Inspection

Clancy picked up a blueprint and remained silent for a long time.

He stared at the familiar tactical terms; weren't these the very scenes he had mentally rehearsed countless times in his study, smoking as he worked?

This Japan is trying to draw the scenes he imagines in his mind.

"Ha."

Clancy suddenly chuckled, a laugh tinged with admiration.

He gently placed the blueprints back on the table, leaned forward, and looked directly at Takuya: "I'll figure out the military advisor situation. I did get to know a few friends in the Navy when I was writing <The Hunt for Red October>, I can ask them."

He held up one finger and pointed at the blueprints on the table.

"However, I have one condition. I want to play the finished product myself before the game is released. If it doesn't live up to my book, don't even think about selling it thanks to the movie. You have to wait until after the movie's release, otherwise Paramount will come after me."

"That's only fair." Takuya agreed without hesitation, extending his hand. "We hope to create a work that will satisfy you."

Clancy grasped his hand and shook it vigorously.

"And this is just the beginning," Takuya said earnestly, looking at him. "When the technology matures in the future, your entire world can be recreated in the game. So, Mr. Clancy, please be sure to write more and more exciting stories."

Clancy's eyes lit up.

"Kid, I'm looking forward to it."

Takuya was in a good mood after his meeting with Tom Clancy ended.

Bernard, carrying the preliminary cooperation agreement reached with Clancy, returned to Redwood City to report to Kalinske.

Takuya declined the suggestion to fly back immediately, instead opting for a more "retro" way of traveling.

He wanted to travel there personally, from east to west, to see for himself the North America market that was portrayed as a thriving sector by reports and data.

Accompanying him was a Channel Department manager Mark, a typical middle-aged white United States, enthusiastic and confident in his department's work.

"Mr. Nakayama, our first stop is a Walmart outside New York, one of our most important partners!" Mark said proudly as he drove a Ford Taurus along the wide interstate highway.

Takuya leaned back in the passenger seat, watching the scenery rushing past the window, and casually asked, "How's the shelf placement they gave us?"

"It's definitely the best! Right at the entrance to the electronic entertainment area, in the most prominent location!"

Half an hour later, when Takuya stood in the electronic entertainment section of that Walmart, his expression was somewhat amused.

Sega's display shelf was indeed very eye-catching, with a huge blue Sonic poster and the tagline "Genesis Does What".

The arrogant slogan "Nintendon't" is full of aggression.

On the shelves, brand-new Mega Drive consoles and rows of game cartridges gleamed under the lights; they were really cool.

But right across from it, Nintendo's red zone, though it looks a bit "old-fashioned" and Mario's smiling face is far less fashionable than Sonic's, has a noticeably larger number of children and parents gathered there.

A mother is holding a box of Super Mario World and promising to buy it for her child if he does well on his final exams.

Another father was examining NES cartridges, seemingly choosing introductory games for his younger child.

On the other hand, Sega consisted mostly of teenagers who were pointing excitedly at the covers of Streets of Streets of Rage and Golden Axe, but few of them were accompanied by parents.

"Mark," Takuya pointed to the Nintendo counter, "Do you see it?"

1"

Mark looked in the direction he was pointing, somewhat puzzled. "They have more people, but our customers have stronger purchasing power! Teenagers have more pocket money!"

Takuya smiled, said nothing more, and walked straight up to a young clerk wearing a red Walmart vest.

"Hey young man. I'd like to ask, if a father wanted to buy his ten-year-old son his first game console, which one would you recommend?"

The shop assistant paused for a moment, glanced at Takuya, then at Mark behind him, scratched his head, and answered honestly, "Listen, sir, most people would choose Nintendo. Mario —you know, it's more suitable for the whole family to play together."

Mark's expression instantly turned somewhat awkward.

Takuya thanked him, patted Mark on the shoulder, and said softly, "We've won over the kids, but we haven't completely won over the parents' wallets yet."

After leaving Walmart, they went to Toys "R" Us.

The situation here is much better; Sega and Nintendo are almost evenly matched, with the blue "Fast & Furious" and the red "Fun & Family" each holding half the market share.

GamePocket, on the other hand, has few competitors, and Nintendo hasn't distributed it much in North America.

The last stop on the trip was a large arcade in downtown Chicago.

As soon as the door was opened, deafening electronic sound effects and the shouts of teenagers swept in.

The air was thick with the smell of sweat and pizza, and the flickering light from the screens illuminated young faces, some excited and some frustrated.

This is the most primitive and passionate battlefield of video games Takuya immediately spotted the long lines of Art of Fighting Fatal Fury arcade machines, where players were shouting at each other, creating an atmosphere as intense as a boxing match.

In contrast, Sega's prized <DDR>, despite attracting many onlookers, always saw the same few people actually jumping on it.

Takuya walked up to a boy who had just come off the Art of Fighting machine and handed him a bottle of cola.

"Hey, good play. Just wondering, why don't you try that <DDR> over there? Doesn't it have lots of girls around?"

The boy took a big gulp of cola, wiped his mouth, and said, "Oh, <DDR> is very popular with girls, but it's not easy to play it coolly. You might be laughed at by girls for a long time before you even get their attention. But here, if I beat Jamie's Robert with Ryo Sakazaki, I could laugh at him for a week!"

Takuya didn't ask any further questions. He had already realized that the entry-level difficulty of <DDR> was somewhat discouraging for newcomers. This wasn't a problem when it was first released, as everyone was a newbie, but now, with experienced players comparing it to other games...

This makes some newcomers hesitant to even try.

However, the majority of the game's profits come from Sony, and there are very few new machine orders now, so there's no need to worry too much about it.

It seems that the charm of arcades is not just the games themselves, but also the community culture and competitive atmosphere formed among players.

As for shooting games and action-adventure games, they still need an experience and a sense of exhilaration that home consoles can't provide to win over players' coins.