Considerations of 2D and 3D

"Why did MD win? It was thanks to Pokémon and Sonic, but even more so to the hundreds and thousands of third-party developers behind us." Nakayama Takuya's voice was steady and powerful. "Many of them are small and medium-sized teams, and the high barrier to entry for 3D development would have deterred them. If we abandoned them, it would be like cutting off our own arm."

He looked at Yuji Naka: "Naka-kun, what do you think?"

Yuji Naka nodded and continued, "The executive director is right. 2D games have mature technology, short development cycles, and controllable costs. For many players, easy and fun 2D games are indispensable. We can't abandon this huge base just to pursue 3D. A healthy console ecosystem needs top-tier titles, as well as a large number of mid-to-low-cost games as its foundation."

"That's right, that's the point." Nakayama Takuya gave him an approving look, then turned to Minister Nakamura, "Technically, achieving this shouldn't be difficult, right? Our existing MD and System32 arcade board technology can be fully inherited and upgraded."

Nakamura immediately nodded. "No problem, Executive Director. Using existing, mature technology is not only reliable, but it can also significantly reduce hardware costs and the learning curve for developers."

"Very good." Nakayama Takuya was satisfied with the result. He crossed his arms, leaned forward slightly, and steered the conversation to the next, and most crucial, area. "We've stabilized the foundation. Now, let's talk about the future."

His gaze finally settled on Yu Suzuki.

"Suzuki -kun, you're probably the most qualified person here to talk about 3D. What are your thoughts?"

Yu Suzuki, whose name was called, immediately perked up.

He spoke almost impatiently, "Executive Director, 3D is revolutionary in expanding the gaming experience! It can create a truly three-dimensional space, giving players unprecedented possibilities for movement, attack, and interaction! The future definitely belongs to 3D!"

The era!

His voice carried an undeniable fervor, the sermon of a technologist preaching his faith.

But soon, this fervor cooled down somewhat, turning into a sense of helplessness.

"However, current 3D technology is too expensive in terms of hardware. Even disregarding cost, the achieved results can only be described as mediocre. The number of polygons, texture accuracy, and frame rate are all major constraints."

Everyone here understands what I'm saying.

Yu Suzuki's development team was Sega's testing ground for 3D technology, built with real money.

He himself knows best the hardships and expenses involved.

"I understand what you mean." Nakayama Takuya nodded, then his tone shifted, becoming somewhat sharp. "Suzuki -kun, let me ask you, for the development of <VR Racing> and the <Virtua Fighter> currently in pre-research phase, you know exactly how much budget I approved for your development team and how many top talents I allocated, right?"

Yu Suzuki paused for a moment, then nodded obediently.

That was indeed an astronomical sum, a truly extravagant display of wealth.

"This kind of 'miracle-making' approach," Nakayama Takuya said calmly, yet it struck everyone like a hammer blow. "Looking across all of Japan, how many companies can play this game with Sega? And how many companies are willing to play like this?"

The conference room was completely silent.

Yu Suzuki opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a single word.

Although he was passionate about technology, he also understood that what Nakayama Takuya said was true.

His development model, built on Sega's substantial financial resources and reckless support, is simply impossible to replicate.

If the new console is an expensive machine that only a development team like Yu Suzuki's can handle, it's tantamount to a death sentence.

"Therefore, we can't push things to the brink." Nakayama Takuya's gaze swept over everyone, finally settling on Yuji Naka's face.

I have an idea; let's discuss it together.

He extended a finger and tapped it lightly on the table.

Why must we force ourselves to choose between 2D and 3D, making it an either-or choice?

Why can't we combine their advantages?

Upon hearing this, both Yu Suzuki and Yuji Naka's eyes lit up.

Nakayama Takuya continued, speaking slowly but clearly outlining a brand-new technological blueprint.

"We can use 3D to build the foundation of the game scene, providing a three-dimensional space with high variation and depth. Then, for items and characters, we use the simplest, untextured 3D polygons to build an animation skeleton."

"Finally," his voice took on a strange, magical quality, "We'll use our most prized 2D sprite art technology to 'add flesh and skin' to these skeletons! The flesh and skin will move along with the skeleton! Combined with multiple levels of transparency and display layers, we can achieve rich visual effects!"

He looked at Yuji Naka: "Naka-kun, you've been solving various technical problems with System32 and Model 1, and you're most familiar with the working logic of graphics chips. Technically speaking, is this approach feasible?"

Yuji Naka did not answer immediately.

He kept his head down, his fingers unconsciously drawing something on the table, his mind racing.

Scene 3ization ---- Skeleton polygonization ---- Outer sprite sheet ----

A few seconds later, he suddenly looked up, his eyes flashing with a light that seemed to say, "I see."

"Yes! Mr. Executive, this idea is entirely feasible!"

His voice was somewhat excited. "According to the current design of graphics chips, 2D and 3D operations are inherently separate. Your solution cleverly distributes the vast majority of the graphics workload from our still immature 3D polygon processing capabilities to our most technologically advanced and powerful 2D sprite rendering!"

"A complex 3D character model might require hundreds or even thousands of polygons, placing a huge burden on the system's capabilities. But if it's just a simple motion skeleton, a few dozen polygons might suffice! The rest is about drawing sufficiently detailed sprites and then matching the skeleton's movements through scaling, rotation, and layering! In this regard, the System 32 Board has already proven our capabilities!"

Yuji Naka got more and more excited as he spoke, "The only drawback might be that it requires drawing a huge number of sprite images, which will take up a considerable amount of storage space. But this falls under the category of content planning and can be optimized through clever art design. And with the large capacity of CD-ROMs, this concern isn't that great."

He looked at Nakayama Takuya and said decisively, "Executive Director, give me some time. I can create a demo based on this logic on the Model 1 to actually test the hardware overhead and the final effect!"

"Great!" Before Nakayama Takuya could even speak, Yu Suzuki, who was standing next to him, slapped his thigh and stood up excitedly.

"Genius! This idea is absolutely brilliant!"