America: The Godfather of Game Development

Chapter 305 The Country on the Highway

3D games will become the mainstream trend in the future.

This has now become a consensus in the industry.

Since Quake burst onto the scene and utterly destroyed the old system, the demand for 3D has become impossible to ignore.

The emergence of Resident Evil clearly added fuel to the fire on this foundation.

Even those manufacturers that are still deeply involved in the 2D field have already devoted some of their R&D efforts to 3D.

For companies in the hardware business, this demand forces them to confront a very real problem.

Where can I buy a graphics card?

Taiding, IBM, Matro —

There are quite a few manufacturers to choose from, but for Zhongshan Jixiong, he has already made his own choice.

Inside the reception room.

"Mr. Lin, we've come to discuss a new procurement plan."

-

Hayao Nakayama sat on one side of the sofa and explained the purpose of his trip.

In fact, the letter of intent to purchase had already been formally submitted to GAMENOVA several days ago.

However, Nakayama Yoshio believed that if there was an opportunity, it would be better to meet with Lin Lixin in person.

"I've read the letter of intent. It's a graphics chip, right?"

Lin Lixin, sitting on the other side, nodded, not surprised by the matter.

According to the original plan, SEGA's fourth-generation console, the Mega Drive, also known as the American version of Genesis, would use a Texas Instruments TMS9918 graphics chip.

Perhaps in order to be the first to release the world's first 16-bit console before Nintendo, the MegaDrive initially only supported 64 colors.

Although Sega did gain a significant market share thanks to its first-mover advantage, the Mega Drive was premature, which led to it being repeatedly outmaneuvered by Nintendo in subsequent head-to-head battles.

In this timeline, since Gamenova has already secured the title of the first fourth-generation console, Sega no longer needs to follow the old path.

Choosing a more reliable chip becomes essential.

After much deliberation, Nakayama Hayao went directly to Lin Lixin and frankly proposed a new procurement plan.

He had already figured out Meiguang's, or rather, Lin Lixin's, attitude.

Lin Li-hsin seems to genuinely disregard his own business interests and has come to buy their top-of-the-line chips.

They don't care at all about the possibility of fostering a formidable competitor.

They might not even care about them at all.

No matter how much you worry, it's just needless anxiety.

As the president of several large companies, Hayao Nakayama was able to guess the other party's thoughts to some extent.

"Yes, President Lin, and of course, SDRAM high-speed memory."

Although we secured a deal for memory chips for the US version of Genesis in the last procurement, that batch was all outdated D-series memory.

RAM。

"Of course, no problem. Our new phase of factory construction is almost complete."

Lin Lixin indeed had no intention of objecting; in fact, he was eager for more semiconductor orders.

This thing is way more ruthless than printing money in video games.

Developing these side industries properly can support the company to continue making things as recklessly and cost-insensitively as in Resident Evil.

In a sense, I'm now using Sega's clients' money to make my own games.

Not long ago, the Umbrella Corporation completed the renovation of Spencer Mansion.

To give these new employees something to do, Lin Lixin simply launched the construction plan for Micron's new factory to house the new production lines purchased from Lam Research.

"However, I'm actually planning to meet with President Hayao Nakayama soon."

Seeing that the deal had been successfully reached and there were no other issues, Lin Lixin changed the subject and brought up another matter: "I wonder if you've seen our steering wheel kit?"

"Steering wheel? Ah, President Lin is referring to the one used in 'Nova Karting,' right? It is indeed an amazing engineering masterpiece."

He quickly recalled what Lin Lixin was referring to and understood.

That thing is definitely a very amazing design.

The game uses a completely mechanical structure to simulate the operation of a steering wheel, perfectly meeting the needs of casual players who enjoy Nova Karting.

"Yes, that's it. We've recently been developing an elite version of the steering wheel kit," um—actually, it's already finished, and it will go into production in the next couple of days."

Lin Lixin smiled.

This thing was originally conceived as part of the Nova Karting project.

However, due to the fact that development resources were all allocated to the new handheld console and Resident Evil, it was not until the last two days that it was officially launched.

To put it simply, it's a real peripheral device with damping, a signal cable, and the ability to be used as a game controller.

"Oh?"

Hayao Nakayama was taken aback, not understanding what Lin Lixin was trying to say.

Lin Lixin didn't give him much time to think and continued, "If it's for playing 'Nova Karting,' it's more than enough to meet those needs."

"But when faced with environments that require truly high realism, this thing is somewhat inadequate."

"SEGA is an expert in this area."

