Shigeru Miyamoto's Pressure
Sega Headquarters have become a sea of joy during this period.
The news of the promotional campaign's resounding success made all the participating third-party manufacturers very wealthy.
The thank-you calls kept the Marketing Department's phones busy all day.
Those company presidents who were losing sleep over inventory backlogs and tight cash flow last year now speak with booming voices on the phone. They see the real money they've earned after clearing out most of their warehouses, and they understand perfectly well the news from Nintendo about "postponing the release of SFC development kits from Sega's promotional partners."
On one side is Sega, which leads everyone to wealth and Sega its allies like brothers.
On the other side is Nintendo, which acts superior, treating its partners like servants and frequently resorting to punishment and threats.
Is there any need to hesitate about the choice?
At Taito Headquarters, President Yoshiji Nishida hung up yet another congratulatory and probing phone call, picked up his teacup, and blew on the floating tea leaves.
On the other end of the phone was the president of another mid-sized manufacturer, whose tone carried a hint of barely concealed anxiety.
"Nishida, Nintendo has really gone all out. They're going to delay the development of the Super Famicom development kit for us for another six months. What's the panic?" Yoshiji Nishida took a sip of tea and replied slowly, "Old Master Yamauchi is just out of his mind, throwing a tantrum like a child."
"First, look at how much stock the Super FC has. Then look at how many cartridges we cleared out of our warehouses, practically moldy, following Sega's lead. Can't you tell which is real money and which is just a pipe dream?"
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone before a sigh came through, "That's true, but it's Nintendo after all..."
"What's wrong with Nintendo?" Yoshiji Nishida's voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable confidence. "Can they stop us from selling games on the Famicom? Last month, I had my people reheat a simple remake of Bubble Bobble, just a pixelated game, and it sold better than some so-called new games."
"The tens of millions of units installed on the FC are enough to sustain us for several more years. And Sega isn't demanding exclusivity, yet they already have thirty million units installed. As for the SFC, we can consider making games for it when it has five or six million units in circulation. Whoever wants to be the first to suffer the consequences can go ahead."
His words enlightened the other party, who thanked him repeatedly before hanging up the phone.
Yoshiji Nishida put down his teacup, walked to the window, and looked down at the Tokyo street scene.
Times have changed.
Nowadays, no third-party manufacturers are in a hurry to make a pilgrimage to Kyoto anymore.
Nintendo's strict exclusivity terms have been riddled with holes ever since Sega tore a hole in them two years ago.
Now it's become a complete joke.
Moreover, Sega never forces its allies to take sides.
Nakayama Atsuo's attitude is very clear: as long as the game is well-made and can make money, that's fine.
Sega doesn't care where it's sold or how many platforms it's ported to.
As long as everyone is willing to use MD as one of their launch platforms, we can all make money together.
This relaxed and free atmosphere is something that all the manufacturers who have been subservient to Nintendo's "royalty" for several years could never even dream of.
As a result, many scenarios have chosen arcade machines or Mega Drives as their initial launch platform.
If sales are good, strike while the iron is hot and port the optimized, mature version to other platforms, squeezing every last drop of value out of the game.
As for Nintendo's Super Famicom?
Just wait and see.
Once we've made enough money, and you've stocked up on enough inventory, then we can port the new games we've released during this period over.
Kyoto, Nintendo Headquarters.
The head of the Marketing Department stood in front of Yamauchi Haku's desk, cold sweat trickling down his temples, barely daring to breathe.
"--That's the situation." He lowered his head, his voice hoarse. "The manufacturers are all very polite on the phone, but when it comes to the prepayment and waiting list issues for the SFC development kit, they start dodging the question."
Taito said their focus for the next six months will be on their arcade business. Namco said their star team needed to "recharge creatively" and went to a hot spring. Capcom more direct, saying they'd wait until the market matured before making any decisions.
The person in charge spoke softer and softer, and he secretly glanced at Yamauchi Haku's face, his heart suddenly clenching.
Yamauchi Haku did not get angry, nor did he even say a word.
He just sat there quietly, his fingers tapping the table unconsciously, each tap seeming to strike the heart of the person in charge.
"The funniest thing is Lrem. They said their lead programmer won the lottery and went on a world tour, and they can't contact them for the time being." The person in charge added, forcing a smile, trying to ease the atmosphere with this absurd excuse, but found that Yamauchi Haku's eyes had grown even colder.
These company presidents, who used to bow and scrape before him and not even dare to sit up straight, have now learned to be sarcastic and obsequious.
Creative charging and world travel are just polite ways of saying, "We'll do it when the SFC's installation base grows."
They are all waiting.
Once Nintendo paves the way and the Super Famicom user base reaches a scale where it can generate profits for them, they will swarm in like sharks smelling blood.
As for paying tribute now and helping Nintendo expand its territory?
Sorry, I absolutely refuse.
Sega has shown them with real money that being a brother is better than being a dog.
"Alright, you can leave now."
Yamauchi Haku finally spoke, his voice calm and even.
The person in charge felt as if he had been granted a pardon, bowed deeply, and fled as if he were escaping.
Silence returned to the office.
Yamauchi Haku slowly rose, walked to the window, and looked down at the city.
He created an empire, an empire to which all game developers had to bow down to Kyoto.
But now, the foundation of the empire has been shaken by Sega's most straightforward and brutal "money-spraying" tactic.
Threats are no longer effective.
There's nowhere else to apply punishment.
Nintendo's dominance has once again proven so powerless.
He picked up the internal phone on the table and dialed a number.
"Have Miyamoto-kun come to my office."
A moment later, Shigeru Miyamoto knocked on the door and entered.
His face still bore a trace of fatigue from staying up all night.
"President, you wanted to see me?"
"Those third parties all rejected us," Yamauchi Haku interrupted him, his voice devoid of any emotion.
Shigeru Miyamoto's expression froze.
"They're all waiting, waiting for our Super Famicom to open up the market itself." Yamauchi Haku turned around, his gaze fixed on his most trusted ace producer. "They want to see us fail, they want to see Nintendo's empire crumble."
He walked up to Shigeru Miyamoto.
"The expansion of the game development team can no longer proceed at such a slow pace. Your Zelda alone is not enough; we need more first-party games. We have no way out."
"I'll make those traitors regret not getting their hands on the development kits first."
"Miyamoto-kun," Yamauchi Haku placed his hand on his shoulder.
"Do you understand? First-party games are now the only pillar supporting the Super Famicom."
Shigeru Miyamoto felt the weight on his shoulders. Before coming here, his mind was filled with excitement about developing the game, but now all that remained was a heavy sense of responsibility.