Game Development Giant

These are very trivial things, not troublesome, but rather time-consuming.

The media news after the carnival mainly focused on Jester's over 200 million US dollar project that many people questioned as being impossible to do, namely "Planeta Torment".

Although Miyamoto Shigeru's new "Zelda" is also very popular with players of this game series, after all, at the carnival, it only provided a demonstration video and no actual trial play, so it was not well received. The attention is not too high.

On the other hand, amiibo are very popular, especially among girls and children. This kind of toy that can interact with the new version of Gameboy handheld console and add new game content is indeed very popular. The pre-sale of the first batch of products is just a waste of money. Within three days, they were all sold out, and the pre-orders for the new version of Gameboy were over hundreds of thousands.

"Foreign Land: Torment" provided a limited trial at the carnival, but it was still highly praised by players who had played it.

Especially some diehard fans of American RPG games.

They feel that this is the best RPG game they have ever played. Whether it is depth, gameplay or any other aspect, it is unmatched by other similar games.

Even the formulation of this sentence is problematic.

That is, there are simply no other games of the same type for games produced with production techniques like "Planet Requiem".

Players are constantly writing letters or calling to inquire about the release date of this game.

Originally, Jester did have the idea of ​​announcing "Foreign Requiem" at the carnival, but in the end he canceled the plan. He wanted to use the time without announcing the release to test the players' reactions and take a look. Are they interested in this game?

Because after all, in the world he has experienced, this is not a high-selling game. Although this game has very high ratings, almost any words that can be used to praise the game can be used on this game.

but. Its sales volume is really not high.

Jester is also worried that the world he has experienced will be like the period of history he knew, with very high reputation but very low sales.

Therefore, Jester used this method of temporarily not announcing the release date to test the players' reaction.

The response from the players is very satisfying to the publishing staff of Mars Entertainment. This eagerness shows that they are very much looking forward to the release of this game as soon as possible. Therefore, Jester did not delay too much and announced the release date, Christmas, on a weekend at the end of November.

Christmas is basically a must-win period for game developers.

Basically, if possible, any manufacturer will definitely release its most important games during the Christmas period or one month before the period, because it is within four or five days before and after Christmas. Games that can be sold can account for a quarter or even more of the games that can be sold throughout the year.

Actually, in the future. This proportion will be larger.

According to the working habits of Europeans and Americans, they need to rest throughout December. They work for a year. Basically it will be completed in November.

Then, those who like games will buy a few games that they like to play. In December, I spent time with my family and played some games to relax my tired body and mind after working for a whole year.

Moreover, Christmas is also a time for giving gifts to children.

According to statistics from the past few years, the sales of home game consoles during the Christmas period can account for about one-fifth or even one-quarter of the entire annual sales. It can be said that even Jester can't. It is impossible to ignore the huge impact that the Christmas period can have on the sales of game consoles and games.

Moreover, this year, Jester also decided to release a limited edition console for the first time.

This is a common thing in the release of future game consoles, but at this point in time, Jester has done this for the first time.

Game consoles will be divided into categories in the future, and the same console may have various models.

These are all improvements made by the hardware manufacturers themselves. There is no need to explain them in detail. They are just detailed improvements such as weight reduction, compactness, and heat reduction, which make the host more perfect.

After all, according to Moore's Law, the processing power of integrated circuits is steadily improving, so even in one era, there will be almost three improved versions of the console.

In addition, whenever a masterpiece is released, the console company will discuss with the game company to produce a limited edition console of the game.

Specifically, on this limited edition console, the shell will be made with unique elements of the game, such as some iconic characters, logos, colors, and the like, so that people who like this game can take a look. When I brought this console, I had the idea of ​​buying one.

We won't produce many consoles like this, but we'll always be able to sell them.

This time, Jester used the game "Planetary Requiem" as a test product and launched a limited edition of the game's Deambox 2 console.

Originally, Jester did not have the idea of ​​​​releasing a console version of this game, but because the enthusiasm of console players was too strong, after careful consideration, Jester decided to release the console version simultaneously with the PC version.

Of course, the best platform to experience this game is PC, because its original work is a PC game.

On this point, Jester also made a special statement at this press conference announcing the release date.

However, only motherboards can have this kind of limited-type console, and the PC version does not have it, because you can’t produce a limited-type computer just for this game, right? This is simply impossible.

There was another incident that temporarily caused Jester to stop his plan to lead a delegation back to China.

That is the first GDC, which is the Global Game Developers Conference, scheduled for the beginning of next year. At the preparatory meeting, a request was made for Jester to give a keynote speech at the opening ceremony. As the World Electronic Games Association The president is also the chairman of the GDC Global Game Developers Conference Organizing Committee. Such things are naturally inevitable.

The opening date of the first GDC is the last weekend of January.

There will be game developers from more than 60 countries and five continents in the world, whether they are console game developers or PC game developers, will participate in this grand event in the gaming industry.

Of course, in addition to game developers from all over the world gathering together to discuss future games, the most talked about is the award method.

This is an award designed with reference to major film festivals, especially the Oscars.

The most important thing is the lifetime achievement award.

It can be said that only those who have made great contributions in the electronic game industry are eligible to be awarded this award. Of course, the premise is that this person must be a game developer, either software or hardware, but must be on the front line. Those who have participated in game development, such as those who have never participated in development, and some senior executives of game companies are not eligible to receive this award.

The shortlist for the first session was selected several months ago.

There are more than ten people in total, all of whom have personally developed the game and made outstanding contributions to the game since its inception. The names are listed.

Of course Jester is among them, and he is not the youngest.

But the youngest one is still from Mars Entertainment.

This list is jointly voted by the official members of the World Electronic Games Association. Even Sega, Sony and Mars Entertainment have no special privileges in this regard. Basically, it can be recognized that they are all famous in the industry.

The youngest is John Carmack, who is much younger than Jester. He is now the head of the "Quake" development team and the general head of Mars Entertainment's 3D engine development team. The reason for his selection is that he It has pointed out a way for future games, and the organizing committee expresses its sincere gratitude for his outstanding contributions to 3D engine development.

Richard Garrett is also among the candidates.

In fact, in Jester's view, neither he nor Richard Garrett or John Carmack, these new generations, have any chance of winning this award in the first GDC.

Because even though these people are famous now, it is still now.

Video games didn’t start in 1980, let alone after 1984. It didn’t even start with consoles like Atari and Odyssey. It was born much earlier.

The world's first real video game was born in 1958. The place of birth, which many people may find a bit incredible, is the Brookhaven National Nuclear Physics Laboratory in the United States. What does this laboratory do? What about? It is used to make nuclear weapons.

In order to make visitors more interested in various scientific research results in the laboratory, Dr. Willie Higginbotham, the physicist in charge of computer engineering at the time, decided to make an interactive thing to attract Visitors' attention can make them stay in the laboratory longer. But this inadvertent little idea made the term "video game" enter the stage of history.

Of course, at the time Willie Higginbotham would never have thought that his little gadget could have such a long-lasting impact in the future.

It was an extremely crude thing from today's perspective. (To be continued...)