Game Development Giant

"Are you worried that New Japan Project will join Sony?"

Mark Saini has long been dissatisfied with this company that is engaged in three or four projects under its own Mars Entertainment Third-Party Development Alliance. Mars Entertainment has not contributed less to their game development before. This time they have cooperated with Sony. There were close contacts between the parties, and not only did Mark Saini dislike it, but many people in Mars Entertainment also disliked it.

Moreover, the fact that New Japan Project wants to develop its own arcade baseboard has made Mars Entertainment even more angry.

This is not to say that Mars Entertainment does not allow its third parties to make arcade baseboards, but it requires prior notice before doing so. After all, if you release arcade baseboards, it will definitely affect the development of games for home platforms. In fact, , among these third-party franchise companies of Jester, the only one that has truly made its way by making arcade base versions is Capcom.

As for Capcom making a base version for the arcade, it was Jester's original promise.

"I'm not worried about this. New Japan Project is just a clown. Their president has an old grudge with Kenzo Shikimoto. He sees that Capcom is so successful in arcades now, almost on a par with Namco. And , although their development capabilities are good, they simply do not have the results to compare with Capcom."

Jester simply commented on the New Japan Project. In fact, for the New Japan Project, the first time domestic players came into contact with their games was probably the "King of Fighters" series. In essence, the "King of Fighters" series, in terms of fighting, In the history of games, it is not a landmark work. His first work and the one with the highest sales volume is his first work - "The King of Fighters 1994", but the sales volume can only be considered acceptable. There is still a big gap between the two fighting game standards of Capcom's "Street Fighter" and Namco's "Tekken".

For domestic players, "kof94" is not the earliest game in the "kof" series that they have come into contact with.

In fact, there is one thing that makes domestic players frustrated. The sales of "The King of Fighters 1997", also known as "The King of Fighters 97", which once dominated the entire arcade hall in China, are not so pleasant, especially not to the operators of New Japan Project. This game Speaking of its sales volume, many domestic players may find it a little unbelievable. Well, its actual sales volume is only a quarter of that of "kof94".

The reality is so cruel, this is actually a relatively failed work.

The peak of New Japan's planning was during this period. Of course, they had produced many fighting games. It can be said that in the mid-to-early 1990s, their influence on small arcade machines was unparalleled. Of course, veteran arcade manufacturers such as Namco and Capcom noticed the sluggishness of the small arcade market. From the arcade market The reason why I took back my energy has a lot to do with it.

It's just that there are no tigers in the mountains, and the monkeys are the king.

"Then what are you worried about!"

Seeing that Jester denied that he was worried about development companies such as New Japan Project that were being attracted by Sony, Mark Saini was even more confused. He really couldn't figure out what Jester was. What was he worried about? He really couldn't figure out what there was to worry about. Anyway, based on his experience analysis, he didn't know how to see any future crisis from this incident between Nintendo and Sony.

Jester still pursed his lips.

The reason he knows cannot be said. He cannot tell Mark Saini how much confidence Sony will have this time, and how difficult a opponent Kutaragi Ken will be in the future. Even many of his methods for running Mars Entertainment were learned from Ken Kutaragi. Even if he said it, Mark Saini would only think that he was whimsical.

so. Jester could only sigh and said, "You don't understand, that's Sony. It's not Nippon Electric."

Regarding Jester's insistence, Mark Saini could only shrug and express his incomprehension. He had thought that Jester's ideas and views were extremely brilliant and forward-looking countless times before, but this time, he I really don't understand why Jester is so stubborn.

The next day, Nintendo once again held a press conference.

Yesterday, after they announced the official termination of hardware development cooperation with Sony, they forcibly evicted Sony's R\u0026D personnel who had been placing their development center in Nintendo's Joint Hardware Development Center. This was because it was the reason for Nintendo's sudden attack. Therefore, Almost all the research and development information has been sealed by Nintendo. Of course, Sony has taken away several prototypes before, so it is not nothing.

At the same time, Sony also submitted an indictment to the Kyoto District Court, formally suing Nintendo for breach of contract.

