With the new script outline for the witcher 2, the project quickly got underway.
But at the same Time, Shinji Mikami was in a bind.
He was essentially serving as Producer for three game at once: the witcher 2,
the newly launched princess mononoke, and diablo 3.
Shinji Mikami was basically swamped.
So Aoki Haruhi suggested he could first take on the role of Director and delegate two of the game.
"Huh? Who can be the Producer then?" Shinji Mikami also found it very difficult. "Can Urobuchi take the witcher 2? After all, he wrote the script himself, so Urobuchi should have a lot of ideas, right?"
"Hmm, I suggest not," Aoki Haruhi said.
Gen Urobuchi, while excellent at scriptwriting, is still somewhat lacking when it comes to being a Producer for large projects. It might end up becoming just an animated game.
"Miyazaki," Aoki Haruhi said, "Miyazaki has been working with you for so long. Let him get some practice with the witcher 2 first."
"Miyazaki Hidetaka?" Shinji Mikami asked, a bit confused, "Can he do it?"
"Mm," Aoki Haruhi nodded.
But shouldn't I be the one asking you that question?
Miyazaki Hidetaka has talent and is hardworking enough. Giving him an opportunity to train will also pave the way for the future of the 3D action game Time.
Aoki Haruhi suddenly thought—
If Miyazaki Hidetaka were to produce the witcher 2, would the combat change?
"Mm. Then let's give it to Miyazaki. Actually, I think Miyazaki is very hardworking and has game talent, and I really like him."
Miyazaki Hidetaka had trained with Shinji Mikami on the Diablo 2 project for almost a year, and he had made significant progress.
However, Shinji Mikami wasn't entirely sure how Miyazaki Hidetaka would fare as a Producer.
President Aoki Sang asking Shinji Mikami to be the Director was actually to prevent the game from going too far off track.
Shinji Mikami himself understood this point.
On second thought, he had just been promoted another level.
"Then what about diablo 3? Who should it be given to?"
"Well..." Aoki Haruhi thought for two seconds, "Let's postpone that for now."
Originally, he had thought about sending diablo 3 to the pokeni America subsidiary, essentially returning it to Brevik, the original creator of Diablo in his previous life, and his team.
However, after careful consideration, it still felt a bit unsuitable.
Brevik and others in his previous life were indeed the founders of the Diablo series, but those were things from a past life.
Now, Diablo was created by Aoki Haruhi himself, and Shinji Mikami had put a lot of effort into it. The game had also brought success to Aoki Haruhi and Shinji Mikami.
It was as if they were the true parents of Diablo.
And at this Time, the pokeni America branch company didn't have such deep feelings for this game. Even if they considered Diablo a masterpiece and its IP to be of great value, their mindset, emotions, and level of dedication could not be the same as in the previous life.
Under the Producer system, game, to some extent, is "very personal."
So, after much deliberation, Aoki Haruhi decided to postpone diablo 3 rather than transfer it to pokeni America to take over.
And technically, they could also wait a bit longer.
Making diablo 3 now would essentially be an upgraded version of 2, like 2.5.
If they waited a bit longer, until 3D hardware developed, diablo 3 could be made quite outstanding.
...
After the backend work arrangements were in place, Aoki Haruhi finally had Time to launch an offense.
Next was to go all out and promote pokemon 3d.
...
"A new game?"
At the izakaya, Hattori Hiroyuki picked up the disc and looked at it. It read "pokémon 3d world."
A spin-off of Pokémon?
What kind of new game is this?
However, Hattori Hiroyuki quickly noticed the keyword—
3D.
"Eh? I didn't expect pokeni to enter the 3D field as well?"
"Yes," Aoki Haruhi said with a smile and a nod. "This is the first 3D game our company has produced. President Hattori, please give us your full support."
Although this concept had been hyped up by Sony and Sega recently, there hadn't been any truly significant products born yet.
Only Sega's vr fighter had made a bit of a splash, achieving good sales of over a million copies. As for the others...
Hattori Hiroyuki hadn't seen any successful ones.
3D currently had only the concept, but it was still a distance away from being a true "game." Many 3D game felt rough and simply couldn't compete with the current 2D game.
As for pokeni making 3D Pokémon.
