After sending Urobuchi Gen off, Aoki Haruhi couldn't help but shake his head and smile wryly.
It seemed that this Time, Urobuchi Gen was truly stimulated quite a bit, even losing some of his sanity.
It's not that Gen Urobuchi's previous script wasn't good enough, but Aoki Haruhi believed that if he were to shift the focus of his future creations to family, kinship, and tear-jerking themes to compete with Maeda Jun, he would lose his own value.
For Pokeni to have these two great Authors, Gen Urobuchi and Maeda Jun, the most crucial thing is to let them leverage their strengths.
In fact, they are both Authors with very distinct characteristics.
If they were forced to run on the same track, such a competitive relationship would likely be a disaster for the company.
Aoki Haruhi himself still very much hoped that they could each follow their own paths and maintain differentiation.
Only in this way would the company's game flourish and be colorful.
However, on the other hand, seeing Urobuchi Gen so serious is actually a good thing.
Now, Aoki Haruhi was instead a little worried about Maeda Jun.
Compared to Urobuchi Gen's thick skin and his never-faltering spirit as a warrior of love, Maeda Jun's psychological quality was clearly worse.
Maeda Jun is a very typical example of someone who is afraid of competing with others, especially when explicitly compared, which puts immense pressure on him and easily leads him into self-doubt.
Even though he had done well enough, he lacked confidence due to players' criticisms; such things happened to Maeda Jun frequently in his previous life.
Back then, Key Society only had Maeda Jun as a great Author; just imagine, if Gen Urobuchi had been in the same company as him at that Time, Maeda Jun would have probably cowered into who knows what state.
The thought of these two inevitably being compared in the future, and Maeda Jun potentially having psychological problems, gave Aoki Haruhi a headache.
He needed to prepare him psychologically first.
"Damn it, this guy Maeda Jun is too fragile, isn't he?"
...
If he weren't the president, Aoki Haruhi wouldn't want to manage so much.
It's truly not easy to be an excellent president; in addition to daily work, one must constantly pay attention to the employees' status, especially those who clearly have a tendency to be a 'bomb' and are crucial to the company.
Things like Urobuchi Gen being stimulated today and running onto the wrong track, and the highly probable future depression of Maeda Jun... all these made Aoki Haruhi feel exceptionally powerless and troubled.
Fortunately, he discovered it early and was able to adjust Urobuchi Gen back in Time, preventing him from going astray, which was very fortunate.
"Alas, I wonder what kind of game Urobuchi Gen will write in the future."
Aoki Haruhi was a little expectant, but more than that, he was worried.
Afraid he wouldn't write well, and also afraid he would write too well.
Even more afraid of Gen Urobuchi causing trouble.
However, it's a good thing for employees to be proactive; he'll see how to guide them in the future.
Aoki Haruhi crossed his arms, organized his thoughts in his mind, and then wrote down the items for Maeda Jun's future psychological construction in his schedule.
Besides that...
Aoki Haruhi frowned.
Being pushed by employees really felt uncomfortable.
Urobuchi Gen wanted to write good game scripts, and Aoki Haruhi also wanted to make the game he desired.
Time waits for no one.
There were so many game just lying in Aoki Haruhi's plan.
"warcraft and Elder Scrolls are both gone."
Aoki Haruhi looked at the schedule, expressing his deep regret.
There are only so many milestone game in the long river of history, especially since '94, when almost every year saw the emergence of highly representative and typical game.
For example, this year's warcraft, Elder Scrolls.
Next year, it will be 'Heroes of Might and Magic'...
Then 'Grand Theft Auto'...
Subsequently, with the continuous development of the internet, various online game will begin to emerge.
If he couldn't seize the opportunity, wouldn't Aoki Haruhi, as a reborn person, have been reborn for nothing?
Fortunately, the Diablo series and Pokémon are in his hands.
However, Aoki Haruhi was concerned whether there was still enough Time to grasp so many big IPs in the future.
The 1990s to the early 21st century truly was the golden Time for the game industry, with many game masterpieces being born and developing explosively during this period.
