After some adjustments, the final plan was quickly finalized.
Given the inherent advantages of the 3DO architecture in image processing, the CPU does not require particularly high specifications.
Whether it's Motorola, i386, or Gamenova's own Athena, they can all easily handle this task.
For cost reasons, the processor ultimately chosen was the Motorola 68030, also known as the MC68030.
In terms of clock speed and architecture, this processor is no match for the Athena, which was released around the same time.
Although they are both 32-bit.
However, compared to Athena, 68030 has a unique advantage.
It has a 256-byte cache.
For other games, this amount of caching might be completely useless, unless it's a processor like Intel's i486, in which case it will start to have a significant impact on game performance.
But fighting games are different.
Every second, every frame, the CPU is constantly repeating a large number of repetitive instructions.
Reading player input, judging actions, updating status, pre-input buffer, collision update, AI handling, animation control... These instructions are short and fixed, and they just happen to hit the cache's target.
Thanks to this, even when paired with slightly slower SimM or EDO memory, the overall performance of this processor is still very good.
In some situations, it may even perform better than Athena paired with SDRAM.
Of course, the most important thing is... it's cheap.
To reiterate, for arcade games, cost control is paramount.
Even today, with the rapid development of both arcade and home console games, the mainstay of arcades remains those inexpensive and durable machines.
Especially the evergreen game " Pac-Man Pac-Man " and a host of other classic works such as " Space Invaders," "1942," and " Street Fighter."
These are often the machines that arcade owners and distributors prefer.
In terms of graphics processing, it uses the same decoding ASIC as the graphics chips from Lucas.
Its application scope is very narrow.
Theoretically speaking, apart from Mortal Kombat, unless Lin Lixin designs another game with similar performance overhead in the future, it will probably be used on this arcade machine.
Micron's machine runs a few batches, and the output will be enough for the entire Nova Arcade division for quite some time. With the hardware sorted out, Hollywood is working overtime to prepare the art assets, and now we can finally officially start the development process.
The development department, Hollywood, and arcade division are all operating at full capacity.
The development of Mortal Kombat quickly got on track.
Especially after the materials on Johnny Cage and Liu Kang became more and more complete, the entire development department became more active.
The game's unique charm is already evident in the very process of writing the corresponding character codes.
Lin Lixin is right; it is indeed a new and differentiated work.
It's completely different from Street Fighter and the King of Fighters, but it has its own unique characteristics.
Or perhaps it's a kind of... violent aesthetics?
Of course, its strong American comic book style is also indispensable.
Although its main visual effects are largely created using live-action footage, it has a strong sense of realism.
However, the true visual language of Mortal Kombat is not like that.
It's more like a hybrid of American comics and Hollywood. Characters like Liu Kang, Scorpion, and Shao Kahn are clearly products of American comic culture, purely symbolic.
Perhaps this is why it quickly became popular throughout the country as soon as it was launched in the early 1990s.
This work truly hits the sweet spot for United States youth in every aspect.
But...
The so-called "American comic book adaptation" actually includes its literal meaning.
"Mr. Lin, if it were a collaboration with Street Fighter, I don't think the board would have any objections, but this new IP... I think we still need to have a meeting to discuss it."
When faced with Lin Lixin's request, Jenette, the president of DC Comics, hesitated briefly before revealing a conflicted expression.
This newly arrived major shareholder happened to be on the verge of life or death for DC.
Not long after taking over, thanks to the collaboration with Sonic the Hedgehog and the huge success of the Batman movie, DC Comics, which was previously on the verge of collapse, has suddenly become a hot commodity.
Given Lin Lixin's past ability to turn the impossible into reality, it's hard to say how much of Sage Lin's influence was involved.
Sometimes, Jenette really started to believe in the superstition. This guy was truly terrifyingly mysterious.
"Oh, Ms. Jenette, I can understand that working with Warner for so long has dulled your Adventure spirit, but when it comes to collaborating with Gamenova, such a timid attitude simply won't work."
Lin Lixin gestured for the other person to sit down first.
This isn't Delaware, nor is it DC's headquarters; it's Gamenova's own territory, California.
Even the board of directors wasn't present; only Jenette Kahn, the current president of DC Comics, was there.
But she already represents the vast majority of people within the DC's own faction.
