Chapter 490 394 What? Transform "Shenmue" Into "Master"? !
In addition to supporting network cable access, Qing Zhiyuan also asked Sato Hideki and others to add wifi function to the DC game console when modifying it, supporting wireless networking, which will be more convenient in the future.
Whether it is sold in Europe and the United States or in Japan, it is better to have wireless function.
And this step has actually laid the foundation for the development of new handheld game consoles that can be connected to the Internet in the future.
Regarding the issue of children going online, Qing Zhiyuan said that it should not matter much. You can't stop children from using computers just because they can go online, right?
Things like protecting children should not be done by hardware manufacturers. Instead, the responsibility of those websites that provide blue and do not set age distinctions should be investigated.
They are the ones who should be most responsible for children.
Just like on game consoles, there are also different games for different age groups. Game developers are responsible for them. It is impossible to blame the game console manufacturers.
So after the discussion, the hardware department has handled it.
If it weren't for the fact that Pokeni's funds are tight and there is no remaining reserve to support the development of a new handheld, Qing Zhiyuan would like to put NDS on the agenda.
Oh no, if Sega develops it, it should be called SDS.
...
Sega is indeed a veteran video game company, and it has accumulated a lot of software and hardware.
Sega's current games are probably:
"Sonic" series: This is one of Sega's signature games. It is a high-speed action game with a hedgehog as the protagonist. Players need to control Sonic the Hedgehog to shuttle through various levels, collect gold coins and defeat enemies.
"VR Fighter" series: This is a 3D fighting game. Players can choose different characters to fight. Each character has its own unique skills and moves.
"Phantasy Star" series: This is a role-playing game. Players need to lead a team to explore in an unknown world, defeat enemies and collect treasures.
"Light and Dark" series: This is a strategic role-playing game. Players need to play a monarch to unify the country and conquer the enemy in a war-torn world.
"Sakura Wars" series: This is a love-making game. Players need to interact with female characters in the game to improve their favorability and unlock plots.
In addition, Sega has also developed classic games such as "Tomahawk", "Ninja", "Space Channel 5", and "House of the Dead".
And now, as the company's signature veteran, legendary producer Mr. Suzuki Yu is leading the development of a game called "Shenmue".
This game is hailed as Sega's last masterpiece.
The total investment amount is 50 million US dollars, which is the most expensive game in Sega's history. The picture quality itself is advanced, and the free exploration gameplay makes it a game masterpiece that pioneered sandbox games.
"Shenmue" is a milestone in role-playing games. It brings the concept of a high-freedom open world to the gaming industry. This model directly affects the subsequent game development.
In "Shenmue", each NPC has his own personality, preferences and life rules. The interaction with the NPC is also affected by his mood, which makes the game world more real and rich.
In the past, the failure and subsequent success of Shenmue gradually made it a deity in the hearts of old players. At the same time, with the rapid development of sandbox games, the influence of Shenmue is also gradually expanding.
And the most creative point is that Shenmue systematized QTE for the first time.
The so-called QTE refers to the players performing certain special game actions in the game, and they need to press the handle buttons in sequence according to the symbols on the screen to trigger the subsequent plot.
Later, Sony's "God of War" series was a representative work of QTE. It was a great thing to complete the action in the form of QTE, giving people a super viewing experience.
In short, the reason why Shenmue is considered a masterpiece is that it has played an important role in the history of games, and has attracted a large number of players with its unique game mode and in-depth plot.
In Qing Zhiyuan's view, sentiment also plays a big part, because in the past, shortly after Shenmue was released, Sega sadly left the console market and turned to a third party.
So the game Shenmue also inherited the players' nostalgia and sustenance for Sega of that era.
But in fact, Shenmue itself has a lot of problems.
The biggest problem is the gameplay.
Although Suzuki Yu's original intention was to make the game more realistic and closer to the real world, the real world is actually very boring when it is put into the game.
For example, in Shenmue, the protagonist has to work to earn money, drive a forklift at the dock, and run back and forth and talk to characters. Once the novelty period is over, the whole game will become boring.
