EBE Chapter 58 Our family has fallen...
Chapter 58 Our family has fallen...
Many of the designs from the Story of Seasons series have been used to this day.
For example, Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town, released on the GBA in 03, is almost a carbon copy of the later hit Stardew Valley.
Our family has fallen on hard times...
Oh no, it's Grandpa's letter.
This classic plot device was already hinted at in the Mineral Town game.
The protagonist inherits an abandoned farm for various reasons.
They then gradually started planting crops, raising animals, interacting with the town's residents, and even getting married.
This system may seem simple, but it's a mainstay of farm games, and even of all simulation games.
At the same time, it is a truly all-ages work that appeals to both men and women and is suitable for all ages.
This plays a crucial role in expanding GAMENOVA's current customer base.
"So...it's another slow-paced story?"
After listening to Lin Lixin's explanation, Sam imagined how the game would work in his mind, and his expression fell.
To put it bluntly, who the hell would waste their leisure time playing something like this, where you're controlling a character wielding a hoe in a field?
"Lin, The Legend of Zelda's pace is already quite aggressive, and players who are used to arcade games may not be able to accept it."
He tried to phrase things as tactfully as possible.
As for himself, if he has already completed The Legend of Zelda once, he would still prefer to start Street Fighter or Wolfenstein when facing NovaBox.
He enjoys that kind of quick and easy thrill.
The puzzles in The Legend of Zelda are ingeniously designed, making the exploration process full of fun.
However, its replayability is far lower than that of games like Street Fighter.
After completing both the main and alternate versions of the game, Sam couldn't find a reason to play it again, except to challenge himself to collect items faster and find a better route.
Then Lin Lixin presented an even more outrageous design proposal.
"Why do players keep watering and mining? What's the difference between this and going to work?"
Admittedly, after witnessing the phenomenal success of Lin Lixin's several blockbuster products, his rationality told him that he should unconditionally trust Lin Lixin.
But if a game can't even be fun, Sam will never be convinced.
Unexpectedly, Lin Lixin nodded, expressing high agreement with his questioning.
"You're right, Sam, players with only 10 seconds of patience definitely won't like it."
"What are you doing then? Pursuing personal gain? Realizing your personal value?"
Well, GAMENOVA's current cash flow might indeed be enough to support Lin Lixin in doing things that, while not commercially successful, he personally enjoys.
"What are you babbling about?" Lin Lixin said, somewhat speechless. "I mean, the target audience for this work isn't the crazy gamers in arcades, but rather otaku, ladies, and kids."
Lin Lixin shook his head, glanced at the time, and continued:
"Anyway, you'll understand everything once the demo is finished. Now, take me to the airport."
He has another flight to catch today that crosses half of America.
……
Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Howard Scott Worshow pushed open the door to his home and slumped dejectedly onto the sofa.
Sometimes fate really likes to play tricks on people, he thought.
As a former Atari developer, Howard made many important contributions to the development of video games.
The famous Indiana Jones game, released on the Atari 2600, was developed by him.
It can be said that Howard was the creator of the world's first movie-based video game.
Indiana Jones lived up to expectations, achieving outstanding sales of one million copies.
But no one expected that this very title of "cinematic adaptation" would become the source of everything's ultimate destruction.
In 82, Warner, Atari's parent company, gave him an important task.
Thump thump thump
A game adaptation of Mr. Spielberg's new film, "E.T."
The development time was only 5 weeks.
As for the outcome of this work?
Howard rubbed his throbbing temples. His career as a game developer had been buried in the junkyard along with those game cartridges.
Was E.T. the culprit that destroyed Atari?
the answer is negative.
How could a gaming empire with annual revenue of billions of dollars and complete dominance of the home console market suddenly collapse just because of one unsatisfactory game?
There are plenty of works that are far worse than E.T.
But Atari needed a sufficiently famous work to serve as a scapegoat, to become a representative symbol.
Howard unfortunately accepted the hat.
He turned his gaze to the PC on the table.
Howard still uses a computer for work, but only for some writing.
Making games has always been his favorite job.
Even the huge failure of "E.T." did not dampen his enthusiasm for games.
Unfortunately, despite being known as the "gravedigger of video games," he was destined to never work in the industry.
Howard shook his head helplessly, gave a self-deprecating laugh, sat down at the computer, and typed a new paragraph in the article.
[Yars' Revenge was once considered one of the best games, so if E.T. is the worst, then I might be the designer with the most volatile reputation in history, haha.]
'buzz'
Just as he typed the last letter, the doorbell suddenly rang.
"Could it be the rent collectors coming?"
With a nervous look on his face, Howard slowly pushed open the door.
But standing in front of the door was a Chinese man who was much younger than himself.
"Hello, Mr. Worshaw."
Lin Lixin bowed politely in greeting.
The other party's attribute panel appeared before his eyes.
Howard Scott Worthew
Overall Rating: A (Excellent Developer)
[Programming Development]: 87 (Growth Value: A+)
[Scriptwriting]: 75 (Growth Value: A-)
……
Nothing speaks louder than these clear double-A growth values.
Lin Lixin has witnessed just how outrageous and terrible "E.T." truly is.
But he also knew that this was a work that was created in just five weeks on an Atari 2600 using collage.
From this perspective, Howard is actually terrifyingly strong.
"It's me, what's up?"
"Let me introduce myself. My name is Lin Lixin, and I am the chairman of GAMENOVA."
Lin Lixin paused slightly, giving Howard time to process the information.
"I would like to invite Mr. Worsham to become our first third-party game developer."
Since its release, NovaBox has relied entirely on GAMENOVA's own first-party titles to sustain its success.
However, while such complacency can guarantee the quality of the products, it also limits one's potential.
Even a first-party company as powerful as Nintendo still relies on royalty systems to allow third-party games to be developed and published.
Howard stood there stunned, completely unprepared to hear such news.