Ninjin Makoto was quite busy because he was also responsible for another game project, which was "princess mononoke."
So, if he were to support Ishino Mika, he could only do so in his spare Time.
Fortunately, the progress of "princess mononoke" was good; the overall art style of the game had been determined, and since it was based on Hayao Miyazaki's animation, there wasn't much room for pokeni to innovate.
More importantly, it was about achieving 3D effects through 2D.
This part required some effort.
After Ishino Mika left, President Aoki opened a document in his office and started organizing his thoughts.
The company was currently developing quite a few games.
In the Pokémon team alone, five games were under development.
"pokemon light/dark"
"pokemon 3d world: moon's dark side"
"pokemon 3d world: sun myth"
"Pokémon Adventure"
"Pokémon Racing"
If you count the English version of "Pokemon 3D World," that would be six games.
Among them, three games still lacked sufficient staff, so currently, only "pokemon light/dark," "pokemon 3d world: moon's dark side," and "pokemon 3d world: sun myth" were in production.
This meant that Pokémon Racing and Pokémon Adventure would likely not be completed until 1998.
There was nothing that could be done about this; after all, you can't eat a fat man in one bite, and objective laws must be respected.
Besides the Pokémon games, among the ongoing game projects, the one most likely to generate buzz next year should be "princess mononoke."
"princess mononoke" itself had the backing of Ghibli, plus it was Hayao Miyazaki's comeback work, so it had strong topicality.
What's more, pokeni's game adaptation of "princess mononoke" was also very distinctive.
Not only was it a 3D game, but it also had an animated style, and it was an action game.
From the plot, packaging, presentation, gameplay, and artistic merit, President Aoki had high hopes for "princess mononoke."
...
Then there was "the witcher 2." Since Shinji Mikami was primarily focused on the production of "princess mononoke," the main Producer of "the witcher 2" was now Miyazaki Hidetaka, that unlucky kid.
The script was still by Gen Urobuchi.
To this day, President Aoki hadn't seen the prototype of the witcher 2, and he was actually a little worried.
Think about it: what kind of sparks and works could be produced when a dark-bellied altar-dancing player, the terrible old rogue who created the Bloodborne and Dark Souls series, is paired with a dark-themed warrior of love?
It's really hard to say.
President Aoki even felt scared just thinking about it.
Shinji Mikami's report to the President stated that he should give Miyazaki Hidetaka as much Time as possible and not interfere with Miyazaki and Gen Urobuchi's creation for now.
Otherwise, if the President personally intervened, it would put too much pressure on Miyazaki and might also limit their Play.
So, up to now, President Aoki has completely trusted Shinji Mikami to supervise, and he doesn't know the exact progress of "the witcher 2."
As a senior, Shinji Mikami was actually quite caring towards his juniors.
The idea was good, but it always felt like opening a blind box, or like these people were performing some evil ritual without the boss.
As soon as President Aoki thought of this, his scalp tingled.
Forget it, let's talk about it after the prototype of The Witcher is developed.
...
As for Maeda Jun, President Aoki actually lacked staff, mainly because there was no Producer to make "Future Girlfriend" for him.
He could only first have Ishino Mika bring Maeda Jun in to develop "proposal daisakusen" together.
After this game was finished, they would then proceed with the development of "Future Girlfriend."
After sorting everything out, President Aoki felt a little relieved.
In short, the company was not short of game now.
Nor was it short of money.
The situation was excellent.
...
Oh, by the way, at this moment, President Aoki suddenly remembered.
It seemed he had a child overseas—
pokeni America.
...
December 10, 1995.
United States.
Washington State.
Seattle.
pokeni America Technology Co., Ltd.
This was formerly CONDOR Company, now renamed pokeni America after being acquired by pokeni of Japan.
CEO David Brevik was rushing to coordinate with colleagues in the operations department to prepare for the release of "Eternal Ashes" tomorrow.
So, everyone in the company was serious and nervous, as if facing a formidable enemy.
