Chapter 139: Career Choice

Japan, Tokyo, Shinjuku, Waseda University.

Four young men in their early twenties sat around a mahjong table, playing Japanese riichi mahjong.

"Ron! Thirteen Orphans! Yakuman!"

The twenty two year old Kojima pushed over the tiles in front of him, revealing an absolutely textbook Thirteen Orphans hand to the other three players.

"You bastard, you've really got nerves of steel. You actually dared to go for Thirteen Orphans."

"I just got lucky. Let's call it a day. I'm happy with that."

Looking at his three friends who were still grumbling nonstop, Kojima laughed heartily and mixed his tiles back into the wall.

"No way, no way. One last round."

How could the three of them possibly accept that? They immediately stopped Kojima, who was about to leave.

"Oi, Kojima. By the way, have you figured out what you're going to do after graduation?"

The four of them were graduating this month.

Although Waseda University was already one of Japan's top universities, the four of them had spent almost their entire four years either chatting and fooling around in this room or playing video games.

There was hardly any time left to actually study. Not to mention that Kojima had majored in the exceptionally boring subject of economics.

"You really want to work for a game company?"

A Waseda economics graduate planning to join a game company as a game planner, it sounded downright ridiculous.

"Of course!"

Kojima answered without even needing to think.

Only video games, the perfect medium for entertainment, could truly express what he wanted to create. Ever since middle school, Kojima had been studying screenwriting for films and had even taught himself cinematography.

Yet the deeper he studied, the more he realized the limitations of film as a medium. Some things could only be expressed through the emerging medium of video games.

"Have you decided which company? Konami? Sega? Or, Nintendo?"

"Hah, I'd love to, but whether they'd even want me is another matter."

Kojima smiled helplessly.

If possible, joining Nintendo, the undisputed king of Japan's video game industry, would naturally be the ideal outcome, but he was just a fresh college graduate whose major wasn't even related.

"Come on. One more game, then we're done."

"No, I gotta go. I still need to buy a game."

Standing in front of the store shelf, Kojima stared at Dragon Quest for quite some time before finally taking it down. Originally, he had only planned to buy this newly released RPG that everyone in gaming circles had been praising. But at that moment, something else caught his attention.

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Momotaro Dentetsu.

What a completely baffling title. Yet precisely because it was so strange, it drew his eyes to it even more.

"Hmm... could this be Nintendo's newest game?"

The style really did look like something Nintendo's first-party studios would make.

"Well, since I'm already buying Dragon Quest, one more game won't hurt."

Kojima picked up the Momotaro Dentetsu game case for a closer look, only to do a double take. The logos of Game Freak and GAMENOVA were printed right at the bottom of the case, announcing exactly who had developed it.

"Seriously? This is actually a GAMENOVA game??"

His first thought was that it must have been developed by one of GAMENOVA's Japanese outsourcing studios. Then his eyes moved to the cover art.

A little boy dressed in a white train conductor's uniform, wearing a golden peach emblem on his hat and a peach insignia on his sleeve. No matter how he looked at it, it was clearly the classic image of Momotaro from Japanese folklore.

GAMENOVA had developed a game with a completely Japanese style?

"It's even available on both handheld and home consoles."

As a hardcore gamer, Kojima was no stranger to GAMENOVA. Rather, he had long since become one of its fans.

Metal Gear was truly a masterpiece!

In Kojima's eyes, Metal Gear had just as much potential as Fire Emblem. It was a shame that it had been created too early, before the hardware was advanced enough to fully bring many of its ideas to life.

Kojima could sense the vision hidden behind Metal Gear. A stealth game, what a brilliant concept!

Unfortunately, GAMENOVA was still a foreign company. Unlike KONAMI, it had no Japanese recruitment system or campus hiring program, so even if he wanted to apply, he had no opportunity to submit a resume.

"A party game... that could work. The guys and I have been looking for something new to play lately anyway."

After briefly reading the game's description, Kojima decisively added it to today's shopping list.

When Kojima returned to the university dormitory, he noticed an extra letter waiting for him in his mailbox.

The sender was listed as Konami Group Corporation, and the moment he saw the name, he immediately tore open the envelope. He had recently submitted his resume to Konami along with one of his game design proposals, so he already had a good idea of what it might contain.

[Employment Offer Notice]

[Mr. Hideo Kojima]

Just those opening two lines made his breathing stop.

After confirming several times that the sender really was Konami, he continued reading with burning anticipation. This was undoubtedly an offer letter!

[Department: MSX Game Division]

[Position: Game Planner]

"The MSX Game Division?"

Kojima paused, caught completely off guard by what was written inside.

This position was completely different from what he had imagined. The MSX was a low-end personal computer, nowhere near the same level as Nintendo's Famicom or Sega's Master System, let alone the NovaBox.

Even a performance monster like the NovaBox couldn't fully satisfy a designer's wild imagination. On the MSX, it would be even less possible.

"Sigh... well, it makes sense. I'm just a fresh college graduate. How could I possibly be assigned directly to a core development department?"

He had originally hoped to develop games for the Famicom or arcades right from the start. Even so, receiving an offer from Konami was still an unexpected delight. But the more he read, the more that excitement gradually gave way to disappointment.

Although the letter was carefully worded and unfailingly polite, he understood exactly what it was really saying.

The game proposal you submitted has been carefully reviewed. We found your concept highly original and were genuinely impressed by its creativity.

However, after multiple rounds of internal discussion, we have concluded that it would be difficult to formally approve this project at the present stage.

Unfortunately, the primary reason is...

He didn't need to read any further.

It was polite corporate language, but the message was clear enough. They didn't want anything to do with a game about war as the mainstream market still preferred colorful action games or RPGs with simple mechanics.

Kojima quietly finished reading the entire letter before folding it carefully and slipping it back into the envelope.

No matter what, at least he had secured a job. Maybe once he joined Konami and thoroughly explained his plans to them, they would change their minds.

Perhaps he'd even have the chance to be transferred directly into Konami's main development division and create games for dedicated gaming platforms like the Famicom.

Thinking that, Kojima decided not to dwell on it any longer and pushed open the door.

"Guys, I got Dragon Quest, oh, right, and this too, Momotaro Dentetsu. Want to give it a try together?"