In addition, the map of Shenmue itself is relatively small, not as big as the later GTA3, so although Shenmue is an open world, it gives people the feeling of an unfinished product.
The plot is relatively simple, and the timeline is also very short. After the male protagonist stepped on the ship to the Xiangjiang River in China, the whole game ended, and the feeling of a semi-finished product became stronger.
……
Qing Zhiyuan also held a meeting with the main core members of the software department.
There are several key points. The first one is that except for Shenmue, other games are done step by step. Qing Zhiyuan does not have any opinions on the development of arcade games.
Although we are now in the era of console games, arcades are actually quite profitable, and their input-output ratio is quite high. Since we can make money, we should continue to do so.
As for Shenmue...
Qing Zhiyuan left Suzuki Yu alone.
Yu Suzuki, who was born in 1958, is now less than 40 years old, not much older than Qing Zhiyuan.
He looks quite young, but his hairline is a bit high. Yu Suzuki is not too tall, with small eyes and a naive smile, which gives people a friendly feeling.
He is such a plain-looking man who would not attract anyone's attention when walking on the street, but he is a rare genius producer in the neon game world.
While working at Sega, he was responsible for the production of "Motorcycle Frame", "Space Harry", "Crazy Racing", "Fire Network", "VR Warrior", "Shenmue" and "Ferrari F355".
Whether it is arcade games or console games, Suzuki Yu has a considerable degree of research. He may not be very good at long-term narratives. At that time, he had no ability to control short and fast games.
In other words, as long as he is paired with a powerful script writer, it can take off.
The same is true for Shenmue. The plot structure is simple and the narrative lacks tension. These are problems.
"Mr. Suzuki, I admire your talent very much, and I also have great expectations for the Shenmue game. However... I think there may be some areas where there are still disputes and areas for improvement."
Qing Zhiyuan explained in detail possible problems in Shenmue...
Suzuki Yu's brows furrowed deeper and deeper as he listened, clearly looking particularly impatient.
Although this guy Qing Zhiyuan is annoying to death, what he said seems to make sense.
In fact, Qing Zhiyuan understands Suzuki Yu's psychology very well:
As a producer, games are like your own children. If someone says your child is ugly, you will definitely feel very uncomfortable, and may even want to fight you.
Although Qing Zhiyuan does not want to be a villain, this is related to the success or failure of the game and whether he can make money in the future.
If Shenmue fails, the money invested will be lost, and Sega's confidence in future games will also be affected.
Because for them, this is actually a desperate effort.
"That's what I think," Qing Zhiyuan said, "I appreciate your creativity. There is nothing wrong with making Shenmue an open world, with strong randomness, and NPCs are no longer simple emotionless guys. More anthropomorphic, these are the right directions.
However, I hope to control the rhythm and elements of the game so that players can find goals and have more fun in the game.
You can't expect everyone to work on the dock every day, right? "
Well……
Suzuki Yu remained silent uncomfortably and did not respond.
Although I can understand Qing Zhiyuan, I cannot accept it emotionally.
"So what do you think should be changed?" Suzuki Yu asked.
"Currently, the fun of games is nothing more than the following: combat, puzzle solving, exploration, interaction, plot... At present, our interaction aspect can provide relatively little game fun, and the plot needs to be added. Richness is what matters.
Then it's better to focus on fighting. "
"Huh?" Suzuki Yu raised his head and looked at Qing Zhiyuan with some confusion.
Qing Zhiyuan smiled slightly, "Let's make Shenmue an action-type game that can be freely explored, an RPG in a sandbox open world."
His idea was to make Shenmue into The Master
"The Master" is an action-adventure game developed in 2022 by French game developer Sloclap Studio.
The fighting in it is quite exciting. The producer even went to China to study under the guidance of a master, and learned Baimei Quan for a long time. Then based on this, he wanted to incorporate Baimei Quan into the game, and this is how "Master" was created.
Therefore, the final game character's movements are quite smooth, and he has kung fu skills. His punches are fast and accurate, his moves are deadly, and he has a strong sense of impact.