In fact, it was true; this battle was pokeni America's maiden battle.
It could very well determine the future direction of the company.
It was a war of life and death, where they could only win and not lose.
This game was also the first game that Brevik and others had poured their hearts into and independently developed.
Although Brevik and the Skaff brothers were still very confident in their game, their palms still became particularly sweaty when the day of its official release approached.
Even at past 10 PM, they were still reluctant to leave the company.
Brevik paced back and forth restlessly.
Other colleagues probably looked similar.
It was strange to say, but even though the game had been developed and the discs had been burned and delivered to game stores, they couldn't do anything here except worry.
However, not a single person was willing to leave the company at this Time.
pokeni America, which originally had only about 10 people, had now expanded to over 30 people.
Some of the employees came from the Japanese headquarters.
Most were programmers, sent to provide technical support.
Thanks to these programmers from pokeni's mature team, who brought rich development experience and advanced technology, they helped Brevik and his team detect many bugs in "Eternal Ashes."
Many invisible and unknown obstructive bugs were fixed.
For example, one hero's skill could cause dice points to overflow, but only in specific environments, and it had to be used with a female warrior named Kaka Clan to have a chance to trigger.
But once triggered, it would cause the game to crash.
Without the support of the Japanese team, Brevik and his team could hardly imagine what the game would look like after its release.
It might even be cursed to death by players due to program issues.
The game was actually almost finished with development early this year, around April.
However, after multiple tests in the middle, some obstructive bugs were found, and some modifications and adjustments were made based on feedback from the pokeni President and players, until it was officially completed in August this year.
It could reach the release stage.
So, starting from September this year, to assist Brevik and his team with the release, pokeni found very experienced operations personnel in the North America region to oversee things.
At the same Time, several HRs were hired to help expand the team.
Currently, the total number of operations staff is about 10.
In short, pokeni was indeed very reliable; not only did it provide sufficient funds for Brevik and his team to develop, but it also did not interfere with their game production.
President Aoki did not impose his ideas on them, completely letting them do what they wanted.
Not only that, but it also provided very reliable team support.
From technology to operations...
Brevik and the Skaff brothers were almost moved to tears.
What kind of angel investor was this?
Up to now, Brevik and his team deeply felt that their decision to hand over the company to pokeni, and to President Aoki, was absolutely correct.
Time came to 11 PM.
Brevik finished his conversation with the Skaff brothers.
He stood up, looked around, and found that none of his colleagues had left.
"Okay! Tomorrow is the release day, everyone stay focused and pay attention to player feedback."
"Everyone, do your part."
"Be ready to answer calls at any Time, and deal with any problems immediately."
"Everyone, go home today; there's nothing more we can do."
"Starting tomorrow, let's work hard!"
Brevik cheered, and his colleagues also excitedly clenched their fists and responded, "Let's go."
He and the Skaff brothers also had no reluctance and quickly packed their things to leave the company.
Otherwise, as the company's leader, if he didn't leave the company, what would his subordinates think?
...
"Eternal Ashes" was considered an oddity in the market.
Because in the current North America market, many game companies were transitioning to create new, more impactful game.
For example, EA's Need for Speed, released this year, made players excited with its cool and realistic racing simulation.
Various ball game were also like this.
As long as it could be made into a 3D game, then it was made into a 3D game.
As long as it could be made into an action game, it was made into an action game.
Blizzard was already starting to hype its real-Time strategy game, "warcraft."
Although the barrier to entry for this game was very high, coupled with too many unit types to control simultaneously, in addition to units, one also had to consider building, heroes, monster fighting, harassment... and a series of very high-intensity confrontations.
However, because this game was a [real-Time] strategy game, it caused a great sensation upon its release.
Even with a high barrier to entry, it quickly accumulated a large number of fans in a short Time...
And "Eternal Ashes"?
It seemed to still be stuck in the RPG Time of five years ago.
It was still turn-based.
Fortunately, pokeni had money and advertised "Eternal Ashes" everywhere.
