Game Development Giant

Jester didn't have the slightest worry about Kazunori Yamauchi's strength.

The first is his talent, which has been verified in the past few years. The success of the arcade games he developed can perfectly prove this.

Moreover, Jester had talked to Kazunori Yamauchi about console racing games before. It was still the Dreambox 2 era, and Jester asked him if he could transplant some arcade racing games, because at that time Mars Entertainment A player survey found that a considerable number of players are very interested in racing games.

However, Yamauchi Yipian immediately refused.

That’s not to say there’s no way to transplant.

On the other hand, Sega has ported several games, and they have all been great successes, although the quality of the ports is not very good.

But the essence of the matter is this. Things are rare and valuable. When no one else has it, you will be interested in using it no matter how bad it is.

At that time, Jester was also somewhat jealous of the profits brought by Sega's transplanted works.

However, Kazunori Yamauchi refused. The reason was very consistent with his character. In Yamauchi's eyes, he made racing games to fulfill his ideals as a racing driver. The game he wanted to make was to allow ordinary people to rely on With these electric game consoles, you can have the experience of a real racing driver. In fact, Kazunori Yamauchi was indeed conducting a test recently.

A test to become an amateur racing driver.

Speaking of exams, actually adding the driver's license test setting to racing games was a pioneering work of Kazunori Yamauchi. This has become a common setting in later racing games, but it has not yet been born in this world. However, Jester has seen a game design plan for "Sports Car Romance" given to him by Kazunori Yamauchi, and it has been seen that he is planning to add this to this game, which will greatly improve the playability of racing games. driver's license system.

This is also a game prepared by Kazunori Yamauchi for Dreambox 3, and another more well-known name of this game is called "GT Racing".

Although Jester was a little dissatisfied with Kazunori Yamauchi's need to take the amateur racing driver's license test. But he also knew that it was impossible to stop the other party, because he was familiar with the lives of these game producers and knew that even in his world, Kazunori Yamauchi was like this, loving racing more than life.

This seemed a bit dishonest in Jester's eyes, but he couldn't help it, because Kazunori Yamauchi was not the only producer who seemed to be dishonest.

Maybe many people will be used to such situations.

For example, an author may also be a film director, but it is difficult to connect the identity of a game producer with a professional racing driver.

Actually. Because of the particularity of racing games, later racing games are too pursuing authenticity. Many major manufacturers will hire professional racing drivers to serve as game consultants, and the most famous one is probably Colin McRae.

This is easy to understand and easy to accept.

But looking at this matter from the other side, entering the racing world as a racing game producer is difficult for people to accept and understand, but Kazunori Yamauchi is such a person.

In reality, Jester was in his own world. He is a fan of "GTA Racing", so of course he has paid attention to some introductions or interviews of Kazunori Yamauchi. He is quite familiar with this person who is very independent among game producers.

In fact, Kazunori Yamauchi has been around since he was very young. He is a racing and photography enthusiast.

When he saw a real racing car flying by in the camera, he came up with the idea of ​​​​making the "most realistic racing car". This is the origin of "GT Racing".

Moreover, Kazunori Yamauchi also has a very famous rule.

He even asked all employees involved in development to go to the racing track and drive for themselves. Obtaining personal experience and complete driving data, as well as holding internal competitions from time to time, undoubtedly provide a good environment for Kazunori Yamauchi's journey as a driver. Yamauchi's ambitions go beyond real-life driving games. He once said this in an interview.

"I want to cultivate real racing drivers through "GT Racing"!"

Of course, he himself can be said to be the best example and role model of his joke.

In Jester's memory, in 2009, Kazunori Yamauchi, as a professional racing game producer, took a new step in his racing life. He competed in the VLN championship for the first time, driving the Lexus IS-F to create the fastest lap in the team, and his team also won the SP8 category championship. Soon after, Yamauchi once again competed in the 24 Hours of Nürburgring in Germany, finishing fourth in the SP8 category. Since then, participating in the 24-hour endurance race has become a must-have for Kazunori Yamauchi every year. In 2011, he drove a Nissan GT-R racing car to defeat the Volkswagen team led by the famous former F1 drivers Blondell and Herbert, and successfully reached the top. Champion of the sp8 category.

Of course, although this kind of story of a game producer becoming a professional racing driver is very rare in the gaming circle.

But Kazunori Yamauchi’s case is not an isolated one.

In fact, "GTA Racing" was Sony's flagship product in Jester's original world. Even in the PS first-party camp, this game has a higher status than Naughty Dog's "Uncharted" .

As for the reason, of course it is that except for his sixth game, almost every single platform has sold more than 10 million copies.

Almost the best racing game in the world.

As for why I say almost, that's because Sony's rival Microsoft is not a fuel-efficient lamp. They also have a racing series that is not inferior to the GT series. It is also a scum series in the mouth of many players. The correct name is "Forza Motorsport" , and the origin of Waste Slag is because of his English, forza.

As for why I want to talk about this game.

Quite simply, John Wind, the series production director of this game, once won the championship in the 600cc supersport category of the American Supercross Competition.

He and Kazunori Yamauchi are actually the same person.

I have to say that there are certain commonalities in the behaviors of top game producers.

Jester shook his head helplessly. In fact, such things like not doing his job properly are not uncommon in the gaming industry. For example, John Carmack, who is devoted to being a technical geek, is not a fuel-efficient lamp.

Of course, his hobby is engines, but it's not just the engine on the computer. (To be continued...)