At 2 PM, it was Hudson's turn.
Hiroshi Kudo didn't co to Los Angeles in person; instead, the head of Hudson's North Arican branch took the stage.
His English carried a heavy Japanese accent, but his attitude was sincere. He began by saying, "We're a small company, but our gas are full of excitent."
The audience chuckled.
The first ga showcased was Panic Bomber. It would be released on four platforms: Super Famicom, ga Drive, PC Engine, and PC-98. A mix of puzzle-solving and Bomberman-style gaplay, its simple graphics and intuitive gaplay made it look accessible.
Next was Far East of Eden: Kabuki Klash for Neo Geo. This fighting ga boasted top-tier 2D graphics, with character designs heavily influenced by Japan's Sengoku period. The Arican audience had little familiarity with the IP, but a few fighting ga enthusiasts still applauded.
Super Adventure Island II and Takahashi ijin no Daibōken Jima were released on both the Super Famicom and ga Drive platforms. These two gas were sequels to Hudson's classic series, featuring average graphics but excelling in gaplay.
For handheld consoles, Super Momotaro Dentetsu III launched on both the Ga Pocket and Ga Boy platforms. A board ga-style ga, it was highly popular in Japan but virtually unknown in North Arica.
Finally, there were three new Jupiter platform titles: Space Adventure, Dungeon Explorer, and Lords of Thunder. Trailers for these three gas were compiled into a single video, with each ga getting approximately 20 seconds of footage. The graphics quality was average for Jupiter gas, clearly indicating mid-sized projects, but at least it proved that Hudson hadn't abandoned the next-gen platform.
"Hudson's Jupiter gas feel rushed," a NetGeneration editor murmured.
"They're cash-strapped. We're lucky they managed to release anything at all," a colleague replied more charitably. "Hudson's strength has always been gaplay, not graphics. Let's wait until the demo area opens to test the gaplay before passing judgnt."
Hudson's press conference concluded, the applause neither excessive nor sparse, just right.
2:30 PM.
The big screen went dark for a few seconds, then the logo erged:
Square.
The buzz of whispered conversations in the hall ceased within two or three seconds. Hands frozen mid-research, sandwiches paused halfway to mouths.
This reaction spoke volus.
In 1995, Square was a singular presence in the gaming industry.
Whether in Tokyo's Akihabara electronics district or a GaStop store in Los Angeles, the company's na carried considerable weight.
Among the handful of RPG developers who could appeal to both Eastern and Western markets, Square reigned supre, with no dissenters.
Moreover, Square's na had already surfaced during Sony's morning press conference.
Fairy Warrior, bearing dual logos from Sony Computer Entertainnt and Square, debuted with CG and in-ga footage that had bolstered the PlayStation's credibility.
Now it was Square's turn for their own showcase. Everyone wanted to know: if their contributions to others' projects were this impressive, what would their flagship dish taste like?
Hironobu Sakaguchi stepped onto the stage.
He was simply dressed in a T-shirt emblazoned with the "Final Fantasy VII" logo.
"Today, I want to show you sothing."
After a brief self-introduction, Sakaguchi skipped all pleasantries and got straight to the point.
His English wasn't particularly fluent, but his pronunciation was clear, and he enunciated key words with precision.
"These are the fruits of our team's labor for over a year. To be honest, we debated internally for a long ti about whether we should reveal this at this stage."
He paused.
"Then I realized that the greatest fear for ga developers is keeping their creations hidden, too afraid to share them with others."
The audience chuckled. It wasn't a polite laugh, but a wry smile of recognition. Many present were developers themselves.
"So today, I've brought five projects. Let's start with the most important one."
He stepped back, yielding the stage to the screen.
The lights dimd.
A pre-rendered computer graphics sequence began to play.
The first shot revealed a cityscape.
It wasn't a dieval castle, nor a magical tower, but an industrial city with chimneys, railroads, and steam pipes.
The cara slowly zood in from above the city, passing through layers of buildings, gliding past lit windows and factory roofs billowing white smoke.
A train rumbled across the screen, the deep, resonant clatter of its wheels on the tracks echoing through the sound system.
The Computer Graphics were astonishing by the standards of the ti.
The level of detail in the models was extravagant, and the lighting system's handling of light and shadow created a striking impact on the big screen.
The cara finally zood in to the train's doorway, where a golden-haired young man leaped out, a sword wider than his body strapped to his back.
The seeds of the cost-burning Square from his previous life were already beginning to show.
The screen went black.
[ FINAL FANTASY VII ]
Several Japanese journalists in the front row leaned forward simultaneously.
The title remained on the screen for three seconds, and then the platform logo—Jupiter—appeared in the lower right corner.
The CG segnt ended, and the screen transitioned to real-ti gaplay footage.
This transition was the most critical mont of the entire presentation.
No matter how impressive the CG looked, it was pre-rendered—sothing anyone could achieve with sufficient funding.
What truly mattered was the real-ti gaplay.
As the real-ti footage appeared, a wave of astonished murmurs rippled through the audience.
The characters in the footage weren't fully 3D-modeled.
More accurately, it employed a technique Sega had used the previous year—a combination of extensive 2D hand-drawn fra animations and sprite animations layered together and running over pre-rendered 3D backgrounds.
The characters' walking, turning, and attacking movents lacked the stiffness of polygon-skeleton-driven animations. Instead, each fra was individually hand-drawn and smoothly played in sequence, achieving a level of visual refinent reminiscent of traditional 2D gas. Yet, the sense of space and depth clearly surpassed that of ordinary 2D graphics.
As the characters moved through the city streets, NPCs turned to watch them pass.
In the background, pedestrians walked and distant vehicles passed by.
The cara cut to the interior of a tavern, where the perspective of tables and chairs, as well as character occlusion, was handled with remarkable clarity.
Then the battle began.
The composition of the battle scenes followed the tradition established by previous Final Fantasy gas—ally characters on one side, enemies on the other.
But the information density of the visuals far surpassed what a 16-bit console could achieve.
When characters cast magic, the area covered by the light effects, the number of particles, and the rhythm of screen vibrations were all ticulously calibrated.
A separate cutscene featuring a summoned beast was played. In a 15-second animated sequence, a massive ice dragon rose from a fissure in the ground, opened its mouth to breathe, and covered the entire battlefield with icy crystals.
"Is this running on Jupiter?" a voice called from the back.
"Look at the logo in the lower right corner."
"How does this graphics quality compare to those Namco gas this morning?"
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