My Game Now
...
"Deletion. For data at least ... is an easy task to accomplish."
- Gosho Aoyama
…
Chapter 1: Immersion
I moved my paperwork about. It was tedious, running this company. As much as the gaming industry was my life, some of the more… pathetic endeavors still had to be attended too.
Right now a gaming console we were working on was nothing but a spec compared to his VR machines I had finished not so many months ago now and improved dramatically in the last few weeks as well. It wasn't a step down- it was a fall down the stairs.
Mass marketing though had to be budgeted, and no one was willing to spend a thousand dollars to purchase one of the far more advanced machines. While I was personally working on making my own, far cheaper software, it would still be a while before I was able to cut costs enough to release it to the public. It was taking time though, and apparently there were others that thought I should expand to the current generation of children. I left a lot of that up to others, simply checking over the work and numbers before it made it's way out of development.
"Seto, we need to get downtown soon. They're unveiling that new store and they asked you to show up."
I looked over at my little brother. I had no idea when Mokuba had walked in, but it looked like he'd been standing there for a while. The idea of leaving though was not anymore appealing than staying.
"Just because the Nojima Company agreed to work with Kaiba Corp does not mean I have to attend their public functions, even if it was a dual effort from both companies. If you want to go, you can." I moved one of the papers over to the side, eyeing it with consideration. I'd rather be working on my own mechanics than dealing with the pleasantries and tyrannical nature of the corporate world. I was good at it, but that didn't mean it was where I'd place all my time.
Mokuba sighed. "But Seto, you're going to have to start stepping outside for more than just Duel Monsters. The company's important too, isn't it?"
I put his fingers to his forehead, giving my brother's argument some thought. In the end though, minor stores that no one on the map would ever consider important didn't matter to me. I was going to be the one to revolutionize the gaming world for a second time.
"I don't have time for such non-sense. If I were interested at all in the opening of a store, it would be my own. We're simply providing most of the merchandise. If they want my appearance, they had better have something important to be showing off. This. This is nothing. They can handle things on their own."
"But Seto, I thought that they were your business partners now."
"Yes, Partners. This is their endeavor. This company has helped with the funding and stock and we've played our part."
Mokuba put his hands on his hips like a condescending wife. Maybe my little brother was one of the reasons that I never sought out any female company. If Mokuba, my own brother and a male, was this bad, I didn't want to know how annoying having more prancing around the place would be.
"Fine, if that's what you want, Seto. Are you going to be busy with this for the next few hours then? I know you had the simulation center running last night. I was in the production room and didn't get to watch. What were you working on?"
"Nothing much." I wasn't working on my deck anymore. Yugi, my rival since the day he'd stepped his big toe into the gaming world, now held a far better hand than I ever could. That did not mean I was ever going to lose to him again. Battle City might be over, and I might have lost, but there'd be a next time. I was sure of it. And when that happened, I'd be ready.
"So… what are we going to do about the stuff in the basement? Were you planning on working on that again?"
"Maybe later. I have some issues to sort out right now. We're low on our profit margins this month and there have been several employees who need to be dealt with." My eyes focused more on my little brother, as he seemed to have a trouble keeping his feet attached to the floor. I sighed. "But I'm sure I'll have time for it tonight."
"Yes!" Mokuba jumped up into the air with a fist. "It's great that I actually get to help you with the game this time! I was mad when you left me out of the last one."
I had been fond of that game. It had great ideas, but after what we went through inside of there, I wasn't planning anything of that nature again. It would take years, maybe more than most would be willing to spend, on something so frivolous. But then, I had made games my life's work.
"At least you said I could be myself this time. You know how embarrassing that would have been if you'd released that?"
I did have a faint smile for that remark. "It couldn't be helped. You have such long hair if I'd have made you a male back in those times, it would have been unrealistic. We've had this conversation already though, haven't we?"
Mokuba pouted before practically skipping across the room to the door, going to close it before ducking back in before he left. "I'm here to stop you from doing it this time. Don't forget, you promised."
The door shut and all I could think was that I made no such promise, I merely surmised that I might have time for it tonight.
Setting the rest of the paperwork in front of me, I went over where all the income from the latest business merger was going, as well as all the new financial ties we had. I had to calculate in some of the payroll for long time employees who were due for a raise as well as maintenance and the bills for this building along with the costs of the jet. I'd only used it once this month but it needed to be refueled again, as well as checked over due to not being used often. After counting up the money from all the other companies that we was working with, as well as the store fronts and other building's income and costs. I put my fingers to my head, feeling a headache come on.
