1 EP. 1: Shabby Game Store
"So this is an ongoing project. You guys have no objection to steering towards the mobile, right? "
'No. Objection. Son of a bitch…'
But I swallow the horse in my heart as I always have. God damn it.
"But this project. How long will the final client last? "
"Since the beta service is in March next year, shouldn't we at least do it by the end of February? "
Are you kidding me? You're only giving me six months to overthrow an ongoing project and start over? '
My insides boil.
The CEO was sitting up there nodding his head as he was snoring. Maybe in his head, the game came out clean in February, marketing for about a month, and then launching the service, he thought the money was just rolling in.
You're welcome.
I'm going to blow up this project, but I can walk all my fingers.
At that time, one of the team leaders stopped looking at me to see if I didn't like my face.
"Joon-Hyuk? "
"Yes."
"You got a problem with that? What's wrong with your face? "
"Hey, Team Leader. This project is so different from the original plan. This is a very serious user billing system, and if you launch the game like this, it's going to buy a lot of rebuttal for the users. It's not good for the company image. "
Then, Team Leader Han Kyuhyun glanced at me with a frown.
His habit of squinting at one eyebrow is to throw up a little bit on his project.
"That's why you pushed the last project like Joon-Hyuk said. Don't you know better about how that turned out? "
'Fuck, you got in the middle of that and you smashed it all up!! '
I have so many words to say.
But I didn't do anything stupid about it. After all, Lee is not the kind of person who can understand a representative who is digging in a corner, and a team leader is not a big supporter of my opinion.
"As you all know, the game market in my country is now a chicken game. The PC online marketplace, which was supposed to go for 10,000 years, fell, and now it's time to focus on mobile. NetBlue, which used to be the same level of sales as us, is now number five in the industry with one mobile game. Don't you guys feel anything when you look at these examples? Can't you just figure out how to make it work for the company? "
"Yes, yes. "
The CEO nodded, confronting the team leader. NetBlue... yes, I copied a billboard into mobile games and swept away a lot of money, but over the years, I ran out of users with dirty billing schemes.
"And Gametown, our subcontractor, has been pouring out new ones every quarter. But our company didn't have anything new until the first half of this year. You think this makes any sense? "
"Yes, yes. "
The more I listen, the more I get amazed. So if the original plan had been a target, it would have been complete by April, so we're gonna have to slow it down.
Moreover, this time, we have completely changed the platform itself with mobile, so everything that we have done since November last year has become futile. One team leader was full of strength on his shoulders thanks to the CEO who kept playing the field.
"Speaking of which, I think it would be best if Chief Kang Jun-hyuk, who is in charge of the main director, left out of this project. Why don't we move the department to Customer Satisfaction for a while? You like making jokes with your users. "
"Yes?"
"Your planning is too user-friendly. I can't make any money. If we're not volunteers, if we can solve the game for free, we have to figure out a way to get the money. I will personally lead this project. You can skip it this time, or you can play with your users for the rest of your life. "
I mean, it's gonna look like crap, but you want me to clean up your mess? Plus, the head of the design team who doesn't know a damn thing about game planning or programming is the main director of this project... The faces of the project representatives who were gathered in the conference room were dim and distorted.
"What's wrong with your face? If you have a complaint, tell me now. I'll send it to the customer satisfaction team with Joon-Hyuk. Go and leave a comment. "
The conference room was quiet.
&
"Ah, fuck, chief. I really can't do this. One team leader can't work with him. "
Time to go home. Usually, this intimate surrogate grumbled and spoke. When I looked at the watch, it was pointing to 10 p.m. one day. Phew... Late night to the last day of department change... I cleared my props in a box on my desk and left the office of the second development team.
"Chief, are you really going to leave without saying anything? "
"What if I say something? Can you hear me?"
"You should have at least tried. "
"Enough! I'm tired too. Right now, the Executive Director has a very different mindset than the former President. "
"You're too much. Chief, if you teased me to make a good game with you, you should have taken me to the end!"
