Chapter 234: Improvements to Handheld Game Consoles
Akihabara, HAL Research Institute.
At this moment, there are six or seven handheld game consoles in front of Shirakawa Feng. These are all the handheld game console models released by Shirakawa Electric in the past six months.
The difference in their appearance is not that big, there are only slight differences in color or surface printing.
And like Nintendo's handheld game consoles, these models also have one hard and one soft configuration.
The two games included with each handheld console basically retain the configuration of one original and one ported.
Most of the ported games come from arcade games from companies such as Namco and Taito. Over the past six months, Shirakawa Electric has also been actively contacting third-party game manufacturers.
They have a large number of game IPs in their hands, and Shirakawa Electric will certainly not miss out on some small games that are suitable for porting to handheld consoles.
The same is true for Nintendo, but they have their own arcade business, so the games they ported for the time being come from within.
Apart from the ported games, most of the remaining original games come from the hands of the young people currently sitting in HAL's office.
They have active minds and all kinds of ideas.
In addition, HAL encourages employees to brainstorm, and even if the ideas cannot be realized for the time being, they will be recorded for future development.
There is no doubt that the representative of them is Satoru Iwata. Game production and software programming are the two things that scratch his itch.
This is his hobby, and he will definitely stay here with HAL whenever school is on vacation.
Needless to say, during the summer vacation, Satoru Iwata turned into a worker and went to work at HAL every day.
Even during the winter vacation, if his father hadn't called him, he might have planned to stay in Tokyo for the New Year.
"Iwata-kun, don't forget, we haven't graduated yet."
After hearing about this, Baichuan Feng had to remind him that they were about to enter their senior year and still had some distance to go before graduation.
"It would be even better to be a senior. I'll have enough time to stay here." Iwata is in the same grade as Shirakawa, but he started half a year later than Shirakawa.
Shirakawa Kaede will graduate in April next year, and Iwata Satoshi will graduate in September.
Entering his senior year was a good thing for Iwata, as he didn't even have to look for an internship.
HAL provides seamless connection and one-stop service from internship to graduation.
"Are you used to staying here?" When Shirakawa Kaede arrived at HAL, he did not talk about work first, but chatted with Iwata Satoru while holding a cup of coffee.
"Habit, of course I'm used to it." When he said this, Iwata immediately became excited.
“The best personal computers, an office with floor-to-ceiling windows, and endless snacks and drinks.
Shirakawa-kun, don't talk about whether you are used to it or not, I am willing to live here."
Shirakawa Kaede looked at Iwata Satoshi with a helpless look, "My goodness, you are treating this place as your dormitory, right?"
In fact, not only Iwata, but all the other young people gathered here nodded in approval.
HAL's office environment is so comfortable, it's like heaven.
Some of these young people have just graduated from school and are joining a company for the first time.
However, they had also heard about the corporate life of their predecessors.
However, the office environment at HAL has overturned their previous imagination of work.
There is no need to say much about the hard conditions of the office. Whether it is the computer desk and chair, or the floor-to-ceiling windows that cover an entire wall, they are all excellent configurations.
These scenes can perhaps only be seen in TV dramas.
In addition to the refreshing office scene, a separate leisure area has also been set up here.
There are sofas, reclining chairs, coffee tables and everything in between. There are also several vending machines on the wall that don't require coins.
If you want to eat or drink something, just click on it and someone will come to restock it regularly.
There are even a few arcade machines in a small open area.
If you are tired from work and need to relax, this is the best place for you.
Look, this is not work at all? For young people like Iwata, there is no such condition in the hotel.
Shirakawa Kaede can guarantee that there is no company in Tokyo that can compare to the environment here at HAL.
He built the HAL Research Institute according to the configuration of later Internet giants.
Game production is an emerging entertainment industry, and the products it produces are intended to entertain the public.
As the creator of game content, Shirakawa Kaede hopes that they can work in their most relaxed state.
Compared to a tense and dull atmosphere, a relaxed and happy mood will surely allow the creators to incorporate their own happiness into the game.
Shirakawa Kaede doesn't want HAL to be like a traditional Japanese company, with strict hierarchy, oppressive and dull atmosphere.
A brand new industry naturally requires a brand new atmosphere.
He believes that as this place grows bigger, it will be able to attract all kinds of talents to settle in HAL.
After chatting with them for a while and getting a general understanding of the situation here, Shirakawa Feng also began to call Tanimura and others for a meeting.
"I have a general understanding of the situation here at HAL. Overall, our progress over the past six months is quite obvious."
From a makeshift team at the beginning to a professional game production company now, Shirakawa Feng is generally satisfied.
After all, electronic games are a brand new field, and game production companies around the world are just starting out and everyone is still groping in the dark.
Hearing Baichuan Feng's approval, all the young people present smiled happily.
To be honest, in the eyes of our elders, so-called game production is a kind of unorthodox and unorthodox job.
Just like what Chinese parents once thought, Japan also has this stage .
Parents would rather their children find a proper job than play video games.
So for them, recognition may be more important than what they gain.
“Please don’t doubt it, you are doing a great job. Games are also a kind of art, and art brings spiritual enjoyment to people.
The game meets all the characteristics it has. " Shirakawa Kaede once shouted this slogan in the newspaper, and he still emphasizes it today.
Sure enough, the young people here loved it. As a leader in gaming art, Mr. Shirakawa's insights on gaming touched their hearts.
“Of course, artistic work cannot be separated from innovation, so please feel free to speak out your ideas or write them down on paper.
Maybe it is difficult to achieve today, but one day it will be right in front of you.
Of course." Baichuan Feng picked up a handheld game console on the table, "If you have any questions during the game, you can ask them. Let's brainstorm and see if there is a solution."