The fools that thought running a game company was simple - no, a gaming empire - should try just one hour of walking in my shoes.
There was a knock at the door that made me look up.
"Um. Sorry for bothering you, Seto, but it's getting late and I'm getting hungry."
"Go eat. I'm nearly done. After this I'll meet you in the basement."
"Kay, but you should eat something too."
The door closed again and I stood. I needed to take something for the headache or I wouldn't he able to concentrate on the project.
Project Shinryū was going to he be my masterpiece, and no two-faced company morons were going to get in my way this time. I had all the basics set up, as well as the mechanics, and Mokuba seemed to more than enjoy it. This was going to remake the game of Duel Monsters.
After taking some pain medication I made my way downstairs, the lights on and the pods ready. My idea had always been sound and it would be again. This time though, there were no bugs. The world could be left any time and the only reason there were covers that I hadn't planned on using again for my newly crafted pods - along with the new design to imitate certain Duel Monsters and the extra comfort and monitors to the chairs themselves - was protect any personal items and the participants themselves. While they were automatic, once the power was cut and, thus, the game ended, they became manually removable. It would be expensive and time consuming, but I had a plan for them this time.
Mokuba practically ran into me as I came in the room. "Here." He handed me some sort of thrown together sandwich that my kid brother had obviously put together himself. "I know you didn't go out to get food so I made this."
"Thanks." I guess. I had to admit I might need it. If we were going to be testing out the pods again for the next hour or two, it'd help.
I'd moved the pods for testing down into development. While there were a few people besides myself who could now enter, for the most part the new game had remained only my brother's and my own. I watched the door, making sure the keypad secured it before going over to the first pod. It wasn't like my prototype from before. This one was entirely white, the seat inside synthetic leather, and was crafted as if you were lying on the back of a Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
"Are we going to play this time or look for bugs still? The regeneration program still seems off."
"I know. I was going to try and fix that up this afternoon but I ran short on time." I might be able to get to it tomorrow or the next day if nothing came up.
My old headsets were out of style. Ever since virtual reality had shot up in popularity, I found myself competing with others for the latest in gear. While the program was still far too heavy for most computer systems to run, the rest of the mechanic I was able to adapt for the future. I went over and grabbed new headsets from the few lying on the table. This one only covered the eyes, speakers were built in to rest just above the ears. The pods now functioned on a half mental and half physical level. The trance-like state the game now put people under had worked on most everyone I had tested but I was sure when it went into beta that there would be a few it didn't work on and I'd need to make modifications.
The set was all adjustable, though they did come in two separate sizes based on how old a person was. I was holding off marketing to anyone under five for the time being. I wasn't going to mess with children who couldn't control all their body functions.
"Cool. I was only able to get half my deck, since we haven't had much time. I still haven't found all the monsters I want." Mokuba went over and grabbed a headset of his own. If there was one thing I would say about my kid brother, it was that he didn't know very much fear. He was hesitant when it came to certain things, but fearful wasn't the same thing. I had thought I'd lost him the last time we'd played a VR game – my own and the first of its kind. I was never going to let that happen again. This new simulation was built around safety now, and I didn't want him to ever be put in that situation again.
"To be honest, I haven't finished either." I had gone into my own game with just three cards. I was going to earn the rest, just like I expected all the other players of the game to accomplish.
Duel Monsters were no longer just cards or just companions. In order to gain one, you had to want it.
"Ready." Mokuba seated himself inside the pod. I didn't spend much time getting into mine either. The headset had all of my personal data stored on it, so there was no real startup time after the first session. I closed the pod with the press of a button, strapped on the monitor I knew I wouldn't need, and logged into the game.
…
Just like the world outside, though I hadn't done more than look out my window, the moon was out and the area was coated in shadow. Mokuba was right near me, though I had made adjustments in-game so we could still talk as if we had an earpiece. It made playing with friends simpler, particularly if they weren't in the same area. The headset did all the work as long as you set voice chat on through the virtual menu that you could access on a cell phone given to all players that usually hung on the side of the dueling deck pouch around the waist. I'd made a few in-game options available if you had the right amount of virtual money to afford them. Nothing here needed to be gained through actual payment, though I knew developers never liked it when I made myself clear on that stance.
Mokuba laughed. "This is so cool. It feels just like I'm outside." My little brother dropped into the grass, staring up at the virtual stars. Mokuba lifted his hand instead of searching through his deck for the card he wanted, another feature that I was proud of. Besides visual cues, the game could recognize spoken ones. I'd even built in a reorganization function for sign language. "I summon Faith Bird!"
