Chapter 49
“Why is that…?”
“Mintendo is currently the most popular platform amongst both third party software companies and the customers . Jumping into the current console market is no different than burning the investment money . Even NEGA’s current generation console with its superior hardware is lagging behind Mintendo . The battle for this generation of console is over . ”
“Then what about the next generation?”
“Mintendo will continue to grow as they earn even more recognition from the population . With the Family Series’ next expansion, the Mintendo brand will spread all over the world . ”
In response to my simple prediction, Mr . Wilson was greatly taken aback and asked .
“So you’re saying Mintendo’s monopoly will propagate to the next generation?”
“Why? Isn’t that great news for you, Mr . Wilson?”
“Of course, the growth of Mintendo will benefit me . But as with all monopolies, one corporation controlling every aspect of the market will eventually begin to break apart . The Atari Shock is a perfect example . I’m concerned about a reoccurrence of that event . ”
“Don’t worry too much . Mintendo won’t lose their momentum until at least until the next generation . ”
“Until the next generation? Then you’re aiming for…”
“Yes . I will be targeting the next generation of consoles . ”
“You’ll be targeting the next generation of consoles when you haven’t even developed anything yet?”
“When one sits on the throne for a long period of time, they tend to grow complacent . A small opening to enter the market will be created then . And when that moment comes, Mintendo will have grown to a conglomerate in the entertainment industry . ”
“Phew . If anyone else made these claims, I would’ve kicked them in the ass and took them for a drug test . But hearing it coming out of your mouth, I’m starting to believe it . ”
“When that time comes, you will have to cut ties with all Mintendo products . Don’t hoard items in some corner like you did in the Atari Shock . ”
“But there is a lot of exciting games for the Family console, I don’t think anything bad will come out of keeping some? Game cartridges don’t rot, do they?”
“Haha, by that time, cartridges won’t be in use anymore . Keke…”
“What…?”
Mr . Wilson tilted his head in confusion to my words . At that moment, Elise came out of her car and shouted at us .
“Mr . Kang and Mr . Wilson, let’s move to the hotel first . Load your bags in my trunk . ”
Oh? A hotel was already reserved for us? Could it perhaps be a 3rd rate hotel like last time?
“Ms . Elise, I will take care of reserving the hotel myse…”
“Don’t worry . I’ve booked a business room in a 5 star hotel to suit your needs, Director Kang . It won’t be the king suite that you had 3 years ago, but you should have no problem staying here for one month . ”
‘Hoh…”
At that moment, Mr . Yamashita suddenly rose from his seat and spoke to me .
“We can’t let the hero who revived Mintendo’s American branch stay in a run-down hotel, can’t we?”
(TL Note: Mr . Yamashita had previously reserved a crappy motel for Kang-kun 3 years ago)
“Thank you, then I’ll be in your care . ”
After loading our bags into the trunk, we headed to a hotel in the middle of New York .
&
The next day, before Mr . Wilson opened his stores .
With the help of the store’s employees, I setup the experimental trial for the english version Psychic Battle .
These workers were astonished at the plethora of flying missiles in the screen, but as I gave them instructions on how to play, they happily began to enjoy the game .
As Chandra’s rearrangement of the source code had qualitatively improved the speed of the game to the next level, the initial reactions of the employees were good .
“This is really something?”
“How could a game like this run on an 8-bit console? What is this… sorcery?”
Mr . Wilson had also grabbed the gamepad to give it a go but was defeated before the 1st half of the 1st stage .
“This really is . . . Would a game this difficult ever be popular?”
“Back in Japan, games with an insane level of difficulty are the trend . Psychic Battle aside, the difficulty of video games as a whole rose . We will be marketing Psychic Battle by letting customers play it here before the official release date . For any player that clears the 1st stage, give them a poster illustration of their choice as the prize; Give any 2nd stage clearers an experimental cartridge . Players will start to get the hang of it after dying a few times and attempt to beat the game many times . ”
“Alright, my employees will handle giving out the prizes . Where are you headed to now?”
“I have a place to visit with Elise . So I can entrust the promotion of Psychic Battle to the store employees?”
“Aye, we’ve got your back . You must be itching to explore after 3 years; take your time and leave the store front to us . ”
“Thank you, Mr . Wilson . ”
After saying my thanks to the store employees as well, I stepped out of the store . Elise was already waiting in front of the store with her car .
“Where should I take you, Director Kang?”
“First, let’s head to MIT’s engineering department . ”
&
An Engineering College in Massachusetts .
Along with Harvard, MIT was the top school in the U . S catering to educating geniuses . As the #5 university in the world for producing nobel laureates, MIT was sometimes called a nobel-laureate-producing factory .
“Why are we going to MIT?”
“Ms . Elise, do you know where the first video game was made?”
“The first video game? I don’t know . I’ve never thought about that . Where was it made?”
“The very place we’re headed to . ”
“What!? MIT produced the very first video game?”
“‘Space War,' the very first graphic video game, was created by several MIT graduates in 1962 . During that period, it garnered a ton of popularity amongst MIT hackers, but it was ultimately a failure in the market . ”
“So that was the case . But from what I know, MIT completely laid their hands off the video game industry after the Atari Shock event . Would . . . it be alright?”
“We’re not going to MIT to find a developer . ”
“Then why?”
