Game Market 1983

EP. 9: Loose Companies (3)

But it's a company that has what I really want.

I watched Cudo's face for a moment, then smiled slightly and said to him,

“Ms. Grant, why don't we try this? ”

The control of the conversation is now completely over me. Kurdo's depressed face, full of debt, looked at me with a half-forsaken look.

“Hand this company over to me. ”

“Excuse me?”

“Ms. Asafi Kudo can no longer afford to develop game software, can she? ”

“But handing over the company is a little...”

“How about this? I will repay all the debts Triangle Soft owes you. And I'll give Mr. Cudo an extra 30 million yen. ”

“Th-thirty million!? ”

Thirty million yen is equivalent to 300 million in our country's money. Three hundred million in 1980's is a lot of money. As I understand it, the bank debt that Triangle is currently in is about 20 million. It's like swallowing up a company for 50 million yen.

“But do you have that kind of money as an undergraduate in Mintendo staff? ”

“I have money. It's too difficult to start a company as an undergraduate. ”

“Ugh."

In fact, when I came to Japan in the 1980s, I made two big mistakes.

That is that you have set your age too young. I had just started studying in Japan. These are the two factors that put me in a state where I can do nothing, even with two billion yen.

Why? The first is that no matter how much money you have, you cannot pay for your business because you live in Japan for a short period of time.

Foreigners had to live in Japan for at least five years to establish a new company in Japan, and they needed a career in the company.

In addition, business items were also unknown whether the Japanese government would approve them or not, so it was obvious that no matter how much money I had, as a 21-year-old Korean student, I would not approve the business.

‘Even if we start our console business right away, will the devices that Koreans have established in Japan be successful during Atari shock? Starting unprepared is a shortcut to destruction... First, you have to build a career so that no one can tackle you. ’

So I decided to use Gunpei.

Using him, I first joined Mintendo, who will start the gaming industry from the '80s to' 90s.

Since the job standards and public bonds were not more difficult than I thought, once the game & watch was in the excitement, I became close to Gunpei who was located in Mintendo, I was able to pass easily.

In addition, he brought Shigeru to me as a great fortune.

Both of them have earned us some credit from President Kamachi.

As a result, I was identified as a business associate, and the remainder was a matter of time to resolve. By the way... I didn't know this Kamauchi guy was going to send me to America with a shotgun.

I ended up spending a year in America, but that wasn't so bad either. Rather, in Mintendo, Gunpei and Shigei became key figures, and the direction was slightly changed, but eventually they came up with a new console design.

The new console development department is currently researching the upper limits of the device specs, and among the people who created the existing family, advanced engineers have been selected to work with me.

In other words, I created a department that would extract the most critical skills and put myself in that position. If I had poker with Kamauchi and Gunpei Shigei, the card in my hand would have been the hand of the royal straight.

“What do you think? Do you like my offer? Don't you think you could use that money to start a company like this? ”

“Th-that's good. For that amount, I will hand over our triangle software to Joon-Hyuk. ”

“Oh, by the way, I have one condition. ”

“Th-the conditions? ”

The look on Cudo's face makes me think twice about what I said, so I guess he's been stressed out by his finances. I opened my mouth, smiling slightly at him.

“Would you like to travel abroad after filling out the paperwork? Uh, about a year? Oh, I'll pay for the trip, too. ”

“W-why are you abroad all of a sudden? ”

“You know Kagemusha, right? In fact, Mr. Cudo has to be registered as a ghost president for the next year or so.”

Shadow Blader.

It refers to a false lord who has the same outfit and appearance as the lord to prevent the assassination of enemies in the Edo era. If you receive a transfer of a company founded by a Japanese person, it doesn't matter if you are a foreigner. It's just that if you live in Japan more than three years, you can buy it with money.

&

In January 1987, I cleaned out the office of Triangle Soft, which was full of cardboard boxes. And put a new mission in front of the office.

- Pentagon Soft-

I took two more dots from my old name Triangle and changed my mission to the Pentagon, meaning pentagon. I wipe away the dirt from my hands and gladly gaze at the halfway mission.

I paid my rent, and now it's time to show up. ’

Then I heard a man's voice behind my back.

