The Lure of a New Console

In the photo, a never-before-seen game console prototype is connected to the TV, with <Tetris> clearly displayed on the screen.

But this is by no means any known version on the market.

In the screen, four square areas of different colors and shapes are clearly visible, belonging to four players playing the game at the same time!

What's even more amazing is that even through photos, you can feel the richness and detail of the colors in the game screen.

That kind of picture quality is far superior to all home machines on the market, and almost reaches the level of the latest arcade machines.

Sakaguchi Hironobu is a game developer after all, and is more sensitive to technology.

He almost blurted out. "This... this is a 16-bit host?!"

Takuya smiled and nodded, confirming Sakaguchi Hironobu's guess.

"That's right. So I ask you two to keep everything you saw today strictly confidential."

Miyamoto Masashi's fingers caressed the edge of the photo, and the shock in his eyes has not completely dissipated.

16-bit host?

Sega has been developed to this extent?

Sakaguchi Hironobu involuntarily leaned forward, staring at the details of the photo, as if he wanted to burn every pixel into memory. When developing <Final Fantasy>, he often had to sacrifice creativity due to hardware limitations. Seeing such a breakthrough almost made him breathless.

Sakaguchi Hironobu suddenly raised his head. "If RPG can be developed on such hardware..." He paused, his eyes flashing with excitement, "We can realize a more complex combat system, a larger world map, and a more grand plot display!"

Miyamoto Masashi's heart moved. He had rarely seen Sakaguchi so excited. The recent difficulties of the company had gradually cooled down the creative director's enthusiasm, but now it seemed to be rekindled.

"Don't get too excited in a hurry," Miyamoto Masashi glanced at Sakaguchi warningly, and then turned to Takuya, "This technology must be expensive. Can consumers accept it?"

Takuya took back the photo and put it back in the briefcase.

"It is indeed more expensive than existing consoles," he said frankly, "But our market research shows that real gamers are willing to pay for a qualitative leap. Besides..." He paused and smiled meaningfully, "If you cooperate with us, Square can obtain the development kit in advance and seize the opportunity."

Sakaguchi Hironobu seems to have a picture of <Final Fantasy> running on the new console. What kind of visual feast will it be?

"I heard that Square is going all out to develop the <Final Fantasy> project." Takuya continued, "I sincerely admire this kind of spirit of burning cauldrons and sinking boats."

Miyamoto Masashi's eyes trembled slightly. <Final Fantasy> is indeed their company's last hope, and almost all their resources and efforts have been devoted to it. If this project fails, Square is likely to disappear from the gaming world.

"And Sega," Takuya continued, "Is also investing all its resources with the same determination to break Nintendo's absolute monopoly in the home console market."

"In a sense, we are traveling together."

This sentence caused a subtle change in the atmosphere in the office.

Fellow travelers?

Indeed, both Square and Sega are challenging the giants in their respective fields. And both of them live in the shadow of Nintendo.

"If we can make <Final Fantasy> one of the first games for the new console..." Sakaguchi Hironobu couldn't help but think about the possibility.

Miyamoto Masashi raised his hand to signal him to calm down, but his own heartbeat speeded up unconsciously. Sega's proposal was like a life-saving straw, appearing when they were about to sink. However, the businessman's instinct told him that things were not that simple.

"Specialist Nakayama," Miyamoto Masashi looked directly into Takuya's eyes, "It sounds like we each have what we need, but why Square? There are many more stable game developers on the market."

Takuya did not answer immediately. He stood up, walked to the window of the office, and looked at the street view of Tokyo.

"Because you still choose to innovate in desperate situations instead of being complacent. This is the most valuable quality in an industry like gaming where creativity is king." Takuya turned around, "This is exactly the partner Sega needs."

Takuya leaned forward and his voice became more serious.

"President Miyamoto, I would like to introduce to you in detail the third-party developer policy Sega has formulated for the new console."

"These policies are completely different from Nintendo's approach."

Miyamoto Masashi and Sakaguchi Hironobu looked at each other with surprise in their eyes. Nintendo's set of domineering clauses had already made them suffer a lot, and the developer had almost become a slave.

"First, review and distribution." Takuya stretched out a finger, "Sega is mainly responsible for the review of the final quality of the game, as well as ensuring accurate statistics and transparency of the release quantity."

