Pokémon HOME, a warm-up for Gen 2!

What does it mean to feel restless and uneasy?

Hayao Nakayama is now experiencing it firsthand.

Although when he took over Sega, he was determined to make Sega bigger and stronger.

Even when facing Nintendo's relentless pursuit, he never showed any fear.

Just go for it!

But now, Hayao Nakayama is truly afraid.

Damn it, is this how Gamenova does things?

When they first worked together, Hayao Nakayama was genuinely taken aback by Lin Lixin's extravagant spending.

To promote Sonic, Lin Lixin poached DC Comics Company and had them create a special spin-off series dedicated to Sonic.

It even had the personal endorsement of superstar Michael Jack.

Goodness gracious, what's this called?

That's what you call saving face!

That's what connections are all about!

Hayao Nakayama has worked his way up to where he is today, accumulating a vast network of connections that spans both the manufacturing and gaming industries.

There are places where his influence extends.

But playing like Lin Lixin is simply impossible.

Sonic can be said to have helped Sega make a comeback by riding the wave of Metal Slug's success.

For this work, North America is actually more like its main battleground.

With the combined promotion from American comics and Michael Jackson, plus GAMENOVA's relentless support in marketing and distribution channels----

Hayao Nakayama suddenly shuddered.

Chairman Lin is genuinely trying to find a solution for Sega.

Whenever he thought about this, he couldn't help but fantasize about what would happen if AM8's strength was insufficient, or if AM8 made a mess of things and wasted Chairman Lin's good intentions.

Hayao Nakayama breathed a sigh of relief. At least judging from the current market feedback, his nightmare that had lasted for several days was finally over.

He patted the shoulder of the Sega hero in front of him, his tone tinged with satisfaction.

"Zhongjun, you did a good job this time."

Although he didn't understand the technology, he still spent a few days with Lin Lixin at AM8.

Aside from showing Yuji Naka a trick at the beginning, Lin Lixin rarely intervened directly in development matters again.

He only steps in to oversee things in crucial areas.

For example, adjustments to level design and mechanics.

This was like a trial.

It's as if Lin Lixin, despite having acquired Sega, wasn't fully aware of Sega's overall strength and intended to take this opportunity to test it out.

Yuji Naka and his AM8 team ultimately lived up to expectations.

"Yes, President!"

Compared to Hayao Nakayama, Yuji Naka is much more carefree.

Ever since the project was completed, he has reverted to his arrogant and haughty demeanor.

It's even worse than before.

Clearly, those few days working with Lin Lixin had given him quite a shock.

Before the project was even officially announced, he began visiting Sega stores and bragging to everyone he met about the latest developments of their AM8.

That confident and triumphant demeanor, with its head held high and chest puffed out, hinted at a masterful and strategic mind that had already secured the outcome.

"Tell me, you've been receiving private tutoring from them for a week, have you actually learned anything?"

Hayao Nakayama nodded, indicating that he should give a brief performance report.

"Yes!"

Yuji Naka remained silent for a long time, trying to organize his thoughts.

"I believe that Sega needs to fully implement the use of the N Language; at least the console division must promote it as soon as possible."

This was originally the ultimate method that Yuji Naka gave to AM8.

After all, the other development departments couldn't make the same decisive move as AM8 because of the difficulty of porting and the potential risks of rashly changing the development environment.

But now is the time to claim credit.

In addition----

Deep down, Yuji Naka had long ago identified himself as the "eldest disciple" of the Lin school.

I have never criticized Gamenova. As for the console gamers? I wish them success!

What kind of console fanatics are we? We AM8s have always been loyal Gamenova fans!

Promoting Chairman Lin's language is naturally an inescapable duty.

Is it really that amazing?

"Yes, in terms of development efficiency and ease of writing alone, it's the best I've ever seen."

Without a moment's hesitation, Yuji Naka nodded in agreement, "I think I understand what Chairman Hayashi meant when he said, 'Once Namco has tried, they won't leave.'"

The AM8 we see now is what Namco will look like in the future.

Let alone himself, if these developers who have fallen in love with the N Language were asked to go back to writing assembly language, at least half of them would probably quit on the spot.

As the saying goes, it's easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality.

When a developer is used to quickly implementing move functionality with a single line of object-oriented code, is it still possible to ask them to perform register operations one by one?

That's clearly unrealistic.

People tend to conserve energy.

The moment wheelchairs appeared, our feet could finally say goodbye to their original purpose.

It was as if the faded one had finally seen his shield.

Once you pick it up, you can never put it down.

"You mean— Namco will stick with us completely just because of differences in the development experience?"

