game trailblazer

Chapter 306 Independent Game Festival

The arrangement that Zhou Haoxuan and others said was very good, but Zhang Lexing, who had seen too many unsatisfactory things, was not completely at ease. When he was in the studio, he was thinking about whether to start the "mystery shopper", and when the game was officially launched, let them understand the operation of "Legend" from the perspective of a player, such as the game's feeling in the current network environment , whether the recharge and payment channels are convenient, whether problems can be solved, and the service attitude of the game customer service, etc., and he even plans to try it himself when he has the opportunity. Experience the level of game service is one aspect, but more important The most important thing is that he wants to feel what this brand new "Legend" is like.

While thinking about it, Zhao Haiguang's voice came from beside Zhang Lexing: "Lexing, you didn't say you had something to talk about at first, but you turned around now."

"Oh?" Zhang Lexing thought about it for a moment, and was too busy thinking about the online game "Legend". He almost forgot the important things. He quickly turned his head and said, "Brother Zhao, there is something wrong. Have you heard of IGF?" ?”

"IGF?" Zhao Haiguang blurted out an online vocabulary in confusion: "What stuff?"

"IGF, the full name is IndependentGamesFestival, which means Independent Games Festival." Zhang Lexing explained as he walked.

"Independent Game Festival. What is an independent game?" Zhao Haiguang was still confused.

"To put it simply, the so-called independent games are relative to commercial games. Generally, games that are independently produced without the influence of commercial funds or for the purpose of commercial distribution can be considered independent games. Many game companies are developing In the early days, it was often just a manual workshop of two or three people, and the games developed at that time can usually be regarded as independent games.” Zhang Lexing stopped in front of the elevator and continued to explain.

"Oh!" Zhao Haiguang nodded with enlightenment: "I see, you want to hold an independent game festival like this in China, right?"

"Yes, I do have this idea, but I still need the support from Brother Zhao."

"It's not a problem, but is there any independent game team in China?" Zhao Haiguang said worriedly, "Don't let the independent game festival become too deserted."

With a sound of "ding", the elevator door slowly opened, and Zhang Lexing walked in and said, "Brother Zhao, you don't have to worry about this. I have investigated, and besides these game companies, folks are actually hidden dragons and crouching tigers, and there are quite a few All kinds of amateur and semi-amateur game studios are developing the games they have in mind. The reason why I want to hold an independent game festival is also to give them a chance to make their mark. For amateur and semi-amateur game studios, it is necessary It is still very difficult to compete directly with those commercial game companies. After all, limited by technical strength and manpower, they will pay more attention to the fun of the game itself when developing games. As for the external graphics, CG, and music, except for a few geniuses , most of them are improvised, because the external aspects of the games they develop may not meet the requirements of commercial distribution, so it is difficult to be favored by game publishing companies, and it is naturally more difficult to develop and grow. But compared to the increasingly complex Commercial games and independent games also have their own advantages. They often have fresh ideas and novel gameplays that commercial games ignore or discard.

……

In this increasingly commercialized society, commercial games have become more conservative. Many domestic commercial game companies don’t care what games players need. They only choose the most popular games to avoid risks. Whatever is popular is developed, so there are often situations where real-time strategy games and role-playing games are crowded.I hope that by supporting the development of independent games, I can bring some freshness to the development of the game industry, and let those who are too conservative, who only know how to chase fashion and are unwilling to explore creativity, see what a really good game is. "

Zhang Lexing talked so much in one breath that he didn't finish until the elevator was downstairs.Zhao Haiguang didn't expect Zhang Lexing to say so much. He felt a little ashamed. It stands to reason that this kind of matter related to the development of the game industry should be considered by him as the chairman, but Zhang Lexing always thinks about it. He is at the front, and he always has good ideas and suggestions. Sometimes he is a little skeptical, why is he unqualified as the president of the China Game Industry Association.

The elevator door opened again, and Zhao Haiguang, who was in deep thought, instinctively walked out of the elevator. Zhang Lexing noticed Zhao Haiguang's strange behavior, but he didn't expect that what Zhao Haiguang was thinking about was the failure of the chairman. Haiguang is thinking about how to hold an independent game festival.Zhang Lexing beckoned to Wang Mengyao, took out a document from the briefcase she handed over, lightly poked Zhao Haiguang, and handed the document over.

"Brother Zhao, this is the relevant information of the American Independent Game Festival, you can use it for reference, it should be helpful."

