Chapter 150: Counterattack of NEGA
"Excuse me, Suzuki-san. I have a question. May I ask?"
As I spoke, the crowd at the event hall turned their attention toward me.
"Sure, go ahead."
"The game you just showcased. Is it truly a porting designed specifically for the NEGA Drive? From what I know, while the NEGA Drive boasts high CPU processing speed, its graphical capabilities pale in comparison to the Super Family, yet the footage you just displayed seemed to surpass the NEGA Drive's graphical performance by far."
At my inquiry, Suzuki-san wore a puzzled expression.
"Now that you mention it, the graphic quality does seem unusually high for the NEGA Drive, doesn't it?"
Back then, the NEGA Drive's graphic performance lagged far behind that of the Super Family, resulting in a slightly subdued tonal palette across most games. This influenced the gameplay of titles developed for the NEGA Drive; games like 'The Legend of Karin' opted for darker, indoor stages due to these limitations.
However, Suzuki-san remained composed and smiled casually.
"It seems this might explain your question, Junhyuk-san."
Shortly after, a NEGA staff member brought something up to the stage.
The audience's heads turned towards the sizable and imposing device. Handing it over to Suzuki-san, the staff member swiftly stepped down from the stage.
"You are about to experience a new era. This device I hold will bring the most significant innovation to the gaming industry in the near future."
Is that... could it be?
Suzuki-san proudly presented the black device she received from the staff member.
"Allow me to introduce the NEGA CD, the new peripheral device for the NEGA Drive."
"...."
Ah, the infamous flop is making its appearance. Surprisingly, the people gathered here were looking at it with curious eyes, contrary to my thoughts.
"What's that?"
"Are they using CDs?"
Amid the astonished murmurs, Suzuki-san calmly fitted the device she held into a corner of the NEGA Drive's stage setup. With a click, the NEGA Drive and the NEGA CD seamlessly merged into one unit.
"Wow!"
Ah, yes... I remember seeing that thing for the first time at a friend's house when I was young, thinking it was a device that leaked water.
The merging of electronic devices has always been a man's fantasy, past, present, and probably in the distant future too.
"From now on, we can all freely use 650 megabytes of vast data, breaking free from the cartridge capacity restrictions."
650 megabytes of vast data...
Well, in the early '90s, the capacity of a single CD was larger than most hard drives, so that's not entirely incorrect. But they conveniently forgot to mention the abysmal loading speeds.
Suzuki-san continued to highlight the system's improved performance when the NEGA Drive was connected to the NEGA CD, attempting to entice developers.
"Thanks to these performance improvements, we were able to enhance the graphics of the game we are currently developing at TriForce. What do you think, Junhyuk-san?"
"It's impressive. But there's a concern. Using high-capacity CDs is a good policy, but the data reading speed might be slower compared to cartridges. Is there any preparation for that? You haven't mentioned anything about loading speeds..."
As if caught off guard, Suzuki-san responded completely off-topic to my query.
"That depends on the coding abilities of the programmers; it varies significantly."
"So, did you purposely make the Sonic CD version so that players wait 10 seconds for every move...?"
Though I had countless things I wanted to say, since I had no plans to port games for the NEGA Drive, I decided to let it go.
The atmosphere at the event was quite celebratory, applauding the birth of this new peripheral device that boosted the system's performance. But as soon as the price of the NEGA CD was revealed, the mood in the hall instantly turned frosty.
-NEGA CD retail price: 49,800 yen.-
"...."
What can you do when a peripheral device costs more than the main unit?
NEGA always excelled in utilizing unique technology, but the problem lay in them often advancing too far ahead of their time.
The universalization of CD-based games began in the mid-'90s, yet the NEGA CD was released about four years earlier than that.
From what I know, the fate of the NEGA CD involved attempting to utilize the empty capacity of CDs, adding high-quality BGM or character voices to stimulate gamers' purchasing desires. But due to its exorbitant price and abysmal loading speeds, it failed to reach consumers.
The number of game titles exclusively released for the NEGA CD could be counted on one hand...
After the presentations on the new peripherals concluded, the last reveal was the NEGA GEAR, a portable gaming device.
