Rebirth Tokyo 1986

Chapter 172 The pig advances suddenly
Although the game is a big hit, sales figures are still unknown and the money won’t be collected until next month.

Therefore, Xinghai Game did not distribute the bonuses for the time being, but just had a luxurious dinner the next day.

After the dinner, Masato Takeshita convened another meeting.

“Soviet Triangle is really fun, but players will get tired of it sooner or later. We can’t rest on our laurels and need to make more interesting versions.”

"For example, every certain period of time, or every time a certain number of blocks fall, there will automatically be an extra layer below that needs to be eliminated, a layer with a gap."

The model that Masato Takeshita played with the most when he was a child was not the classic model, but the version with increasing number of notched layers at the bottom.

This will make the game a little more difficult and more fun to play.

"It's a good idea to keep adding layers with gaps below."

Rogers' eyes lit up, and he immediately wrote down Takeshita Masato's suggestion in his notebook, preparing to instruct everyone to make an improved version after the president left.

As for when it will be released, we will have to wait until the popularity of "Soviet Cube" decreases.

"Also, we can make the same type of elimination game."

“For example, Doctor Elimination.”

As he spoke, Masato Takeshita showed everyone the game mode he had drawn.

"As expected of you, the president. This looks like a lot of fun."

Rogers quickly understood the production ideas of the game through vivid and interesting sketches and texts.

It is also a casual elimination game, but in "Elimination Doctor", instead of eliminating a row by dropping them, you eliminate 4 capsules of the same color.

It should be just as fun to play.

"Yes, President Rogers."

"Hi!"

"You will be the one who leads the production of this game, Doctor Elimination. I will give you two months. I hope you can produce a game that satisfies me."

"Doctor Elimination" also wins with its subject matter, and its production difficulty is at the lowest level.

Not to mention two months, if you work hard, you can probably finish it in two weeks.

"Please rest assured, President, the production will be completed in two months."

"That's good." Takeshita Masato nodded, then added with concern: "Game music should focus on relaxing and leisure, and should not make players too tired."

"Yes, President."

"Also, the production must be mature and not full of bugs."

Masato Takeshita attaches great importance to "Doctor Elimination".

The same type of "Dr. Mario" developed by Nintendo in the previous life, the FC version and the GB version in Japan, the sales have exceeded the one million mark.

As for the global sales of various versions, it has reached more than 1000 million copies.

It’s not as big a hit as Sovettribe, nor as enduring as that, but it’s still a blockbuster relative to most games.

"Yes, understand!"

After talking about the development of the new game, Masato Takeshita began to inquire about the production of several previous games.

Shigeru Ikeda was the fastest in development, so he was the first to answer.

“The production of Pool Pro has been completed and we are looking for bugs. We expect that Nintendo will be able to review it in a week.”

"Yeah, that's good. Find more people to try it out and try to launch it online as soon as possible."

Nintendo has a limit on the number of games, and Star Ocean Games must make good use of every game quota.

Of course, with the explosion of Soviet Cube, Nintendo should soon notify Star Ocean Games to sign a new game contract and provide better cooperation conditions.

Just like Enix, after developing "Dragon Quest", Nintendo immediately offered the best signing conditions.

"Yes, President!"

The production of "Billiards" is relatively simple, and it mainly wins by its creativity.

Shigeru Ikeda is confident that he can complete the final modulation work within a week.

After Shigeru Ikeda, the third section chief of the First Development Department led by Rogers, finished answering, Hayato Arai, the second section chief, quickly took over the conversation.

“‘Snowman Brothers’ is currently more than halfway through production, and we expect to complete the final work around Christmas this year.”

"Very good." Masato Takeshita nodded in satisfaction, then tapped the table to remind him, "As long as the main production of the game is completed, we can complete the review at Nintendo."

"Nintendo mainly examines the game's creativity and gameplay. As long as the production is roughly completed, it can be included in the review list."

Although Nintendo is now overbearing, it does not deliberately play tricks when it comes to game censorship.

After all, Nintendo earns 1500 yen for every game produced.

If we weren't worried about the game console getting out of control, we would be eager to launch countless games.

