Chapter 159 Welcome Mr. Gu Sheng to Japan
"Isn't this fucking... biased?"
Tokyo International Airport!
Arriving at the airport reception hall, Gu Sheng immediately saw a sign printed in standard Chinese among the crowd of people waiting for the arrival of the airport:
【Welcome Mr. Gu Sheng to Japan】
For a moment, I thought I had become the protagonist in Mr. Guo’s crosstalk.
Who the hell taught you to write signs like that?
I can understand that you wrote the sign in Chinese out of courtesy, but this sign... is it too ambiguous?
I walked forward with gritted teeth and saw that the person holding the sign was a Japanese girl in formal and exquisite clothes, with a bouquet of flowers in her arms.
It's very strange, although China and Japan are both Asians, Gu Sheng can still tell the difference between Chinese girls and Japanese girls at a glance.
He himself couldn't explain why.
"What are you doing? I'm Gu Sheng."
Coming in front of the receptionist, Gu Sheng stretched out his hand.
Gu Sheng’s Japanese is a little poor, after all, he hasn’t learned much, so he can barely speak a few words as a newcomer. He still uses English for daily communication.
"Ah...ah! Hai Hai Hai Hai! Kong Ni Ji Wa!"
Obviously, Gu Sheng's youth was far beyond the expectations of the girl who came to pick him up at the airport.
After a moment of surprise, the receptionist quickly stepped forward, handed the bouquet to Gu Sheng, and bowed:
"Hello, Mr. Gu. I apologize for not welcoming you in person! (English)"
Then, he put away the sign and made a gesture of invitation to Gu Sheng:
"General Manager Moriya and the executives of the Game Affairs Department are waiting for you outside. Please follow me."
"Very beautiful flowers, thank you, it's very troublesome."
Gu Sheng took the bouquet, smiled and nodded, then raised his hand to signal for the pick-up etiquette to lead the way.
As he walked out of the arrival hall and approached the door, Gu Sheng had already seen Konami executives waiting outside.
The leader was none other than Konami's managing director of game business, Tetsuya Moritani.
On his left and right were his secretary Sanaeko Inoue and the game department manager Higashinoda.
Behind the three men, there were five or six people, all wearing black suits, white shirts and ties, standing next to three black cars.
There are two sedans in the front and back, and a business MPV in the middle.
From a distance, they look like gangsters.
Oh no, it doesn't look like gangsters, it seems Konami really has that kind of background.
Gu Sheng complained in his heart and walked out of the airport through the opened electric door.
On the other side, Moriya came over with his secretary and the director and greeted them enthusiastically:
"Hello, hello, Mr. Gu. I apologize for not welcoming you in person."
"No, no, Mr. Moriya is too polite,"
Gu Sheng shook hands with Moritani and others:
"I have heard of Konami for a long time, and I am honored to be able to come to Japan to cooperate with them."
Be polite.
When it comes to business cooperation, it is inevitable for two parties to exchange pleasantries when they meet.
With the unique politeness of Japan, the two sides bowed to each other and exchanged pleasantries for five minutes before Moriya extended his hand to invite Gu Sheng to get in the car:
"It's inconvenient for us to talk here. Please get in the car, Gu Sang. We'll go to your hotel first."
Konami's business is huge.
Although they are called a comprehensive digital entertainment company, they are actually involved in industries such as hotels, clubs, film and television, comprehensive entertainment, etc.
This is also the future development direction of Golden Wind - a pan-game entertainment company with games as the main body, multiple industry branches running in parallel, and all-round and three-dimensional profitability.
We had a brief conversation on the way, and most of the topics were unrelated to game cooperation.
After about ten minutes' drive, the convoy arrived at the InterContinental Tokyo Bay Hotel, which is located diagonally opposite the Konami Building.
This is a luxurious four-star hotel invested by Konami, and a luxurious executive suite was specially arranged for Gu Sheng.
Arriving in Japan on the first day, he was exhausted from the long journey. No matter how anxious Konami was, they could not say that Gu Sheng would take office immediately.
Take a half day break.
In the evening, Gu Sheng was invited to attend a welcoming banquet specially arranged for him by Konami's senior management.
…
After a few drinks, Moriya said:
"We have reviewed the trial version of the project proposal sent by Gu Sang before, and we are amazed by it."
Yes, just yesterday after buying business trip supplies with Xiao Nezha, Gu Sheng spent an afternoon putting together the PT plan.
After all, it is a trial version, the overall game process is not long, and with the assistance of the system, it is very fast.
The entire project plan is only about ten pages long, so Moritani and others took the time last night and this afternoon to do two rounds of observation and discussion.
The unanimous conclusion reached is that Sri Lanka is the best.
Here we have to mention the usual horror game settings in this world.
Generally speaking, the fundamental design logic of a horror game is to concretize the abstract concept of fear and express it through pictures.
