Chapter 235 Improvements in handheld consoles

Author: quiet thoughts

Chapter 235 Improvements in handheld consoles

Akihabara, HAL Research Institute.

At this moment, there were six or seven handheld consoles placed in front of Shirakawa Kaede. These were all handheld console models released by Shirakawa Electric in the past six months.

The difference between them in shape is not very big, but there are slight differences in color or surface printing.

Like Nintendo's handheld consoles, the models in front of them also have one hard and one soft configuration.

The two games included with each handheld console basically retain the configuration of one original and one ported.

Most of the transplanted games come from arcade games from companies such as Namco and Taito. For the past six months, Shirakawa Electric has also been actively contacting third-party game manufacturers.

They have a large number of game IPs in their hands. Of course, Shirakawa Electric will not let go of certain small games that are suitable for porting to handheld consoles.

The same is true for Nintendo, but they have their own arcade business, so the games that are temporarily ported are all from internal sources.

In addition to the transplanted games, most of the remaining original games come from the hands of the young people currently sitting in HAL's office.

They are active in thinking and have all kinds of ideas.

In addition, HAL encourages employees to brainstorm. Even if it cannot be realized temporarily, it will be recorded for future development.

There is no doubt that the representative of this is Satoru Iwata. Game production and software programming have scratched his itch.

This is his hobby, and he will definitely spend time here at HAL whenever school is on holiday.

Needless to say, during the summer vacation, Satoshi Iwata turned into a part-time worker and went to work at HAL every day.

Even during the winter vacation, if his father hadn't called him, he might have planned to stay in Tokyo for the New Year.

"Iwata-kun, don't forget, we haven't graduated yet."

After hearing about this, Shirakawa Kaede had to remind him that they were about to enter their senior year and were still some distance away from graduation.

"It would be better if you are a senior. You have enough time to stay here." Satoru Iwata is in the same grade as Shirakawa Kaede, but he is half a year behind Shirakawa Kaede.

Shirakawa Kaede will graduate in April next year, and Iwata will graduate in September.

Entering his senior year was a good thing for Satoru Iwata, as he didn't even have to find an internship unit.

HAL has a direct and seamless connection, providing one-stop service from internship to graduation.

"Are you still used to staying here?" Shirakawa Kaede, who arrived at HAL, did not talk about work first, but started chatting with Satoru Iwata over coffee.

"Get used to it, of course." Speaking of this, Satoru Iwata immediately became energetic.

“The best personal computer, an office with floor-to-ceiling windows, endless snacks and endless drinks.

Baichuan-kun, let alone whether you are used to it or not, you are willing to let me live here."

Shirakawa Kaede looked at Satoru Iwata dumbfounded, "Good guy, you just used this place as a dormitory, right?"

In fact, not only Satoru Iwata, but also the other young people gathered here nodded in recognition.

HAL's office environment is so comfortable, it's like heaven.

Although some of these young people have just stepped out of school and joined a club for the first time.

But they have also heard about the social life of their predecessors.

However, the office environment here at HAL has subverted their previous imagination of work.

Needless to say, there is no need to talk about the rigid conditions of the office. Whether it is computer desks and chairs or a whole wall of floor-to-ceiling windows, they are all excellent configurations.

These scenes may only be seen in TV series.

In addition to the relaxing office scene, a separate leisure area has also been opened here.

Sofas, lounge chairs, and coffee tables are all available, and there are several vending machines on the wall that don't require coins.

If you want to eat or drink whatever you want, just press the button and someone will come over regularly to restock.

There were even a few arcade machines placed in a small open area.

If you are tired from work and need to relax, this is the best place for you.

Look, how is this a job? For young people like Satoru Iwata, hotels don’t have such conditions.

Shirakawa Kaede can guarantee that there is no club in Tokyo that has an environment as good as HAL.

He built the HAL Research Institute based on the configuration of later major Internet companies.

Game production is an emerging entertainment industry, and the products it produces are to entertain the public.

