After watching the two games brought by Enix, Shirakawa Kaede was deeply stimulated.

A computer game company that was just founded last year and has no reputation. Just because of a game creation contest, more than 300 entries were received.

It can be seen that computer games were far more prosperous than imagined during this period, and no, it should be said that game lovers were far more active than imagined.

Most of the creators of these works are young people who are fascinated by computers and have extremely hands-on skills.

However, because the computer ecosystem has not yet been perfected, several major computer vendors have fought separately and have not formed a unified platform.

So these enthusiasts are talented, but they don't have a place to show their talents.

As a result, a company like Enix, which has no reputation, has a total prize pool of only 3 million yen, which can attract so many enthusiasts to actively submit.

To put it bluntly, it is neon at this time, and there is a lack of a stage for programming masters to display their talents.

Come to think of it, the computer system is not unified, and how can the various development software around the computer be taken seriously.

But now that Shirakawa Kaede is aware of this problem, there is no reason not to do it yourself.

With Shirakawa's reputation and the 10 million yen gimmick, he believed that HAL would receive far more works than Enix.

After all, Shirakawa Electric and HAL have their own appeal in the game industry, and HAL has released a lot of handheld and computer games in the past two years.

Even compared to Enix, HAL Research Institute is a well-known factory.

At this time, holding a game creation competition under the name of the "Golden Cross Game Competition" will definitely attract a large number of game enthusiasts to devote themselves to this cause.

The meaning of the "Golden Cross" comes from the home game console that Shirakawa Electric is about to release, and the cross keys on it are matched with the handle.

In the eyes of many people, this is almost already an iconic symbol of Shirakawa Electric and Electronic Games.

Because this button design has been used in handheld consoles for a long time, the FES console will further deepen people's impression of it.

"It's only February, and there's still time to do it. Take our Golden Cross Game Contest in May or June.

In the past few months, I have started to advertise in major media, especially print media, periodicals and magazines.

For example, "Video Game Daily", "Weekly Shonen Jump", "Monthly Microcomputer", "Shonen Magazine" and so on.

Be sure to spread the name of our Golden Cross to every corner of the neon computer world.

As for next year's second game competition, we can also" Suddenly Shirakawa Kaede paused, "Forget it, let's talk about next year's things later, let's focus on doing the things in front of us first." ”

Satoshi Iwata, who was writing with a brush on the side of "Hai", couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

To be honest, Kaede Shirakawa's constant flashes of inspiration are very charismatic, but it is also quite a drain to remember them one by one.

"FES will be listed on April 1st, no problem, right?"

Shirakawa Electric plans to launch its home game consoles in the first half of the year, leaving CD players and walkmans in the middle of the year, and desktops and speakers at the end of the year.

The release of new products throughout the year is planned in detail.

This is conducive to the rational use of resources, and also avoids the accumulation of new products and internal competition for attention.

Shirakawa Electric has not yet grown into an electronic empire, and it has gathered all its products for a grand press conference like later generations, and it is still unable to support such a stage.

As for the game consoles, they are placed in the first half of the year, completely in preparation for the following summer vacation.

After all, its consumer group is mostly students, so it is an excellent time to make FES famous two months before the summer vacation.

"The machine has been commissioned many times and runs smoothly. We also did a lot of screening in the starting game lineup. ”

The family game console is basically in charge of Iwata Satoshi, and during this period, Shirakawa Kaede only asked a few questions, so he didn't pay much attention to it.

Judging by the current results, he did not disappoint Shirakawa Kaede, and Iwata-san really has an extraordinary talent in the field of programming.

If you calculate that the entire development cycle is about a year and a half, it's already pretty good.

"Since there is no problem, let's do the publicity that should be done."

Everything is ready, so let's take it out and shine it.

After making further adjustments to HAL's home game console and future development plans, Shirakawa Kaede also took the time to meet Kenzo Tsujimoto, who was introduced by Satoshi Iwata.

He is older than Hudson's Yuji Kudo and Enix's Yasuhiro Fukushima, and looks a lot like the Yakuza Boss in the movie.

If it weren't for a pair of gold-rimmed glasses and a polite appearance, Shirakawa Kaede would almost think that he was meeting a member of the club.

Kenzo Tsujimoto, who is in his early forties this year, originally did a good job in the arcade field, but since last year, the competition in arcades has entered a white heat.

While several mainstream manufacturers such as Taito, Nintendo, Sega, and Namco were having a good time, Kenzo Tsujimoto's Sanbi Co., Ltd. couldn't hold on to it first.

No, Sanbi did not fall. Kenzo Tsujimoto, who owed a lot of debt, resigned and became a member of the army of unemployed.

"Tsujimoto-san, I heard Iwata-san say that you still want to continue your game career?"

