CH13 - Balloon Fight

"It's finally here!"

Under the name of the manager, Satoru Iwata, I hastily tore open the package. The game title written on the small floppy disk was 'Balloon Fight.' Yes, I had been waiting for this moment all along!

"Kang? What's up...?"

"Shigeru, wanna take a break and give this game a try?"

"Should we? Ah~ I really can't figure it out... Even though I'm moving left and right just as I'm supposed to, why does it feel so strange when side-scrolling?"

"Rather than overthinking it, how about we just play this for a while to clear our heads?"

"I feel like playing trashy games like this would just make me more frustrated."

"But we have to test it anyway."

I sat down with Shigeru at the table and inserted the floppy disk sent by HAL Laboratory. As the cheerful music played and the title screen appeared, we tried moving up and down with the basic directional keys. It seemed like a two-player game divided into 1P and 2P modes.

"Hmm, the first impression isn't bad. Let's give it a shot."

I pressed the Start button in the two-player mode. After a moment, the screen displayed blue and red characters hanging from three balloons on both ends.

"It looks ordinary, doesn't it?"

I lightly pressed the A button to make the character float in the air. The character floated as if it were truly hanging from a balloon and landed gently. Pressing the button repeatedly made it bounce and soar into the sky, shooting arrows at oncoming enemies.

"It's a shooting game... But why is it so difficult to control?"

I chuckled and replied, "Well, it's not as easy as it looks, just like you said."

"Why doesn't it move properly even when I press the directional keys!? Ugh~"

Bam! Shigeru's character eventually collided with an enemy, losing one of the balloons.

"It's even harder to control when you lose a balloon!"

Bam! But I skillfully dodged the enemies and continued shooting them with arrows. Since I had played a lot as a kid, the controls weren't that difficult. The charm of Balloon Fight was not in rapidly tapping buttons to make your character ascend but in using the balloon button at the right moment to bounce and move buoyantly.

"Kang, is it not difficult for you to control!? How are you so good?"

Even when Shigeru asked, I just smiled and kept controlling my character. As I shot an arrow that narrowly missed, it pierced through Shigeru's last remaining balloon.

"What!? Friendly fire can hurt us too? Where is this coming from!!"

"Hmm~ In my case, I find it more fun this way."

"What!? No!! Kang, don't come near me! Stay away~!"

Bam! Bam! I skillfully dodged Shigeru's arrows and collided with him, bursting his last balloon. In an instant, Shigeru's screen displayed "GAME OVER."

"Hey, let's play another round. You're a reckless one, killing allies."

This is the charm of Balloon Fight. That afternoon, our development team members took turns enjoying Balloon Fight and were completely engrossed in it. The game's goal had shifted from defeating enemies to surviving and avoiding the incoming ally characters.

"Ah, this is really fun! If they tweak the controls a bit, it could be an excellent game!"

One of the developers praised Balloon Fight while playing. But my thoughts were different.

"I actually feel like the controls make the game even more enjoyable."

Then, Shigeru, who had been watching us play, stroked his chin and spoke up.

"Indeed, the controls are uncomfortable, but it feels very natural. Like we're really manipulating a balloon. Why is that?"

In that moment, I swiftly pressed the buttons to avoid incoming arrows. Shigeru's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Accelerometer?"

He finally figured it out. However, the other developers present didn't fully grasp the significance of Shigeru's words.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Did you introduce an accelerometer for character movement!? That makes sense. When the speed reaches its peak and you input the opposite direction, it naturally bounces back, right? That's why we find this natural control uncomfortable. Who could have programmed such a thing in this world? Where is this game made!?"

"It's by someone named Satoru Iwata from HAL Laboratory."

"I should go see him right now. Kang, come with me."

Meeting Satoru Iwata was an unexpected stroke of luck. I nodded to Shigeru, quickly put on my coat, and followed him.

Satoru Iwata. This man, who passed away just before my journey back to 1983, would become the fourth president of Nintendo in 2002. He was not only the CEO of Nintendo but also a developer, the hero who saved Nintendo from crisis in the 2000s when it was full of self-confidence, establishing himself as a key figure in the realm of everlasting handheld devices.

His creations such as Balloon Fight, Kirby's Adventure, and F-Zero joined the ranks of Nintendo's masterpieces. He would go on to create numerous games with Shigeru in the future.

"By the way, Shigeru, I noticed the address for this place is in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo!?"

