Rebirth Tokyo 1986

Chapter 307: Gathering of Great Gods
Speaking of Pokémon, the largest IP in the gaming field in the previous life, Masato Takeshita really wanted to get his hands on it.

Unfortunately, there are some things that are beyond human control.

First of all, the Pokémon game was not only contributed by the creator Satoshi Tajiri. Nintendo, especially the producer Shigeru Miyamoto, gave a lot of suggestions for revisions.

The game can be described as a perfect collaboration between the two.

Secondly, Satoshi Tajiri himself was unwilling to join Star Ocean Games.

He likes Nintendo and would be more willing to accept Nintendo's investment.

The third and most important factor.

Masato Takeshita has never played this game, he only knows that there is Pikachu.

If he had played it, and failed to poach Satoshi Tajiri, he would have immediately completed the production in 91, making it a flagship masterpiece for Game Boy.

However, the focus today was on animation, so the young man just went over it in his mind and put the matter behind him.

"They are all entertainment products. Animation can promote toys, and naturally it can also have a similar effect on games."

When the Pokémon game was first released, not many people bought it. Later, it made a big comeback thanks to the animation.

The only two works that have threatened the status of Pokémon games in Japan also relied on the powerful promotion of animation.

One was Bandai’s Digimon, but unfortunately Bandai’s various stupid behaviors led to the decline of this IP.

Another time was the work of a small company, Yo-kai Watch.

This game caused a huge sensation in Japan.

Not only did the games and peripherals sell like hot cakes, but even the animation ratings crushed Pokémon, almost bringing Pokémon down from its pedestal.

But this small company didn't know how to manage IP, so it went into decline within a few years.

Of course, this is all happening in Japan.

If it is a global market, Pokémon is number one and Yo-kai Watch is nowhere to be found.

“That’s true.”

Rogers slapped his thigh, ashamed of his own thinking ability. He was so stupid that he didn't even notice such a simple change in thinking.

Masato Takeshita smiled and consoled him, "It's normal to think that you can't. Everyone has their brains short-circuit sometimes."

After talking about the promotional role of animation in the game, the young man took a sip of tea in a relaxed manner, and then his voice suddenly rose.

"And even without the promotional effect of the game, I will vigorously develop the animation industry."

"Because this is the only entertainment industry in our country that can influence the world."

Japanese two-dimensional animation is second only to Hollywood in influence.

Not only has it cultivated a large number of fans in the Asian market, it has also created quite a stir in Europe and the United States.

The only regret is that Japan, which was leading the world in 3D technology at the time, did not bring its advantages to the animation industry.

Japan's application of 3D in the animation field lags far behind that of China and the United States.

"Understood, I understand."

Rogers quickly realized what the young man really wanted and agreed very readily.

There are only a few animation companies. Even if Xinghai Entertainment increases the compensation of its employees, the annual expenditure will hardly exceed 50 billion yen.

For Xinghai Entertainment, it’s nothing at all.

"Ah That's good."

After talking about the appetizers, Masato Takeshita looked at his vice-president solemnly.

"What's the situation at the Daily News now?"

"The Hirano family has already agreed to our company's shareholding request. The Nishikawa family is still a little hesitant and needs to work harder."

"Very good, try to do things perfectly and don't create disputes just to save money."

As long as they can take over Japan's national newspapers and TV stations, young people don't mind spending more money.

"Please rest assured, President. We will continue to get along for a long time in the future, and Xinghai Entertainment will meet their needs to the greatest extent possible."

"Yes, the company has money, and it's completely OK if we can spend money to get it done."

Now that the Daily News is almost in its hands, the TBS TV station it controls must also resolve all historical issues.

"Mr. Rogers, Mitsui Bank still has a portion of TBS TV station shares. They don't value it very much right now. You can buy it now."

"Mitsui Zaibatsu is the power behind the Yomiuri media and the Sankei Shimbun, so it's easy for them to come into conflict with us."

In the past, TBS TV’s political stance was very confusing. Sometimes it was fair and friendly to China, and sometimes it criticized China negatively. The fundamental reason was that the Mainichi Group and the Mitsui Group were competing with each other.

Masato Takeshita wanted to control the daily news, so he naturally could not allow this situation to happen.

