Game Development Giant

Gameboy currently has many shortcomings. The biggest one is, for example, after installing four AA batteries, it was originally designed to be a portable handheld phone, but it still seems a bit heavy. Another example is the black and white screen. Now look at it. Somewhat outdated.

Thinking of the black and white screen, Kutaragi seemed to have thought of something. He seemed to know the reason why Sega had not come up with a handheld machine that could be sold during this period. The most likely possibility was that they were developing a feasible handheld machine with a color screen. machine.

Is it difficult to get a color screen?

According to Kutaragi Ken, it is not difficult at all. The difficulty is that a color screen requires much more power than a black and white screen. Now Mars Entertainment’s gameboy with a black and white screen requires four AA batteries. If it were replaced with How many color screens are needed to ensure the same battery life?

Eight yuan or ten yuan?

Ken Kutaragi can't explain this clearly. It needs to be tested based on the power of the color screen. However, Ken Kutaragi knows that if the battery life problem cannot be solved, then a color screen handheld phone will not be feasible. It can even be said bluntly that as long as If the power problem of battery life is not solved, then the handheld phone with a color screen will definitely die.

This is also the reason why Kutaragi didn't let Sony's R\u0026D personnel develop handheld phones.

Because according to Kutaragi Kenyan, Sony's biggest advantage is that its technology research and development capabilities are much stronger than those of Mars Entertainment and Sega, whether it is on home machines or in any aspect. However, the bottleneck of handheld mobile phones is now very big, and the research and development of It is not difficult to make a mobile phone more advanced than Gameboy.

The difficulty is that I don't have as strong game development capabilities as Mars Entertainment, so I can support an entire platform by myself.

Unless the handheld mobile phone he developed can keep his opponents behind and win the victory in one fell swoop, otherwise, he will be defeated in a short time. It is unlikely to intervene in the field of handheld mobile phones to compete with Mars Entertainment.

Moreover, Kutaragi Ken is not very optimistic about Sega's efforts in this area. He feels that Sega's current efforts are in the wrong direction. Indeed, players do want handheld phones with color screens. This is not because players are already interested in black and white screens. I am tired of mobile phones. This is just like color TV replacing black and white TV, and color movies replacing black and white movies. It is a natural succession.

The problem is, you need the color screen to fully meet the other indicators of the black and white screen.

At least in this day and age. In Kutaragi Ken's opinion, it is very difficult to do. This is difficult to do, which does not mean that it cannot be done. If we do not hesitate to cost, use carbon fiber as the frame, and use Panasonic's latest storage battery technology for energy, it can still be done. Completed.

But as for the cost, I can only guess.

But it seems Sega has no intention of giving up. This is indeed the case. After all, Mars Entertainment has proven how large the market for handheld mobile phones is, and they are just watching such a huge market being almost completely occupied by Mars Entertainment. No one can tolerate using it as their back garden to make money.

But who told people to enter the market early and have already completed the market occupation with a few high-quality games in the early stage?

In short, Kutaragi Ken is not optimistic about Sega's efforts in handheld phones. On the contrary, Nintendo and Ken Kutaragi think they have a lot to do.

One of Nintendo's requirements for agreeing to completely withdraw from the home console market is a guarantee that it will not hinder their entry into the handheld console market. Although Jester was very reluctant at the time, he and Nakayama Hayao didn't want to see Jester live too happily on the handheld machine, so they discussed it and jointly approved Nintendo's request.

This incident made Jester very unhappy at the time.

Kutaragi Ken was still a little confused at the time, but soon when I thought about it again, I came back to my senses, because he suddenly discovered that this kind of fragmented game development is actually very suitable for Nintendo's development style, and , Nintendo’s biggest weakness is their hardware development capabilities.

It can be used to its full potential on handheld phones that do not require too advanced development technology.

At least not inferior to Mars Entertainment.

After thinking of this, Ken Kutaragi suddenly understood. No wonder Jester was furious at that time. It turned out that the inadvertent actions of himself and Nakayama Hayao directly hit his weak spot.

