Game Development Giant

Yamauchi Pu sighed. He was very tired from talking with the people sent by Sony just now, but the harvest and results made him very satisfied.

It would be inappropriate to say that he was satisfied. He got the promise he wanted, but he also knew that when he got this promise, he would face what he would face in the future, a mortal enemy who hated him extremely.

However, at least for now, they still pose no threat to themselves. Although the joint ownership of a new console has given Sony a platform that is not inferior to its own, many years of experience in the game industry tell him that relying on only one platform is It's useless, it can't produce excellent games, and there are a lot of excellent games. Players will not buy a toy that can only eat dust and put it as a display at home.

With this in mind, Hiroshi Yamauchi picked up the phone and dialed the R\u0026D department, directly calling Uemura Masayuki's office.

The person who answered the phone was Uemura Masayuki. He knew that Sony had sent people to negotiate privately before. The matter discussed was about the ownership of the Super Nintendo. This is also the most critical issue for their future survival. Obviously , just as Hiroshi Yamauchi expected, Sony did not want to argue with Nintendo on this matter. From the beginning, they made their attitude clear. The issue of ownership can be discussed, but the ownership of the new console cannot be just One family.

In fact, it is not impossible for the machine architecture to be the same. As long as different decoding methods are used, the encryption format of the cassette will not be the same. Therefore, even if it is the same console, for two game companies, changing the shell will mean different console, so Sony's request is very simple, that is, they can not make a fuss about the new console, but. Have full sharing.

If it had been in the past, it would have been impossible for Hiroshi Yamauchi to agree, but now the situation is stronger than others, and this matter cannot be negotiated. Sony is willing to negotiate in this regard because they also want to obtain ownership of the new console. , this is their most fundamental interest. If this item cannot satisfy them, then no matter what conditions they offer, it will be useless. He also knew the inside information. Just like Sony and Sega had eyes and ears on Nintendo, he naturally had his own sources of information in these companies.

Sony Computer Entertainment...hum!

Silently reciting the name of the department that was about to be announced to the public, Hiroshi Yamauchi unnaturally felt a palpitation in his heart. This feeling was something he had never experienced before. He knew that the person he had come into contact with was named Kutaragi Ken. He will hold a very important position in this soon-to-be-established branch and be fully responsible for all things related to home game consoles. It was this person who gave Pu Yamauchi a very uneasy feeling.

First closing his eyes, and then opening them again, Yamauchi Hiroshi suppressed some of the messy thoughts in his heart. Then he pretended to be disdainful, perhaps to give himself a sense of peace of mind, and said in a contemptuous tone: A company that makes home appliances also wants to make games, huh. Can you bear this kind of loss? If Sony is willing , naturally can bear the losses when just entering the industry and seizing the market, but. The magnitude of this loss is probably far beyond Sony's expectations. Whether they can bear it is one thing, but whether they are willing to bear it is another.

The next day, at Sony's headquarters, at a press conference attended by Norio Ohga, he personally announced a piece of news that was extremely shocking to the outside world, but the industry had already known about it.

Sony Computer Entertainment was officially established.

Toshio Ozawa serves as the president, overseeing the overall situation, and Ken Kutaragi, an outstanding representative of the new generation of the group, serves as the vice president, responsible for specific operational affairs. For Nintendo, this is the official entry of an enemy into the industry, and for Sega Said, this is actually good news, because they are now a newcomer to the field of home game consoles, and the more chaotic the situation, the better for them.

Because this way they can take advantage of the chaos.

Moreover, Nakayama Hayao is also extremely confident in his own strength. He believes that he will be the one to fight his way out of this chaos.

But for Jester, this is not the case.

As the rulers of an industry, they must seek stability first. They are unwilling to accept turmoil, accept change, and accept taking advantage of chaos, because the occurrence of these things means that the market will be divided, and Where does the thin market share come from? Of course, you are cutting off your own flesh, but this kind of thing is inevitable. It is not normal for a company to occupy more than 75% of an industry.

