Game Development Giant

"Kobe's Xiaobo..."

Jester had a headache when he thought about this company. After Capcom defected from the alliance of Nintendo's six major software developers and came to his own side, only five major developers were left.

Among the five major developers, the one that Jester covets the most is Kobe-based Konami.

And history has proven all this. Among the remaining five major developers, Namco was annexed by Bandai, and Hudson was later acquired by Konami. As for Taito, there is no need to mention it, and Konami But after decades of ups and downs in the video game industry, it has quietly grown.

Together with Capcom, a game company that was at the bottom among the six major developers at the time, it has become the overlord that can truly influence the entire industry.

And in the meantime, the number of game companies that have fallen is really like sand in the Ganges.

The phone rang and Jester answered the phone.

"Boss, Mr. Jingzheng rejected your request for a meeting last month. He said that he knew what you were going to say, but he said that they are not Capcom. There are some things that Capcom would do that they would not do. ." Hearing the voice on the phone, Jester pursed his lips.

Then he said calmly: "I understand." and hung up the phone. Kametsuki Kei is one of the founders of Konami, and the origin of Konami's name Konami is also related to these founders. Three friends, Kametsuki Keimasa, Nakama Yoshinobu, and Miyazaki Ryuuo, jointly founded this company. company, maybe their idea at the time was just to get a share of the video game wave that had just emerged from Atari, but none of the three of them might have thought that this small company at that time would grow into a star. A real towering tree.

Last month's name in English is kouzuki, Nakajin is nakama, and Miyazaki Ryuuo is miyasako. The first two subtitles of each person's last name are combined to form Konami's official name. konami.

However, although the company was founded by three people, it is still Jingzheng last month who has the main say in the company.

As far as Jester knows, Kametsuki Kagemasa served as the president of K Club until decades later. After he announced his retirement, he was succeeded by Kametsuki Takuya, Kametsuki Kagemasa's second son.

This time, Jester knew that Yue Jingzheng was coming to the United States because of some matters, so he asked someone to contact him. His purpose was to separate Konami from Nintendo, just like Capcom. come out. As long as we can get the two blue chip stocks of K Club and Capcom, it doesn't matter if we don't want the remaining four. However, last month Jingzheng obviously did not give himself this opportunity.

"Don't he know that if his two games are on our platform, more game cartridges may be sold in the North American and European markets? You know, in Europe and the United States, especially North America, our market share is The rate is completely dominant. And their game style is also the most suitable for North American players."

This is what Jester doesn't understand the most, and in his opinion, even if they can't agree, it's okay to meet up. If you don't even meet in person like this, it's obvious that you have already made up your mind. It is definitely impossible to cooperate with you. Maybe there is another possibility. That is because he is afraid that the conditions he proposes will really impress him.

Shaking his head, since he couldn't understand any of this, Jester stopped thinking about it. Although I am a little depressed that I can't bring Konami to my subordinates, there is nothing perfect in this world, and even if Konami is on Nintendo's side, it is just adding a little trouble to itself, which is not harmful.

But this time, will my plan to use "Super Contra" as the main game at the end of the year have to change?

Cypher Dabowater is a character that Jester discovered himself and can stand alone. In his memory, there is no such character in the history of game development. It is also possible that he is also engaged in the world he is familiar with. I work in game development, but my talents are always underappreciated and I don’t stand out.

But no matter what, Jester had never heard of this character before.

When Jester saw Seve Doublewater's plan for Balotelli's character in a western style, he felt that he might be a talent. He just gave it to him with the idea of ​​​​unintentional intervention. The other party had a chance, but he didn't expect that this young man would not disappoint him. He also watched the subsequent game development time and time again.

It can be said that Jester has experienced the other party's growth personally.

And what surprised Jester the most was that the first person in his company to set up an independent studio was Seve Dabowater. Therefore, Jester was very special to him. He was not Jester. Celebrities who are familiar with each other, and some of them have what can be called a sense of belonging.

Of course, the reason why Seve Dabowater was able to be the first to set up an independent studio was not because he was the most outstanding designer among the many capable independent producers in Mars Entertainment, but because he was in the right place at the right time and with the right people. , and it’s just a little bit of Jester’s selfishness.

Jester had previously told the other party that "Super Contra" would be released during this year's Christmas sales golden week, and that it would be the end of the company's main product this year. However, Konami's "Super Soldier" was not released before it was released. It's hard to say how effective this thing will be if it is inserted horizontally.

Cypher Dabowater has also been feeling depressed recently. Originally, he was very confident about "Super Contra" this time because it was the first game that he produced completely independently. He had also been a producer before. The games he produced as the main planner basically all involved Jester. Even his famous work "Contra" after he became independent, the characteristics, structure, etc. of the entire game are basically all Jester's. explained to him.

This time, "Super Contra" is completely different. It is basically a synthesis of all his experience in these platform shooting games. Jester basically did not participate in it. It was only when he reported the project planning, Jester just approved an opinion that can be developed.

And the reason why he reported his plan was just because he was grateful to Jester. After all, it was able to transform from a newcomer who knew nothing to a well-known game developer. Jester had a great contribution to it. Otherwise, otherwise , any game developed by an independent studio that is self-financing does not need to be reviewed by the parent company.

After the game was completed, Jester also tried it. Seve Dabowater could tell from Jester's demeanor when he tried it that he was truly satisfied with his new game. And the promise he made to himself later made him sure that his guess was correct.

You know, it's not an easy thing for a company to promote its game as a Christmas product.

Just when Seve Dabowater was thinking about these messy things, he received a call from the parent company. It was the big boss Jester who wanted to see him and wanted to discuss some things with him.

The promise was that it would be here soon. After hanging up the phone, Seve Dabowater could also guess what Jester wanted to discuss with him. Who would he choose as the game to be released on Christmas this time besides his own "Super Contra"? Besides, there is another game.

Will Wright's development team has been working on "Balotelli's Adventures in Another World II" for a while and is about to be completed. Originally, some people in the company had opinions on using Will Wright's game as a game. Mainly recommended for Christmas, because this game is suitable for all ages, and sales have been very stable since the release period. The total sales are slightly inferior to Jester's masterpiece "Fire Emblem", and " The sales of "Fire Emblem" have basically increased very slightly, but the sales of "Balotelli's Adventures in Another World" have grown very steadily.

Many people have predicted, and even Jester said at the company's high-level meeting that it is basically inevitable that the game will eventually sell more than "Fire Emblem".

Therefore, at the beginning, the chance of this game getting the last chance to be released on Christmas was much more promising than my own "Super Contra".

But because Jester fought against all odds, he got this opportunity.

It's not that Jester is being unreasonable, but Jester feels that long-selling games like "Balotelli's Adventures in Another World" will have little impact on him no matter when they are released, and Games like this rarely have a sudden sales boom, because long-term and stable sales are the characteristics of this type of game.

But for games like "Super Contra", this is not the case at all.

Although the graphics of this game are relatively heavy on the style, such a game is actually not very suitable for children to play. However, such a game is extremely exciting to play and full of feel. It can be said that the whole process of the game is smooth. Damn it, in this era where there are no game classifications, the level of hope that children have for this game is far beyond what a childlike game can match.

Moreover, survey data also shows that a considerable number of players who have purchased "Contra" and "Sandman" before are actually children.

In this way, Seve Dabowater received this extremely rare and precious opportunity.

However, this opportunity was completely ruined by the release of "Super Soldier" ahead of schedule. Now, whether the company should promote his game during the Christmas period is once again controversial.

With complex thoughts in mind, Seve Dabowater drove to the Mars Entertainment headquarters in Costa Mesa. (.)