Chapter 171 Private Meeting
The hot atmosphere spread quickly.
Tuesday.
The last day of Tokyo Game Festival.
"Director Moriya, you called me?"
Yuki pushed open the door to the office of Tetsuya Moritani, the managing director of Konami's game business.
Just now.
There were two other people present in Moritani's office.
They are not outsiders.
Sato Muneki.
Okura and.
Yuki was delighted when he saw this scene.
Well, after more than a week of rest, the Silent Hill PT team is back together.
No need to ask, this is definitely the start of the development and production of the official version of Silent Hill!
Too.
Silent Hill is now at its peak.
Countless players are calling for the release of the official version.
Add to that the terrifying login rate of the motion sensing cabin, and even if you use your knees to think about it, this game is a sure win.
It seems that the top management must have seen the current popularity of PT and felt that there is no time to lose and that the cooperative development should be promoted quickly.
Thinking about.
Yuki smiled and nodded, and sat down with the other two main development managers, waiting for General Manager Moritani to mobilize them for development.
However!
There was no expression of excitement or anticipation on Moritani's face, but rather a dull look.
"Everyone is here, let's have a private meeting,"
Moriya said:
"I believe the three of you are all aware of the rules of a closed meeting. Do you have any objections?"
Hearing this.
The three of them were stunned.
The closed meeting system is a form of meeting that exists within Konami and many other large companies.
Such meetings are not open, transparent, and no meeting records are kept.
It is usually held when discussing some more hidden or inconvenient matters to be made public.
At the same time, participants will also default to not disclose any information about the meeting to the outside.
It's an unspoken rule of the company.
The three were not unfamiliar with this format of meeting.
But the problem is...
Why do we suddenly have to hold a closed meeting at this time?
For a moment, a sense of uneasiness lingered in the hearts of the three people.
After exchanging glances, the three nodded, agreeing to the format of this meeting.
Then, Moriya took out three thin business plans from his drawer and handed them to the three people:
"This is the preliminary plan for the official version of Silent Hill. Please read it and collect it. We have plenty of time today. Please take a close look at it."
Yuki took the plan handed over by Managing Director Moritani and looked at it with a slightly frown.
It says on it: [Silent Hill Project Proposal (Draft)]
Taking a deep breath, Yuki read carefully...
First of all, in terms of game settings, the original work still continues the "surface world" and "inner world" settings given by PT.
The protagonist of the original work is named James, an outstanding plastic surgeon.
One day by chance he received a letter from his wife, inviting him to a small town called Silent Hill, and the letter mentioned many things about their past.
At first glance, this letter seemed quite ordinary.
It seems to be a request from a divorced wife who wants to meet again.
But the horrifying thing is that James is not divorced, but widowed - his wife has been dead for three years.
This is a letter from my late wife.
So, with all kinds of complicated emotions, James came to Silent Hill.
Here he saw the most bizarre sights.
All kinds of strange monsters and ghosts appeared one after another. They were very powerful and put James into dangerous situations several times.
Among these monsters, only one is particularly powerful.
She was a woman wearing an apron and without her head. She was like a nightmare. Although she was killed countless times, she was reborn countless times.
Finally, after fighting all the way, James reached the place indicated in his wife's letter.
This is a mansion on the edge of town.
After entering the mansion, players will see many group photos.
The protagonists in those photos were James and a woman wearing an apron.
good!
James is the murderer of another wife-killing case that appeared on PT radio. He has been at large by changing his face with the help of his plastic surgeon.
This time he returned to Silent Hill to eliminate his wife who had inexplicably "resurrected".
In the end, James killed his headless wife in the same kitchen.
But so-called karma cycle.
Although his shot killed his wife completely, it also ignited the liquefied gas in the kitchen.
final.
With a loud bang, James got the final retribution and turned to ashes.
Click.
This concludes the draft plan.
Yuki closed the project plan with a complicated expression on her face.
She looked at Okura, then at Sato.
I found that the expressions on these two people's faces were similar to mine.
Actually, objectively speaking.
The completion of this plan is quite good.
It has a beginning and an end, a complete story, and the main theme is that cause and effect will lead to retribution.
But the premise is that -
Just don't call it Silent Hill.
