1988 Retro Game Tycoon - Chapter 69



Only Noblemtl

Episode 69 – Downfall and Emergency

Kim Ho-seung has been having trouble digesting anything he eats these days.

It’s been like this since the end of last year, and it’s gotten worse this year, so I’ve been taking digestive medicine.

Ever since he found out that Seo Nam-joon was the son of Myeongseong Group, he never opened his mouth about Starbeat even when asked.

“Did you watch baseball on TV this weekend? The guy who threw the first pitch was the guy who created the ?”

“I don’t know either.”

“Oh, why didn’t President Kim say that we met before? No?”

But even if I wanted to avoid the story, I couldn’t. Seun Shopping Mall was full of noise about , the return of the stars, and Seo Nam-joon.

There was even a store that put up a picture of Seo Nam-joon’s poem and wrote, “ is on sale now!”

Just as no matter how hard you try, you can’t avoid the sun on Earth, no matter how hard Kim Ho-seung tries, he can’t avoid Seo Nam-joon. Throughout April, anyone related to computers and games talked about the return of the stars and Seo Nam-joon.

If that were all there was to it, that would be fine. The bigger problem is that the business is starting to falter badly.

, which I worked on with Thumbsoft, did not sell as well as I had hoped.

Kim Ho-seung was delighted to see that Hyunmyeong Electronics had started advertising on Comboy TV right after the game was released. He thought that Hyunmyeong Electronics was advertising the Mario game on TV for free on his behalf.

“You bastard Seo Nam-joon, what? Don’t sell games? How dare you. Now I’ll flatten your nose.”

If you advertise that you can play the Mario game you saw on TV on your Gmix at home, it seems clear that the game will sell like hotcakes.

So we also printed a ton of game packs.

“Is it really okay? Should I make it slowly while observing the reaction?”

“Oh, this guy? He’s only been doing business for a day or two? It all depends on the timing. If a big company advertises for you and you can’t sell because you don’t have enough products, you’re screwed. Just trust me. This time, we’re both going to get a real piece of the action!”

Although Lee Young-bae was anxious, Kim Ho-seung pushed ahead with the production of ROMPAK.

In fact, Kim Ho-seung made more ROM packs than he told Lee Young-bae. He intended to monopolize the amount he secretly produced from Lee Young-bae.

But then a problem arose.

The game wasn’t selling as well as expected. People were only looking for .

Among Jemix users, playing with a friend as a two-player game was a huge hit.

“Mr. Kim, this is not going to work out. Let’s go to a discount event. The competition is too strong. We need to do something now or we’ll just get buried.”

“What are you talking about? You released the game and you’re already giving it a discount? Is your business going to be ruined?”

“Then what are we going to do with all that mountain of inventory? President Kim is stubborn and it’s all piled up in the warehouse right now. We have to sell it off by holding on to it or something. Otherwise, we’ll both go under. President Kim has a lot of money stashed away, so he can handle not having games for a few months, but I can’t.”

“Do you think I’m comfortable? I’m saying this because if you put a discount on the game right after it’s released, you can’t sell it back at the original price later. Then the loss just keeps getting bigger. Don’t you know that? Are you an idiot?”

“What? Idiot? Are you done talking? It’s not me who’s stupid, it’s President Kim who’s stupid. That’s why I said I’d make the packs while watching the situation, but you made them all at once like that.”

“Eight, anyway, I don’t do business with cowards. I can’t stand that!”

“What? A coward? I said let’s see for real!”

While working in the gaming business, I started to fight more frequently with Lee Young-bae, who I had the best relationship with.

As nothing worked out, Kim Ho-seung suffered from headaches and indigestion every day.

But a much bigger problem arose than a squeaky business.

“Excuse me, sir. I need you to answer the phone.”

“Call? Who is it? It’s urgent, so call later.”

“Um, that’s Jongno Police Station···.”

“What? Why are you looking for me at the police station?”

Kim Ho-seung answered the phone with a dubious mind.

“Are you Kim Ho-seung, the president of Cheonggye Media?”

“Yes, but.”

“This is Chief Lee Cheol-jin of the Economic Crime Investigation Division of Jongno Police Station. A criminal complaint has been filed against CEO Kim Ho-seung for copyright infringement.”

What is the person who lives like me?

“Please calm down for now. I don’t know the person named Seo Nam-joon, and it doesn’t seem to matter to me. The lawsuit was filed by Hyunmyeong Electronics. And although I’m not in charge, I heard that Hyunmyeong Electronics will file a separate civil suit for damages. They’ll probably contact you separately, so please wait.”

“From Hyunmyeong Electronics···? Me···? No, why?”

“The complaint states that the president copied the Comboy game released by Hyunmyeong Electronics and seriously infringed on the copyrights of Hyunmyeong Electronics and its partner company Nintendo. I don’t want to discuss the details over the phone, so let’s both come out.”

Kim Ho-seung held the receiver, but he couldn’t hear what the other person was saying. His mind just went blank. Everything seemed like a lie.