For example, creating a female ghost, designing a monster, etc., so that the "conceptual fear" can be transformed into a "concrete entity" and placed in front of the players.
But PT is different.
Although it also concretizes fear, it designs the deformed fetus and the female ghost Lisa.
However, through closed spaces, scare point designs , fragmented information full of metaphorical hints, and increasingly bizarre scene changes, the "conceptual fear" is extracted from the "concrete entity" and imprinted in the players' minds.
The double shackles of fear, both physical and psychological.
This kind of method is definitely not something that any random designer can achieve.
Even Higashinoda, who had served as the director of Konami's game division for many years, couldn't help but say bluntly - this trial version alone is enough to firmly establish Gu Sheng as the 'Father of Psychological Horror'.
Undoubtedly, this gave everyone at Konami a shocking understanding of Gu Sheng's strength, and also doubled their confidence in this IP.
Some sincere flattery is essential.
In addition, Moriya is more concerned about:
"So in terms of the game itself, is Gu Sang also planning to continue with this style and expand this confusing story?"
Hearing this, Gu Sheng nodded, then shook his head:
"The style will definitely continue, after all, this is the main theme of our IP,"
"But the story is no longer that, or not entirely that."
ah???
As soon as these words came out!
Everyone at Konami exclaimed in surprise, all of them were a little stunned!
What does Gu Sang mean by this?
The official version no longer continues the story of PT, or rather, it is not entirely the story of PT!
Could it be that PT is just a story line he came up with specifically for the trial version?
Is the main storyline actually deeper and more extensive than this?
"Uh...Private Marseille Gu-san,"
Moriya was also a little confused, and raised his hand to signal:
"Please forgive my ignorance. I don't quite understand what Gu Sang said. Can you explain it in detail?"
Following Moritani's words, everyone at Konami put down their chopsticks and listened attentively.
"……parallel,"
Gu Sheng thought for a moment and raised his chopsticks:
"Just like these two chopsticks,"
"The Silent Hill demo, or PT, will tell a mysterious murder case in a puzzle-solving way,"
"The official version to be released later was also triggered by a murder case,"
"What I want to do is to make these two chopsticks independent of each other, but at the same time--"
Speaking of this.
Gu Sheng stretched out his chopsticks and made a pinching motion, bringing the tips of the chopsticks together:
“Different paths lead to the same destination.”
hiss--!!!
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone at the table gasped and felt goosebumps all over their body!
Gu Sheng’s idea is even more terrifying than PT!
madman!
It's just a madman!
Everyone present is from the gaming business branch, understands games, and knows what Gu Sheng is talking about.
The design of the demo is crazy enough!
but!
In Gu Sheng's opinion, this is far from crazy enough!
Two parallel lines lead to the same destination!
God knows how complicated such an architecture is!
In fact, in their opinion, this is enough to support the trial version of an entire game. In Gu Sheng's opinion, it is just an appetizer independent of the official version!
That is to say!
This "PT" not only ensures that the psychological horror characteristics of Silent Hill are fully displayed, but also ensures that an obscure story is told well within a limited time, and at the same time ensures that this story is both independent of the main line and related to the main line!
This is equivalent to a player using Neymar's iconic rainbow dribble to complete Messi's one-on-one dribble past seven players, and finally scoring with an Ibrahimovic-style volley!
incredible.
It can even be said to be unbelievable!
“This…this…”
Moritani just felt his scalp tingling!
He had never heard of such a game design idea!
For a moment, I couldn't help but grin!
"This...Excuse me for being blunt, Mr. Gu, but isn't this design a bit too complicated?"
Gu Sheng chuckled.
He knew that Moritani was not asking "Is it complicated?" but "Can you do it?"
After all, his thoughts just now revealed four big words inside and out -
I want them all!
But such a design is undoubtedly a double-edged sword!
Play it well, establish a new school, and a trial version shocked the market!
If you don't play well, it will be a mess. It's better to just follow the rules!
Gu Sheng is very confident about this.
Of course I can’t do that, haha!
But Hideo Kojima can.
I can ask God for help.
"Please rest assured, Mr. Moriya,"
Gu Sheng smiled and said:
"After all, the reputation of the trial version will also greatly affect our future cooperation on the game itself."
call--
Moriya breathed a sigh of relief.
The fact that Gu Sheng could say this shows that he is very confident in his plan.
"Then we'll just have to wait and see."
As he spoke, Moritani raised his glass and toasted Gu Sheng.
After discussing the general idea, both parties put down their glasses and Gu Sheng asked:
"Oh, by the way, Mr. Moriya, how is the budget going?"
Budget.
The most important part of game development.
Previously, Golden Wind had held several rounds of discussions with Konami on the issue of PT's development costs.
At the beginning, Konami quoted PT a cost of 1 million US dollars, which is about 7 million yuan.
This budget is not low.