"clear."

After hearing the answers from his two colleagues, Section 1 Head Hideyuki Aoki whispered in embarrassment.

“Well, Farm Story is only halfway developed. We have to wait until February or March next year to complete the final production.”

Farm Story is the most complex and requires the most manpower among the three games.

If Farm Story can be completed, it will mean that Star Ocean Games' game production capabilities have reached a first-class level.

That's why he gave this task to Hideyuki Aoki, who had the strongest development ability.

"Don't worry. Farm Story is difficult to produce, so the company is not in a hurry. Rather than launching a semi-finished product early, the company hopes to present the game perfectly to players."

"Yes, Aoki-san, don't worry. A good game requires careful craftsmanship."

As a veteran in the gaming industry, Rogers naturally understood the reason and followed suit to comfort Hideyuki Aoki.

After learning about the production progress of the three games designed by Masato Takeshita himself, Toru Iwatani and Hideo Kojima followed up by talking about the game production progress of their own Second Development Department and Third Development Department.

Because they both need to come up with their own ideas, the production is also slower.

Toru Iwatani is a little better. He focuses on the casual game market, which does not require high graphic design skills.

Hideo Kojima is different. He is currently making a stealth RPG game.

It is quite difficult and I have just completed the design of the overall framework.

It will take at least half a year, or even longer, for the game to be released.

After listening to this, Masato Takeshita still kept a smile on his face.

It doesn't matter if it takes a little longer to make.

Hideo Kojima is currently in the foundation-laying stage. It would be best if the game can make a profit, but it doesn’t matter if it is not.

Because Hideo Kojima's talent can only be fully displayed after the advent of the 3D game console, that is, Sony's PS.

The same is true of Square Enix.

Before the PlayStation came out, Square was completely suppressed by Enix.

After the launch of the PS game console, Square Enix experienced a huge boom.

Not only does its flagship game "Final Fantasy" have far higher global sales than "Dragon Quest", the company's scale and quality are far ahead of Enix.

This is also related to the business models of the two companies.

Square Enix is a traditional game production company with its own team that constantly pursues cutting-edge technologies in the gaming field.

Enix does not have its own game production team, it is just a game publisher.

So as time goes by, Enix's technical capabilities are increasingly unable to keep up with the development of the times.

The production level of its "Dragon Quest" has also become lower and lower, far behind its contemporaries.

If it weren't for an accident, the ending of Enix would probably have vanished into thin air.

After talking about console-related things, Masato Takeshita talked about the arcade field.

"We can't let go of the arcade market of "Soviet Tribe". However, the arcade port needs to cancel the classic mode and only arrange the fast mode."

In classic mode, the falling speed of the blocks remains constant. If the player has the energy, they can play as long as they want without much difficulty.

Fast mode,
The blocks fall faster and faster, and each game will not last more than 15 minutes.

This mode is more suitable for arcades.

After all, arcade games mainly make money from coins, not time or copies.

"clear."

"Well, and Snow Brothers could also be ported to arcades in the future."

In its previous life, "Snowman Brothers" was originally an arcade game and was later ported to the FC game console.

Masato Takeshita directly uses the reverse Tiangang here.

"Yes, President, please rest assured."

Rogers also attaches great importance to the arcade market because it is so huge.

The reason why Sega can now compete with Nintendo is the continuous financial support from the arcade market.

The reason why Sega failed in the console field in later generations was also due to the shrinking arcade game market.

Interestingly, with the popularization of computers, everyone thought that console games would be hit hard.

Because of the mainframe, it is now also called a home computer.

As a result, the first one to be eliminated was the arcade machine on another track, which suffered an unprovoked disaster.

All I can say is that in most cases, it is not your peers who will defeat you, but the dimensionality reduction attack of the times.

The same is true for the future of PC gaming, which has suffered from the cross-industry impact of mobile gaming.

Web games, in particular, have been overshadowed by mobile games.

In fact, this is true not only in the gaming industry, but also in other industries.

Kodak is now at the peak of its popularity, with a market value of tens of billions of dollars.