I watched as the programming brought up the creature, making sure it was up to standards. I had been afraid for a while and had to think on how I would handle flight in this game. There was a height limit now and if anyone fell without a creature they wouldn't get more than ten feet before the game logged them out and they woke up. They could easily start back again and the default would place them on the closest solid land mass from where they fell. That add-on made the fear of falling in the game a lot less of a drawback.
The bird, a blue one and about Mokuba's own height, paced in front of him before sitting down next to him. I watched, a smile pulling at my lips. "You're going to go hunting in the mountains again?"
Mokuba nodded. "You hid a lot of good cards at the top and I'm looking for some more winged-beasts to add to my deck."
"You know those are weak, Mokuba. I told you, you're going to need a better deck than that before this game goes public."
"That's a long time from now. Don't worry about it." Mokuba got up, the Duel Monster getting up with him. The bird didn't seem to mind his weight at all as Mokuba climbed on. "Besides, there are some crystals up there."
"Who's stopping you?"
Mokuba nodded. I didn't know how my kid brother could get so happy just by telling me things like that. I watched him take off.
My own deck was in a pouch at my side. When there was no dueling active, the cards stayed there so they could be summoned any time to help with the challenges I'd built into the game. The cards, unlike before, were monsters first and foremost and had to be recruited to be able to turn into cards and join your deck, or received at the end of a quest. Only one could be physically summoned at a time, outside of a duel.
I stuck out his hand as Mokuba had. "I summon Thunder Dragon!"
There was a roar and a strong breeze as the dragon emerged from the ground, flying upward before curling around and lowering his head to me. I'd just needed a monster tamed to make sure that the code was running smoothly. It would have a long time in beta to check each and every one. Though most of their personalities were the same as on the cards, a few had been changed to make sure that younger kids weren't afraid to log in.
Since even virtually it was hard to ride some of these dragons, I'd added a saddle into one of the shops that was built to fit any monster. Items were portrayed as cards to be easily carried, and any number of those could be summoned at once. I lifted one of my own, knowing it was completely unnecessary since I had no issues riding most Duel Monsters, but I had to check for any flaws in the system.
A black saddled appeared on its back and, at my command, the dragon lowered his head for me to climb on. The handles were Mokuba's design, as were about half of the items in the accessory shop in town.
"Up!"
The dragon took off, giving me time to judge the wind, the sights, and the smells that the game had to offer. It was night so the settings were a little different, but they were all working properly.
I breathed out, a thin mist forming in front of me due to the height and the time of day. The game played out in real time.
The air smelled fresh and I'd admit only to myself that after a long day at work, it was nice. This is what I wanted my games to do.
Simple thought alone wasn't enough for the creatures though. I had to direct the dragon, scanning over landscapes where dozen of other Duel Monsters were randomly scattered about, most of them in packs, though a few of the more rare monsters were seen alone. Some were even in the skies alongside of me.
None were attacking, and none would, unless provoked. By revolutionizing things, I made sure that gathering Duel Monsters wasn't battle oriented. In this game, each type of monster was only acquired through completing one task or another. For dragons, they had to be given something that shined. Often it was diamonds or emeralds that I'd created in mines or mountain caves. They were rare, but they were there. To get to them, there were puzzles on the way or other strategy based games to get through.
Other types worked the same way. For Mokuba's, he'd had to find the Faith Bird's favorite type of food and offer it. For stronger winged-beast Duel Monsters, the fruits and berries necessary were progressively harder to find.
Of course this game was still my own and I had my three dragons, but even I was binding myself to the rules of the game and would, when it was finished, build up a deck of my own. The regeneration for the trap and magic cards that were hidden throughout the world was still buggy. Some would reappear in the same spots if they were taken, others would have too many of one card show up when they weren't supposed to.
"Seto!"
I looked over at Mokuba as he and his bird flew up slightly beside me, the dragon's wings further back and not risking hitting the other. There was a field around a player and their creature so no contact could be made, but I hadn't tested it out with anything that flew yet.
"What?"
"This is great!" Mokuba's hands went up, the wind blowing his hair behind him. "You're almost done with it! Soon I bet we can even bring in some other people."
Yes, soon. Once the programming was fixed on what I already knew was wrong. "I thought you were going to the mountains."
"I did!" Mokuba showed off a clear quartz crystal. "This is all I needed." It just as soon turned into a card in his hand, making my brother smile. "You know, you're a genius!"
"Please. Anyone who cared to put their mind to something as simple as this would have been able to do it." Even from my brother, it was hard to take the compliment. It was only after Pegasus that I really decided to do more with my resources. There was no way someone like him was going to get away showing me up, and I'd come a long way since the duel discs.
