Sometimes, connections and money are inseparable.
Kobayashi Tetsu would never tell Tsujimoto Kenzo that his only connection in Osaka was Higashino Miki.
But Kobayashi Tetsu had money.
He did one thing: deposited 500 million yen into an Osaka bank and subtly hinted that the funds would remain there as long as Capcom's loan could be postponed.
That was all. Kobayashi Tetsu never even met with the manager in person.
There aren't that many banks in Japan, and a loan of Capcom's magnitude couldn't be handled by a single branch—it required a regional headquarters. So Kobayashi Tetsu acted accordingly.
"I don't know how long Capcom's funds will last, but without 1942 and FC Makaimura, their financial losses must be piling up, right?"
Kobayashi Tetsu pondered for a moment, then shook his head.
He couldn't wait until that point.
If Capcom truly hit rock bottom, they'd end up selling out to Namco!
He needed to act sooner.
"Just a little longer... Just a little longer!"
Just as Ben Kenzo was about to reach his limit, yet still clinging to a sliver of strength...
In the blink of an eye, it had been a month since Final Fantasy development began. Kobayashi Tetsu hadn't interfered with Iwata Satoru's project at all. After confirming the basic feasibility, he had let Iwata Satoru run with it.
Meanwhile, Street Fighter development had only just begun today.
Prior to this, Kobayashi Tetsu had deliberately held back Masanobu Endo and Naka Yuji, forbidding them from any development work. Instead, he had them endlessly study boxing footage, Hong Kong films, and even foreign action movies.
The character designs had undergone repeated revisions. Kobayashi Tetsu had specifically insisted on Ryu, the absolute protagonist of the Street Fighter series, but made no other changes.
Today, the two believed they had studied enough. After repeated pleas, Kobayashi Tetsu finally allowed them to begin development.
A joint proposal by Masanobu Endo and Naka Yuji was presented to Kobayashi Tetsu.
Kobayashi Tetsu flipped through it casually.
"The character designs adopt a realistic, hard-boiled style, in line with current arcade game market demands."
"The story revolves around Ryu's growth, detailing his battles against various opponents."
"Beyond basic punches and kicks, each character has unique special moves."
Kobayashi Tetsu set down the proposal, and Naka Yuji instinctively wheeled over a whiteboard.
"Some aspects are well done, but I have reservations about certain elements," Kobayashi said. "First, regarding the story: In fighting games, the narrative is both crucial and irrelevant."
"It's crucial because you need a plausible reason for characters to clash. But it's irrelevant because the depth of a fighting game lies in the gameplay itself; the story is just garnish."
"I don't care how you do it, but rework this backstory into a grand tournament setting. Flesh out the details: Who's hosting it? Why was it convened? Why are so many participants drawn to it?"
"Second, the moves."
Kobayashi turned and retrieved a stripped-down arcade cabinet from under his desk—a control panel with no other components attached.
This was a six-button arcade cabinet released by Capcom, featuring an eight-directional joystick and six action buttons.
"I don't care how you design it, but condense all the right-hand interactions into these six buttons."
Kobayashi Tetsu had seriously considered implementing the Modern Mode from Street Fighter 6, which allowed players to execute special moves with a single button press, making it simple and fluid.
However, considering the technological limitations of the era, he ultimately decided to use the classic motion-based input system.
Taking one step ahead makes you a genius, but taking ten steps ahead might just make you a fool.
While Modern Mode was user-friendly, it also drastically narrowed the gap between skilled players and newcomers. Beginners who had only been playing for a few days could quickly climb the rankings using Zangief's moves in Modern Mode, a practice that was practically intolerable to the core audience of fighting games.
Some always complained that fighting games were too difficult, too hard to learn, and unsuitable for newcomers.
But the reality was that for arcade games of that era, which relied on players repeatedly inserting game coins, a steep learning curve was essential. These games catered to the dedicated fighting game audience, not so-called "newbies."
Most newcomers who complained about the difficulty of fighting games weren't actually part of the target audience and wouldn't invest significant time and effort into mastering a single game anyway.
Naka Yuji had a question, as expected.
"President, if it's that difficult, how can we expand our player base?"
Kobayashi Tetsu shook his head. "Fighting games don't need to expand their player base. Arcade games rely on repeat payments, unlike console games, which are one-time purchases. If a game is too easy, everyone can pick it up, and skilled players who invest time and effort into mastering it will lose interest. Even if this attracts more players initially, when they leave, all that's left is a mess. That's a negative outcome for the game."
"The revenue from ten casual players can't compare to the game coins spent by a single dedicated player in a single day."
If players only want to play arcade games with friends and classmates, that's fine. Everyone is a casual player, and there's no problem.
But as soon as even one person starts practicing—even if it's just becoming slightly more familiar with the moves or learning how to counter basic combos—the results become devastating.
Unpracticed players will never be able to beat those who have trained, unless everyone starts practicing.
Casual players won't actively engage in repetitive practice. Without practice, they can't win, and naturally, they'll lose interest in the game.
Kobayashi Tetsu gave only a rough explanation, and Naka Yuji still didn't understand. But Masanobu Endo had already grasped the concept.
Having experience developing arcade games, he now understood that the mindset behind arcade games differed fundamentally from that of console games.
"To put it simply," he said, "we need to design arcade games in a way that's completely opposite to console games, because players need to earn game coins. Console games should be as simple as possible, while arcade games should be as complex as possible. Right?"
Kobayashi Tetsu clapped his hands.
Exactly! Masanobu Endo gets it!
In simple terms, arcade fighting games are aimed at core players who enjoy high difficulty. If the games aren't challenging, they won't be popular.
Therefore, while console controls can be straightforward, arcade controls must be complex to provide that satisfying sense of accomplishment for dedicated players.
If the game isn't hard, how can I showcase the skills I honed by pouring thousands of coins and twenty years of practice into it?!
Naka Yuji had an epiphany.
Actually, I still don't fully understand, but if the President says so, we just need to execute.
As he left, Naka Yuji couldn't help but sigh.
There's no end to learning! Keep studying, delve deeper!
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