As a producer of game content, Shirakawa Kaede hopes that they can work in their most relaxed state.

Compared with a tense and dull atmosphere, a relaxed and joyful mood will surely allow producers to integrate their own happiness into the game.

Shirakawa Kaede doesn't want HAL to be like a traditional Japanese club, which is hierarchical and depressing.

A brand-new industry naturally requires a brand-new atmosphere.

He believes that as the place grows stronger, it will be able to attract all kinds of talents to settle in HAL.

After chatting with them for a while and getting a general understanding of the situation here, Shirakawa Kaede also began to call Tanimura and the others for a meeting.

"I have a general understanding of the situation here at HAL. Generally speaking, our progress has been quite obvious in the past six months."

From a grassroots team at the beginning, it has gradually become a professional game production company. Generally speaking, Shirakawa Kaede is quite satisfied.

After all, video games are a brand new field, and game production companies around the world are just getting started, and everyone is still exploring.

Hearing Bai Chuanfeng's approval, all the young people present smiled happily.

To be honest, in the eyes of the elders, the so-called game production is a job that is not serious and deviant.

Just like what parents in China once thought, neon also has this stage.

Parents prefer their children to find a real job rather than playing video games.

So for them, recognition may be more important than income.

"Please don't doubt that you are doing a great job. Games are also a kind of art, and art brings spiritual enjoyment to people.

The game has all the characteristics it has." Shirakawa Kaede once shouted this slogan in the newspaper, and he still emphasizes it today.

Sure enough, the young people below are just like this. He is indeed a leader in the art of games. Shirakawa-san’s views on games speak to their hearts.

"Of course, art work is inseparable from innovation. Please feel free to speak out your ideas boldly or record them on paper.

It may be difficult to achieve today, but one day it will really be in front of you.

Of course." Bai Chuanfeng picked up a handheld console on the table, "If you have any questions during the game, you may wish to raise them and let us brainstorm and see if we can find a solution."

As for handheld problems, of course there are.

But after all, it was the big boss in front of him, so everyone was still a little restrained.

Everyone, look at me, I look at you, and finally Satoru Iwata spoke.

"The biggest problem with handheld devices is that due to screen limitations, there is too little content that can be displayed."

"Iwata-kun, please elaborate." Shirakawa Kaede motioned for him to continue.

As in-depth developers of handheld consoles, they must know its limitations and even shortcomings best.

Therefore, Bai Chuanfeng also wants to listen to their opinions. If possible, it would be best to spend some investment to solve the problem.

"Our current handheld screen can only display 7-segments, and the chip it uses is an 8-bit microprocessor from a calculator.

Only 56 paragraphs of characters can be displayed in total, and excluding the timing or rating display in the upper right corner of the screen, there are only a few 30 paragraphs of real space left for game content.

Under such limitations, the content that the handheld console can present will be greatly limited.

In addition, due to the limitation of the microprocessor, sometimes there will be a slight delay between the picture and the control.

The feeling is especially obvious when performing complex button operations.”

These are the problems Iwata encountered in game production and programming, and most of them come from hardware problems.

Bai Chuanfeng nodded. Sure enough, there were still technical limitations that affected their performance.

"I roughly understand what Iwata-kun means. Most of our current handheld consoles use TN-LCD screens, which are inherently flawed.

Until there is a breakthrough in the technology of the screen itself, perhaps the only way to go is to increase the display screen."

The so-called TN-LCD screen is a monochrome LCD screen.

The calculators we use in our daily lives have this kind of screen.

This twisted nematic liquid crystal display has a slow response time and low output light brightness.

Moreover, the viewing angle is small and the smearing phenomenon is very obvious.

With so many shortcomings, the reason why they can be widely used is because they are cheap.

Its price is as low as the plastic shell of the fuselage, so the cost increase of increasing the screen is limited, and it is still acceptable for a handheld machine.

Bai Chuanfeng pointed at the screen of the mobile phone in his hand and gestured to everyone, "If we expand it by 1.5 times, or even double it.
To be continued...