Chapter 179 What game is the most popular
The name of the game that came with Nintendo’s first handheld game console was “Ball Catch”, which is the “BALL” printed on the upper right corner of the console.
Nominally, the handheld has two games, which can be switched via the "Game A" and "Game B" buttons on the screen.
But in fact, these two so-called games are just two ways of throwing and catching the ball.
In game mode A, the player tosses two balls up, and when the balls fall, he needs to catch them and toss them up again, like juggling. Each successful attempt is rewarded with 1 point.
In game mode B, players have to throw 3 balls and are awarded 10 points for each successful catch.
These are the two games mentioned in the promotional advertisements...
Shirakawa Kaede simply sneered at Nintendo's shamelessness.
For two real games, we still have to look to Shirakawa Electric.
At this moment, Baichuan Feng has already started to experience his own GAME BOY.
Snake, needless to say, is an old way of playing. Eat a light spot, the little bug will become a little longer, and the upper right corner will also record the player's current score.
To obtain the handheld console license for this game, Shirakawa Electric contacted the original developer on the other side of the ocean and easily acquired it for $10,000.
After all, Snake was not very popular at that time, and not many people had heard of it.
It also became the game represented by GAME B on the GAME BOY game console.
So what is the original main game GAME A? At this moment, Shirakawa Kaede is playing it.
On the small screen, spots of light appeared continuously from above.
The small plane controlled by Shirakawa Feng was moving left and right, firing bullets to destroy the light spots above the screen.
As the bullet flew out, a "biu, biu, biu" sound came from an inconspicuous small hole under the handheld game console .
Does it sound familiar? The name of this game is "Raiden"!
What were the most popular games in the 1980s? Shooters, of course.
The arcade game "Space Invaders" released by Taito Company in 1978 is a shooting game.
It has dominated the entire arcade market for two years and is still at the top of the list.
To date, Space Invaders arcade machines have sold 750,000 units worldwide.
The main markets were absorbed by Japan and the United States, and Taito Company also made more than $1 billion in two years from this arcade machine.
One billion US dollars, which is equivalent to more than 250 billion yen.
Damn, this number made Shirakawa Kaede drool.
If Shirakawa Electric had the current profitability, it would take at least 10-20 years to create so much wealth.
So in order to make Shirakawa Electric's handheld game console a success, Shirakawa Kaede also decided to launch a shooting game.
There is no doubt that a game like "Raiden" is very suitable for handheld consoles and is easy to get started.
The idea was proposed by Shirakawa Kaede, but the specific details and level techniques still needed to be designed by Satoru Iwata.
He is very talented in this area and understands what kind of game is simple and interesting much better than Shirakawa Kaede.
Speaking of which, Nintendo's current game "Catch" is somewhat similar to the game they played in the computer room of Tokyo University of Technology when they first met.
This also shows his talent in game design, and this time Satoru Iwata actually designed a game independently.
However, Baichuan Feng thought that it was more important to establish a reputation for the first handheld game console.
So they started with Raiden, followed by the games developed by Iwata himself.
As mentioned before, today's handheld game consoles are all disposable game consoles.
After buying it and playing with it for a while, it basically just lay there collecting dust.
If you want to experience other games, I'm sorry, please buy another corresponding game console.
So game console manufacturers will release a new game console every once in a while. In fact, the hardware has hardly changed, only the games have changed.
As for who is the originator of this kind of game, it goes without saying that it is Nintendo.
It is said that their second handheld game console is about to be released, which is quite fast. After all, it is just a matter of changing the game.
Currently, Shirakawa Electric is doing the same.
GAME BOY only has these two games, but compared to Nintendo's practice of pretending that the different gameplays of "Jack" are two games, it's really a conscience show!
Shirakawa Kaede even thought of the slogan for the poster: Raiden vs. Snake! Two real games!
It would be best to place Shirakawa Electric's handheld game console next to the Nintendo handheld game console, and hang this advertising slogan more prominently.
Taunting in the face!
After trying out his own game console, Shirakawa Kaede was generally satisfied.
Due to the limitations of technology and graphics, "Raiden" will definitely not be as cool as later generations, but in terms of gameplay in 1980, it was still a king bomb.
The current game market is too small and there are too few games.
Can you imagine that in this day and age, there is no such thing as a game designer at this moment in time?
So how did the games on TV come about? The answer is that the engineers in charge of the technology came up with them.
So don’t have too high expectations for their quality. Any game that is even slightly popular will have countless copies churned out.
The gameplay is basically the same, and some of the changes are even minimal.
So about Raiden…
"Have the game copyrights been registered?" After several patent conflicts, Baichuan Feng paid special attention to this aspect.
"According to Shirakawa-kun, they have all been registered."
Although Iwata didn't quite understand the meaning of this at the time, he did as Shirakawa Kaede had instructed him to do.
