161. prototype
“Download, is that the download I’m thinking of?”
Minoru said with a puzzled face.
“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but if you’re thinking about the concept of connecting a device to the internet and letting it install right away, that’s right.”
“her···. Will that come true? First of all, there is no guarantee that all the population with our PlayStations will use the Internet, and we do not have the manpower and technology to create such a program.”
Instead of looking at Minoru talking, Hoyeong smiled at Shigeru and John Carmack.
Shigeru seemed to understand the meaning of that smile and told Minoru.
“I think the program is already Mr. It seems that Yoon. has already devised and has the technology.”
“yes?”
“Mr. Yoon. is not just a programmer. In fact, he is a genius developer who came up with the concept of Chronos and even developed it himself.”
Minoru’s eyes widened when he realized the meaning of Shigeru’s words.
“haha. Shigeru, please stop. Embarrassed. But, Mr. What Shigeru said is true. A program that can do such a download service can be completed before I play station is completed. And the penetration of the Internet will explode in the future. By the time PlayStation launches and is in place, the whole world will definitely be connected to the internet.”
Hoyoung’s expression was very confident.
“How are you so confident?”
“Because I will make it. In addition to H&H’s development director, I also serve as the representative of the Hermes Group.”
“Hermes!”
Shigeru was surprised and involuntarily spoke out in a loud voice.
He, too, was familiar with Hermes.
Not long ago, Yamauchi, his father-in-law and the president of Nintendo, contacted him separately and said.
ADSL Internet will come to Japan, and the wind of this Internet will not stop in Japan, but will spread to the world.
‘And you said that the company leading the introduction of ADSL was Korea’s Hermes, right?’
In addition, Chairman Yamauchi even said that Hermes would sweep the world telecommunications market, so keep an eye on it.
He looked at Hoyoung again.
His father-in-law rarely recognizes other companies.
Even when I was told to cancel the contract with Sony, it was to the extent that I told them to judge and cancel the contract with Sony.
Is that why? Minoru was surprised when Hoyoung told him that he made Cronus, but at the same time, the fact that he was the representative of Hermes surprised him even more.
“You weren’t completely unfounded in your confidence.”
Instead of answering, Hoyoung smiled and shrugged.
Minoru looked at Hoyoung and said with sharp eyes.
“However, some questions remain. If you clear all those questions, I’ll do as you say.”
“yes. Please tell me.”
“First, consumers are possessive. Whether it’s a game pack or a CD-ROM, it’s clear that you want to have it in real life. Can you really be satisfied with just downloading the program? And storage capacity is the biggest issue. The games we are making for the PlayStation now have a capacity of at least 100 to 200 megabytes, and full 3D games have a capacity of over 500 megabytes at most. Now, the price of a 500 megabyte hard drive is over $300. And when the PlayStation is priced at $300, who would pay more than double the price for a 500 megabyte hard drive?”
Minoru spoke a lot, and Hoyoung looked at him with curious eyes.
‘The representative of Nintendo America said he had the ability, so it seems he is.’
Hoyoung remembered that Shigeru had said earlier that if it wasn’t for him, ‘Donkey Kong’ wouldn’t have sold as much in the US market.
And he also recalled that his contribution was very great in the competition with Sega America in the North American market.
But apart from his sharp question, Hoyoung had all the answers ready.
“First and foremost, obviously there will be gamers who are possessive. But apart from that, I think there are more reasonable gamers out there.”
“Are you a reasonable gamer?”
“That’s right. There’s a misconception right now, just because you sell a game as downloadable content doesn’t mean you’re not releasing a package at all.”
“So what?”
“Basically, the game is provided as a download, but the package is also released in small quantities. And in that package, in addition to the actual CD, a game illustration pictorial or figure is inserted as an appendix.”
At Hoyeong’s words, Shigeru nodded and said.
“Oh my. It’s like releasing a limited edition.”
“That’s right. And the crucial thing is to release the price of the game for download cheaper than the package.”
Minoru also nodded.
Hoyoung’s answer was very good.
If the game is released in these two ways, those who want to have the game package in person can have it in a richer configuration, and those who do not need the physical package can purchase the game at a reasonable price, so gamers of both tendencies can enjoy it. It was a graveyard to catch.
“And you don’t have to worry too much about storage capacity.”
“Why? Pricing is the number one consideration for any business.”
“Haha, I know that too. I mean, it’s none of our business to worry about.”
“What do you mean?”
“If things go smoothly with the PlayStation, when do you think it will be released?”
Minoru thought for a moment before saying.
“At the earliest, it should be the second half of next year. Right now, the PlayStation body itself is in the stage of being completed to some extent, but the operating system and games are still in development.”
Ho-young was about to say that an operating system could be completed within a month if he put his mind to it.
It wouldn’t be a good story to talk about now.
