Hang on, hang on, hang on.
'Oh, shut up. Let's get some sleep…'
Hang on, hang on, hang on.
Goddamn cicadas. After a while, I was lying in a hotel bed, and I got up off the bed. Today is the summer of August 17, 1983. It was the peak of annual temperatures. However, the hotel I was staying at was recently built, so I had air conditioning installed in every room. In the meantime, I took out a business card that I had put in my wallet that I enjoyed the tourist attractions of the country, Kobe and Kyoto areas.
"I've had all the fun for a month and now I'm going to make a phone call? "
I turned the dial on the phone with the card I received from Mr. Nisekoi in my hand. A dial with a number returns to its original position, waiting for a moment, and a woman with a gentle voice answers the phone.
"Thank you. Mintendo is a portable toy development part. "
"Oh, excuse me. Is Nisekoi Gunpei here? "
"Nisekoi is here, but where can I tell him? "
"Kang Jun-hyuk, a Korean student. "
"Yes, one moment, please. "
I felt bored and knocked on the wooden table, and there was a pleasant sound in the room. After a while, I heard Nisekoi's excited voice. His voice was full of joy.
"The Force!? You? Why are you calling now? I've been waiting so long!! "
No, that's my heart. The next day, you call Holland and ask him to meet you, and he looks like he's losing weight.
"How are you? I was running late looking around here and there. "
"Where are you right now? "
"I'm staying at the Likuten Hotel near Nihonbashi, Osaka. "
"Good. I have business tomorrow at Osaka. Can I see you for a second? "
"Sure. Where do you want me? "
"Can you give me the contact information for the hotel you're staying at? I'll call you before I get there. "
"Yes, I understand. "
&
The next morning. After breakfast, I came up to my room and a call came from the front of the hotel. It was a telephone connection with Mr. Nisekoi.
"Stronghold. I'll be there in an hour, but is it a good time?" "
"Yes, but where do I meet you? "
"You don't have to worry about the place. I'm on my way to your hotel right now. "
"Yes!? "
"I missed your call yesterday. What would happen if two geniuses met today?" I'm looking forward to it. "
Two geniuses? Who's coming with you?
About an hour after that, I was sitting in the hotel lobby waiting for Gunpei. Soon as they were thorough in their time promises, two men stopped in front of the hotel and got out of the cab. One was a familiar Gunpei, and a man who looked like he was in his early 30s came into the hotel with a shy expression.
"Strong!! "
"Mr. Nisekoi, how are you? "
"I'm glad you look well. So, how was your trip to Osaka? "
"Yes, there's more to see than Tokyo. But who's with you? "
"Oh, right. Hey Kumamoto, that young man from Shinkansen I was telling you about. "
"Hello, I'm Shigeru Kumamoto. "
"Kumamoto Shigeru!? "
When I didn't know his name, Kumamoto asked me with a puzzled look.
"Do you know me? "
"Oh, I'm sorry. I've never seen you before, but you're the director of the Dongking Com, right? "
"Yes, that's right. You've enjoyed Dongking Com. Thank you. "
I shook Kumamoto's hand and waved lightly. I didn't expect to see the legendary director so soon. At least I thought it would be hard to weave Gunpei into Mintendo, but I didn't think Gunpei would bring him here...
Kumamoto Shigeru. Even if you don't know the game well, you know the character with the mustache, SuperMaridge. It's also the legend of Karin and the Animal Village. All of these games, representing Mintendo, such as Foxstar, were to be born from this person in the future.
"I am Junhyuk Kang. Nice to meet you, Kumamoto. "
"Gunpei asked me to meet him, so I followed him, but I don't know if this is an excuse. "
Khumamoto Shigeru was quite the image in 2015 at the age of 62, and in 1983 he was a passionate young man who had just surpassed thirty.
"Come on, let's keep talking here. Let's move. A little early, but why don't you join us for lunch? "
"Yes, of course. "
We moved out of the hotel to a nearby restaurant. After ordering a simple meal, I talked to Mr. Kumamoto with a smile.
"Congratulations on being so popular in the American arcade market. "
"I never thought my game would work like this. Minten also requested a ROM substrate from the Game Center at the U.S. office, which I made briefly because I was free."
I know that story. Mintendo, who was in the American arcade market in 1980, asked for a new ROM file to run at the Game Center. However, it was Mr. Kumamoto who had no work in Mintendo at the time who was borrowed because he said, 'We can't consume useless people in the business that may or may not be profitable.'
He majored in engineering design, but was able to create characters and photograph dots on his own, so he created a simple level design to save the beauty captured by King Kong.
After entering the US market, the game brought a tremendous upheaval and became a glimmer of hope for the arcade market, which was entering its recession period. And from there, Marige Brothers, who was the player-character of Dongking Com, was launched, and in 1985, a Grand Supermaridge appeared in the family, and Mintendo began to withdraw the arcade business and focus solely on the home gaming industry.
He was a young man who could feed Mintendo's gaming business until 2015, starting with the idea of one genius over 100 individuals.