"Would you like to join me on the Customer Satisfaction Team? "
"That's not what I said!! "
"I'm so sorry. I didn't think it would come to this. "
"The chief must be in a bad mood, too, but I think he's over reacting because he's angry. "
"Still, I'm glad you're still here. I worked well with one team leader to lead the project."
"Yes, I understand. "
"Do you want to grab a drink sometime? "
"Oh, I've been noticing my wife lately. She's a little..."
"Phew. Okay, I get it. Then I'll go first. "
"Go ahead, chief. "
When I broke up with this surrogate and left the company, I felt a cold evening air. Is it autumn already? I paused my steps toward the parking lot and looked back at the company building. 34 years old this year. I've only been a developer for 15 years, and I can't believe I'm going to be Chief of Customer Satisfaction Team tomorrow.
I thought that if I joined the game company I would be able to make what I wanted to make, but I was busy making games designed by someone else for 8 years after my first job, and that was the same even now as being the main director. Rather than appealing to what you find interesting about the games you make, you can make this much money with the CEO. "I had to explain, and I had to make a presentation that I could increase revenue several times at the lowest personnel and development costs.
In the end, the game I created did not hit the so-called cool. I had to... I heard the boats were going to the mountains when there were so many things, but the results of the project that he was working on were so different from what he had originally planned.
In addition, games that were not properly tested for rapid fundraising were subject to continuous bug and server instability after release, which is a natural outcome.
The latest trend in mobile gaming is inevitable speed. After a quick launch, I watched for just two weeks, and then decided whether to leave or not, and immediately stopped the service. If you want something to fly, immediately you're busy copying it, and after a slightly different version of the game is released, Abigail said they copied each other's stuff.
Now I feel like I'm watching the Korean edition Atari Shock of mobile gaming.
Atari, who led the US gaming market in the 1980s, is one of the darkest histories of gaming. After releasing the development tool, you created a game, too, and it was also the famous E.T. that came out of the unproven game like a flood, culminating in the year-round low game.
An unidentified monster, created in just five weeks to meet the Christmas season launch that year after E.T. opened, was buried in the middle of the U.S. New Mexico Desert under full recall.
Atari Shock, which reduced the gaming industry to almost $100 million at the time for 3 billion. The mobile gaming market now looked much like it did then.
"If I go home, there won't be anyone around, should I get a drink around the house? "
I pulled the car keys out of my pocket and headed to the parking lot.
34 years old this year. I'm still single.
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Solora, do you think this is good? Two bottles of soju were left alone in a nearby packed wagon, leaving my car at home, and I was grossly drunk. Yeah, well, if I don't get drunk, I'm not gonna make it! Kick, kick!
I walked the streets alone, killing myself for intoxication. Starting tomorrow, you're going to be working far away from game development. Dammit... this is how the dream of the game planner ends when he was a kid?
Peek, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck. Then, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck. Beep beep beep beep beep... It sounds like something you would hear in a retro game... But when you look around, you see only the shops that are all closed.
Boom, boom, boom!
But I can hear it clearly. This is the sound of a Gallagh missile firing... chasing the sound around like a madman in such a memorable sound.
Fat! Fat! This time, when SuperMaridge jumps, do I sound effective? Is there a playroom around? But I do know that the playroom was almost gone by the end of the '90s. I followed the intermittent beats that I thought the game store might be nearby. It may sound silly, but that monotonous beat was a memorable sound to me like an old pop song.
How long do you think it's been since midnight? I noticed a store lit up in a corner. Old brown tube TV and glass display. A grey game cartridge was placed inside.
"Welcome."
Inside the store, an old man with gray hair was smiling at me.
"Oh, hello. Sir..."
"Why does the young man look so dead? Is something wrong? "
"I just got caught up in some business. But where did you get all these retro games? This is almost like a museum. "
He had all kinds of gaming merchandise in a narrow store. However, there are currently no popular next-generation games at all and they were all retro games that were popular in the 8-90 's. But even then, I was captivated by the strange excitement of returning to my childhood.
