"Hey, have you been watching any TV series lately?"
"TV series? Which one?"
"It's a legal drama. Quite good, actually. The performance of Kobayashi-san, my favorite actor in the series, is outstanding. The courtroom scenes between him and the criminals are so intense, it's really exciting to watch."
In the company, two employees are chatting during their free time about the TV series they're currently watching.
Watching TV series is a popular pastime in Japan.
Even though it's the 21st century, the influence of an excellent TV series is still remarkable.
Especially in Japan, people usually avoid gossiping about others in social situations and rarely offend others' privacy.
Therefore, discussing TV series and sports events has become their favorite activity.
If a good series appears, it will inevitably cause a stir in society.
However, Takayuki doesn't pay much attention to it.
His interest in Japanese dramas is average; he has only watched a few very popular ones, like Tokyo Love Story and The Lonely Gourmet.
Right now, his mind is focused on a new game project.
He actually has many mature blueprints for electronic games in his mind.
However, he doesn't want to make them, or rather, he doesn't want to make them for now.
But without doing something, he feels a bit bored.
So, despite much thought, Takayuki hasn't figured out what game to make next.
"Good morning, President!"
"President!"
Two employees, who were discussing series, greet Takayuki with admiration as he walks by.
"Oh, hello. Keep up the good work, and thank you for your dedication."
Takayuki responds casually and then immerses himself again in contemplating the new game.
This time, he wants to create something different.
How about making a simulation management game?
Or a city-building game like City Skylines?
These city-building games still have a market.
In the previous world, city-building games always had a stable audience, similar to real-time strategy games.
And these games require patience. Sometimes playing one session could take dozens of hours, easily captivating players.
But Takayuki feels the timing isn't quite right.
Developing these types of games on a gaming console would be difficult. These games are better suited for PC gaming.
However, this type of game could serve as a bargaining chip. In the future, if there's any technological cooperation with Morgan Corporation, he can use this game as a bargaining tool.
So, building games can be passed for now.
What else should he do?
"Hey, have you been watching any legal dramas lately?"
"Are you talking about the NHK one? Of course, I have! NHK finally produced a good modern drama after so many years. It's really rare. My whole family loves this series."
Takayuki looks up and sees a few people nearby gathered together discussing TV series over coffee.
Legal dramas, huh?
Lawyers...
Somehow, an animated character suddenly appears in Takayuki's mind.
It's a man in a suit, with a hedgehog-like hairstyle and exaggerated expressions from time to time.
Ryūichi Naruhodō.
That's the character's name.
And his profession is a defense attorney, originating from a game related to lawyers.
Sometimes the audience of a game can be somewhat related to the current social trends.
If you happen to make a game that fits well with the current social trend, it will receive extra attention and might even have a chance to become a hit game.
In the gaming industry, becoming a hit generally means expanding the audience.
Looking at the people nearby discussing, it's obvious that the legal drama they're talking about is indeed very attractive.
So, why not adapt the game called Ace Attorney?
Of course, it's just a name drop. Ace Attorney will be developed as it is, maybe with some additional crossover plots, but it won't have much to do with the original script.
However, just making a text adventure game doesn't seem enough.
Ace Attorney itself isn't very technically challenging, and developing it should be straightforward. So, why not simultaneously develop other games?
Right, if he's not doing simulation building games for now, why not make a life simulation game?
This series is known for its numerous DLCs, and despite that, the game has a considerable number of fans. They are deeply immersed in the virtual world of life. It sells well in the US, and even if the DLC prices exceed the game's original price later on, fans are still willing to spend money on it.
This game, in terms of revenue, is quite good and has stable popularity.
If he speeds up a bit, developing both games together probably won't take more than half a year, which will be a good complement to different types of games.