Chapter 235: Blizzard

A few days ago, Nancy Brill mentioned over the phone her desire to try her hand at video game production. Simon didn't object but outright rejected her request for licensing rights to adapt Marvel superhero characters or the Tolkien series into games.

Marvel superheroes and the Middle-earth series are among the most precious brands in Daenerys Entertainment's copyright portfolio, and Simon would not allow these two projects to be developed lightly without adequate assurance.

Unexpectedly, after being rejected, Nancy Brill acquired the game adaptation rights for "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."

Simon had previously played the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" video game from the Nintendo Entertainment System era.

In the original timeline, the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" series of video games were developed by the renowned Japanese game manufacturer Konami and became one of Konami's best-selling series.

The first "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" game sold four million copies worldwide within a year of its release, bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars in net profit for Konami. The subsequent sequels were also highly profitable.

After ending the call with Sofia Fesi, Simon began to carefully review the game planning proposal for "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."

Nancy Brill had acquired the game development rights for "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" for just $200,000, a figure similar to what Daenerys Films paid last year for the movie adaptation rights. However, this time the licensing agreement included a clause for a 5% net profit share.

If the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" game developed by Daenerys Entertainment achieves success similar to Konami's, even just this 5% share of net profits would be a significant amount.

However, Simon was not surprised.

Daenerys Entertainment was new to the field of video game production. If they didn't offer a high price, the rights holders would obviously prefer to sell the rights to well-known game manufacturers.

Moreover, if the entire "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" game series could bring Daenerys Entertainment profits of the billion-dollar level in the coming years, Simon wouldn't mind paying a profit share of $50 million to Phantom Studios.

Continuing to read through the proposal, the total budget of $2 million also satisfied Simon.

The operational model of the initial studio indicated that Nancy Brill was not blindly pursuing perfection. She was well aware that Daenerys Entertainment was a newcomer in the gaming field, and the development of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" was more like an attempt to accumulate experience.

However, the type of game she planned to develop was quite different from the Konami version Simon remembered.

The Konami version of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" that Simon played was an action role-playing game, with a story based on the animated series depicting the turtles' rescue mission. Nancy's proposal, however, was to develop a fighting game.

During this era, the most popular games on the market were mainly action-adventure and shooting games, like Nintendo's "Super Mario" and Konami's "Contra." There were hardly any successful fighting games.

Capcom's "Street Fighter" was first released in 1987 but did not make much of an impact. In Simon's memory, it wasn't until "Street Fighter II" in 1991 that the series began to peak.

"Street Fighter II" not only set sales records for Capcom but was also considered one of the greatest video games of all time by many media outlets.

Currently, there was no phenomenon-level fighting game like "Street Fighter II" on the market, so this gap in content was actually an opportunity for game developers.

In the planning proposal, Nancy Brill specifically mentioned this and indicated that this was why she planned to position "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" as a fighting game.

Moreover, Nancy pointed out that one important factor limiting the development of fighting games was the hardware platform.

The most popular gaming console on the market, the Nintendo Entertainment System, was still an 8-bit machine with over 90% market share. However, Sega had already released the 16-bit Sega Genesis, and Nintendo was busily preparing their own 16-bit console, marking a key period of generational change in the game console market.

Compared to 8-bit, 16-bit consoles would offer a leap in game capacity and display technology, providing better hardware support for fighting games. Therefore, the development of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" would be based directly on the 16-bit console platform.

After reading the proposal, Simon couldn't help but admire Nancy Brill's comprehensive consideration. However, he still found a major issue.

Sega's 16-bit console was released last year, and the proposal also stated that Nintendo planned to launch their 16-bit console in July of this year.

The normal development cycle for video games at that time was about 3 to 5 months. If everything went smoothly, Daenerys Entertainment's "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" fighting game could indeed be launched simultaneously with Nintendo's 16-bit console.

However, Simon remembered that due to technical reasons, Nintendo postponed their release several times, only finally launching the 16-bit Super Famicom in November 1990, over a year later than planned, with even later release dates in North America and Europe.

Simon didn't think he, as a 'butterfly', could help Nintendo overcome their technical difficulties.

