1988 Retro Game Tycoon - Chapter 38



Only Noblemtl

Episode 38 – Bill Gates Will Develop Games Too

Wednesday, January 4, 1989.

After the New Year’s holiday, I went to work for the first time in the new year with my father.

“It feels refreshing to go to work with my son like this. If I were being greedy, I would like you to attend the group ceremony as well.”

“No, Father. I declined the Myeongseong Group subsidiary because I was afraid that I would do that.”

“Okay, I got it. Since it’s your first day at work, don’t be too bossy in front of your employees, but don’t be too lax either. You shouldn’t do everything your way, but you shouldn’t be swayed by what your employees say either. Moderation is always the hardest.”

“Yes, I will keep that in mind.”

I got out of the car first in front of Myeongseong Electronics.

Starbeat hasn’t set up an office yet, so it decided to temporarily rent one of Myeongseong Electronics’ conference rooms.

I didn’t know it, but when I rented it, it turned out to be an executive conference room. It was somehow spacious, and the tables and chairs were nice. I thought it would be more than enough for a short period of time.

The first day of the new year passed quickly, with me playing with my cousins ​​and greeting my relatives.

If I had thought about the successor to the Myungsung Group, I would have been much busier. I would have had a headache figuring out and calculating who has what kind of stocks, who is on my side, and what kind of personality they have.

I’m glad I don’t have to get involved in such a headache.

Back in 1988, I created a game in two months and successfully released it. This would have been impossible if it weren’t for the times and if I hadn’t opened my eyes to the world of conglomerates.

The game came out well and sales are better than expected. Everyone in Korea who is involved in the Gemix/MSX game business is currently focusing on .

While people are paying attention to , I have to go a few steps ahead. This year, there will be a lot of work to do. As I was organizing the things to do in the future, the employees arrived at the conference room one after another.

Accounting Manager Song Mi-sun.

Director of Human Resources Park Chung-shin.

Marketing Manager Oh Sang-hyeok.

They are precious people who help me focus more on game development.

“Did you have a good Lunar New Year holiday? It’s nice to be working with you like this. Our company has a lot to do this year. Everyone, please work hard.”

Perhaps the Chairman is currently holding a ceremony to mark the start of the year for 1989 with the presidents and key executives of Myeongseong Group.

I also started the orientation for the first Starbeat employees with a small ceremony and three other employees.

I made a slightly modified presentation to my family on my Macintosh computer, explaining the history and current state of the gaming industry and how I created .

They are all veterans who have worked at Myeongseong Electronics for a long time, but this is my first time with them. It is to ease tension and share the most basic information about the company.

I tried to keep it as simple as possible, but before I knew it, two hours had passed as I was answering questions and talking.

“I think I’ve told you a little bit about our company’s background. Now, I’ll tell you a few of our company’s principles. First of all, you can just wear comfortable clothes. You can wear like me, or if you feel more comfortable wearing a suit, you can just wear a suit.”

“Are you saying that we can just wear jeans to work like you, CEO?”

“Of course. I won’t mind at all. And one more thing. I pride myself on being the best at game development, but you are each much more expert in your own field than I am. So I will give you a lot of discretion to take charge of your own work. If it’s urgent and absolutely necessary and I’m not here and can’t be reached, then go ahead and do it. Just report back to me later.”

“Is the payment line just the CEO?”

“Yes, right now, the three of us here and I are the only process in the company. But in the future, we will grow very quickly. Faster than any other company in Korea right now. That’s why I carefully selected the people I thought would fit well with our company. I trust you will do well.”

The three people laughed faintly at my words. It seemed as if they still didn’t believe me.

My words may seem so grandiose that they seem like a vain vision, but as you experience them, you will soon understand.

“Then I will tell you what each of you will do from now on. First, please do the work I have told you, and then for the rest of the time, find something you can do for the company and do it.”

“You want me to find something to do and do it myself?”

“Yes, I have to make a new game in the future, and I also have to make for the arcade, so I’ll be very busy. Well, to put it simply, think of each of you as executives in your own field. You’ll have to do the work that the company assigns, but if there’s something you think would be good to do or something that’s absolutely necessary, you can plan and push it forward yourself.”

The expressions of the three lovers changed strangely.

