Horrible! Actually playing this kind of game!

Chapter 123 27. Combine vertically and horizontally

In the evening, Chiwon Ao, Nao Tsuda, and Ken Kutaragi of Sony had dinner with Tom Kolinsky.

Full glasses of dark beer, steaks and meat.

Eat heartily.

Speaking of what happened at the press conference today, until now, Kolinski still feels scared.

"I was really shocked at the time," Qing Zhiyuan said. "The screen was burned, and I didn't know how to get it back. Mr. Kolinsky's on-site reaction ability was really great."

"Haha, did you see it?" Kolinski laughed.

Qing Zhiyuan said, I am also a person who has gone to school, okay? Some simple magic tricks are easy to see through.

"Fortunately, everything is over now, so it should be going well." Collinski said with a smile.

"Of course, not only is it smooth, but with all the twists and turns, today's press conference will also become a classic in a few years." Kutaragi said.

It wasn't until now that he realized that something had really happened after a long time.

"But, Mr. Kolinsky, can I bring back Neon with this broken machine? The Sega staff and I want to repair it and figure out what went wrong."

"good."

Kolinsky didn't care that much and handed the game console to Kutaragi Ken.

"But, Mr. Kolinski, are you not worried at all about being exposed by the media in the future?" Ken Kutaragi asked, "After all, this magic trick is too simple. As long as there is a video, you can find it by comparing the positions of the front and back pockets. Bar?"

"It doesn't matter." Collinski said with a smile. "At most, it proves that I used two different game consoles, but it cannot prove that there was a problem with the original game console. Unless you send the evidence to them."

Kutaragi Ken looked down at the game console in his hand and smiled knowingly.

"Hahaha……"

"Hardware has a yield rate. If the yield rate is not 100%, then there will definitely be problems." Collinski cut a small piece of steak, chewed it twice, "But at the press conference, I encountered a real It's unlucky, but as long as the problem can be solved, after the game console is released in August, and the failure rate of the machines that players get is low enough, it will be fine."

"Yeah." Everyone nodded.

…

Everyone chatted for a while and got to know each other better. Qing Zhiyuan also acted as a translator during the meeting.

Kolinsky laughed as he recalled an incident from the past.

"Do you guys know?"

"The Sega Genesis (called MD in Neon), like the Commodore Amiga, also used the Motorola 68000 as its central processor.

In the United States, there is a company called Electronic Arts.

The company has extensive experience developing games on this processor.

The first thing they did was not to apply to become a third-party game company of Sega, but to quickly reverse engineer the Sega Genesis and develop games that could run without Sega's authorization.

It's really a big departure. If you have the time, why not crack the Nintendo 10NES? What's the point of cracking the Sega? "

At this point, Kolinsky's expression was very exaggerated, and everyone laughed.

“Sega’s charging standards for third-party games are much lower than Nintendo’s, not 30%, but around US$8-10, which is equivalent to 20% of the selling price.

Then the year before last, in 1990, Hawkins approached me.

Come up with EA's reverse engineering and make cooperation requirements: you can only charge $2 per game card, plus a $2 million licensing fee limit for a single game, otherwise EA will spread its technology.

Hawkins told me, 'We've successfully reverse-engineered Genesis, and if the contract hadn't been signed, we would have made and sold the game software that would operate under Genesis. '"

Kolinski put down the knife and fork in his hand, puffed out his chest and looked at Qing Zhiyuan and Tsuda Nao, "Can you imagine, these are all rude requests."

"I took a closer look at the young and handsome guy in front of me and wondered if there was something wrong with his brain."

"Haha, indeed."

Qing Zhiyuan smiled and nodded.

EA is indeed a gangster, but gangsters know martial arts and no one can stop them.

There is really no one with this kind of rogue logic.

It can only be said that it is really difficult for Westerners to understand the brain circuits of Westerners. They are clearly robbing you, but they still want you to thank them.

"What Hawkins is playing is a very high-risk operation. Once Sega files a lawsuit against EA's actions, Hawkins will most likely be left with nothing to lose.

