Test 11
It was a sweltering summer afternoon, and the entire city of Tokyo was enveloped in a heat that felt like it could melt a person.
At Sony Headquarters, a specially modified laboratory was cool as autumn.
Director Yoshikawa of Sega, accompanied by Takuya Nakayama and Suzuki Masao, had just arrived.
Mitsui Chuta of Sony, Sony Records President Maruyama Shigeo, and Ken Kutaragi were already waiting there. The laboratory's style was the epitome of eclectic; three walls were embedded with huge mirrors, reflecting everything in the room.
In the center of the open space, an arcade machine, not yet fitted with its protective casing, stood alone, next to a wide button platform.
In one corner of the laboratory, surprisingly, there was a long table resembling a bar counter, with even a proper wine cabinet behind it, and a coffee machine quietly emitting residual warmth. It was said that Smith requested these items to maintain inspiration and passion, as this laboratory would be used for recording more dance music games in the future. Sony, being financially generous, readily agreed, even adding a wine cabinet and a coffee machine.
Thus, this laboratory transformed into a curious fusion of a dance studio, music studio, game laboratory, and bar counter.
It was said that many Sony executives related to the LD project or Sony Records had come to visit out of curiosity.
Upon leaving, their faces invariably showed a proud expression, as if to say, "This is how Sony should be," believing it perfectly embodied Sony's business characteristics and innovative spirit.
The executives each held a cup of coffee, casually sitting on high stools, seemingly conversing at ease, yet their gazes were without exception fixed on the peculiar equipment in the center of the room.
Unlike ordinary arcade machines, this machine's screen was Sony's largest 29-inch Trinitron television screen available on the market, boasting vibrant colors and delicate image quality.
The arcade machine did not feature traditional joysticks and buttons.
Instead, there was a large platform, approximately two meters square, with clear arrow patterns indicating the four directions, and red, yellow, blue, and green sensing zone boundaries drawn at the edges.
At the end of each sensing zone, there was a set of small stage lights covered by high-strength transparent glass,
flickering with a faint standby glow.
Looking up, a more complex set of stage lights hung from the laboratory ceiling, directly above the button platform below, as if ready to cast brilliant light at any moment.
The lighting technician was making the final adjustments, slightly dimming the surrounding lights, retaining only just the right brightness, drawing everyone's attention to the center.
A Sega developer carefully placed an LD disc, containing the dance movements and button charts for "Bad," into the arcade machine's disc tray.
Takuya Nakayama and Ken Kutaragi exchanged glances simultaneously.
In each other's eyes, they could see an undisguised anticipation and a hint of subtle tension.
"I'll give it a try."
A Sony Records sound engineer, wearing headphones, volunteered. He had participated in some of the sound effects work for this project and was full of anticipation and longing for this game.
He took a deep breath and, with a touch of youthful awkwardness, stepped onto the futuristic-looking platform.
Almost the instant his feet landed, the four borders of the arcade screen lit up with a soft glow in sequence.
Immediately following, the giant word "READY" appeared in the center of the screen, continuously enlarging and full of visual tension.
Under everyone's gaze, the sound engineer took a deep breath. Recalling the operating instructions he had been given earlier, he lightly jumped and landed steadily.
"Click!"
A crisp, clean, metallic-sounding composite audio effect burst forth from the arcade machine's built-in sound system, powerful yet refined.
Almost simultaneously, the enormous, continuously enlarging word "READY" on the screen, as if struck by the sound, shattered into countless fragments from its center, scattering outwards. Before the fragments disappeared, an even more vivid, dynamic "GO!" already occupied the entire screen, with a constantly flashing Japan glow around its edges.
But that wasn't all.
The stage lights at the end of the red, yellow, blue, and green sensing zones on the platform's edge, as well as the more complex set of stage lights above everyone's heads, as if receiving some command, were suddenly ignited simultaneously.
