Chapter 67: The Growth of Meta Hardware

Becoming a mage ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠did not suddenly change Ras’s life. He was still merely a game developer and businessman.

“This one looks good.”

Ras had rejected the Casual Game Development Team’s design drafts several times.

“Ah! Thank you!”

It seemed the stress had been severe. The female graphics team leader named Ondaraba looked enormously relieved as she bowed her head.

She was a team leader, but she was still only in her mid-twenties, and her appearance gave off the impression of a small rabbit. Seeing her react like this, Ras inwardly felt full of guilt.

However, if they were going to make it with a design that did not work, he would rather have copied the slimes from the original Puyo Puyo as they were. Otherwise, there would be no meaning in making something new.

In any case, the block design she brought this time was quite good. The features of each race were well expressed, and it looked suitably cute while also carrying a slightly comical feeling.

“Then please start working on it on the computer now.”

“Yes. Yes!”

Aside from the graphics, there were no major problems with development. The programmers on this side all had considerable experience, so in many ways, they were actually more skilled than Ras.

The sound effects were also decent. It was a pity that the sound performance was still not satisfying, but within such an inadequate system, they created sufficiently good sound effects and background music.

The person in charge of sound was a man named Beil, who had shaggy brown hair. Perhaps because he was overflowing with enthusiasm, he had even created voices using this system.

However, the system was so poor that they could barely be distinguished as voices, and they consumed too many resources, so Ras gave up on them. It seemed like something worth anticipating later, once proper sound chips came out or computers with improved performance appeared.

Still, it really is a shame. The magic spells shouted during chain attacks were the key point of Puyo Puyo.

He especially remembered the spell “Bayoen!” shouted powerfully during what he thought was a four-chain. It had become quite famous and was even used in some places with a meaning similar to “veteran player.”

Development Team 1, which was developing Robot Mario, also had no major problems.

In fact, compared to the games they had made before, it was actually a simpler game, so there was little that could be difficult. Moreover, unlike when Super Mario had been developed, perhaps because they were developing it on a different platform called a computer, they had enough resources and little to worry about.

In terms of design, perhaps because Pana had studied and thought hard, a rather impressive, no, impressive and cute character came out from the start.

“Ohhh. This is really good.”

“Really? Ah. That’s a relief.”

It had a large body that emphasized a metallic feeling, with short arms and legs attached in contrast. And the large single eye attached to its flat head felt somehow cute rather than eerie.

This single eye was drawn in a cartoonish way, as if it floated slightly apart from the head.

It was also useful for emotional expression. It moved first when changing direction, smiled slightly when eating items or coins, looked teary when hitting or stepping on something with a jump or when attacked by a monster, and opened wide when transforming or using techniques after eating special items.

And although they were still only concepts drawn in pencil on paper, the transformed forms also looked quite plausible.

They preserved the feeling of a robot, but details like something being slightly loose or smoke coming out of the engine made it seem a little clumsy, giving the metallic and potentially cold robot a cute character quality.

“As expected of you, Ms. Pana. Then please work on it on the computer.”

“Yes!”

Pana, who had now become a team leader, answered with a confident expression. Her appearance had not changed, but once experience accumulated, the feeling she gave off was definitely different.

Other companies besides Meta Soft were also sailing smoothly.

Arcade Game Land had already been popular to begin with, and with the game tournament added on top of that, it was packed with people every day, so there was no need to say more. Meta Hardware was the same.

As news of the game tournament spread, whether because people wanted to practice at home or simply because interest in Fighters’ Club had risen, joysticks were selling like hotcakes.

And Meta Hardware was working to keep up with that demand.

In truth, Ras was a little afraid of expanding factories to keep up with the suddenly increased demand. However, Utaro strongly insisted on expansion, saying this was an opportunity to raise their market share and recognition, while also mentioning the possibility of exports.

It was not only his opinion. The other Management Team members judged the same way. In the end, Ras was persuaded by Utaro’s advice and approved the documents. Honestly, even up until the moment he signed, he was not certain.

Well, if it fails, I’ll just earn it back with games.

That was how Ras felt at the time.

Fortunately, at least for now, the products were selling as much as production had increased.

New product development was also going smoothly.

“Mm. That’s right. This should be about right.”

Ras moved the crane slightly with the lever, then pressed the descent button. He had positioned it fairly accurately, but the weak claw failed to grab the teddy bear properly, merely scraping its belly before rising empty-handed.

If he were a player, he would have exploded with frustration, but Ras, whose goal was to take players’ coins, looked satisfied. Of course, what Ras praised was not simply the claw’s strength. That was something operators could adjust on their own. He was talking about the overall control feel.

The claw machine had already been developed, and the prototype had come out reasonably well like this. At first, it had been too crude and old-fashioned, so Ras kept improving it while referring to his memories of Earth, and this final result was produced.

This time, he also obtained the patent without issue.

Now, even if someone else came up with the same idea, they ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠would not be able to casually make it and earn money from it. In truth, although Ras seemed to have boldly let the graphics card matter pass before, he had actually felt quite bitter about it.

