A barrage of questions was thrown at them.
Seeing this, other media personnel nearby quickly gathered around.
Long lenses and short microphones soon blocked their path, and camera flashes began to go off one after another.
Carmack frowned.
He hated dealing with the media.
These reporters always loved asking about business gossip and didn't care at all about technological breakthroughs.
He shifted half a step to the side, pushing Takuya Nakayama directly to the front.
"The entire idea was proposed by Mr. Nakayama; you should ask him," Carmack said in a stiff tone.
Jensen Huang stood to the side, adjusting his suit cuffs, with no intention of stealing the limelight.
Yuji Naka and Mark Cerny also tacitly remained silent.
All the microphones were thrust in front of Takuya Nakayama.
Facing the cameras, Takuya Nakayama spread his hands.
"Acquisition? Exclusivity?" Takuya Nakayama said in a relaxed tone, "Your imaginations could be a bit more vivid than that."
"What we were just discussing is far more interesting than this."
The reporters perked up their ears, their pens hovering over their notebooks.
"We have reached a consensus to launch an entirely new game engine project," Takuya Nakayama began. "The goal is simple: to advance game engine technology. We want to make it more powerful and user-friendly."
"Is Sega going to release a commercial engine?" interjected a reporter from GamePro.
"It's not just for commercial use," Takuya Nakayama said, raising a finger. "Our core goal is to enable a vast number of individual creators and small-to-medium development teams to also participate in next-gen game development. We want to build a top-tier engine that they can afford. No more exorbitant licensing barriers."
A low murmur spread through the crowd.
In the 1995 gaming market, underlying technology was the lifeline of every company.
Sharing technology?
It sounded like a fantasy.
"Does this project have a specific timeline? What is it called?"
Takuya Nakayama glanced at Carmack beside him.
"Currently, the entire project framework is just a draft," Takuya Nakayama joked. "Everyone knows that id Software's work pace is extremely intense right now. Mr. Carmack practically wants to spend all twenty-four hours a day immersed in his work. We can't exactly hold a knife to his throat and force him to write code for the new engine."
There was a ripple of light laughter around them.
Carmack didn't laugh; he replied seriously, "I will start writing the draft of the underlying technical framework next week. The progress won't be too slow; I can handle this workload."
He paused, then looked at Jensen Huang. "Huang, arrange for an engineer who is well-versed in low-level hardware to help me next week."
Jensen Huang smiled and made an 'OK' sign. "No problem."
The reporters keenly captured the wealth of information in these words.
Sega, id, and NVIDIA—these three companies joining forces on underlying technology was definitely the biggest news at today's E3 Exhibition.
"What about the funding model? Will Sega be fully funding it?"
Sega, id, and NVIDIA joining forces on underlying technology is absolutely the biggest news at today's E3 exhibition.
"What about the funding model? Will Sega be fully funding it?"
"Will the engine be open source?"
The questions kept coming.
Takuya Nakayama raised his hand to cut off the questions.
"Once we've sorted out the legal framework for the project, and when Mr. John Carmack isn't quite as busy, we'll hold a dedicated press conference to officially announce this project," Nakayama said with a smile, ending the topic. "Please look forward to it. That's all for today. Everyone, go enjoy the new games at the exhibition."
Guided by security, the group made their way through the media scrum.
The reporters didn't continue to chase them, but instead hurriedly organized their recordings to report this bombshell news to their editors as soon as possible.
Los Angeles Marriott Hotel.
The GamePro editor tossed his heavy backpack onto the sofa and let out a long, weary sigh.
At this time yesterday, this room was filled with desperate wailing and the frantic clatter of keyboards.
Today, the atmosphere was completely different.
Just before the exhibition closed this evening, Takuya Nakayama and John Carmack dropped the bombshell about a "general-purpose engine," catching all the reporters present by surprise.
Compared to the suffocating feeling of being steamrolled by over eighty games yesterday, the amount of information today was entirely within the range of human tolerance.
Compared to the suffocating feeling of being overwhelmed by over eighty games yesterday, today's volume of information is completely within the limits of human endurance.
"Play that Carmack recording again," the photographer said while charging his camera battery and opening a pack of soda crackers. "I still can't believe it. id Software is actually teaming up with Sega to build an open-source engine. What exactly is going on in the heads of these tech maniacs?"
The editor pressed the play button on the digital recorder. The tape spun, emitting a hiss of background noise, followed by the conversation between Takuya Nakayama and Carmack.
"We've got our headline," the editor said, pulling up a chair, opening his interview notebook, and turning on his laptop. "How does this sound? 'The New Engine: A Utopia That Breaks Down Technical Barriers, or a New Commercial Gambit by Sega?'"
"The editor-in-chief will love it; it's catchy enough," the photographer said, sorting the processed negatives into folders. "The in-depth analysis reports on Sony and Nintendo were practically finished at the press center this afternoon. As long as we get this breaking news about the engine done, we can be in bed by midnight."
The chaos of last night taught the on-site editorial teams of major gaming media outlets a lesson.
The editors-in-chief in New York and Tokyo no longer insisted that front-line reporters cram every single detail into that day's edition.
In-depth reviews and producer interviews could perfectly well be saved for next week's special feature to be digested at leisure.
Tonight's mission was simply to transmit the most buzzworthy commercial developments and technological trendsetters back home.
The smell of burnt coffee in the hallway had faded considerably, replaced by the sound of relaxed conversation.
The door to the EGM room was half-open, and a few senior writers were gathered together, eating cold pizza.
"I've already written three thousand words on the theory Shigeru Miyamoto talked about at the seminar today. But honestly, I'm more interested in what kind of open-source framework they're actually planning to build, and whether it'll even work," said one bespectacled writer, taking a bite of pizza and speaking with his mouth full.
"Send the draft over first. Reserve tomorrow's space for this engine that doesn't even have a name yet. With NVIDIA getting involved, the technical boundaries between PC and consoles will be completely blurred. This is industry-shaking news."
On the other side, at the Next Generation bureau, the editor-in-chief was drawing lines on a whiteboard with a red marker.
"Create a separate section for the engine going open-source. Don't just write about the current technical situation; also include our concerns about whether this project can be operated stably in the long term." The editor-in-chief tapped the whiteboard, instructing the field reporter on the other end of the phone, "There's no rush to publish this tonight. Tomorrow, find a few third-party developers at the exhibition—from small to large—and ask for their take on this. We need cross-verification from multiple perspectives."
The phone hung up, and the field reporter let out a sigh of relief.
"But honestly, I'm more concerned about what kind of open-source framework they're actually trying to build, and whether it'll even be viable."
A writer wearing glasses took a bite of pizza and said, muffled.
Please Support me by becoming my patreon member and get 30+ chapters.
[email protected]/Ajal69
change @ with a
Thank You to Those who joined my Patreon