There was certainly buzz, but players didn't seem to think too highly of this game.
...
To better collect player feedback, pokeni specially set up a server and website in Seattle, United States, named [Pokeni - United States].
It was similar to [Yahoo China] in the previous life.
The website provided some entertainment information, as well as corresponding game sections and forums specifically for collecting player comments.
After broadcasting the PV of "Eternal Ashes" on television and placing advertisements at bus stops and convenience stores, creating some buzz, comments about "Eternal Ashes" (English name: Eternal Ashes) slowly increased online.
However, they weren't particularly positive.
"How should I put it, this game is very much like the tabletop RPGs I used to play with my friends when I was a kid, but when it's made into a game, I don't think it can fully express that endless imagination.
Because the most important thing about DND is its variability and randomness, plus the imagination of each of our group members, that's what makes it an interesting experience.
I think game as a medium is too limiting.
I'm not too optimistic about "Eternal Ashes"; this game will most likely become a pile of ashes, just like its name, and then be forgotten by players."
"I really like pokeni's game, like "Diablo."
I've played both 1 and 2, and I can even be chilled to the bone by that suffocatingly eerie atmosphere.
But the more scared I get, the more I want to keep playing.
I also really like pokeni's "Pokémon."
Catching pets is really super fun.
In fact, whether it's a "Diablo" sequel or a new Pokémon release, I would be very willing to buy it.
However, pokeni has released such a game as "Eternal Ashes."
It's really hard to describe. Just by looking at the advertisements and PV introductions, I can pretty much guess what this game is about.
It's like an old, stale RPG from 10 years ago.
But it's already 1995 now.
I think, as players, we need something newer, more creative, and more exciting.
Not something old and stale, like the game my dad used to play, to fool us."
"Interestingly, the abbreviation of this game is EA. Does this mean pokeni America wants to challenge EA?
I think "diablo 3" is possible.
EA should even challenge diablo 3.
But "Eternal Ashes" is unlikely.
I can't imagine how a turn-based, old-fashioned game could be fun."
"Pokeni invested so much money into such a turn-based game that's as old and smelly as my grandma's dentures; I've seen so many ads alone.
I highly doubt they'll be able to recoup their costs when the game is actually released.
Could it be that all of this is just the pokeni "Eternal Ashes" development team's self-indulgence?"
...
The external doubts were immense.
This translated into invisible pressure for Brevik and his team.
So, not being nervous was impossible.
On the day of the release.
"Fck! Fck!" Big Skaff even thought about the negative comments online, and he really couldn't bear it, so he ran to the balcony outside the company and started cursing.
He hoped to vent his emotions in this way.
Otherwise, if he kept it bottled up, he would really break down.
It was already snowing heavily outside, and the entire balcony was covered with white snow.
Every step left a footprint.
A gust of wind blew, but instead of calming Big Skaff's anger, it made his cheeks even redder.
"Relax a little."
Mr. Kusano Kiyomi, a software engineer from the Japanese head office, stood behind him, laughing as he watched him constantly swearing.
"We've been through this stage too; I understand how you feel."
"But, at that Time, the President told us that you had already given your 100% effort, and the rest could only be left to fate."
"There's nothing more we can do; we might as well trust ourselves."
Big Skaff was slightly taken aback, then gave an awkward smile.
"Let me tell you this: trust President Aoki. At least in the five years I've worked with him, the President's vision has never been wrong.
Since he thinks so highly of you, it means this game is indeed very powerful.
A powerful game will not be buried by heavy snow.
When spring comes and the sun shines on the earth, it will sparkle."
Saying that, Kusano gave him a wink.
Big Skaff's heart was touched, imagining the scene he described.
"You're right, Mr. Kusano."
...
December 13, the game was officially released.
Many people were waiting and watching, many had forgotten about this game.
There were also some, loyal turn-based game players, who wanted to give it a try.
Pokeni's previous game had all been good.
What if this game wasn't as bad as everyone imagined?
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