1988 Retro Game Tycoon - Chapter 27



Only Noblemtl

27 – Production Plan

After many twists and turns, the design of the package was entrusted to Mr. Choi of Myeongseong Planning.

“The package should show the entire apartment with the emergency stairs to better convey the game’s atmosphere, and the ROM pack should feature the main character Jack. And the poster should boldly change the angle to make the emergency stairs look dynamic.”

“That’s great. I think it’ll make a nice set if you put them together. Please contact me when the design is complete.”

I had even more confidence when I saw Manager Choi come up with ideas in an instant after playing the game and showing me simple sketches on the spot.

I thought I would have a lot of money and be able to proceed leisurely, one step at a time. But when it comes to work, it turns out to be like roasting beans in a flash.

After leaving the package design to me, I started finishing up the game development.

There are 25 stages in total. I wanted to make at least 30, but I had no choice.

The final stage featured a burning New York apartment background resource, and the additional mission of entering the apartment to rescue its residents resulted in a significant increase in capacity.

It’s a shame, but we had to delete some stages. No matter how much we minimized the structure, compressed the data, and tried all sorts of methods, we couldn’t completely cover the limited capacity of the 8-bit ROM pack.

Yang Geun-seok, who had played the game, also asked with concern.

“Isn’t this a bit too much, Namjoon?”

“That’s true, but there’s nothing we can do about it. If we increase the capacity here, we’ll have to use a Megarom pack, and then the price will go up too much.”

Currently, the regular ROM packs of Gemix games are sold for 10,000 to 15,000 won. In comparison, the regular price of Mega ROM pack games is 30,000 won. If they are popular, they are sold for more than the regular price.

Even regular ROM pack games are burdensome, so I exchange them for used ones for a few thousand won, but 30,000 won is still too expensive.

“And if we release it as a Megarom pack, people will definitely want more stages to match. If we increase the stages here, the release at the end of the year will be out of the question.”

“Oh, I see. It’s unfortunate, but there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“How do you decide on the price, Mr. Seo? For a game of this level, I think even a regular ROM pack would be worth up to 20,000 won.”

This time, it was President Jeong of Modu Electronics who asked. Since I was put in charge of distributing , the president started calling me ‘CEO Seo’.

“I think it’s worth that kind of money. It’s overwhelmingly better than any other game right now. But I want the price to be much lower. I want to set it at exactly 10,000 won.”

“That cheap?”

Yang Geun-seok was surprised. President Jeong also opposed it.

“Even so, one ten-thousand-won note is too cheap. If you make it that cheap, after deducting the production cost of the ROM pack, distribution cost, and other things, there won’t be anything left for CEO Seo.”

“It’s okay. I have no intention of making money with .”

“What are you talking about? Are you saying this is a hobby now?”

“No, that’s not it. What I meant was that I have no intention of making money in Korea with for Gemix. for Gemix is, well, a kind of symbolic game.”

“symbol?”

“Yes, it is a symbol that shows that such pioneering games can be made in Korea as well. And it is also a declaration that such games will continue to be released by Starbeat in the future. At the same time, it is a declaration of war to the many companies that are currently releasing pirated versions of Japanese games.”

“Well, if comes out, all the companies that have been releasing pirated copies will be shocked.”

“Yes, there must be people other than Gemini or Umji who are trying to hack or make something similar and sell it as a pirated version. But the original is 10,000 won? Then the pirated version must be sold for cheaper, and considering the production cost, it’s probably not easy for the pirated version to break even.”

“That’s true. No one would pay 7,000 or 8,000 won for a pirated version when they can buy the real thing for 10,000 won. Unless they don’t know it’s a pirated version.”

“The Adventures of the Gemini Brothers that came out last year cost 8,000 won. I charge more than that because I have pride.”

“Well, if that’s what Representative Seo means.”

“Yes, in many ways, I think the price of is appropriate at 10,000 won. For now, I think for Jemix is ​​enough as long as it doesn’t run into a deficit. My real goal is to spread as much as possible in Korea.”

