With the CPU settled, the next step was the most crucial component.
Yuji Naka leaned forward, bracing his arms on the desk.
"President, the CPU is easy enough. The graphics chip is the big one." Yuji Naka looked at Nakayama Takuya. "Ken Kutaragi has talked tough about building a microprocessor with enough computing power to crush existing architectures. We'll need outside help with our graphics chip."
"Who do you have in mind?"
"Jensen Huang," Yuji Naka said. "When Sega invested in NVIDIA, you signed an agreement with him. NVIDIA would help Sega develop a custom GPU for its next console. Now that preliminary research is starting, we need to go to North America and settle it face-to-face."
Yuji Naka grew more animated as he spoke.
"And it isn't just the graphics chip. The network module will be absolutely critical for the next console. There's a ceiling to what single-player games can achieve, and not every game can match Final Fantasy VII. The future is definitely online multiplayer and digital distribution. While we're in North America, we should visit Silicon Valley Online and bring Mark Cerny along. We can take their experience with and MMORPGs on PC and use it directly for the new console's underlying network architecture. That could save us years of wrong turns."
Nakayama Takuya opened a drawer, picked up the fax pages he had laid facedown on the desk, and tossed them in front of Yuji Naka.
"Look at this."
Yuji Naka picked up the fax. Sato Hideki leaned in.
NVIDIA's logo was printed on the paper.
"It's a project progress report from the financial representative our North America Division assigned to NVIDIA. It came in last night." Nakayama Takuya leaned back in his chair. "Go straight to the last page."
Yuji Naka quickly flipped to the