"Good morning, Kobayashi-kun…"
Early in the morning, Kobayashi Tetsu was greeted by a bleary-eyed Yuji Naka.
"Hey, Naka-kun, don't tell me you were so nervous about Nintendo that you didn't sleep?"
That honestly surprised Kobayashi Tetsu.
Nintendo was indeed intimidating, but not that intimidating.
Naka rubbed his eyes helplessly.
"I can't not be nervous. We're going to face Nintendo directly, and we even test-played their game the other day. Just thinking about confronting them head-on makes my stomach churn."
As he said this, he clutched his stomach dramatically.
Kobayashi Tetsu tried to reassure him.
"Don't overthink it. With our current scale, we aren't even qualified to clash with Nintendo."
Naka instantly collapsed into his soft leather swivel chair.
"You're right, but… I still want to give it my best."
After all…
Kobayashi Tetsu did give him 500,000 yen!
Waving his hand dismissively, Kobayashi Tetsu said, "Forget that for now. What matters is making our game good. How are the item and enemy designs?"
Naka finally perked up a little. He jumped from his chair and showed the documents he'd written.
"Based on the military magazines I usually read, I designed four enemy types: 'armored car,' 'tank,' 'assault gun,' and 'tank destroyer.' In the game, they also correspond to different attributes. For example, the armored car is the fastest but weakest in firepower, while the tank destroyer is slow but can one-shot our tank…"
Seeing Naka getting overly excited, Kobayashi Tetsu raised his hand to stop him.
"Hold up, Naka-kun. Have you considered something? Putting aside whether our graphics can even support such differences—aren't four enemy types designed like this too complicated?"
This wasn't a question; it was a direct statement.
"There's no need to make it that complicated. In this game, the four enemies only need numerical differences. Put your detailed designs into the setting materials."
After he spoke, he noticed Naka's expression—clearly not fully convinced.
"Kobayashi-kun, I just feel that—"
"I don't want what you feel. I want what I feel," Kobayashi Tetsu cut him off. "Remember the Nintendo game we played yesterday? Nintendo games share common traits: no overly complicated settings—simple, but fun. Since this is a title meant to showcase the SG-1200's performance, we should highlight its strengths."
Kobayashi Tetsu took a breath and continued:
"Simple—yet relaxing. No matter the era, relaxed gameplay will always be mainstream."
The original Tank Battle felt too dull. Enemies spawned at fixed levels and fixed spots—absolutely no challenge.
Relaxing, but never boring.
Kobayashi Tetsu dragged over a whiteboard and began writing rapidly in front of Naka.
One-hit-kill for both sides
Pickups grant upgrades
Damage / movement / durability / extra effects
Random and unpredictable enemy behavior
Items affect both enemy and player
After pausing in thought, he added one more line:
"Dual difficulty."
Naka felt his mind going blank. These ideas seemed to open a door to a whole new world.
Yuji Naka—future creator of Sonic the Hedgehog—was undoubtedly talented, but many design philosophies of the future had become refined, optimized specifically to extract what players liked most.
Whether a game becomes a hit is decided halfway before its release.
The other half depends on the team's dedication.
Arms crossed, Kobayashi Tetsu explained:
"One-hit-kill for both sides creates a kind of psychological game. Both sides can kill instantly, so players must rely on skill."
"But this can't remain constant. Players need opportunities to improve. So, through items on the field, players—especially less skilled ones—can upgrade and still experience enjoyment."
"Increase damage. Increase movement speed. Raise durability. Or allow effects that influence the battlefield."
"Enemies must not spawn in fixed positions. Sure, it saves resources, but players quickly get bored. Randomness creates unpredictability, a kind of thrill that triggers dopamine."
"Items affecting both sides works the same way. It pushes players to grab items, while also adding challenge for skilled players."
"And most importantly—dual difficulty. No matter how simple a game is, there will always be unskilled players. Others may tell them, 'You suck but you still love to play,' but as developers, we must never say that. Even the clumsiest player pays real money."
In the Famicom era, many games had multiple difficulty options.
But Kobayashi Tetsu's idea wasn't exactly dual difficulty—
it was normal mode vs. casual mode.
"In low difficulty, we help players more—enemies can't grab items, your tank can take two hits instead of one, fewer elite enemies, and even allow friendly fire between the two players."
Naka raised his hand like a diligent student.
"Why include friendly-fire in low difficulty?"
"Because trolling each other is essential to casual play," Kobayashi explained. "If we add friendly-fire in high difficulty, think about it—you're about to kill an elite enemy, and your friend suddenly shoots you in the back… You'd want to strangle him!"
Naka imagined it. Yes… that would probably escalate into real-life PvP.
"So these principles… they're also part of design."
Naka felt enlightened.
The two immediately began creating six item types and four enemy types based on the whiteboard.
---
Meanwhile, at Sega's home console division—
Hideki Sato had been in a good mood, but feeling that evaporate the moment he saw Kentaro Kobayashi.
"Kobayashi-kun," Sato said earnestly, "your top priority right now is to focus on the SG-3000's development! That is what truly matters. I understand your concerns, but so what? Nintendo making a game doesn't mean we stop working. That's impossible."
Sato spread his hands.
"Sega's software division is preparing to release Hunting Journey. It's an impressive game—players can experience the thrill of hunting! Promoting it and optimizing it for the SG-1200 is what's important."
Kentaro could only bow.
"If that is what Division Chief intends, I won't trouble you further."
He turned and left.
The SG-3000 was actually Sega's real home console in development.
But to counter Nintendo's Famicom, Sega had deliberately downgraded the SG-3000, creating the SG-1000 to compete.
With the SG-1200 suddenly launched, formal development of the SG-3000 now had to be accelerated.
As for Hunting Journey, it was Sega's August 1983 first-party title for the SG-1000. Because of the SG-1200's sudden appearance, the release was slightly delayed to adjust for higher performance.
Sato had high expectations for this first-party game.
Kentaro could only shake his head silently, muttering in English:
"The division chief is hopeless."
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