After completing the preliminary prenatal caregiver training, Nakayama Takuya returned to work.
He had barely sat down in his office when Aizawa, leader of Arcade Division Two, knocked and entered with several of his core team members.
"Executive Director, thank goodness you're finally back!"
Aizawa was a stout man with a booming voice, his hands covered in calluses—one look and you knew he had spent years wrestling arcade joysticks.
Takuya smiled and invited them in, and the office instantly felt cramped.
"So," he asked, "I trust you've been briefed?"
Aizawa nodded vigorously. "Yes, sir! A major project from America. Based on a bestselling science-fiction novel!"
"You all finished reading the novel?"
Takuya glanced across their faces.
All of them immediately raised their hands, excitement lingering in their expressions.
One of the art leads behind Aizawa couldn't hold back.
"Executive Director, we passed that book around until everyone finished it. It's incredible! That T-rex—my god, just from the descriptions, my head was full of scenes!"
The others chimed in, clearly still shaken by the novel's impact—especially on this group who specialized in "muscles and magic" action games.
Takuya raised a hand, calming them. "Good. I'm glad you like the story. Now—have you gone to Group Five to look at the new System32 board?"
At this, the excitement on Aizawa's face faded, replaced by seriousness.
"We have. To be honest, at first we thought those guys in Group Five were bragging. Saying things like 'anything you see on screen can explode' and 'activity blocks so plentiful you can waste them.'"
He took a breath.
"But then we saw their test demo. That screen—was insane! We counted: in a single screen, just the soldiers and debris fragments used over a hundred activity blocks, all with full, smooth animation! This is the most powerful board I've ever seen!"
His team looked equally fired up, imagining what kind of game they could build with such hardware.
"Excellent."
Takuya leaned forward, tapping the desk lightly.
"I've seen your Golden Axe II. Strong, solid action—that's your specialty. And that's exactly why I chose your team."
Pride flashed across their faces.
"But—" He switched gears. "Using System32, you cannot rely on Golden Axe-style simplicity anymore. This is a 32-bit board. You must push every capability it has. Visuals, gameplay—everything must jump up several levels."
Aizawa immediately straightened his posture. "Please instruct us."
Takuya stood, walked to the whiteboard, and grabbed a marker.
"First—characters. Golden Axe had three musclebound fighters. This time, we go more ambitious."
He drew a stick figure.
"Based on the novel, we'll design at least three completely different protagonists."
"One: the Security Captain. A pure believer in solving problems with overwhelming force. This is your specialty. Big, strong, carries a shotgun, can fist-fight small dinosaurs like raptors if needed. Straightforward and brutal. Perfect for players who want simplicity."
"Second: the Scientist."
The team exchanged confused glances. A scientist? How does that fight?
"The scientist is frail. Can't fight. A single scratch from a small dinosaur causes heavy damage. His starting weapon is a stun baton… that also needs charging."
A young programmer snorted. "Executive Director, who would pick that? Sounds like a token-feeder."
"Good question," Takuya replied. "That's why he can craft items. Anything you pick up—junk parts, wires, batteries, chemicals—he can combine into unexpected tools. For example: a speaker, battery, and circuitry can become a device that temporarily disperses small dinosaurs. Or he can overload his stun baton with a car battery and zap the T-rex with a hundred thousand volts. He uses his brain."
"Crafting…?" Aizawa scratched his head. New territory.
"Exactly. Others can craft too, but not as efficiently. And crafting items will consume resources—we'll tune the numbers so players must think carefully. High power, high cost. A precision role."
Takuya took a sip of coffee.
"Lastly—and the most interesting: the Beast Tamer. An expert in animal behavior."
He smiled.
"He can gather special food and use certain tools to tame small dinosaurs. Imagine having a pack of Compsognathus as your little henchmen, ganging up on enemies. Or taming a pterosaur to carry you across cliffs and access rare items."
"T—tame dinosaurs?!" The art lead almost jumped.