"By the way, when is the sequel to the '80s Dongking Com due to be developed? "
"Almost finished, actually, and we're about to launch. "
"Really? Can I ask you what the game is? "
Kumamoto began to unravel the game he had developed because of the lack of copyright in the game.
"This time, I turned a little bit upside down and made a new game out of a character who was looking for a beauty in the original Dongking Com. "
As expected, it was already completed to empower the family we launched last month. Gunpei was delighted to witness our conversation. Kumamoto's Marige Brothers was a two-man game to defeat mushroom soldiers and turtles pouring down from one stage like the Donking Com. I offered him one while I was talking about Kumamoto and Marige Brothers.
"By the way, Kumamoto."
"Yes. Do you have any questions about Maridge Brothers?
"No, I'm actually more curious about Maridge's next walk than talking about the finished game that's already coming out. "
"Are you talking about the next chapter? While I'm not sure how this new game is going to be evaluated by users yet, I'm a little bit burdened with preparing for the next one."
In the 1980s, when the next issue of Tum was relatively long, in 2015, it was already a yard for producing new IPs, so it felt strange in Kumamoto's relaxed remarks.
"The character, Maridge, has become a very familiar image, as I see it, through the Dongking Com. So you can expect the Marige Brothers you've created to be a little over midnight. So, why don't we try a new approach to this game called Maridge next time? "
"A new way? "
Kumamoto looked at me with a puzzled look, and Gunpei, who was folding his arms next to him, lifted his glasses up with a strange smile that seemed to be 'it started...'.
&
Cross-scrolling. A magical word to save in the rectangular framework of the screen. It is one of the most common ways of playing in 2015, but it is now 1983. All games of this period were trapped in a rectangular frame called the Monitor. The beginning and end of every play had to be displayed on one screen, and it was the same with its famous Geller and Dongking Com.
Just as humanity left its first step on the moon, I was trying to leave a huge game-changing footprint here.
"Scroll the background. "
─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─
"Scroll the background. "
"Yes? Do what? "
At first Kumamoto and Gunpei didn't understand what I was saying. It's hard to understand how to scroll all at once. I took my notebook out of my bag and put it in front of Khumamoto and picked up a pen.
"Here, take a look. This rectangle is the display where the game is displayed. And inside is Marie Kumamoto. And..."
I stretched the pen out of the screen and drew a long line.
"And this is the stage. "
"Ah!!! "
At that moment, Kumamoto slapped his knee and shouted. But Gunpei was still looking over his shoulder at us, not knowing what was going on.
"I see!! That's right, you don't have to show the beginning and end of a screen. It's like turning a movie theater projector around with a long background, and it feels like your character is moving forward. "
Is it like this if you teach me one thing, I know ten? Just a hint, Kumamoto understood the concept of cross-scrolling at once.
"Gunpei. You were right. Kang Jun-hyuk is a genius!! He's a genius!!"
"H-look at you. I still have no idea what you're talking about. What do you mean," this is a stage "coming out of the monitor? How do you show a stage off the screen?"
Then Kumamoto helped Gunpei to explain more easily. After a while, Gunpei nodded a few times and opened his mouth and looked at me.
"How could you even think that? This completely changed the way I've been thinking about the game. "
"This will make the player feel more adventurous in the game. "
Kumamoto was mumbling something like he was chanting a spell, looking at the way I painted the cross scroll. What's wrong with him all of a sudden? For a moment, he closes his eyes as if he imagined something. After a while, Kumamoto opened his eyes and smiled.
"I've come up with a simple idea for the next one. "
Already? In that short amount of time, you come up with a new one? Kumamoto started drawing something frantically with a pen on the table. Bricks and question mark boxes. Mushrooms and flags... They were the basic ingredients for the next Super Mariage.
"I'm Maridge, saving the princess. "
"Princess?"
"It's been a knight to save the princess so far, but Maridge is modern. Representing the modern man, he rescues the Mushroom Kingdom princess from the monster. "
Kumamoto said, Gunpei smilingly replied.
"Oh... another interesting idea. Keep trying."
"The first character, Maridge, is a plumber. I always work in dark, damp places. So the monster looks like a cold-damp reptile. This monster abducts the princess from the Mushroom Kingdom, and incidentally, the modern Maridge, who fell into the Mushroom Kingdom, marches forward to save the Princess and fight the enemy. "
What is this guy? You made all the games in such a short time? You're a genius. I looked at Mr. Kumamoto leaning against the chair with my arms folded.
I felt like my fingertips were tingling because I thought I was watching the birth of a great masterpiece that would have a big impact on the gaming world for the next 30 years. Gunpei asked Kumamoto with an interesting smile.
"Then the monster and the princess must have names, too. "
Then Kumamoto asked me.
"Kang-gun. What's Gang-gun's favorite food in Korea? "
"I don't know. "
At that moment... I've been going around Japan and eating only the things that taste like doncas or covered rice, and there was a food that popped into my head. Boiled meat soup in a hot pot... If you roll a piece of kimchi on top of it...
"Soup."
"Cookpot?"
"Guk. Bob. Yo."
"Heel. Park? "
The Japanese won't be able to pronounce it since they both have supports... Kumamoto smiled and said, trying to pronounce soup a few times.