“Exactly. I wouldn’t say this if the PlayStation were to be released in a few months. But according to the credible sources I’ve heard, there will definitely be one HDD revolution in mid ’94 to early ’95.”
“HDD Revolution?”
At these words, not only Minoru, but also Shigeru and John Carmack stared at Hoyeong.
For them, it was something new.
“As I mentioned earlier, the current price of a 500 megabyte hard disk is around $300. However, by the end of next year, a 1 gigabyte hard disk will surely cost close to $200. And for the $200 I just mentioned, the consumer price will be this much, and the production price will be even cheaper. We will make a contract with the hard drive manufacturer from scratch so that we can receive delivery at a price close to the production price.”
“How can you be sure that a new product will come out then?”
“An acquaintance I know very well knows the technology development situation of Seagate in great detail. Thanks to that, I always hear about things related to hard disks.”
In fact, Hoyoung was convinced by the memories of his previous life.
Around this time in the past, Hoyoung was a graduate student.
Ho-young, who always struggled with a lack of computer capacity, had a good memory of being delighted with the world’s first 7200 rpm hard disk ‘Barracuda’ released by Seagate at the end of 1994, at a price cheaper than half.
However, Minoru, who had no way of knowing that, looked at Hoyeong with a slight admiration.
‘He looks young, but how far does his personal network extend?’
Minoru admired again, and Hoyoung also recognized the look in his eyes, but continued speaking calmly.
“Since I brought up the story, I will take over the negotiations with Seagate. This is so that hard disks currently under development can be purchased in bulk at a cheaper price according to the expected release date of the PlayStation.”
At Hoyoung’s words, Minoru frowned and fell into thought.
No matter who heard it, there was no gap in Hoyoung’s words.
However, Minoru had no intention of withdrawing from here.
If he agreed right away, he would feel defeated by Shigeru sitting across from him.
“Let me ask you one more question.”
“Tell me.”
“Isn’t internet downloading a risk of piracy? Like extracting only the files separately.”
“Don’t worry about that. There is a way to think about that too.”
“what···?”
“We’re going to create a ‘store’ that can only be accessed through the PlayStation. And I’m going to design and make an anti-piracy program myself. Both payments and downloads will be done through the store only. To be honest, the CD method would be much weaker than the anti-piracy system I devised. I can guarantee that.”
Minoru thought he couldn’t find words to refute Hoyeong’s words.
I just kept my mouth shut and thought.
Hoyoung decided to put a wedge in there.
“And the penetration of the Internet will be at its peak by then. That means we have enough customers who are likely to use our download service.”
Hearing Hoyeong’s last words, Minoru nodded slowly.
“All right. We will continue to proceed with our contract with Sony.”
“You did well.”
Hoyoung bowed her head slightly.
“Why is the general manager usually Mr. I think I know how much Yoon.’s story has been told. I fell in love with the words in an instant.”
Shigeru winked at Hoyoung.
“Of course, Nintendo still dominates the world, but if PlayStation releases it, it will solidify its dominance even more.”
“yes. In fact, I was not so sure about the PlayStation until recently, but after talking today, I finally became convinced. This PlayStation will sell very well.”
Minoru exchanged a few more words of thanks with Hoyeong before standing up.
“Originally, I would not have been needed for this meeting, but I participated as the issue was an issue. I’m sorry, I have a lot to do, so I’ll get up. I hope the three of you have a good conversation. By the way, let’s have dinner together later.”
After saying that, Minoru left the meeting room.
Shigeru came to Hoyoung’s side and put his hand on Hoyeong’s shoulder.
“Hoyoung! thank you It’s not that easy to break Minoru’s stubbornness.”
“okay?”
“yes. I’ve been struggling with this problem since this morning. No matter what I say, I don’t think I’ll step down. But as soon as Hoyeong appeared, the situation was sorted out.”
Hoyoung laughed.
“I didn’t do much. I just explained the concept of the PlayStation I was thinking about.”
“It’s amazing that you’ve been thinking like that all the time.”
“By the way, Shigeru. I don’t think you wanted to meet me because of this. What is the real reason you called me?”
“you’re right. The disagreement with Minoru was unexpected.”
“then?”
John Carmack, who was next to him, interrupted the conversation between Hoyeong and Shigeru.
“Oh, it was frustrating because I couldn’t say a word because it was a field I didn’t know well. that’s what i’ll tell you Here’s a demo of the first game we’re going to release for the PlayStation.”
“And then came the prototype for the PlayStation. I put the temporary operating system that Hoyeong made earlier.”
John Carmack smiled and said to Hoyoung.
“It was the first time the three of us talked about this monster game console. So I thought we should do the first test together. Although it is a demo game with a play time of only 3 minutes, please play it once and tell me your impressions and improvements.”
“The PlayStation prototype was hooked up in the next room. Come this way.”
Hoyoung smiled happily.
“good. Both of you have suffered a lot. Let’s try it.”