Hattori Hiroyuki instinctively wasn't very optimistic.
"My young friend, it's not that I, your elder brother, don't warn you," Hattori Hiroyuki earnestly advised. "In the past six months, many game companies have ventured into 3D, and quite a few game have been released. I don't know if they were swayed by Sony, rushing into this direction, but so far, not a single product has succeeded.
To be honest, when I hear '3D' now, I'm hesitant to stock them. At most, I'll take a small amount of inventory, otherwise, they simply won't sell and will just sit on my hands.
You must be careful."
"Mm, thank you for the reminder, President Hattori." Aoki Haruhi didn't pay much attention, just took a shallow sip of his sake, a faint smile playing on his lips.
Hattori Hiroyuki, this fellow, had changed quite a lot in just a few months.
He used to look somewhat like a "strong man," bald, with a rather large build, giving off an imposing aura.
But ever since his little daughter was born, Hattori Hiroyuki had completely changed.
Not only did his appearance become more benevolent, but he also gained weight, and now his potbelly could practically rest on the table.
This was probably what they called 'happy fat.'
"President Hattori, listen to me," Aoki Haruhi said with a smile, "My 3D game is truly different from other companies' 3D game. You'll understand once you experience it back home.
Once this pokémon 3d world is released, the whole world will be shocked."
Tsk tsk.
Hattori Hiroyuki thought, good heavens, the boasts you're making are exactly the same as Sony's Ken Kutaragi's.
The kind where not even a single word is changed.
The key isn't whether I believe you or not; it's that there's no basis for anyone to believe in 3D right now.
"I hope so," Hattori Hiroyuki nodded.
"So, same as before, 100,000 copies?" Aoki Haruhi asked tentatively.
"Hmm... well, let's start with 10,000 and see," Hattori Hiroyuki saw Aoki Haruhi's shocked expression and quickly reached out to stop him. "Aoki-san, listen to me. It's not that I don't want to support you.
Torun needs to make money too, otherwise, how can we support so many employees?
Honestly, if it were any other type of game, as long as it wasn't 3D, even if you continued making handheld Pokémon, I would take 100,000 copies without a second thought, I'd even dare to take 500,000 copies.
But right now, the 3D market really isn't mature enough. I still hope to be cautious."
Aoki Haruhi also feigned anger, but he didn't take it to heart.
He could understand Hattori Hiroyuki's mindset very well. After all, 3D was a new thing. Although the concept was quite popular, there hadn't been any big-name game released.
Even Nintendo hadn't thought about venturing into 3D yet.
And Sony had been boasting for half a year. Don't they still have to wait for my game to come out before they can realize that Sony's words weren't empty?
"Is it still better to stick to the principle of replenishing stock once it becomes popular?" Hattori Hiroyuki said, holding Aoki Haruhi's hand.
"Alright, Hattori-san, honestly, our new game is truly amazing. Otherwise, I wouldn't be so confident."
"Mm-hmm, I can see that."
...
The two ate for a while, clinking glasses, both feeling a bit tipsy.
During this process, they also talked about a lot of personal matters.
"Aoki-san, listen to me, try not to get married if you can. Marriage is the graveyard of love," Hattori Hiroyuki took a big gulp, the bitter wine hurting his heart as it went down.
Aoki Haruhi looked at him and thought, what a spirited President Hattori he used to be. Look how his new wife has him under her thumb now.
"But, you still have to have a daughter," Hattori Hiroyuki cheered up again.
"You can have children without getting married?"
"Of course, why not?"
"Wouldn't that be irresponsible to the woman?"
"Huh?"
Hattori Hiroyuki looked at Aoki Haruhi in disbelief. You're so rich, and you're talking about responsibility?
"Aoki-san, you're not going to say you're quite devoted, are you?"
Aoki Haruhi pursed his lips, not responding.
I am quite devoted.
Moreover, after Nao Tsuda, you simply can't generate any interest in other women, can you?
After carefully confirming the expression on Aoki Haruhi's face, Hattori Hiroyuki understood that he was telling the truth.
"Ah~" Hattori smacked his lips, sighing, "Your girlfriend is truly fortunate."
Aoki Haruhi smiled faintly. Perhaps so.