“Well, we can get a commission if we sell a lot, but if we sell everything without leaving a single one, how are you going to make money?”

“There are many ways to make money. First, we will make into an arcade game. And we are also thinking of exporting it to Japan and the United States.”

“Oh! An arcade game! That’s cool.”

Yang Geun-seok hit his knee hard enough to make a “clap!” sound.

“In Korea as well as around the world, the mainstream of the video game market is still arcade games. MSX games for Gemix are a signal flare. They were chosen because they are the easiest to develop and distribute. First, we need to spread them widely for home use, and then we need to invite friends who don’t have Gemix to the arcade. Let’s say .”

“And in Japan, it’s the other way around, right? Export to arcades first, and then release it for MSX later?”

“Yes, that’s right. As expected, the boss has a quick intuition.”

“This is what I do all the time. But I thought CEO Seo was only good at making games, but his business sense is also extraordinary. That’s right, if you want to become popular in Japan, it’s much faster to become a hit in the arcade.”

Many of the hits of the 80s and 90s were first developed for arcades and then ported to consoles. Nintendo also started developing games for arcades, not home consoles.

If becomes a hit in Japanese arcades, entering the MSX market will be like swimming with your feet on the ground. Of course, it is very difficult to succeed in the arcade market itself.

“So, you decided on ten thousand won as the price?”

“Yeah, I told you that CEO Seo had everything planned out. Don’t blame me later for selling it too cheap.”

“Don’t worry about that. I won’t mind losing a few thousand. Now, shall we take a look at the production plan?”

I reviewed the production plan for the ROMPAK with the CEO of All Electronics. Since CEO Jeong knew a company, we decided to go through that company.

Due to the tight schedule, there was no time to custom-make cases or cartridges. I decided to buy empty cartridges in bulk, copy the game onto a ROM pack, attach a printed authenticity sticker, and buy a case separately to put a printed cover on.

It’s a bit disappointing that they couldn’t make it with a plastic ROM pack design like Nintendo did. But the release comes first.

“Then how much is the quantity?”

“We need to make as many as possible at once because it’s cheaper to make them all at once. We’re thinking of making at least 5,000.”

“Wow, that’s a lot. Five thousand?”

“That’s a lot. My goal is to sell at least 50,000 copies of in Korea alone.”

“50,000? So you’re going to sell 500 million won worth of ? Hi guys~~, he really is a chaebol’s son, so he’s very generous. The units are different from the beginning.”

“At least it will sell more than . This is a matter of pride for Korean games.”

President Jeong and Yang Geun-seok, who had been laughing at my words, also changed their expressions.

“Yes, that’s right. Then I’ll place an order for the ROM pack and case. Geun-seok, you call each store where you distributed the demo and ask them how many orders you’re going to get. Seo, you finish the game well. By the way, what are you going to do about the background music?”

“I should do it. I also do a little music.”

“Wow~~, there really is nothing our CEO can’t do. Huh? There’s nothing he can’t do.”

We each organized our work and got moving.

Fortunately, I got along well with President Jeong of Modu Electronics. Yang Geun-seok no longer treated me awkwardly.

was in the final stages. All that was left was to polish up the intro and ending screens, adjust the game balance, and fix minor bugs.

Now the last thing left was BGM.

Unfortunately, the sound chip used in the Jemix is ​​not that good, so there are many limitations in terms of expression. The most it can do is to produce electronic sounds of different pitches in triple chords.

Of course, game companies of this era, despite their limitations, have created many excellent BGMs that get stuck in your ears after hearing them once. I think so too.

I searched through Seun Shopping Mall, bought a Yamaha MSX and a synthesizer, and returned home.

Yamaha is famous for its musical instruments, but it was also a semiconductor company that made FM sound chips. As a company that made synthesizers, Yamaha’s MSX computer could be connected to a Yamaha synthesizer to compose and arrange music.

