1988 Retro Game Tycoon - Chapter 80



Only Noblemtl

Episode 80 – A1 Arcade System Board

“We are causing a sensation with Game Pocket, but there is a clear limit to doing it alone. We need to expand the board much more. It is better to take 30% of a market worth 100 billion won than to monopolize a market worth 10 billion won. What is important now is to continue to fuel the game market by having multiple companies participate so that this growth can continue.”

I explained to the two captains why they had to grow the market first.

“But if we can monopolize it, isn’t it better to do it unconditionally? That’s why I want to make Korea ours when we release the 16-bit game console.”

“Even if monopoly seems sweet, it will eventually turn into poison if you look at it in the long run. I don’t want any one company to monopolize the market, even if it’s our company.”

Many companies pursue monopolies. IT companies develop cutting-edge technologies and use them to create a gap that no one can keep up with.

The problem is that, if you do this, you will end up trying to block competition itself in order to monopolize the market beyond the competition of technology and ideas. Monopolies put companies at risk, knowingly or unknowingly.

Nintendo, which had thought it would dominate the console market forever with the Famicom and Super Famicom, was faltering, and so was Sony, which had been breaking records in the console market with the PlayStation and PlayStation 2.

Most companies that enjoyed a monopoly and thought they would dominate the market forever ended up putting themselves in danger by failing to detect the warning signs.

You should always strive to be the best in your industry, but you should not be greedy and try to eat everything yourself. If you do, you will end up being eaten by yourself.

“I didn’t realize it when I was making for Gyeomboyong because I was working so hard, but seeing it today makes me feel a little scared. Someday, Oseong will officially import Mega Drive, but what will we do then…? Aren’t we giving them unnecessary strength? That’s what I thought. I’m sorry. I think I said something strange.”

Captain Park said with his characteristically serious attitude.

Oh, I see.

As I listened to the story, I realized there was one thing I was missing.

I know that Hyunmyeong Electronics, as well as Oseong Electronics, eventually withdrew from the home console business after the 16-bit game consoles.

Of course, this time it might be different. However, among the people I met at Jewoo Electronics and Osung Electronics, there was no one who truly understood the game industry and truly loved games.

To them, video games are just one of the emerging entertainment businesses of the future. Zeu Electronics happened to develop Zemix while trying to solve its DRAM inventory problem.

No company has approached the game industry in a fundamental way, but their attempts have inspired dreams in children like me and planted the seeds for the future of the game industry.

However, many conditions were necessary for the seed to sprout and bear fruit. It also took a long time.

I am trying to compress the decades that Korea has to go through to the current conditions as much as possible. As I am moving the time forward like that, people are now looking at the Korean game industry very optimistically.

Besides, Korea is still in the 1980s, a period of rapid growth. No one doubts that tomorrow will be better than today.

No one knows that Gemix will soon be on the verge of extinction along with the decline of the MSX platform, following the brief heyday of Gemix V.

If we rely solely on Gemix until we create our own 16-bit console, the timing could be off and the console development could be delayed, putting the company in trouble.

I think the Korean game market will continue to grow rapidly, but when I see the emergence of Osung Electronics, which has become the overwhelming number one electronics company in Korea due to the growth of semiconductors, I suddenly feel fear.

The anxiety that the game market that we have worked so hard to grow will be swallowed up by those with huge capital. The doubt that we might be shooting ourselves in the foot by making games for the five-star gamers.

I think about the entire Korean game market as much as I do the future of our company. However, our company employees’ perspectives are clearly different from mine.

It was inevitable that a gap of that size would arise.

“I was thinking too far ahead of myself and didn’t fully understand what you were thinking. But don’t worry too much. It’s true that game development requires capital, but it’s definitely not something that can be done with money alone.”

This has been proven by history, which has been repeated countless times so far.

No company has infinite capital, and even if they invest infinite capital, they cannot create fun games.

The fun of a game is not proportional to the capital invested.

“Just remember one thing. As long as we keep making fun games, we don’t have to be afraid of anyone. It’s not our competitors that we have to be afraid of. It’s not making the best games. It’s not making world-class games. That’s the only thing we have to be afraid of.”

