"Jiang, see you tomorrow!"
"Alright!"
Looking up at the clock hanging on the office wall, Jiang Bin felt a little helpless.
As an information editor for the well-known domestic single-player game portal "Game Starry Sky," his daily work routine was just like this.
Overtime, keep working overtime!
As long as you don't collapse, overtime won't stop...
When the gaming circle is calm, that's when he's the most relaxed.
But once there's a major new release in the gaming circle, or some big news in the industry, that's when he's busiest.
Throughout the year, there are few days when he actually "leaves work on time."
After all, from the beginning to the end of the year, almost every month, hot new games pop up in the gaming circle.
And when that happens, he has to work overtime to write articles and quickly publish the latest game news.
Today was another day of overtime!
As a game enthusiast, Jiang Bin actually didn't mind working overtime. On the contrary, he rather enjoyed it.
Because the reason he joined Game Starry Sky in the first place was his love for single-player games!
Discovering one or two exciting new games every month and witnessing the development and progress of the industry firsthand, Jiang Bin felt both comforted and motivated.
If, one day, he suddenly wasn't busy and there weren't any new games worth writing about in the gaming circle...
That might not be a happy thing because it would mean the decline and decay of the gaming industry!
"Oh, did I get a reply?"
Picking up his phone and glancing at the WeChat chat box, Jiang Bin was a little surprised. He didn't expect the producer of "Cold Window Study Simulator" to reply so quickly.
This was a new game he was very interested in!
Although the game had only been on sale for 40 days, it had already miraculously sold 200,000 copies on the Steam platform.
For a domestic indie game, this was already considered a huge hit!
When he learned about this treasure of a game through a friend's recommendation and tried it himself, he immediately decided to conduct an online interview with the game's producer.
The chief editor had already agreed.
After all, with an independent game that sold over 200,000 copies, Game Starry Sky not reporting on it would not align with their mission.
However, how to get in touch with this game producer named "GameBugs" became Jiang Bin's biggest headache.
This guy was a newcomer!
With such an unfamiliar newcomer, to get in touch you either have to go through a third-party introduction or send an email.
Asking around, it seemed no one knew "GameBugs."
So Jiang Bin sent an email.
The result was the email disappeared without a trace. Jiang Bin suspected the other party was so busy they didn't have time to check emails and came up with a good idea.
First, he mingled in the fan groups and then revealed his identity to add a WeChat friend.
It turned out…
This method was much more effective than sending emails!
After adding GameBugs as a friend, Jiang Bin got some exclusive inside information about "Cold Window Study Simulator."
For example, the producer's real name is Chen Ba!
This explosive game was actually an indie game created by Chen Ba alone over two and a half years, with no second person involved in the entire process.
The story's creativity was actually adapted by the producer Chen Ba based on his own academic experiences, with some exaggeration but not much.
When Chen Ba told him he had already established a studio and was starting to develop a second game, Jiang Bin inquired about the second game.
"Living Under Someone's Roof Simulator?"
"In the game, you will play a high school student going to live with your aunt, kilometers away from home, experiencing the mixed emotions of boarding life and vibrant campus life…"
After glancing at the game introduction and related promotional images sent by Chen Ba, Jiang Bin immediately became interested.
"Is it the same type as Cold Window Study Simulator?"
"Yeah, pretty much."
"Won't this give players the impression of it being just old wine in a new bottle, just a rehash?" Jiang Bin curiously asked.
"It won't!"
"Though it's the same type of game, with similar gameplay, once you play it, you'll find it's completely different from Cold Window Study Simulator..."
That's good, that's good!
Initially worried that this young man would lose himself due to the success of the last game and go down a road of no return, Jiang Bin was relieved to see this answer.
Rehashing old ideas and old wine in new bottles is very common in the gaming industry!
After all, recycling an old game with new skins and art resources to resell it makes money way too easily.
Many game developers have tasted success, but after achieving it, they often lose their ambition and choose to mindlessly rehash.
A game becomes a hit?
Then they release a second, third, fourth version... until players are heartbroken and the sales completely dry up.
Jiang Bin worried that Chen Ba was such a person, rushing out a rehashed game to quickly cash in on the success of the previous game, thereby ruining his career prospects.
Now, it seemed he had a good grasp of the situation.
"Alright, I'll give it a try."
Upon learning that "Living Under Someone's Roof Simulator" had an early access version available, Jiang Bin wasted no time and logged into the Steam platform to buy a copy.
Not bad, it's still 18 bucks!
But this is the early access version's price; who knows what the final version will be priced at, but it should be more expensive than the previous game.
Because he still had to write articles, Jiang Bin couldn't fully immerse himself in the game and only briefly played for ten minutes before exiting.
"Self-esteem? Interesting!"
Even though he didn't play for long and didn't finish the first semester of high school, Jiang Bin already felt the charm of "Living Under Someone's Roof Simulator."
Players have more freedom!
Compared to the predecessor, where players could only follow the game's linear storyline, "Living Under Someone's Roof Simulator" is more free and offers more randomness.
For example, after school, you can go home, stay at school, or go to various places like the city, park, amusement park, internet cafe, unlocking different event routes.
This deserves praise!
While the storyline of "Cold Window Study Simulator" was touching, most of the time, players were just "watching a movie," feeling very restricted.
That was often a point players complained about, with limited options: either study or tend to cattle!
This time it's different.
If you love studying, go study; if you love working, you can wash dishes at a restaurant; if you love hanging out, head over to the internet cafe, play billiards at the pool hall, or rummage through trash if you love scavenging...
"Once you experience it, you'll find it's completely different from 'Cold Window Study Simulator'!"
Remembering the message from Chen Ba, Jiang Bin immediately nodded.
He really wasn't lying!
"Living Under Someone's Roof Simulator" is indeed different from "Cold Window Study Simulator," and significantly so.
Anyone who still says it's the same old thing should be slapped silly.
You're calling this old wine in a new bottle?
Your family's old wine looks like this? This is clearly new wine in an old bottle, if you don't get it, don't speak nonsense, okay!