But what I thought at the time was that there seemed to be nothing wrong with cooperating with EA.

After all, we are facing a god-like opponent, the Nintendo NES.

The fewer enemies the better, the more teammates the better.

Just think he has a problem.

EA wants a free console platform.

We need third-party games that can compete with Nintendo, and the interests are aligned.

Such an opponent would turn to NES, and the consequences would be disastrous.

I said, ‘Okay, but there are conditions to add.

I want you to sell EA's rights to John Madden Football. I wanted to change some things and market it as a different game. We will be releasing two games, John Madden Football and Joe Montana Football.

Of course, we'll pay for promotion, and we'll pay you a fair royalty. ’

Hawkins seemed shocked.

Two rugby games are released at the same time, which should cause a lot of trouble.

Adult sports games happen to be Nintendo's shortcomings.

‘Well, we’re partners. Let's defeat Nintendo together. ’

Hawkins and I shook hands and came to an understanding.

Later, EA ported "John Madden Football" to the Sega Genesis.

No one could have imagined that a game originally planned to sell 70,000 copies would actually sell 400,000 copies on Genesis.

Isn't it amazing? "

Kolinski asked with a smile.

Everyone nodded.

What Qing Zhiyuan is thinking about is——

Although both Nakayama Hayao and Yamauchi Hiroshi had a bad temper, they both wanted to establish a dominant company and create a monopoly.

But Sega is really lucky to have a US branch sales manager like Kolinski.

Is the console war essentially about consoles?

No, it's a game.

Take the loss of Sega GG to Rentendo GB. On the one hand, it is because the battery life of the hardware is too short, the power consumption is too high, and the body is relatively bulky.

But in terms of performance, Sega's GG handheld console has to crush Rentendo's GB.

And the most critical turning point is——

Rentendao and Sega both launched the Tetris game on handheld consoles at the same time, but later Rentendao obtained the Tetris license and backhandedly sued Sega.

As a result, Sega's Tetris was forced to be removed from the shelves.

One game determines victory or defeat.

…

From this perspective, instead of taking EA to court because of its rogue behavior, it chose to cooperate with Kolinski to jointly fight against Rentian. This pattern is really much bigger.

"Then Mr. Kolinski, can you give us the same discounts as EA in the future?" Qing Zhiyuan said with a smile, "Otherwise we will have to reverse engineer Sega's game consoles."

Hearing Qing Zhiyuan's words, Kolinsky was stunned for a second and almost spit out the beer in his mouth.

"Hahaha...Qing, you really know how to joke."

The atmosphere was relaxed and warm.

…

After chatting with Kolinsky, Qing Zhiyuan still gained a lot.

American players and Neon players are basically two different species.

The American market is also very different from the neon market or the Chinese market.

These Western players prefer games that are fresh and exciting, that can make people's adrenaline surge and secrete a large amount of dopamine.

Simple, crude and direct prevails here.

Neon and Chinese players may pay more attention to the inner world and pay attention to some deep-seated cultural connotations.

However, this does not mean that American players cannot appreciate it, or that American manufacturers lack depth.

It’s just that in their view, before pursuing storytelling and depth, one must first satisfy their appetite.

If pokeni wants to enter the Omega market in the future and start this business, it will have to change its thinking.

Fortunately, Qing Zhiyuan has a lot of Western masterpieces in his mind. The key is to copy them first, ah, which one to make first.

And who to do it with and how to do it.

In this era, the income of Neon people is much higher than that of Chinese people, and the income of Americans is much higher than that of Neon people.

In comparison, the selling price in the Omi region can be higher. If you are confident enough, the game can be sold for $99 (equivalent to 12,400 yen).

This is the case with some masterpieces. As long as they are good enough and can become the favorite of players, their pockets will be open for you.

This is the United States that Kolinski described, and this is also the impression that the current United States has on Qing Zhiyuan.

After staying in Chicago for two days, Qing Zhiyuan accompanied Tsuda Nao to a clothing store, bought some clothes that women liked, and spent a happy time together in the evening.

On the third day, we returned to Neon Tokyo together.

…

After entering June, Pokémon is already in the final stages of testing.

