December 26, 1990.
Tokyo.
Pokeni Corporation.
With the end of the year approaching, everyone was more interested in chatting at their desks than working.
Besides their lack of focus, there wasn't much to do anyway.
The main reason was that the company's future direction remained undecided. No one knew what President Qing was planning for their next game.
"Hey, what do you think President Qing is thinking? The [ Onmyoji ] series has been so successful. He's not going to stop making them, is he?"
"Who knows? You know President Qing. He's obsessed with 'going ashore' [ diversifying into other areas]."
"Going ashore isn't that easy. He's leaving easy money on the table to chase other genres. I think President Qing sometimes really doesn't know what he's doing."
"But that's not necessarily true. Didn't Onmyoji 2 also change from a proper RPG to a galgame?"
"Let's hope they don't make the same mistake. They better not wait until the project is almost finished to make changes. That would be a nightmare."
"Worrying about this now is pointless. Chinese New Year is just around the corner. We should focus on planning what to do during the holidays instead."
"Haha, you're right. The company's future is the President's responsibility. All we can do is give our all to whatever direction he decides. That's it."
"Exactly."
"Speaking of which, should we go to the Fox Shrine to pay our respects this New Year?"
"Definitely! The Fox Parade is always so much fun."
"And what about grabbing a lucky bag?"
"Absolutely! I hope I can snag a really big one this year!"
"Ah~ I'm already looking forward to it."
Meanwhile, in the President's office, Aoki Haruhi was also racking his brain over a new game.
The Onmyoji series had achieved remarkable success, bringing substantial revenue to the company.
According to financial reports, the company now had approximately 300 million yuan in available funds.
This success for Pokeni meant that investors like DUN and the distributors had also earned considerable profits.
300 million yuan was enough to take a bold gamble on developing a blockbuster game.
Aoki Haruhi opened a document on his computer, listing the items for his "plagiarism," ah, "production" plan.
Given the limitations of current hardware, his options were limited.
Home computers had not yet become widespread, mainly because PC prices remained high.
In 1990, a 486-level computer cost nearly 700,000 Japanese yen.
In mainland China, it was a terrifying luxury item costing nearly 30,000 yuan.
Only the wealthy could afford computers.
With an immature PC market, certain game genres had to be ruled out.
For example, shooters.
Playing shooters with a controller was a pain in the ass.
The mouse and keyboard experience was far superior.
For this reason, Aoki Haruhi would not touch PC-centric games for the time being.
After all, the company had just hired Mikami Shinji, a platinum-level producer. Developing Resident Evil on PC would better showcase his talents.
After dropping the PC platform, only a few remaining options were left:
The first was to continue developing for the FC. After all, the FC and NES still boasted the largest user base among home consoles worldwide.
Alternatively, one could choose Sega's Mega Drive or Nintendo's Super Famicom.
The most advanced home console at the time was undoubtedly Nintendo's Super Famicom. If the FC was a horse-drawn carriage, the SFC was equivalent to a supercar.
Because the SFC was released later than other 16-bit consoles like Sega's Mega Drive, it offered superior graphics.
Leveraging effects such as Mode 7, mosaic, and HDMA, the SFC's overall performance surpassed any 486-class PC of the era and rivaled that of Pentium-class (586) PCs.
Interestingly, the SFC's main CPU, the 65c816, had an emulation mode that could perfectly simulate the 6502 chip.
It's clear that Nintendo once planned to make the SFC compatible with FC software, but abandoned the idea due to cost concerns.
Even so, the console struggled to support action-packed blockbusters like Sekiro or the open-world games that would become popular in the future.
According to Aoki Haruhi's own estimates, if they could fully leverage Senkawa Hiroichi's hardware design expertise, they might be able to achieve game effects on the SFC that were about five years ahead of the current technology.
This primarily refers to game performance. As for graphical capabilities, since the SFC could surpass the performance of 586-class computers (the most advanced PCs at the time), supporting games up to the level of Fate would be no problem at all.
If he had enough confidence, he could develop games for the Mega Drive to target Nintendo.
He could help Sega establish dominance in the console market.
These two companies were currently locked in a fierce battle.
More accurately, the market was in a three-way standoff between Nintendo, Sega, and the PC Engine.
Player sentiment varied across the three companies, but it was clear that Sega's Mega Drive and NEC's PC Engine were currently favored.
Aoki Haruhi was secretly astonished when he learned of the actual situation.
Since when did the Mega Drive and PC Engine crush Nintendo?
Yet, that was precisely the case.
The Sega Mega Drive and PC Engine were released in 1988 and 1987, respectively. During this period, 16-bit consoles truly dominated 8-bit ones.
Nintendo only began to turn the tide with the later release of the Super Famicom.
Considering his own interests, Aoki Haruhi ultimately decided to develop his new game for the Super Famicom.
After all, Nintendo was at the height of its power. Even without Pokeni, it seemed they would eventually establish console dominance anyway. The Mega Drive vs. Super Famicom rivalry would only be temporary; the real battle of the future would be between the PlayStation and Saturn.
I'll take it one step at a time. At this moment, boarding the biggest ship is the wisest choice.
The SFC's graphics were already capable of fully rendering exquisite and enticing visuals.
With Aoki Haruhi's own artistic talent, any game he developed would undoubtedly surpass all contemporary products in terms of graphical quality.
To break free from the lingering influence of the Onmyoji series, Aoki Haruhi decided to establish a new subsidiary after the new year, dedicated solely to developing console games.
You can't fall into the same pit twice!
The remaining task was to carefully select a game.
After much deliberation, Aoki Haruhi typed the words [ Diablo ] into the screen.
Throughout the history of game development, there have been many landmark masterpieces.
[ Diablo ] is undoubtedly one of them.
Especially [ Diablo II ], its gameplay loop, rich combat system, and well-balanced numerical framework have been revered as classics by many aspiring game designers.
It is considered one of the essential courses that game designers—particularly those specializing in numerical systems and combat—must study and master in their careers.
Although [ Diablo ] was originally developed for PC, considering development for the Super Famicom platform and its controller interface, a well-designed implementation would hardly affect the player experience.
Hmm!
You're the one!
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