Games are a comprehensive art form, more than movies, so music is absolutely necessary. Unless music is intentionally omitted for production purposes. No matter how great the graphics are, without music, something feels empty.

Because I wanted to get better at making games, which are a comprehensive art medium, I took story writing classes, went to art school, and took piano and composition classes in my previous life. I wanted to become a game developer who understood the basics of all elements, not a game developer who was only focused on technology.

Thanks to that, I knew how to create melodies and build harmony, even though I wasn’t as good as a professional.

I know the feeling of better than anyone else. It’s my turn to finish this game with my own hands by composing simple but catchy background music.

I installed the synthesizer on my new Yamaha MSX computer and gave it a listen.

Not only was the feel of the keystroke bad, but the sound of the piano was still far inferior to the real thing. On the other hand, there were many sound effects included in the synthesizer that I really wanted.

If I could just use it as is, I would put it in . However, since I can’t produce this kind of sound effect with the sound chip of Jemix, I had to swallow my saliva.

“What’s wrong, oppa? Did you finish making my game? What is this? Is there such a small piano?”

The youngest, who came to my room as usual to watch me work hard on a game, sat down next to me as soon as he saw the synthesizer. Then he started pressing various buttons.

Pappababang~! Knock knock knock! Beep yoyoyoyoyo~! Ding dong ding dong!

“Oppa, this is fun!”

The youngest mixed various sounds on the synthesizer to create a strange sound. The sound was strange, but his form was like that of a world-class DJ.

“Enough. I have to make music, so go to my sister’s room and play the piano.”

“My sister doesn’t even let me touch her piano. She says it’s a piano that she bought for a really expensive price somewhere in France or something.”

“Really? Then why don’t you ask me to buy you one too?”

“Okay. I don’t really feel like playing the piano. This sounds exactly like a fart. Pfft~ Pfft~~!”

The youngest played around with the synthesizer for a bit and then went back to his room. I put Fire Escape on another computer and put my hands on the keyboard, waiting for inspiration to strike.

Well, if it’s New York, it’s jazz, right? I think the rich sound of trumpets or saxophones would be good. However, if you think about the character of the game, not the background, jazz doesn’t seem to be the way to go.

Or hip-hop would be nice too. If Jack were a rapper, splitting beats and going up and down the emergency stairs, I think a music video would come out in no time.

But the heyday of hip-hop was the 90s. It still takes some time for the Westside and Eastside conflicts and the gangsta rap explosion to happen. And it’s not something you can do with a mix.

It seems like it would be a safe pop, dance, or EDM style. Since the game is centered around a chase, I think it would be good to have a few impressive melodies with infinite variations at a slightly faster tempo.

I searched for a melody that was vaguely coming to mind, feeling around on the keyboard with my fingertips.

The central mood needed for is tension. However, since it is not a heavy game, the feeling should flow in a lighthearted manner.

The thrill of being chased by the police and the joy of making money by picking up coins. The guilt and thrill of doing something bad are contradictory emotions that are strangely connected while clashing with each other. These emotions must be expressed with 8-bit electronic sounds.

As the winter night deepened, I played the synthesizer keyboard, entranced by the moonlight streaming in through the window.

I think I’m starting to get the hang of it. I’ve been layering chords on the melody I’ve created. I’ve been listening to it with my ears, playing it with my hands, and humming the melody with my mouth.

I became more and more absorbed in the music I was making.

Ah, is the musical talent that was never able to blossom in my previous life finally awakening? Is it finally awakening now?

I tried to organize the lyrical compositions I had poured out and play them again.

I was closing my eyes tightly and savoring the moment, when someone knocked on the door and it opened.

It was the second.

Oh, oh, oh.

My hidden musical talent has made even that proud second son unbearable···.

“Oppa, what the hell is this weird music? What did you play? I can’t just ignore it, even if I try. It’s like my ears are rotting.”

The second one had a frown on his face as if he had bitten a rotten apple.

Hey, Subin?

Really, is it that much···?