After taking over DC, this strong woman vigorously promoted a reform of DC Comics' positioning.
They managed to revive this aging comic IP, which had a history spanning half a century, from classic old-school comics back into popular comics.
Of course, more importantly...
According to Jenette, she does not agree with equating superheroes with children's entertainment.
In her view, superheroes can also be dark, can have interesting adult content, or even more profound literary and political content.
Thus, Watchmen Watchmen was born. This IP shifted away from the children's style of DC comics, incorporating a large amount of anti-hero content and creating an anti-hero group composed of a bunch of psychopaths and psychopaths.
It also created new and popular comic book characters like Rorschach, injecting fresh blood into the DC Universe.
They revitalized this stagnant pool.
In addition, Jenette's argument has another point that is very similar to Gamenova's current operational strategy.
Character IP creation.
Instead of operating around a single work, the entire work is broken down into numerous long-term assets.
This approach is somewhat similar to the MediaMix solution that Japan excels at.
Not long ago, Gamenova also tried this approach in the anime " Tokimeki Memorial," and even created a national goddess Shiori Fujisaki.
She still holds the top spot in popularity polls in various Japan magazines, such as "[The girl I most want to marry!]".
From these perspectives, Jenette is actually a perfect fit for the Gamenova aesthetic.
I don't care what the board says; in fact, they can't interfere with my decisions anyway.
Lin Lixin waved his hand. He was now DC's largest shareholder. Although Warner still held a small stake, Lin Lixin could effectively push through many proposals.
Even considering the legal restrictions imposed by Delaware, the seats he nominated on the board would be enough to help Lin Lixin push forward with what he wanted to achieve.
Calling Jenette in now is simply acting first and asking questions later.
If you can persuade the other party to cooperate willingly, things will naturally be easier.
"I care more about your opinion, Jenette."
"Uh, my opinion?"
Jenette paused slightly, then pursed her lips and began to think seriously.
After a long pause, she finally answered:
"If it's a work that sells violent aesthetics, many characters in the DC Universe wouldn't be suitable to appear. Mr. Lin, although DC is trying to transform, you know we started out making children's content, and we can't just abandon our core audience."
What if we actually let our own superheroes run into a video game and kick people's heads like balls...?
This is a huge blow to DC's reputation.
From now on, parents will probably have to be more careful about their children reading DC comics. For an IP that needs to be operated long-term, abandoning its core audience, or even its main filter, is clearly inappropriate.
"But..."
Jenette frowned, her index finger and thumb unconsciously rubbing together as she pondered the feasibility of the matter.
"But?"
"However... if it's a villainous character, or an anti-hero from Watchmen, I think... it might be a good choice."
She gritted her teeth and proposed a radical plan that might drag the entire DC into hell.
If it were Atari, she wouldn't even need to think before casting her vote against such a demand.
But since the other party is Gamenova, Jenette has to take this seriously.
This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but it is also a perilous Adventure fraught with danger.
"Well, what you said is pretty much what I was thinking. I didn't originally plan to have too many characters, after all, our CD-ROM capacity is limited, and we need to leave more space for our own original characters."
Due to the unique presentation style of Mortal Kombat, a large number of cutscenes need to be prepared for each character.
The back-and-forth activity, just involving a few core characters, has already consumed a significant amount of disc space. Even if DC were to completely migrate its entire crew to Mortal Kombat, the current storage capacity would still be far from sufficient.
"Mr. Nalin, do you mean...?"
" The Joker is the perfect character for Mortal Kombat. Hmm... but you're right, I'll take Watchmen too. I'll check with the development team later to see how much room we have left."
" Joker..."
Jenette nodded slightly, already having made up her mind.
The Batman movie was released less than two years ago, and it was at the peak of its popularity.
Jack Nicholson, the actor who plays the Joker Jack Napier in the series, truly brought this insane villain to life.
To this day, the Joker has become one of the most popular villains in the DC Universe.
His eccentric, dramatic, and darkly humorous style is indeed very suitable for joining a fighting game that emphasizes violent aesthetics.
"I think... there shouldn't be any problems. I'll arrange for the board to approve this as soon as possible."
"Okay, that's good, because Nicholson is currently filming the movie I need in Hollywood."