Game Market 1983

Chapter 29: Sponsorship Game

"Infiltration? What's that?"

At that moment, the assistant staff who had been quietly sitting in the corner of the office suddenly looked at me with wide-eyed surprise. Like a child caught red-handed, he listened intently to our conversation. Who is this guy, anyway? I was in the middle of a consultation with Masaki when I turned my head to the assistant and asked.

"May I ask for your name?"

"Oh, my name is Hozjima Hideki."

What!? Your name is Hideki Hozjima!? He must have been working at Fox Soft already. But Kawata-san, and now Hideki, are both assistant staff? Is this how the careers of genius directors usually begin? I looked at him for a moment and then asked Masaki.

"Have you ever heard of the term 'Brain Storm'?"

"Brain Storm? What's that? A character skill or something?"

This guy doesn't seem to know much about anything. When I gave him a pitiful look, Hideki came up with the answer.

"It's a way of discussing various opinions about a single topic and then synthesizing them into the best solution."

"Bingo! That's right. When making a game, it's good to hear various opinions. At Mintendo, we often do it in the development room with Shige-san. The Legend of Karin is also a product born from many ideas using Brain Storm. Hideki, what do you think about the concept of infiltration that Junhyuk mentioned?"

As I said that, Hideki's eyes began to light up, which had been blank until now. In 2015, Hideki Hozjima was already one of the world's renowned game directors.

In the midst of the Cold War era, he had infiltrated a nuclear weapons development country as a character named "Snake," completing missions by bypassing numerous security measures. The game was released under the title "Full Metal Gear" and became incredibly popular not only in Japan but also in the United States.

"So, you mean moving forward without taking down enemies but instead sneaking past them without being noticed to reach the destination?"

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"That's right. In fact, the real challenge is to reach the destination without killing a single enemy. I was thinking about it while looking at the surveillance cameras in the corridors on the way here. How about infiltrating the enemy's base, evading soldiers and surveillance cameras, to create tension for the player?"

"It's a very unique approach, isn't it? A game where you have to clear it without being noticed by the enemies. Actually, I was planning a game with a similar feeling, so I was surprised when Junhyuk mentioned 'infiltration.' I can't believe someone else has the same idea as me."

But Masaki's thoughts seemed different.

"Hmm, you're kidding, right? That kind of gameplay isn't fun at all. As a man, you should naturally confront and fight the enemies. Walking around like a sitting duck without engaging in combat would diminish the hero's coolness."

Ah, is that so? When faced with injustice, the first thing you do is run away...

In the end, after discussing the military game until evening, we decided to go in the direction of developing two games.

At that time, using 2D graphics, a game could be completed with four or five people sticking together for about three months, as the production method was quite simple.

Just make an event cutscene or apply textures to 3D graphics...

Just create objects with simple pixel art, and you're done!

In addition, Hideki had been working on the basic draft of Full Metal in a corner all this time, so when the opportunity arose, a variety of proposals poured out like a dam bursting.

To give you an idea of what a proposal is, it's like an assembly manual for plastic models, and the proposal he presented was already a complete framework for Full Metal.

As a result, the team leader, Yorimoto, nodded in agreement to my advice and Hideki's passion, allowing the production of a demo for the new genre, "Infiltration Action Game Full Metal."

Then, Masaki, who had been the main programmer, looked somewhat uncomfortable.

With the complete change of direction for the military game he had been the main for, he seemed quite unhappy. Still, the game was almost completed up to the pixel work stage, and it would be a shame to leave it like this.

"Masaki's game isn't a bad proposal at all. Especially after the release of Rambo 2, the masculine military game with a strong macho vibe should find a market easily."

"Is that so?"

Masaki looked at me with trembling eyes as I supported his proposal. In fact, as I looked at his proposal, it reminded me of a game I had played in my childhood.

"Instead, let's target the arcade market for Masaki's game since it has a larger scale. If you accept one condition, I'll help with the initial development of Hideki and Masaki's games here."

"What... condition?"

"Let's change the title. 'Never Die Soldier' is too straightforward."

