Game Market 1983

Chapter 30: Sponsorship Game

-Please press the Start button to begin the game.-

Sponsor game? This game was completely different from the office worker games I used to enjoy before. With a sense of anticipation, I pressed the Start button, and a simple prologue began. Before long, I realized that the protagonist of this game was none other than myself.

The prologue explained that the main character, who had time-traveled from the future, supported a struggling game company with an abundance of funds. What was intriguing was that all the game companies that appeared here actually existed, and clicking on them revealed the company's financial status, capital, and the games they were currently developing.

As a test, I clicked on Phoenix Corp, which was in the final review phase for Dragon Warrior 2. The company's financial status was stable, and the morale of its employees was high. It seemed like a major game development company. The message suggested that poaching their employees would be almost impossible due to their loyalty.

Fox Soft's Full Metal's development progress was at 52%, and it seemed to be progressing well. Ever since Hojuji Masu became the main director, the development speed had indeed increased. I then turned my attention to Triangle Soft, a company I had been interested in recently.

-Kawaguchi Director's Kids Quest. 5200 copies sold. No games currently in development.-

5200 copies meant they were in the red. Triangle Soft was in a tough spot with consecutive poor sales of their released games, and they hadn't even started creating the masterpiece, Final Frontier, yet.

However, when I looked at the company's financial state, it made sense why they had the word 'FINAL' attached to the upcoming Final Frontier. In the future I knew, Final Frontier was a leading pioneer in the era of stunning graphics. Seeing the tech demo for Final Frontier 7 on Sony's Gear Station was a jaw-dropping experience.

The term 'original' truly had a powerful effect on everything. The first family-friendly RPG, Dragon Warrior, had already gained the title of a national game, and now they were about to start cartridge production for the second installment.

While the first game had the hero rescuing the princess alone, this time, the second installment introduced a party system, where the hero embarked on a journey to defeat the Demon King with companions. Moreover, the storyline continued from the first game, and the new protagonist was the grandson or granddaughter of the hero who had defeated the Demon King in the previous installment. Many users who enjoyed the first game were eagerly awaiting the release of the second.

At this rate, if they released the game, it would be overshadowed by Dragon Warrior 2.

In reality, I could go and help them right now, but it's not the right time yet. Let's wait a little longer. They say only those who have hit rock bottom can seize the opportunity for a rebound, right? It's like bending one's knees to gain momentum, as if in a comic book. Anyway, a sponsor game... being able to check the industry's information at a glance, it's quite fun, isn't it? After all, what I need now is not money but people.

&

That afternoon, when I arrived at Phoenix Corp, I was guided to the Dragon Warrior 2 development department.

"Hello, I'm Kang Junhyuk, a Nintendo employee."

"Ah, Junhyuk! Nice to meet you!"

Unlike Fox Korea, Phoenix's development department was very welcoming. Perhaps it was because all the development work had already been completed, and they were on the brink of cartridge production. The atmosphere in the office was relaxed.

"Thank you for coming in person to inspect our game. It made our job easier."

"No, it's not a problem. In the case of titles like Dragon Warrior, they have a significant impact on our family's overall sales, so Mr. Kamawuchi readily approved an on-site inspection."

"It's clear that Nintendo is looking out for our company. We have high expectations for Dragon Warrior 2 this time. Do you think players will line up at game stores nationwide again?"

"By the way, during the time of The Legend of Karin, it was quite a phenomenon. I heard the limited edition marketing idea was yours, Junhyuk. You're truly remarkable at such a young age."

"You're too kind... Haha..."

How much longer is this guy going to keep on with the formalities? After chatting with the development team for about 10 minutes, I finally began the inspection. As the nostalgic title theme and the Dragon Warrior logo appeared, a contented smile unconsciously formed on my face.

"I felt this in the previous installment as well, but Dragon Warrior seems to put a lot of emphasis on the sound, doesn't it? It's a simple beat, but it feels grand."

"That's because a professional sound director is in charge of conducting the orchestra for us."

"Speaking of which, isn't the illustrator for the cartridge case none other than Mr. Toriyama, who's currently serializing Dragon Ball?"

"Yes, that's right. We've been entrusting character illustrations to Mr. Toriyama since the release of the first installment. Because it's still challenging to represent beautiful graphics in the game, we asked popular and well-loved Mr. Toriyama to ignite users' imagination as much as possible."

At that time, Dragon Warrior's game graphics used a very straightforward color scheme. Especially the hero in the first installment was a warrior completely covered in blue in the field. There wasn't much difference in the second installment. Magic effects only blinked in red and yellow during battle scenes, and the battle scenes themselves were dark with just monsters depicted.

"I felt like I was embarking on an adventure in a fairy tale when I first encountered Dragon Warrior 4 as a child. Maybe my nostalgia correction is a bit too extreme."

I quickly started the game after clicking on "Aaah" in the character naming section.

"Junhyuk, you don't seem to put much thought into naming the hero."

There's a sad tale behind why the hero's name is "Aaah." Even in the 80s when the internet didn't exist, there were users in Korea who enjoyed Dragon Warrior. Business owners commonly known as "Boddari Sangin" bought several Family Computers and games in Japan, brought them to Korea, and made a big profit selling them.

At that time, information about games was very scarce. What we could infer about the game was solely from the pictures on the game cartridge. I think it was around 1991? During the era of illegal pirate copies, when Dragon Ball was gaining popularity in Korea. I vividly remember one day when I was passing by a game store in my neighborhood, a familiar illustration on the game cartridge captivated me.

With a similar feeling to Dragon Ball's art style, it was instantly appealing, and that night I was so excited and hopeful that I couldn't sleep. I was eager to find out what kind of game featured characters from Dragon Ball.

However, the Dragon Warrior that I finally bought with much persuasion from my mother left me profoundly disappointed. Back then, I had never played an RPG game before and knew only about action games. In those days, action genres were considered the essence of games. Whether it was a person, an airplane, or a car, something had to move and destroy enemies. The game consisted of running back and forth in the village and fighting monsters when going outside. If you ventured even slightly outside the village, you would quickly encounter powerful monsters and get a game over.

"What kind of game is this?!"

I was so angry at the time that I never touched Dragon Warrior 4 again. Feeling betrayed by the beautiful illustrations, I couldn't help but get annoyed. After several days, I brought Dragon Warrior back to the game store.

"I want to exchange this for another game."

The game store owner, who also assembled PCs for the neighborhood, looked at the Dragon Warrior 4 cartridge I handed him and responded.

"Just wait a moment."

After a while, the game store owner began printing something using a black and white printer. I remember that the loud noise of the printer resonated within the quiet game store for quite some time.

"Normally, for this much printing, you would have to pay for it, but I'll give it to you for free. That game, I mean. It's the most enjoyable family game I've ever played. But for a young kid like you, it must have been quite challenging. Above all, you didn't know Japanese. How about giving it another try with the strategy guide? You'll realize it was a genuinely fun game that you haven't experienced until now."

With the strategy guide given by the game store owner, I returned home, inserted Dragon Warrior into the Family Computer again, and turned it on. A grand and impressive title theme played, and I slowly started enjoying the game while cross-referencing the guide provided by the game store owner.

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