Rebirth 86: I use games to kick open the door to the world

Just because of a game review magazine, it indirectly affected the subsequent sales of Contra.

This publicity effect is really good.

But it’s normal to think about it.

This BEEP seems to be the most popular gaming magazine in Japan at the moment.

In this era before the Internet even appeared, there are too few channels for people to obtain information.

TV media, radio media, newspapers, magazines.

That's probably it.

You can watch whatever these media play, unlike the Internet where you can actively search for it.

Advertising at this time is often the most effective.

Nakamura on the side shook his head: "Originally, I wanted to ask BEEP for another exclusive interview to increase Contra's reputation, but the sales of this game have been fixed, and no amount of publicity can bring more revenue. ”

NGS is not very good at this. They tightly control the cassette production process. Without cassettes, there will definitely be no sales.

Zuo Zhen showed a free and easy look: "Then let's not talk about this. Let's talk about the cooperation in the next game."

Akira Nakamura nodded, and then signaled to the commissioner in charge of data and funds, and they immediately stood up and prepared to leave.

"Okay Zuo Zhen-san, I'll call the specialist in charge of signing the contract."

After the commissioners left, Akira Nakamura expressed NGS' helplessness and some of his own compulsions.

He really appreciates Zuo Zhen now, so he plans to do his best to retain Zuo Zhen.

Takemoto Kiyoshi on the side was also helping, singing along.

After a few words, Nakamura Akira returned to the topic.

He picked up the tea cup and took a sip and said: "Zuo Zhen-san, your Squirrel War is really good. If the publicity is good, this game may make you famous."

Takemoto Kiyoshi also nodded affirmatively: "Yes, after careful testing by our internal team, the chance of this game becoming popular is very high. We at NGS will definitely do our best to help you promote it this time, but this requires you to ensure the follow-up. There will be more great games.”

Zuo Zhen said: "Of course, I came here for another reason."

Zuo Zhen said as he took out a floppy disk from his pocket.

"This is my latest game. I named this game Mega Man. It is a successor that combines the excellent gameplay of Contra and Squirrel Wars."

Akira Nakamura was drinking tea when he suddenly heard that Zuo Zhen had brought another game and became a little nervous. Then he choked on the tea and suddenly coughed violently.

"Zuo Zhensang, you...ahem, are you serious? Did you make another game?"

"Yes, today I actually want to sign a contract for the two games Squirrel War and Mega Man together. According to the rhythm, Squirrel War will be released first, followed by Mega Man."

Zuo Zhen had already placed the floppy disk with a copy of Mega Man on the table.

This time, the title is no longer written in simple text on the floppy disk. This time, there is actually a game cover painting on the floppy disk.

It was hand-drawn by Yu Mengchen bit by bit on a floppy disk. She spent a lot of effort to draw this cover.

On the cover of the floppy disk, a young man who seemed to be wearing a blue combat uniform stood in the center with a serious expression.

One of his hands seemed to be covered with something like a cannon barrel, and the other hand was holding the hand with the cannon barrel, aiming straight ahead.

Behind this young man are enemies that look mechanical.

"Rock...man."

"The Chinese explanation is Rockman, but this has different names in different countries. For example, in the United States, Megaman is used, because rock means stone, and rockman will be called a stone worker, which is not conducive to publicity in the United States. .”

"Zuo Zhen-san, how long did it take you to make this game?"

"Well, I probably started developing it when I sent you Squirrel War, and it was almost finished before I left."

In other words, it took almost more than a month.

More than a month...

Nowadays, it takes at least half a year for a mature game to be completed from project establishment to production, but it only takes more than a month?

In fact, this time can be shorter.

After all, Zuo Zhen is actually just a porter of the game. He just makes some optimizations and improvements based on the original game. The core gameplay of the game does not need to be touched.

This also saved Zuo Zhen a lot of time. Coupled with the mature programming knowledge and game production system of later generations, there is no problem in crushing this era.

In fact, even if Zuo Zhen doesn't borrow the game from his previous life, he is confident that he can make a name for himself in this world.

But he needs to grow up quickly now.

In Nakamura's eyes, Zuo Zhen is a genius.

"Can I test this game?"

Takemoto Kiyoshi on the side couldn't help it anymore. He was very moved when he looked at the floppy disk in Nakamura Akira's hand.

He wanted to see for himself what the game, which took just over a month to make, looked like.

Are there really game wizards in this world?

But if this is also a side-scrolling game, and Zuo Zhen has production experience in the previous two games of the same type, it doesn’t seem so unimaginable.

Akira Nakamura said without any hesitation: "Let's go to the game testing room."

"The person who signed the contract..."

"Let him wait here and take a look at the game first."

After a while, Nakamura Akira, Takemoto Kiyo and Zuo Zhen returned to the negotiation room.

At this time, Akira Nakamura and Kiyoshi Takemoto looked at Zuozhen obviously differently.

Now they looked at Zuo Zhen like a monster.

Is that human being?

In his early years, he knew that several programmers at Atari could make several games a week.

But that kind of game is a bunch of garbage, not even remotely playable.

But the Mega Man created by Zuo Zhen is a really good game.

The story of Contra this time is very complete, telling a story about the relationship between robots and humans.

As a human being who is willing to be transformed, the protagonist is responsible for saving the relationship between robots and humans, and constantly defeats the villains who try to destroy the good relationship.

This story is very royal from the beginning, and they are sure that as long as they are children, they will absolutely love this kind of plot.

"Zuo Zhen, let's talk about the contract again." Akira Nakamura looked very serious.

"Of course, I come here with sincerity. I just hope that we can have long-term cooperation."

Zuo Zhen knew that his Mega Man had successfully impressed the game department director.

Then Squirrel Wars has a greater chance of getting more cassettes produced.

Zuo Zhen remembered that the first generation of Squirrel Wars had sales of over one million, so he had to strive for at least a production quota of one million cassettes.