Zhao Haiguang forced a smile, reached out to take the file and turned it over, "The American Independent Game Festival is co-sponsored by Game Developers Magazine and Game Developers Conference. The first session was held in 1998, and it will be held every year after that. The purpose of the festival is to encourage innovation in game development and discover the best independent games. Due to its increasing influence, the annual American Independent Game Festival is even called the "Sundance Film Festival in the game industry". The most independent game festival in the The important award is the "Saiomas McNally Award" which was renamed this year. The award is organized by CMPGameGroup. The winner will not only receive a prize of 2 US dollars, but also be able to directly participate in the American Game Producers Annual Conference Pass, and can get a commemorative prize plate and the right to use the name and logo of the Independent Games Festival on promotional materials for one year..."

In addition to the brief introduction to the American Independent Games Festival, the back of the document includes the operation mode, organizational structure, main awards, and even evaluation criteria of the Independent Games Festival.It can be seen that Zhang Lexing was very careful and comprehensive when he sent people to collect the information.For Zhao Haiguang, this is a very detailed information, he can even basically copy it and hold a similar independent game festival in the same way.

Of course, Zhao Haiguang does have this idea now, but just to be on the safe side, he decided to consult Zhang Lexing again: "Lexing, when do you think this independent game festival is better?"

"Hmm..." Zhang Lexing thought for a while, and said: "This year's time is too tight, and it is impossible to mix it with the Game Expo and the Developer Conference. After all, there are still big differences between the two, so I suggest referring to the American Independent The game festival will be held on a date next year with a suitable climate, such as April or May, and other venues can also be considered. It does not have to be limited to BJ, which can also promote the development of the game industry in other parts of the country. "

Zhao Haiguang nodded, and said as he walked: "Okay, I will discuss with them after I go back, the date and place, anyway, there is still time, so don't worry too much."

"That's fine, but I hope that DreamBox128, also known as 'Dream Box', can be included in the scope of the Independent Games Festival, so that there should be more games to choose from." Zhang Lexing added, in fact, according to his vision, The Independent Game Festival aims to provide a new stage for the vast number of domestic game developers. While providing new performance opportunities, it is also to promote the growth of domestic developers, and hopes that they can pay more attention to the consideration of game creativity and gameplay.In order to achieve this goal, in addition to holding an independent game festival, Zhang Lexing also plans to allocate part of the funds from the Dream Fund to set up a fund dedicated to supporting small and medium-sized game developers, providing them with the necessary development funds and corresponding opportunities.

While talking, a mobile phone that Zhang Lexing carried with him suddenly rang. Few people knew the number of this mobile phone, so he quickly took out the mobile phone, opened the cover and put it to his ear to answer it. After a while His brows frowned.After hanging up the phone, Zhang Lexing dialed a few more numbers, but he didn't seem to be connected at the time, then he immediately called Wang Mengyao over, and said anxiously: "Mengyao, hurry up and contact the crew of the special plane, and at the same time find a way Help me apply for a route from BJ to Hawaii, I'm going there now, fast!"

Wang Mengyao had never seen Zhang Lexing so anxious. Although she didn't know what was going on, it was clear that the situation was very serious. After she nodded repeatedly, she immediately took out her Motorola V998 and contacted everyone.

Li Chunlin next to him also noticed the abnormality, but before he could open his mouth to ask, Zhao Haiguang spoke first: "Le Xing, what's the matter, is something serious?"

"I don't know too well," Zhang Lexing sighed, and said helplessly, "Shanshan went to Hawaii to attend a biology conference these days, and someone called her cell phone just now to say that Shanshan had entered the hospital. What is the hospital called? If I try to ask more clearly, the phone will be disconnected, and the call will fail. Now I can only go there quickly to see what happened. "

"What!" Zhao Haiguang was in a hurry, his younger sister went to the hospital out of nowhere, he grabbed Zhang Lexing's arm, and then he remembered that his brother-in-law also heard about it from the phone, Can't help but sigh.He actually wants to follow him right away, but it’s no different than going to any place in the country. To go to Hawaii, you must first get a visa. After signing a passport, you can go to many countries as you want.

Zhao Haiguang let go of his hand, patted Zhang Lexing's shoulder lightly, and said, "Lexing, I can't get my visa for a while, so I can't go with you. My sister's matter will trouble you. If you have news, you must Tell me now!"

