Game Market 1983

< EP 45: Tokyo Game Show. (2) >

There is not necessarily a degree to the path of learning.

It does not mean that you have to come out of middle school and high school to get a good job only when you go to university. And I, of course, agree with that idea.

However, as the economic recession continues, students who graduate from high school and jump right into the line of work began to decline.

The Japanese government said the game would be restored in a few minutes, but it's been six years... and it's only been getting worse.

In the early '90s, a number of unemployed businesses emerged, with some large and small businesses lined up to collect bank bonds, but no company was able to accept them.

So unemployed people were mostly flocking to day-workers and part-time jobs, and as income decreased, consumption naturally decreased.

On the other hand, the company that reduced headcount wanted people with the skills and academic skills that could be put into practice to achieve the same performance as before, so job thresholds increased and young people knocked on university doors for stable job activities.

Perhaps it was at this time that an institution called a university became part of a job activity rather than an academic institution to build academia.

However, not all students in Japan have a large number of universities, and in a short period of time, it appeared to be a "professional institute" for young people who want to build their job specs.

Unlike normal universities, a ‘professional institute’ that tightly transfers all the skills needed for practice as a two-year graduation course was strongly appealed to the fact that it was a professional institution for employment, leveraging 9 hours a day from Monday through Friday compared to the school's extensive schedule.

The Japanese Institute of Electronics where I am now was one of those institutions.

The whole school was like one giant department of computer engineering, where almost all skills using PCs were distributed by academics and taught in different curriculum courses such as games, hands-on programming, and design industries.

Among them, it is renowned for its expertise in ‘gaming production’ among many curriculum courses, and many of its graduates are employed by Pentagon and other gaming companies.

I felt sorry for the children who leaned against the window and swallowed empty bread.

“Are you guys hungry for lunch...? ”

“No, I ate it all. ”

A male student swept his glasses with a cream on his lips and smiled at me.

If you're 18, you can eat anything, but if you turn around, you're hungry.

But no one eats it. It's a combat meal.

At that time, Suzuko, a few girls from the club, approached me and gave me a loaf of bread.

“Aren't you going to eat? ”

“Don't worry, I was hungry on the way here, so I ate first. ”

“Well, thank you. ”

Still, I appreciate you thinking of me as a woman.

With a puff of lamb balls and a mouthful of creamy bread, she smiles at me as she sprays them.

In fact, the students here were comprised of children belonging to the top group among the many Gamemaking academies that existed within the professional institute.

The Japanese Institute of Electronics specializes in game design and game programming. In addition to character design, it was a group of four students, including a 3D graphics department, which was created last year.

Last May, after holding a seminar on the gaming industry from this institute's grand auditorium.

At the request of my students and the request of my advisor, I chose the most talented students and assigned them a 'secret' special class.

The total number of people in my class is 20. Among them, there are students who make money as a part-time student, although there are changes in working only 10 people as of today, in addition to regular classes...

With only the top five students in each department, the club was a project team for the Tokyo game show at the institute.

At the Tokyo Games Show, they also received booth applications from gaming companies as well as educational institutions to foster new talent, which allowed them to enter the game show as much as they wanted by creating a playable game.

It was an institution that teaches practical skills, and because the department was run by teachers in the field, it was somewhat basic for students.

“How's the project going? ”

In my question, Suzuko said, swallowing the bread that was in his mouth.

“There are still bugs everywhere, but I think it's okay. ”

“Really? Do you want me to take a look at it for you? ”

Then the students who had finished packing the bread bags from the back shouted at me.

“No! That's okay, we want to take care of this by the end. ”

Tsk... Everyone was stubborn... And raised their disciples well!

In fact, I was assigned to this club for a number of reasons, one of which was that everything I did was hidden from the public.

Recently, the industry has been focusing solely on the volume of games sold, so freshness has fallen due to the trend that major gaming companies have been focusing solely on existing series water instead of new IPs.

Besides, it's still Sensoni and the NEGA. And at a time when one of the Pentagons didn't have enough leverage over the industry, everyone rushed to take care of major companies and the indie games caught their eye...

‘But wait and see. Maybe you'll think differently after the show starts. ’

I returned someday and gladly looked at the students who were engaged in the work.

“Before we get to work, I want to tell you something. ”

In my voice, the heads of the students turned toward me as one.

