The Intruding "Dragon Quest Commotion"

Shigeru Miyamoto, carrying game demo reports for the Sega Mega Drive, knocked on the president's office door.

Soon, Yamauchi Haku calmly finished reading the last report.

Instead of roaring as before, he was unusually calm.

This calmness is more chilling than any roar.

He slowly leaned back in his chair, his weight sinking completely into the massive leather executive chair.

"It seems our old tricks are no longer enough to keep up with our opponents."

His voice was soft, yet it instantly put all the executives present on edge.

Yamauchi Hiroshi's gaze swept over the crowd, finally settling on the report about the "Tokyo Promotional Vacuum Zone" that Maeda had rediscovered.

He didn't reprimand anyone; he simply tapped the report lightly with his fingertip.

Conventional warfare is no longer meaningful.

He paused, a near-mad, icy flame of a gambler igniting in his eyes.

"Since they want to announce the arrival of a new era with a grand party."

"Then I'll just cut off the power to the whole city before the party starts."

Call Enix.

Yamauchi Haku's order was like a boulder thrown into stagnant water, creating a silent ripple in the conference room.

"Persuade them at any cost."

"Dragon Quest III: The End of the Legend must be available on the shelves of all stores before the Mega Drive is released."

Shigeru Miyamoto's heart skipped a beat.

Dragon Quest III was originally postponed due to Sega disrupting its release schedule.

This ultimate external trump card of the Nintendo empire, Japan's national RPG, is a cultural symbol powerful enough to spark a social phenomenon.

This highly anticipated final chapter of the Loto Trilogy was used as a pure tool of war, thrown into this already fierce and brutal struggle.

Looking into Yamauchi Haku Hiroshi's emotionless eyes, he suddenly understood.

The president isn't playing chess.

He's overturning the chessboard.

All the fun of the games and the expectations of the players were mercilessly crushed into dust before the wheels of the empire's survival. With Nintendo's massive resource allocation and promises regardless of cost, Enix's defenses were quickly breached.

They eventually agreed to Nintendo's almost insane request.

When the news reached Kyoto, Nintendo's war machine immediately devised a brand-new blitzkrieg strategy around this newly added bombshell.

On the map, Yamauchi Haku circled two dates in red.

February 10th, Wednesday.

He pointed to the first date, his tone chilling.

"Let Dragon Quest III be released on this day."

"I'm going to use an unprecedented sales frenzy to drain all the funds, media coverage, and attention from the market within three days."

"I want to ensure that not a single penny of Sega remains in the pockets of any player."

"I will use a man-made market tsunami to destroy everything they have carefully built."

His finger slowly moved to another date three days later.

February 13th.

"When Sega, exhausted and battered by the aftermath of Dragon Quest III, finally manages to climb ashore, Super Mario Bros. 3 will be there waiting for them, ready to deliver the final blow."

"Double strangulation".

In the conference room, only heavy breathing could be heard.

Everyone present felt a chill run down their spine at the meticulousness and ruthlessness of the plan.

February 10, 1988.

Yamauchi Haku's plan succeeded.

However, the consequences it caused were like Beast that had broken free of its reins, running wildly in a direction that was completely out of control.

It was four in the morning, and the sky was still dark.

In front of the BicCamera Ikebukuro East Exit store in Tokyo.

A young reporter, sent by the television station to record this historic moment, was reporting to the camera in a shivering voice.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it's four in the morning now, and the line behind me—it just stretches out of sight."

The earliest people to line up reportedly set up tents at the entrance 20 hours ago.

The camera pans across a long, silent, and anxious line made up of countless heads of people cheering.

The procession stretched from the mall entrance along the street for several kilometers, like a greedy giant serpent devouring the entire block.

The air was thick with the bitter smell of cheap coffee, mixed with the white mist exhaled by people, a mixture of excitement and anxiety.

The release date happened to be a weekday.