If the 16-bit Super Famicom were to be delayed, the 16-bit "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" game developed by Daenerys Entertainment would be stuck in limbo. Of course, there were other options, such as Sega's Genesis or the PC platform.

The major game console manufacturers at the time were very dominant.

Even large game companies like Capcom and Konami didn't dare to commit too heavily to multiple platforms, and a newcomer like Daenerys Entertainment had even less room for choice. If they partnered with Sega, they would be shut out by Nintendo.

This situation only began to change in the 1990s with further development of PC games and more intense competition among console manufacturers.

After some consideration, Simon signaled Jennifer to connect him to Nancy Brill on the phone, and he began writing a game setting for the original action role-playing type of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."

Jennifer handed over the phone after connecting, and Simon discussed his 'speculation' that the Super Famicom was likely to be delayed with Nancy, while briefly outlining the development plan for the action role-playing type of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" game.

After discussing for more than twenty minutes on the phone, Nancy said she would thoroughly investigate the development progress of Nintendo's Super Famicom and adjust her plan accordingly.

In the end, Simon also offered an additional budget of $500,000 to Nancy. If it was confirmed that the Super Famicom might be delayed, the company could simultaneously develop two 8-bit "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" games, one being the action role-playing type proposed by Simon and the other the fighting type from Nancy's plan.

Among the two games, the former was for commercial interests. Since Konami's version of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" was so successful, there was no reason to miss out. The latter could be considered an experience-building exercise, as the market gap for fighting-type games was obvious. The success of the "Street Fighter" series would not have been possible without its original foundation. Therefore, such an investment was very worthwhile.

Speaking of which, the scale of the global video game industry was set to rival the film industry in the coming years, making it a field with great potential.

Since he was venturing into it, Simon did not intend to do so half-heartedly.

Therefore, before ending the call, Simon specifically inquired about the name of the studio.

Nancy Brill didn't care much about this issue, casually suggesting following the naming convention of other subsidiaries of Daenerys Entertainment, such as Daenerys Game Studios.

However, Simon did not plan to integrate the gaming business with Daenerys Entertainment and said, "In that case, let's call it Blizzard, Blizzard Studio."

Nancy's voice came through the phone, puzzled, "Blizzard? Does it have any special meaning?"

"Yes, it's a very meaningful name," Simon said. "So, if you mess it up, I will be very disappointed."

Nancy sensed that Simon had no intention of elaborating and didn't ask further, saying, "Okay, boss, I'll start the registration process tomorrow."

After hanging up, Simon realized he had been writing and sketching several drafts without noticing.

He signaled Jennifer to organize them to be sent back to Los Angeles, then glanced at his watch. It was already 11:35 AM, almost lunchtime.

Leaning back in his chair, he closed his eyes to rest, sorting through his schedule for the rest of the day in his mind.

In the afternoon, he needed to review the recently shot samples and discuss some special effects shots with the Daenerys special effects team. In the evening, he was scheduled to start filming another scene.

Batman vs. Deadshot.

Crocodile and Deadshot were two professional assassins hired by Black Mask in the film. Their appearance also laid the groundwork for the potential development of a "Suicide Squad" series in the future.

Opening his eyes again, Simon saw Jennifer bending over at the side of the desk, organizing the documents in front of him. Today, his assistant was wearing a light blue striped shirt and white pants, with a slim fit that made her figure look slender and curvaceous from the side.

Feeling Simon's gaze, Jennifer straightened up and found a topic, asking, "What are we having for lunch?"

Simon continued to appreciate his assistant's graceful figure, asking, "Aren't you disappointed, following me like this?"

Jennifer was momentarily stunned, then shook her head seriously, "Not at all."

Simon said, "I mean, you originally thought Simon Westeros was an artist. But now, he's become a businessman, concerned every day about how to make more money."

Hearing this, Jennifer turned around the desk, leaned on the edge beside Simon, thought for a moment, then simply sat on the desk, kicking off her black high heels. Looking seriously at the man in the leather chair, she said, "I didn't like you because you were an artist, Simon, although you really are great in that area. But I like you because you're different from everyone else in this world, you're one of a kind."