"this……"
After carefully organizing his words for a long time, Sato said:
"Excuse me, Mr. Moritani, I would like to ask, is this... Mr. Gu's project proposal?"
He saw all three of them looking at him.
Moriya shrugged noncommittally and asked, "What do you think?"
The three of us looked at each other, feeling a little embarrassed.
Finally, it was Yuki who spoke up: "I don't think so."
Not that it's bad.
But it looks... too ordinary.
You know, a big part of the reason why PT has such outstanding horror effects and topicality lies in its vague metaphors, its mysterious storytelling method, and the unclear open ending with blank space.
This kind of "secret" game format will always make the game have a sense of mystery, as if there is a veil between the game and the players.
But now!
In this edition of the plan!
The veil was removed.
What Yuki and the others saw was a story with adventures in monster fighting as the main plot, in which good and evil would be rewarded in the end.
Perhaps the only special thing about this story is that it allows the player to act as the villain.
Otherwise, there is nothing noteworthy.
After hearing what Yuki said, Moritani also showed a helpless look of "as expected".
He sighed and then asked:
"So what do you think if we make it a main project for Silent Hill?"
Hearing this, Sato smacked his lips and asked, "What does the 'how' that Mr. Moriya asked about refer to?"
"Sales volume." Moritani said succinctly.
"It will definitely be affected." Sato was even more straightforward.
Moriya nodded and looked at Sato: "Tell me more about it?"
"This project proposal is obviously not from Gu Sang,"
Sato saw that things had come to this point, so there was no need to hide anything, and he simply spoke frankly:
"If it came out as a standalone game, there would be no problem,"
"But if it is released as the official version of PT, it might be an exaggeration to say that it is a poor imitation."
"But it is certain that the reputation of the Silent Hill IP will be affected,"
"Nowadays, PT has been elevated to a pedestal in the analysis of the media and players,"
"Its unique charm is definitely not something that this ordinary planning proposal can capture,"
"By then, it will be criticized and sales will decline."
After hearing what Sato said, Moriya nodded and continued:
“How much will it affect?”
Sato thought for a moment and said, "It's hard to say, because in this case, the subjective factors of the players account for too much. A conservative estimate is... 20%."
hiss--!!!
When these words came out, Yuki and Okura both took a deep breath.
Just changing the script to a slightly ordinary one will cause the game sales to drop by one-fifth!
And this is just a conservative estimate!
"What about a higher estimate?" Moritani asked.
"That's hard to say." This time, Sato shook his head, indicating that he couldn't predict. "If this plan is really used, I wouldn't be surprised if the sales volume is cut in half."
After saying that.
There was silence in the office for a long time.
After a while.
Then Yuki slowly asked:
"So, Mr. Moriya...are we going to develop the Silent Hill game ourselves?"
Moritani has already said so much, no matter how dumb the people are, they can still understand the meaning!
The top management actually wanted to dump Golden Wind and take all the sales of the official version of Silent Hill for themselves!
And about this!
Moritani also nodded slowly.
although!
I'm prepared in my heart!
but!
When Yuki saw Toru Moritani nodded, he couldn't help but get angry!
What kind of stupid operation is this?!
Getting rid of Golden Wind means getting rid of Director Sam as well!
good!
You see how popular Silent Hill is nowadays and the widespread support from players. It's understandable that you want to get rid of the profit sharing and keep it for yourself!
After all, this is Konami's usual style!
Besides, it is not uncommon to change directors midway through a project.
but!
Before you fucking dump them, do you ever think about who gave this game its soul?
The crown of "King of Horror Games" belongs to SamGu!
And not in the hands of us KONAMI!
“This…this…”
Yuki simply couldn't understand the top management's actions:
"Excuse me, Mr. Moritani! This is like us manufacturing cars, but——"
…
"…but it dumped the engine manufacturer!"
Let’s go back to yesterday!
Konami Conference Room!
At a closed meeting chaired by President Keizo Kamikoshi!
Tetsuya Moritani, the managing director of the gaming business, also raised the same question as Yuki!
This operation is too outrageous!
However!
Before Kamikoshi Keizo could speak.
Yamamoto Tsuna, who was sitting next to him, looked gloomy:
"Director Moriya, are you saying that with my more than 20 years of experience and my status as a senior game designer, I am not qualified to replace a rookie and lead the development of the Silent Hill game?"
good!