Cartridges such as the Final Frontier and the Dragon Order have been laid out like new since the Ninja Slash series, which used to stay up all night to clear as a child.
"How about a drag? Are you eager?"
"You're selling this, right? "
"Of course they're for sale, so the buyer is the owner!"
"How much?"
"Just give me two thousand won each. "
"Th-this thousand won!? If you put stuff like this on the Internet these days, you can get tens of thousands of won per person. Especially this!! "
I pulled out a golden one of the game cartridges on display. A family muscle man who was once called a connoisseur of the Friendship Destruction Game. This golden package is a superrare item made in Japan with only 8 pieces. I remember that this was a 300,000 yen auction in Japan... and that was the only limited number of mini-car games in the world that only 100 were paid at family summer camps.
The only games here were items that would be traded at an auction price that was extremely expensive.
"You love games. "
"Of course. That's why I'm still making games at this age!"
"Do you make games? Wow! That's amazing. "
Until yesterday, I swallowed a horse and smiled at the old man. The old man laughed, smiling deeply, seeing how much I liked him.
"Oh, I miss you. I love all the games of the time."
I smile bitterly, picking up a cartridge on one side. Now deceased, former Mintendo President Kawata Satoshi created this masterpiece in his youth. It was a balloon fight.
Using three balloons to fly in the air and pop the opponent's balloon was one of the games I used to enjoy all night when friends came home when I was in the family. I fought a lot with my friend for a month without talking to him.
The first game with the effect of "accelerated inertia." It was an interesting effect that would then be borrowed from the running motion of the Supermaridge.
"A balloon fight! That's a masterpiece. You have good eyes. "
"I'd like to take a look around. Sir?"
"But since there are no customers anyway, take your time to look around. "
"Thank you."
I walked into a cramped store and started looking around. Then I noticed the game machine by accident.
"No way... this? "
In my reaction, a strange smile was drawn on the old man's face, leaning on the glass display table, looking at me. It was something I picked up called the Game & Watch.
"Huh, I never thought I'd see this again."
I carefully opened the game & watch in my hands like a treasure. This, called the beginning of the portable gaming market, could now be viewed as a role model of a portable gaming machine made by Mintendo Corporation.
"Haha! You like that? "
"Sure, but I've never seen this game & watch before. I remember when I was a kid, my parents used to squeeze together a whole series, but I've never seen this model before. "
"I had to. It's the only one in the world. "
"Yes!? Just one? How can something so precious be here... No, I'm not ignoring your shop, but if there's only one, it's usually kept as a souvenir at the Minten headquarters. "
"Who told you? The young man is in a fuss! Haha!"
"Ah-ha-ha, by the way, that's really cool. Only one game & watch in the whole world... Can you try this? "
"The batteries are in. I can try them right away. Give it a try."
"Oh, thank you. "
I immediately opened the lid and played the game with the old man's permission. Dinding ~ ~ Game play started with monotonous beats. I turned to the fluorescent lights to get a good look at the game screen. Game & Watch with stop animation did not have backlighting, so it was not possible to play in the dark.
- Company Game-
That was the name of this game & watch.
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- Company Game-
That was the name of this game & watch. Game & Watch was the work of Nisekoi Gunpei, who died in a car accident in 1997. At that time, there were a lot of child-friendly games such as Dongking Com, Karin's legend, and Dragon Balls because they were toy level items played by children, and this was something that was suspicious from the title.
"Do you know how to play? "
"I've got a hunch. "
Games & watches have been made for children aged 5-6 years since development, so the way they play is extremely monotonous. Left and right directional keys and one confirmation button. The game was a system that produced a report on the desk after the company's main character met the buyer and asked the owner to pay for it, all using stop animation techniques that showed the character every time a space was moved.
The play was a quick relay between the buyer and the owner, and the fun thing was that the meeting time with the buyer was delayed or the owner was suddenly out of commission, creating a situation where the buyer wasn't paid for and raising the tension strangely.
