By the end of January, the second batch of games developed using the Persona Engine was ready for release.
Kobayashi Tetsu felt that the Persona Engine had now been stabilized.
As long as the updates for both free and paid assets were guaranteed, a vast number of games would be produced in the coming years, coinciding with the Mega Drive's generational updates.
Kobayashi Tetsu then quietly released a piece of news.
Atlus was preparing to go public. Before the IPO, the company would undergo a reorganization to achieve standardization and professionalization.
At the same time, Atlus announced that it would continue to cultivate the North American market, exporting game titles there and establishing a branch company and a game studio in North America. They were now actively recruiting personnel!
The moment the news broke, it was like throwing a shark into a boat cabin, stirring up a massive wave of chaos.
Such a high-quality asset as Atlus was finally preparing to go public!
Many investors were eager to get involved, but unexpectedly, Kobayashi Tetsu refused to see anyone for the next few days!
He declined to respond to any news regarding the IPO, acting as if he had never been the one to release the information in the first place.
For the past few days, he had been eating and sleeping at the office, shutting out the rest of the world to focus entirely on developing Persona.
It was early February.
In 1990, the Japanese stock market had reached a fever pitch. On the streets, almost everyone was throwing their money into it.
Countless hopeful investors waited for Atlas to go public, but no news ever came.
Just as the investors were waiting with bated breath, a television commercial from Nintendo aired.
A new Nintendo title for the Game Boy: "Yue Dong Fang Kuai"!
In the Atlas office, Kobayashi Tetsu paused his work on Persona and rewatched the tape of the commercial over and over again.
The game was produced by Nintendo's Fourth Development Department—the very same department where Miyamoto Shigeru worked—and its genre was a classic platformer. However, after its release on the handheld console, something was different.
Kobayashi Tetsu crossed his arms, carefully reading every word in the ad and extracting the keywords.
Platformer... level editor... you can create levels and transfer them to your friends via a link cable—
In that instant, Kobayashi Tetsu stood at attention in salute to Miyamoto Shigeru.
Kobayashi Tetsu was absolutely certain he had never heard of this game. While he couldn't claim to have played every single game ever made, he knew the works of famous producers like the back of his hand.
Miyamoto Shigeru had absolutely no such game in his career!
Kobayashi Tetsu clasped his hands together, his mind racing.
He had been selling games for seven years now and had developed his own understanding of the industry. He didn't need to rely solely on copying old titles.
Based on the game's current state, Kobayashi Tetsu could say with confidence:
This unheard-of game perfectly captured all the key selling points of a handheld console. As long as Nintendo's marketing was up to the task, it had the potential to take off.
After all, he's a producer who fought his way up in the real world. Even without those famous series, his own production skills are still there!
Kobayashi Tetsu shook his head inwardly.
Just because they lacked Iwata Satoru, Pokémon, and the future Kirby didn't mean Nintendo was doomed.
Fortunately, Atlus only had plans to develop one sequel in February—a spin-off of Sonic, which Naka Yuji was leading. Since it was a game released on the Mega Drive, it wouldn't conflict with the handheld console; they weren't in direct competition.
Kobayashi Tetsu watched silently for a while, then turned off the TV.
Over on the Pokémon side, Tajiri Satoshi's progress was still slow. Although it was definitely faster than in history—at least it wouldn't be delayed until the mid-nineties—it was still ridiculously slow compared to the other games being developed with the Persona Engine.
Kobayashi Tetsu estimated that Tajiri Satoshi was only about 30% done!
Fortunately, the production of Persona was nearing completion.
Kobayashi Tetsu was currently leading Koji Okada and the Megami Group in the final wrap-up work, refining side quests and interactive content, ensuring there were no numerical loopholes, and maintaining game balance as much as possible.
This time, Persona—as the first title in the series—was actually the third game from the original timeline.
The original Tartarus climbing had been replaced with a "Soryu Space"-like environment, while the main story unfolded within various materialized locations within the school building.
Kobayashi Tetsu had high hopes for this game.
In front of the screen, Kobayashi Tetsu played the game for a bit, experiencing the effect of summoning Personas to fight monsters in 2D graphics.
...
Although it lacked the feel of the original 3D era, under Kazuma Kaneko's art direction, the execution was still quite impressive.
The opening plot remained largely unchanged. Kobayashi Tetsu skipped the original character-naming step and directly named the male protagonist "Makoto Yuki."
As for the female protagonist, Kotone Shiomi, from the Persona 3 spin-off P3P, Kobayashi Tetsu decided not to include her version.
P3P was a classic case of critical acclaim without commercial success. While Kobayashi Tetsu agreed that Kotone Shiomi was a well-developed character and her Social Link interactions were even better than the male protagonist's route, he chose to omit the female protagonist route considering the market conditions.
"Given the sheer volume and content of Persona, a standard cartridge capacity won't be enough. The selling price will probably exceed 10,000 yen."
Kobayashi Tetsu stood up and instructed Koji Okada, "The game is ready. I'll begin preparing the promotional campaign and commission the cartridge factory to start production. We'll release the game on March 14th, White Day!"
Kobayashi Tetsu casually picked up a calculator and punched in a number.
"Let's stand guard for this final shift. My goal for Persona is simple: reach this number in the first week of release!"
Koji Okada leaned in, rubbed his eyes, and quickly counted the zeros.
One, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand, hundred thousand...
One million!
One million in a single week!
Koji Okada took a deep breath, suddenly feeling the weight of his responsibility.
If they could hit one million in the first week, the lifetime sales would likely reach five million. The global sales would surely be in the tens of millions.
At that point, even if he hadn't been involved in every single part of the project, as a member of the main planning team, he could call himself a "Ten-Million Producer"!
A "Ten-Million Producer" was an absolute titan in the industry! He would be on the same level as producers like Miyamoto Shigeru and Naka Yuji!
After all, Super Mario Bros. developed by Miyamoto Shigeru and Sonic the Hedgehog directed by Naka Yuji were both works that had already achieved global sales in the tens of millions, and their every move was closely watched.
Koji Okada thought about it, then shook his head vigorously.
No.
The President is the titan. I'm just a little titan!
A little titan!
Hideo Kojima, with the title of a "Million Producer," was already making Metal Gear and filming commercials with male stars all around him. He was living the dream!
If he could claim the title of "Ten-Million Producer," he would truly soar!
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