This frenzied buying spree quickly escalated into a nationwide wave of student truancy.

The Metropolitan Police Department held an emergency press conference.

A senior police officer, his face grim, made the announcement amidst a barrage of flashing lights.

"As of 10 a. m., in the Tokyo area alone, nearly 300 primary and secondary school students were taken in and reprimanded by our officers for skipping school to queue up to buy games."

The word "skipping class," broadcast on television, stung the nerves of countless parents.

Then, even more heinous incidents began to unfold.

Robberies, thefts, and even armed extortion targeting people in line, especially minors, are frequent across the country.

The media's cameras focused on a crying elementary school student, his empty wallet clutched tightly in his hand.

On television screens, social commentators used the harshest language to discuss the chaos caused by the game.

A completely new term was created and quickly spread throughout Japan.

"Dragon Quest Commotion" (work stoppage).

Nintendo, through a sales phenomenon, has created an unprecedented public relations disaster that has swept the nation.

Sega Headquarters, conference room.

On the television screen, NHK News was broadcasting in a serious tone about the nationwide unrest triggered by the release of Dragon Quest III.

The footage shows crowds of people packed to near a standstill on the streets of Ikebukuro, police officers straining to maintain order with loudspeakers, and an elementary school student crying out to the camera that his allowance, which he had saved up for half a year, had been stolen.

A young Marketing Department manager nervously rubbed his hands together, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

"President, Nintendo's move is too ruthless. They used Dragon Quest 3 to absorb a huge amount of cash from players, and our pre-orders..."

He didn't finish his sentence.

Nakayama Hayao slowly raised his hand, signaling him to be quiet.

The head of Sega never took his eyes off the screen, but the initial solemnity and worry on his face were being replaced by an irrepressible, almost ecstatic light.

He saw the crying elementary school student.

He heard the news commentator use the newly coined term "Dragon Quest Commotion."

He also saw a deep, bottomless crack appearing in the seemingly unbreakable sales myth that Nintendo had built with its own hands.

"Chance."

Nakayama Hayao uttered two words in a low voice, but the air in the entire conference room seemed to vibrate.

Many executives looked at him, their eyes filled with exhaustion and confusion. In their view, such a frenzied sales atmosphere...

This was tantamount to Sega having its previously built-up momentum abruptly halted.

Nakayama Hayao turned around, a hunter's smile playing on his lips.

"Yamauchi Hiroshi hijacked the entire market with a single game, but he also, incidentally, hijacked the entire society." His voice regained its usual composure, tinged with a cold sharpness. "Now, it's time for society to demand its ransom from him."

He glanced around at the dejected crowd in the conference room.

"Nintendo is a company that 'brings laughter to families,' right?" he asked softly, his tone laced with undisguised sarcasm. "Go, call the head of the Public Relations Department."

"Immediately contact all the media outlets, newspapers, and television stations we know. Tell them that Sega Corporation expresses its deepest sympathy and concern for the teenagers harmed in this ' Dragon Quest Commotion.'"

"We need to issue a public statement." Nakayama Hayao's eyes sharpened. "The theme is—corporate social responsibility and protecting the healthy growth of the next generation."

A silent battle of public opinion against Nintendo began at this moment.

A few hours later, the wind direction completely changed.

The evening news special program shifted its focus from "the miracle of game sales" to "the negative impact of companies pursuing profits on teenagers."

Invited education experts expressed their outrage on television, pointing out that Nintendo deliberately chose to release games on weekdays for commercial gain, which was blatantly encouraging students to skip classes.

The next morning, major newspapers ran sensational headlines in their social sections reporting on the escalating robberies and brawls across the country.

Dragon Quest is no longer a story of heroes; instead, it has become a breeding ground for villains in the real world.

Nintendo, the creator of this gaming empire, was dragged from its commercial pedestal to the judgment seat of public opinion overnight.

An even more explosive piece of news, like a precision-guided bomb, detonated at this moment.