You made this pretty good, didn't you? '
"You're quite resourceful!"
"I used to do it a lot as a kid. The approximate system already understands... but the protagonist is just like me in this game. "
"Everyone at work does. Drag it.
I said, "Yeah, I'm depressed from the game. "
"Is that so? Haha!"
I played the game to some extent and then covered it up and gave it back to my elderly. Then the old man glanced at the game & watch I gave him.
"You. You make games? So what kind of game are you playing? "
"What I've created so far is an online game for PCs, and it's hard to draw big pictures like before because there are so many mobile games out there these days. No matter how long it takes you to play, you have to be able to play for less than five minutes, and you're forcing yourself to play nogada."
"But that's the flow of time, right? Customize the user's taste. "
"I don't think so. Just like my family used to be when I was a kid, there's still plenty of users around the world who still use consoles to play packaged games. They don't play for free, and neither do you. What matters is the quality of the game. "
What am I saying to an old man with gray hair? But I could hardly stop the heat from bursting like a snake that had been in my mind for months.
"I will not deny that the games that young people in my country enjoy the most are mobile games. But at the very least, we have to give users the choice of different genres. It's free every time you spill a similar game. Try it. I don't have an ending for you, and if you don't want to be stressed, you pay for it. Is it right to run like this? Everything has a beginning, it has an end. But now, all these endless games of garbage are flooding the world. I start the conversation on my own, and if I can't afford it, I just end the service and I'm sorry. That's the end of it. Does this make sense? "
"Y-you speak very well."
"Ha, ha, no. I was so excited. Sorry, sir. "
"No, no, no. I feel like I've been lying to you for so long. Yeah, well, if you're a game maker, you should have one of those beliefs. "
"But I feel better now that I've told you. "
"Yeah? Ha-ha! Hey, kid. If so, what time would you like to go back in time? "
"Yes? Oh, I don't know. It's no big deal. I'm thinking about it quietly. But if we could go back, 1983 would be great. "
"Why is that? "
"That's when the family of mintendo, the second-generation console, was released after Atari shock. because it was a time when young developers, enthusiastic and dreamy, flourished. "
"Really? Haha! I see. It was a fun time. Maybe a real game is a time when the content itself was just twitching. What would you do if you could really go back to that era? Do you want to be a game developer again like you are now? "
I thought deeply about what he said for a moment. As if playing chess, the old man was looking at his opponent's reactions with a calm smile.
"No, I'm not going to be a developer. "
"Huh? Why? You don't like games anymore? "
"No, I don't think it's possible for a developer to actually create the game that they want. "
"Hmm? What does that mean? "
"If I could just take the knowledge and go back to that time, I'd like to build a console. I want to be a developer of Minten and Sensoni now by creating a console company. "
"Aha! So you want to become an owner and developer yourself? Great idea! Great idea. "
"Is that so? Haha... I feel better just thinking about it. "
"Is that so? Haha! It's been a long time since I've had fun with a young man. Yeah, that's right. That was the game."
"I had fun thanks to you. I feel like something I haven't been able to hold on to all by myself. "
"Why? You want to go already? "
"I have to go back to work tomorrow. Don't we all? "
"I see. Should I get going, too? It's too late. "
"You're going in now? So let me help you with your store. "
"Really? Young people are polite. Would you mind moving that stand out there inside? "
"Yes, of course. "
I left the store and unconsciously looked at the game & watch in my hand. Aigoo, I don't want to be mistaken for stealing. We'll put it in the store. I heard there's only one in the whole world. How precious. The moment I turned my head like that...
"Huh? "
I could see the shutters tightly closed in front of my eyes.
"What is it, old man? Sir!! "
I felt like I was dreaming. The game store that had the lights on until just now turned to a shabby abandoned building store while I turned my back for a moment. Am I dreaming? I pinched my cheek a little, but the senses were definitely alive. I'm not attracted to foxes. How could I do this? But surely in my right hand...
I turned my head to look at the game & watch still in my hands.
"What the... what's going on? "
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