It was four o'clock on Wednesday afternoon, in the slightly cramped small meeting room of the Third Development Department.
Team Leader Shimizu stood by the projector, habitually clearing his throat, his demeanor a bit more serious than usual.
"Everyone, the previous assistance work has been completed on time according to the planned schedule. Thank you for your hard work." He paused, his gaze sweeping over each team member seated around the inexpensive folding conference table.
"From now on, we will focus all our energy on the new project." His gaze finally settled on Takuya Nakayama, and he made a 'please' gesture, indicating that this new, uniquely positioned Deputy Group Leader could begin. Everyone's eyes followed suit, focusing on him.
Takuya stood up and took out a thick stack of uniformly formatted printed documents from his folder. The bolded title on the top line was clearly visible—"Confidentiality Agreement."
A faint stir rippled through the meeting room, and many faces showed confusion. Developing games had never been this strict before, and no one was foolish enough to leak company projects.
Takuya ignored their reactions and turned to Team Leader Shimizu, leaning in slightly and explaining in a volume only they could clearly hear:
"Team Leader Shimizu, the confidentiality requirements this time are not just for the game development process itself." His tone was calm, but the content made Shimizu's eyebrows jump.
"More crucially, it needs to align with the copyright acquisition negotiations currently being secretly conducted by the Overseas Business Department."
"Any leak of information could cause acquisition costs to skyrocket, or even attract unnecessary competitors, making all previous efforts futile."
He looked at Shimizu and added, "Therefore, the importance of this agreement needs you to explain its special and serious nature to everyone."
Upon hearing this, Team Leader Shimizu's professional smile vanished instantly, replaced by a rare solemnity. He immediately understood the stakes involved; this had gone beyond the scope of simple game development and concerned the company's strategic layout and real money.
He turned to face his team members, his tone serious.
"Everyone, please note, this confidentiality agreement is different from typical project development confidentiality agreements."
"It directly relates to a major company action, involving huge commercial interests."
"Please, everyone must strictly comply. No information is to be leaked. Any form of information leakage, whether intentional or unintentional, could lead to catastrophic consequences, causing the entire project to die prematurely and completely destroying our Third Development Department's chance to turn things around."
The team members, who might have initially thought signing the confidentiality agreement was just a routine formality, immediately became serious.
The only sounds in the meeting room were the rustling of papers and the scratching of pens.
In the corner, the old employee named Sasaki's eyes flashed with a hint of surprise.
He seemed not to have expected this young "Deputy Group Leader" to be so meticulous and seasoned in his actions, making his first step so watertight.
Everyone quickly signed, and Team Leader Shimizu collected and neatly arranged the agreements.
The atmosphere in the meeting room, due to this small interlude, became even more focused.
Only then did Takuya walk to the front, connect the computer brought into the meeting room to the projector, and then insert the floppy disk containing his developed tetris.
There was no preamble or explanation.
The screen lit up, and the title "tetris" appeared on the screen.
"Everyone can take turns to try it out."
Takuya invited.
Initially, the programmers who went up to play were a bit reserved, their operations slightly clumsy. The others also carefully observed the gameplay.
But when Takuya loaded his prototype for two-player versus mode, the screen split into two, and the first "garbage line" prominently appeared in the opponent's area, the atmosphere suddenly changed.
Everyone held their breath, worried about disturbing their colleagues who were trying out the game.
The originally calm meeting room was quickly stirred up by the tension and fun brought by the game itself.
Everyone shed their disdain for this "simple little game."
The trial play session ended quickly, with almost everyone getting to experience at least one round firsthand.
Takuya appropriately brought the topic back on track.
"How does everyone feel?"
He asked with a smile, then his tone became serious.
"Now, what we need to consider is how to strengthen and build this prototype into a successful arcade game."
"You all know the arcade environment—noisy, fiercely competitive."
"Our tetris needs to grab players' attention instantly, make them willing to insert coins to try, and keep playing."
He encouraged everyone to speak freely.
"First, visuals."
Takuya pointed to the screen, "Arcade machines have stronger graphics processing capabilities. We cannot be satisfied with the current simplicity. The color scheme needs to be more vibrant and impactful. The background cannot be a monotonous black; we can consider adding some dynamic or theme-related visual elements, but avoid interfering with the game itself."
"Second, audio."
"Music can stir players' emotions," Takuya emphasized, "I suggest we can adapt a few classic pieces with a distinct Russian flavor, such as 'Kalinka' or 'Korobeiniki.'"
"More importantly," he added, "the rhythm of the music should accelerate in sync with the game's level, which is the speed at which the blocks fall. The higher the level, the faster the rhythm, to heighten the tension."
"Clearing, stacking, fast falling, warning appearances... every state needs clear, strong, and memorable sound effect feedback."
"Then there's competitiveness."
Takuya explained in detail, "I think the current 'sending garbage lines' mechanism can be further enhanced."
He proposed his new idea.
"Perhaps it can be changed to continuous clears triggering rewards? For example, clearing two lines consecutively doubles the garbage lines sent to the opponent. Three consecutive lines, double again. This can encourage players to pursue higher skills, launch more strategic attacks, making the confrontation more intense and varied."
"This high-intensity confrontation can also effectively improve the arcade's coin-eating efficiency."
The team members nodded repeatedly, clearly finding this idea very appealing.
"Also, the design of the difficulty curve—how to make it accessible for beginners and challenging for experts? The scoring system, the leaderboard mechanism—these are all key to motivating players to keep inserting coins."
As Takuya explained, the discussion gradually became more lively.
Just then, Sasaki, who had been silent, suddenly spoke.
He adjusted his glasses, looked at Takuya, and spoke with the rigor typical of a technical person.
"Vice Team Leader Nakayama, regarding color selection, I have a suggestion."