“A fun game… I thought so.”

The two captains leading the programming team nodded.

We will have to compete with countless world-class masterpieces in the future, so we can’t afford to be shaken by something like this.

Competition in Korea cannot be considered competition yet.

In the future, we need to penetrate the US and Japanese markets, which are the core of the global game market.

Korea was far behind the US and Japan in terms of trends, so we were able to quickly establish ourselves with only two games. The background of Myeongseong Group also played a big role.

Now, if you go to the US or Japan, the solid background of the Myungsung Group will be of no use. There, you have to compete only with games.

So we don’t have time in Korea to compete with wisdom, common sense, and strength.

At times like these, you should focus even more on the game.

After the release of the Oseong Gyeomboy, the company started receiving fan letters from people who had purchased the Gyeomboy.

– I used to get so upset whenever my friend bragged about the . But I held it in and went to visit every day. But hehehe! Now I have a Ggomboy and ! The friend who I always bragged about comes to my house to visit.

– These days, at school, we always fight over which console is the best among the Gemix, the Comboy, and the Gemboy. Of course, I think the Gemboy is the best because the bundled games are cool, and I have it!

– Last night, my dad came home with a new Oseong Gyeomboy. My mom was upset because she had a Jemix at home and she said the same thing again. I love my mom the most in the world, but she really doesn’t know what she’s saying. Even if you just look at it, and are completely different from Jemix. I really don’t understand how she can say they’re the same.

What is the best gaming console is always a topic of debate among gamers.

In the US, in the 90s, the battle between the Nintendo Super Famicom fandom and the Sega Genesis (Mega Drive) fandom was said to be so fierce that it could be called a sports rivalry.

Now that both Nintendo and Sega have entered Korea, the Korean console game market has finally come into its own, albeit a little late. The Korean game market is now getting its full swing.

Here we have opened up a new era in the portable gaming market with the Game Pocket.

And now he was preparing to open yet another new dimensional gate.

“Gamedol-ah! This seems to be about right. How? Do you want to come and see it?”

“I’ll go right now!”

As soon as I received Lee Gi-cheol’s call, I ran straight to the Iron Age.

I opened the door and went in, was so surprised that I checked the lake again and went in.

The house was so clean. The kitchen was okay, but wouldn’t the living room and bedrooms be messy with all kinds of machines and parts?

“Gamdol, you’re here already?”

“Brother, what’s wrong with your house? Why is it so clean? Is this because I nag you to clean it?”

“How could that be? I’m almost done with the arcade work, so I’m just putting it away so that no one can see the crazy guys.”

“Oh, somehow. My brother isn’t the type of person to listen to me.”

“But I’m tired of hearing you nagging, so now I do the dishes on time.”

“Wait a minute. Is this it?”

There was a large circuit board on Lee Ki-cheol’s desk.

The circuit board was slightly larger than a computer motherboard and had numerous chips packed tightly together.

The two Motorola 68k processors in the center looked like two giant diamonds to my eyes.

“There are still some settings that need to be made for things like input/output terminals, but for now, the basics are more or less done. I’ve filled in as much memory as possible, so I’ll adjust it appropriately later when I find the unit price.”

“okay.”

“This thing is basically faster than the Sega System 16, but it uses a lot of CPU for graphics and sound. Well, you can adjust it yourself, but after some time, there will definitely be a limit. I don’t know how soon it will come, but it will come for sure. That’s why I’ve done a little work in advance.”

“how?”

“Look. Let’s flip this switch and run a benchmark.”

“Huh? It’s over 8% faster than before? Bro, did you overclock this?”

“Ooh~, you know it quickly. That’s right. But I haven’t tested how long I can use it in this state yet. I need to research this more. For now, try using it in its default state.”

“OK. There probably won’t be much need for overclocking yet.”

Overclocking is a technology that allows users to forcibly increase the clock speed set by the manufacturer when the processor is released.

It may be faster, but it also generates more heat and may shorten the life of the chip. However, if used appropriately, it can increase system performance without additional cost.

“I put this on a really, really cutting-edge game once. Look.”