After all, the original intention of this Silent Hill project was just to enrich the types of games Konami has in the Tokyo Electronic Arts Festival.
However, after hearing this budget, Gu Sheng shook his head repeatedly.
Less.
You know, he has very high expectations for this game, and he wants the best results in terms of picture quality and full sensory experience.
If you want the best results, you need to increase your budget further.
So, after discussion, Konami raised the budget to $1.5 million.
However, such a budget still could not meet Gu Sheng's expected requirements.
In this regard, Gu Sheng also said -
Originally, as a specially invited chief game director and a temporary worker "seconded" to Konami, it was not convenient for him to interfere with the budget of the trial version.
After all, the production cost of the trial version has nothing to do with Golden Wind and is entirely decided by Konami.
If you offer 1 million dollars, I will create the effect of 1 million dollars. If you offer 500,000 dollars, I will create the effect of 500,000 dollars.
but.
It is worth noting that the effect of the trial version and player feedback will directly affect the sales of the main game.
The more amazing our demo is, the higher the sales of the official version will be.
The original concept of Silent Hill is a perfect match for the psychological horror that I am best at.
I have the confidence and believe that I have the ability to bring this IP to an unprecedented height, and even make it a milestone in the history of somatosensory horror games and one of the greatest works.
This depends on how big your budget is.
As soon as Gu Sheng said this!
Moriya was numb at that time!
It’s not because of Gu Sheng’s crazy words!
It’s because he has the capital to be so crazy!
After all, they have created a gaming milestone!
Titanfall is right there!
That is the amazing IP created by Gu Sheng himself!
And now, Gu Sheng actually has such expectations for "Silent Hill"!
This was too tempting for Moritani, and even for Konami as a whole.
This is a great IP for horror games!
If Gu Sheng really succeeds, then Konami will become the only true god in the horror game circle and completely dominate the market!
After all, there is no one who can beat anyone in the horror game circle nowadays!
So!
After several discussions!
"final,"
Moriya said:
"We decided to increase the demo budget to $3 million."
Approximately 20 million yuan.
A trial version is equivalent to half of APEX.
terrific!
Gu Sheng secretly raised his thumb.
This way, he can use today's most advanced "Phoenix Engine".
Yes, the reason why he has always wanted Konami to increase the budget is that he wants to use this engine which is considered to be "the engine with the best picture quality in the world today"!
Different from the 'Dream 5' engine that Golden Wind has always used, the Phoenix engine that was just released half a year ago has put a lot of effort into visual effects and picture presentation!
Not only has it further upgraded and optimized technologies such as real-time dynamic ray tracing, global illumination simulation, and virtual micropolygon geometry, it also has real-time Voxel-based GI with excellent effects. It truly achieves what you see is what you get during the development phase, greatly improving production precision and efficiency.
Its original 'virtual eyeball' technology can even simulate the visual effects of human eyes.
It is not even an exaggeration to say that just from the perspective of the visual expression.
If we say that "Dream 5" makes the game world so real that it is hard to tell the difference.
Then 'Phoenix' completely realizes the virtual visual architecture of the second world.
Of course!
The engine isn't perfect either.
Although the Phoenix engine has achieved the ultimate presentation in visual effects.
But its full-sensory technology and motion assistance support are not as advanced as those of the 'Dream 5'.
As the saying goes, where there is gain there is loss.
Phoenix is a player who is good at one subject but not the other.
but!
This kind of specialization is exactly what Gu Sheng needs!
Silent Hill does not require too much full-sensory technical support, nor does it have too many action performances, so it does not require motion assistance!
The most important requirement of psychological horror is immersion, and the most crude and direct way to achieve immersion is to infinitely improve the picture quality!
Because among the five senses of human beings, vision has the highest priority!
"marvelous,"
Gu Sheng nodded sincerely and raised his glass:
"On behalf of the players, I would like to thank Mr. Moritani and Konami for their understanding and support."
"Then I'll leave it to Gu Sang!"
Moritani picked up the cup and drank it all in one gulp.
Both parties understand each other's greatest concerns.
The atmosphere of the following banquet was much more relaxed.
Gu Sheng also took the opportunity to ask Moritani about the current situation of Konami's branch industries and its business development philosophy.
If Golden Wind wants to become bigger and stronger and create greater glory, it must realize a three-dimensional industrial structure with multiple parallel lines in the future.
In this regard, Konami has ample experience.
The ready-made experience is right in front of you, so it would be a waste not to take advantage of it.
Let's clink glasses and exchange cups!
It was already past ten o'clock in the evening when the banquet was over.
Gu Sheng was a little tipsy and went back to his suite to take a shower.
You know what, Lao Lu’s previous analysis was actually correct.
The toiletries that little Nezha brought for him would indeed remind him not to forget to "report his work."
When the video call came, Shen Miaomiao answered it almost immediately.
In the video, little Nezha is lying on the sofa, trying hard to be a lying salted fish.