When this happens, it will inevitably arouse the envy, jealousy, and hatred of others. In addition, this is an industry full of violence, which will inevitably bring in more predators. Nippon Electric was the first, and now Sony is the second one, and in the future there will be 3do that is unwilling to be left alone. Of course, Jester is not sure whether Microsoft will enter the market now, but in the end, those who are full of ambition and lust will not turn a blind eye. Seeing how much fat is in the hands of one company.

What's more, this is Sony, plus Ken Kutaragi who has his own unique understanding of the game industry. Jester's previous life was Soqing. He likes Sony's games. He believes that Sony's games represent the future of games. Nintendo Games are representative of backwardness. Of course, these are just one-sided and unobjective opinions, and they are not worth mentioning. But because of this, he understands how powerful Sony is.

He knows that he may encounter the most powerful opponent. The current Sony is not more than 20 years later. At that time, Sony was extremely weak. Its proud electrical appliance division had been losing money for many years, and its market value was even lower than that of a small company. Mi, today's Sony has a lot of money. They have enough ability and courage to support Sony Computer Entertainment from being weak now to being strong in the future.

As long as they want.

And Jester, who understands history, never misjudges Sony's determination.

What should they do next? For Sony, it is not difficult to negotiate with Nintendo about the joint ownership of the new console, because this is the most urgent need for both parties, and it is also where a win-win situation can be achieved. Now that the hardware is available, then Is it just software? It’s unrealistic to rely solely on New Japan to plan those companies. What they need is a real development company that can become the mainstay.”

While Jester was thinking about these things, one of his assistants opened the door and entered his office.

The assistant respectfully handed over a report.

Jester took it over and took a look. It was about Civilization and it was submitted by Mark Saini. He also knew that Sid Meier had just completed the two-year development of the game that was almost legendary in the company. Since Sid Meier's sailing game Pirates, Mark Saney has become a big fan of Sid Meier.

Moreover, Jester had heard Mark Saney speak to him more than once about his admiration for Sid Meier.

Mark Saini has more of an admiration for himself, which Jester can feel, but for Sid Meier, it is a completely different kind of emotion, which Jester can clearly feel. It's true that his intense emotions towards Sid Meier are something that only fans can feel when they meet their idol.

Jester himself has never been there even once.

In this enthusiastic report, Mark Saini praised Civilization to the point that it was almost as high as heaven and earth. He also said that it was the greatest game of all time. However, after praising it, Mark As a director of Mars Entertainment, Saini still expressed his personal opinion. He felt that Civilization is a game that is so popular that it can be said that it has no friends, but this The sales of this game are bound to be unsatisfactory.

Below, he also listed in detail the reasons why he said this.

He talked about a lot of things. Maybe when he wrote it, he had just played Civilization and he was still in shock and disbelief about the game. To be honest, Jester played it for the first time before he was reborn. When I play Civilization, it feels like I have discovered a brand new world. Therefore, I am not too strict in terms of wording, so some things are too messy.

After Jester read it quickly, he probably extracted two reasons from it, which were the same as his previous thoughts.

The sales volume of \u003c version of the game cannot be compared with that of home consoles. For example, Quake caused such a sensation and was called an epoch-making game by countless media. The sales volume of the game has only just exceeded one hundred Five hundred thousand units, this is the data obtained only after the Christmas season statistics last week.

If it were on a home console, such an influential game would have been on sale for almost three months now, and it would have already reached five or six million sets. Fortunately, there will be another one in late January. The launch of the DLC pack Thor Arena should increase sales by one piece, and it shouldn't be difficult to reach two million sets.

This is still Quake. This Civilization with too complicated gameplay is too difficult to achieve this kind of sales.

Secondly, the gameplay is not mainstream and not popular enough, which is also very fatal.

The game design of Civilization makes Mark Saini feel that it has an indescribable sense of freshness. (To be continued...)