Chapter 142: The Ghost Swallowing Coins
On that day, we completely overturned the coding work of Psych Force, which was at an 80% development progress.
Hayashi jokingly mentioned to our boss that it was as if he'd flipped the dinner table with his 'Table Flip' skill. As he recounted an incident from 'The Empty Streets,' the expressions on the faces of our development team turned pale.
Perhaps that was the day when the nickname 'The White Devil of Pentagon' emerged in the industry regarding me...
But the second development team, including Hayashi, believed that my choice was the right judgment.
Coding a program was as impossible to rectify from the ground up, akin to General MacArthur's Incheon landing operation, so it wouldn't return to its original state...
More frustrating than coding was the 'debugging' work of finding bugs.
After already progressing 80%, introducing a new system amidst entangled flags and judgments inevitably caused bugs.
And one bug led to a chain reaction, making it sometimes more convenient to start afresh from the beginning.
Since the character images were already complete, programmers like Hayashi and I, based on our experience of redoing it once, dedicated ourselves tirelessly to the task.
When Hayashi and I, who possessed noteworthy programming skills at Pentagon Soft, took charge, the morale of the momentarily disheartened employees began to rise again.
Rather than just starting over from scratch, I, eager for perfection, instructed Morita to create a giant boss-level character.
During battles with characters, this sudden appearance threw a huge enemy into the midst of player-versus-player battles, creating variables.
Once the giant boss was defeated, specific items enhancing abilities would scatter throughout the stage. Imagining players rushing to collect these items spread across the area brought a smile to my face unintentionally.
---
November 21st, 1991. Thursday.
A day in late autumn where the cool air felt refreshing.
Akihabara, bustling early in the morning, was filled with users sporting expressions full of anticipation and excitement.
It was because this autumn marked the simultaneous release of two highly anticipated titles: the remake of Dragon Emblem, the fourth title released on the portable Laon, and Mintendo's Super Soldier. It was the day when Chandra Kawaguchi's 'The Legend of Karin: Triforce of the Gods' was launched.
The Legend of Super Mariji series, the Donkey Kong series, and the creator of The Legend of Karin—unequivocally, he was a parachute employee who entered Mintendo through his father's connections. (Rumors had it that he got in through his father's ties with CEO Kamauichi, but to think a parachuted employee could sustain a company as a super soldier was unbelievable...) The Legend of Karin had started its third installment on the next-gen console after going through two titles during the family era, abandoning numbering and releasing it as a new work, unrelated to the previous ones, titled 'Triforce of the Gods.'
Undoubtedly, the primary console using a TV was Mintendo's Super Family.
Although its popularity momentarily wavered with Laon's appearance in the summer, it was only temporary. Thanks to the strong fandom built since the family era, it still boasted the highest circulation rate among all console devices.
Ironically, among the pillars supporting this circulation rate, a considerable portion belonged to Pentagon Soft's 'The Empty Streets'...
The tedious legal battle over Mintendo and copyrights ended with the final verdict favoring Pentagon, claiming all intellectual property rights.
It was due to Mintendo's insistence on imposing overly stringent conditions, considering the profitability that 'The Empty Streets,' along with my contributions during my seven years at Mintendo, brought to the sales of Super Family.
CEO Kamauichi expressed extreme dissatisfaction with the court's ruling. Still, as the legal battle dragged on, it was evident that Mintendo's image would also take a hit, hence no further appeals were made.
Currently, Mintendo was swamped with only licensing agreements for Capcom and Street Fire 2.
CEO Kamauichi, who had mocked the likelihood of Laon treading NEGA's path, was astonished at the power of the 16-bit portable game console, which was selling like hotcakes upon its launch. Realizing that it originated from SP2, he was belatedly negotiating royalties with Capcom.
However, due to the basic cartridge's cost, things weren't resolving as easily as expected.
Currently, Super Family's performance was slightly lower than Laon's.
If the difference was just this much, porting Street Fire 2 wouldn't be much of a challenge. The problem lay in the development tools.
The Super Family, squeezed out considering hardware costs, was undoubtedly the worst device from a developer's standpoint.
Great graphics, but relatively limited memory or...
Wanting to create a game like NEGA's Sonic, showcasing speedy sensations, but lacking in CPU processing power. At times, it showed worse performance than Family, making it a headache to develop a game on the Super Family.
However, what made it impossible for developers to complain about such aspects was the games produced by Chandra Kawaguchi.
His works, which were nearly impossible to create on the same console, were pulling out 120% of the console's inherent performance. Was it because of that? Rumors circulated that Mintendo was secretly coding additional memory exclusively for first-party games, but ultimately, it all concluded as baseless gossip.
The new work, 'The Legend of Karin,' meticulously crafted by him for two years, had already sparked tremendous anticipation among users even before its release.
Especially during the family era, The Legend of Karin was quite a hit in the North American market, so Mintendo had high hopes for it.
As the representative RPG series in Japan, Dragon Warrior faced a box office failure in the North American market at that time, making The Legend of Karin's new release an even more valuable title.
"It's seriously fun. It's the defining work of The Legend of Karin."
"The game feels so good every time I solve dungeon puzzles. The way it breaks away from a conventional action RPG is mind-blowing. The level design of the dungeons, boasting incredible balance, is what set The Legend of Karin apart."
I recall a time when I was playing a game called 'The Legend of Karin: The Hourglass of Dreams,' and I struggled to copy the picture above to the screen split into upper and lower halves as requested. Eventually, I gave up and closed the console. But when I reopened it later, the picture from the top had moved to the bottom screen.
In essence, the act of opening and closing the console itself became a gaming strategy, and I couldn't help but be astonished.
"A genius, this person."
That's all I could think at that moment.
But now, to hear that he's preparing to confront the game he created head-on, it's ironic...
I gazed at the long queue outside the Tamago Shop with a bitter smile.
Pentagon Soft had established itself as a company with staunch fan loyalty like no other.
Today, I invited special guests to the announcement of the Dragon Emblem remake.
Who were they?
They were among the final ten participants of the 'Dragon Emblem Expedition' organized by Famitong in '86. Of course, Yuki was among them.
"Wow~ There are so many people outside!"
"When a game recently gets good feedback from users, all the first
-timers rush to get a copy. It's like this every time."
"Really? But I've never seen such a crowd before."
"Probably because this is a simultaneous release with 'The Legend of Karin.'"
"Ah, that must be it!"
The atmosphere inside the company was warm and friendly, but the pressure was evident.
As the director of 'The Legend of Karin,' Chandra Kawaguchi had never attended any game's announcement event.
He didn't particularly avoid them, but since his time as a parachuted employee, he showed an eccentric side and didn't care much for socializing.
Naturally, he didn't participate in industry events, interviews, or parties either. He simply focused on developing his games.
Conversely, today was different.
He openly stated, "I want to witness the reaction of those who play the game I made."
CEO Kamauichi, feeling proud to introduce 'The Legend of Karin,' stood before the guests.
As I prepared to guide them to their seats, my eyes met with Yuki's.
The warmth emanating from her gaze momentarily dispelled the nervousness I felt.
Despite the anticipated atmosphere outside, an even more momentous event would take place today...
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