“So… how much compensation was paid earlier?”

“That? I’m not in charge so I don’t know for sure, but I heard it’s around 1 billion.”

“Poem···, poem···, ten billion?!?!?!”

Kim Ho-seung collapsed on the spot. It felt like he had been hit in the head with a huge sledgehammer. The hand holding the receiver was shaking.

“Mr. Kim! I’ve been sued! What the hell, does this make sense? Huh? Does this make sense?”

On that very day, Lee Young-bae came to see Kim Ho-seung and complained that he had been sued. Lee Young-bae was also sued by Hyun Myung-jeon.

Kim Ho-seung, who was feeling dizzy, couldn’t hear Lee Young-bae whining.

“Shut up. I got sued too. What, copyright? They’re trolling me for that. And they’re demanding that I pay them 1 billion won. What kind of 1 billion won is that? What the heck… We didn’t even sell 100 million won worth of stuff.”

“President Kim too? No, you could have just sued President Kim. Why did you sue me too? I just did what President Kim told me to do.”

“Why is that weird? This third installment was started by this CEO, not me. Should I speak up?”

“That’s not it! I was just going to quit because it was hard, but President Kim told me to keep going, and that’s how it turned out. If it weren’t for President Kim, I would have quit that game in the evening!”

“Ha! Now that I look at it, Lee Young-bae, he’s a total gangster.”

“You’re the thug, Kim Ho-seung! You forced me to finish the game even though I didn’t want to, and that’s how things got to this point. Don’t you know? I’m going to go to court and say that it was all done on President Kim’s orders. That’s the truth.”

“This kid is this!”

“Huh? Hey, aren’t you going to let go? Are you going to hit me? Yeah, hit me instead! Hit me somewhere!”

Kim Ho-seung and Lee Young-bae started blaming each other and got into an argument, even grabbing each other by the collar.

As soon as the staff separated the two, Lee Young-bae swore at them and left.

The uproar was over, but it wasn’t the end.

“Excuse me, boss. I would like to return all of the from the Brothers Game Shop···.”

“What? Brother Game Shop?”

“Yes, and besides that, other game stores are also saying they will all return the items right now?”

“What? Why is everyone like this all of a sudden?”

Kim Ho-seung immediately called the game shop. Brother Game Shop was the place that received the most supplies as it was Kim Ho-seung’s close friend.

“Oh, boss, what’s wrong all of a sudden? Are you returning all of that?”

“I’m sorry. But, Mr. Kim, the atmosphere is not good right now. If it rains, I’ll have to take shelter for a while. What can I do?”

“No, what kind of shower is it?”

“What are we hiding from each other? Rumors have already spread. I heard Hyunmyeong Electronics is drawing its sword? I know that because I sent you the goods first. I will organize and send you the third installment of Brothers and everything I received from Jeminan, so I know that.”

“No, what? No, what in the world is this law? When you said you would sell everything, when you took the goods, you are now returning them? Hey, boss! Boss!”

Kim Ho-seung shouted, but the phone was already hung up.

“What the fuck, what the hell did I do to deserve all this crap from all over the place?”

With his business slumping, being sued by a large company, and a rush of product returns, Kim Ho-seung was truly devastated.

I had no idea what to do. My hands were shaking so much that I couldn’t even smoke a cigarette. My chest was tight and I felt suffocated.

“Seo Namjoon, should I have listened to him then···?”

Suddenly, I remembered Seo Nam-joon’s warning not to release .

But it’s already too late to regret anything.

***

As expected, the power of large corporations is scary.

The two strategies that Hyunmyeong Electronics implemented – targeting rich neighborhoods and beating up copycat games – were both quickly taking hold.

The Comboy Land created in Apgujeong Department Store was very popular, and Geminian’s main branch, Cheonggye Media, closed down completely.

The game shops that had been skeptical really hid all of their Nintendo-related counterfeit games in their warehouses when Hyunmyeong Electronics filed a lawsuit against Geminian.

This measure probably won’t have much of an effect for long. Game stores will probably wait a while and then start releasing copycat games again after a month or two.

But now that I’ve shown that copyright law isn’t just a formality in the law book, but a real thing that can get me arrested, things can’t be the same anymore.

As I watched Hyunmyung Electronics launch a counterattack, I also came to my senses.

Hyunmyeong Electronics’ movements were much more agile than I expected.

If we had been complacent and thought that we had a firm grip on the Korean game market, we could have been dealt a crushing blow by Nintendo and Hyunmyung Electronics with Super Mario.

I worked with Myungsung Electronics to develop a portable game console, the Game Pocket. I carved out a wooden baseball field-shaped case in several versions to test the shape and feel of the device, and the engineers refined the internal design.

Although Myungsung Electronics makes TVs, it does not have the LCD technology to use in portable game consoles, so it had no choice but to import the key component, the LCD screen, from Japan.

As prototype development and production plans are gradually being established, applications for the graphic contest to recruit art talent have also been completed.

