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

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that there are some special expressions in this Fire Emblem game that cannot be produced by conventional cassette production lines. We must add production steps to the cassette production line."

"Can't the game console alone meet the requirements of this game?"

"That's right." Miyazaki shrugged, "That's the way it is. Look, I'm not deliberately making things difficult for you. You can go to the president and report the matter again to see if he agrees to upgrade the cassette production line, specifically. If he agrees to produce Fire Emblem cartridges, then I don’t have a problem with it.”

Akira Nakamura was silent for a while.

He really didn't expect this.

In fact, starting this year, some games on NGS game consoles have begun to fail to meet demand.

Among them, Metroid uses additional sound modules installed on the cassette to enhance Metroid's game music effect.

At that time, Akira Nakamura and Miyazaki argued for a long time over the production arrangement of this special cassette.

Fortunately, the final sales volume exceeded one million, and the harvest was good.

Akira Nakamura reported the incident to Yamauchi.

Yamauchi's answer was very simple.

no.

The cassette production line is very valuable. If you adjust one production line alone, it will definitely affect the production of other games. How much money will be lost?

Not worth it for a Fire Emblem.

Yamauchi understood this calculation very clearly.

Akira Nakamura was disappointed.

After all, it still comes down to capital.

In pursuit of profit, some things have to be given up.

In the morning, Akira Nakamura was still very happy.

However, he didn't expect that this joy would not last long.

Just now he couldn't wait to inform Zuo Zhen, but now he didn't know how to tell Zuo Zhen about it.

A few more days passed, and it was time for another phone call between Zuo Zhen and Nakamura Akira.

Nakamura thought for a long time and finally told Zuo Zhen about the NGS decision.

But Zuo Zhen on the other end of the phone was not particularly surprised.

Akira Nakamura had already told Zuo Zhen that the success rate was not high. Later, even though Akira Nakamura used his position as a guarantee to obtain Yamauchi's permission, he was still forced to give up due to insufficient performance of the NGS game console.

"Zuo Zhen-san, don't be discouraged. The game is not completely dead. It's just that the production schedule has been postponed to next year. The president still approves of you. Next year, NGS is preparing to expand the cassette production line. The first batch of new version cassettes will be given to Flame Arrangement of coat of arms.”

Nakamura Akira was afraid that Zuo Zhen would be unhappy and give up on NGS. This would make Nakamura Akira feel very disadvantaged.

So he wanted to comfort Zuo Zhen as much as possible and stop him from being impulsive.

I have to say that this NGS is indeed not a good bird.

Just like early Nintendo, they were relatively domineering and arbitrary.

But at this moment, NGS is the only company, and even big companies have to swallow their anger. Zuo Zhen really doesn’t think he can be much better than big companies.

"Nakamura-san, you have done a very good job. I know you are trying your best to help me fight for my rights, so don't worry. In the worst case, just wait. If there is not going to be Mega Man and Squirrel Wars next, let these two games be released this year. alright."

"Okay, okay, okay, Zuo Zhen-san, it's best if you can understand."

Akira Nakamura breathed a sigh of relief.

My own persuasion still has some effect.

Zuo Zhen was at least willing to wait patiently.

However, Nakamura Akira felt that Zuo Zhen did not seem to be the kind of patient person.

Next year, we must help Zuo Zhen secure more benefits, otherwise this young man may run away at any time.

This was his premonition, and it was very strong.

From the first time he met Zuo Zhen, he could feel an attitude from Zuo Zhen that would not give up easily.

Subsequently, around August this year, Squirrel Wars was officially released in Japan, the United States and other places.

BEEP, the magazine that was the first to experience the game, also released its own game review immediately.

Squirrel Wars 8:50, the quality is very good.

This time Squirrel War has made great progress compared to the previous Contra, because this time the game has a plot and a smoother and more interesting gameplay. Compared with Contra, it is a qualitative leap.

In a video game store, a group of children gathered in front of the magazine shelf and looked through the latest game magazines.

In addition to word of mouth, they usually only get reviews of good games through magazines.

"Hey, look at the review of Squirrel Wars. It says that Squirrel Wars is a more fun game than Contra."

"Huh? Why are you comparing it with Contra? The painting style of these two games seems to be different. Isn't it compared with Mario?"

"Didn't you guys pay attention? Didn't it say that Squirrel War is the latest work of the producer of the Contra game? They must be comparing the producer's previous works with his current work."

"Ah? Is this the person who made Contra? His name is... Zuo... Zhen?"

"It's not a Japanese name."

"It doesn't look like a foreign name. Aren't all foreign names like James and Howard?"

"This producer is from China."

While several children were chirping and discussing the content of the magazine, the store clerk came over and explained it to the children.

"Chinese? I've never seen a game made by Chinese before."

The clerk smiled and said, "I haven't seen it either. Contra is the first game I've seen made by Chinese people. But it's fun. Do you think it's fun?"

The children nodded vigorously.

Earlier, the production volume of Contra cassettes was only 300,000 boxes, and then the production of cassettes was temporarily stopped.

But no matter how much the company is suspended, it cannot stop the orders from suppliers flying to the cassette production department like snowflakes.

They don't want anything else but Contra.

If you are willing to produce Contra for us, then we don’t mind buying some junk cassettes in a bundle and taking the initiative to help NGS clear its inventory.

Under this situation, Miyazaki could only agree to production, so he subsequently produced another 300,000 boxes of Contra, which could barely meet the market demand.

And these children later experienced Contra and fell in love with the game.

On NGS, there are not many games with violent graphics like Contra until now.

And it’s about shooting, it’s simple and crude, the game starts with just shooting, no plot required.

Then among children, Contra became a frequently discussed topic, and even temporarily surpassed Mario in terms of discussion popularity.

The clerk was persuasive: "This time, you read in the magazine that it is more fun than Contra, and it is a new game made by the producer of Contra. Don't you want to play it?"

When the children heard this, they all showed eager expressions.

Seeing that his words had successfully persuaded these children, the clerk smiled slightly: "Okay, if you want to buy, you can tell me, I tell you that our store has received a hundred boxes of Squirrel War this time, and the next batch I don’t know when it will come, so if you want to buy it, go as early as possible.”

"Brother, I will buy it!"

"Big brother, I want it too!"

"Uncle, I want to buy it too!"

"Leave that brat called uncle alone, I will never sell it to you!"

"Ah, uncle, I mean you are as handsome as Uncle Ken Takakura."

"Kid, I like your description. I'll sell it to you later!"