Super FX
"Tom, do you really think a company that just acquired Columbia Pictures and poached over a hundred people from the Japan gaming industry would obediently become a mere rebranding subsidiary of Nintendo?"
On the other end of the phone, Tom Kalinske gasped.
He finally understood.
He finally understood the true meaning behind Nakayama Takuya's "low-key" strategy.
"I get it!" Tom's voice trembled with excitement after a sudden realization. "You mean, Sony might actually Nintendo at this show and announce their own console?!"
"Pretty close."
"So—no matter how hard we shout, we can't outdo Sony in flipping the table?" Tom summarized with a simple and blunt analogy.
That's one way to understand it.
"Ha!" Tom Kalinske suddenly burst into laughter, his laughter filled with the shrewdness and relief of a businessman. "I see! You mean, an unprecedented battle of behemoths is about to erupt right next to us, and for us to go and compete with them to see who can shout the loudest is a complete waste of energy. What we should do is quietly watch those two behemoths fight it out."
This metaphor, though crude, is exceptionally accurate.
"That's pretty much the gist of it." Nakayama Takuya chuckled at his words. "Let them go grab the headlines. We only want the players."
"Great! Let's do it this way!" Tom Kalinske agreed enthusiastically. "That 500 square meters, half for <John Wick>, half for <King of Fighters>. What about the remaining scrap area?"
"The rest?" A hint of slyness crept into Nakayama Takuya's voice. "The rest of the area is our cashier."
"Checkout counter?"
"I've already had the factory expedite the production of a batch of CES limited edition merchandise," Nakayama Takuya leisurely rattled off the list. "From Pokémon to Sonic T-shirts, from Kirby hats to Metal Slug character badges, we have it all."
Tom Kalinske was silent for two seconds on the other end of the phone, then burst into his signature laugh.
"Haha! You devil! You use the money from selling merchandise to pay for the booth fee, and you even manage to use it as a publicity gimmick!"
I love this idea!
"Remember to mention it in the promotional material," Nakayama Takuya added, "To let players know that we have a lot of limited-edition merchandise at our booth, first come, first served, and never to be reprinted."
"No problem! Leave this to me, I'm best at stirring things up!" Tom laughed for a moment before remembering something else, "Oh right, I've already spoken with VisualConcepts, the company you asked me to contact."
"Oh? How was it?"
"Very smoothly." Tom's tone became serious. "They are extremely interested in cooperating with us. From what they said, EA has been putting a lot of pressure on them over the years, and they're just wondering how to get ahead. They're incredibly grateful that we extended an olive branch at this time."
"That's good." Nakayama Takuya tapped his finger lightly on the table. "Then let's give them a ride at our booth too. See if you can arrange their booth next to ours, do a joint event, and help each other attract more visitors."
"Take them with you?"
"Hmm." Nakayama Takuya's voice was calm. "Let everyone see, especially those guys at EA, what kind of treatment their exploited and abandoned teams will receive at Sega. We want developers all over the world to know that Sega's cars are easier to ride in."
Tom Kalinske on the other end of the phone was completely convinced.
From exhibition strategy to public opinion guidance, and even poaching competitors' employees, everything was meticulously planned and interconnected.
"Okay, I know what to do." Tom's voice was filled with barely suppressed excitement. "Just wait and see, Takuya. This year's Chicago is going to be very, very interesting!"
After hanging up the phone, Nakayama Takuya leaned back in his chair, gazing out the window at the now completely dark sky.
Sony, Nintendo, 3D0----
All sorts of powerful figures are about to take the stage, and a grand drama that will determine the industry landscape for the next decade is finally about to begin.
He had already secured the best viewing spot for Sega.
After finalizing the CES exhibition strategy with Tom Kalinske, Nakayama Takuya's days did not become leisurely.
The entire Sega Headquarters was like a finely wound-up alarm clock, with every department working frantically in preparation for the upcoming trip to Chicago.
From the final debugging of the Sega-CD to the firmware burning of the King of Fighters demo, and the repeated editing of the short trailer for Chrono Trigger, he had to personally oversee everything.
Just as he finished signing the last expedited document regarding the production of limited-edition merchandise and was preparing to slip away early to go home and hug his son, his assistant knocked on the door and came in.
"My lord, a fax from the United Kingdom, addressed to you specifically."
The assistant handed over a piece of paper that was still warm.
Nakayama Takuya and glanced at it. When he saw the words "Argonaut Software" at the top of the fax, the corners of his mouth turned up imperceptibly.
They've arrived.
What he had been waiting for finally arrived.
The fax contained a technical specification sheet, prominently titled "SuperFX3DGraphics".
"Coprocessor" -- 3D graphics coprocessor. Below is a list of data that will make laymen dizzy, but will make insiders' hearts race.
This thing is the first version of the famous "Super FX Chip" from the previous life.
It was thanks to this that Nintendo's Star Fox achieved revolutionary true 3D polygon graphics on the 2D console, the Super Famicom.
And now, its technical blueprints are lying quietly in his hands.
"Is Minister Nakamura in the Hardware Department?" Nakayama Takuya picked up the internal phone.
"Yes, Executive Director, they're doing final testing on what Sega-CD will be demonstrating at the show."
"Very good."
Nakayama Takuya hung up the phone, made a copy of the fax, and headed straight for the Hardware Development Department with the copy.
The Hardware Development Department was a mess, with circuit boards, data cables, and various testing instruments piled up on the desktops. Several Sega-CD prototypes were connected to monitors, running a dazzling array of test programs.
Department head Nakamura was sweating profusely as he stared at strings of code on the screen. When he saw Nakayama Takuya enter, he quickly stood up.
"Executive! What brings you here? The final tuning of the Sega-CD is complete; there will absolutely be no mishaps at the exhibition!"
"Nakamura, thank you for your hard work." Nakayama Takuya waved with a smile. "I'm not here to check up on you; I'm here to bring you some new things."
He handed over the photocopy.
"Something new?" Nakamura took it, puzzled, and looked down at it. His expression immediately lit up with excitement.
"3D coprocessor? The United Kingdom made this?! This... this specification... how did they manage to do it?!"