"Hay, I don't think the pursuit of entertainment will ever go away, and the outlook for the industry is far more optimistic than what we see now."

"Can you tell us what you think?"

"The contemptible man was going to set up a new Capcom company, and the first business was still arcade games. Because I know it best, and I know it best.

Since then, Capcom has also planned to enter the computer gaming industry. Judging from the market situation in the past two years, it may be another big game platform in the future. ”

Arcade before computer games? It seems that more and more people are realizing the future potential of computer games.

"What do you think about Shirakawa Electric being able to invest in the establishment of Capcom, a 40% stake of 30 million yen?"

Shirakawa Electric has not yet set foot in the arcade field, and since there is an opportunity in front of us, it is okay to give it a try.

The arcade machine is a large investment, and the start-up capital is far from being a few million yen.

However, in the face of Shirakawa Kaede's generous offer, Kenzo Tsujimoto shook his head with a serious face.

"Shirakawa-san, I only need 10 million yen to be enough, and Capcom's shares can give up 30%."

Shirakawa Kaede unexpectedly raised his head and looked at him deeply, "Okay, just follow what Tsujimoto said." 10 million, 30% of the shares. ”

is another ambitious person, in the face of Shirakawa Electric's olive branch, he only took the part he wanted to take.

I hope that such people will have a pleasant cooperation experience in the future.

Because Capcom is still in its infancy, it will not be a third-party game developer for FES for the time being.

But don't worry, Taito and Namco have joined the camp of developers of Shirakawa Electric home game consoles.

Both of these are giants in the arcade space, and they have a large number of arcade game IPs under their names.

Just port a few models to the FES platform, and it will be enough to sell them for a whole year.

But also because it is a giant, the treaty reached between Shirakawa Electric and them is much more lenient than that of Hudson's clubs.

For example, only about 26% of the commission remains, and the production of the game cartridge is also the responsibility of Taito and Namco themselves.

After all, FES has not yet proven its potential, and Taidong and Namco are not objects that Shirakawa can handle at will.

So in the end, after many consultations between the two sides, such an agreement was reached.

Including its own HAL, there are as many as 6 game developers of Shirakawa Electric.

In a short period of time, there is no need to worry about the game's lineup.

And Shirakawa Kaede believes that after FES makes its name, more and more game manufacturers will sign agreements with Shirakawa Electric.

Kyoto, Nintendo.

Yamauchi looked at the newspaper in front of him, his brows furrowed.

"Shirakawa Electric's home game console will be released in April, how is our product progressing now?"

"Uh" Masayuki Uemura wiped the sweat from his forehead, "The design is complete, but the final debugging work is still being done." ”

Because of the late selection of chips, Nintendo's game consoles have just completed the adaptation of the whole machine so far.

Some details are still being worked on and the final fine-tuning is still being made.

"Advance the release time of our home game console, which is scheduled for April 1st, and the same day as Shirakawa Electric's game console."

Nintendo originally planned to release its own home game console in July, but Shirakawa's actions made him decide to abandon the original plan.

"But Yamauchi-san, although the design work has been completed. But the debugging of the game is not over yet, is two months too rushed? ”

Masayuki Uemura can't say that the commissioning of new products is just as important.

It is equivalent to the last level of product quality inspection, and only after internal confirmation that there is no problem with the operation, can it be safely introduced to the market.

If there is no such step, or if it is carried out relatively sloppily. In the future, once you encounter an unknown BUG, it will be a fatal blow to the reputation of the product.

"It's April 1st, so there's no need to say anything about that! As for the debugging problem, if you can't catch up, then work overtime.

In short, I want Nintendo's home machine not to be later than the release date of Shirakawa Electric, this is the bottom line! ”

Yamauchi Pu gave the order categorically, and the unquestionable Uemura Masayuki in his tone felt numb.

"Hay!" Although he was extremely helpless, he could only grit his teeth and agree.

"Go ahead, this is a crucial battle for Nintendo, and there must be no mistakes!"

"Hay!"

Watching Masayuki Uemura leave with a depressed face, Yamauchi Pu also sighed deeply.

The release of Shirakawa Electric's home game console put him under a lot of pressure, and he fought with the other party for so long.

Yamauchi knows that he must not give the other party any chance to take the lead, otherwise Nintendo will probably never be able to catch up.

Therefore, even though he knew that the progress of his products was in a hurry, he still ordered the people below to catch up with Shirakawa Electric at all costs.

It's just that Yamauchi doesn't know that the manufacturers who want to release home game consoles on April 1 are far more than Shirakawa Electric and Nintendo.

The third entrant has also been grinding his fists and secretly waiting for the opportunity.

(End of chapter)