After the New Year, Kobayashi Tetsu sent someone to investigate the Zhou Kingdom to see if they could build a few cartridge factories. This was a win-win situation, so they wouldn't refuse.
As for Kobayashi Tetsu himself, he definitely wouldn't go. Although he would be more familiar with the place than anyone else, going would put him in a difficult position.
If he were too nice to them, it would seem like he was kneeling and begging for food. If he were too harsh, it would seem like he had forgotten his roots and was acting ungratefully.
Either way, he would cause dissatisfaction.
So Kobayashi Tetsu simply didn't go. He just sent someone to investigate the location, costs, and other details, treating it strictly as a business matter.
The cartridge factory in Yokohama was nearly complete. In Japan's golden age, construction speed was quite fast. Kobayashi Tetsu estimated that after procuring equipment and recruiting staff, the factory could officially start operations in February 1989. It would produce Atlas's own cartridges and also act as a contract manufacturer for other companies.
By then, Atlas would gradually break its dependence on Bandai's contract manufacturing.
In other words, Kobayashi Tetsu's partnership with Yamashina Makoto was pretty much coming to an end.
"Good luck, Bandai. I hope you become 'Bandai Namco' instead of 'Atlus Bandai.'"
Kobayashi Tetsu shook his head and picked up the report from the month before the New Year, reviewing the development progress of Atlas's various departments.
Takamine Aika's handwriting was beautiful. Most importantly, she used more kanji and fewer kana, which significantly reduced the reading difficulty for Kobayashi Tetsu.
The reports from each department were fairly standard, with development proceeding in an orderly fashion. Metal Gear 2, Megami Tensei II, and so on.
"Ninja Gaiden—"
Kobayashi Tetsu frowned, confirming he hadn't misread it.
Team Ninja had submitted a report requesting a delay, stating that Ninja Gaiden would not be officially released by March of this year at the earliest.
"It's been over a year! Isn't this efficiency a bit too slow?"
Kobayashi Tetsu tapped the desk lightly, lost in thought for a moment.
The document didn't specify the exact reason, so he decided to summon Hideo Yoshizawa from Team Ninja.
Yoshizawa was a developer previously hired by Tecmo and the original developer of Ninja Gaiden. Kobayashi Tetsu had naturally sought him out to lead the project. He hadn't expected an unexpected situation to arise now.
Hideo Yoshizawa entered the office, his face betraying a hint of nervousness. The New Year's holiday had just ended, but Team Ninja couldn't afford to relax because their development progress was already far behind schedule.
Kobayashi Tetsu gestured for him to come in. His tone wasn't harsh, but he had Hideo Yoshizawa sit down first.
"Tell me," Kobayashi said. "What exactly is going on with Team Ninja? Why are you requesting a three-month extension? I've already announced the game, the Ninja Gaiden movie is ready for release, and the cinema schedules are all set. You need to give me an explanation."
Hideo Yoshizawa bowed deeply, his head lowering to a precise forty-five-degree angle. "My sincerest apologies, President! We underestimated the development requirements on the M0, and many of the features we'd planned simply couldn't be implemented. On top of that, the internal design had some issues—the playtests were all poor. We had no choice but to scrap everything and start over. But I promise, we will definitely finish by March at the latest!"
"March?" Kobayashi shook his head.
He couldn't wait until March.
"The Ninja Gaiden movie is set to release on Valentine's Day in February. It was originally scheduled for Christmas, but I asked the theaters to push it back to February because of Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Producing the cartridges takes time, too. If you don't finish the game this month, we'll have major problems with cartridge production and distribution."
Yoshizawa could only bow his head again.
Kobayashi Tetsu felt a headache coming on just looking at him. Yoshizawa's expression was so desperate it looked like Kobayashi was forcing him to commit seppuku, and he half-expected Kobayashi to bring someone in to act as his kaishakunin next.
At this point, Kobayashi knew there was no use blaming Yoshizawa. After all, Tecmo was notorious for producing unreliable staff. Yoshizawa was just one of the more reliable among the unreliable.
The most urgent task was to finish Ninja Gaiden's development as quickly as possible, so the promotional campaign and release could be properly coordinated.
"As the development team leader, you bear significant responsibility for Ninja Gaiden's delay. While managing the big picture is no easy task, you should have been prepared to plan properly once you accepted this assignment. I'm docking three months' salary from you. From now on, I will personally take over the production of Ninja Gaiden."
Yoshizawa breathed a sigh of relief.
He had actually been prepared to be fired. He never expected it would only be a salary cut.
Atlas was known for paying very well within the industry. In an era where the average salary was around 300,000 to 400,000 yen, the average salary at Atlas was around 500,000 yen, with additional bonuses and vacation time after a project's completion.
The total annual expenditure on salaries and benefits averaged around 700 to 800 million yen.
Losing three months' pay was still better than being kicked out the door!
However...
Hideo Yoshizawa's head snapped up as he heard the second half of the sentence.
"Eh?!"
He found it hard to believe. "You're going to take charge personally?!"
He had always assumed Naka Yuji was the one making all the games at Atlas, and Kobayashi Tetsu was just the one paying for them.
Kobayashi Tetsu was amused.
"Who do you think made all the games at Atlas before Naka Yuji? Come on, let me see what Team Ninja is up to."
At the moment, Development Division 2 was the only one in Atlas that was temporarily idle. Iwata Satoru had been working on a commissioned game, but since Kobayashi Tetsu had a request, he simply brought Division 2 over to assist with the development.
Kobayashi Tetsu then took a general look at Team Ninja's development progress.
It was a good thing he didn't look. After seeing it, Kobayashi Tetsu almost drew his sword and chopped Hideo Yoshizawa on the spot.
As a developer with ideals and aspirations, Hideo Yoshizawa had great ideas. However, they were extremely difficult to implement. This resulted in Team Ninja's development progress being repeatedly overturned and reset, which severely hindered their overall progress.
From what he could see, the basic framework was complete. Kobayashi Tetsu considered the animation and music to be top-notch. As for the action design, for a Mega Drive game, they had managed to create some complex moves rather than just simple attacks, which was also done well.
Only the level design made Kobayashi Tetsu want to curse.
"I've said it a thousand times! It can be hard, but it can't be hard by being unfair to the player! You think you're being clever, thinking that just throwing in two bosses will increase the difficulty. But this isn't 'hard'—it's just frustrating. If the two bosses have no interaction with each other, why even have two? Is 'more' always 'better'? Is 'bigger' always 'stronger'?"
Kobayashi Tetsu rolled up his sleeves, his fist clenched, though he stopped short of striking.
As a civilized person, he tried his best not to resort to violence.
Kobayashi Tetsu looked around. Suddenly, Naka Yuji appeared, pushing a whiteboard toward him.
"I was just passing by," Naka Yuji explained. "I figured you'd need a whiteboard, President. I'll get back to work now."
Kobayashi Tetsu silently gave him a thumbs-up, then wrote a few lines on the whiteboard.
"Interaction! What exactly is 'interaction' in an action game? It seems Yoshizawa-kun is still lacking some ideas. Today, I'm going to teach you a thing or two."
Iwata Satoru, maintaining his usual unassuming demeanor, chuckled. "Yoshizawa-kun, you're in for a treat. The President rarely gives lectures these days, but when he does, they're always immensely helpful for the development process. You'd better listen up."
Hideo Yoshizawa pulled over a swivel chair and sat down properly, ready to learn.
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