However, he hadn't decided whether to marry Nao Tsuda, and he even worried, because of Hattori Hiroyuki's words, that their relationship might change after marriage.
But these things are like a pony crossing a river; listening to others is useless. The most important thing is to perceive it for yourself.
...
The two chatted for a while, from family, relationships, then to women, and finally back to game from women.
"Aoki-san, I find pokeni really interesting. You change platforms quite frequently," Hattori Hiroyuki said with a smile.
Indeed, quite frequently.
At first, it was Nintendo's Famicom, then it became Sega's MD and PG, and now it has switched to Sony PS platform.
Of course, as a game company, making game for different platforms is a freedom.
Hattori Hiroyuki was just joking.
He had a mischievous smile, as if saying, "Aoki-san, you're quite quick to change your allegiance."
"Actually," Aoki Haruhi stood up and leaned close to Hattori Hiroyuki's ear, "Sony PS was developed with our participation, and its 3D performance was initially meant to support our new game."
"Eh? Is that so?"
Hattori Hiroyuki clicked his tongue in wonder, his eyes falling on the Pokémon disc. "Then I'm really a bit curious about this pokémon 3d world."
...
After drinking in the evening, Hattori Hiroyuki, with Aoki Haruhi's warm farewell, got into his private car.
The latter got into the car and waved goodbye to Aoki Haruhi.
Soon, as the car drove away, Aoki Haruhi's figure disappeared in the rearview mirror.
Hattori Hiroyuki opened the window a crack, letting the night breeze blow in, feeling exceptionally refreshed this evening.
"It's been a long Time since I had a drink with President Aoki. I really miss it."
The driver in front heard President Hattori's words, and a hint of pity couldn't help but appear in his eyes.
It sounded truly heartbreaking.
Ever since his marriage, President Hattori seemed to be shackled.
Hattori Hiroyuki squinted his eyes, silently recalling what had happened during the banquet.
After a while, he reopened his eyes and took out the disc from the gift bag.
Reflecting the light, he could still see the exquisite cover of pokemon 3d.
"Did you notice?" Hattori slowly began.
"Hmm?" the driver responded.
Mainly because there was no one else in the car. If President Hattori didn't talk to him, was he going to talk to a ghost?
"The world is changing too fast," Hattori Hiroyuki sighed.
How to put it?
The development of the Time is truly rapid.
"Before, well, a year ago, game everywhere were still cartridges, but now more than half of them are discs."
The advantages of discs were simply too great, instantly increasing storage capacity from a few megabytes to gigabytes.
The accompanying improvement in game quality was also very obvious.
Large-capacity game, both in terms of game quality and content, far surpassed those cartridge game.
"Yes," the driver nodded in agreement, "Human technology is constantly advancing. Even my daughter has started learning how to use a computer."
"Hmm?"
"Marika has started learning computer too?"
"Yes, Marika..." Speaking of his daughter, the driver began to talk endlessly.
Hattori Hiroyuki also chatted very happily with him.
Both were fathers, and they found much in common.
But just then, the driver instinctively slammed on the brakes and stopped.
"Oh dear~"
This almost threw Hattori Hiroyuki forward.
"Ah! President Hattori! I'm terribly sorry," the driver quickly asked nervously, "Are you alright? I just habitually stepped on the brake when I saw a trash can."
"No, no, I'm fine."
Hattori Hiroyuki waved his hand.
He straightened up and looked out the window. It really was a trash can.
Good heavens, you've even trained this into an instinct.
...
Hattori Hiroyuki looked down at the game disc in his hand.
Technology is constantly developing and progressing. Two years ago, who would have thought that future game would primarily be carried on discs?
And in the future, who knows what will replace discs?
So.
Hattori Hiroyuki thought—
It's quite possible that the future really is the Time of 3D game.
"Mm."
Hattori Hiroyuki sighed.
"[This game is definitely a groundbreaking product, President Hattori. You'll know once you experience it.]"
Hattori Hiroyuki recalled Aoki Haruhi's words, a smile appearing on his lips.
Experience it? Definitely not. But still, I wish your game great sales!
Clang!
The game disc was thrown into the trash can by Hattori Hiroyuki.
A wild cat, startled from its foraging, darted out of it.
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