"Hmm…"
Aoki Haruhi stood silently with his arms crossed.
In the meeting room, Aoki Haruhi was reviewing the future development direction of Pokémon with Asano Risa, the head of the Pokémon project team.
After returning from her trip, Asano Risa immediately began discussing future Pokémon development plans with the project team members.
Mainly, the pressure from the president was quite significant.
However, this trip brought back a wealth of inspiration.
It was just that the trip itself wasn't as enjoyable as it could have been.
"Regarding the Pokémon development plan, we've discussed it for a long time, and currently, we have several proposals," Asano Risa said, placing a proposal in front of Aoki Haruhi.
It read: "pokémon 3d world: Moons Dark Side."
Asano Risa said, "We plan to continue replicating the successful experience of the pokémon 3d world, starting with a 4-player adventure as the core, and then adding more Pokémon.
Afterward, these newly added Pokémon will be released into the single-player version of the main Pokémon handheld game."
This model is now quite mature and is considered the maximum utilization of resources.
Not only can it achieve a good Series Effect (connection effect), but once you get players accustomed to it, they will instinctively anticipate the next Pokémon game.
For example, after experiencing the relaxed and enjoyable pokémon 3d world, you will particularly look forward to the new Pokémon appearing in the single-player handheld game released in the future, fostering a desire to collect them early on.
This way, it can create a very good warm-up effect and save a lot of promotional work.
Aoki Haruhi was very much in agreement.
Before Asano Risa even began explaining the contents of this proposal, she stacked another prepared proposal on Aoki Haruhi's desk.
"pokémon 3d world: sun myth."
Aoki Haruhi smiled slightly, indicating it was quite interesting.
Just by looking at the names, he could feel the effort put in by Asano Risa and her team.
"Didn't we already make different types of Eevee before?" Asano Risa asked, "This time, it's actually a reverse process. The original plan was to include Umbreon and Espeon in the next generation of Pokémon games.
Then we thought, since we're going to make these Pokémon in the future, why not put them in the 3D world first?"
The order in which Pokémon were developed by pokeni was completely different from what he remembered in his previous life, almost entirely mixed up.
So, in the previous Pokemon Gold and Silver, Umbreon and Espeon, which should have appeared, were not made.
To date, Eevee has three forms: Water, Fire, and Electric.
They correspond to Water, Fire, and Electric types, respectively.
These three Eevee forms, including Eevee itself, were all introduced in Pokemon Gold and Silver.
And after Eevee was created, it immediately became a favorite among players.
Eevee has a small body, a curled tail, thick fur, and agile ears.
Eevee is generally considered an 'evolving' baby because it can evolve into different forms through various methods and conditions, including Flareon, Vaporeon, Jolteon, etc.
No matter the form, Eevee's appearance is very cute, making people want to hug it.
It's like a well-behaved and agile kitten, yet with a hint of mischievous and cunning foxiness, and it's especially fluffy and adorable.
In pokeni's current official most popular Pokémon ranking, Eevee consistently ranks first.
Besides its inherently cute design, its versatility in evolution, and the high combat power it possesses after evolving, which gives players a strong desire to collect, there's another point—
The refresh rate for Eevee in the game by pokeni is extremely, extremely low.
This also ensures its rarity.
At the same time, it keeps Eevee's popularity consistently high.
Before Pokemon Gold and Silver was released, the most popular was the Easter egg Pokémon, Mew.
"So, we designed and adjusted them based on Espeon and Umbreon, creating these two proposals.
Moons Dark Side is mainly to introduce Umbreon and some dark-type Pokémon."
Aoki Haruhi listened to Asano Risa's explanation while flipping through the proposal.
The story of Moons Dark Side is actually quite simple, mainly set in the magical and unknown 'back of the moon.'
Because the moon always faces Earth with one side, the back of the moon can be set to be more fantastical.
Pokémon itself is structured in a world similar to Earth, including the geographical distribution of various regions and countries, which are actually based on the real world, aiming to make people from different countries feel a sense of immersion.
This facilitates globalization.
Now, telling the story of the next pokémon 3d world on the moon is actually very reasonable.
As for sun myth, it's a corresponding adventure on the sun.
