Game Market 1983

< EP. 33: International Electronics Fair. (1) >

September 6, 1994.

One of September, when the heat of August is still rising.

I walked out the front door with a heavy travel carrier.

“I'll be back then. ”

“Have a safe trip. Joon-Hyuk.”

After preparing for my business trip, Yuki said goodbye to me with a slightly reminded expression. With her in front of me, I couldn't take a step, and I asked Yuki who was hesitating on the porch.

“Hmm. Are you sure it's okay without me? I could say I'm not going on business right now.”

“Of course, I wish Joon-Hyuk could be with me, but this is a pretty important event. C... what was it? ”

“Consumer Electronics Show (CES).) ”

Then Yuki opened his mouth, clapping his hands with a yellow smile.

“Oh, right. Is that... an electronics fair? ”

In Yuki's reply, I slowly nodded.

The event, which took place in Las Vegas, in the United States, was like a place where companies were promoting their consoles to people around the world during a time when there was no game-specific exhibition yet.

Of course, other than gaming appliances, household appliances such as TVs, refrigerators and air conditioning were the main household appliances, but gaming consoles were also participating in events annually because they were within the category of electronic appliances.

The CES held this year was, in a sense, a global event anticipated by Minten, NEGA and the Pentagon, although it could have been accompanied by several Pentagon personnel at other times.

“From today, when my sister comes home from work, I decided to sleep at my house for a while, so that's fine. ”

“Hmmm… Yuko, I should buy you a nice present when you come back. ”

I sat on my knees in front of Yuki, holding the carrier for a moment, and gently stroked her belly.

“I'm going on a business trip, Dad. Stay with your mom. ”

Yuki smiled and gently embraced my hair.

“Have a safe trip. Say hi to Ellis and Wilson for me. ”

“Yes. I will...”

After a while, you take the carrier and leave the mansion, a bright sunlight flashes down through the leaves, stabbing you in the eye.

Hang on, hang on, hang on, hang on.

Yuki, who came down with me, smiled comfortably because of the cooling cry of a cicada coming from somewhere. I said it was okay several times, but Yuki finally came out to meet me in the parking lot.

Seeing that she is traveling abroad, she also said she is fine, but she seems to have a big heart.

A smile was drawn on her mouth as she waved her hand hard beyond the rearview mirror.

"Family is a good thing..."

I suddenly felt that way as I left the mansion and bent the handle.

&

In a moment, let's reach Narita International Airport. I noticed a familiar face in front of the ticket office.

“Sir, over here. ”

I raised my hand slightly toward her as she was dragging the carrier in the presence of Kaori waving towards me.

Next to her are Hayashi and Maurita. And the Kawaguchi representative and her secretary, Sayuri, smiled and welcomed me.

“Did you say goodbye to Yuki well? ”

When I nodded slightly at Kaori's question, Hayashi, who was next to her, grabbed her head and said.

“Farewell to a full-time business trip, where do we go on such a long journey? ”

“It's a long way!! Across the globe!! ”

“No, I mean... Phew... Never mind. What am I gonna say to you? ”

In Hayashi's conversation with Kaori, we all smiled in front of the airline ticketing center and each of us held a carrier in our hands.

“So that's it? ”

Sayuri answered my question.

“No, there's the manager of the Pentagon shop, Miyazaki, and Uchimura, who designs figures -- oh, there he is. ”

When Sayuri said that, I saw them rushing towards us.

“Ahh... Ahh... Sorry I'm late. ”

With Miyazaki like that, Uchimu is almost out of breath...

They were appointed as an assistant to the CES event and decided to join them on this business trip.

At that moment, I took Miyazaki's carrier, who was about to collapse to the side, and I was surprised by the heavy feeling coming from my fingertips and asked her.

“What have you brought so much of? ”

“I've never been abroad before. I brought everything I could. ”

“They sell all the essentials there...”

“Th... right? ”

Hayashi tilted her head and slightly looked at Miyazaki's carrier and looked similar to me.

“This is too much weight to charge...”

But Uchimura's baggage, on the other hand, was a suitcase. Are you going to a two-night, three-day retreat?

“Uchimura... Is that the end of the package? ”

“Yes? Oh, yes. I thought it might be a good idea to live there…”

“ · · · · · ·. ”

Why is he so calm again?

I sighed and looked around.

When I asked the airport staff who was passing by if they were selling travel carriers, they fortunately told me that they had a shopping center underground.

“Do we still have time? ”

“Yes.”

