"Infiltration? What's that?"
At that mont, the assistant staff who had been quietly sitting in the corner of the office suddenly looked at 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 na?"
"Oh, my na is Hozjima Hideki."
What!? Your na 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 mont and then asked Masaki.
"Have you ever heard of the term 'Brain Storm'?"
"Brain Storm? What's that? A character skill or sothing?"
This guy doesn't seem to know much about anything. When I gave him a pitiful look, Hideki ca 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 ga, it's good to hear various opinions. At Mintendo, we often do it in the developnt 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 ntioned?"
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 ga directors.
In the midst of the Cold War era, he had infiltrated a nuclear weapons developnt country as a character nad "Snake," completing missions by bypassing nurous security asures. The ga was released under the title "Full tal Gear" and beca incredibly popular not only in Japan but also in the United States.
"So, you an moving forward without taking down enemies but instead sneaking past them without being noticed to reach the destination?"
"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 caras in the corridors on the way here. How about infiltrating the enemy's base, evading soldiers and surveillance caras, to create tension for the player?"
"It's a very unique approach, isn't it? A ga where you have to clear it without being noticed by the enemies. Actually, I was planning a ga with a similar feeling, so I was surprised when Junhyuk ntioned 'infiltration.' I can't believe soone else has the sa idea as ."
But Masaki's thoughts seed different.
"Hmm, you're kidding, right? That kind of gaplay 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 ga until evening, we decided to go in the direction of developing two gas.
At that ti, using 2D graphics, a ga could be completed with four or five people sticking together for about three months, as the production thod 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 tal in a corner all this ti, 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 frawork for Full tal.
As a result, the team leader, Yorimoto, nodded in agreent to my advice and Hideki's passion, allowing the production of a demo for the new genre, "Infiltration Action Ga Full tal."
Then, Masaki, who had been the main programr, looked sowhat uncomfortable.
With the complete change of direction for the military ga he had been the main for, he seed quite unhappy. Still, the ga was almost completed up to the pixel work stage, and it would be a sha to leave it like this.
"Masaki's ga isn't a bad proposal at all. Especially after the release of Rambo 2, the masculine military ga with a strong macho vibe should find a market easily."
"Is that so?"
Masaki looked at with trembling eyes as I supported his proposal. In fact, as I looked at his proposal, it reminded of a ga I had played in my childhood.
"Instead, let's target the arcade market for Masaki's ga since it has a larger scale. If you accept one condition, I'll help with the initial developnt of Hideki and Masaki's gas here."
"What... condition?"
"Let's change the title. 'Never Die Soldier' is too straightforward."
"Then what would be a good na?"
"Masaki seems to really like the passion of n, 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 gas a little bit would rember. The planning for Contra, a legendary ga 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 eting ended, and I had to pack my bag to return to the company dormitory. As I did, all the staff in the developnt room stood up.
"Well, then, I'll be on my way. If you have any more questions, feel free to contact anyti. I've been busy with technical consultations lately, so I'm often on business trips, but Shige-san is in the developnt 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 gas and existing gas."
Team leader Yorimoto expressed his gratitude to . Unlike before, when I was ignored in the developnt room, I left Fox Soft with the employees bidding 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 frawork 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 seed like his ga 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 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 ga developers every month. Recently, MinTendo had completely transford its business. It was no longer just a toy company but had shifted all production lines to beco a ga 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 sa. In their eyes, both of them looked like the sa ga console, so it was natural for them to give the NEGA disk, which was easier to get. It turned out to be a frustrating and tearful mory. 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 sotis I enjoyed a post-al 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 gas and watches. The ga they were currently enjoying was the recently released Karen's Legend Ga & Watch edition.
If the handheld Ga Boy project went smoothly, Karen's Legend might beco the final installnt of the Ga & Watch series. At that mont, I suddenly rembered the Ga & Watch my ga store grandfather gave .
While I always had it with , just in case, I had hardly played it. Even if I didn't play "company employee gas," 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 to play the role of a ga navigator with Ga & Watch. I hadn't played the ga.
"Should I play it for a while to kill ti?"
The Ga & Watch screen displayed the words "Sponsor Ga."
- To start the ga, press the Start button. -
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