Game Development Giant

Hearing what Jester said, Kutaragi Ken was somewhat silent.

Because he has never had such an experience, he has not personally experienced the hardships that independent game producers have when making the games they want to make. Therefore, when Jester said that he was After such an independent game producer made it, Ken Kutaragi was speechless.

For a top student like him who graduated from Tokyo Electro-Communications University, just after graduation, he joined Sony, which was not very famous in Japan at the time, while his classmates at the university all joined companies that were far more famous than Sony at the time. ntt, however, relying on his talent, he has risen rapidly within Sony. Until now, he has become able to take charge of his own business and officially became the leader of Sony in a field.

However, it is somewhat inaccurate to say that Kutaragi Ken has never experienced a difficult environment.

Therefore, after what Jester said, Kutaragi was silent for a while, and then shook his head slightly and said: "As Mr. Li said, as a hardware engineer, after graduation, I have been working at Sony until now, and I have never experienced the difficulties and embarrassment of an independent game producer like you mentioned."

As he spoke, Kutaragi Ken's tone paused.

"But, Mr. Li, you may not know that when I was in my third year of college, my father was seriously ill, and my family wanted me to drop out of school and take over my family's small printing house and bookstore. I had already made up my mind at that time. I was determined to drop out of school, but my father told me in a very stern tone that only after graduating from college and entering a big company can I have a better way out..."

Jester listened quietly to Kutaragi Ken's story about his experience, and he was also very sad.

"Sorry to remind you of something unpleasant."

After listening to Kutaragi Ken's story, Jester also apologized and expressed his apology: "It was indeed my lack of consideration."

And Kutaragi Ken shook his head.

"Nothing. Everyone has experienced difficult situations. As long as they have perseverance and perseverance, they can survive it. Based on my own experience, I can understand the difficulties you mentioned that independent game producers have to face, and I also Some people judge a gentleman with a villain's heart. I never thought before that you, as a dictator of industry share, would have the courage to do such a thing."

Jester and Kutaragi Ken didn't talk for a long time. After all, they had a lot to do.

This time Kutaragi Ken came to the United States. In addition to attending the GDC Global Game Developers Conference, I also have to deal with some matters of the North American branch.

This is Satoru Iwata's first visit to the United States, and he was invited to Los Angeles to attend the first GDC, the Global Game Developers Conference.

In fact, Satoru Iwata originally had no plans to come because the cost of a trip to the United States was too high, and his salary was not too high, especially after Nintendo announced its withdrawal from the gaming industry and transformation, as a company funded by Nintendo . Hal Research Institute, which has been making games for Nintendo or contracting games, has also been in dismal business during this period.

Even because it is not a direct subsidiary of Nintendo, when Nintendo split its game department, major game companies were eyeing Nintendo's game talents. Very few people pay attention to their research institute.

Even Satoru Iwata has heard that Nintendo headquarters has planned to stop investing in the Hal Research Institute. In other words, they, the remaining staff of the Hal Research Institute, could only receive the last consolation payment before being dismissed. Then became unemployed.

But he is different from those young people who have just graduated from college.

He has graduated in 1989. As a person born in 1959, he is already thirty-one years old this year. It is really impossible for him to be as dedicated as those young people and then work hard to gain qualifications in a new company, but as a game producer Man, he really couldn't think of any other job besides playing games.

Just when he felt that his future was too bleak with no light in sight, he suddenly received an invitation letter to GDC, the Global Game Developers Conference, held in Los Angeles in January this year. The organizer of this conference actually invited himself to attend such a conference, which has been hyped in the industry for a long time and is almost considered to be the highest-level conference in the industry.

Moreover, in the entire Hal Research Institute, he was the only one who was invited by the organizer.

At that time, Satoru Iwata planned to refuse.

Because with Nintendo's withdrawal from the game industry, Hal's salary at the Institute has also shrunk significantly, and he still has a family to support, so he is unwilling to go to the United States to attend such a conference and let him spend a large amount of his savings.

However, after his wife found out about it, she encouraged him to come to Los Angeles to participate, because he knew that Satoru Iwata loved game development. For Iwata, his love for games was simply more important than his own. Life is more important.

