16-bit, more splendid graphics and sound, and greatly increased game capacity.

Even if we acknowledge that the Nintendo Famicom was a great console, it couldn’t compare in performance to the Mega Drive.

“But that’s funny. I’m sure the reason I ported the game in a month was because I didn’t want it to overlap with , right?”

“That’s right. The world is so ironic. But in the end, isn’t it all for the good for ?”

We laughed at each other, as if we were dumbfounded.

After causing a stir just two months ago, the two games were now the top two Mega Drive promotions.

“I think that way when I watch . Good games are born in their own time. At first, I was worried that wouldn’t get enough attention because Capcom released right after it came out, and then we released right after. That’s why we advertised it more than usual when we released it in November.”

“I guess you thought you might not be able to advertise anymore.”

“Yes. I believe in the power of games more than anyone else, but there are things that cannot be achieved with belief alone. Just like how good farming is, it is useless when a natural disaster strikes. But who would have thought that this rushed release would actually be a blessing in disguise?”

“The fun games came together at similar times, so the game actually grew bigger. I was lucky.”

“That means that the luck of the times is gathering in Jongno. Mega Drive is also benefiting from it. If there had been no , would not have been able to publish a special issue with such volume. Then the content would have been weak and people would not have been interested.”

While we were walking around Akihabara, we stopped for a moment at a game shop.

In the game shop, there were piles of packages of and along with Mega Drives. A middle-aged salaryman was seen buying the two games together with the Mega Drive.

Wherever you went in Akihabara, there was a Mega Drive along with The Fist of Jongno and Golden Axe.

was setting the stage, and Sega was pouring in a barrage of material.

The end-of-year video game marketing campaign in Tokyo looked like a complete success for Sega.

The Famicom had already been out for quite some time, and since everyone knew that Nintendo was developing a 16-bit console, not many people were interested in buying a new Famicom.

Atari was already a non-existent entity, and its only strong competitor was the PC Engine.

But by the time Sega set its sights on the holiday market, the PC Engine was looking shabby by comparison.

In my previous life, at least in Japan, the Mega Drive had never beaten the PC Engine. Even the Sonic that was currently in development wasn’t very popular in Japan.

But as I walked around Akihabara with Mr. Nisaka and his team, I began to think that maybe things would be different this time.

I’ve seen countless people buy Mega Drives, and most of them bought at least one of The Fist of Jongno or Golden Axe along with it.

According to the situation room, current sales of Mega Drives in Japan are around 900,000 units.

By now the PC Engine has probably sold 2 million units, while the Mega Drive hasn’t even reached half that number yet.

But if this promotion gets going, it’s not impossible to catch up with the PC Engine.

“ is hosting a belt scroll high score game competition at a large game center. Come with me.”

After looking around the game shop for a while, we headed to the game center where the game competition was being held.

“If were to run ‘High Score’, it would mean a lot to arcade games. Then, famous arcades in the area would bring in the game to attract customers.”

“Game centers are also using for their own marketing.”

“That’s right. Once word gets out that such experts are gathering, people who want to see how good they are will flock to see them. There are many people who want to see the games of people who are good at them, even if they aren’t good at them, and there are also people who want to learn by watching others play.”

So, the high-score gamers at the game center also act as a kind of live game streamer.

Because elaborate and splendid plays that not just anyone can do have a charm that captivates people.

“Once a game center is listed on the high score list, it is guaranteed to make a certain amount of sales. However, some game owners dislike it when too many experts gather, saying that the turnover rate will decrease. That is why small game centers intentionally avoid reporting their high scores to .”

“There is no arcade magazine like in Korea. It’s really interesting in many ways.”

“This is a battle of pride between game centers, but ultimately, the most important thing is revenue. How to utilize is up to the game center owners. Here it is.”

We entered a large game center called ‘Ace Player’.

This wasn’t a large arcade, it was a mega arcade.

In a large area that looked like several ‘Gangnam Computer Arcades’ were placed together, doll grabbing machines were neatly arranged along one wall.

That’s probably why the female customers were quite noticeable.

“No, but really, what are people···”

I was speechless as I looked around the arcade.

School was on break, and since Monday was Christmas Day, the arcade was supposed to be a long holiday from Saturday to Sunday, but the excitement was beyond imagination.

Among them, the area where the high score competition was held was packed with people.

“Wow, that’s amazing. This is the first time I’ve seen this many people gathered at an arcade.”

Even Managing Director Nishikawa was impressed.

The central hall of the Ace Player Game Center had four belt-scrolling games.

, , , and .

“! G42, it’s G42’s turn!”

The game center, which had experience hosting many game competitions, was handing out numbered tickets to people and announcing instructions through a loudspeaker to prevent confusion.

We placed four cabinets for each game, and when the game was over, we wrote down our names, ages, contact information, and scores on a score sheet.

Some people participated for fun, but since it was a competition with many experts, it took about 20 to 30 minutes to play, so four people played per game.

However, among them, only had 6 cabinets.

“Uh, sir?”

I happened to meet Misato, a reporter from , who was on site covering the story.

“The competition is very exciting, isn’t it?”

“Yes, I was a little worried before doing it, but it was completely unnecessary. I think people definitely want something other than shooting games now.”

“I can definitely tell from seeing it on site. It’s the middle of winter, but there’s no need for heating.”

“The CEO said that it would be good to have a 4-player high score game for , right? So we’re testing it out here, and there are more applicants than we thought. They’re watching the pros play against each other here, and they’re forming teams on the spot and exchanging contact information.”

“Since there are only individual matches, I thought it would be special if there was a 4-person high score.”

“Really. High scorers often get together at game centers to share information, but they don’t often form teams. But when a team match is held, they become more active.”

I looked at four Japanese gamers sitting side by side playing Fist of Jongno.

They were so absorbed in the game that they were shouting something loudly among themselves.

Probably a lot of them will soon become experts in the upcoming fighting games, and the people who make connections here will form teams like gaming clans.

Right here in the game center, the seeds of a new game culture were growing along with the paradigm shift in arcade games.

And at the center of that change is a game created by our company.

Ding ding ding ding ding-!

Then, suddenly, the bell rang loudly.

As people’s attention focused on him, the guide shouted into the loudspeaker.

“A new high score has arrived! Kyotaro-san rises to the top spot with over 300,000 points in !”

Ding ding ding ding ding-!

“Wowwowwowwoww~!!!!!!!!!!”

As the game center employee announced the new record holder, the record-breaking gamer struck the bell installed on the center stage again with great force.

The onlookers cheered loudly and applauded as if the arcade was going to burst into flames.

Kyotaro, who looked like a college student, waved both hands to the cheers of the people and enjoyed the moment for a moment.

I, too, gave him a round of applause.

At that moment, my heart felt much hotter than my palm.

Right now, I was watching with my own eyes as suddenly rose from a Japanese arcade game to a mainstream game.

There can be no more touching Christmas gift than this.