The market for portable gaming devices, which had already been established by Mintendo's GameBoy and Pentagon's Laon, posed a tempting market for NEGA as well.
Recognizing the potential impact of portable devices, NEGA's third-party developers were also quite aware, fostering high expectations for the NEGA GEAR.
And I was no exception.
I wondered if my creation, Laon, would bring any changes to the performance of the NEGA GEAR. However, that expectation quickly turned into colossal disappointment.
An 8-bit CPU spec...
Inability to fully showcase Sonic's swift movements, leaving a trail on the gameplay screen.
Seeing numerous shortcomings, I quietly rose from my seat.
"Kawaguchi-san, I'll leave first."
"Leaving already?"
"Staying here any longer seems like a waste of time."
I grabbed my coat from the chair and smoothly exited the event hall.
On my way to the parked car, I paused, looking back at the venue where NEGA's product announcement had taken place, lighting a cigarette.
"Did I expect too much from NEGA? With this level of quality, there's no need to unveil the cards I prepared in advance."
After a brief moment, I flicked the cigarette on the portable ashtray and got into the car.
&
December 24, 1991.
A festive Christmas Eve adorned with cheerful carols and colorful lights on every street.
Every year, if you were to conduct a public opinion survey about the most desired Christmas gifts, gaming consoles would undoubtedly secure a spot in the top three.
Capitalizing on the unique nature of this Christmas, NEGA launched two new products, the NEGA CD and the portable console GEAR, during their press conference.
Despite the substantial marketing efforts put into promoting the high-quality gaming environment offered by CDs, the reaction from consumers was quite lukewarm.
"What peripheral device costs 50,000 yen?"
"I want it! Buy it for me!"
"No way. Is this kid crazy, asking for a 50,000 yen gaming console as a gift?"
Today, the streets were overflowing with kids receiving stern words from their mothers.
Observing the reactions at the Tamago Shop, I chuckled and tilted my head.
Perhaps due to the economic downturn of the time, spending 50,000 yen on a peripheral device seemed less feasible for many parents than buying a traditional gaming console.
Surprisingly, amidst the introduction of NEGA CD and the lackluster response, NEGA Drive seemed to generate more positive reactions.
Meanwhile, at Tamago Shop, the introduction of a vending machine allowing customers to instantly get their hands on a Tamago during the Christmas period played a significant role in the bustling atmosphere. With the addition of new Tamago Monsters, including 'Tamago from Street Fighter 2' and 'Tamago from Final Fight,' there were now five types of Tamago Monster machines. This made it easy for kids to pick up several Tamago Monsters without burdening their parents.
Although the Tamago Shop employees were busy dealing with the influx of customers during the Christmas period, they managed to encourage each other and successfully conclude the Christmas Eve event.
"Great job, Chief."
"Everyone worked hard."
After expressing gratitude to the employees, I handed out bonuses for their hard work and immediately headed to my car.
"Chief, are you going to see Yuki now?"
Thanks to the public proposal at Tamago Shop, some employees occasionally asked about Yuki. However, with a smile, I shook my head in response.
"No, I'm heading to the main office."
"What? On Christmas Eve?"
"There are people working late at the main office today."
"Really?"
"Well then, I'll go ahead."
Acknowledging the employees' greetings, I left Tamago Shop and headed straight to the Pentagon office.
Upon reaching the vicinity, I bought some late-night snacks and, upon entering the office, heard the sound of someone typing on a keyboard.
Following the sound, I arrived at the second development team, which I managed.
"Hey, Chief, you're here?"
"Good job, everyone. Eat this."
As I laid out the late-night snacks on the table, hungry employees rushed over like wild beasts.
Handing a can of coffee to Hayashiwa Morita, they sighed as if trying to relieve their fatigue.
Since the completion of Psych Battle, the majority of the team had immediately begun working on Dragon Emblem 2. They looked exhausted.
"Sorry, everyone. I didn't want to make you work overtime..."
One of the employees, munching on a sandwich, raised his head and responded.
"No, it's fun."
"Really?"
"Yes, truly. Every time we create a game planned by you, the users' reactions vividly come to mind, and I can't help but smile. Who would have imagined that the genre of the highly anticipated Dragon Emblem 2 wouldn't be SRPG?"
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