“Hey, who are you? ”

Mr. Kawaguchi turned his head and looked at me with a questionable face.

“Huh? Anyone from Mintendo I met at the Dragon Warrior? ”

“Hello, Kawaguchi. ”

“How did you...? ”

“Technical support. Tri-no. I want to help you with a new project for Pentagon Soft. ”

“Is Mr. Cudo in? ”

“Ah, the fact that you're traveling abroad for a while... is actually just Kawaguchi and me. ”

He cleared his debts with an advance made last month, met with a lawyer to fill out the contract documents and then left for Europe.

“What?? ”

“So Kawaguchi was in charge of this Pentagon software for a while. ”

“Am I...? ”

Kawaguchi looked at me with a silly look. When I opened the office door lightly and stepped inside, Kawaguchi followed me around with his tongue on the different interior interior.

“Is this really Triangle Soft? ”

“No. Pentagon Soft. It's not a triangle that promotes a higher society, it's a place where both the president and the employee create the best games as developers within an equinox framework. Of course, the main director, Kawaguchi, will be in charge of this place for the time being. ”

“When is Mr. Cudo coming back? ”

“That's going to be a little longer... a year? Or is it gonna take a little longer than that? ”

“I just came to see if things were getting a little better with my salary.”

“We have disposed of all the existing malicious inventory. Now, as a Pentagon, they said they had all the capacity to create new games. What do you think? The last fantasy game you ever made. Why don't you make it here? I'm also here to help. ”

“Final... frontier. ”

“Yes?”

“We've named the new game the Final Frontier. And finally, as a game designer, I'm going to unleash the power of the spirit. ”

Final Frontier.

A masterpiece of a memorable era was born for all gamers.

&

Since then, I've rushed the production of the Final Frontier with Kawaguchi.

Of course, I couldn't stop by every day because I had an office in Tokyo, but at least once when I was traveling for work in Tokyo.

Kawaguchi seemed to have found a breakthrough after playing the Dragon Warrior I lent him. At that time, the game producer didn't care much about BGM, but Kawaguchi realized that BGM is essential for dramatic performances to double the fun of the game.

As soon as I put on the title, the epic BGM of the Dragon Warrior seemed to ask the user if they were ready for an adventure. Music flowing from the field was also enough to actually feel like we were going on an adventure with our colleagues.

There, Mr. Kawaguchi recruited a new composer to the company, who could produce gaming music at all, which is a curious choice for classical composers. Among them, he specialized in piano.

And against the illustrator Toriyama Akira, who was popular with children, he used Amano Yoshitaka from Tatsunoko Production, famous for his‘ Eagle Brother ’.

“I can see the age range of the Kawaguchi after the party. ”

I was reviewing the finale frontier's proposal and smiled slightly at Mr. Kawaguchi.

“Is it too hot to be picking on the Dragon Warrior? ”

“Not a bad idea. If the Dragon Warrior is a simple story that gives a child dreams and hopes, then the age of the Final Frontier is a bit higher than that for adults in junior high school. ”

“Right away. A battle scene feels like a battle against an enemy. I've put characters and monsters on one screen. What do you think? I was watching the NFL a while ago, and the tension of the players facing me before handing the ball to the quarterback was overwhelming. ”

“Nervous... I wouldn't maximize the tension in battle just by facing each other.”

“So this is how I planned the battle. ”

The battle with the monsters Mr. Kawaguchi showed me was using an active battle system.

With a gauge that allows you to choose between monsters and player characters, the alternating ways monsters and players attack each other in the order in which the gauge rises was a groundbreaking way to underpin the future of the Final Frontier.

“But Joon-Hyuk. I've always wondered, you know, you have a very unique knowledge of game planning and coding. Thanks to this, the development of the Final Frontier was very smooth. ”

“Really? I'm glad you could help. ”

“With this level of skill, you can even compare it to Shigeru in Mintendo. Why don't you develop a game? ”

“Well, I'm actually building one as a hobby. ”

“As a hobby? What type of game is it? ”

“It's still a secret. I can't tell you. Haha”

I smiled at Kawaguchi and avoided his answer. After coming back from the United States earlier last year, the game that had been made little by little was about to be finished.

But it is clear that I am not willing to play this game in the name of Minten.

─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─