Chapter 166: The Contest and the Release of Another Game

That marketing method was manga.

The influence of this manga was so powerful that the history of TCG games on Earth could be divided into before and after Yu-Gi-Oh!.

M&W, the card game that originally appeared inside Yu-Gi-Oh!, was a fictional game modeled after Magic: The Gathering. But because the manga became so popular, a game bearing the name Yu-Gi-Oh! was created, and in the end, it surpassed the popularity of the original Magic: The Gathering and became the best-selling TCG in the world.

Moreover, this manga could be said to have made an enormous contribution to the spread of TCGs. It introduced the genre to people who had originally had no interest in it or did not even know about it, stirred their interest, and created an enormous influx of new players.

Since Ras had high expectations for MTC, he planned to use not only standard promotion but also indirect marketing through other platforms like this to draw in as many people as possible.

Thinking about it, perhaps MTC was already successful to this extent because the online version had drawn in people who enjoyed computer games.

In any case, Ras instructed the IP Management Team and Rush to cooperate and hold a contest. He briefly considered holding a novel contest as well, but decided to set that aside because it did not seem quite right.

When he thought that Yu-Gi-Oh! would probably have been a strange work if it had been a novel instead of a manga that showed things through pictures, he felt that adding a novel contest might only become an unnecessary extra that dampened the manga contest.

“Oh! That’s a really good method.”

Georg immediately welcomed the idea when he heard about the contest.

“If a work like Spirit Stone comes out, the effect will definitely be good.”

As he said, this was a method with precedent.

The Spirit Stone manga was still enjoying great popularity in Rush. Even though quite some time had passed since the game’s release, the manga’s influence played a significant part in why many people still logged into the Spirit Realm and enjoyed battles.

To be honest, the Spirit Realm did not generate new revenue, so having many users still connected was not purely beneficial. But Spirit Stone had so many derivative products that the revenue coming from outside the game was considerable, so maintaining its popularity was not a loss.

The IP Management Team was already planning a sequel as well.

“Yes. We’ll proceed without issue.”

Rush also welcomed this plan. Even if the goal was to boost the game, holding a contest itself could attract creators and stir readers’ interest.

For a manga magazine, events like this were almost always beneficial. Moreover, its parent company, Meta Soft, was famous for never failing.

Just as manga promoted games, a game’s success could also promote the manga.

The Spirit Stone manga was proof of that. Objectively speaking, the manga’s entertainment value alone would have had difficulty drawing this much popularity. It had gained its level of popularity because gamers showed interest in it.

And as important as that popularity was, recognition mattered just as much.

In truth, the Spirit Stone manga was not exactly number one even in Rush, a mid-tier manga magazine. It stayed around third or fourth place.

But the recognition of being the magazine serializing the Spirit Stone manga possessed power beyond those rankings.

After all, for any product, the most important thing was getting its name known. No matter how good something was, people had to know it existed before they could decide whether to buy it.

So spreading the name of the magazine Rush widely in people’s minds, by whatever method, could be called a tremendous contribution.

In reality, after Tomorrow’s Grand Spirit Master, the Spirit Stone manga, began serialization, Rush’s circulation increased by 35 percent. It had already been a growing magazine, but considering that its usual growth rate had been around 10 percent, the influence of Spirit Stone was clear.

Moreover, the people who entered through that route did not only read Tomorrow’s Grand Spirit Master, nor did they quickly leave afterward. Of course, since they had entered through an interest other than manga, some did leave, but far more stayed.

That was why Rumproll, the editor-in-chief, hardened his resolve, thinking this was another opportunity to increase the magazine’s circulation.

While Magic and Creature was released and gaining popularity, Meta Soft completed development on another game.

Bang!

When the gun spat fire on the screen, the enemy wearing a black robe flinched as red blood poured out. Then the enemies creeping closer fell one after another under the continued gunfire.

It was Casual Team 1’s Gun Shooting Game.

Ras clicked the mouse for a while, defeating enemies like that, then suddenly turned toward Dure, who was watching nervously.

“It’s good.”

“Ah! Thank you!”

Ras had not expected much, but the effect of enemies being shot was better than he thought, so he praised it.

Since it was not something like 3D, there was no three-dimensional distance calculation. Instead, it simply displayed wound images directly on the screen, but the Graphics Team’s skill was not bad, so it felt fairly realistic.

No, now that he thought about it, it was not entirely without a sense of distance.

Because of computer specification limitations, Ras had deliberately used a method like Time Crisis, where the player did not move and only hid behind cover while defeating enemies. But to provide even the minimum sense of realism, they had to give the feeling that the enemies were approaching.

If they wanted to do it simply, they could create multiple images of the enemy and make them move like animation. In fact, that had been the initial plan.

But it was impossible.

The workload was one thing, but the computer specifications also could not support it. If the entire screen was one animation, they might be able to lower the frame rate and somehow manage, but since the player had to shoot individual enemies, animation had to be assigned to each enemy separately. Even with a small number of enemies, at least three had to appear, meaning three animations had to run simultaneously.

That ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was too much for an 8-bit computer. Of course, it would be possible if they lowered the resolution.

“But this is too much.”

Some time ago, when they checked what level could run, Ras shook his head at the image displayed on the screen. Even if he gave up on making it look cool, people at least needed to be able to recognize what it was. This was at the level where one could not tell what it was unless someone explained it.