Zhang Lexing nodded hard: "Brother Zhao, don't worry, I will call you as soon as I get there."

The two men Zhao Haiguang and Zhang Lexing looked sad, and Li Chunlin next to him could only sigh for a while.About ten minutes later, Wang Mengyao walked past Zhang Lexing and said, "Boss, I have already contacted you. The plane will take off in half an hour. We have to hurry over now."

"Okay, let's go." Zhang Lexing turned around to say goodbye to Zhao Haiguang and Li Chunlin, and then hurried outside with Wang Mengyao.After walking for a while, Zhang Lexing suddenly remembered something, and hurriedly called Wang Mengyao to tell him: "I almost forgot in a hurry just now, please contact me, find someone to check in Hawaii, and see which hospital your sister Shan lives in .”

"Okay boss, I'll contact you right away." Wang Mengyao nodded, took out her Motorola V998, and started dialing numbers.

The two walked out of Building 6 and got into the car. The car immediately started and drove out of the Oriental Industrial Park, and then headed for the Capital International Airport.Wang Mengyao's cell phone rang several times along the way, each time Zhang Lexing looked over with hope, but every time he saw Wang Mengyao helplessly shaking his head.Until the car drove into the tarmac and the two boarded the "BL901 Global Express", there was still no good news, and Zhang Lexing's worries became more and more serious, and he even couldn't help thinking wildly.

During the flight, the news of Chen Zishan finally came. After a carpet search, I finally found her information in the Queen's Hospital. The inspection is still in progress, so it is not clear why I was admitted to the hospital for the time being.

Knowing some news, Zhang Lexing calmed down a little bit, but the current situation of the unknown condition made him very worried, and even blamed himself a little, "If I could go with her, maybe this kind of thing wouldn't happen..." He couldn't help thinking this way over and over again in his heart.

In the process of this kind of cranky thinking, the "BL901 Global Express" crossed many oceans and came to the sky near the island of Hawaii. Under the command of the airport tower, it began to circle slowly and wait for the opportunity to descend.Looking down at the island surrounded by blue water through the porthole, Zhang Lexing couldn't help feeling nervous again...

At the same moment, in the RB Tokyo Sega headquarters building, Izuko Shoichiro stood for the last time in the president's office that once belonged to him, packing his things calmly.In fact, there are not many items that belong to him, that is, some books and family photos that he bought, which can be easily packed in a cardboard box, but he packs them very slowly. After all, three years is not a short period of time. It is easy to be taken away and erased, but the joy, hesitation, hope, expectation, loss, and despair he left here cannot be let go so easily.

The Dreamcast host has already failed, and even Sega has reached the brink of failure. Although today is the last day of joining Shoichiro, and although the recent financial report calculation has not been finalized, he is generally clear. It's very serious. Originally, it was predicted that the loss would be 6-7 million yen at most. As long as the sales of Dreamcast hosts increase, everything will come back.Unexpectedly, under the pressure of DreamBox128 and PS2, the sales of Dreamcast consoles have always been unsatisfactory. It has invested more than 70 billion yen in development funds. It is already the most expensive game on the planet. It should be able to achieve good results, but it was released at the end of last year, but in the end The sales volume of the company did not even reach 6000 sets.In this way, the sales of the Dreamcast console were bad, and the games with high expectations encountered a fiasco. As a result, Sega’s losses have exceeded 260 billion yen so far, and the situation is still deteriorating. Among them, Shenmue definitely deserves the most credit.

Throwing the last photo into the cardboard box, Izumi Shoichiro walked around the president's room with great nostalgia, then sighed, and walked out of the room with the cardboard box in his arms. He knew that he had completely lost his relationship with Sega...

On the other side, at Sega's press conference, CSK Group President Isao Okawa stood at the speech booth with his sick body in his arms, smiling and answering various questions from the audience.Because he couldn't find a suitable candidate for a while, or Isao Okawa couldn't find a candidate with the same philosophy as himself, so after Shoichiro Niezuo resigned, he decided to go into battle by himself and temporarily lead the Sega company for a period of time. When it gets better or finds a suitable candidate, it will be handed over to others for management.As for now, he has to work hard on his own. After all, a loss of more than 200 billion yen is not a small sum, and it is not so easy to reverse it.

Isao Okawa looked at the excited reporters in the audience, but he was thinking of Sega's huge losses in his heart: "Looking at the situation, it's impossible not to keep money..."

(End of this chapter)