The more Hammer Computer’s sales increased, the more that was the case.

However, even if Hammer Computer had made the first move, Ras had not given up yet. After looking into it a little, he found that because this method had also been used first in the arcade-game industry, no patent was attached to graphics cards.

This meant Ras could still challenge it too. The problem was that he still lacked development capability.

They had made something in their own way, but their technical level was too low, so it seemed they would need to scout experienced people from the industry before they could make an attempt. He had already instructed Meta Hardware’s Management Team to secure talent.

In any case, the claw machine’s development could be considered finished with today’s test, and now it was time to move into mass production. However, he did not intend to release it immediately.

They were already drawing intense attention because of the game tournament, so there was no need to bring out a new item right now. He planned to first see how the game tournament went, and if it succeeded in becoming popular, deploy the claw machine once that effect calmed down.

“Are preparations for production ready?”

“We’re currently searching for factories. We’ve already found several decent factories and are planning to begin negotiating the conditions.”

Ras looked satisfied at Utaro’s answer. This side was definitely running on its own now without Ras having to pay attention to it.

“Don’t rush too much. As you know, this isn’t something we’ll be releasing right away.”

“Yes. Understood.”

“By the way, how is securing computer engineers going?”

“That side will probably take a little time.”

Utaro spoke with an apologetic expression. In the past, Ras might have felt apologetic along with him, but now he had grown fairly used to it, so instead of making a fuss, he calmly asked about the situation.

“Is there some kind of problem?”

“The problem is that computers are booming so much lately that too much money is being poured into that side.”

Not only that, Hammer Computer had eaten deeply into the existing market share with its new computer. So in order to win the competition, companies were pouring much of their earned money into R&D, which meant they required many more development personnel. Because of that, there were no people available in the labor market.

“I suppose we have no choice but to raise compensation.”

“Yes. That’s right.”

The answer was money. More money.

Ras hesitated a little. He wondered whether he really needed to go that far to develop hardware.

After trying manufacturing once, he had realized something. No matter how good the item was, success was not guaranteed.

The joystick had sold to some extent because Ras had matched its timing with Fighters’ Club, and because Utaro had shown ability in areas like advertising and distribution. It had become a hit together with Fighters’ Club because the arcade version succeeded enormously.

And even in actual history, there had been more graphics card makers that disappeared than survived. Even Voodoo cards, which could be called one of the early leaders, had caused a boom at first, but in the end, the company itself collapsed and vanished.

So when Ras, a non-specialist with no technology, thought about jumping in and making some product, he was skeptical about what he could produce and how well he could hold out.

“For now, try raising it by a few more percent.”

After thinking it over, Ras decided to keep proceeding for now. It might ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠be difficult at the moment, but technology could be accumulated. This was still only the dawn of computers.

And even if it was not necessarily a graphics card, the current computer had many lacking areas, so if they prepared, they would surely gain something.

“Yes. Understood.”

Utaro accepted the chairman’s decision. Since Ras had only made successful choices so far, even if Utaro had some questions, it was only natural in a way that he followed him.

Hammer Computer headquarters.

Lately, Karkov had not been feeling good at all. Of course, Hammer Computer was still doing well. A newly established computer manufacturer had seized nearly twenty percent of the market share all at once.

It was not simply doing well. It could even be called the emergence of a new dinosaur.

At first, Karkov had been pleased by the company’s growth.

Although he had been inspired by Epek Ras’s proposal, the product he developed according to his own belief that they needed to make products suited to consumer needs had been recognized by the world.

However, quite some time had passed since Hammer 1 Computer came out, and Karkov wanted to develop a new product.

And this company had more than enough funds to invest in that development. Enough to develop an innovative product, not merely something like Hammer 1 Computer, which had only raised graphics performance.

“But is that really necessary right now?”

Victor’s response, however, was lukewarm. Of course, he had his own reasoning.

“We haven’t taken the whole market yet. According to my calculations, we can reach at least forty percent without much trouble. But if we make a new product here? That’s team-killing. It’s not as if a product better than ours can come out in the near future anyway.”

“But it’s certain one will come out someday. And I’m not saying we release it immediately. We need to develop it now to prepare for later.”

At Karkov’s rebuttal, Victor scratched his head as if this was giving him a headache. Victor’s ego had swelled enormously from his recent success, and even having this kind of verbal argument annoyed him.

However, Karkov was the kind of talent who had practically ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠made Hammer 1 Computer almost single-handedly, and he did not seem very greedy, so Victor could not afford to hurt his feelings. Therefore, he forced himself to endure and explained.

“Fine. What you’re saying has a point too, but right now, it’s time to focus on marketing rather than development. Once we secure a certain amount of market share, I’ll push development expenses then, so just wait a little.”

“Ah...”

Karkov still had more he wanted to say, but he realized it would not get through even if he said it, so he closed his mouth. Regardless, Victor continued pouring out his own thoughts.