Just by looking at these two proposals, Aoki Haruhi already had many associations.
It must be said that the Pokémon team is very creative.
Novel settings, unexpected worlds, diverse geographical environments, paired with carefully selected Pokémon—it all looks very appealing.
And there's a lot of room for creativity in terms of levels.
For example, on the moon, gravity could be used to create interesting gameplay.
This could also be seen as a tribute to patema inverted to some extent.
What's even more surprising is that—
The current Pokémon project team has already learned the essence of Aoki Haruhi, understanding 'linkage.'
Just like CL and LL, Pokémon Moons Dark Side and sun myth are actually mirror images of each other. When they are released in conjunction, they will surely achieve unexpected promotional effects.
Mm-hmm.
This is really good.
Aoki Haruhi nodded.
It was like a connoisseur tasting exquisite and delicious food.
These two proposals were so well-done that they were approved very quickly. Aoki Haruhi had no issues, and they could proceed with project initiation. The key was whether they could incorporate the unique features and gameplay and enrich the level content.
…
"And then there's this." Asano Risa pulled out another proposal and placed it in front of Aoki Haruhi.
It read—
"Pokémon: Mysterious Adventure."
"Regarding the single-player game for pokemon 3d, this is how we envision it."
"In the anime, isn't Team Rocket a villainous presence? So we wanted to make a single-player adventure game, with the game ending by defeating Team Rocket's big boss."
Aoki Haruhi lowered his head and flipped through the proposal.
The story was indeed as simple as Asano Risa said.
And the entire game's play and operation followed the route of an action-adventure game, just a 3D version.
Players could control Pikachu to battle throughout, able to jump, run, and use skills.
At the same time, they could also continuously collect other Pokémon to swap out.
However, only one Pokémon could be controlled as the main character at a time.
It was a rather distinctive game, and its design was better than the small games like Pikachu's Adventure that Aoki Haruhi remembered.
Pokémon is inherently an all-ages game, and 'all-ages' here actually means catering to younger children.
Because you have to be compatible with younger children.
So the story doesn't need to be too complex; this is just right.
Team Rocket serves as the main antagonist this time, and in the future, they could be replaced by others, such as Team Skull, Team Flare, Team Plasma, Team Star, etc…
Not only can it be combined with future anime content, but it can also link some of the story to the Pokémon world and the main Pokémon sequels.
"Hmm, very good. Then let's proceed with development according to this," Aoki Haruhi said.
Asano Risa did a great job.
Aoki Haruhi was becoming increasingly confident in the Pokémon empire.
Now that these sections were extended, it already resembled an imperial territory.
…
"Finally, this one."
Asano Risa placed the last proposal in front of Aoki Haruhi.
He looked down and his eyes lit up.
"Pokémon Racing."
Hmm, good, this guy still understood my hint.
Currently, in the company's layout, RPGs were in place, action games were in place, puzzle games were in place, and future shooting games were also being planned, but racing games were not yet.
This was also why Aoki Haruhi suggested that Asano Risa consider making a racing game.
…
Racing games were already being developed by others. Last year, EA released Need for Speed on the 3DO console.
EA was truly wealthy and had a good geographical advantage, directly securing licenses from major automobile manufacturers.
After Need for Speed came out, many players exclaimed that racing games could be so much fun.
The game itself also served as an excellent advertisement, thereby boosting sales of different cars.
Need for Speed is definitely an unavoidable milestone racing game.
It pushed the 3DO console's performance to its limits, and upon release, it already possessed the prototype of future Need for Speed games. It was even more than just a prototype: 3D mode, excellent scenery and tracks that closely resembled the real world, more realistic car handling, high-quality game graphics, car customization features…
These actually became standard features for future Need for Speed games, and to achieve such expressive power in this era was truly impressive.
Players would even secretly compare these big-name cars, wondering whether Ferrari was stronger, or Lamborghini, or Porsche?
Now, if pokeni wanted to get authorization from these car manufacturers to develop related games, unless you were making Transformer, it would be unlikely to shake EA's position.
However, in the 3D realm, making an all-ages, Q-version racing game to capture the hearts of children and take a more popular entertainment racing route, that was feasible.