Shukan Bunshun featured a cover story detailing how Fujitaya, one of Nintendo's largest First Heart Association distributors for the "Fujitaya" (original content), mandated that all retailers purchase large quantities of slow-moving, unpopular game cartridges in conjunction with the release of Dragon Quest III, otherwise they would not be allowed to stock the game.

The report included clear photocopies of internal documents, along with tearful accusations from several anonymous retail owners and angry curses from gamers.

This is no longer a matter of business ethics, but clear evidence of a potential violation of the Antimonopoly Act Law.

"Commercial hegemony," "exploitation of downstream businesses," and "a malignant tumor of market monopoly."

These highly critical words, through the media, have been imprinted on Nintendo's brand image.

Dragon Quest III sold over one million copies on its first day.

This sales miracle, worthy of being recorded in history, seems so pale at this moment.

It was completely drowned out by a deluge of negative news and public condemnation, and no one applauded it.

Kyoto, Nintendo Headquarters.

In the president's office, the champagne prepared for the celebration lay quietly in the ice bucket, the condensation on the bottle resembling cold tears.

Yamauchi Haku remained silent, staring intently at the newspapers spread out on the table.

"Dragon Quest Commotion," "commercial hegemony," and "the culprit behind truancy."

Each type of printed word was like a red-hot steel needle piercing his eyes.

He orchestrated a perfect market storm, designed to uproot his competitors.

But he didn't expect that the storm would eventually get out of control, change direction, and backfire on the empire itself.

There was a knock on the office door, and the head of the Public Relations Department walked in, his face ashen.

"President, the Metropolitan Police Department, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and the Ministry of International Trade and Industry have all called, demanding that we immediately provide the public with a clear explanation regarding the ' Dragon Quest Commotion ' and the bundled sales incident."

Our stock price has already fallen by three percent since the market opened today.

Yamauchi Haku slowly raised his head; his eyes held no anger, only a deathly coldness.

His planned "double strangulation" hadn't even landed the second blow when his own position was already engulfed in flames.

What he lost wasn't sales, but reputation—the positive image that Nintendo had built up in the public's mind over the years: a brand that "brings joy to families."

He remained silent for a long time, his gaze sweeping over Shigeru Miyamoto standing to the side.

Shigeru Miyamoto's face was filled with a pure love for games and a detachment from commercial disputes.

This very face has now become Ren Chang's most valuable asset.

"Miyamoto-kun."

Yamauchi Haku's voice was hoarse and heavy.

"You, go to the press conference."

On behalf of the company, I apologize to the entire society.

Shigeru Miyamoto's body stiffened abruptly.

Should he apologize?

Apologize for a business conspiracy he never participated in planning and even deeply despised?

Looking into Yamauchi Haku Hiroshi's unwavering gaze, all the words he wanted to say stuck in his throat.

He understood.

On the chessboard of the Empire, he and his creation, Mario, are the ace.

When the empire was in crisis, his "pure" and "harmless" face was used to quell public anger and was offered as a sacrifice to the public.

At this moment, Yokoi Gunpei spoke up, "But, President, if Miyamoto-kun goes to apologize, then what about * Super Mario Bros. 3 *?"

Shigeru Miyamoto patted Yokoi Gunpei on the shoulder, shook his head, and stopped him from continuing, "Yokoi-san, only my presence can represent the company's sincerity."

Seeing that Shigeru Miyamoto was so "sensible," Yamauchi Haku still said something conciliatory, "Miyamoto-kun, I'm sorry to have wronged you."

Shigeru Miyamoto bowed Yamauchi Haku. "It's all for the company."

Yes, for the sake of the company, the president did nothing wrong, and the president cannot apologize.

Two days later will be the day of the final battle between Super Mario Bros. 3 and Mega Drive.

Nintendo cannot carry the burden of Dragon Quest III; it must shed all its baggage and move forward with confidence.