The next day, Lin Baicheng brought along Yamada Hideyoshi and Miyamoto Shigeru to visit Taitō Corporation.
By now, Yamada Hideyoshi had practically become Lin Baicheng's personal interpreter.
Even with an interpreter, communication wasn't exactly smooth, so Lin Baicheng had already decided that once he returned to Hong Kong, he would hire someone to teach him Japanese. He didn't plan to become fluent—just enough for daily conversation.
Not only Japanese—he also intended to learn English. After all, Lin Baicheng knew that in the future, he would definitely be doing business in the United States. Both the Lin Baicheng from before his rebirth and the one from Hong Kong already had some knowledge of English. He just needed to strengthen it, and with that foundation, he believed he could reach conversational fluency fairly quickly.
When Lin Baicheng and his companions arrived at Taitō Corporation, they were first greeted by an old acquaintance—Nakanishi Akio. Soon after, they met the company's owner, Mikhail.
Mikhail was originally a Jewish man of Russian origin, but he had since obtained Japanese citizenship. He held the majority of Taitō's shares, making him the true owner of the company.
Unlike Nintendo and other publicly listed corporations, Taitō Corporation was privately held. This wasn't because Mikhail was stingy, but simply because he disliked the constraints that came with being listed—publicly disclosing financial data, having every business decision reviewed and approved by shareholders, and so on. Those practices clashed with the typical business style of Jewish entrepreneurs.
Ironically, Taitō's lack of public listing later became its downfall. Without access to outside investment, the company's financial troubles eventually led to its acquisition, while Nintendo—its competitor—survived and grew ever stronger.
For a non-listed company like Taitō, unless its games could consistently generate profit, one bad year could prove fatal. Without financing channels, recovery would be nearly impossible.
"Very glad to meet you, Mr. Lin," said Mikhail.
"I'm equally pleased to meet you, President Mikhail," Lin replied, shaking his hand before introducing Miyamoto Shigeru and Yamada Hideyoshi.
After chatting briefly, Mikhail had Nakanishi Akio take Lin and his group on a company tour—he was far too busy a man to personally act as a guide.
Taitō Corporation indeed lived up to its reputation as a major company. Its departments worked in coordination, its workshops were bustling with hundreds of employees, and its facilities were advanced—a true corporate powerhouse.
Compared to Taitō, Xinghe Games (Galaxy Games) still looked like a small operation. But since Xinghe was currently expanding and hiring more employees, Lin Baicheng believed that it was only a matter of time before it stood on equal—or even superior—footing with companies like Taitō.
That much confidence, Lin Baicheng certainly had.
After visiting the workshops and offices, Nakanishi brought Lin and the others to the game development department—the heart and soul of any gaming company.
"Mr. Lin, allow me to introduce you," said Nakanishi. "This is Nishikado Tomohiro, head of our game development division. Mr. Nishikado, this is Mr. Lin Baicheng from Xinghe Games—the man who singlehandedly developed Hong Kong Blocks."
"Mr. Lin, it's an honor to meet you. Hong Kong Blocks is truly a work of creativity," said Nishikado enthusiastically. He was excited to meet a fellow game designer and hoped they could exchange ideas.
"I'm honored to meet you as well, Director Nishikado," Lin replied.
The name Nishikado Tomohiro sounded familiar to Lin. If his memory was correct, this man was indeed a well-known figure in the game industry—though not as famous as Miyamoto Shigeru or Yokoi Gunpei.
That made sense. Miyamoto and Yokoi worked for Nintendo, the gaming giant of the 1980s and 1990s, so their fame was naturally immense.
Taitō, while currently Japan's largest game company, would eventually decline. As it faded from the spotlight, even figures like Nishikado Tomohiro—brilliant as they were—would be gradually forgotten.
Nishikado gave Lin's group an overview of Taitō's development history and even allowed them to see the game currently in production. Since patents had already been filed, the company wasn't worried about imitation.
The game was called Space Invaders.
Lin was immediately captivated. The game was nearly identical to one he had been planning to develop himself—his own project was to be an improved adaptation of Space Invaders, another fixed shooter game.
From his memories, Lin knew Space Invaders as a legendary title from around 1979 or 1980. He hadn't known which company created it—until now.
This changed everything. With the original creator right in front of him, and the game already a month into development with patents secured, it would be impossible for Lin to release a similar product without being accused of infringement—and losing that case was almost certain.
In other words, Lin had to pivot—choose a different game to develop. Fortunately, his mind was filled with classics from the future, so he still had plenty of options.
During their conversation, Lin learned that Nishikado had been inspired by Star Wars, which had just been released that year. He had seen the movie during a trip to America, and that experience had sparked the creation of Space Invaders.
Lin could only regret missing his chance to create a legend of his own—but there was no helping it. Developing such a game alone would have taken him far too long. Starting with a simpler title like Hong Kong Blocks had been the right move. By the time he finally had the money and manpower to tackle something bigger, it was already too late.
That evening, Lin and his companions dined with Taitō's executives to strengthen relations.
The next day, Lin departed Japan and returned to Hong Kong.
Miyamoto Shigeru, however, stayed behind. He needed time to recruit additional game development talent before heading to Hong Kong with Yamada Hideyoshi.
That suited Lin just fine—it gave him a chance to select the next game project and lay the groundwork so that once Miyamoto and his new team arrived, development could begin immediately.