Kaori's answer was that I quickly bought a new carrier from the underground mall and distributed Miyazaki's luggage.

It took us a while to share the luggage, but then we were able to finish the ticket and head to the boarding field.

After a brief examination of his departure, Khaori sighed and cried out as he left the country for the first time, when he came out to a shopping area with a colorful duty free shops.

“Tax-free!! Duty free!!"

Kaori's cry made the Kawaguchi representative look embarrassed at the watch.

“This is going to take a while. ”

I also agreed with the Kawaguchi Representative because I was checking boarding times.

“There are duty-free shops at Las Vegas Airport on the way back anyway, so why not shop there? ”

“Hehe... I was expecting an airport duty-free shop...”

Kaori blushed and apologized to Miyazaki, blushing his face.

“I'm sorry. I've been packing a lot of stuff...”

Then Uchimura opened his mouth to see if he could help Miyazaki.

“Apologies. I've brought too little baggage...”

“ · · · · · ·. ”

What are these people talking about?

When Uchimura looked at him with a frown, Sayuri, who was next to the Kawaguchi Representative, lifted his applause.

“Well, there's a simple duty-free shop near the boarding entrance, so let's get moving. ”

With her word as the eldest sister among the women, we set out for the boarding gate as a group.

Then, the Kawaguchi representative opened his mouth next to me.

“Joon-Hyuk, what happened in America the other day? Do you think he'll make it? ”

“Rob says I can barely keep up with the timing, but he doesn't give me an answer. ”

“The highlight of this conference is' that, 'which would be a little difficult if it wasn't done already? ”

“If you do that, the biggest payoff will be the NEGA in front of you. If not...”

“What if it's not...? ”

“Mintendo and Sensoni have put together a new device for your attention. ”

“Yes!? Don't tell CES about the new device!? ”

“There's a good chance.”

No, actually, this is for sure.

Mintendo and Sensoni are announcing the new Gear Station Project to CES because I've already been informed historically.

The fact that Kurakagi of Sensoni has been in and out of Mintendo almost every day since last year has been reported to me by a close associate in his time at Mintendo.

The Kawaguchi leader was surprised by Mintendo's quick footwork, and his expression was stiff.

Once the NEGA Saturn and Gear Station projects are announced, at CES, our Pentagon has nothing to show for the hardware.

Now I just want Rob to get to the CES venue on time...

&

Let's take a moment to think about the 1994 gaming industry. The early '90s combat game boom, which started at Street Fire 2 and led to the Psychic Force, was in big swings in' 94.

Released in December '93, Real Fighters from NEGA gave gamers tremendous cultural shock at the time.

Of course, I have had occasional experience with 3D graphics technology before, but it is rare for a work that expresses people in such detail.

Fighters made of polygon technology exhibited axial and transverse movements as opposed to traditional 2D games and exhibited fights of different dimensions in virtual space.

Especially when hit hard by the protagonist Akira, the pain was pleasant to the player as if he felt it directly.

It was a great piece to pursue reality in its true title.

The RealFighter's unique, merciless technical damage has left the skilled artisan stranded since the beginner.

The NEGA Real Fighter was the first and most notorious fighter since a beginner accidentally went around the lever and the skillful went to the goal, and was recognized as a defeat when he hurried off to the outside.

However, an ironic situation arose in the development of next-generation devices thanks to the best fighting games on behalf of the country.

And why is that?

It's because the NEGA Saturn was built on a thorough, 2D foundation from the planning stage.

Next-generation NEGA Saturn's goal was to create the best girl games at the arcade center, based on SMK's iconic games with absolute coin retrieval rates and stunning illustrations to form the core user base.

The average number of purchases a console mania makes per year is roughly five times that of a Light User. Saturn was obsessed with 2D technology as if he could overcome the failure of the operation by quickly completing and moving on to the next one.

By the way...

‘Suzuki Ryu', the main director of the company and not any other company, developed the innovative 3D game 'Real Fighter’. It was crazy and leapfrogging for the NEGA.

Because unfortunately, NEGA Saturn was too poor in 3D performance to turn the real fighter.

Eventually, the NEGA did not give up on Saturn, who was on the verge of completing its astronomical development due to a single 3D combat game. But the flow of time was gradually leaning toward 3D technology, and we couldn't completely ignore that reality.

And the NEGA came up with an answer. As always, with the worst possible technique...

How did you do that?

The worst way to force 3D performance into a fully built 2D console...