So they searched for a way somehow, and the idea from Graphics Team Leader Ondaraba gave them a direction.

“What if, instead of inserting multiple ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠pictures, we create different images by hiding parts of a single image?”

It was an idea she came up with one day while loading a high-resolution image on the computer, after seeing the image fail to appear all at once and slowly output onto the monitor.

“Hmm. It sounds like a method worth trying.”

“Yes. Since in this game, enemies only approach anyway.”

Of course, this method was not without flaws. The characters’ designs had to be redone to fit this method, and the method of expression was limited.

But since they had already seen a completely ruined result from the previous method, they decided to try it first.

Naturally, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠there was a fair amount of trial and error.

When they made the output speed identical in all four directions, the image looked like a skewer when it was far away. When they applied this method only to the outer edges, it looked as though only the outer shell had been peeled off.

The programmers of Casual Team 1 then devised several solutions.

First, they adjusted output speed according to direction, set at least two output starting points, and added many dark shadows so the empty spaces would look as natural as possible.

Of course, that alone was still insufficient, so they used strong colors, contrasted only the important areas, and used many similar colors for nearby surroundings to cover the weaknesses created by this technique as much as possible.

As a result, the details were somewhat lacking compared to games with more splendid graphics, but they managed to create visuals that felt fairly decent.

It was simple, but it could be called a kind of engine.

And this engine was even more effective for simple forms like projectiles, such as magic or bullets, so once the player began fighting with guns and magic, it started looking far more convincing.

The game’s setting and scenario had been made internally by this team, and they were not bad.

The story followed an archaeologist protagonist who went to investigate traces of an ancient civilization, then continuously fought monsters, cults, demons, natives, mafia, and guerrilla forces before finally battling a sealed evil god.

This game was modeled after Time Crisis, but it differentiated itself quite a bit by using magic in addition to various firearms.

Moreover, as players cleared stages, they could learn new magic as rewards and increase the number of times they could use magic, so there was enjoyment in progressing through the scenario.

<Chain Lightning!>

In a stage where a cult armed with daggers and bizarre magic came rushing in huge numbers, Ras missed the timing to take them down one by one and was driven into danger. He hid behind cover, completed a long casting time, and fired off an area-of-effect spell.

Then white, flashing lightning scattered in every direction and burned the enemies away. It felt incredibly satisfying.

It was a completely different sensation from spraying bullets.

The reactions from the other employees were good too.

“This feels like some kind of RPG.”

“Right?”

When Aspa heard it was a Gun Shooting Game, he had imagined something like the old game Duck Hunt, where one aimed at and shot distant flying targets, or something like Bounty Hunter, where enemies popped out here and there like moles.

But the feeling was completely different because the story progressed as the player continuously moved somewhere, and there were quite a few types of magic in addition to guns.

Garazt, who responded to his words, was also quite impressed by this game.

Above all, the sense of dimensionality shocked him.

Most computer games released so far had used flat compositions, but this one was fundamentally first-person, and the endless approach of enemies was represented realistically.

He was so curious about how this had been implemented on an 8-bit system that he had already gone to Casual Team 1 and heard about the engine.

By now, Garazt had accumulated quite a bit of experience, and he was fundamentally talented as well, so he understood it quickly once he heard the explanation.

That only impressed him even more.

He could tell that both the idea behind this engine and its creation were absolutely not easy.

Of course, beyond the technical aspects and the freshness of the genre, it had enough fun as a game as well. That much was clear just from seeing Nebrania and Jenny silently concentrate on the game as they defeated enemies.

Barbal Soft also praised it.

Of course, they had never really given bad comments before.

But the fact that there was admiration not merely for its fun, but also for its technology, had its own meaning.

Of course, Ras, who knew about future FPS games, had no intention of being satisfied with this much.

This might be the limit for now, but once the new computer currently in development came out, he burned with the motivation to create a game that would truly shock gamers, not merely a Gun Shooting Game.

In any case, this game, titled Gun and Magic, was released amid gamers’ expectations thanks to information introduced in advance through Gamers and Spirit Space.

“Oh! It’s out!”

Swift had gone downtown and, after remembering the release date for Gun and Magic that he had seen earlier on Spirit Space, visited an electronics store and found the package.

He was an action game maniac.

Now thirty-one years old, he had first entered gaming through shooting games and had played many games since then, but for some reason, he never found much fun in things like role-playing games or simulations.

He preferred sports games instead.

Footnotes:

Glossary reference checked against uploaded project glossary.

Translator’s Notes:

Yu-Gi-Oh! (遊☆戯☆王) — Japanese manga series by Kazuki Takahashi, first serialized in 1996. It became globally famous for its trading card game and card-battle manga/anime format.

Magic: The Gathering — Trading card game created by Richard Garfield and released by Wizards of the Coast in 1993 in the United States. It is widely regarded as the first modern TCG.

M&W — “Magic & Wizards,” the fictional card game that appeared in early Yu-Gi-Oh! before the real-world card game branding became established.

Time Crisis — Arcade light-gun shooting game series developed by Namco, first released in 1995. It is known for cover-based gunplay.

Duck ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Hunt — Nintendo light-gun shooting game released in 1984 in Japan and 1985 in North America, where players shoot ducks using the NES Zapper.