Simon shifted his chair by tapping his toes on the floor. Jennifer naturally placed her legs, clad in thin stockings, on Simon's thighs. He caught her feet and said, "Theoretically, everyone is one of a kind."

"I've always been indecisive, not really suited to be that strong independent type of woman. I've had many crazy thoughts since I was young, but rarely acted on them. Worried about failure, being laughed at, disappointing my parents, and so on, leading me to be like this. I was protected by my parents when I was young, and when I grew up, knowing I couldn't rely on them anymore, I met you," Jennifer continued, pressing her feet into Simon's palm, giggling as he tickled her sole, then pressing down harder, "So, from now on, I'll cling to you. You'll protect me, right, Simon?"

Simon pretended to be troubled, "Well, I'll try not to let Jennette bully you."

"Jennette is smart, smarter than me, maybe even smarter than you. She wouldn't care about me, an assistant who poses no threat to her."

Simon laughed, "It seems Jennette is the real boss behind the scenes."

"Hehe, yes," Jennifer agreed, nodding her head. After a moment of affection, she found another topic, "Blizzard, what does it mean, really?"

Simon thought for a moment, "I can't tell you the real meaning. But, there's a piece of music called 'Blizzard.'"

Jennifer, aware of the many secrets surrounding this man, accepted that he couldn't reveal certain things. However, intrigued by the mention of a song, she asked, "Can you play this 'Blizzard' for me?"

Simon shook his head, "It's instrumental, no lyrics. I'll make it for you when I have time."

Jennifer gently pressed her foot in Simon's palm again, "There's a piano downstairs in the restaurant. You can play it now."

Simon remembered the piano in the hotel restaurant, which he hadn't seen anyone play these past days. It was probably there as a decoration, and he wondered if it was still usable.

Jennifer didn't give Simon time to hesitate, hopping off the desk, putting on her shoes, and pulling him out, "We're about to have lunch anyway, play it for me first."

The two left the room, but Jennifer turned back to her own room, returning with a Super 8mm camcorder.

Seeing the camera in the assistant's hands, Simon recalled the "Flight of the Bumblebee" from before. Jennifer seemed to have the same thought, raising the camcorder and saying, "This time it's my personal collection, I won't show it to anyone else."

Near lunchtime, the restaurant was bustling.

Since the hotel was booked for the "Batman" crew, those dining were crew members, some still showing signs of sleepiness, obviously having just gotten up.

Simon greeted everyone and, after asking a waiter a few questions, headed straight for the piano by the window. Jennifer quietly sat down at a nearby table, fiddled with the camera, then looked up at the man at the piano, anticipation in her eyes.

For better impact, this piece needed amplification.

The waiter quickly set up a microphone. After a brief test of the piano keys, Simon looked at his assistant not far away and, under the gaze of everyone in the restaurant, smiled and leaned into the microphone, saying, "Blizzard, for Jenny."

Many people heard this and smiled knowingly.

In the famous "Flight of the Bumblebee" video, Simon had started the same way.

However, some understood that the Jenny Simon mentioned might be another one, like a certain assistant with a Super 8mm camcorder.

Simon was unconcerned with what others thought. After speaking, he began playing a piece titled "Blizzard."

The piece wasn't actually called "Blizzard."

It was supposed to be "The Dawn," an actual soundtrack from the movie "The Rock."

Or.

Some call it "Prelude of the Undead."

Simon, however, felt "Blizzard" was a fitting name.

Strictly speaking, the piano couldn't fully capture the essence of the piece, but under Simon's skillful playing, the hotel restaurant was filled with light, intense, slow, majestic, silent, and chaotic piano sounds, quickly immersing all listeners.

Jennifer, silently holding the camera, watched the focused figure by the piano, her eyes gradually filling with fascination.

Perhaps it was a kind of intuition from spending time together; Jennifer instinctively felt that there was a long, long story behind this piece. In the story, a hero who had slain a wicked dragon, wearing tattered leather armor and carrying a giant sword, braved the dense blizzard, wandering through an ancient forest forgotten by many, continuing his search for an unknown destination.

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