Too many good game, but Pokeni's capacity was limited.
So, although Aoki Haruhi made a list, he felt deeply regretful.
There was no choice but to select based on Pokeni's own development progress and current situation.
Staring at the game on the list for a long Time, Aoki Haruhi picked out one game name.
"half-life, it's you!"
half-life, English name half-life, also known as half-life.
Developed by Valve Software.
It was a science fiction first-person shooter game series first published in 1998.
The initial version was for Microsoft's Windows operating system, and later a Sony PS2 version was developed.
The game pioneered new standards for FPS game and initiated the MOD game craze.
Valve, at first glance, sounds a bit unfamiliar, but if you say V Society, its recognition instantly becomes much higher.
Yes, that's right, this company is the one that later made money just by relying on the Steam platform, and its boss, G Fat, never counts to 3.
When it first started, it became famous by relying on the half-life game.
half-life can be said to be a milestone for first-person shooter game on the computer platform.
Since its birth, it has laid too many foundational rules for future shooter game; even the battle royale game after 2017 cannot escape this framework of shooter game.
Aoki Haruhi's desire to launch it earlier was a conclusion reached after careful consideration.
First, with the continuous upgrading of computer hardware, the support for game is getting stronger and stronger, and more critically, the internet is a huge advantage for desktop computers at present.
half-life should not only be made into a shooter game but also support local area network and even future wide area network connection battles; developing online gunfight game on this basis is a very important mission after its launch.
Secondly, as a very popular category in game, shooter game is currently still a blue ocean, especially when controllers are not as advantageous as mice, so Aoki Haruhi needs to quickly develop this game.
This way, a very important puzzle piece in the game Empire's map will be in hand.
Finally, and most importantly—
Although he felt sorry for G Fat, Aoki Haruhi was determined to acquire the Steam game platform, and he had made up his mind to do so from the first day after his rebirth.
The game platform is too important for game giants.
Because if you have a platform, you have a say, you can share profits, and you can let others create value for you.
Otherwise, why would Nintendo, Sega, and Sony engage in console wars? The main reason is to seize platforms, monopolize players' access to game, and gather most people under their own umbrella.
Aoki Haruhi is not pursuing a hardware platform model now, mainly because he foresees that the network will develop very rapidly in the future, and a virtual platform can allow him to overtake others, while also meaning that as you continuously develop game, you can incidentally build the virtual platform.
Pokeni's core technical accumulation lies in software, not hardware.
Aoki Haruhi understood this very clearly.
When this game platform appears in the future, Pokeni can completely bundle and sell the Diablo series, Pokémon series, and the half-life series (for now, still called this name; Aoki Haruhi plans to discuss the specific name with employees in the future) on the game platform.
In the future, Pokeni's game will also be put on the game platform...
These accumulations are natural.
While you are making game, the corresponding server framework, client framework, download functions, etc., will be perfected along the way.
"Hmm, hmm."
Aoki Haruhi reviewed it carefully again; this plan should be quite good.
While everyone was unaware, and didn't even feel that Pokeni would pose a threat to them, Aoki Haruhi quietly accomplished a major feat.
He wondered what kind of surprised expressions Sony and Nintendo would have in the future.
The only thing that made Aoki Haruhi feel a little uneasy was snatching Steam from G Fat.
"G Fat, I'm sorry."
However, Aoki Haruhi's uneasiness only lasted for two seconds before he was completely immersed in the joy of envisioning his future game Empire.
Xiao HR Ayase Akane, outside the door, glanced over and couldn't help but think—
The president is starting to cause trouble again.
Every Time the president laughs alone in the president's office, the programmers will usher in several hard years of major development.
Thinking of this, Ayase Akane looked towards the direction of the programming director, Akanishi Ken.
She couldn't help but feel sorry for him for two seconds.
This simpleton was still chatting and laughing with others, completely unaware that hard Times were coming soon.
...
In December, a smokeless console war broke out worldwide.
This battle could be described as devastating, shaking heaven and earth.