High-intensity blue-white beams of light, like awakened giants opening their eyes, instantly cut through the slightly dim atmosphere of the laboratory.
The beams crisscrossed, reflecting and refracting between the mirrored walls. For a moment, the entire space seemed enveloped by countless light nets, pushing the sense of technology and stage dazzle to the extreme.
The arcade machine, which had originally stood alone, now became the absolute core of the entire venue, a stage where a miracle was about to unfold.
"Oh!"
"Wow..."
A chorus of suppressed but clearly audible gasps and low exclamations rose and fell in the room.
Several young Sony testers, who had previously feigned composure, now involuntarily clenched their fists,
their knuckles slightly whitened from the effort. Even several executives, accustomed to grand occasions, couldn't help but lean forward slightly.
Immediately after, a highly penetrating musical prelude with a strong drumbeat rhythm erupted from the professional-grade speakers on either side of the arcade machine—it was Michael Jackson's upcoming album's lead single, "Bad."
Each drumbeat was clear and full, and the bass lines were strong and powerful, instantly filling the entire laboratory,
the air seeming to vibrate with it. This force directly impacted everyone's eardrums and chests, invigorating them.
The lights were not idle. As the music's beat began, they became active. Sometimes alternating between bright and dim like breathing, sometimes flashing rapidly with the drumbeats, their colors constantly switching, chasing, and colliding between red, blue, yellow, and white, perfectly synchronizing with the music's rhythm, further igniting the atmosphere of the entire venue.
The previously somewhat eclectic laboratory had now completely transformed into a small yet professional disco.
As the classic synthesizer melody gradually became clear and the music entered the verse, LaVelle Smith Jr.'s figure finally appeared clearly on the arcade machine's large 29-inch Trinitron screen.
He was wearing his iconic black leather jacket, adorned with numerous metal buckles and zippers, standing under a virtual spotlight. Every detail was perfectly displayed through the Trinitron screen, with vibrant colors and fluid movements, as if he were truly there in person.
As Smith's dance movements began on the screen, four arrow indicators, corresponding to the red, yellow, blue, and green colors, appeared synchronously at the bottom of the screen.
And at the top of the screen, transparent columnar bars of varying lengths, also in red, yellow, blue, and green, began to fall in sync with Smith's dance steps.
The Sony sound engineer's face was now a mix of excitement and nervousness.
He tried to recall the dance steps he had hastily learned over the past few days from the instructional videos, and began to clumsily but earnestly stomp his feet in response to the dance on the screen and the continuously falling columnar bars.
His movements were not graceful, nor did they possess Smith's unique charm.
But he was exceptionally familiar with the song's rhythm, and each step was fairly precise.
For most of the falling columnar bars, he successfully achieved a rating of "Great" or higher, and remarkably, he didn't miss any.
A marvelous scene unfolded.
Accompanying each rating received for a columnar bar, the light and shadow combinations and brightness feedback from the platform and the top stage lights were distinctly different.
When he received a "Great" rating, the lights would become bright and rhythmic.
When he occasionally achieved a "Perfect," brilliant colored light beams would burst like fireworks, drawing quiet cheers from the young employees around him.
As his accumulated high ratings continuously pushed up the score on the screen, the brilliance of the stage lights above also intensified, and the entire venue seemed to transform into a mini disco.
After one dance, the screen clearly displayed the sound engineer's step accuracy score—a rather good high score.
As for whether the dance itself was aesthetically pleasing, that was a matter of personal opinion.
But the young people present, especially those who had participated in some of the development and testing work, were now completely ignited by the exhilarating music and dazzling lights.
They began to sway gently to the lingering music, their faces glowing with excitement, and the atmosphere instantly became lively.
Takuya Nakayama watched all of this, a slight smile unconsciously curving his lips.
This was exactly the effect he wanted.
This immersive audio-visual experience, this sense of accomplishment brought by immediate feedback, was the core charm of LD arcade games.