“I know everyone has different thoughts about coming here, but the passive mindset of just doing what you’re told to do is not suitable for our company. If that’s your mindset, tell me right now. I’ll take steps to make sure you return to Myungsung Electronics right away.”

I waited for a moment. Fortunately, no one woke up.

“The company atmosphere and working style will probably be very different from what you’ve worked at so far. But you’ll get used to it quickly. Oh, and there’s a Gemix and a Famicom in the corner of the conference room, so feel free to use them. It’s good for when you want to forget complicated thoughts while working, and it’s also perfect for betting on snacks.”

Everyone nodded, but it seemed like they didn’t 100% believe me. They probably thought that there was no way the company could run like that.

You may not have the courage to taste the forbidden fruit of freedom yet, but once you taste it, it will be so sweet that you will never go back to the old corporate ways.

“Okay, then I’ll tell each of you what you need to do right now.”

After completing the orientation, we moved on to the handover of duties.

First, I gave a thick stack of receipts to Manager Song of Accounting.

“These are the expenses I’ve incurred since I started the company. Things that require tax invoices are listed here separately. Since the release date is urgent, I tend to spend money recklessly. I need to organize where and how much I spent, and how I spent it. I also need to organize taxes. Please find a tax accountant and an accountant to work with in the future. Here is the company account.”

Next, Marketing Manager Oh Sang-hyeok.

“Currently, Modu Electronics is distributing Starbeat games on our behalf. And now, our games need to be distributed to Myungsung Electronics and Jewoo Electronics dealerships as well. We need to coordinate the dates, quantities, prices, and other things with the dealership staff, so please take care of it.”

Lastly, Director of Human Resources Park Chung-shin.

“You have a very important mission, sir.”

“What’s going on?”

“Please help me find a company office. It should be close to Seun Shopping Mall, modern, and spacious and clean enough to accommodate at least 30 people.”

“At least 30 people? There are four of us right now.”

“Yes, but it will increase quickly. We haven’t even hired anyone for game development positions yet.”

“Okay, I see. You can look around Gwanghwamun, Jongno, and Cheonggyecheon. I know someone who manages real estate for our group, so if you ask them, you can get a cheaper price. I’ll ask.”

It’s easy to work with them because they all have their own networks. I can borrow the chairman’s power, but these people are much better at using the practitioners’ network than I am.

In a big company, knowing who to ask for a task and how to get it done quickly and easily is power.

“Um, but Mr. CEO. An office is an office, but if it’s a game company, shouldn’t you hire people who make games quickly? You said earlier that you can’t do it alone anymore.”

“I’m going to go figure that out now. Developer applications will be pouring in soon.”

Manager Park looked like he didn’t quite understand, but I just let it go. He probably thought I had posted a job opening somewhere.

“I have an interview to attend, so I’ll be back soon. If I don’t come home after my closing time, you don’t have to wait for me. You can just leave work right away.”

After finishing up work and having an early lunch together, I headed to the Myeongdong Saetbyeol branch for the interview.

and the interview were held at the Saetbyeol branch. Now is the time to properly introduce our company to the world.

***

“Myeongdong is always crowded no matter when you come.”

reporter Kim Min-seok wandered the streets of Myeongdong holding a note with an address written on it.

“Why on earth are we doing this interview here? Is this the right place?”

The first floor of a building without a sign.

People were bustling around the store. I checked the address again, but it was definitely the address written on the note.

Kim Min-seok, who had not seen the MBS news, opened the door and went in. Then he was surprised. In a space filled with , people were playing games.

“Are you, by any chance, reporter Kim Min-seok?”

As he was looking around in surprise, a student who looked like he was only a college student called out to him.

“Could this be Mr. Seo Nam-joon who developed ?”

“Yes, it is me. Please come in.”

Kim Min-seok was taken aback. Most of the software developers he had met so far were young, but Seo Nam-joon still looked like a student.

But how can you make a game that’s already this successful? And what’s this store? It’s so mysterious.

‘But she wasn’t the genius high school girl developer I’d heard about through rumors.’

To be honest, I had very little expectations for Kim Min-seok.

“Let’s sit here and talk.”

Seo Nam-joon sat down on the emergency stairs inside the store and offered Kim Min-seok a seat as well. From there, he could see the entire store at a glance.