Hayao Nakayama frowned.

This kind of thing sounded like a fantasy to him.

Even if there are differences, how significant could those differences be?

"Believe me, President Nakayama! Once their developers have tried it, they can never go back."

Well, it's exactly the same rhetoric as Lin Lixin's.

This guy has become one of the most loyal apostles here.

"Hmm... I'll talk to Suzuki about this later."

"Uh-huh----"

Suzuki clearly refers to Yu Suzuki, the senior producer known as Sega's "ace producer".

The head of Software Development Section AM2.

"That's all for now. Organize your project experience and try to absorb as much as you can. In a few days, try to get to know other software engineering classes more often."

"Yes!"

Upon hearing this, Yuji Naka immediately beamed with joy.

Isn't this a harbinger of promotion?

In any case, as long as Sega doesn't cause any more trouble after this battle, theoretically, this loss could extend Sega's lifespan by at least one generation.

"Phew, that was tough."

After arranging the final matters concerning the Sonic barcode toy, Lin Lixin finally had some free time.

To be honest, I wasn't that busy, but the amount of work was really exhausting.

"Next up—arcade games, Pokémon, and—the internet."

He stood up, stretched, and looked out the window.

Sonic takes a completely different approach from Super Mario.

It is not easy to shake the position of a dominant player in a field that has become firmly established, or even stagnant.

Rather than having Sega directly confront Nintendo again, it would be better to open up a second front.

They need to firmly grasp the youth demographic and then try to slowly undermine Nintendo's influence.

Having come this far, we can truly say we've done everything we could.

As for leaving it to fate?

Gamenova is destiny.

This time, Sonic appears in full power, and even MJ, who was originally supposed to enter the future 3D era, has been brought in ahead of time.

Theoretically speaking, this is indeed a battle that cannot be lost.

"The animation production also needs to be arranged as soon as possible; both versions should be made, and it should be done simultaneously with the comic."

Lin Lixin faced the window and gave instructions to Sam behind him.

To truly solidify an IP, it must be thoroughly and comprehensively integrated into every aspect of the player's life.

GAMENOVA itself has a mature industry chain.

From small snacks and drinks to candies and desserts, and even large-scale cartoons and Hollywood movies, GAMENOVA has a presence everywhere.

Now with the addition of DC Comics, their coverage in the entertainment industry is quite extensive.

The next animation arrangement will naturally involve Japan producing one separate film, and the United States animation company producing another separate film.

"Hmm... Speaking of the anime, has Satoshi replied yet?"

"I just called back this morning and they said they've already prepared 50 Gen1 second-generation units."

"That's good."

Lin Lixin nodded before turning his gaze away.

Since we're planning to refurbish NovaPocket, why not take this opportunity to refurbish this once highly successful game as well?

A meritorious contributor.

However, the equipment is still a long way from being deployed. There is no architecture or even a testing platform yet, so it is unrealistic to start development in advance.

Fortunately, Lin Lixin hadn't planned to start construction so early in the first place.

The current efforts to develop second-generation content are actually for the purpose of another derivative product.

He had already had this idea in mind when he retraced Carlos's steps through the Pokémon Center across the country a while ago.

The Pokémon IP, which has spanned decades, possesses a very unique system.

Um--

To call it unique is actually an overstatement.

The person who first came up with that mechanism was actually an old friend of Gamenova.

A third-party developer that has been working with Gamenova since the 8-bit era.

Sir-Tech and their "Wizardry" series.

How can sequels boost sales of previous installments?

This has always been a headache for various manufacturers who own well-known game IP series.

Back in 1982, in Wizardry II: Diamond Knight, Sir-Tech attempted to create a very bold mechanic.

You can import character teams developed in the previous "Wizardry" game.

After importing, the character will retain all experience points and equipment from the previous game.

This was also the first game in history to support cross-generational save data transfer, leaving a profound influence on subsequent games.

And the one who has mastered this mechanism the most is undoubtedly GameFreak.

They lacked technical expertise, but they used it all in the wrong places.

However, it must be said that both the early two-way transmission via communication cables and the later Pokémon HOME have injected new vitality into this enduring game IP.

As for which model they would take this time, he already had the answer in his mind when Pokémon Center were being established in various places.

Pokémon HOME is definitely the ultimate solution.

They could even use this opportunity to further promote the popularization of the Internet.

as well as----

The widespread adoption of the GAMENOVA All-in-One Card.

To this day, the use of the GAMENOVA All-in-One Card seems to have been limited to arcades.

After all, only a few arcade games can link with this card.

But now it's time to take this system to the next level.