Nintendo also submitted a lawsuit. Sony breached the contract first, so they have the right to terminate the contract in accordance with the provisions of the agreement. As for the previous joint research and development results of the two parties, they need to be discussed separately.

Because in the contract, it only stipulates the sharing of the rights and interests of both parties after the new host is completed and developed. As for the ownership of the research and development products, it is not stipulated in the contract. Of course, in theory, the new host should be shared by both parties, but If it was not clearly stated in the original contract, then Nintendo would have the capital to make detours.

At this press conference, Nintendo reaffirmed their ownership of the new console, and they changed the name of the new console from the previous PS to Super Famicom, and the remaining development tasks are fully handled by Nintendo. , if nothing unexpected happens, they will try their best to release it in the first quarter. Of course, looking at it now, the possibility of nothing unexpected happening is not very high.

At least the vast majority of media, players, and industry insiders who are paying attention to this matter are not optimistic that Nintendo will be able to release this console in a short time.

Of course, Sony can't let Nintendo take such a big advantage for nothing. They also held a press conference at their headquarters immediately after Nintendo's press conference. At this press conference, Sony The content of Nintendo's previous press conference is almost the same. It reiterates the ownership of the PS console by both parties and clearly states that they have not breached the contract before. Nintendo's blatant termination of the agreement is an intolerable betrayal.

Of course, both parties have different opinions on this matter and are arguing endlessly. It is basically impossible to solve this matter by words. The only way to pin this matter is on litigation. However, it is foreseeable that if you want to end it, This lawsuit is not something that can be done in a short time. It will definitely be a long-term lawsuit. Just like at the press conference where Dreambox was just released, Jester used the simulator to mock it. Nintendo's claim that it is the best game console in the world is itself infringement. However, after Nintendo sued Mars Entertainment in the United States, this case was resolved with the efforts of Jester's group lawyer's team. , not officially finished yet.

Of course, winning or losing this lawsuit has no meaning to Mars Entertainment and Nintendo.

But now, for the two companies Nintendo and Sony, is it in the interest of both parties to temporarily suspend the sale of this next-generation game console jointly developed by the two parties?

"We must ensure the release of the Super Nintendo. This is a condition that cannot be compromised. In fact, Sony only joined in after we had independently completed 30 to 40 percent. They Although they have contributed a lot, our own R\u0026D team has not been idle. Publicly and privately, there is no doubt that we own most of the ownership of Super Nintendo."

Masayuki Uemura, as the chief designer of the newly renamed Super Nintendo, or the console that Sony calls PS, was extremely opposed to the 16-inch console when Sony forced it to be renamed PS. For Uemura Masayuki, this next-generation console is like changing the name of his child, who has already prepared a name, and to a name that he has no sense of identity with, and does not show his Nintendo ancestry at all. Needless to say, the name was very dissatisfying and humiliating to Masayuki Uemura, and even to the entire Nintendo team involved in the development at the time.

However, due to the critical situation at the time and the circumstances, Hiroshi Yamauchi considered the overall situation and gritted his teeth and accepted Sony's proposal to change the name. This huge concession also made the outside world know that this was Sony's official alliance with Nintendo. It was the beginning of a shift from equal status to dominance. It seemed that Nintendo, which had always been relatively strong before, became a vassal of Sony.

No matter what news is released about a new console, Sony has always led the development.

After hearing Masayuki Uemura's speech, there was no expression on Yamauchi's face. He looked around. The Nintendo executives sitting here lowered their heads one after another under the glance of Yamauchi's blade-like eyes. There are many people inside who disagree with the decision made by Hiroshi Yamauchi this time, because they have just announced that they have terminated their cooperative relationship with Sony, and Nintendo's stock listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange has continued to fall. The decline in the past two days. Quite tragic.

There are many people here who own Nintendo dividend options, and the decline of Nintendo's stock has caused extremely heavy losses to them.

However, in Nintendo, Hiroshi Yamauchi is heaven, God, that is to say, one and the same existence. No one dares to question his authority. If you want to question him, then you must be 100% prepared to get out of Nintendo. (To be continued...)