However, in Kutaragi's view, even if Nintendo is suitable for the development of handheld games, this will only cause a little trouble for Mars Entertainment's share of the handheld market. He does not want Sony to intervene in the handheld game now. This is the reason for the machine market.

That is, unless they can be ten times better than Mars Entertainment, it will be impossible to shake their share of the mobile phone market.

The trend has been achieved.

With many years of experience at Sony, he has seen too many ways of stabilizing the situation and strangling opponents by relying on the trend. As he was thinking about it, he also picked up a Gameboy in his hand. Let's play around. There is a chain on the back of the gameboy that is locked on the cabinet to prevent it from being taken away.

The cassette inserted in this gameboy is a series of Super Balotelli. Ken Kutaragi also likes this game that adults and children can experience endless fun. He often plays it with his son at home. This is his first time playing with a mobile phone.

He was surprised to find that the smooth operation of the handheld phone was no worse than that of the home phone. Although the picture was black and white, the picture was still very beautiful. Players could clearly distinguish the characters inside, and they could pause at any time. You can even save archives, probably because there is a memory chip inside the gameboy for storage.

After passing three levels in a row and knowing that all three lives were lost, Kutaragi reluctantly placed the mobile phone in his hand on the cabinet.

A profound invention.

He had only heard about it before and personally tried it out and operated it. This was really the first time for Kutaragi Ken. But even if it was the first time, Kutaragi Ken still deeply felt the charm of this little toy in his hand. He could think of this The person with the idea has simply studied the player's mind to an incredible degree.

It is said that this was Jester’s idea from the beginning in 1984 when he first established Mars Entertainment.

Did Jester Lee think at that time that handheld mobile phones would play a big role in the future?

Kutaragi Ken didn't want to believe it, because this answer was too scary for him. He couldn't imagine that his main opponent in the future would be not only an unparalleled game developer, but also any game he developed would be a big one. Sells, and more importantly, his insight into player psychology.

This was what worried him the most.

Exhaling a breath, Kutaragi calmed down his mood. Just when he wanted to see what other handheld games were available for trial this time, he saw a 29-inch computer not far away from him. An image of Jester suddenly appeared on the TV screen.

Jester stood on a rostrum that was neither too high nor too wide. Behind him was a large screen, which was constantly playing some reviews of Mars Entertainment games, starting from their first game. It started with the game American Cube and continued to the later Super Balotelli Series, Avengers series, Contra series and so on.

Many game images flash past, and every time a new image appears, a burst of extremely enthusiastic cheers will inevitably erupt from the crowd below the rostrum.

And Jester stood on the podium, smiling as he watched the people cheering in the audience.

Kutaragi Ken saw such a live broadcast on the TV screen, and he seemed to suddenly have a feeling in his heart. It seemed that here, Jester was their king, and they, these players, were facing They worshiped their king.

But the thought was fleeting, and Kutaragi shook his head to drive the thought out of his mind.

But the image of Jester smiling as he faced the roaring mountains and tsunami could not be removed from his mind. In fact, a shot that made him feel ridiculous flashed through his mind, that is He seemed to be standing on a podium, and below the podium were thousands of players cheering crazily, and the object of their cheers was no longer Jester, but himself.

Although this thought was driven out of his mind the moment it appeared again, Kutaragi Ken still clenched his fists involuntarily. Even he didn't know that he was just warning himself not to think nonsense, or reminding him. , this is his future goal and dream.

In short, Kutaragi Ken was standing there, looking straight at the TV screen.

On the TV screen, a section reviewing the history of Mars entertainment on the big screen behind Jester has finished playing, but the cheers of the audience are already loud and noisy. On the big screen, Welcome to Mars also appears. Entertainment carnival sign.

Jester kept pressing down his hands, trying to make the audience and players pause for a while. Obviously, he had something to say.

But the players at the scene were so excited, especially the game replays of Mars Entertainment that appeared on the big screen just now, which brought back the memories deep in their hearts, and their emotions were even more exciting, so until After Jester pressed down four or five times in a row, the players became completely quiet. (To be continued...)