Regardless of how complicated President Mitsuhiro Ikeda's feelings were at that moment.
For at least the rest of the Hal members, it was like a huge weight had finally been lifted off their shoulders.
The decline of Hal will definitely not be a good thing for them.
Not everyone has Superman abilities like Satoru Iwata.
With the skills of Satoru Iwata, the chief programmer, even if he left HAL, he could quickly find a job that is no less impressive than his current one.
But they can't.
Especially now, during a downturn.
Once you lose your job, everything is over.
The situation has finally eased somewhat, giving HAL some breathing room for at least three years.
"President Lin, I..."
Mitsuhiro Ikeda opened his mouth, but still hesitated.
Lin Lixin impatiently interrupted him, " Ikeda, assuming you continue as president, tell me, how do you plan to revive HAL?"
"Uh... expedite the establishment of the Yamanashi Prefecture Development Center to undertake more development projects, while simultaneously increasing revenue and reducing expenditure, cutting staff, optimizing the financial structure, and then..."
"Okay, that's all for now."
Before he could finish speaking, Lin Lixin silently told him to stop.
As it turns out, if Satoru Iwata hadn't been in the original timeline of HAL, then no amount of money from Nintendo would have mattered.
According to the timeline, after the HAL incident in 1992, Satoru Iwata volunteered to go to Nintendo headquarters to meet with President Hiroshi Yamauchi.
Hiroshi Yamauchi agreed to Support his trusted lieutenant, HAL, on the condition that Satoru Iwata become the company president.
It was thanks to a series of subsequent blockbuster products that Hal was able to successfully revive its business.
If Ikeda were still in that position, Hal could not have created such a miracle.
Lin Lixin looked at Satoru Iwata and asked the same question:
" Iwata, what would you do if you were in my shoes?"
"..." Satoru Iwata's Adam's apple bobbed slightly as he swallowed.
He tried to organize his thoughts before speaking:
In my opinion, the HAL problem is a vicious cycle.
"The sales performance of 'MetalsladerGlory' fell short of expectations, causing our already fragile cash flow to break down due to reckless investment."
"But because of this, Hal didn't have enough time to develop new games."
"To cover the deficit, we have to release the game before it's even finished."
"And this, in turn, led to a further decline in our sales."
He is the core of HAL, the lead programmer, and the project manager.
Compared to Ikeda, the president of a conglomerate who sits in his office looking at financial reports, he was a pure engineer.
He is also a comrade-in-arms who always stays with other developers, working hard and fighting together.
Satoru Iwata was on the front lines, so he naturally saw clearly where HAL's real problems lay.
"I know every developer here—their strengths, potential, interests, and personalities..." "Cut-offs through layoffs, while significantly reducing HAL's expenses, will also cost us our most valuable human resources."
"What we should do is find suitable positions for them and unleash the development potential of HAL."
"However... we do need to cut some things."
"HAL doesn't need hardware R&D or semiconductor development."
"HAL's true mission is only one."
"That means making good games and becoming a company that serves its players."
"You saw it?"
Lin Lixin glanced at the now silent Mitsuhiro Ikeda.
"That's why I'm a technocrat. What I need is a game developer who's on the front lines, truly involved in game development, not a small boss."
It must be said that Satoru Iwata's ideas were very idealistic.
But this is indeed the kind of thinking a game studio should have. HAL's mistake was that they stood in Nintendo's shadow, yet wanted to be Nintendo.
I want to do everything, but I can't do anything well.
They have the ability to develop, but no way to use it.
The end result was that a group of geniuses were reduced to the brink of bankruptcy.
That's why they say incompetent generals can lead to the downfall of an entire army.
"I'll send over a few promising talents later, and give you some time to rebuild HAL."
Thinking of Masahiro Sakurai, who was still studying at Sega, Lin Lixin gave him a word of advice.
Don't let the fact that HAL Laboratory's name doesn't seem as well-known as Capcom or Konami fool you.
However, its strategic value far exceeds that of any other manufacturer.
Firstly, because this is Nintendo's most important second-party studio, and should be Nintendo's most loyal soldier.
Its defection is enough to completely cripple Nintendo's third-party lineup.
Secondly, it is also because of the two unparalleled geniuses Masahiro Sakurai and Satoru Iwata.
From Lin Lixin's perspective, Satoru Iwata's attribute panel is almost a hexagonal all-rounder.
The program is undoubtedly at an extremely high level, S+.
No wonder that when Hiroshi Yamauchi retired, he handpicked Satoru Iwata as his successor, instead of his own incompetent son, Yamauchi Katsuhito.
Nintendo has countless talents under its wing, including the iron-fisted North America king Minoru Arakawa, who seems most like a successor, the gaming god Shigeru Miyamoto, and countless other geniuses.