Mokuba sighed. "You know, is it so hard for you to take a compliment?" When I said nothing back, Mokuba dropped the conversation. "Any chance you're actually going to start playing?"
"No. It's not fair to the other players. You're more of a tester and it's more advantageous, as well as fair, to have you pick out what you need with the time that the game is still being tested. Here." I tossed him a card. It disappeared when it left my hand and reappeared in front of Mokuba as he reached his hand out. "That I found. Keep it."
Mokuba looked it over before sliding it into the deck at his side. "Thanks. You know having yourself at the same level as everyone else though might pose problems. As long as you accept a duel before your have your deck, people can duel you."
"I'm not afraid of losing. I made this game and I know its secrets. That gives me the advantage, as well as having my three trusted cards at my side. If anyone is foolish enough to try and duel me before I find all the cards I need, they'll be the ones who are sorry."
"There you go, talking like you could never lose. Well if you do, I can always take over."
Mokuba's smile was cute enough, it had swayed me a few times before, but my brother couldn't duel himself out of a paper bag most of the time. He had been learning a lot, but I'd never seen Mokuba put any of it into practice before. In fact, now that I was thinking of it, I hadn't seen my brother duel in a fair battle in a long time.
"You're not going to try that with those stupid birds of yours, are you?"
"Of course not just them. I'm not an idiot. You can't win with just effect monsters. Just wait. You'll see. I'll build a great deck and even you will have a hard time beating me."
"I don't suppose you'd like to take over Kaiba Corp when that happens, would you?"
Mokuba looked kind of uncomfortable after that. "No… why would I? That's you're job. Just because I'm trying to beat you doesn't stop you from being my big brother."
Maybe I could have worded that better. Mokuba was still far too young anyway. He wasn't me and he didn't have to be. "Just forget it. I was joking. I wouldn't put a kid in charge of the company."
"Well… you were a kid when you took over."
"That was different." That was very different. Mokuba was normal. He didn't need to worry about anything more than the duties he was already given at the company, which were already far above is age level.
We flew over the desert area after we left the mountains. It was large but we were just dealing with the outskirts of all the various landscapes right now. I'd deal with the rest when I had more time to individually check each one. The water was proving to be one of the hardest. The mind could be tricked into feeling it though, and I had made it so drowning was impossible. It just took some time.
…
…
Six months later
…
"This is so exciting!" Mokuba was bouncing around me, the reservations for playing the game having sold out the day before, to those first fifty who had been in line. That was only at the main Kaiba Land branch. The gaming areas that I'd had to build around the cities were expensive, but it meant the public didn't to pay for the pods and I'd be able to open the other areas up and more people would have a chance to play after I was sure there were no bugs. It was being released as a beta for now and I'd keep it that way until I was completely happy with it. A thousand yen a session was nothing, and most of those out there should easily be able to afford it. I had set up an online application for those from lower income households to apply for to get in for free as long as there weren't people trying to take advantage of the system that shouldn't.
We wouldn't see any profit for this gaming venture in this year alone but it would eventually pay for itself. I was using it more as a publicity stunt after all the failed launches and mergers that had happened within the company.
The first several floors of Kaiba Corp were now gaming areas for the new project, though I had kept the others active as well, if not moving a few. I would be in a personal one upstairs. I'd had far too many people after me that I wasn't going to risk the public as well, and Mokuba would never have agreed to play in a separate room if I hadn't agreed as well.
"Calm down. The game isn't going anywhere." I stared down at my kid brother. Mokuba had been playing this game with only me for far too long now. "And thanks. It looks like everything is going according to plan this time."
"You're playing the country-wide launch with everyone next month, after we're sure, even though we already are, that everything is up and running correctly, right? I guess having a deck already is kind of unfair, but maybe I can help the other players."
"You do that." The game itself came with no instructions. The capturing of monsters was explained at the shops scattered throughout the different starting areas, depending on which surrounding a person chose, and I was sure word of mouth would travel just as fast.
"Come on, Seto. You could at least act a little excited. After all, you never really played it yet either. You also refused to let me see the storyline, so I have no idea where your having the game go."
"No, but considering I made up all rules, the quests, the landscapes as well as the hidden areas and secret monsters that are scattered around, playing it won't matter much now." The randomization of the Duel Monsters was going to make finding particular ones hard, but I could easily narrow down my search area. I also still had Thunder Dragon so there wouldn't be players swarming me if I summoned Blue-Eyes.
Mokuba looked disappointed at my response. "You still have to duel me first when you're done."