Soon, you will fall into bankruptcy.

It’s not that Kodak’s film is of bad quality, but that people have started buying digital cameras and no longer use film.

"Also, I am very optimistic about the fighting game Street Fighter that Capcom produced a few months ago. I want to buy the copyright of the game and poach members of Nishiyama Takashi's team as well."

Street Fighter, the answer to fighting games, is also the pinnacle of arcade games.

This, of course, refers to Street Fighter 2.

"Street Fighter 1" is still a little-known game and is not taken seriously by Capcom at all.

Even if Star Ocean Games purchases the copyright, it won't cost too much.

A few tens of millions of yen is enough.

As for Takashi Nishiyama's team, they are currently having many conflicts with Capcom.

Maybe Capcom would be very happy to see StarCraft Games poaching its talents.

Because compared to StarCraft, which is far away in Tokyo, Capcom hates SNK, which is also in the Kansai region, even more.

The founders of these two companies had huge conflicts at this time and wished each other would die immediately.

If Takashi Nishiyama does not come to StarCraft Games, he will most likely join SNK.

After all, the two parties are old acquaintances and can connect seamlessly.

"Yes, President."

Although I don't understand why Masato Takeshita wanted to buy the copyright of a game with low sales, since it was the order from my president, I naturally have to complete it perfectly.

……

Nintendo is also paying close attention to the sales of Soviet Cube.

A little later, more accurate information was received from retailers.

"It's really awesome!"

"Yeah, very strong."

Gunpei Yokoi thought that "Soviet Square" would be a big hit, but he didn't expect it to be so popular.

In just one day, the game sold an astonishing 45 copies in Japan alone.

Then he asked, "Have you applied for additional production?"

“Yes, I have already applied.”

"So, what do you mean?"

Gunpei Yokoi looked at the data in front of him and still didn't quite understand why the sales director wanted to find him, the head of the first development department.

"According to statistics, our FC sales have also increased significantly in the past few days, so I want to ask the production side to add a plug."

"Oh I got it."

There are not many employees within Nintendo who can meet with Hiroshi Yamauchi at will, and Gunpei Yokoi is one of them.

And he is easier to talk to.

So the sales manager naturally came to him for help.

"Okay, I'll help you with this."

Like many Japanese workers, Gunpei Yokoi truly regards the company as his own home.

Thinking that "Soviet Cube" would promote the sales of FC, he could no longer sit still and went straight to the president's office.

"Junping is here, sit down, let's have tea!"

"Ah."

If we were to ask which employee within Nintendo is most respected by Hiroshi Yamauchi, it would be Gunpei Yokoi.

Nintendo’s current success is attributed half to Hiroshi Yamauchi’s efforts, and the other half to Gunpei Yokoi’s various inventions.

It can be said that the two people are a perfect match and neither can be missing.

However, as time went on, Yokoi Gunpei found that his president was becoming more and more difficult to get along with. So he did not relax and remained respectful.

After a brief chat, Yamauchi Hiroshi asked while smoking a cigar: "Tell me, what do you want to do today?"

Yokoi Gunpei said simply: "This is what happened..."

"Okay, you go make arrangements."

Since it can promote the sales of its own FC game consoles, there is naturally no problem in cutting in line.

High-quality games require privileges.

If Dragon Quest can do it, then so can Soviet Tribe.

"Yes, President!"

After Yokoi Gunpei respectfully left the president's office, he sighed in his heart: "The president's aura is getting stronger and stronger. I don't know whether this is a good thing or a bad thing."

"Hey!"

It's a good thing for your president to be domineering, but you can't be too proud.

At this time, Hiroshi Yamauchi was a little too proud and looked down on all third-party game manufacturers.

But this is normal, as Nintendo now controls the most profitable console segment of the gaming industry.

Although Sega is the one who sings the opposite tune, the impact is not that big.

As for the old generation overlord Atari, Hiroshi Yamauchi looked down on it even more.

That's why Nintendo was so panicked and made many stupid moves after Sony's PlayStation came from behind.

Nintendo never thought that there would be a day when it would lose its dominant position.

(End of this chapter)