PC Engine Launches
On October 30th, the PC Engine, jointly developed by Hudson and NEC, was officially released after two weeks of intensive promotion. Although the launch titles were only two games: Sunsoft's "Shanghai" and Toei Animation's licensed "Demon-God War," the console was priced at a whopping 24,800 Japanese yen, a rather bold price in the market.
However, thanks to the strong IP synergy of the animation "The Demon-God War," PCEngine's first-week sales figures...
Like a storm sweeping through the industry, it quickly spread to every corner.
500,000 units.
This number weighed heavily on the conference table of Sega's board of directors.
Having just finished the exhilarating launch demonstration of their new console, the board members' excitement and confidence hadn't completely faded when this sudden piece of information brought them to a screeching halt.
The air in the conference room seemed to freeze for a moment, tinged with an indescribable bitterness.
"Five hundred thousand units," a director muttered to himself, a hint of resentment in his voice. "They only have two games."
"The appeal of <The Demon-God War and Demons> is indeed undeniable. But our game is just as good. For example, <Pokémon Adventure - Pokémon Land> is no worse than theirs." Another director tried to analyze, but his tone couldn't hide the frustration of being beaten to the punch by competitors.
Nakayama Hayao was ashen; his fingers tapped rhythmically on the cold tabletop, producing a soft "tap-tap" sound.
The brief silence was broken.
"Fortunately," Director Hatano took a deep breath, breaking the silence, "Fortunately, we had the foresight of Executive Director Nakayama, who laid the groundwork for a true 16-bit mainframe. Otherwise, in today's situation, we would have been forced to watch Hudson and his team devour this prize."
These words eased the tension in the meeting room slightly.
Yes, they have Nakayama Takuya, and a new host that is about to be released, with performance far exceeding that of the PCEngine.
Director Terauchi continued, his voice steady. "While PCEngine is coming on strong, it's not without its concerns."
"The specifications of its display chip are indeed much higher than those of the FC, which is why they dare to promote it as 'next generation'."
But don't forget, its core CPU is still at the level of an 8-bit machine.
With a price tag of 24,800 Japanese yen, NEC and Hudson have clearly reserved a very generous profit margin for themselves.
This also means that their pressure regarding royalties for home consoles is far less than what we might face in the future.
"However, such a high price will inevitably limit the speed at which its user base expands. More importantly, with a thin game lineup, once the popularity of <The Demon-God War> fades, it will lack follow-up momentum, and this momentum may not be sustainable. Without new games to expand the lineup, subsequent sales may slow down, and may even cause interested third parties to return to a wait-and-see attitude."
The director's analysis was like a shot in Terauchi arm, prompting the directors present to nod in agreement.
"Director Terauchi is absolutely right," another director echoed. "This only further highlights the correctness of our strategy of attracting third-party software vendors with a consistently high-quality game lineup for our new console!"
"That's right, PCEngine's brief period of glory has actually shown us the way."
The directors, who had previously felt some pressure due to the million-chip order, now even felt that the one million-chip order seemed somewhat conservative.
"Perhaps two million units are needed to meet the huge demand in the early stages of the market?" someone muttered, their eyes gleaming with even stronger confidence in their new console.
Amidst this atmosphere of analyzing the PC Engine and renewed confidence in their own consoles, a director who usually oversees brand building suddenly proposed:
"President, fellow board members, our new console has been nearing completion since its inception. Shouldn't we give it a catchy and official name?"
The question, like a drop of water thrown into hot oil, instantly ignited the enthusiasm in the meeting room.
"That's right! We can't keep calling it 'new console' all the time, can we?"
"A good name can save you a lot of advertising costs!"
The board members started discussing animatedly, and the atmosphere became unusually lively.
"How about calling it 'Super Sega System'? It inherits the lineage of the SG-1000, yet surpasses it," suggested a slightly older director, with a touch of nostalgia.
"That's too narrow-minded." Another younger director shook his head. "To showcase the advanced nature of our 16-bit machines, how about 'Sega Advanced Entertainment'? It would emphasize the concept of 'advanced entertainment'."
Even more ambitious individuals have proposed. "Sega Universe! It symbolizes that we are about to create a completely new gaming universe!"
Various names, some conservative and steady, others grand and imposing, were put forward one after another.
Nakayama Hayao listened quietly, his deep gaze sweeping over each director who spoke, his brow furrowing almost imperceptibly.
None of these names seemed to truly resonate with him.
The discussion in the conference room gradually subsided, and everyone's eyes unanimously focused on Nakayama Takuya.
This young executive officer always manages to provide refreshing and innovative solutions at crucial moments.
Nakayama Takuya met everyone's gaze with a confident smile. He cleared his throat, his voice clear and steady:
"Father, esteemed directors, I do have a proposal regarding the name of the new host."
Everyone's spirits were lifted.
Nakayama Takuya slowly uttered a name that would occupy a pivotal position in the history of future games:
"MEGADRIVE."
He paused, giving everyone a brief moment to savor the name, before explaining:
"The word 'MEGA' itself implies 'million,' symbolizing both the powerful processing capabilities of our new console (capable of handling millions of bytes) and our high hopes that it will achieve sales targets of millions, or even higher."
"At the same time, 'MEGA' also represents a sense of 'huge' and 'magnificent,' foreshadowing a massive revolution that our new console will bring to the entire video game industry."
The meeting room was quiet as the directors pondered the deeper meaning behind the word "MEGA".
Nakayama Takuya continued, "And 'DRIVE' means 'drive' or 'power'."
"It symbolizes our new console, which will become the core driving force for future gaming and entertainment experiences. It also represents the exhilarating feeling that players experience when they encounter our games—a feeling of complete immersion and being driven by ultimate enjoyment."
"MEGADRIVE" is a concise, powerful, and technologically advanced name. More importantly, its pronunciation avoids potential ambiguity across different languages, making it very easy to promote and spread internationally.
"MEGADRIVE--" Nakayama Hayao murmured the name repeatedly, and a glint of barely concealed light finally flashed in his deep eyes.
The other directors also began to savor it.
"MEGADRIVE... that's powerful!"
"Million-Driven - Hmm, that sounds powerful!"
"And indeed, as Executive Director Takuya said, the name is easy to pronounce in English and doesn't have any uncommon combinations."
After a brief discussion, almost everyone expressed strong approval of the name.
Nakayama Hayao glanced around, seeing the renewed, even more fervent, anticipation in everyone's eyes, and nodded emphatically, making the final decision:
"Great! Let's name our new console 'MEGADRIVE'!"
The official Japanese name will be "Mega Drive" (Rikikaku)!
This 16-bit console, which carries Sega's hopes for revival and will engage in fierce console wars with Nintendo in the coming years, has finally received its official name—MEGADRIVE.