"It doesn't matter; let's head there by Shinkansen tonight!!"

It seemed that Shigeru had found the solution to his problem while controlling Mario. I followed him to Kyoto Station with enthusiasm.

About six hours later, at 11 PM, we stood in front of Shinjuku Station, where a cold wind blew.

"Why didn't we just get some rest and come back tomorrow?"

"That's true..."

Sometimes, someone's enthusiasm can really put people through a lot.

The next day, after spending the night in the hotel, we arrived early at the HAL Laboratory, a software development office. Despite being the place where Shigeru was captivated by Balloon Fight, it had quite a rigid atmosphere and was mainly involved in creating simple programs for electronic calculators and photocopiers.

"Who are you looking for?"

"We're looking for a person named Satoru Iwata. Is he here by any chance?"

"Iwata? Iwata... Hey, by any chance, is there a person named Satoru Iwata in our office?"

A burly man, who appeared to be an office worker, asked his colleague. The employee, who seemed to be annoyed, replied, "Ah, there's a part-time worker who comes in around 2 PM."

A part-time worker? That means he's not even an official employee here. As I turned my head, Shigeru couldn't hide his confusion.

"A part-time worker?"

"Yes, he's probably coming in around 2 PM."

"Well, in that case, we'll come back this afternoon."

If that was the case, why did we come last night and go through all this trouble? What were we going to do to pass the time until 2 PM? Just then, a young man in his mid-twenties passed by us and headed for the HAL Laboratory office. Huh? He looked very familiar...?

The clean-cut appearance of the 5:5 haircut was no different from the man I remembered from 2015.

"Excuse me, are you Mr. Iwata!?"

"Yes?"

"Are you Satoru Iwata, by any chance?"

"Yes, but who are you?"

We found him! Shigeru looked at me and then back at Satoru Iwata, asking with a puzzled expression, "Is it you who sent us Balloon Fight for our Nintendo?"

"Oh, has it already arrived over there? Haha, how was it? Did you enjoy it?"

Satoru Iwata, who had a very polite image but possessed a sharp business sense, would go on to become the first outsider to serve as the president of Nintendo, a position that was traditionally passed down within the Yamauchi family. We had just met another genius who would lead Nintendo in the future.

"Now I see, the point is that the more you press the buttons, the faster the character moves in the opposite direction. Forcing a slow reaction by overloading it is the key."

Programming is like converting real-world movements into numbers. For example, if Mario starts running at a speed of 1, it will accelerate to speeds of 2 and 3 after 2 seconds. If you jump in this state, you add the current speed value and jump power value to calculate the distance you jump. But if the player moves in the opposite direction in the middle, instead of going straight from number 3 to -1, it goes through 4, 3, 2, 1, 0, -1. This was Satoru's basic explanation of inertia.

"Now my mind is finally clear. Iwata-san, you've been a great help. By the way, the game you created, Balloon Fight, would you consider joining our company and working on it with us? I'm sure it'll be a great game."

"Thank you for the offer, but for now, I have work to do at HAL Laboratory."

"Is that so? It's a shame. But if you ever change your mind, please don't hesitate to contact us."

Shigeru handed his business card to Iwata. Back on the train, Shigeru couldn't hide his excitement, as he was eager to return and complete Mario's movement. The elements required to create Super Mario had all been met. While the development would be completed soon, there would still be a cartridge production period, so Super Mario would probably be released in early 1984. It was originally supposed to be released in 1985, so it was moved up by about a year.

It seemed that Gunpei's portable Game Boy would also be released earlier than expected, and since I arrived here, it felt like things were progressing faster than the history I knew. Whether this was the right thing to do, only time would tell.

TL Note - 

The first three presidents of Nintendo (Global) were all from the Yamauchi Family. 

Fusajiro Yamauchi - The founder and first (1st) president of Nintendo. (1889-1929)

Sekiryo Yamauchi - The second president of Nintendo. (1929-1949)

Hiroshi Yamauchi - Third president; brought the company into the video game industry. (1949-2002)

Satoru Iwata - Fourth president. Previously was president of HAL Laboratory. (2002-2015)

Tatsumi Kimishima - Fifth president. Previously was second president of Nintendo of America and was Managing Director from 2013 to 2015. (2015-2018)

Shuntaro Furukawa - Sixth and current president. Succeeds Kimishima who retired from the role in June 2018. (2018-present)