Peaches, Pho and Piano is a very special phenomenon, creating a wave of strong attraction for young people to products set in Vietnamese history, especially the resistance wars for national independence. Such is the case with cinema, so the gaming world also has a representative that shows the heroism of Vietnamese history, allowing young people to experience the national spirit for the first time on the virtual screen. Speaking of which, everyone knows the name we are talking about 7554a both happy and sad milestone in the Vietnamese gaming industry.
Developed by Hiker Gamesthen it was Emobi Games, 7554 is not only a game based on a rare Vietnamese historical theme but also the first purely Vietnamese FPS product to be born. With the desire to help young people relive the heroic moments of the nation, along with promoting the Vietnamese gaming industry to a new level, 7554 has many ambitions beyond the times.
Set in the main context of the Dien Bien Phu Victory, 7554 recounts the memorable milestones in the Resistance War against the French, thereby allowing players to take on the role of many different characters. From joining the National Guard to protect the Northern Palace against the attack of the French colonialists, to the Border Campaign, the Hoa Binh Campaign and the climax of the Dien Bien Phu Campaign, 7554 has an extremely diverse context. Although there are many limitations in terms of graphics and gameplay, 7554 is a game that can be considered successful in terms of leading the plot and cleverly integrating it into the context of the Resistance War against the French. Indeed, for many young people at that time, even today, this name is still a pride of the Vietnamese gaming community when mentioned.
But perhaps because of a vision that was ahead of its time, the 7554 encountered many obstacles during its release. In 2011, copyright issues in Vietnam were still painful and the habit of buying games was still unfamiliar to Vietnamese gamers. As a result, despite attracting great attention from the community, 7554 only sold a mere 4,000 copies. Not only that, when it was first released, the game was quickly distributed on pirated websites, making the revenue situation even more bleak. In foreign markets, reviews with low scores continue to make it even more difficult to produce pure Vietnamese products.
With a large investment but low revenue, 7554 also seems to leave many future consequences for its father. Once shared on Facebook, Mr. Nguyen Tuan Huy, Founder and CEO of Hiker Games (formerly Emobi Games), talked about the difficult period in 2013 when the company had to “find every way to survive” and was forced to leaning towards MMO games to be able to maintain the business aspect. But “in those still uncertain days, Team Hiker Games was officially established. With a single goal, let’s do something to maintain the spirit of Emobi Games” – Anh Huy shared.
The name of that spiritual successor is Toy Odyssey: The Lost and Found released in 2016, followed by many other products with the ambition to bring Vietnamese quality to the international arena. But even though there are many different playing styles, people still see a hint of 7554’s bravery, which is to be creative and do new things.
Project 300475 is proof of that, bringing back the historical context of Vietnam, but this time it was the Resistance War against America, rekindling the spiritual fire for Hiker Games and 7554 in the past. But perhaps this time, the time is not yet ripe and after only a period of crowdfunding, 300475 was forced to announce its cancellation. Thinking back to the time when I felt excited when I learned that a game set in Vietnamese history was being conceived, but then felt sad because I heard it was stopping, it was truly a strange but familiar experience.
But hope never dies, especially when a “hidden” name like Dao, Pho and Piano also rises to receive the welcome of the community, even aiming for success and going further. then maybe a project pure Vietnamese game Something with a historical context is certainly not out of reach. Therefore, a Vietnamese game product, according to Vietnamese history, conveys the spirit of the previous generation and the heroic resistance wars to protect the homeland, certainly still burning with fire. With a new wave, a new source of motivation and interest, maybe it will succeed.