The team stared, stunned—then gradually their expressions shifted to awe, then fervor.
A combination of action, strategy, and light creature-raising—this was a whole new dimension.
Takuya gestured for calm. "That's just the foundation."
Then he drew a jeep on the whiteboard, with a massive dinosaur snarling behind it.
"Simple brawling won't cut it. With System32, the scrolling speed can be cranked sky-high."
"This game won't just be a linear side-scroller. We're adding vehicle chase sequences. Imagine barreling through the jungle in a jeep while a T-rex charges behind you, ready to bite at any moment. Trees fall, boulders roll—randomized obstacles every run so players can't just memorize routes. And the tools you bring affect your options."
Aizawa inhaled sharply, palms sweating just from the description.
"Boss fights too!" Takuya added. "No more standing still and trading blows. Use the environment! Everything in the scene is a weapon. Lure the T-rex to a high-voltage fence and activate it! Blow up barrels under its feet! In a storage room fight against raptors, burst a nitrogen tank to freeze them! I want battles of wits, not stat-checking!"
The team was silent—utterly overwhelmed.
After a long moment, Aizawa finally snapped back to reality, eyes burning with excitement and the thrill of a massive technical challenge.
He slapped his thigh hard.
"Understood!"
"Executive Director, if we can pull all this off, the entire arcade industry will explode! But… crafting systems—we have no experience."
"That's easy," Takuya said. "Ask the RPG teams. They're good with systems and item logic. I'll tell them to cooperate. You may even give them new ideas in return."
Aizawa winced with hesitation.
"Executive Director… RPG designers like slow pacing and heavy numbers. We do fast action. I'm afraid they might… derail the game."
"I know your concern." Takuya smiled. "I don't want you turning Jurassic Park into a turn-based RPG. I want you to learn from them."
"Learn?"
"Yes. RPG designers are experts in building systems. They know how to make complex rules intuitive. But you must turn their menu-heavy systems into one-button action!"
He gave an example:
"Scientist picks up a battery. Later picks up a wire. When he stands next to a broken electric fence, a big 'REPAIR' icon flashes. One attack button press—boom! Fence fixed, raptors fried. That's action-game logic."
Aizawa's eyes lit up instantly.
He understood—completely.
Hide complexity under the hood. Deliver only the most direct, satisfying feedback to the player.
He stood up straight and bowed deeply.
"Executive Director—leave it to us! Division Two will handle Jurassic Park! You have my word!"
After sending them out, Takuya rubbed his temples, feeling as if he had just commanded a battlefield.
He had barely settled back into his chair when his assistant called:
"Executive Director, Hardware Development says the Sega-CD prototype unit is assembled. They ask if you could come test it."
Takuya looked at the mountain of documents on his desk.
"…Got it."
He finished his paperwork first. By the time he signed the last sheet and dropped it into the "Completed" box, it was already 3:30 p.m.
Then he headed to Hardware Development.
At the center of the department, a cleared workbench drew everyone's focus.
Beside a Mega Drive console sat a black, square add-on—the Sega-CD prototype. A tangle of test wires connected it to a monitor and a data-tracking computer.
On the TV screen was the MD version of DDR.
Takuya didn't interrupt. He watched quietly.
The loading bar at the top raced, but gameplay remained perfectly smooth—no stutters at all.
When the song ended, Department Head Nakamura finally noticed him and rushed over.
"Executive Director! When did you arrive?"
"Just now. Looks like the test is going well?"
"Very well!" Nakamura led him to the monitoring PC. "Look—addressing and read speeds match the design spec almost exactly."
Takuya checked the comparison data.
Exactly what he needed.
"And the development kit?" he asked. "The software teams are itching to get started."
Nakamura straightened proudly.
"End of the month! By month's end, the first fully functional dev kit will be delivered."
"Good."
Takuya patted his shoulder, glanced once more at the sleek black prototype, and left the department.
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