"We will not interfere excessively with game content like Nintendo does. As long as the content is legal and compliant and not shoddy, other Sega will not interfere in any way."

Sakaguchi Hironobu couldn't help but sit up straight. The memory of being repeatedly rejected by Nintendo for redoing certain design concepts of <Final Fantasy> came to mind. Freedom of development is simply the Holy Grail for creators.

"In other words, we can do it according to our own creativity? We won't be dictated by the reviewer?" Sakaguchi couldn't help but ask.

Takuya nodded with a smile, "That's right. We believe in the creativity of developers, rather than restricting it."

"Secondly, production autonomy." Takuya continued, "Third-party developers are free to choose to cooperate with any cassette manufacturer designated by Sega and agree on the production quantity and delivery cycle by themselves."

Miyamoto Masashi's brows relaxed slightly. This is their biggest headache - Nintendo controls production, causing them to often face the dilemma of out of stock or backlog.

"Whether it is adding an order or dealing with overstock, it will be negotiated between the third party and the manufacturer. Sega does not have any unreasonable intervention or risk transfer terms."

Miyamoto Masashi frowned. "It sounds too ideal. The reason why Nintendo can control the market is because it has mastered the production chain. Why does Sega dare to let go?"

Takuya put down the tea cup. "Because we want to win the market, not control it. Control will only make the cake smaller and smaller."

"Third, low royalties." Takuya's tone was determined to win, "Sega only charges a small amount of royalties for the game, and the proportion is much lower than Nintendo's current terms."

Sakaguchi Hironobu began to make some hasty calculations on his notebook. If the royalties can really be reduced, the creative elements they were forced to cut off may be able to be added back.

"How much exactly?" Miyamoto asked.

"Nintendo currently starts at 30%, and we only need 20%. Moreover, we only collect it after the sale."

There was silence in the office, and even the sound of breathing could be heard clearly.

"Fourth, it only requires the first release but does not force exclusivity. Sega does not force third-party works to be exclusive. It only requires that new works be first released on the home console platform and on the Sega host."

Sakaguchi Hironobu seems to have seen the scene of <Final Fantasy> blooming on the 16-bit console before his eyes. "What if we are willing to monopolize it?"

Takuya showed a confident smile, "If a third-party developer takes the initiative to apply for a certain work to be exclusive to the Sega console, the royalties for the work will be further reduced by 20% as a token of encouragement."

Miyamoto Masashi stared at Takuya, as if to read his mind, "These conditions are too good to be true. Can Sega really agree to this internally?"

Takuya's eyes flickered for a moment, as if he had returned to the intense Sega high-level meeting last week. He argued hard on his own, and in the face of layer upon layer of doubts from the top management, he just relied on the reason that "the console sales have not yet won, and it is not appropriate to be too harsh to force the cooperative manufacturers away", and struggled to win this set of policies.

Deep down deep in his heart, he was extremely disgusted with the short-sighted thinking of the Japan business world that "eats everything and sucks out the marrow."

"To be honest, it was not easy." Takuya admitted, "But I managed it. I firmly believe that only by growing together with our partners can we truly make the cake bigger."

Miyamoto Masashi picked up the photo and took another look. The 16-bit host glowed coldly under the light, like a symbol of the future.

"Specialist Nakayama, if Square really joins the Sega camp, when will our game be launched?" Sakaguchi Hironobu asked, with a hint of eagerness in his tone.

"If everything goes well, when the Sega console is officially released in the first half of next year, the new game <Final Fantasy> will be released as the first masterpiece."

Sakaguchi Hironobu put down the tea cup with a bang. "Oh my god, this is so exciting! We can start adjusting the development plan immediately!"

Miyamoto Masashi stretched out his hand to signal Sakaguchi to calm down, but he couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth. The powerful functions of Sega's new console, the sincerity and vision of Nakayama Takuya, and these incredibly superior cooperation conditions - all of this is like a ray of light shining in the darkness of despair.

Even so, the businessman's instinct still made Miyamoto Masashi cautious. "Nakayama is the professional, we need time to think about it."

Takuya nodded readily. "Of course. I look forward to Square's wise decision."

As he left the office, Miyamoto Masashi and Sakaguchi Hironobu had already seen the possible turning point for Square.