At Tsukino Aya's home, she was dressed as usual, wearing very little clothing, feeling safe only at home, feeling like she could wear less.
She simply squatted on the chair, her eyes blinking as she browsed through all the posts related to game consoles and Super Baseball Tournament.
This was her first time participating in game development, and on the day of release, she was still so nervous, always hoping to see some positive reviews of the game on the internet.
But throughout the entire release day, the internet seemed calm, as if the game had never been released.
In a certain forum, the gaming console section created due to the popularity of game consoles was particularly quiet today.
Where did everyone go?
Could it be... they all went to buy the latest game?
Tsukino Aya thought so, but she also found it hard to believe.
If there were so many people willing to buy it online, maybe even more would buy it offline?
No way, this game isn't that fun.
Tsukino Aya wasn't the target audience for sports games, but making games and experiencing games were two different feelings.
She enjoyed the moment when the game was successfully made and ran, representing a world being created in her field.
Just like a creator.
This was more interesting than the game itself.
Among those who felt as nervous as her were the dozens of employees who participated in game development together.
Throughout the day at work, they would constantly inquire about the sales process at various stores.
When they heard that many people were queuing up, they would breathe a sigh of relief, but then they would start to worry about whether the quality of the game itself would pass.
At the company, Takayuki looked at these nervous people and couldn't help but smile.
"Everyone."
Takayuki stood in front of the desk on the second floor, clapping his hands to draw the attention of the programmers.
"I know what you're worried about right now, but what I want to say is that whether a game is popular or not sometimes doesn't just depend on the initial sales."
People raised their heads, looking at Takayuki with confusion.
What do you mean by not looking at the initial game sales?
"Just like a brand-new TV series, a brand-new product, it may not necessarily be popular at first, and it also needs word-of-mouth to ferment. Sometimes, even if you put in the effort, you may not really get a return."
"Game development also has a lot of uncertainties. Sometimes some games inexplicably become popular."
"When you played the game, did you feel its fun?"
People nodded.
They truly felt the joy from the game.
"That's enough, just like a work of art, a game is also a form of art. I call it the ninth art, and art, first of all, needs to impress oneself before impressing others."
"As long as it impresses you enough, then you're already halfway there."
"President, what about the other half?" a programmer asked loudly.
"The other half, well, that depends on the players. This is something no one can control, but one thing to remember is that respecting the players is the most important. If you do that, the chances of the other half being successful will greatly increase."
With Takayuki's words, they couldn't completely relax, but at least they felt a lot more at ease.
Perhaps there was really no need to be so nervous and anxious.
"Okay, about the Super Baseball Tournament project, for now, we can put an end to it. Next, we will have a completely new project."
Takayuki came to encourage them for a purpose. He wanted these people to regroup and not be stuck in one circle. Employing these employees was not just about making one game and ending it.
"This time, I will separate you guys. It's a bit wasteful to have fifty or sixty people working on one game, and what I need is to divide you guys up."
In the first month of game development, Takayuki could also observe some people among them who truly had the ability to develop games.
Just like the producers of Japanese TV dramas, responsible for overall planning and guiding the TV series.
After one game's development, it was obvious that some people were starting to stand out.
Not to say they could do it all by themselves, but according to their guidance, they could do the corresponding work well, and occasionally shine.
Next, he planned to divide them directly into several production teams for the separate production of games.
"Zhang, Miyaji, Kohara, and... you twenty will temporarily form the first production team. Next, I will give you the direction of production. You will be responsible for the production of the Rocket Car game."
"Ishigaki, Shimokawa... you fifteen will be responsible for a long-term project, the sequel to Dragon Quest, which may take six months or even a year to complete. You need to have enough patience for this."
"And the remaining computer electronic engineers, Eri Hayasaka will lead you to specialize in the development of game consoles. Game consoles not only need the main body but also some additional peripheral devices to enhance the expandability and playability of the game console. I have already given Miss Eri Hayasaka the specific research and planning. She will brief you on the work."
Takayuki quickly divided everyone into roughly three groups.
Then he planned to expand the manpower again after these people completed the game development work within a year, and let some of the current people take on the role of producers again, branching out and being responsible for more types of games at the same time.
The employees assigned to the producer positions were excited.
This meant that their work was being valued and paid attention to, but at the same time, the responsibility on their shoulders was heavier than before.
And once people started to feel the pressure, the previous worries about game sales data were slowly diminishing, and they began to invest themselves in the new project.
After arranging the work plan for these employees, Takayuki began to look through the recent newspapers.
The Red and White Machine had gradually become a popular product in just one month.
More and more people were discussing it, and now it didn't need as much advertising to start having an impact.
In one newspaper, there was even a column about the Red and White Machine.
In this column, there were explanations and recommendations for Red and White Machine games, just like recommendations for TV dramas.
Tokyo Asahi Shimbun.
This was one of the giants of the Japanese newspaper industry, with a daily circulation of tens of millions, ranking in the top three in the world.
It was truly admirable, with such effortlessly high sales that it could crush any industry, with profit margins and popularity that were staggering.
Unfortunately, the game industry, like the TV and film industries, was a product that consumed a lot of time and couldn't be compared to the newspaper industry at all.
But speaking of which, it seemed that he could really consider setting up a dedicated gaming magazine, which would also increase the stickiness of gamers.
Hmm, maybe he could discuss it with Daigo Ikeda.
By the way, I'll ask about Tsuchiya Sansuke's recent situation and get feedback from readers as well.
"President Takayuki, it's been a long time since I received your call. I suppose the company must have been very busy preparing and operating during this time?"
Ikeda Daigo was just handling business, but when he saw it was Takayuki calling, he immediately put down his work and answered hastily.