Kim Min-seok took out a notepad and pen and turned on the recorder.

“Well, our is planning to cover game-related articles as part of our New Year’s plan. Since our magazine is centered around programming, we plan to focus our articles on programming techniques for creating games and the people who develop games, rather than game strategies and such.”

“That’s a good idea. In fact, there is a very small pool of game developers in Korea right now. We also need a lot of developers right now.”

“How many people are currently developing the game?”

“We just hired someone for the company, but it’s not for development. In reality, we have a lot of game developers in the company.”

“Yes? Really? Are you saying that you did it all by yourself, and not just put your name on the credits?”

Kim Min-seok was surprised. The seniors at the magazine who had worked on also guessed that there would be other programmers.

I thought that just as there were people who helped with the animation and music, there must have been people who helped with the development, and that there must have been some reason why their existence could not be revealed, but my guess was completely off the mark.

But that wasn’t the end of it. The more I listened to the story, the more surprised I became.

He said that he developed the game on his own at the age of only 20, is currently the CEO of the company, created the ROM pack himself to prevent data leaks, planned exclusive sales to fight against collusion among the game shops in Seun Shopping Mall, and has been running a Saetbyeol store here since Christmas Eve to promote the game.

It was a dramatic development, completely different from the technical but dull stories he had heard from developers so far. He became more and more absorbed in Seo Nam-joon’s story.

“Why do you develop games? Because it’s fun. If it’s fun, I’ll do it, but if it’s successful, I can make a lot of money. Look at the US and Japan. Korea isn’t there yet, but the game industry will soon become huge.”

“If you had to pick the most famous and successful software company, which would it be? Probably Microsoft. In 10 years, Bill Gates will be developing games. And in 20 years, Microsoft will be one of the biggest game companies in the world.”

Microsoft becoming a game company? I thought that was nonsense. But after listening to Seo Nam-joon, I started to think that it could really be true.

“In the 8-bit era, you could make a game by yourself, but in the 16-bit era, if you did that, you would only be able to make low-quality games. The 16-bit era is not far away. It is right before our eyes. We need the best experts in planning, programming, graphics, music, and sound. Games will become more and more like movies and eventually surpass them.”

“Right now, I code and dot dot, but later on, like a movie director, I will focus only on the overall planning direction and directing. To do that, we need a lot of good developers. Later, I want to create something like a game developer school that covers all areas of game development. For the entire industry.”

“Honestly, the Korean game market is a mess right now. Prices are going up and down, and instead of being at a reference level, they are blatantly copying and making pirated versions, and it’s hard for students to buy games with peace of mind. There is no order at all. It’s no different from the state of war of all against all that Hobbes talked about. That’s why I want to create a standard for the Korean game market.”

“I don’t make games just for Korea. The home of games is the United States, and most of the best game companies are currently in Japan. My ultimate goal is to continue making fun games, enter the global market, and impress countless gamers around the world.”

Seo Nam-joon’s vision was much broader, deeper, and farther into the future than Kim Min-seok’s.

If someone else had told him this story, Kim Min-seok would have laughed it off. Korea, which was still in its infancy in computers and software, was more than 10 years behind the United States.

Kim Min-seok knew that reality better than anyone else. But Seo Nam-joon created a game that surprised people all by himself.

Listening to Seo Nam-joon’s dream story, it felt like it would really happen. Kim Min-seok’s heart pounded as he listened.

“So what are your plans for this year? Do you have any plans to release any new games?”

“Yes, we plan to release more games this year. We are currently planning our second and third games simultaneously.”

“Two at the same time? What kind of game is it?”

“Um, this is a company secret···.”

Seo Nam-joon thought for a moment and then said.

“Then I’ll just briefly tell you about the genre. One is an action game, and the other is a sports game. And please write about this. The company needs a lot of developers in the future, so we’re going to hold an open recruitment. I’ll wait for those who want to make games with me to contact me.”

Kim Min-seok felt the urge to apply on the spot. However, he couldn’t say anything because he knew better than anyone that he wasn’t the right person to be a programmer.

He didn’t even realize that his first article would be a free job advertisement for Starbeat. Instead, he was just happy to be able to tell the world about it.