While some received the introduction with good faith, most were indifferent, with a portion of them taking it as a wild day dream from a young man. However, having worked on projects, merely following the footsteps of the big names. Others were eager to try something novel.
Third Development Department, a department with neither abundant resources nor outstanding achievements, has always been striving to prove themselves.
Takuya understood, as he watched the various reactions. The fire was lit, the only thing left is to see how brightly it would burn.
Hayao Nakayama observed everything from the beginning, giving a slight nod at the end. Then he said "The introduction is done....Takuya, follow me to the conference room." He turned and led the way again, leaving an office full of employees with mixed feelings and thoughts, with a certain expectation.
...
Inside the spacious conference room, the long table had been filled with people all of whom having something to do with the various departments: Development, Marketing, Legal, including the International Business Department.
Takuya carefully placed a cardboard box at his end of the long table. He opened the box revealing the Elektronika 60 which attracted the puzzled eyes of everyone inside. Then made the necessary adjustments, including the various wires needed to power on the device and inserted the floppy disk which made its already familiar clacking sound. Takuya finished his setup then waited.
Hayao Nakayama sitting at the tip of the table, gave a sweeping gaze of the entire room, then, "Takuya, begin." He said.
On the screen containing green Cyrillic characters, Takuya entered some commands after hearing his father. A few seconds later, several different blocks rained slowly.
"This is Tetris, a game from within the Soviet Union." He said, to a silent room, except for the occasional clattering of the machine which made no other sound.
This is the work he wanted to show? It's even more primitive than Atari, let alone Nintendo. Everyone thought more or less.
"What you're seeing is the prototype." He said, the raining blocks, noticeably faster than before. Then demonstrated the core actions of the game. Arousing the interest of some individuals, mostly from the Development Department.
Then, much to the confusion of everyone, he turned off the machine, unplugged it and packed all its components away. All the soft chatters faded, intrigued by the actions they saw.
Takuya turned around and placed his Compaq Portable on the table, then pressed the power button. Showcasing the contrast ease of use then said, "Everyone please come closer." They came, huddled in front of the small screen.
When the computer lit up, it was no longer the monotonous green characters, but a more professional game screen with more vibrant colors and a specialized interface.
"This is the improved version with more features I've developed, all built with the prototype as the base." Takuya said with sparkles in his eyes. Feeling the reward of showcasing the product of his countless experiments and toiling.
Then he started the game, the blocks now had distinct qualities, red, blue, green and yellow, with background showing vague decorative patterns, contrary to the previous pitch black of the original.
While it was not revolutionary individually, the combination of all the improvements added a much more immersive experience, coupled with the simple and catchy melodies, inspired by the Russian "Kalinka" and "Troika" from the Famicom version of the late future.
~Tap, tap, tap~ Takuya skillfully moved and rotated the blocks.
~Click~ The block settled.
~Whoosh~Ding~ A line of blocks perfectly aligned and instantly cleared, with an addictive sound.
The smooth operation, vibrant colors, dynamic music, and sound effects immediately captured everyone's attention. Those who had found the Soviet prototype crude and uninteresting earlier now leaned forward. Especially those from the Development Department watched intently, some even unconsciously nodding along to the music.
Many thinking This kid, he might not be so simple. If he really made this as he said, his foundation is really solid.
But Takuya was not satisfied with just these improvements. He paused the solo mode, his gaze focused on the crowd. "These improvements are only the basics, the core is this, I call it the Versus mode." He switched the game mode and a rather tiny side by side duplicate of the screen separated by a line appeared, with a score displaying above.
"Versus?" Someone couldn't help but ask.
"Yes, in this mod........" Takuya Nakayama explained.
The design made the eyes of several people light up, all from the usual suspects.
A competitive element! This was much more exciting than simply stacking and clearing blocks!
"Would anyone like to try?" Takuya looked towards said suspects.
A few exchanged glances, eager to try, but also embarrassed to "play a game" in front of the president and executives.
Takuya directly called out: "You two, please demonstrate for everyone."
The two who were called out paused, then stood up and sat down on either side of the keyboard, with a nervous and excited expression.
"The rules are simple: the last one standing wins." Takuya instructed briefly, then pressed the start button.
The exciting versus music began!