Recaps

Nakayama Takuya realized that Sega’s release of Mortal Kombat could trigger a major political backlash because its graphic finishing moves were being sold without age ratings. He warned Tom Kalinske that a Senate hearing could threaten Sega and the video game industry.

• Nakayama Takuya reviewed Night Trap and recognized that the notorious game could draw the attention of American moral guardians.
• Nakayama Takuya checked Sega North America’s records and discovered Mortal Kombat had already been released and was selling well.
• Nakayama Takuya saw that Sega’s review department had approved Mortal Kombat without noting its graphic finishing moves.
• Nakayama Takuya called Tom Kalinske and warned him that children could buy Mortal Kombat, provoking a senator and a public backlash.

Takuya and Tom organized an industry-led game rating board to head off government regulation after concerns about Mortal Kombat and Night Trap. When Tom warned that Atari was preparing the Jaguar console, Takuya dismissed it as no threat because Atari’s management would ruin it.

• Takuya warned Tom that Sega’s games could be branded harmful and urged him to organize an independent game rating board with American companies taking the public lead.
• Takuya told Tom to include Night Trap among the first rated games, give it an adults-only label if needed, and reassure its developer about future FMV work.
• Three days later, Tom reported that game companies had quickly supported the rating board and that Atari was preparing its Jaguar console.
• Tom asked whether Sega should change its hardware research schedule, but Takuya dismissed Atari’s prospects and blamed its management for its failures.

Nakayama Takuya recruited Mark Cerny from the Jurassic Park project to help design Sega Headquarters’ next-generation console. After arriving in Japan, Mark saw Yu Suzuki’s Model 2 prototype and immediately began sketching ideas for its architecture.

• Nakayama Takuya asked Tom Kalinske about Mark Cerny’s work on Jurassic Park, and Tom said Mark had solved the hardest animation problems.
• Nakayama Takuya explained the next-generation console plan to Mark, including MIPS, custom SGI hardware, and mixed 2D and 3D rendering.
• Mark Cerny accepted the assignment and arranged to hand over his Jurassic Park work before traveling to Japan.
• Mark Cerny arrived at Sega Headquarters and saw the Model 2 prototype on the lab bench.
• Yu Suzuki showed Mark how sprites reduced the computing cost of dynamic effects, and Mark began drawing an architecture diagram.

Nakayama Takuya rejected a digital controller prototype and ordered an analog stick with precise linear input for future 3D games. Yu Suzuki challenged him to come up with a game that made the costly device essential, leaving Takuya facing the demand with Mark Cerny and Yuji Naka watching.

• Department Head Nakamura presented Takuya with a controller prototype whose sticks used microswitches.
• Takuya disassembled the controller and told Nakamura to replace the digital sticks with dual-axis potentiometers that supported analog input.
• Nakamura reported that SGI had accepted the customization requirements but needed the CPU instruction set plan finalized soon.
• Mark Cerny and Yu Suzuki examined the R3000 prototype, discussing geometry acceleration, the Model 2 test program, and possible memory bandwidth limits.
• Yu Suzuki argued that Virtua Fighter 2 did not need an analog stick and demanded that Takuya devise a game that depended on one.
• Mark Cerny joined Yu Suzuki in asking Takuya what game idea would make the analog stick shine.

Takuya considered how to give the new console’s analog stick a launch game that made its precise, variable movement essential. He rejected several concepts and concluded that Virtual On’s fast, reflex-driven gameplay would not suit analog controls.

• Takuya agreed to give Yu Suzuki and Yuji Naka a challenging game proposal that showcased the analog stick.
• Takuya considered Tomb Raider and Metal Gear 2 but set them aside because they were home-console games, while the near-term platform was the Model 2 arcade board.
• Takuya rejected racing as a proposal because Yu Suzuki’s team could develop it, and dismissed air combat because of technical limits and motion sickness risks.
• Takuya wrote down Virtual On (Cyber Troopers) as a possible dual-stick game, then reconsidered its instant, all-or-nothing control needs.
• Takuya concluded that analog sticks’ gradual movement and softer return to center could make quick evasions unreliable in Virtual On.

Nakayama Takuya chose a Gundam mech-combat game to showcase the Model 2 board and analog stick, hoping to impress Bandai. He then met Hiroi Ouji, who reported that the Sakura Wars anime and stage play were progressing on schedule.

• Nakayama Takuya crossed out Virtual On as unsuitable for the current analog-stick project and settled on Mobile Suit GUNDAM: Battle Operation.
• Nakayama Takuya named the new game folder and drafted its setting and gameplay framework, intending the project to demonstrate Sega’s technical strength to Yamashina Makoto and Bandai.
• Nakayama Takuya visited Hiroi Ouji to review Sakura Wars’ development progress.
• Hiroi Ouji said Madhouse had mobilized its staff and outsourced some work, but the anime production remained on schedule.
• Hiroi Ouji explained that Sega and Sunrise had blacklisted an unreliable Art of Fighting subcontractor, making other studios cautious about delivering poor work.

Nakayama Takuya and Hiroi Ouji reviewed the Sakura Wars anime, voice cast, stage play, and merchandise plans as preparations advanced. Takuya set the anime for TV Tokyo’s April prime-time season and planned to coordinate the game’s release with its climax, while Bandai developed model designs and Madhouse prepared the first episodes.

• Hiroi Ouji praised Chisa Yokoyama’s performance as Sakura Shinguji and reported that she alone had signed a letter of intent for the stage play.
• Takuya told Hiroi to develop the stage play gradually, using Yokoyama as its first lead and waiting for the game and anime to attract other actors.
• Takuya scheduled the anime for TV Tokyo’s April prime-time slot and planned to release the game after the anime’s climax.
• Takuya showed Hiroi Bandai’s model design plans for the Light Warrior mecha, Flying Whale Maru, and Thunderclap, and specified that the mecha cockpit should fit a character figure.
• Hiroi said Madhouse would finish cuts of the first two episodes early the next month and invited Takuya to review them.