“MIT is an expert in operating computer hardware for various uses . I want to see if I can find some talents to collaborate with . ”
“You’re recruiting for Mintendo?”
“Maybe . ”
As I averted her question with a cryptic smile, Elise curled the tips of her lips upwards too .
“You’re definitely cooking up a plan~ . ”
Elise was considered an employee of Mintendo, but she was also one of the few, along with Mr . Wilson, who knew about my upcoming secret plans . Every time Mr . Wilson had expanded our coterie of premium stores, she was there to act as the legal witness; I’d been wiring money to her every month for this purpose .
After going through the process of stabilizing Mintendo’s American branch with me, she had also put in every effort to grow the Mintendo brand under Mr . Yamashita after I left .
In response to Elise’s comment, I merely grinned and looked out the window .
&
After a while, we arrived at the MIT campus in Cambridge . Even though it was the holiday seasons, the streets were brimming with tourists and students alike .
“I thought it’d be quieter during the break; well, I don’t know if this is good or bad…”
After stepping out of the car, I muttered to myself and looked around my surroundings .
The time was a little over one, and Elise who had been driving for three and a half hours from New York let out a huge yawn .
“Should we eat before we go inside?”
“Sure, I was beginning to feel hungry anyways~ . ”
We entered into a popular burger joint that students frequented . As soon as we stepped inside, the aroma of the meat being cooked unintentionally triggered the saliva to ooze from my mouth .
“This restaurant must be famous…”
Elise was wearing a big smile on her face as if she had also fallen prey to the attack on the olfactory sense . As we waited around the entrance, a waiter came over and directed us to our table; Elise and I both ordered a full-course hamburger-steak meal .
Just as our sizzling hamburgers arrived, I took a camera from my bag .
“Why the camera?”
“I was requested to take pictures of foods in American restaurants by a friend back in Japan… Hold on . ”
Per Yuki’s request, I pressed the shutter towards the steaming food .
“Pictures of foods? Is your friend a girl?”
“Yes, she’s working as an assistant script writer in a broadcasting station . ”
“You have a girlfriend, Director Kang?”
“Mmm… I’m seeing someone I have good feelings for…”
“Wow~ Congratulations . I thought you weren’t interested in dating because you’re a workaholic . ”
“I am busy, but that person is quite understanding of my situation . ”
“She’s a good person . Please introduce me when I visit Japan later . ”
Seeing Elise congratulate me, the thought of Elise in the airport from 3 years ago popped into my head . I nonchalantly asked her a question .
“Are you seeing anyone, Ms . Elise?”
“Me? Of course, I am~!!! I’m incredibly popular, you know!?”
Of course, a beauty of her calibre wouldn’t wait around for 3 years as a single . I smirked at my fantasy and started cutting the meat . At that moment, I overheard the conversations of two men who were sitting on the table opposite from me .
“What do you think? Did you run the file I sent you?”
“Yep . I didn’t know what was going on at first, but I was almost shocked speechless after I started pressing the arrow keys . ”
“Keke, it’s fun, right? Didn’t it give off the feeling that you were trapped in an actual maze?”
“I mean, how were you able to think up a way to create a ‘space’ on the screen?”
Space? I immediately stopped cutting the steak and turned my attention to their conversation . Elise looked at me and asked .
“Director Kang, what’s the matter?”
“Shh, please wait . ”
I slowly begin cutting my meat again while focusing on their conversation .
“I was initially planning to develop a house object whose interior could be seen . But I had an exciting revelation in my last art class…”
“Art class? Ah~ You’re talking about when you made that triangular pyramidal plaster?”
“Yeah, 4 sides were needed to create that work of art . Using this knowledge, I tried to replicate that on the computer, and it was easier than I’d expected . ”
“You developed your program based on that?”
“What’s there not to develop? Coding it was almost like a form of origami . I connected three vertices together to form a 4 sided triangular pyramid . All that’s left was to fill in the spaces . ”
“That’s easier said than done . ”
He was right . There weren’t any tools like the 3D MAX in this era; to think he created a 3D effect with just the basic operations . He’s a complete genius! Who could he possibly be?
“Oi, John . So were you able to create a 360 degree graphic viewer?”
“Nope, I wasn’t able to finish it . ”
“Why?”
“My computer could only handle displaying one triangular pyramidal shape . I tried to add more shapes, but it crashed . In the end, I was only able to program the outline for the maze by connecting the vertices . ”
He was able to create a maze inside the monitor by simply connecting the vertices? His concept was the core foundation for all FPS games . I placed my fork down and tuned my full attention to their conversation without caring if my steak turned cold or not .
“As I was saying, I think an apparatus that can solely handle graphics will be needed to run my software . Maybe something like the central processing unit? Should I call it a graphics processing unit…?”
“There’s the Video Graphics Array card for that . ”
“The VGA card merely transfers the command from the CPU to the monitor . What I’m talking about is another apparatus whose sole task is to render graphics and free up the load on the CPU . ”
At that instant, I shouted ' Bingo ' and grinned with my eyes closed . He’s pinpointed the exact points .
“Director Kang? Why aren’t you eating? You haven’t taken a single bite yet…”
‘Ms . Elise…”
“Yes?”
“I don’t think we need to go inside the school/ . ”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’ve already found who I want . ”