Nintendo has never lacked geniuses.
However, Hiroshi Yamauchi chose Satoru Iwata, who had risen from HAL, to be Nintendo's fourth son.
This speaks volumes.
Hiroshi Yamauchi may have been a ruthless and domineering figure with ties to the underworld, but his insight was absolutely shrewd.
Without this fourth member, Nintendo can make a comeback after the GameCube debacle is still an open question.
For Lin Lixin, turning Satoru Iwata into one of his own was not only digging a hole for Nintendo, but also laying a solid foundation for Gamenova's Japan strategy.
Satoshi Tajiri is obedient, but not suitable for the position of president. Hayao Nakayama, on the other hand, is a glue that holds Sega together, his significance being to tightly bind together the three split companies of Sega.
Gamenova has always lacked a leader who can truly hold his own in Japan.
As business grew busier, Lin Lixin could no longer travel back and forth personally like this all the time.
"Cong."
Lin Lixin looked at Satoru Iwata was still not fully recovered from today's dramatic changes.
This gaming prodigy, whose talent was tragically cut short, is now looking like a clueless young boy, completely at a loss.
If Lin Lixin hadn't recognized him, it would have been unimaginable that this was the man who would one day stand at the pinnacle of the gaming industry.
Brother Satoru, an eternal Legend in the gaming industry, a gentle club president who is always fighting on the front lines.
He left behind the unfinished "NX Project" and passed away in 2015.
He did not witness NX being completed.
However, after the nx was completed, it was officially named the switch, leading Nintendo to once again open up a new dynasty under the siege of Sony and Xbox.
Even in death, what he left behind continues to guide Nintendo forward. And the words he uttered during his speech at GDC 2005 have become the motto of countless game developers.
Lin Lixin looked at him and slowly said:
"On my business card, I'm the president of a company; but in my mind, I'm just a game developer."
"But... in my heart, I will always be a player."
Even though we come from different corners of the world, speak different languages, eat different foods, and even have different tastes in games.
"But we all share the same heart—a heart that loves games."
May we both always retain a sincere player's heart.
"Well... I'm going back to United States to make games too. Goodbye, Cong, the rest is up to you."
Having resolved the issues at the HAL Laboratory, Lin Lixin's business trip to Japan can be considered a successful completion of his mission.
Next, I devoted myself entirely to the development of novafusion's launch title, Spore Spore.
The thought of the numerous highly anticipated titles and sequels lining up next year fills Lin Lixin with excitement. After being stuck for so long, they've finally taken another solid step down the hardware barrier.
However, at the same time Lin Lixin returned to North America, Nintendo was in dire straits.
Square announces the fifth generation is a PlayStation exclusive?! What does this mean?!
President Hiroshi Yamauchi roared angrily, his blood pressure instantly soaring.
Not only did Sony refuse to surrender, but it even dared to retaliate against us?
They really think they're something special.
Namco and Hudson announce full partnership with Sega and Gamenova, fifth-generation exclusives...
This is yet another piece of bad news.
Namco's defection is not a recent event.
Prior to this, Namco had maintained a relatively ambiguous stance, without completely breaking with Nintendo.
Now that they've officially spoken out, it's safe to say that SFC will likely be left isolated and helpless.
Even if they immediately develop the next generation of models, it would probably be difficult to reverse this trend. However, what bothered Hiroshi Yamauchi Square even more than Namco.
He was someone I raised like my own son!
Now you turn your back on me so easily? You betray me so easily?
What an ingrate!
If it were someone who defected from Gamenova, that would be one thing.
PlayStation?
What's this?
This thing was produced by a company that has never made a game console before, or even developed any games!
Square's stance is very clear.
Even if it's a platform with a high probability of failure, we don't want to work with Nintendo anymore!
"President, Enix, Konami, and Capcom have all publicly stated that they will no longer continue Nintendo's exclusivity strategy for the fifth generation..."
"..." Hiroshi Yamauchi felt his vision go black, and he almost lost his balance.
On the bright side, at least it's no longer Nintendo platform exclusive; it's not like Square is acting like a heartless bastard and having exclusive PlayStation titles.
"The most important thing is our first-party developers. As long as our development capabilities remain, they will eventually slink back and beg for my forgiveness."
"The most urgent task is to finalize the development of the next generation of aircraft as soon as possible."
Hiroshi Yamauchi paused for a moment, managed to control his blood pressure, and then took a few steps with the help of his secretary.
"Uh... This morning, Mitsuhiro Ikeda, president of HAL Laboratory, also issued a statement officially announcing that it has become a subsidiary of Gamenova, with Satoru Iwata appointed as the new representative director and president."
"Thump!"
"President?!"