Translated by Coldtaco
Edited by Aelryinth
After grabbing his seat, Chen Mo started to observe the situation around him.
The audience had already been seated, around seven hundred people. Some of them were making conversation and others were playing on their phones.
The telecommunication technology in this world was very advanced. A normal sim card would have mobile data upwards of hundreds of gigabytes. Furthermore, the amazing signal strength and coverage was more than enough to watch videos or live streams.
Chen Mo had felt that this was a reason that mobile games hadn't taken off. Most would be playing VR games when they reached home. Mobile games were usually played when people were bored. Moreover, there were movies, TV series, variety shows, live streams, news, and social media, so it was unlikely one would be playing mobile games to pass the time.
Entertainment in the parallel world was also very developed, meaning that video game alternatives were also quite abundant. Combined with the fact that mobile data cost barely any money, so movies were at anyone's fingertips, and many opted to not play mobile games.
Of course, the majority of the audience were gamers, in particular mobile gamers. Only mobile game lovers would attend an event like this!
After all, this competition was for amateurs. There were barely any D-grade video game designers among the participants. What kind of game could they possibly design? At most, there would be a few simpler casual mobile games.
Most of the audience probably entered with a free ticket, not bearing high hopes for the competition.
There were also the three judges who had just arrived at the venue.
The three judges had their names on plates in front of them on their table. Using his phone, Chen Mo did a quick check on their identities.
Shi Huazhe, forty-seven years old, B-grade video game designer. Used to work at Emperor Dynasty Entertainment, but had since retired and is now a professional video game critic.
Lin Hai, thirty-nine years old. B-grade video game designer at Zen Entertainment. Now working in management and no longer working in video game R&D. Video game reviewer.
Qiu Hengyang, twenty-seven, B-grade videogame designer. Founder of Hengyou.com.
The judges were coincidentally about 10 years apart, in their twenties, thirties, and forties, covering the golden ages of a videogame designer.
Although it might seem like they are all B-grade video game designers, in reality, there was still a gap in their abilities.
Emperor Dynasty Entertainment and Zen Entertainment were the two best companies in video game R&D on the mainland. Combined they took up around eighty percent of the video game industry here. Most video game designers like to work there to improve their CVs.
However, just because they came out of those companies didn't mean they were good. For example, Shi Huazhe might have worked at Emperor Dynasty and had a few decent games, but in reality, it wasn't because of skill or knowledge, but purely due to years of effort.
As for Lin Hai, his design skills were much better than Shi Huazhe, but ever since he entered a managerial role, his abilities had been getting rusty.
Under these circumstances, it seemed that twenty-seven-year-old Hengyang was the best in terms of video game design. A B-grade video game designer at a young age and the founder of hengyang.com, his future seemed brighter than the previous two.
"Hopefully the three judges will go easy on me. At the very least, one of you will pass my game...'' Chen Mo prayed quietly.
The other contestants were also quite nervous. There were a total of twenty contestants, but the highest prize was only given to the first place.
Although the certification of a D-grade designer was more important, clearly the ones who had entered were after the three hundred thousand cash and the experience store. Most of them had the mentality of first place or bust!
Soon after, the competition started.
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Emcee hyping up the crowd.
Leader's speech.
Judges' introduction
Judges' speech...
After the long foreplay, the main event finally came.
The MC saw the audience dozing off. Four hundred of the seven hundred were on their phones, another two hundred of them were whispering to one another, and some of them even fell asleep in their seats.
It couldn't be helped, these were essential parts of an official event.
"Ahem." The emcee cleared his throat, hinting at the audience to wake up for the main event.
"Alright, up next is the highlight of this competition, the selection round! Allow me to reiterate the rules!
"Everyone in the audience should have received a tablet for testing. They come with the games of all the contestants preinstalled."
Chen Mo looked over; everyone in the audience had a tablet on the table in front of them. As the emcee finished his sentence, all the tablets turned on automatically.
"For the next hour, everyone in the audience can test out any game of their liking on the laptop. At the same time, we will put up a short introduction for each of the games on the main screen.
"When you quit the game, you can either choose 'recommended' or 'not recommended'. Recommended means you are willing to share this game with your friends.
"Our judges will test out these twenty games within the time limit as well.
"After an hour, we will gather the playtime and the number of recommendations from everyone, which will decide the rankings.
"After this will be the discussion round for the judges. After getting to know the opinions of the judges, everyone in the audience will get another chance to either recommend or not recommend each of the games.
"Finally, the designer who designed the game that tops the charts with the combined score after considering the playtime and the number of recommendations will be crowned the champion!"
The emcee changed the topic, emphasizing, "Please take note! Even after first place has been chosen, the judges have the power to veto the decision. This will require unanimous votes from all three of them. In that case, second place will take the first spot, so on and so forth.
"Everyone understand? Alright, the one hour starts now!"
Without needing the announcement of the MC, the audience excitedly started playing.
Chen Mo had known the rules beforehand, which is why he was so worried about the judges.
In the first round, the audience played a huge role, as the playtime and their recommendations directly influenced the rankings.
However, the judges were even more important!
Firstly, there was the discussion round, and the audience would receive another vote after that. That meant the judges could influence the decisions of the audience. If the first two performers were neck and neck, and the judges praised one of them, obviously the results would be influenced.
Secondly, the judges had the ability to veto. If a unanimous decision was reached by the judges, failing the game, achieving first place would mean nothing.
This was probably due to the respect this world had towards video game designers. But in Chen Mo's opinion, these rules were completely meaningless and incredibly stupid.
In the end, he was only a competitor. All he could do was suck it up.
At the same time, Chen Mo's game introduction had appeared on the screen!