First, Sega released its Sega Saturn console; the 32-bit new-generation console caused a sensation upon its launch.
After all, Sega was an old brand, and it had previously had quite successful game consoles like the MD, so players were very much looking forward to it.
And no sooner had Sega put the saturn on the shelves than Sony released its Sony PS.
The Sony PS was also a 32-bit console, and it had a very futuristic and technological design, with a price as low as 38,000 Japanese Yen in the Japan region and 299 dollars in the Europe and America region!
Many people didn't even realize that this console war was about to change the entire world's game landscape.
After approximately a month, under Sony's heavy subsidies and price war, it finally carved out a bloody path from among the myriad competitors.
Sony PS's sales gradually took the lead, leaving other competitors behind.
In one month, it sold over 6 million units worldwide, a terrifying achievement.
Players chose Sony PS after multiple comparisons, and there were reasons for it.
Because Sony's console performed better in various aspects than other consoles; Sega Saturn, due to its rushed release, still had some hardware issues that hadn't been perfectly resolved, often crashing or encountering bugs when running programs.
And the 3DO console's terrifying price of 599 dollars directly deterred players, not to mention that the 3DO's console performance wasn't necessarily better than Sony PS.
As for Apple... Apple was like a clown, completely there to make people laugh; they fantasized about making the console a multimedia, multi-functional integrated machine, but this made it seem comprehensive but failed to do well in all aspects, and players didn't really buy into it, nor did those who wanted to listen to music or watch TV particularly need this thing.
In short, Sony PS's victory was almost without any suspense.
The only thing that players complained about and found confusing was—
Sony's controller was so strange.
Many players, when getting their hands on the Sony console and experiencing it, held the heavy, significantly larger-than-average dual-joystick controller, and their first reaction was—
"Which idiot designed this game controller?"
"I don't think two joysticks are necessary, and it's so heavy, not light at all."
"Sony's designers must have water in their brains, insisting on making some useless designs; otherwise, a game controller using other consoles' four-directional keys would probably be much better than now."
"Are these two joysticks really useful? And after changing the position of the D-pad, it feels so awkward!"
"Sony isn't traditionally a console maker after all; it can only be said that they still lack understanding of game."
"The console is good in every way, except the controller is too much of a chicken rib."
"And Sony's current focus on 3D game doesn't seem to have many titles available."
...
Countless player feedback from across the Atlantic and from Japan itself converged on Ken Kutaragi, the head of Sony Entertainment Headquarters.
He couldn't help but frown deeply, filled with bitterness.
His subordinates, seeing these comments, showed quite a bit of resentment, dissatisfaction, and disdain.
Look, Minister Kutaragi, this is the brilliant design you found.
Although 3D support is good, it's clear that Aoki Haruhi isn't comprehensive; such a controller design is too advanced for current game and simply isn't needed, okay?
"We weren't very supportive of having Pokeni participate in the console design at the Time," complained engineer Kinumura Yoshiaki. "The blueprints are complete, that's true, but the key is, were these functions really used?
In fact, they really weren't used."
"Who would have thought? We were all fooled by Aoki Haruhi back then; his blueprints were so professional, and when he explained them, he sounded so logical.
But after the actual release, this controller design was indeed somewhat redundant.
Players basically still only use the D-pad and a few buttons."
"What's the point of designing so many index finger buttons, middle finger buttons, pinky finger buttons...?"
The engineers were genuinely furious.
After all, implementing Aoki Haruhi's dual-joystick controller function cost them a lot of Time and effort.
The key was that they did it and didn't even get appreciation, being criticized by players; no one could stand that.
Ken Kutaragi had a splitting headache, feeling cold sweat soak his back.
"Everyone, don't rush to criticize; Pokeni's adapted game haven't been fully developed yet, have they?" Ken Kutaragi could only use Aoki Haruhi's evasive words to temporarily appease everyone. "Once their game are released, everyone will know how ingenious our design is."
Aoki Haruhi, you bastard!
If you don't release the game soon, I won't be able to hold the fort!
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