"Then what would be a good name?"

"Masaki seems to really like the passion of men, right? How about 'Hondora'? Let's first make a version with no performance limitations for the arcade and then port it for famicom use."

"Hondora... Hondora, huh? Oh, that sounds good."

In 2015, it was a masterpiece that anyone in their 30s who played games a little bit would remember. The planning for Contra, a legendary game that we commonly called Rambo and Commando in our childhood, began like this.

In the end, it wasn't until late at night that the meeting ended, and I had to pack my bag to return to the company dormitory. As I did, all the staff in the development room stood up.

"Well, then, I'll be on my way. If you have any more questions, feel free to contact me anytime. I've been busy with technical consultations lately, so I'm often on business trips, but Shige-san is in the development room, and recently, Kawata-san has also joined Mintendo, so we should be able to answer most questions over the phone."

"Thank you so much. Thanks to Junhyuk, I feel like I've caught two rabbits—new genre games and existing games."

Team leader Yorimoto expressed his gratitude to me. Unlike before, when I was ignored in the development room, I left Fox Soft with the employees bidding me farewell all the way to the front gate.

In the fall of 1986, my life was incredibly hectic. On that particular day, after clocking in at the office, I grabbed a piece of toast and rushed out.

"Hey, Kang! Where are you heading today? Back to Fox Soft again?"

For the past month, I had already finished all my tasks at Fox Soft. I had shared my knowledge about the top-down view used in Karen's Legend with Shige, adjusting it to fit the framework of the stealth action genre. As for Masaki, who was pushing for a large-scale production, I had enabled various actions, including side-scrolling stages, vertical-scrolling stages, and shooting stages. It seemed like his game would take a bit longer to complete due to its ambitious scope.

"Today, I'm going to Phoenix Soft!"

"Oh, Phoenix! The company that created Dragon Warrior, right?"

"Yes, that's correct. They've requested an inspection for the cartridge of the sequel they are working on next month. Since they are a major company with console pull, it might be a good idea for me to personally visit and check the inspection, as suggested by Shige-san."

"Right, right! That way, they'll likely release the third part to our family as well. Don't hesitate to put your face on it. Have a good trip!"

President Kamawuchi smiled widely, pleased with the royalties pouring in from game developers every month. Recently, MinTendo had completely transformed its business. It was no longer just a toy company but had shifted all production lines to become a game company. As the family launched and three years had passed since then, MinTendo's family maintained a 30% market share within Japan. To put it simply, one out of every three kids in the neighborhood owned a family.

Due to the overwhelming demand, when they were released, they would sell out within a week. The family was becoming quite scarce in regional cities. Kids wanted the family, but adults who didn't know any better often ended up giving them NEGA disks, which were easier to find. Ironically, this had the counterproductive effect of making kids unhappy. Now, NEGA disks were piling up in returns, causing quite a headache.

But now that I think about it, when I was young, my parents were the same. In their eyes, both of them looked like the same game console, so it was natural for them to give me the NEGA disk, which was easier to get. It turned out to be a frustrating and tearful memory. Now, NEGA was looking after those leftover disks.

In the smoking area, I sat down and lit a cigarette. I didn't smoke often, but sometimes I enjoyed a post-meal smoke. When riding the Shinkansen, I had an inexplicable urge to smoke.

Still, there was no one else around except for those engrossed in their games and watches. The game they were currently enjoying was the recently released Karen's Legend Game & Watch edition.

If the handheld Game Boy project went smoothly, Karen's Legend might become the final installment of the Game & Watch series. At that moment, I suddenly remembered the Game & Watch my game store grandfather gave me.

While I always had it with me, just in case, I had hardly played it. Even if I didn't play "company employee games," I had more than enough money to spend until my death, and I had been expanding my network with mid-level employees, so there was no reason for me to play the role of a game navigator with Game & Watch. I hadn't played the game.

"Should I play it for a while to kill time?"

The Game & Watch screen displayed the words "Sponsor Game."

- To start the game, press the Start button. -

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