"Mr. Shirakawa, how much will our handheld game console cost?" Seeing that the product had been completed, Tanimura also began to care about its price.
According to the original agreement, HAL can also obtain part of the profits from the handheld game console.
This part of the income mainly comes from the share of the game. Although it is not much, it is still money, right?
Because Shirakawa Electric acquired shares of Iwasaki Technology, it subsequently increased its investment and continued to inject funds.
A lot of money was spent on offices, staff recruitment, equipment purchases, etc.
Tanimura's original 13% stake has been diluted to less than a fraction.
It’s not that he doesn’t want these shares, but that he doesn’t have the money to continue investing.
So all he could do was watch helplessly as the shares in his hands gradually dwindled, and he was helpless.
After all, Shirakawa Electric's investment is real and it has not generated any profit at present, so it is normal for its shares to be diluted.
Shirakawa Electric now has a professional team to play this game. With Tanimura's own little brain, it is far from enough.
So now that HAL was about to make a profit, Tanimura could no longer hold back.
If there is no profit, he is worried that his last bit of shares will become a decimal point with one more place forward.
At this point he no longer expected to retain as many shares as he could, but he wanted at least to get a dividend from the profits.
Otherwise, if I quit my job at Seibu Department Store, I would have trouble eating.
Baichuan Feng smiled. He understood what Tanimura was thinking.
All of this was done at his instruction, don't blame him for being cruel.
From the day he chose to hang the street lamp, he had already realized something.
And he felt at ease with all this, after all, from the beginning to the end, Shirakawa Electric invested more.
Now that it’s time to give back, Baichuan Feng is also looking forward to it.
"Our selling price is set at 5,200 yen." This price is 600 yen less than Nintendo's 5,800 yen.
"5,200 yen?" Tanimura was stunned. "Isn't this price a bit low, Shirakawa-san?"
In Tanimura's opinion, the workmanship of his own handheld game console is better than that of the other party, the games are more abundant than those of the other party, and the feel is more comfortable than that of the other party.
But it is priced at 5,200 yen, which... is totally unacceptable.
Shirakawa Kaede shook his head and said, "Tanimura-san, we are latecomers in the field of handheld game consoles.
Nintendo has already won the first prize, so if it wants to quickly gain customer recognition, high quality and low price will always be the most effective means. "
Just like Tanimura thought, everything is better than the other. If the price is still cheap, then why wouldn't the public buy it?
There was no such thing as faith at that time, everyone sold things based on their strength.
However, Baichuan Feng did not intend to raise the price, but to lower it instead.
This is actually a test of his. What kind of test? The test of price war.
Of course, this is a later story. The current price of 5,200 yen is the result of careful consideration.
Although Tanimura felt that the price was too low, he also knew that he had no decision-making power at all, so he could only accept the price.
At the same time, I was praying in my heart, hoping that the facts would be just as Shirakawa Kaede said, and that Shirakawa Electric's GAME BOY would sell well.
In that case, I can get some money anyway.
Alas, we are so poor. My girlfriend and I are working hard and we have almost no money left to buy a small umbrella.
“We should also tap into young people with potential and not worry about labor costs.
HAL can definitely afford more time to practice."
"I understand." After coming to his senses, Tanimura immediately nodded in agreement.
Because he worked in the computer sales area of Seibu Department Store for a long time, he got to know a large number of young people with potential in the industry.
Some of these people are students, and some are doing unrelated jobs.
But Baichuan Feng knew that as long as they were guided into this path, they would soon grow into the backbone talents in Baichuan Electric's software.
This is also what Shirakawa Feng likes about Tanimura. He does have some connections in the circle.
At the moment, there is no such thing as software engineers in Japan, nor any technical schools for this purpose. If you want to find talent in this field, you can only rely on your personal connections.
"Since the final model has been decided and you have no objection to the price. Then..." Shirakawa Feng looked at Akagi.
"Akagi-kun, I'll leave the mass production to you. Yamaguchi-san will assist you."
"Yeah!" Akagi lowered his head excitedly and agreed. He knew that Shirakawa Feng was intentionally cultivating him.
As expected, as long as I work hard, the president will definitely notice me, Akagi clenched his fists secretly.
"Iwata-kun, Tanimura-kun, HAL will continue to develop other games. In one or two months, we will release the second Game Boy console."
Nintendo is so fast, it is natural that Shirakawa Electric will not lag behind.
"Huh!" Iwata and Tanimura were also ready to go.
Iwata was simply excited, while Tanimura was thinking about the release of another game console, so wouldn't that be a great thing for Prince Shotoku?
Unfortunately, he didn't know that the professional team of Shirakawa Electric was staring at the few remaining shares in his hands with green eyes.
The issue of the handheld game console has been temporarily settled.
After running around for more than half a month without a moment's rest, Baichuan Feng finally showed signs of fatigue.
It's time to take a good rest and leave the rest of the work to the people below.
