Tokyo Video Game Tycoon.

"Ah, that's more like it. Alright, let's continue our discussion on the development of Metrorod today. Do you have any questions about the program data from the past few days?"

An employee then raised his hand and said, "President, the level design is almost complete, but there are still some flaws in the details of the level design. We're afraid we'll need to test it for a longer period of time."

"Because this is a Metroidvania game, the level design determines the game's replayability."

"Speaking of which, President, why is this game called Metroidvania?"

"Well, since I couldn't think of any good category names, I decided to just use the name of our game."

In the past life of Bamboo Star, Galaxy City Game was the collective name for two classic games.

Metroid and Castlevania.

The official name of the Metroid is Metrod.

These two games were released around the same time and together pioneered the unique genre of Metroidvania games.

These types of games also occupy a very important place in the field of video games.

In later generations, it became a favorite among many independent game developers.

Games like Hollow Knight, Dead Cells, and Shadow Torch City are all types of Metroidvania games from later generations.

The key element is solving puzzles in the game map levels, followed by action and role-playing.

The puzzles in this game are also different from those in Super Mario.

Super Mario's puzzles come one after another, so you won't encounter unsolvable problems from the very beginning.

However, this is not the case with the Galaxy City game.

Sometimes you might encounter several unsolvable puzzles at the very beginning of a level.

These kinds of puzzles usually require obtaining certain items or skills in later levels to solve.

As players spend more time playing, they will gradually discover that some previously unexplored areas can be solved using newly acquired items and skills. This gives players a sense of satisfaction from discovering secrets, while also adding depth to the game and making it more replayable.

This is a time-saving and labor-saving method of game production, but it is also very mentally taxing.

Of course, the most important thing is that these kinds of games are indeed very popular.

If Zhuyouxing wants to develop the game industry, it will naturally not miss out on video games, which have also made a significant contribution to the industry.

Chapter 98 Overtaking on a Curve

Just in time, Aya Tsukino also hoped to learn a new game genre from Yusei Take.

Given the current performance of the Famicom, Metroidvania-style games are the most suitable.

If Aya Tsukino is still not satisfied, then we can only wait for the Super Nintendo to be released, and then explore a few new game genres.

However, judging from Tsukino Aya's expression now, she seems quite satisfied, feeling that she has learned a completely new type of game.

This made Zhu Youxing a little curious.

I'm curious about what kind of game Aya Tsukino is preparing to make.

However, whenever asked about such matters, she would simply shut up and refuse to answer, no matter how he asked. Zhu Youxing had no choice but to stop pressing her.

Besides pioneering a completely new gaming field, Metrorod has another major characteristic.

It is the first game in gaming history to feature a female protagonist.

Although the game doesn't reveal to players until the very end that they are controlling a female character, this does not diminish the game's significance in pioneering a completely new realm.

And then there's the unleashing of the LSP spirit.

It's hard for players after 2020 to imagine how shocking it was when the protagonist took off his helmet at the end of the first Metroid game, revealing a blonde beauty.

Especially among men, it even sparked a blonde craze.

Sams also went down in the history of video games.

When Takeyusei proposed a female protagonist, specifically a blonde woman, to the team, everyone except Tsukino Aya's eyes lit up.

Especially when Zhu Youxing had someone draw Samus's character illustration for everyone to see, several team members even wanted to steal the character illustration poster.

However, they cannot do such a thing under the confidentiality agreement.

Samus's identity in the first movie is a secret and must not be revealed to anyone until the very end.

Once players have all purchased the Megarod and the story has been circulating for about three days, revealing Samus's true appearance to the public should have a very good promotional effect.

However, based on the current development progress of the game, it will take at least another two or three months to achieve the perfect version we envision, because the level design in the game is much more complex, and there is no upper limit to the complexity of the levels.

Therefore, the team is now focusing its main efforts on making the large map levels as perfect as possible.

Then, once the Metroid is officially released, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) can be released simultaneously.

Then we can make an even higher-resolution version of Metroro and earn more money.

Players will never refuse a game with better graphics on top of gameplay.

While Zhuyouxing was developing games and game consoles step by step, its three current competitors were not willing to fall behind.

In particular, at Surui Electronics, Hayakawa Ueto, then head of the video game division, was having a meeting with someone.

In an elegant teahouse, Hayakawa Ueto, dressed in a very formal suit, knelt before the tea table.

Opposite him was a Western man also dressed in formal attire.

He had short brown hair and brown eyes, and he looked very shrewd and capable.

"This Gyokuro tea is really good, Hayakawa-san. I really like it. I guess I'll definitely have to bring some back with me when I go back to the United States."

Hayakawa Ueto smiled: "If Aiden likes it, I'll arrange for someone to buy you the best Gyokuro tea."

"Thank you so much, Hayakawa-san."