…
Hmm…
Thinking of Transformer, Aoki Haruhi had a sudden idea, stroking his chin and falling into contemplation.
Is it possible for us to try and get the Transformer license from Hasbro?
Making Transformer into a game would actually be pretty cool. Robots transforming and battling, not only experiencing speed but also passion.
And the story of Cybertron is grand and captivating enough, and it already has an anime foundation.
Hmm…
Never mind, never mind.
Aoki Haruhi shook his head.
Let's not consider this for now. To get Hasbro's license, he would also have to negotiate with various car manufacturers for licenses. Just thinking about it made Aoki Haruhi feel tired.
However, he could first assign the task to Kazuma Takahashi, letting him figure out how to contact them.
…
Seeing Aoki Haruhi shake his head, Asano Risa's heart tightened.
"President, is something wrong?"
"What content needs to be changed in this proposal?"
"Ah, sorry, I was just thinking about other things. Please continue," Aoki Haruhi raised his hand.
Asano Risa then breathed a sigh of relief and continued to explain the design of this Pokémon Racing game.
"We designed it in imitation of Mario Kart. Up to 4 players can race together, and it also offers a single-player story mode.
In this game, players can drive cute Pokémon Racing cars…
Different tracks also have different item modes.
The chosen Pokémon Racing car also has some connection to the terrain. For example, water-type racing cars will be easier to drive in watery areas. Not only are there ordinary racing tracks, but also off-road tracks, skiing tracks, and so on…"
Much of this content was already available, having been done in the pokémon 3d world.
For example, the off-road tracks and skiing tracks mentioned by Asano Risa, in pokemon 3d, there are also deserts, forests, and so on. These are all very easy to take and turn into interesting levels.
This essentially allows for another reuse.
Utilizing resources to the extreme is what pokeni strives for.
…
In this regard, Aoki Haruhi still admired Asano Risa.
But after reading the proposal, he couldn't help but frown.
"No, Asano Risa."
"Huh?" Asano Risa was stunned. She had just been explaining with such passion, and the president was clearly listening with great interest, so why was it suddenly a no-go?
Aoki Haruhi frowned and said, "You can't just copy all of Mario Kart. There needs to be some core elements in it.
Otherwise, it's easy to get sued by Nintendo."
super mario Kart is a sports mini-game, the first in the Mario Kart series, released on the SFC platform in '92.
This game laid much groundwork, paving the way for GP Mode, Battle Mode, Nightmare Battle Mode, a unique weapon system, and the mystery box system.
You say making a racing game, there's no problem with that.
There are so many racing games in the world.
But, if you copy the item races, various Grand Prix, and even some core gameplay of the levels from mario, that's definitely giving Nintendo leverage.
Now, Yamauchi is looking for an outlet for his anger, he would surely sue you to death, wouldn't he?
So, after reading the proposal, Aoki Haruhi kept shaking his head.
"Adding attributes is a good point, but it's not enough," Aoki Haruhi said, "And the item design is too similar to Mario Kart.
They all need to be changed.
See how to integrate the core gameplay of Pokémon. The different attributes, skills, and evolutions between Pokémon are our unique features. You must design around these as core points."
If the unique features are not enough, it might be a case of neglecting one thing while attending to another.
"Understood, President." Asano Risa nodded, expressing strong agreement.
The two of them discussed in the meeting room from morning until evening, going through several proposals, and finally managed to clarify their thoughts a little.
When Asano Risa walked out of the president's office, her head was spinning.
Who am I, where am I, what am I doing?
Meeting with the president was simply too much pressure.
However, the final result was good.
Now, the Pokémon studio's future development plans were packed, and they could simultaneously form five project teams.
"How terrifying."
Asano Risa herself felt incredible.
To be able to expand Pokémon to such an extent in such a short period of time.
…
After seeing Asano Risa off, Aoki Haruhi did not immediately leave work. Instead, he sat in his seat and carefully reviewed the future development content of Pokémon.
After about ten minutes, he sat in his chair and grinned sinisterly.
Very good.
The Pokémon empire.
It's within reach.
Please Support me by becoming my Patreon member and get 20+ chapters.
[email protected]/Ajal69
change @ with a
Thank You to Those who joined my Patreon