America: The Godfather of Game Development

Chapter 91 Why would a fighting game invite an idol?

Chapter 91 Why would a fighting game invite an idol?

Lin Lixin and Gerald exchanged a glance, then burst out laughing simultaneously.

"Sam, you're a fucking genius! Hurry, we need to get the booster pack technology sorted out before the King of Fighters project launches."

Lin Lixin immediately pulled out the blueprints and began planning the solution, while shouting to Sam, "Sam, go back and bring Carmack over! We need to speed things up!"

"good!"

Sam was overjoyed that his casual suggestion would actually work, and he rushed out the door towards the apartment.

Gerrard also took action immediately.

NovaBo itself does not have the ability to read multiple floppy disks, but it has a reserved peripheral interface.

According to the agreement formulated by Lin Lixin, they could have developed an external floppy disk drive to give NovaBo this capability.

Although the cost is absolutely impossible to reduce, its emergence can solve the problem that has long plagued GAMENOVA.

capacity!

If the image quality is poor, they can compress the image quality and reduce the resolution.

If performance is insufficient, they can use multiple processors to distribute the load.

If the sound effects are not up to standard, an enhancement chip can be added to the cartridge.

Only capacity will hinder them at every turn until a technological breakthrough is achieved.

Now they have a roundabout way to achieve their goal.

Sell ​​the game separately!

"If this plan really works—" Lin Lixin sketched out a draft while typing on the computer with one hand, "it won't just be applicable to fighting games."

"I see."

Gerald nodded and directly found an open platform in the parts library. This board, which already had a Z80Y pre-soldered, was perfect for this kind of development.

If this technology succeeds, they could even extract the map itself.

Games are games, and resources are resources.

Just like in The Legend of Zelda.

If the technology works, they could even make each dungeon as large as the original Zelda game.

All you need to do is package the dungeon onto a separate floppy disk.

The only thing that can limit its full potential is its price.

"An expansion floppy disk drive will probably cost another hundred dollars or more."

Gerrard roughly estimated the production cost.

Including the contract manufacturer's fees, labor costs, transportation, and warehousing expenses.

The final price of this thing will probably be higher than that of a fully-featured top-of-the-line handheld device like the NovaPocket.

Not to mention the series of additional expenses it generates.

Do you have to spend money multiple times to enjoy the full experience of a game?

"Lin, regarding players' willingness to pay—"

"We can negotiate the price of the additional driver; it's just a matter of subsidizing it a bit more."

Lin Lixin nodded. So much money has already been invested in the hardware of NovaPocket and NovaBo, so one more won't make a difference. "As for whether players will buy into it—that can only be determined by the quality of the game."

Ultimately, players don't dislike spending money to buy games.

Even if you pay for extra content, it doesn't necessarily mean you'll be against it.

What will truly incite public outrage is that the quality does not match its price.

If the DLC is Blood and Wine from The Witcher 3, Stars in Oxygen Not Included, or Yuri's Revenge from Red Alert—

If it's DLC of this quality, it won't cause any backlash; instead, it will give the game a second life and elevate it to a higher level.

But if they're all just expansion packs like those in The Sims 4, which aren't even as feature-rich as mods, or nation tree expansions in Hearts of Iron 4 that offer no new mechanics—

Selling something like this at full price? Getting scolded is the least of their worries.

Lin Lixin, on the contrary, was not worried about this at all.

The extra 1MB of storage space, besides accommodating new characters, provides a huge amount of room for maneuver.

"If this technology succeeds, at least until NAND and optical disc technologies are developed, we won't have to worry about capacity issues."

"Lin, Xiaozhi has replied."

-

Sam held up the landline receiver and shouted to Lin Lixin, who was not far away.

"Coming!" Lin Lixin replied, looking at Li Guohao, who was performing a high-speed flying kick that was difficult for the camera to capture. "You've worked hard. After you finish recording these derivatives, take a break for today."

Although the action design of "The King of Fighters" does not pursue realism as much as "Street Fighter", it focuses on flashy moves.

However, it cannot completely detach itself from reality and indulge in wild fantasies.

The foundation of aesthetics is to conform to intuition.

Lin Lixin quickly walked up to Sam and took the receiver.

"Ash, have you found him?"

"Yes, Mr. Lin, I have not failed you!"

Although Xiaozhi's tone was tired, he was very excited.

He looked at his colleague, who was in his early 18s, and handed him the receiver.

"It's Mr. Lin's phone call, Mr. Sang Gugu."

He took a deep breath and solemnly accepted the phone.

"Mr. Lin, it's me, Koji Yuzo."

Kojiro Yuzo's voice carried a maturity beyond his years, but he was still an 18-year-old youth, and his tone still couldn't hide his emotions very well.

"Hello, Mr. Ancient, or should I call you—YK-2?"

YK-2 was the virtual ID that Koji Yuzo used after graduating from high school. "I've heard a few of your compositions, and to be honest, they fit our new work very well in style."

In Lin Lixin's memory, Kojiro Yuzo's true career peak was during the Sega Mega Drive era.

The soundtracks for works such as *Shinobi* and *Streets of Rage* were composed by him, or rather by An, the studio he founded in the 90s.

Created by Scientific.

Unlike the simple and clear music loop structure in Street Fighter, the music in King of Fighters does not need to be distracting or distracting to the player.

This allows it to freely create more emotionally rich and stylistically intense pieces.

It transformed from a large amount of funk and jazz into an ultimate Frankenstein's monster that encompasses rock, metal, electronic, pop, and more.

In order to find this kind of passionate and classic style, Lin Lixin naturally handed the task over to Xiaozhi from the Japanese office.

"I've already sent the song requirements to Xiaozhi, you should already know that, right?"

"I understand, and I will definitely create a work that will satisfy you!"

"Then I wish you all the best in your creative process. Let Xiaozhi answer the phone."

Satoshi Tajiri took the receiver and immediately continued his report: "Hayashi, Mr. Kenji Kawai should be in place later. He'll contact you then."

"Alright, the music is all up to you now, do a good job."

Lin Lixin smiled; it seemed things were progressing more smoothly than he had imagined.

He turned to look at Brandon Lee, who was still recording action references, and remembered another matter he had arranged earlier.

"By the way, have I found the idol I'm looking for?"

"Well—" Satoshi Tajiri scratched his head a little embarrassedly, "It'll be soon. I'm talking to their managers right now."

Sometimes, Satoshi Tajiri really felt that she might never be able to figure out what Lin Lixin was thinking.

He really didn't understand why they would develop a fighting game and hire a female star who was famous for her figure and a newly debuted female idol.

But Mr. Lin must have had a deeper meaning in doing this!