"Hi!"

Rogers also understood the meaning of "I cannot allow others to snore under my bed".

Naturally, he didn't want too much strong noise after he took control of the Daily News Corporation.

As for the two major families of the Daily News, they are very weak and it doesn’t matter at all.

Of course, even if the strength is very weak, a restrictive agreement must be signed. For example, when the two major families sell their shares, Xinghai Group has priority.

After discussing all the serious matters, Masato Takeshita began to inspect Xinghai Entertainment alone.

Due to the popularity of Street Fighter 2, the more wealthy Xinghai Entertainment accelerated its expansion speed again.

Star Ocean Games alone has a staff of over a thousand people in Japan.

If we include R&D and sales staff in the United States, Europe and other countries, the number would be nearly 2000.

"what game is this?"

Masato Takeshita looked at the zombie-fighting scene on the computer and asked the player curiously.

"Hello, President! This, this..."

Yusaku Kobayakawa never thought that he would be caught by the company's biggest boss just for being a little lazy.

"Don't be nervous. It's unusual for game company developers not to play games."

Although with the development of specialization, many people working in gaming jobs no longer play games.

For example, the construction of numerical systems mainly tests mathematical ability, and it doesn’t matter whether you play games or not.

Much like the financial industry in later generations, top fund traders may not understand finance, but they must understand mathematics.

But Masato Takeshita, a gaming enthusiast, still hopes that all employees of Star Ocean Games are gamers.

Because of love and understanding, we can create more fun games.

"Yes Yes."

Yusaku Kobayakawa nodded repeatedly and breathed a sigh of relief.

It seems that I will not be held accountable for secretly playing games during work hours.

"Okay, let's sit down, I'm very curious about this game."

After saying that, the young man pulled over a chair and sat next to the employee.

"Ok."

Kobayakawa sat down again trembling with fear, and then stammered to introduce the origin of this game.

This is a work by a US subsidiary of Star Ocean Games and was released not long ago.

"Oh, our company has such a game, what's its name?"

"Doom."

"Doom? Who developed it?"

Masato Takeshita was eager to know if it was the great god he knew.

"John Carmack, a talented producer in our company."

"It's really him." Masato Takeshita muttered to himself, and an expression of ecstasy almost appeared on his face.

This is a god-level producer in the field of gaming. He developed the world's first pseudo-3D game for PC, "Wolfenstein 3D", and created the concept of first-person shooter games.

The "Doom" just now is also a heavyweight. It laid the foundation for shooting games and caused a huge sensation in the gaming circles around the world.

The young man was very busy during this period, so he didn't notice it. If he paid more attention to European and American news, he would definitely see the presence of "Doom".

Of course, sales are also very good.

It was a miracle that a PC game could achieve a million sales in 93.

Of course, the reason he didn't recognize the Doom Slayer was that he only knew the name but had never played the game.

When he was a child, he only played pirated games for the Famicom, such as Super Mario, Tank Battle, Contra, etc.

When I was a little older, I entered the arcade era and played games like King of Fighters and Romance of Three Kingdoms.

When he was a little older, he started playing computer games, and games like DNF, DOTA, and LOL became his favorites.

Later, as I got older, my hand speed completely deteriorated, so I could only play mobile games.

The card-drawing Onmyoji and Honkai series, the competitive King of Glory and Knives Out, the SLG games Rate of Land and Three Conspiracies...

Of course, the era of mobile gaming has become a dabble.

I may only play for less than an hour a day, and it is far less enthusiastic than before.

The time for recalling was very short. The young man woke up instantly and started watching the employees play games.

“The game is very well done and looks very novel. It’s a good game.”

Masato Takeshita praised repeatedly, and soon after, he leisurely came to the company president's office again.

"Mr. Rogers, I saw a very interesting game outside."

"Is it the Doom Slayer? I heard from several employees."

"Well, this game is really great. All I want to tell you is that I fully support the producer John Carmack, and his budget for his next game is 2000 million US dollars."

John Carmack is not only a genius in the gaming field, he also has very strong technical capabilities in 3D graphics cards.

With his help, graphics card companies based in China will progress faster.

"so tall?"

