If there's one game that can be considered the representative work of this route, it's undoubtedly Nintendo's trump card.
Mario Kart
The undisputed champion in the racing game category.
The sales of just one Mario Kart 8 Deluxe are more than enough to crush an entire other series.
According to data, Mario Kart 8 sold a staggering 69.56 million copies.
What does this mean?
It's worth noting that the total global sales of the Nintendo Switch are less than 200 million units.
That means that on average, less than three NS owners will have one Mario Kart 8.
This achievement is enough to prove its status in the hearts of players.
What's even more terrifying is that Mario Kart 8 is a console game.
In an era where PC games undoubtedly hold the largest market share, Mario Kart 8 has managed to become the world's best-selling game.
Even the original Super Mario Kart, released on the 16-bit Super Nintendo System (SNES), sold a staggering 8.76 million copies.
Its key to success may lie in its pure party spirit.
Even without the IP advantage of Super Mario, its sales wouldn't be bad.
Because it won over the family.
This is one of the greatest miracles of video games.
Hmm... that's probably Nintendo's area of expertise.
"A racing game that completely abandons realism?"
Sam was stunned after hearing Lin Lixin's introduction.
This bizarre suggestion is tantamount to saying, "Order a cheese pizza without cheese."
What's the fun in racing?
In Sam's view, or rather in the view of most racing game enthusiasts today, the most important aspect of racing games is the recreation of the real driving experience.
The higher the realism and the more exaggerated the simulation, the more players will buy it.
Even if the gameplay is just the simplest speed ranking, it doesn't matter.
Essentially, this is a category that fills the gap for racing enthusiasts who don't have the opportunity to actually race on a track.
This is evident from the attempts made by Sega and other manufacturers.
The most representative examples are probably Sega's motorcycle-shaped racing arcade game and the sports car-shaped "OUTRUN".
Even now, with Rock N' Roll Racing dominating arcades across the country, Sega can still maintain its market share with these two signature arcade games.
After all, if you're tired of the " Rock N' Roll Racing " style, riding a motorcycle once in a while is a nice experience.
Moreover, not everyone can be included in " Rock N' Roll Racing ".
An arcade might only have one or two of these machines, and they're always packed.
In this way, Sega's motion-sensing arcade machines have become a cheaper and easier alternative to the traditional one.
"So, it's basically like the battle system in ' Rock N' Roll Racing '? Making the race chaotic?"
Sam still couldn't quite grasp this design concept, which was tantamount to cutting off his own arms.
" Sam, have you been to our arcade lately?"
Lin Lixin grinned, "I don't know if you've noticed, but in professional races, the one with better skills usually secures the victory. However, in races where the skill level is slightly higher but there's no absolute advantage, sometimes the one with better accuracy wins more often."
That's what makes Rock N' Roll Racing so great.
It ensures a good gaming experience for racing enthusiasts while also giving players with lower skill levels a chance to have fun, preventing them from being completely outmatched throughout the game.
Sam recalled something.
He actually did pay attention to these things.
It's quite common for a kid with terrible driving skills to turn the tables and win by relying on his superb marksmanship.
Seeing that Sam seemed to have figured things out, Lin Lixin continued, "The fun isn't in being faster than everyone else, becoming the fastest lap timer," but rather—
"Blow up all your friends!"
Sam slapped his thigh and immediately filled in the second half of Lin Lixin's sentence, "I get it, this is an amusement park packaged as a racing theme!"
This isn't a race track at all; it's a platform where players can freely compete and have fun.
"That's right."
Lin Lixin nodded.
That's the good thing about Sam; although he can seem very clear-headed at times, he understands things very quickly.
"Of course, this time we're targeting a market that appeals to all ages, from octogenarians and 90-year-olds to babies still in diapers. We want everyone to experience its fun."
"The kind of crazy heavy metal punk style like in ' Rock N' Roll Racing ' is definitely out of the question."
In order to create a distinctive visual style, Rock N' Roll Racing took a very extreme approach in this regard.
Various blue-faced, fanged demons, alien creatures, punk attire, and maps filled with lava and sulfuric acid----
If we continue with this design style and create a family-friendly product----
If parents saw this, they would call the police, wouldn't they?
Choosing the right subject matter then becomes a debatable issue.
"Hmm... maybe we should ask Satoshi or Ubisoft to prepare a new set of concept art?"
Lin Lixin thought about it and decided that coming up with a fresher, more refreshing theme would be a great idea.
But when he looked up, he saw that Sam was looking at him with a strange expression.
Lin Lixin's heart tightened.
Could it be that something happened and they haven't had a chance to tell me yet?
"What's wrong?"
"Well----"
Sam scratched his head, took a document directly from the filing cabinet, and placed it in front of him.
Lin Lixin looked at the document and was immediately stunned.
This wasn't anything new; in fact, he often looked at it from time to time.
[ GAMENOVA All-in-One Card Sales Statistics]
Why not just pick a few popular characters with suitable styles and make a game like " NOVA Kart "?
"Oh my god, it really is."
Lin Lixin then came to his senses.
I was just thinking about what to do if they didn't have Super Mario IP, and before I knew it, I'd gotten myself into a mess.
Gamenova has never lacked intellectual property!
Even if you just Pokémon to create a racing game, that would be perfectly fine.
As their IP library grows richer, when the time is right in the future, a massive IP mashup, like Smash Bros., will naturally follow.
And now, it seems like a good opportunity to experiment with IP integration.
"Have Satoshi organize some of the content according to the order of this table. This time it's 3D to 2D rendering, so no 3D modeling is needed."
Model."
Lin Lixin handed the popularity chart to Sam.
I never expected this thing to come in handy at a time like this.
Making money from market research is outrageous; it's not even enough to cover GAMENOVA's profits.
"So what are you going to do? Start development now?"
As Lin Lixin was about to leave the office, Sam looked at him with a puzzled expression.
Although I know that Lin Lixin has exceptional execution ability, not even a second can be wasted, this is still a bit too hasty.
"I'm going upstairs to find Gerald, let's get some fun hardware for this thing."
"What is it?"
Lin Lixin chuckled.
"Of course, it's the steering wheel."