Continuous New Game Offensive
Kyoto, Nintendo Headquarters.
The air in the president's office was unusually warm.
Yamauchi Hiroshi leaned back in his chair, holding the latest sales report in his hand, a rare smile playing on his lips. In front of him, several Marketing Department heads sat upright, but their faces were equally beaming with joy.
"Super Mario Bros. 3 is doing very well," one of the sales managers reported. "Starting in the second week of release, our sales curve has begun to rise, and the gap with Sega's Pokémon Land is rapidly narrowing. At this rate, we should be able to overtake them by next week at the latest."
Another person added, "Sega's Mega Drive launch campaign is nearing its end; players' initial excitement is fading. Mario's brand appeal, on the other hand, is long-lasting and has tremendous staying power. We're guaranteed to win."
Yamauchi Haku didn't speak, but simply tapped the upward-sloping red curve on the report with his finger. Everyone understood that the president was very satisfied with the result. That Pokémon game had been holding them back for so long; now, Nintendo's ace was finally about to reclaim its throne.
The office door was suddenly pushed open, and a young employee rushed in in a panic, scattering documents all over the floor, his face covered in sweat.
"President! Something terrible has happened! The latest, latest data--"
The relaxed atmosphere in the office instantly froze. Yamauchi Haku's gaze turned cold as he stared at the out-of-control young man.
"Pick it up and explain yourself."
The young man frantically picked up a few sheets of paper, his voice trembling. "Sega's game sales suddenly skyrocketed yesterday afternoon! This is real-time data just faxed over by Famitsu, take a look---"
The sales manager took the crumpled piece of paper, glanced at it, and his face turned as white as the paper. He trembled as he handed the data to Yamauchi Haku.
On the report, the blue curve representing Pokémon Land, after a steady decline, suddenly surged upwards at an almost vertical angle, instantly catching up with Mario's sales and even showing signs of overtaking it.
"What's going on?" Yamauchi Haku's voice was unreadable, but everyone felt a chill run down their spines.
"It's an Easter egg in their game," the sales manager explained with difficulty, taking another report from the young man. "After completing the game, a trailer for an animated movie called <Mewtwo Strikes Back> will appear."
"A trailer?" Yamauchi Haku frowned. "Put the trailer into the game?"
The sales manager handed the report to Yamauchi Haku and continued, "Then, Gallop started airing the official trailer for the Pokémon movie, ' Mewtwo Strikes Back, ' after the prime-time anime programming block. This created a three-pronged promotional campaign: the pre-release trailer, the game completion trailer, and the official trailer. Everyone who watched the Pokémon anime, played ' Pokémon Land,' and even everyone who had bought Pokémon merchandise paid attention to this trailer, causing quite a stir in the market."
"Now all the TV stations and newspapers are reporting on this, saying that Sega has pioneered a brand-new interactive storytelling mode, turning the game into a 'prequel' to the movie. Countless players who were originally watching have rushed to buy the game just to see the trailer with their own eyes."
Looking at the two almost intertwined curves on the Yamauchi Haku, the red Mario curve seemed to be losing momentum.
The blue Pokémon curve, on the other hand, resembles a newly awakened beast, brimming with unpredictable explosive power.
The office was deathly silent. The Marketing Department elites, who had just been celebrating their victory, all had their heads down, not daring to make a sound.
One moment they thought victory was assured, the next they were brought back to reality by an unprecedented and bizarre move from their opponent.
This enormous disparity left everyone feeling a sense of absurdity and powerlessness.
Yamauchi Haku Usagi slowly put down the report in his hand, making a soft sound.
"A bunch of useless trash. Nakayama Takuya has put in so many promotional efforts just for one Pokémon, can't you guys be any better?"
As soon as Yamauchi Haku finished speaking, even the sound of breathing in the office fell silent. Those words, "a bunch of useless trash," pierced the hearts of every elite in the Marketing Department and Sales Department like icicles, making them afraid to even lift their heads.
In the midst of this deathly silence, the sales manager who had first reported the good news took a step forward, his face ashen.
His lips moved, as if he had used all his strength to make a sound.
"The president's situation might be worse than we thought."
Yamauchi Haku didn't even lift his eyelids, staring intently at the two intertwined curves on the table, as if he wanted to burn a hole in the blue line with his gaze.
The sales manager swallowed hard and handed over the second report. The paper on this report was much better than the faxed copy, and it even had a colorful game cover printed on it, which looked particularly glaring.
"Sega's offensive hasn't stopped. Just when we were locked in a fierce battle of sales with Pokémon, they released two new games."
He paused, seemingly organizing his thoughts, but ultimately chose the most direct statement. "They announced today that they will be releasing a strategy game called <The First Super Robot Wars> and a party game called <Joy Island Adventure> this week."
Another marketing executive, who had been silent until now, couldn't help but add, "<The First Super Robot Wars> - just from the name, you can tell it's aimed at those core mecha fans, and also those strategy game players who don't like action games but prefer strategic gameplay. Previously, these complex games could only run on PC, and when asked to port them to the NES, they wouldn't simplify the content. Now that they can do it on the Mega Drive, are PC gamers going to switch to Sega?"
"And the other one?" Yamauchi Haku finally spoke, his voice eerily calm.
The sales manager's gaze fell on another page of the report. The illustrations on that page were the complete opposite of the robot's ruggedness; they were filled with round, soft, and adorable characters, and the colors were so vibrant they were almost dizzying.
"<The Joy Island Adventure> -- is made by COMPILE."
He answered with difficulty.
"The graphics are very cute. It's a collection of multiple mini-games, and the gameplay seems to be multiplayer. The difficulty doesn't look too high, but there's some competitive element. The target audience is probably the casual gamers, female gamers, and families that Pokémon Land attracted. They likely want these people to continue playing other Mega Drive games after they've had their fill of Pokémon Land, making the Mega Drive a regular fixture in every family's living room. This aligns with our living room strategy, but they can reach a wider range of players---"
Silence fell in the office again; this time they all understood.
If the Pokémon trailer collaboration was a surprise punch, then these two games are a combo attack that gives no room to breathe.
To maintain a sufficiently high presence in the gaming market, rapidly expand the player base, and quickly overcome the period of weakness due to low player retention.
One move after another, one link after another, they precisely targeted every niche market, and then joined forces to besiege Nintendo's proud "all-ages" strategy.