Takayuki and the magazine company are currently in a partnership status. Earlier, Ikeda had considered calling Takayuki because of the Dragon Quest matter.
However, he learned through news and other channels that Takayuki's company had been very busy lately, so he had to temporarily postpone it and wait for this period to pass before saying anything.
But he didn't expect Takayuki to call him first.
"The company is doing fine. We're on track now and can proceed steadily. How about you, Editor-in-Chief Ikeda?"
"Manga magazines are generally in a struggling state, neither good nor bad, just barely getting by."
Ikeda Daigo wasn't being modest about this.
Compared to other industries, manga magazines could barely manage, at least not starving.
But they were also affected by the burst of the economic bubble.
The early 1990s happened to be the last glorious period of the golden age of Japanese manga, and then it entered a decade of silence.
In 1993, they were indeed just barely getting by in this gap.
The advancement of technology and the internet by ten years ahead of his previous life did not save anything.
"So, manga magazines also need to find some profitable points, right?"
"Yes, we are also working hard to expand some business related to manga copyrights, such as the most common anime adaptations or some peripheral derivative products, and then the sale of manga tankobon, but it's still just barely getting by."
Ikeda Daigo said with a bitter smile.
He now envied Takayuki's newly established company, which had just started but was gradually becoming a hot topic.
Speaking of hot topics, the popularity of the Dragon Quest manga recently was gradually increasing, indirectly increasing the sales of their manga magazine.
When the president of the magazine learned about this, he really hoped Ikeda Daigo would continue to deepen his relationship with Takayuki and see if there were any other possibilities for cooperation in the future.
"Well, I have an idea now, which is also a win-win opportunity for both parties."
Just as Takayuki finished speaking, Ikeda Daigo became spirited.
It's like the pillow when you feel sleepy.
He was still thinking about discussing more cooperation opportunities with Takayuki.
He immediately sat up straight and said seriously, "Takayuki-san, please go ahead."
"I want to publish a gaming magazine."
"A gaming magazine? Specifically about electronic games?"
"Yes, but of course, it's just a concept for now. Given the current volume of games, it's impossible to support a magazine's capacity, but I think in another year or so, maybe it will be different. If we can prepare in advance, there should be some profit."
A magazine specifically for electronic games, this was something Ikeda Daigo hadn't thought of.
So Takayuki had already started considering this?
It seems he really has high hopes for the future of the gaming industry.
Actually, he also had high hopes for the electronic gaming industry.
His family had already purchased all the games available at this stage.
His children were enjoying themselves, and sometimes he would join in and play a few rounds himself, inadvertently improving their parent-child relationship.
But to make a magazine specifically for electronic games seemed premature.
But if the potential of electronic games is really great, starting to prepare now...
No, it might be better to consider adding a few pages of game introductions at the end of manga magazines.
If he, as the editor-in-chief, proposed this suggestion, the editor-in-chief and others should also consider it seriously, and this was suggested by Takayuki first.
"Takayuki-san, I think your idea is very good, but as you said, directly producing a magazine seems a bit rushed. However, I can suggest to the president and editor-in-chief to add a few pages introducing games at the end of the existing manga magazines."
"If that's possible, it would be great. But I suggest not directly recommending games. It might seem more like advertising that way, and I think it might affect the stickiness of your manga magazine readers."
Readers, like TV viewers, often dislike advertisements, but they are unavoidable.
If suddenly a few pages of game introductions were added to the back of a manga magazine, there would be suspicions of paid advertising.
This would indeed benefit his own game, but he couldn't let the cooperating party suffer losses.
"Hmm? Not recommending games? Then what should we do?"
What Ikeda Daigo had just subconsciously thought of was simply recommending games.
Capture some screenshots from the game and then write some editorial recommended recommendations, especially for Dragon Quest, which could seamlessly arrange recommended phrases through the manga. Wasn't this a good model?
"Well, I was wondering if you're free now? Shall we meet somewhere? It would be difficult to talk just over the phone."
Takayuki wanted to add game walkthroughs.
But in this world, electronic games hadn't really taken off yet, and they probably didn't even know what game walkthroughs were.
It might be better to discuss it in person.
Ikeda Daigo immediately nodded and said, "I'm free now. There's a very nice coffee shop nearby, perfect for work discussions, very quiet. What do you think?"
"Sure, can you send me the address? I can go directly. Oh, by the way, I'd like to see the recent feedback from Dragon Quest readers as well. I want to see how readers are responding to the manga now."
"Okay, see you in a bit."
Ikeda Daigo immediately hung up the phone.
Then he rushed to the main office and looked at all the editors.
"Where are the reader letters from Tsuchiya-sensei for the past two weeks? Get them to me quickly!"
"Editor-in-chief, they're here. I just finished organizing them."
"Good job!"
Ikeda Daigo stuffed the two boxes into the downstairs car and went to the designated coffee shop. He had already booked a private room in advance, waiting for Takayuki to arrive.
About an hour later, Takayuki also drove to the coffee shop. Ikeda Daigo took this opportunity to roughly organize the letters from readers.
Separate the praise from the criticism.
Those mindless trolls can be put aside, there's no need to read those.
Takayuki got out of the car and entered the coffee shop.
This coffee shop was indeed very quiet.
There were about a dozen people in the hall, but only the melodious music could be heard, making it hard to hear people talking loudly.
And the layout of the entire coffee shop also had a quiet atmosphere, very comfortable.
After asking the waiter, Takayuki approached the door of Ikeda Daigo's private room according to the waiter's instructions.
Ikeda Daigo had just finished organizing the letters at this moment.
"Takayuki-san, welcome!"
Ikeda Daigo warmly stood up.
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