owlsbooks Chapter 140 Island Brother
Chapter 140 Island Brother
Chapter 140 Island Brother
Neon lights, Tokyo, Shinjuku, Waseda University.
Four young men in their early twenties sat around a mahjong table.
"Ronghe! A peerless hero! Service complete!"
22-year-old Kojima pushed over the mahjong tiles in front of him, revealing a perfect Thirteen Orphans hand to the three players.
"You bastard, you're really skilled and daring, daring to call yourself a national hero."
"I just had a good run of luck, so let's call it a day. I've had my fun."
Kojima chuckled as he watched his three card-playing friends muttering to themselves, then mixed the cards into the pile of cards.
"No, no, let's try one last time."
The three of them were not about to give up and stopped the island from leaving.
"Hey Kojima, by the way, have you decided what you want to do after graduation?"
The four of them are graduating this month.
Although Waseda University, where they studied, is already a top university in Japan, for four whole years they spent the rest of their time, apart from chatting and joking in this mahjong room, playing video games.
Where would there be any extra time to learn any courses?
Not to mention that the island was studying extremely dry economics courses.
"Do you really want to work for a game company?"
A Waseda University student who graduated with a degree in economics is actually planning to work for a game company, specifically as a game designer—that's just wishful thinking.
"certainly!"
Kojima gave the answer without even thinking.
Only video games, the most perfect medium of entertainment, can express what he wants.
Kojima had been learning screenwriting since middle school and had even taught himself filmmaking techniques.
The more in-depth the research, the more Kojima realized the limitations of film as a medium.
Some things can only be expressed through video games, a relatively new technology.
"Have you decided which company to join? Konami? Sega? Or... Nintendo?"
"Ha, I'd like to, but they might not actually want it."
Xiaodao smiled helplessly.
If possible, joining Nintendo, the undisputed king of Japanese video games, would be the best option.
But he was just a fresh college graduate, and his major wasn't even relevant to his studies.
"Come on, let's finish this round and call it a day. I'm in a hurry to buy some games."
Kojima stood in front of the shelf, stared at the "Dragon Quest" book for a long time, and then took it down.
He originally only intended to buy this new RPG that had been getting a lot of hype in the gaming community.
But his attention was drawn to something else at that moment.
"Momotaro Electric Railway"
A completely nonsensical name.
But it was precisely this name that made him take a second look.
"Hmm—could it be a new game from Nintendo?"
'
-
This style is very similar to what Nintendo's first-party games would typically feature.
"I just happened to have bought Dragon Quest, so one more copy won't hurt."
Kojima picked up the card box from Momotetsu and examined it closely, then paused in surprise.
The logos of GameFreak and GAMENOVA are printed on the bottom of the card box, announcing who its developers are.
"Ben Dang? This is actually a Gamenova product??"
Kojima's first thought was: This thing must have been handled by some Japanese outsourcing company.
He turned his gaze to the illustration on the cover.
The little boy in the white train conductor's uniform, with the gold peach badge on his head and the peach-patterned armband on his arm—
This looks exactly like Momotaro, the classic character from Japanese folklore!
GAMENOVA developed a purely neon-themed game?
"It's actually a dual-platform device, available for both handheld and home consoles."
As a gamer, Kojima is no stranger to GAMENOVA.
It would be more accurate to say that he has long been a fan of Gamenova.
Metal Gear is truly a masterpiece!
In Kojima's view, Metal Gear's potential is absolutely no less than that of Fire Emblem.
Unfortunately, due to its early development and immature hardware technology, many things could not be implemented well.
Kojima could sense the ideas hidden behind the designers of Metal Gear Solid.
Stealth games, what a brilliant idea!
Unfortunately, GAMENOVA is a foreign company and doesn't have external recruitment channels like KONAMI, so even if he wanted to, he wouldn't have the opportunity to submit his resume.
"Party games — that's good, we guys haven't been sure what games to play lately."
Kojima glanced at the game's description and promptly added it to today's shopping list.
When Kojima returned to the school building, he found an extra letter to him in his inbox.
The sender's name was listed as Miguel Corporation (Konami).
Upon seeing the signature, he immediately opened the envelope.
He had recently submitted a resume to Konami, along with one of his game designs.
[Pre-selection notification]
【Hideo Kojima】
The first two lines made him pause in his breath.
He confirmed several times that the letter in the correspondence section was indeed from Konami Corporation before continuing to read on with a burning gaze.
This is undoubtedly their acceptance letter!
[Department Joined: MSX Gaming Division]
[Position: Game Designer]
"MSX Gaming Division?"
Kojima was taken aback; this position was completely different from what he had imagined.
The MSX was a low-end PC, not even in the same league as Nintendo's NES or Sega's MS, let alone the NovaBo.
The.
Even a performance monster like NovaBo couldn't satisfy the designers' wildest imaginations, so it would be even more impossible on MSX.
"Well, that's true. After all, I'm just a fresh college graduate. How could I possibly go straight into the core development department?"
He had thought he would have the opportunity to develop games directly for the FC or arcade.
Although I was disappointed, receiving an offer from Konami was definitely a pleasant surprise.
But as he continued reading, his initial excitement grew colder and colder.
Although the letter was written in a precise and polite style with gentle words, he still managed to understand the other party's meaning.
The game design he described was worthless.
Your idea is highly original, and we are particularly interested in its novelty.
However, after several rounds of internal discussions, we have concluded that it is difficult to formally approve this project at this stage.
Unfortunately, the main reason is...
It sounds nice, but in the end it's still a taboo against the theme of war itself.
The mainstream market still prefers action games or RPGs with vibrant colors and simple rules.
Kojima quietly read the entire letter, then folded it up again and put it back in the envelope.
In any case, at least I have a job now.
Maybe once I get to Konami headquarters and explain my plans to them in detail, those people will change their minds.
There's a good chance I'll be promoted to Konami's development headquarters and develop games for professional game platforms like Famicom.
With that thought in mind, Kojima stopped worrying about it and pushed open the door.
"Hey guys, I got Dragon Quest—oh yeah, and this too, Momotaro Dentetsu. Want to play a couple of games together?"