As for the issues with handheld game consoles, of course there are.
But after all, it was the big boss in person, so everyone was still a little restrained.
Everyone looked at each other, and finally Satoru Iwata started speaking.
"The biggest problem with handheld game consoles is that they are limited by the screen and can only display a limited amount of content."
"Mr. Iwata, please tell me in detail." Shirakawa Kaede motioned for him to continue.
As in-depth developers of handheld game consoles, they must be most aware of its limitations and even shortcomings.
So Baichuan Feng also wanted to hear their opinions. If possible, it would be best if the problem could be solved by spending some money.
"Our current handheld screens can only display 7 segments, and the chip they use is an 8-bit microprocessor from a calculator.
Only 56 segments of characters can be displayed in total, and excluding the timer or score display in the upper right corner of the screen, there are only about 30 segments left for the actual game content.
Under such limitations, the content that handheld game consoles can present will be greatly limited.
In addition, due to the limitations of the microprocessor, there is sometimes a slight delay between the picture and the control.
This is especially noticeable when performing complex button operations.”
These are the problems that Satoru Iwata encountered in game production and programming, most of which came from hardware problems.
Baichuan Feng nodded. It turned out that it was the technical limitations that affected their performance.
"I think I understand what Iwata-kun means. Most of our current handheld game consoles use TN-LCD screens, which have inherent defects.
Until there is a breakthrough in screen technology, perhaps the only way to go is to increase the size of the display screen.”
The so-called TN-LCD screen is a monochrome LCD screen.
The calculators we use in our daily lives have this kind of screen.
This twisted nematic liquid crystal display has a slow response time and low output brightness.
Moreover, the viewing angle is small and the smearing phenomenon is very obvious.
Despite so many shortcomings, the reason why they are widely used is because they are cheap.
Its price is so low that it is almost the same as the plastic shell of the body, so the cost increase of increasing the screen is limited, which is still acceptable for a handheld game console.
Baichuan Feng pointed at the screen of the handheld game console in his hand and said to everyone, "If we enlarge it by 1.5 times, or even twice.
So, can we present more game content?"
Iwata pinched his chin and thought, "In theory, it is true.
However, the more segments you display, the higher the demands on the microcontroller.”
"Let's wait for the chip issue and start improving the screen first."
If you really want to change the chip, you might as well wait for your own one.
On the one hand, it saves procurement costs, and on the other hand, it increases chip shipments. You see, the production cost of the chip has been reduced.
"In addition to using a widescreen, we can also try to customize the false color display."
"Pseudo-color display?" The people below looked at each other in confusion. It was the first time they heard this term.
"That's right," Baichuan Feng nodded, "I wonder if you have ever played the Atari home game console?"
Several people raised their hands in the conference room one after another. Not many people had played this kind of foreign game console.
Seeing this situation, Baichuan Feng turned around.
“Tanimura, after the meeting, take all the game consoles on the market.
Whether it is domestic or foreign, whether it is handheld or home game consoles, all are equipped in the leisure area.”
"Hayi" Tanimura nodded obediently.
As the president of a game production company, he is a little slow in market sensitivity.
"Then," Shirakawa Feng turned his head again, "Iwata-kun, can you please tell me what props are included in the Atari home game console?"
Satoru Iwata is one of the people who raised his hand just now. He has played countless games and game consoles.
"In addition to the console, there are also game controllers, prop guns, steering wheels, laser transmitters... Oh, yes."
Iwata suddenly thought of something, "There are also TV color films. Shirakawa-san, what do you mean..."
"Just as Iwata-kun imagined," Shirakawa Kaede smiled, "we will also put a colored film on the monochrome screen of the handheld game console."
Atari's early home game consoles all came with a color TV film.
At that time, televisions were all black and white, and in order to increase the fun of the game.
As the name suggests, the purpose of color film is to make the picture show a certain color.
This film is specially customized according to the game content, and will provide players with visual color changes in combination with the game screen.
Now Baichuan Feng wants to apply it to handheld game consoles , to perform a trick of transplanting flowers and trees.
For example, the game content needs to show grass or the sun.
Then I can draw these parts on the membrane in advance, and of course they will be in color.
Today's handheld game consoles only have one fixed game, and the content is mostly simple, with no scene changes.
Then, with this layer of color film, it will bring a visual "deception" to players, because this is a color LCD screen.
"What a genius idea!" Iwata felt it was a pity that Shirakawa Kaede did not become a game designer.
Being a president is simply not doing your job properly.
As for Akagi, who was in charge of hardware design, he looked at Shirakawa Kaede with shame and admiration.
You are worthy of being the boss. How come I didn’t think of such a good idea?
I have played the Yarita home game console and seen TV films, but I just couldn't think of such an idea.
As expected, there is still a lot of work to be done. Akagi has a determination to learn from his mistakes and then to rise again.
“Everyone, although there are not many competitors in the handheld game console market, there are still some.
On the contrary, our opponent is very strong, and we will be at a disadvantage if we are not careful when facing it."
After hearing Baichuan Feng's advice, everyone nodded seriously.
Indeed, over the past six months, we have had our share of wins and losses in the competition with Nintendo.
If you can't keep improving, you'll fall behind others at any time.
To be honest, Shirakawa Kaede doesn't think much of Nintendo's handheld game console design.
However, the opponent's game content design is very powerful, and just relying on this point, they can fight back and forth with Shirakawa Electric.
Shirakawa Kaede hopes that his own handheld console can maintain rapid progress rather than develop slowly in a comfortable environment.
He knows that other console manufacturers will join the field in the near future and competition never disappears.
In addition, he has some other ideas about the gaming industry.