It must be admitted that Sega, which has been deeply involved in the arcade racing field for many years, does have a unique advantage in terms of cockpit and driving simulation.

Technical expertise cannot be easily caught up with by cheating. Many aspects, such as feel adjustments and parameter selections, can only be refined and polished bit by bit by Gerrard and the hardware team.

Although he knew they could figure it out eventually, Lin Lixin didn't want to waste precious development time on it.

After listening to Lin Lixin's words, Nakayama Hayao finally showed a look of realization.

It turned out to be the case.

"Is President Lin planning to develop a new racing arcade game?"

"No, it's not an arcade machine, it's a new peripheral for NX."

"?"

Hayao Nakayama hesitated for a moment.

"For mainframe use? A realistic cockpit??"

I've never even heard of such a demand before.

Such a heavy thing is not ideal in terms of either cost or ease of use.

Placing them in arcades is clearly their best destiny.

"Strictly speaking, all we need is a steering wheel, and at most a gear shift and pedals."

Remove all the outer shell, brackets, and seats, leaving only the core components.

"I see----"

Hayao Nakayama nodded slightly.

He couldn't figure out what Lin Lixin was thinking, but he could think that the other party seemed to be planning to develop a new racing game.

"We will complete the formalities as soon as possible."

"It's a pleasure working with you."

"A force feedback steering wheel peripheral with a direct-drive motor? Are you suggesting players use this to play Nova Karting?"

After listening to Lin Lixin's explanation, Gerald was at a loss for words.

It's yet another project that sounds outrageous.

"Of course not, um—that's fine too. But I am planning to develop a new game, that's for sure."

Lin Lixin walked up to the NX, casually picked up a controller, and looked at Gerald. "What advantages do you think our peripherals have compared to Nintendo and Sega?"

-

When it comes to making peripherals, Nintendo is actually the most qualified to speak on the subject.

There's almost no month when they're not tinkering with new peripherals.

All sorts of strange and unusual things are emerging one after another.

Regardless of whether they can be sold or whether they are compatible with games, as long as the ideas are imaginative enough, Nintendo is willing to put them into production.

Typical examples include the energy gloves from the sinkhole and the VR project that almost ruined Nintendo.

As for light guns, disk drives, robots, whack-a-mole games, keyboards, dance mats, and so on, they have everything.

"Advantages? Does using high-quality materials count?"

"Hehe, I'm not talking about the surface, but its essence."

Lin Lixin gently pushed the joystick, and the go-kart on the screen began to move. "Analog signal input—that's our trump card."

Despite the seemingly rich and diverse peripheral ecosystem of the Famicom (FC), it has one fatal flaw.

It does not support analog signal input, has no linearity, and only has fixed values.

A left turn is simply left, and a right turn is simply right; there is no transitional range such as how many degrees to swerve left.

Since NovaXeno, all GAMENOVA peripherals have come standard with the new standard communication cables.

Linear input has long been a rigid requirement that Lin Lixin imposes on the hardware department.

"Imagine a brake and accelerator pedal that can precisely sense the pressure applied, and a steering wheel that can accurately reflect the angle of rotation —"

Gerrard remained silent for a long time.

This is indeed an extremely outrageous product.

"But—the racing market is almost saturated now, and our alternative title, 'Nova Karting,' has only been released recently. Is it appropriate to launch a racing game at this point in time—"

"Who said I was going to make racing games?"

Lin Lixin interrupted him, a smile playing on his lips.

The United States, a nation of highways, boasts a dense network of roads that stretches across the country.

Even when going out to the convenience store to buy things, they almost always have to drive back and forth.

-

It's fair to say that cars are something Americans absolutely cannot live without.

Whether it's a small car or a large vehicle.

"Okay sir, please sign here, and here, and here—okay, thank you very much."

A man dressed in a plaid shirt, a typical truck driver, held up a document for Sam to sign.

A huge truck was parked behind him.

In front of the nearly four-meter-high truck cab, a person appears so small.

If you get hit by this thing, even if you get bruised here and there, it's considered that it's showing mercy.

Upstairs, Lin Lixin stood in front of the glass curtain wall, looking down at the workers who were busy loading and unloading goods.

"Another work targeting American special forces —"

A game with no plot, no difficulty, no competition, no killing, nothing at all.

Yet it can captivate players, drawing them in effortlessly.

Forget the trivialities of life and let go of the day's fatigue.

Take a can of ice-cold beer from the refrigerator and find a favorite cassette tape.

I just listened to my favorite album while driving on the city streets.

Whether walking in the rain or facing the rising sun —

American Truck Simulator

An outlier in driving games.

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