"The name of the reptile monster is Chappa, because it's an addition to the military's idea. "
What? Hey, man. Is it that easy to decide!? And why is my favorite food the villain Maridge has to suffer for 30 years!! Then Gunpei, who was next to him, burst his smile and nodded.
"What would you like to call her, then? "
At that time, the waitress who was bringing dessert after dinner said, raising the fruit.
"Peaches from dessert. "
Then Kumamoto opened his mouth, looking at the pink peach.
"You can call me Princess Peach. "
This was the birth of Princess Pitch, who was destined to be abducted by the monsters for the next 30 years. What the hell!!!
&
Two weeks later, I was standing in front of the Mintendo headquarters building dressed as a suit.
"Hah... You made it this far. Now that you've had a good rest for the last two months, shall we get back to work? "
I took a long exhale and slowly entered the headquarters building. It was still hot to wear a suit in September, but the interior of the headquarters was extremely cold. I was running the cooling at the lowest temperature since I had not been paying much attention to the cooling disease yet.
"It's... cold!! "
"What brings you here? "
An escort in the lobby asked me to come into the building.
"I'm here for an interview with Mr. Nisekoi and Mr. Kumamoto."
"Oh? Then are you Kang Jun-hyuk? "
"Yes, it is. "
"I was worried because you're Korean, but you speak very good Japanese. "
"Thank you, but where do I go? "
"Well, Kang Jun-hyuk is doing a special interview this time, so I think you should interview him in person in the president's office. "
"Yes?"
It's not HR or anything. You're interviewing me in the boss' office? With Mr. Kamauchi, Mintendo's boss? I tilted my head slightly and asked the staff again.
"You're interviewing him in person? "
"Yes, our mintendo is interviewing one person directly by Mr. Kamauchi and assigning him to the appropriate department. "
Mintendo, who had a more prominent image of being a toy company than a game company, did not yet have an image of being a global company. I followed the desk staff's instructions and knocked on the door of the main office on the top floor of the building.
"Come in."
Before the door opened, I swallowed some dry saliva and calmed my chest. I'm nervous about this interview, too...
"Go inside. "
As the employee reached out his hand inside the door, I bowed slightly and entered the room. The boss got up from his seat and sat me down at the reception table and asked.
"Hmm... Are you Kang Jun-hyuk Military? "
"Yes, it is. "
"How praiseworthy of Gunpei and Shigegun. He begged me to bring you back. "
"I appreciate the gesture. "
"I'm not really into gaming," they said, "but the gaming industry is going to take on a big axis in the toys that kids play with in the future. "
"I think so, too. "
"Yes? Then what makes you think that? "
What's with all the questions as soon as this guy walks in? But I was able to answer it right away because it was a question I had already anticipated.
"Because I don't get bored. "
"You never get tired of it? "
"It's because you can play a variety of games on one device. And I can enjoy it all by myself. "
"One game console never gets tired of playing alone... Funny. But toys aren't made to grow old easily. "
"The game console is not a toy. "
"What?"
"Adults don't play with toys. We already know that Japan has a lot of kids and adults playing games together. There are a lot of adults who come to play games with their kids even in a nearby game center. It's going to be an industry that spans from children to adults of all ages. "
"Really? But unlike the Atari Shock in the United States in the '70s, while the gaming industry is in a downturn, I don't know if it's right for us to jump into the gaming industry right now. "
"Why don't you take a step closer to everyone when you step back? "
"Huh? You want me to jump on the bottom of this hellhole? "
"No one jumped in, so if you just jump in, you'll be the exclusive mayor of Mintendo. "
"Exclusive! Haha, that sounds good just to hear. "
Kamauchi smiled and put an end to whether he liked my answer.
"Gunpei's right. You have a funny story to tell. It's a confident voice, as if you're young, but you're seeing the future quite clearly. "
I felt a warm corner of my heart as Camouflage said. I bet you're old. I heard that when you get old, you lose your sight and you get a good look.
"But it doesn't mean anything to be successful in Japan. It is true success in the United States market rather than the population trapped in a small island country. "
"Mintendo currently has an office in the United States. "
"Yes, but I'm more focused on the toy industry than the gaming industry. Now the American gaming market is a dead end due to Atari Shock. No toy store is accepting our family games right now. "
In the 1980s, the United States also bought and sold gaming machines in a toy store rather than selling them professionally. That is, no matter how good a game machine is, if it can't get through the toy store, it has nowhere to put it and sell it.
So I replied:
"It's not a game machine. "
"What!? You want me to sell the game so it's not a game machine? I don't know what you're doing because you're too young, but it's against the regulations to sell goods. "
"Put a robot that moves roughly front and back in the box and dig it up as a toy. "
"What...? "
Kamachi, who was waiting for me, was dumbfounded by my answer, called somewhere with the phone that was sitting on the table.
"Overseas sales? Get up in my room right now and take my new employee. "
So that day I was assigned to the overseas sales part of Mintendo, not the game development part, but the console manufacturing part. This feels a little kinky. You guys!! I'm a game developer!! You guys are making a big mistake!!
─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─