Game Market 1983 Chapter 47

It felt as if the 2% that had been lacking had completely been filled. After watching Chandra play the game for a while with my arms crossed, I opened my mouth.

“Chandra.”

“Mn? What??”

“I’ve underestimated you.”

“Right? I did great, didn’t I?? It’s my christmas gift to Kang Junhyuk. Do you like it?”

“Yes, I love it. That’s why…”

“Mn…?”

“You’re going to have another job on your hands.”

“Another? What’s that?”

“I’ll tell you later. First, it’s possible to make a copy of the Riko 5A22 chip you’ve shown me earlier, right?”

“Of course it’s possible.”

“Do anything you can to improve the capabilities, if only by a little. The CPU provider for the new Family console must be us, Raitex, and not Riko.”

“Okay. Pumala, did you understand what Junhyuk said?”

“Pumala understands a 100%.”

Great. The utility of the Indian Natives had increased.

&

“What… is this!? Director!! How could…”

Hiyashi was in the middle of a.n.a.lyzing the Psychic Battle source code that I’d given to him when he suddenly exclaimed. I could completely his current thought process, as I had also been taken aback after seeing that code for the first time.

“Even though I’m looking right at it, I still can’t believe it. To think someone could come up with a formulation like this…”

Coding, a way to communicate with computers, could absolutely be described as an enigmatic language. For example, let’s suppose a pa.s.serby asked me for directions on the road. I happened to know the area so I would explain like this: Do you see that super market? There will be a cross walk pa.s.sed the market. You should see a dry cleaning place after you cross it and walk for a while. Turn right and you should see your destination.

But Chandra explained it like this: Walk straight for 2 blocks and turn right.

It was the same direction, but the delivery was much shorter. And computers liked to hear the short and exact version.

That allowed the CPU to focus its resources on other tasks. Chandra had allocated these extra resources to background scrolling, with the result turning Psychic Battle into a more perfect game.

‘With this, I can absolutely compete with Super Marigee 3.’

&

January 1st, 1988.

I was finally able to return home for the new year's holiday and observe the current direction of the video game industry. It has been 5 years since the release of the first Family console. The device was approaching the end of its life span.

Every new t.i.tle release was able to meet a certain quality standard, and as new types of genres like RPGs emerged which conflicted with the simple games in arcades, playing the said arcade games started to become silly compared to all the complex new games being released.

With Dragon Emblem being the first ever game to excite a player’s sense of adventure, subsequent t.i.tles from Capco like ‘Rockman’ and ‘Otherworldly Magician’, which utilized the swing scroll, boasted an insane level of difficulty.

Especially the ‘Otherworldly Magician’, with its spooky Background music and the endless wave of zombies, denied many players from even pa.s.sing the first stage.

“Otherworldly Magician, that game was disgustingly hard as well…”

As for Rockman, beating the stages weren’t a big deal after learning the attack patterns of each boss, but Otherworldly Magician was definitely one of those games where you wanted to smash the console after playing it a few times.

“Anyways, my hands are already tied with Super Marigee 3 already. What am I going to do with the impending Dragon Warriors 3 release?”

As the number one RPG of the nation, the comeback of the Dragon Warriors series was already decided. Super Marigee 3 and Dragon Warriors 3, they would be released around Psychic Battle’s release; a turbulent storm was approaching the gaming market.

Of course, it would be a festival for gaming enthusiasts. However, the exact release dates for each of the three heavyweight t.i.tles were undecided.  

&

Dragon Warrior 3 took the initiative: the release date was set to February 10th, 1988. The release date was projected to be between April ~ May, so a sudden release date of February the 10th was…

-Ring~ Ring~

“Mmm? Who is it…?”

As I picked up the unexpected call, a familiar voice could be heard.

“Mr. Junhyuk~!! It’s me.”

“Yuki?”

Her voice was filled with excitement as if something amazing had happened.

“I made it!”

“What?”

“The Rookie Writer’s contest. The idea you gave to me was selected, Mr. Junhyuk!”

“Ah, really?”

Wow… A food-adventure type concept went through in this era? Haha. All I did was say a few words about a TV program I enjoyed watching back in 2015; seeing the concept get selected now, I’m feeling shocker over any other emotion.

I was regretting not meeting her during the busy Christmas season, but I felt a great sense of grat.i.tude towards her now for calling me as soon as something great happened.

“Then would I be able to watch your program on TV soon, Miss Yuki?”

“Ah, that’s not it. The compet.i.tion aimed to collect new potential concepts; it’s not automatically going to be turned into a program.”

“So that was the case, that’s too bad.”

“But I’ve earned a t.i.tle for myself as a rookie writer. The responses from the judges weren’t bad, so I think it would be possible to make it into a reality show with a little more effort.”

“That’s great. I wish you more good things this year, Miss Yuki.”

“Ah, I haven’t wished you a happy new year yet. That… Mmm… (in Korean) Heppy mew yers?”

Heppy mew yers…  Yuki had spoken like she was reading the greeting from a textbook. As I bursted out in laughter at her unexpected greeting in Korean, Yuki’s embara.s.sed voice was heard through the line.