It can be released after confirming that there are no problems.

The release date was negotiated with Sega. On August 1st, when Sega’s handheld console is released, Pokémon will be on the shelves simultaneously.

Originally, Kolinsky wanted to demonstrate Pokémon at the Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago, but unfortunately the online function was not yet complete.

…

At the same time, Sega began to win over other princes.

…

The first person Sega found was Namco, and proposed a strategy in the hope that Namco could develop games on the new handheld console, and offered high discounts.

Then Koei and Konami...

Except for SNK, which directly competes with itself in the field of game consoles, Sega has searched them all.

The price offered is also very sincere.

Seigniorage, ugh, only 15% of the royalties are charged, which is cheaper than the original requirement of 20%, and only half of Rentiantian’s 30% royalties.

In addition, as long as the cooperation is reached, there is no limit on the number of games developed on Sega game consoles each year, but Sega still retains the right to review.

…

These two points alone are actually enough to make many game manufacturers feel excited.

However, due to the pressure from Rentian Tiantang and the current difficulty in judging the future market, these companies are still waiting and wavering.

If Rentendo is offended by cooperating with Sega, it will be very difficult to make money.

Not every company has the ability to enter the OME market.

In Neon, Rentian is everything.

As for Ren Tiantang and Yamauchi Pu, they did not feel that their status was shaken and that they were in danger.

SFC is gaining momentum.

What's more, Pu Yamauchi doesn't think that a newly released handheld game console can produce much change.

After all, the main force in the game console market is still TV.

…

June 28, 1992.

Tokyo.

pokeni co., ltd.

"Did you feel it? The strong smell of gunpowder." Qing Zhiyuan sniffed the air and sighed.

The war is about to break out.

The next few years can be described as dramatic changes, and the console war will become fierce.

Although we already know the historical process, after all, these are all changing now.

What changes will occur in the future and what key role pokeni will play in them are still unknown.

However, Qing Zhiyuan is already working hard to increase his chips in order to become a chess player in the game instead of a chess piece controlled by others.

Seeing the idiot look on the president's face, the little HR couldn't help but sigh.

"President, can you please wake up?"

Qing Zhiyuan frowned fiercely, what do you know?

"By the way, Masuji Kigami from Kyoto Animation is already here. He has been waiting outside for a long time."

"Oh, okay, let him wait for me in the conference room." Qing Zhiyuan said.

"By the way, call Lisa Asano too."

…

In the conference room, Masuji Kigami finished playing the 20-second sample video he had produced.

Qing Zhiyuan looked down at their plans with a smile on his lips.

Uh-huh.

Pretty good.

It almost restores the cartoon content that Qing Zhiyuan remembered when he was a child, and the painting style is even more refined.

Based on the design of pokeni itself, in fact, the characters and characters basically can’t go astray.

After all, the linkage between animation and games will ultimately be dominated by games.

Otherwise, your name is Menik in the cartoon and Pikachu in the game. If the image doesn’t match, it will be very troublesome.

Several protagonists, as well as important Team Rocket villains, were all hand-picked by Qing Zhiyuan and had to be added to the animation. Even the characters' personalities were already set.

This is quite uncomfortable for Masuji Kigami, it is equivalent to dancing in shackles.

Fortunately, the script I ended up writing was pretty good.

Among the original Pokémon, Ash's character prototype came from the creator Satoshi Tajiri.

Then because Shigeru Miyamoto of Rentendao was kind to him, it was Shigeru Miyamoto who took a fancy to this game and positioned it as a key handheld project of Rentendao. In addition, Shigeru Miyamoto had a lot of guidance for Satoshi Tajiri, so Tajiri Zhi added the character of Xiaomao during the creative process.

Now the twists and turns are gone, and this story is missing from the pokeni making process.

So although the characters are still called Xiaozhi and Xiaomo, they have little to do with Tajiri Satoshi and Miyamoto Shigeru.

…

After reading the script, I discussed some details with Lisa Asano.

Qing Zhiyuan laughed happily.

"Then, just wait for the animation to be aired in August."

…