At the same time, the game "Master" has made the traditional Chinese "Martial Arts" into the game idea throughout, which has sublimated the game at the philosophical level. Therefore, after its release, it became a very popular game that year and won many Chinese A game that is loved by people and even gamers all over the world.
"Master" draws on the operation mode of the Souls series in terms of gameplay, but it also has its own innovations. To a certain extent, it is more like a combination of the operation of the Souls game plus QTE.
In fact, "The Master" and "Shenmue" are very compatible.
From a story point of view, in "The Master", the male protagonist's father was killed by his enemies, so in order to take revenge, he devoted himself to training, finally became a master, and then defeated his enemies.
In Shenmue, the male protagonist has the same experience. When he was young, his father was killed by Lan Di, so Ryo Bazuki also embarked on the road to avenge his father.
This main line was diluted when a large number of other gameplay methods were added, such as interacting with NPCs, playing dock forklifts, arcade mini-games, doing odd jobs...
But if the main storyline is made full and rich, Shenmue will definitely become a good development action game.
"To be precise, it should be made into "Shenmue: Modern Ninja", said Qing Zhiyuan.
"Huh? Modern Ninja Legend?" Suzuki Yu felt completely stupid.
"The main line of the story is still centered on revenge. My idea is to make ninjas the core main line of the game. The father of the male protagonist is a very famous ninja, but he experienced some things later and quit the ninja world.
But later he was hunted down and died tragically. Under such circumstances, the male protagonist embarked on the road of becoming a new ninja in order to seek revenge.
Ninjutsu is added to make it an important action combat part.
Delete some irrelevant details.
In the game, the male protagonist can attack any NPC, and can also obtain intelligence clues through the original dialogue tasks..."
To put it simply, although it is "Master", the main core gameplay is ninja. The game's operation mode follows Master's set of procedures, and the actions are designed using ninjas.
After doing this, combined with the original Shenmue settings, it is equivalent to making a ninja version of GTA.
In the Shenmue game, there are no restrictions on any place, which means that players can freely explore the entire map.
And there are many ways to explore. You can attack passers-by, and you will also be attacked by passers-by. You can also gain their favor through other methods, and then get the information you want.
The game will also set up bosses with different difficulties along the way to make the game more playable.
If it can be done, Qing Zhiyuan believes that it will definitely be an outstanding action game with a strong sense of combat and impact.
…
After listening to Qing Zhiyuan's description, Suzuki Yu fell into deep contemplation.
To be honest, at first he was quite disgusted with Qing Zhiyuan's suggestion to make drastic changes. However, after learning about the design intention and the modification plan, Suzuki Yu was impressed by the young president.
Thinking about it carefully, it seems that this is indeed better. There is no need for players to waste their time on boring things.
If ninjas are the core, there are so many ways to play.
Stealth, assassination, intelligence collection, battles and fights between ninjas, close combat and long-range interaction...
Just thinking about it makes my blood boil.
"In this case, there will be quite a lot of changes to be made." Suzuki Yu blinked, and he himself was not sure how much time it would take.
In short, the amount of work is not small.
"It doesn't matter, DC game consoles also need to be modified, and pokeni will provide technical support. With the Trailblazer engine, development will be much easier."
Using the Trailblazer engine is far more comfortable and faster than using assembly to write games like they do now, and the time can be shortened by not even a little bit.
What's more, after the production is completed using P's engine, the overall quality of Shenmue's game will be greatly improved.
…
It took me a few days to finish the matter on Sega's side. After sorting everything out, it will be much clearer. Once the plan is formulated, it can be implemented step by step.
Then Qing Zhiyuan returned to pokeni.
Call together leaders from various departments for a meeting.
Qing Zhiyuan said directly, "Sega has already completed the process and will develop a new game console called Dreamcast.
DC will use C language for development and will be connected to our Trailblazer engine. I have already discussed this matter with my colleagues in the engine department.
In short, I will help Sega complete the [pokeniization] transformation as soon as possible.
After that, except for the upcoming "Mushi Master", all other games will be ported to DC. "
"Eh?!"
Everyone was shocked.
Oh my God!
President, can you be a human being? !
…
…
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There is another chapter in the afternoon! (End of chapter)