“My p.r.o.nunciation is terrible, right? Korean is way too hard.”

“Oh, you’re learning Korean now?”

“Yes, but I’m having trouble learning it as there aren’t many places that teach the language. I’m learning from the beginner’s Korean book for now.

“Self-studying Korean should be frustrating for you. Don’t hesitate to ask me anything if you have a question.”

“Yes, I will do that. But Mr. Junhyuk, are you currently at your house right now? You’re not going to visit Korea in the new year?”

“Mmm… I have a lot of work to finish up so…”

“I see… What do you do on the weekends?”

“Ah, I don’t do anything particular on the weekends.”

“Then can I come visit you on a weekend?”

“Ah, sure… there’s no reason you can’t.”

“Then since I owe winning the compet.i.tion to you, I’ll treat you to a meal when I visit Kyoto.”

“You’ll come to Kyoto?”

“Actually, I wanted to explore Kyoto as well. There are more attractions to see in the Osaka region than Tokyo.”

“That’s true, but…”

“You don’t… want me to visit you?”

“Not at all. It’s actually a relief for me.”

“Relief?”

“Yes. I’m scheduled to go on a business trip to America next week.”

“America? Why? For how long?”

How am I supposed to respond to three questions at once? After contemplating for a while, I gathered my thoughts and opened my mouth.

“I’ll be away for around a month to market the upcoming new t.i.tle.”

“You’re going to be away for an entire month?”

“But it looks like I’ll be able to see you before i leave, Miss Yuki.”

“Then I’ll be sure to come over this weekend.”

“Alright, call me before you arrive and I’ll be waiting at the station.”

“Okay then~ rest well.”

After ending my call with Yuki, I stared at my pa.s.sport resting on top of the table. This trip wouldn’t take as long as the first one because all Mr. Gunpei and I were going to do was a.n.a.lyze the market and help with the marketing of Psychic Battle.

‘Ms. Elise and Mr. Wilson… I wonder how they’re doing?’

I briefly smiled at my memories of them. Of course, I would briefly talk on the phone with them, but it has been 3 years since I last saw their faces. I couldn’t say I wasn’t excited to meet them again. Elise had vastly improved her j.a.panese language since and could almost communicate as well as a native.

From what Mr. Yamas.h.i.ta said, it seemed like Elise would be transferred to HQ soon; we’ll see how that goes.

For this business trip, marketing the game was important, but I was also antic.i.p.ating my reunion with my old comrades; that’s why I had scheduled the trip to a month. Thankfully, Mr. Gunpei expressed that a.n.a.lyzing the market would be better the longer we stay and happily agreed to the 1 month period.

Well, Mr. Gunpei should be aware of what kind of traveller I am now. He shouldn’t raise any voices for me staying in a luxury hotel with my own money~

‘Chandra is amazing; I need more like him. There are plenty of top talents across America that I could recruit to my side…’

&

“Grunt… America? But you should come to the company New Year’s party before you leave. We won’t have anything going for us if both you and Gunpei are missing.”

“Mr. Shigeru will be there. And the party is for all the HQ employees, there’s no particular reason for me to be at the party.”

“You b.a.s.t.a.r.d, Sumire will be coming to the party too~!!”

‘Actually, that’s half the reason why I’m flying to America.’

I forcefully swallowed these words that rose up to my throat and glanced at Mr. Gunpei who was besides me. Seeing his lips twitch up and down, it looked like Mr. Gunpei was trying his best to stop his laughter in front of President Yamauchi.

“I can’t do anything about it then. I’ll introduce Sumire to you later; work should come first. You said you were leaving next week? Have a safe trip.”

“Yes, then we’ll be back.”

&

“Wow~ So this is the famous Chikurin!!”

Shhhhhh~

The sounds of the swaying winds pa.s.sing through the bamboo trees naturally drew a smile on my face. Yuki and I were currently standing in front of the Kyoto’s Arashiyama bamboo forest ‘Chikurin’. It seemed as if it was Yuki’s first time here as she was wondrously looking around at the bamboo trees.

“As expected, Kyoto is much more awesome than Tokyo. It would be nice if there was a place like this in Tokyo…”

Yuki spoke with her eyes closed as she inhaled the natural fragrance of bamboo. I was walking next to her, enjoying our weekend date.

“I come here every now and then to cool myself off. I’m glad you like it.”

“Do you come here often, Mr. Junhyuk?”

“This is a great location to be at one with nature. The walkway is nice and the fragrance of the bamboo is…”

“You’re right, hehe. You sounded like an old man when you said ‘This is a great location to be at one with nature’ “

“Cough…”

Well, I was a middle-aged man in the body of a 20-something year old after all. I shrugged off Yuki’s teasing and moved my footsteps.

“Then, you’ll be flying to America on monday?”

“Yes. I’m expecting to be there for around a month.”

“Wow! I haven’t been outside of the country yet, so I’m getting the chills just from hearing you speak.”

Even though you’re not the one travelling? Why?

A moment later, Yuki cautiously opened her mouth with a careful expression.

“Mr. Junhyuk, I… I’m curious… about something...”