"You have to beat the game. That's the only way to duel me and I made sure it isn't going to be easy. Of course, that means you have to fight yourself first."
"Myself?"
"I'm the final boss in this game. You're the second." I had it set up that, after seven of the nine hardest tasks in the game were completed and the story-line was finished, there was a secret battle area with, of course, a final boss. There, there are innumerous NPCs that would battle those who challenged them. If they won, they would go on to battle Mokuba's gaming counterpart.
While I had the idea of making Mokuba himself play the part of the person testing the participants, he wanted to be a player more than a named character in the game. I had gone with his wishes and made sure that, this time, he was a male. What reaction he would have when he came face to face with himself would not be my problem.
If they succeeded after that, I had it set so the game would take the player to the next area where they would put in their personal information as the game analyzed, then and they were able to publicly dual me with remakes of whatever their virtual deck was or their real one if they chose.
Of course, they didn't have to do that. Mokuba's counterpart was the one that would lead challengers to the villain of the virtual game. They could choose to duel me either in the game, publicly, or for both the duel and the storyline. It was up to them, since I wasn't an NPC and wouldn't be playing out the storyline at the same time I was having a legitimate duel with someone. After the first week my character was going to be replaced with an NPC because I couldn't be there all the time.
Once I finished up with some contracts, the game could even been spread as soon as next week, if I wanted to take it out of beta so soon. The issue lay with making sure that there were multiple severs that could be jumped between to make sure everyone wound up where they wanted and with who they wanted to be with. While I would like to have it all on one server, even my own computers couldn't keep up with that kind of demand.
Tonight I'd be playing with Mokuba, just to make sure there weren't any last minute changes I wanted to make. Once everyone logged in I'd have to test the game's capabilities fully.
"Even with the rain everyone stood out, waiting to be a part of this. It's so much fun! We can have whatever Duel Monsters we want now, as long as we try for them. And I'm sure no one could hack through your system and try to cheat."
"They'd be a fool if they did. Not only is the software I built in able to locate where they'd be transmitting from, but it comes with a fun little bug of my own so I can find them. Of course, they'll only get far enough to find my firewall when this all happens. Getting past it is impossible." I was not about to let someone like Pegasus get into my main frame again. It was locked up with all the protection and coding I could give it, and I'd be checking any suspicious IP activity daily.
"Why do you keep testing the game out anyway? You and I both know it works fine." Mokuba walked beside me. It was early morning and I was still planning on getting a few things settled as far as numbers went before lunch.
"Virtual reality is still new in a sense that, besides a headset and a small machine that can support it, nothing this large scale or with these graphics have been produced before besides by myself, and we both know how that went. I'm not going to release something and then find that I made a mistake somewhere. I don't think you need to be reminded about the last time a project went wrong."
Mokuba lowered his head. "No, I guess not, but this time you made sure no one touched the game and no soul can get past your firewalls. I know you built it from the framework up, and I'm sure you would have fixed any little thing that was wrong."
"It's still a lot of power, and as far as I'm concerned, will remain in beta even after it's released until I know for sure it's working properly."
"I'd say you worry too much if I didn't know you were right most of the time."
I stopped and looked down at my little brother. "Most of the time?"
Mokuba took a hand, wiping his nose and smiling at me with remorseful eyes - as if he were apologizing and laughing at me at the same time. "You've been wrong a few times and you know it. You were the one who started up the first virtual reality game when I told you not to."
Mokuba had a point there. I'd just been happy that it had been finished. If I was being true to myself, now that Project Shinryū was done, I was eager to start it up right now as well. We all had to wait, both those now allowed inside and my brother and I. I had said six, and six it would be. That was still a few hours away and I had been planning on overseeing, not playing.
I wanted to see my creation come to life. Finding my hand falling to my side, I drew my real Blue Eyes White Dragon card. In all the testing, I still had never summoned the dragon.
A smile crossed my face, though I didn't take notice of it until after. I could always start the game up early, just to be sure. Lunch could wait.
"Seto, can with wait two seconds? I didn't know you were going to want to log in right away and I kind of have to go to the bathroom."
"Better hurry." I smiled at my little brother, seeing an annoyed look in return before he ran off in the direction of the bathroom.
"You'd better not start it before me!"
Still smirking at his reaction, I went into elevator, going up to his personal room. The windows along the edges of it let me look at the dozens and dozens of other similar pods while keeping the two in here secure. Maybe one day a computer site, as well as the machine, would be able to host a game like this. Until then, it had to be run off my own supercomputers. It meant I couldn't make it any more widespread than my thermals in my own parks, but I was sure given time I could find a way to mass market the technology to the world.