“You do know that this project replaces the graduation piece, right? ”

“Yes, of course. ”

“Speaking of which, my guess is that once this game is in the Tokyo Games Show, there will be offers to join you here and there. ”

“Oh... is there a Pentagon among them? ”

In one student's question, I raised my head slightly.

“No, I'm sorry for you, but the Pentagon won't take any of you. ”

“Yes!? ”

All the students in the classroom were surprised at my reassurance.

When I met them for the first time and introduced myself, almost everyone chose to join the Pentagon as one of the companies I wanted, so it was probably a natural reaction.

I looked at the faces of the students who were almost getting depressed for a moment, and I smiled and followed them.

“I'm going to take you with me, and I'm going to start a little game soft company. ”

“Yes…!? ”

“Of course, on a company scale, it's nothing compared to the Pentagon, but salary and welfare levels will apply equally. ”

“Sir, can I ask you a question? ”

“Of course.”

“Aren't you the director of the Pentagon? So most of the games we make will be in the Pentagon, so why are you doing such a tiresome job? ”

When I answered the student's question, I stroked my mouth for a moment.

“Because it's fun.”

“Yes?”

“If you settle down on one of the platforms like you said, you can extract a certain level of gaming in a very stable environment. But in the case of Nankoh in Iron Fist or Capco in Street Fire, they are not satisfied with one platform and they launch their games in a wide variety of different ways. And in the meantime, you get a Sensoni or a love call from the NEGA, and that goes for our Pentagon. I want you to grow up in more diverse environments. In order to do that, I want you to create a great game that increases your own value. I have no doubt that this game show will bring a great transition to your lives. Everyone deserves that, and they've tried. ”

“Ah…”

“So let's start with the last-minute work, shall we? ”

“Yes!! ”

To what degree did my advice go, I felt a change in the atmosphere of the students' work.

In fact, I've been thinking about it for a long time.

The games I make are, of course, sold and distributed to Pentagon devices. And the final frontier series created by Kawaguchi will also be released as Complete Raon.

Because the Pentagon, unlike its past history, has become the first party to build a console...

Kawaguchi and his sub-director, Nomura, who recently created numerous Final Frontier series, were in charge of the lead of the new Final Frontier series, and the seventh series was anticipating an unprecedented ‘big talk’ in the gaming industry.

Using 3D polygons, the first RPG game 'Final Frontier 7’ was originally famous for its ending in the battle between the Gear Station and the NEGA Saturn in history.

But, um...

Now that Complete Raon has been released. Final Frontier 7 was in a state of unprecedented anticipation that it would be released to its console once production was complete.

But not being able to see the war between the consoles that was so exciting, I had a funny thought, whether I felt like I was committing a great sin against the gamers of this age.

"If one fire burns down, it burns up another..."

&

The first weekend of December, 1995.

“Whoa!!!!! ”

A large crowd gathered in front of the Big Site building in Odaiba, Japan.

It has four inverse pyramid-like structures, a total of 10 exhibition halls and a free observation deck, which was frequently used as an international showroom.

Soon after the opening of the event, everyone was nervous, and I left the Pentagon for a moment and headed to the 'Japanese Electronics Studies' booth.

“Teacher! ”

The size of the booth assigned to the professional school was so small compared to the Pentagon and other companies, but the children seemed to have no problem with it. Unfortunately, it was adjacent to a booth in the NEGA, so when I showed up, I sent a cold glance from the NEGA side, but it had nothing to do with that.

“How's it going? ”

In my question, Suzuko, who was sitting in front of the PC, smiled with his thumb raised.

“Don't worry. ”

“Okay, I'll stop by at the conference later. ”

It was then.

“Hah! Haaah!! Hah!! Oorah!! ”

... What kind of fighting pits are we in here with no eggs...?

Turning to the walking voice, a man in a karate gown at Saturn Bushwith, NEGA, was practicing screaming onstage.

“Oh... he's...”

“Wow!! Amazing!!"

“It's Sansiro Negata!! ”

It's called the NEGA saturn poem.)

A model of CF, born out of a pun, his name made him an ambassador for NEGA Saturn.

But it's not just the name that's famous...

The fact that he's the main character of Japan's first masquerade film.

‘No matter how bad-mannered the NEGA may be, this game show in Tokyo is a very important event for them. ’

Future console fights are games, but marketing will be very important…