A different development mindset

The leakage of information was somewhat unexpected, but Takayuki took it very seriously.

Right now, it was just a small leak, but if not managed properly, future leaks would only increase.

This would have a significant impact on the overall development of the company and also lower the players' expectations.

However, the production of Mario Kart still needed to continue.

"This time, the racing game we need to produce is no longer the kind of exciting game like Need for Speed, but more of a cartoon style."

Takayuki stood in front of a blackboard, explaining his concept for making Mario Kart.

"President, are you planning to make it for children?"

"No, not entirely for children. I intend to define this game as a family-friendly game," Takayuki explained.

Everyone exchanged glances.

A family-friendly game?

That was actually a quite novel concept, but it was also easy to understand, something the whole family could play together.

"My plan is that Mario Kart will support up to eight players simultaneously. So, we need to develop a network system similar to the GB, which requires cooperation from the engineering development team. That's why I've called a few members of the engineering development team here."

Several engineers, dressed differently from game developers, stood up and greeted everyone.

"They will assist us in game development and provide methods for eight-player online play to involve more participants."

"President, do we need to connect eight game consoles? That sounds a bit absurd."

Someone said strangely.

Eight game consoles meant at least eight copies of Mario Kart to play together, which probably wasn't affordable for the average family.

"No, I plan to use a completely new gaming method, which is split-screen."

Takayuki erased the blackboard, then drew a pattern resembling a screen on it and neatly divided it into four sections.

"I intend to make one game console display the screens of four different players simultaneously, allowing one game console to accommodate at least four players at the same time. Then, we only need two game consoles and eight controllers, along with the online connection cables, to achieve eight-player gaming."

People's eyes widened slightly; they hadn't thought of this method just now.

Could it be done like this?

Then the problem could be solved.

Just two game consoles, so the expense wouldn't be too discouraging.

If a family planned to host a small party, three or four children could have a lot of fun with one game console. With eight people, other families' children could bring their game consoles over to play together, or one family could directly buy two game consoles, which wouldn't be unacceptable for an average family.

In Japan, the price of an SFC wasn't expensive, much cheaper than in the United States, and then there were the prices of controllers and cartridges. Parents wouldn't be too stingy to make their children happy.

This was actually another way to increase revenue.

The balance was just right.

At this point, an employee raised their hand and asked, "So, President, the next challenge for us in game development is how to ensure stable gameplay in split-screen mode?"

Takayuki nodded. "That's one point. At the same time, this racing game isn't just about speed. It should be fun in itself, and it should give some hope to less skilled players, allowing them a chance to beat advanced players and make the game more unpredictable."

Sometimes adding a certain randomness to a game could greatly reduce its competitive effect, but it could greatly increase the entertainment value, making it a foolproof approach.

The later gacha in mobile games was also a similar form, but more blatant and direct.

Then Takayuki drew on the blackboard several items that had appeared in Mario Kart.

Some items would slow down the first player, some would help the first player win faster, and some would harm both the user and others, each with its own pros and cons.

"These items are just rough examples. Now, I need you to come up with a balanced item system as much as possible, as well as the strengths and weaknesses between different characters driving the cars. This is a numerical adjustment, which is the core of this game."

The rock-paper-scissors relationship inherent in Mario Kart was also the golden sign of success for this game.

Of course, Takayuki could directly take out the most complete game data from the previous Mario Kart and let these people follow it to do it. But this was not conducive to the creative thinking of the people in this world.

This was just a numerical balance adjustment, there was no need to replicate the game from the previous world. Let the game developers in this world think for themselves and find ways to solve the problems. This would be more conducive to their growth.

Everyone nodded slightly; they already had some ideas, but it would take some time to try them out.

Fortunately, they already had experience in continuously adjusting test data when developing Street Fighter, so they were accustomed to this aspect. It's just that this time, the test data would be quite different from the data of Street Fighter, requiring a change in mindset.

At the same time, they needed to collaborate again with the engineering department.

Previously, there had been some cooperation on Super Metroid, but it was only to help produce a cartridge with an independent chip, which was not integrated with the gameplay of the game itself, so both sides had worked separately at the time.

But this time, it was obvious that the gameplay needed to be integrated with the hardware itself, so they needed to cooperate to conduct research and development together.

This once again highlighted the advantage of Takayuki's sole management.

When he said something, no one dared to question it, or they hadn't even thought about questioning it. Now, they all felt that everything Takayuki said was reasonable.

At this point, game development officially began, and the entire development cycle took about four months before it was officially released.

Initially, it was indeed as Takayuki imagined; because of Mario's reputation, many players would choose to buy it without hesitation. However, those who had played Need for Speed felt that Mario Kart was a bit childish, but it was still quite fun, just that the fun didn't last too long.

Because most people bought it for themselves, very few played together, which meant that the game's greatest joy was being wiped out.