When Satoru Iwata made up his mind to attend this GDC, have an intimate exchange with the most famous developers in the industry, and see if he could find a better job related to games for himself, The organizing committee contacted him. As an invitee, the organizing committee would take care of the expenses, accommodation, and catering for this trip, and he did not need to spend a penny.

This made Satoru Iwata breathe a sigh of relief. It could even be said that he was a little overjoyed.

After all, for him, this is not a small sum of money.

After the plane landed, Iwata didn't wait too long in the airport lobby. He saw the person sent by the GDC organizing committee to pick up the plane. A young man was holding a white card with Japanese writing on it. With Satoru Iwata's name, it is very eye-catching in the airport lobby.

Iwata's English is not good.

Of course, the GDC organizing committee will not send someone proficient in Japanese to pick him up. After all, Satoru Iwata is not a big shot in the gaming industry.

Although it is not a good thing, it is still okay to speak more slowly and have some simple daily communication like hello, me, hello, everyone. It’s just Iwata Satoru’s strong Japanese English accent that made the young people who came to pick him up listen. It was very unaccustomed to him, and he had to ask a question repeatedly before he could understand what Satoru Iwata meant. Fortunately, the two of them didn't need to exchange much information.

Sitting in the car, the pick-up person took him to the hotel arranged for him by the organizing committee.

Satoru Iwata looked at the scene in Los Angeles from the car window.

Not as beautiful as Japan.

This was his first thought.

More developed than Japan, this was his second thought immediately. Then he remembered that when he was in Japan, he asked why such an invitation was sent to him, and he was the only one in hal. You know , in hal, he is not the most famous person.

However, the organizing committee's reply was also very vague.

I just want to say that someone at the top of the GDC organizing committee has a high opinion of the games or projects he has participated in before and thinks highly of him. Therefore, this time he was specially invited to Los Angeles to participate in the GDC Global Game Developers Conference. , and even this senior executive hopes to follow up and have an in-depth chat about some of his views on the game.

However, when Satoru Iwata asked which senior executive valued him so much, GDC Japan did not know and did not give him an accurate answer.

Therefore, for Satoru Iwata, who has now arrived in the United States, what he wants to know most is who invited him to participate in this GDC.

He had no intention of getting an answer from the young man who came to pick him up at the airport, but being bored, he still asked the young man who was driving. Because of his Japanese accent, he repeated the question several times before the other party listened. Understand what he means.

And the other party's answer was not beyond Satoru Iwata's expectations.

"I'm not sure about this, but you are on the invitation list of Mars Entertainment. It should be an invitation from a big shot of Mars Entertainment." The young man who was driving thought for a while before answering. One sentence.

Although he was not asked who invited him to participate in GDC, Satoru Iwata still got some information, at least he knew who he was invited to.

However, this made Satoru Iwata even more confused.

Because he really has no interaction with Mars Entertainment, whether it is with the head office in the United States or the branch in Japan. Even because of the incident with President Hiroshi Yamauchi who was forced by Jester, Minoru Arakawa took over Nintendo and split the game department. , the reason why the income of people like himself has plummeted is that he has scolded many bad people in Mars Entertainment before.

After thinking for a long time, Satoru Iwata vaguely remembered that he had said hello to Shigeru Miyamoto.

However, the friendship is not too deep. I just helped write a few programs for Nintendo games. I also discussed it with Shigeru Miyamoto when working on the games produced by Hal.

But it's not a personal discussion.

It was just at a discussion meeting, and he mainly listened to what others said. What he said at that time was probably only a few sentences, and there were no highlights. According to his understanding, it was impossible for a big man like Shigeru Miyamoto to remember it. of.

But what she can remember now is the big shot in Mars Entertainment with whom he has interacted.

That is Shigeru Miyamoto.

While he was thinking, the car had already arrived at the hotel where he was staying. The guy who picked him up accompanied Satoru Iwata and completed the check-in procedures before leaving. Originally, Iwata wanted to keep this guy for something to eat. However, the younger brother had another person who needed him to pick him up more than an hour later, so Iwata gave up the invitation. (To be continued...)

ps: I saw the news today that Nintendo President Satoru Iwata passed away due to illness. Although I am a steadfast Nintendo, I still sighed after seeing the news.

Satoru Iwata is an outstanding entrepreneur in the gaming industry who has made indelible contributions to the development of video games and can be called the legendary president of Nintendo.