Nowadays, the production cost of an average game is only a few million yen, and a few tens of millions for a higher one, but it is unlikely to exceed 10 billion yen.

It is really astonishing that the young man raised the highest standard by twice as soon as he opened his mouth.

"Well, geniuses have the capital to be willful."

3D technology is still in its infancy and requires this great man to spend money to develop it.

Not to mention games, the new technologies that may emerge alone can make Xinghai Group earn countless times more.

Besides, the game doesn’t necessarily lose money.

In his previous life, Carmack continued to move from one success to another in the next few years.

The only thing that satisfies him is open source technology.

Of course you can.

He also wants to develop a public engine similar to Unreal, not for making money, but only to master the engine technical standards.

And the existence of a public engine does not affect Star Ocean Games' own engine. The parallel development of the two can better stimulate the company's technological progress.

"I think it's better not to do that. It could easily cause turmoil in the company."

Rogers also thought this was a good idea, but for the sake of the company as a whole, he rejected the president's proposal.

"turmoil?"

"Yes, we need to consider the feelings of the elders. We are not robots, and it is difficult for us to accept that newcomers have surpassed us all of a sudden."

Carmack is important, but Hideo Kojima, Kito Tokugawa, Takashi Nishiyama, Toru Iwatani, Pajitnov and others are more important.

We cannot ignore the power of the whole for the sake of one person.

"Uh, that makes sense. It's my fault."

Masato Takeshita immediately admitted that he had made a mistake, and then changed the subject: "What do you think of the $800 million production fee?"

"Yes, our star producer, the production cost of the next work can reach 1000 million US dollars."

"Okay, then it's up to you."

Then the two discussed the 3D development trend of future games for a while, and the young man inspected the interior of Xinghai Game again.

"Alexei-san, are you still able to adapt to life?"

"Yes, everyone is very friendly, just like in my home country."

Alexey Pajitnov, the creator of Soviet Cube, aka Tetris.

As soon as the Soviet Union was in turmoil, Xinghai Games wanted him to go to Japan for development.

However, due to family and other factors, he initially developed in the European subsidiary of Star Ocean Games and only recently came to Japan.

"Ah That's good."

The young man particularly admired Pajitnov because he was such a good person.

Although all the profits from "Soviet Cube" belong to the state, he does not feel aggrieved, but rather very gratified.

Every time foreign media tried to lead him to criticize his own country, he would say, "Because of this game, he got a more spacious and brighter house than his colleagues, and also had his own personal computer. He felt very satisfied."

Compared to money, he would be happier that his works would be passed down through the ages and become a mark of the times.

"What kind of game is this being developed?"

"Jewel puzzle, I think it's very suitable to be played on the computer."

“Very good game, don’t forget to tell me when you finish making it.”

"no problem."

In addition to Pajitnov, another producer of casual games in StarCraft is Toru Iwatani.

However, unlike Pajitnov, Toru Iwatani is more inclined towards the console market.

The Star Ocean game was created based on the elimination game created by Dr. Mario in his previous life, and was produced by the project team that Toru Iwatani was in.

“Is this a Monopoly-type game?”

“Yes, we are making a small town management simulation game.”

“It’s a very interesting idea, I hope it can be realized soon.”

It is difficult to make a lot of money in Monopoly games, but it is also difficult to lose money. As long as the production level is not too bad, you can guarantee profits.

This is also a major significance of Toru Iwatani's team, to ensure the company's bottom line level.

Of course, casual games occasionally become big hits.

For example, match-3 games derived from elimination games are the top mobile games in Europe and the United States in the mobile era, and the second top mobile games in China.

The key is that the costs of R&D and operations are very low, but the profits are stable and high.

In addition to the Monopoly Town game, Toru Iwatani's project team also has many farm management games.

Unfortunately, these games are not well suited for Nintendo's gaming platform.

Because the main players of Nintendo are children, while the main buyers of farm games are adults.

It will take several generations of evolution for gamers to emerge, and for a large number of 30+ gamers to emerge, before farm games can sell well.

At the same time, farm games are easier to make money in the long term than in the short term.

China has led the world in gaming development several times, including Stealing Vegetables in the Internet era.

(End of this chapter)