Lee Ki-cheol inserted a ROM board into the A1 prototype board and connected it to the arcade cabinet.

“I can’t leave here because of this. Everything I need is here. Where else would I go?”

There are many companies that make arcade cabinets and control sticks in Seun Shopping Mall. You can get whatever parts or games you want, so Seun Shopping Mall was like a nest that Lee Ki-cheol couldn’t leave.

As he turned it on, the screen crackled and gray noises flickered. It looked like a TV screen that had just finished broadcasting.

“Huh? Why is this happening? It was fine earlier. Just a moment.”

Lee Ki-cheol turned the power off, checked a few things, and then turned it back on.

“What on earth are you trying to do…? Huh?!”

I was startled when I saw the screen pop up.

Sega’s arcade belt-scrolling masterpiece appears on the screen!

is an arcade game released by Sega in 1989, and is a masterpiece that has been ported to numerous game consoles. It was also very popular in arcades in Korea.

“It must have been really recent since this came out, right?”

“So, wouldn’t it be perfect for testing A1? Want to play a game together?”

“It’s a carrot.”

“Huh? What? Do you want to eat carrots?”

“No, I meant it as a given.”

I sat next to Lee Ki-cheol and played Golden Axe on the A1 board. I chose the basic character, Axe Battler, while Lee Ki-cheol chose the axe-wielding dwarf, Gilius Thunderhead.

“That’s unexpected. I thought you’d naturally choose a bikini-wearing female warrior character?”

“Huh? I picked that dwarf because he was holding a golden axe. The name of the game is Golden Axe, so shouldn’t he be the strongest? I thought that was the case.”

Oh, you could think of it that way.

But anyone can see that Thunderhead is a supporting character. Anyway, Ki-cheol hyung’s thoughts are a bit strange.

I explained about and also told them about the characteristics of each character.

is an action game, but it has a unique point in that you can use magic. Just like using bombs in an airplane shooting game, if you use magic appropriately, you can immediately escape a dangerous situation.

I had a great time playing with Lee Ki-cheol.

This probably hasn’t even been out in Japan for a month. I was really amazed that they were hacking and playing a game that hasn’t even made it to Korean arcades yet, using our company’s arcade board.

“Hey, you gambler, how on earth are you so good at games? When have you ever played one? You’ve never done one before, have you?”

“It’s just an instinctive feeling. When you look at a game, you can tell what the developer’s intentions were. It’s like when you take a test, you can see what the examiner’s intentions were.”

Lee Ki-cheol said as if he was being unfairly treated. In fact, it was a game I had played so many times that no matter how much he practiced, it would have been difficult for him to do better than me.

“But the screen breaks up here and there, and there’s barely any sound. Is this because of the audio chip?”

“It’s a carrot. The one I made isn’t a Sega board. Since the sound chip is different, there might be some parts that can’t be processed properly. I just planted it for testing purposes.”

“Okay. Then make a few more. The company will use these to develop games and refine them for sale with Myungsung Electronics.”

“Yeah, I saw the game pocket you made last time, and it looked a bit sloppy, but it was still well done.”

“The game pocket is simple to configure, so I just did it, but I can’t coordinate everything with Myeongseong. My brother will have to go and talk a lot with the Myeongseong Electronics engineers.”

“Huh? Me with the big boss guys?”

“Yeah, can you do it?”

“Of course. More than half of the people who come to me for repairs are big businessmen. No problem.”

Lee Ki-cheol kept saying “carrot, carrot” because the word “carrot” that I accidentally said stuck in his mouth.

I got a board from Lee Ki-cheol and presented a prototype to the company.

“at las···!”

Captain Ancient Dragon and Team A Programmers looked at the A1 board with moved faces.

Team A, who had been learning the assembly language for Motorola 68k without even a system board, finally got the hardware.

Although it is not yet complete, Team A will feel like they are holding the invincible golden axe.

“Captain, do you remember what I said?”

“Of course. Just think about making a fun game!”

Fun game.

That’s why our company, Starbeat, exists.

Now it was time to work hard to make a masterpiece belt scrolling game that would surpass even and .