As expected, on the last day, floppy disks poured out.

“Oh my~, there’s a mountain of applications piled up?”

Manager Park had a face that looked full even though he hadn’t eaten, but at the same time, he had an expression on his face that seemed helpless in front of a mountain of work.

The number of applicants for the general division was more than twice that of the student division.

At first glance, there were quite a few people in the general section who drew on the free topic of or game screens.

It’s a rewarding experience for game developers, but when recruiting, they have to look at your creativity, so a drawing that is a direct copy of a game screen is a negative factor.

“Please exclude the ones that simply copied our game from the free topic section. I’ll just look through them later.”

In terms of judging, I should be thankful because it saves me the trouble. In any case, there are many fake participants in this type of contest who just submit their entries. If I could filter them out at a glance, that wouldn’t be bad either.

While I was busy developing games, developing portable game consoles, and judging graphic contests, I received a call from Osung Electronics asking to meet again.

“There’s something I told you last time. Is there a reason we need to meet again?”

I turned around and told them I would refuse, but Osung Electronics insisted that they meet me in person to apologize, so I went back to Osung Electronics with the feeling that I had been fooled once more.

“Sir, are you here?”

As soon as I arrived at Oseong Electronics, Director Hwang, who had requested the source code last time, came down to the entrance to greet me.

“I’m really sorry about last time. I won’t make any excuses in front of you, sir. It was all my fault, and I am responsible for it. Please forgive me.”

Director Hwang bowed his head politely and apologized.

This is probably not a truly heartfelt apology.

It is clear that Oseong Electronics felt threatened because it contacted them again after Hyunmyeong Electronics took action.

But if the other person is being so polite and apologizes, and you don’t accept it, that’s not right either.

After all, business and social life are, to some extent, all about wearing a mask.

Rather, I was a little impressed by the way he bowed his head like this to an executive at a large company like Osung Electronics, even though we were quite a bit older than him.

Although they may look like neat and sophisticated gentlemen on the outside, they are actually people who are always trying to steal other people’s skills. However, they are also flexible and know how to put aside their pride and bow their heads when necessary.

Oseong Electronics, which has Sega on its back, should not be taken lightly either.

“Okay. I have received your apology, Director. I will also try to forget what happened last time.”

“Thank you. Thank you very much, sir.”

Director Hwang bowed his head several times.

“But, you didn’t really want to see me just to apologize, did you?”

“As expected, the CEO is so quick-witted that he can’t hide anything. I want to talk about the story that ended in failure last time.”

“Are you talking about transplanting and ?”

“Yes. I would like to include both games as bundle games in our Oseong Gemboy. Most of the conditions from last time are valid. There is no such thing as game review. Just think of it as the final confirmation process.”

“Confirmation is done by receiving the executable file after compilation?”

“Of course, sir.”

When I asked jokingly, Director Hwang answered with a serious face.

Obviously, it’s still a good deal.

But, just because the other person apologizes doesn’t mean you can just accept it.

They say a single word can repay a debt of a thousand nyang, but if you just brush it all off with an apology, I have nothing to gain.

“300 thousand units.”

“yes?”

“Last time, you said you would do an initial quantity of 200,000 units. I want 300,000 units. If you want to produce 300,000 units as an initial quantity, I will port the two games to the Oseong Electronics Gemboy.”

“If you get 300,000···, 3 billion···?”

“Yes, I would like you to give me 500 million of that as a starting cost. We also have to learn the system from scratch and do a lot of work if we are to port the game we developed for Gemix to other consoles.”

“Including the deposit?”

“Is it difficult? Last time, didn’t you say that the initial quantity of 200,000 units was much higher than the Oseong Gyeomboy? I think you just pulled it up a little.”

Director Hwang looked thoughtful for a moment with a stern expression.

It must be burdensome to suddenly increase the amount by 1 billion. However, considering that they called me back and apologized, it is clear that both Osung Electronics and Director Hwang are very anxious.

“It’s a bit difficult for me to answer that question right here and now. But···”

Director Hwang hesitated for a moment, then bowed his head again and spoke.

“If you can adjust it to around 250,000, I will do my best to make it happen. Please, sir.”

2.5 billion.

It was a bit reduced from 3 billion, but it was originally a 2 billion contract.

It would be good to give Director Hwang some face to save since he even threw away his pride to apologize to me.

“Okay, I’ll take 250,000. But you have to pay the deposit as I told you.”

“Thank you, sir. I will discuss it as soon as possible and get back to you.”

I shook hands with Director Hwang and left Osung Electronics in a good mood.

And a few days later.

As expected, the long-awaited reply came from Osung Electronics.

“Sir, we will proceed with the bundle game for 250,000 units. Please take care of it!”

It’s a time when a lot of money is needed for game pocket marketing, and we’ve managed to secure 2.5 billion just in time.

Who would have thought that negotiations that were thought to have died down would be revived like this?

I would like to send a thank you card to Hyunmyeong Electronics.

1988 Retro Game Tycoon Episode 70