Hayakawa waved his hand and then got straight to the point: "Let's keep it short. I called you here today to show you the current state of Japan's video game industry. How have you been feeling these past two days?"

“Hmm, video games? That’s an interesting thing. If this business expands overseas, it has real potential.”

Aiden leaned forward and lowered his voice, saying, "Hayakawa-san, is this your father's idea, or..."

"This is my own opinion. In the small market of Japan, it has already grown to a scale of at least 10 billion yen in just one year, and the expansion speed has not slowed down at all. I think that in the United States, this expansion speed will only be more terrifying. After all, Americans are very rich now."

When facing Aiden, a foreigner, Hayakawa Ueto didn't try to hide anything. Aiden was completely unfazed by the Americans' mockery, and their relationship was clearly not ordinary.

“Oh, then there’s no problem. I was worried that your father was interfering with your decision again. If it’s your idea, I’m willing to support you. After all, I used to work under you, so helping you is helping myself.”

"Hehe, speaking of which, how's the new head of the overseas business department?"

"Him... to be honest with you, he's no good, far worse than you. Although his current products are selling well, most of them are just benefiting from the good times you had when you were still in charge." Aiden looked disgusted, seemingly dissatisfied with his current boss.

Aiden is a mid-level manager in the overseas business division of Surrey Electronics in the United States.

Previously, when Hayakawa Ueto was in the overseas business department, he was Aiden's superior, and the two had a very good relationship. Today, Aiden specially came from the United States at the invitation of his former superior to come and see the market size of video games.

Before the New Year, Hayakawa Ueto already had the idea of ​​expanding video games overseas.

Japan is too difficult to live in; it's practically hellish.

That Youxing Electronic Entertainment is simply inhuman; they release one high-quality game after another, at a rate of one per month.

This only refers to the release efficiency of first-party games; the third-party game development groups under Yuxing Electronic Entertainment can also release a game every two or three months.

A year has passed, and the number of high-quality games on the Famicom is approaching one hundred.

Every single one of them is at least three stars, with a whole bunch of five-star games.

On their side, their trash games are all under 30, which is quite pathetic.

Even Hayakawa Ueto, a veteran in the business world, felt that Yusei Electronics Entertainment was a truly terrifying competitor.

The Japanese market seems to have become Yusei Electronics' exclusive arena, with everyone else just playing along.

However, as a businessman, competition is inevitable, but one must also have a keen eye for the market.

At present, Yuxing Electronic Entertainment clearly shows no signs of developing overseas business.

However, their Surui Electronics has unique advantages.

Surui Electronics' business spans multiple fields, with branches in many countries and its products sold all over the world. They have a significant advantage in overseas sales.

So, given this, why not expand our overseas business in advance?

Perhaps Yuxing Electronic Entertainment will eventually expand its game business overseas, but if they gain a first-mover advantage, they will be able to make more money.

First, we need to find a way to make the video game division more money. This will create a virtuous cycle, allowing them to invest more money in making good games.

Chapter 99 Queuing Up Overnight

As a former subordinate of Hayakawa Ueto, Aiden agreed without hesitation to help expand the overseas business of PN game consoles.

Whether it can actually achieve good sales overseas is another question.

Besides Surui Electronics making this move, two other manufacturers who were also trying to capitalize on the video game craze have officially released their own game consoles.

First, there was Vides, who placed their arcade machines in various entertainment venues, reaping profits from individual players who hadn't bought a game console.

Their games are almost all platforming games with increased difficulty.

Platforming games are relatively easy to make, and with a little reskinning, they can be presented as a new game for players to enjoy.

However, there was one game that really caught my eye: a racing game made from a first-person perspective. It looked to have much better graphics and was quite appealing.

Judging from this game, they have indeed put some effort into making it, and the feedback from players is quite direct. These kinds of racing arcade games are very popular on the streets. It is said that the executives at Vides are very happy and have begun to prepare to increase their investment in racing arcade games.

Then there's Kingpyeong Entertainment, which releases its own exclusive disc-based game console.

The game console comes bundled with three video games, which are games based on animation IPs that are part of the company's own copyrighted content.

The ability to personally experience a game featuring your favorite anime characters is certainly appealing. Coupled with the strong promotion from idols, the game console sold over 40,000 units in its first week, nearly double the first-week sales of Surui Electronics' PN game console.

Zhu Youxing also specially arranged for someone to buy this Future Star game console.

There's no need to worry about that Aries arcade machine, since it's obvious. Only this CD-ROM game machine is something that Zhu Youxing is interested in.

Because he knew that the best physical game medium in later generations was indeed the CD.

The low cost of optical discs can greatly reduce the cost of game consoles, and optical discs also have a very high capacity.

In this day and age, a blank CD-ROM costing only ten yen can already have a capacity of 400-500MB.