As the "disciple and student" of the president, Keimasa Kamikoshi.
This time, Yamamoto Tsuna wants to take over the two projects at the same time!
Now the official version of "Yakuza" has entered into an orderly development process.
He could just free up his time to take over the now-popular Silent Hill project!
In this way, the two popular projects will be in his pocket!
And it just so happens!
Ever since Silent Hill became a hit, Keizo Jyouetsu has been thinking about how to kick Golden Wind out of the project.
After all, this IP is so popular now!
Once released, it will most likely become a phenomenal horror game, and there is even a high probability that it will become the highest-selling horror game in history!
And such a tempting project!
They even want to share 30% of the net profit with Golden Wind!
This is hard to accept for a pure businessman like Kamijou Kagemasa.
Don’t even mention 30%.
He doesn't want to share it at all!
Keizo Joetsu doesn't understand games.
In his opinion, Gu Sheng was ultimately just an outsourced "business manager".
Now, Gu Sheng has received a big order from Konami, and as a reward, he asked for a 30% share of the profits in the process of following up on the project.
Naturally, Kamikoshi Keima was unwilling to share the money.
After all, he still had another top business manager, Yamamoto Tsuna.
Moreover, this business manager has longer working experience and more work experience. Most importantly, Yamamoto Tsuna is not an external hire and does not need such a high share of the profits.
So, there was almost no trade-off!
Keizo Joetsu and Tsuna Yamamoto hit it off immediately and decided to kick out Golden Wind and develop "Silent Hill" independently!
"This... this is too aggressive! President!"
Moriya was numb when he heard it!
Keizo Kamikoshi doesn't understand games, but he does!
He is very aware of the special nature of the game Silent Hill!
"Sam was the first to create the unique psychological horror experience of Silent Hill, and he is also the designer who has mastered this concept the most. Replacing him, I feel uh..."
But before Moriya could finish.
Then Yamamoto Tsuna spoke and interrupted him!
"Haha, Mr. Moritani's words are a bit too arbitrary,"
Yamamoto Tsuna laughed and said:
"Replacing a director midway through game development is nothing new,"
"There are even many projects that have been halfway through development, but the director was replaced for various reasons, and in the end they were all landed smoothly without affecting the quality of the game at all."
"Besides, PT is just a trial version. It's a good time for us to change the designer before the official version is developed."
After saying this, Yamamoto Tsuna looked at Moritani with some pride.
Moriya ignored him and stared at the president, Keimasa Kamikoshi. "President, we really can't change the director of this game. After all, Sam won the title of 'King of Horror Games' through this trial version. If at this time..."
However.
Moriya didn't finish!
Then Yamamoto Tsuna interrupted him again: "It's just an empty title. Today he is the King of Terror, tomorrow I can be the King of Terror..."
"Wulusai Ba Ge Ya Lu! (You are making so much noise, you bastard)"
BANG!!!
Moritani finally couldn't bear it anymore!
Bang on the table!
Pointing at the arrogant Yamamoto Tsuna's nose, he started to curse:
"Who the hell do you think you are? How dare you interrupt me? Are you looking for death?!"
A loud shout!
Yamamoto Tsuna was so frightened that he shrank his neck on the spot!
What is Tetsuya Moritani's identity?
managing Director!
The executive second only to the president, Keimasa Kamikoshi, in the company!
And what about him?
A game designer!
The difference between his level and Moritani's is not even a little bit!
Although he participated in this private meeting because he was the president's disciple.
But speaking from the perspective of level, Moritani training him is as casual as training a dog!
"What is that..."
Seeing that Yamamoto Tsuna didn't dare to jump again, Moriya snorted coldly and glared at him fiercely:
"From now on, shut your mouth. I don't want to hear you say a single syllable while I'm talking to President Joetsu. Do you understand?"
Yamamoto Tsuna lowered his head and shrank back, looking at President Joetsu beside him, as if he wanted to say something.
But Shang Yue waved his hand and said, "Get out."
"But teacher..."
Bang!
Without any hesitation!
Kei Joetsu's forehand and backhand are a big mouth!
He directly took back what Yamamoto Tsuna said.
Then, he shook his hands and raised his eyebrows!
"How many times have I told you to use your job title when working? Get lost!"
“Ha…Hayi——!!!”