Takuya and Tom established the ESRB framework and prepared Sega’s public response to criticism over violent games. Meanwhile, Sony won the right to use the PlayStation trademark, but Nintendo used a new agreement to demand control over Sony’s console design and compatibility.

• Tom told Takuya that game manufacturers had approved an ESRB rating system with five categories, while major retailers would require rating labels on games.
• Takuya planned to present Sega as accepting oversight by prominently rating Night Trap and Mortal Kombat and offering to buy back Mortal Kombat copies sold to minors.
• Sony won the PlayStation trademark case in court, but Nintendo’s legal team showed little concern over the result.
• Three days later, Minoru Arakawa presented Sony with an agreement requiring its PlayStation console to retain an SFC cartridge slot and support Nintendo games.

Minoru Arakawa secured Nintendo’s terms in its agreement with Sony, leaving Sony with the PlayStation name but little control over cartridges, software, or profits. At Sony headquarters, Norio Ohga and Ken Kutaragi rejected the compromised system and decided to separate the PlayStation brand from Nintendo and redesign the console around 32-bit CD-ROM hardware.

• Minoru Arakawa and Howard Lincoln made Sony accept Nintendo’s control of SFC cartridge royalties, publishing profits, and game approvals.
• Minoru Arakawa told Yamauchi Hiroshi that Sony had signed and that Nintendo would control the cartridges, while Yamauchi warned him not to underestimate Sony’s resentment.
• Norio Ohga ordered the prototype removed, and Ken Kutaragi explained that Nintendo’s cartridge slot left Sony dependent on Nintendo.
• A Sony legal executive argued that Nintendo’s trademark covered “Play Station” but not the joined-up name “PlayStation,” and Norio Ohga approved the change.
• Ken Kutaragi proposed removing the Super Famicom cartridge slot and upgrading the console to 32-bit CD-ROM hardware.

Sony executives refined the PlayStation’s direction, agreeing to remove the cartridge slot, support CD playback, and study 3D graphics while prioritizing strong 2D visuals. Ken Kutaragi proposed potential hardware partners, and the discussion stopped as the executives asked about SNK.

• Norio Ohga renamed the project PlayStation, ordered a budget review, and declared it a new console rather than an upgraded Super Famicom.
• Ken Kutaragi recommended supporting 3D while prioritizing fine 2D graphics, cutscenes, and high-fidelity sound on CD-ROM.
• Ryoji Chubachi proposed adding CD playback, and Norio Ohga approved it as a selling point for the whole family.
• Nobuyuki Idei urged Sony to find an experienced hardware partner, and Ken Kutaragi listed Konami, Capcom, SNK, and Namco as candidates.
• Ken Kutaragi rejected Konami as a hardware partner, and Ryoji Chubachi asked about SNK's Neo Geo hardware.

Sony chose Namco as its preferred partner for developing a universal arcade board compatible with the PlayStation, while Sega learned that Nintendo had pushed the SFC-CD project to the bottom of its priorities. The chapter left Nakayama Takuya suspecting that Sony’s silence concealed a major response.

• Ken Kutaragi argued that Namco was Sony’s best prospective partner because of its 3D expertise and its history with Nintendo, and Norio Ohga approved negotiations.
• Ken Kutaragi proposed that Sony and Namco jointly develop an arcade board that could run Namco games and support low-cost PlayStation ports.
• Nakayama Takuya told Yu Suzuki that Nintendo would delay the SFC-CD to protect its cartridge profits.
• Department Head Tanaka reported that Nintendo had deprioritized the SFC-CD, citing the slow read speeds of optical discs.
• Nakayama Takuya warned that Sony’s quiet response to Nintendo’s move was more dangerous than an open protest.

Sega’s leaders discussed how the ESRB’s public response to Nintendo’s absence could pressure Nintendo to maintain its family-friendly image. Meanwhile, Sony executives visited Namco to seek its support for an independent console, but Nakamura Masaya questioned whether Sony could succeed without games.

• Tanaka read a briefing about the ESRB press conference, where its spokesman praised Nintendo’s commitment to family-friendly games despite its absence from the founding member list.
• Nakayama Takuya explained that praising Nintendo as a moral benchmark could invite public scrutiny if its games later included violent or suggestive content.
• Nobuyuki Idei and Ken Kutaragi arrived at Namco headquarters to discuss the future with Nakamura Masaya.
• Kutaragi told Nakamura that Sony planned to make an independent console after Nintendo had betrayed them.
• Nakamura doubted that Sony could succeed with hardware alone, and Idei replied that Sony and Namco needed each other.

Ken Kutaragi and Nobuyuki Idei secured Namco’s partnership with Sony by proposing a shared architecture for Sony’s PlayStation and Namco’s next-generation arcade board. Sony then entrusted Namco with the second-generation DDR, deepening the alliance and linking the companies’ fortunes.

• Ken Kutaragi proposed that Sony build a home console and Namco develop an arcade board using the same architecture, while Sony covered most hardware research costs.
• Nakamura Masaya agreed to have Namco’s engineers evaluate Sony’s technical proposal after Sony promised favorable royalties.
• Sony’s proposal convinced Namco’s engineers, and Nakamura signed an agreement granting Namco a 30% royalty discount and setting the arcade board’s codename as System 11.
• Norio Ohga asked Namco to develop the second-generation DDR, and Nakamura accepted the project.

Mark Cerny completed the Model 2 CPU instruction set plan and helped make the prototype run code, while Nakayama Takuya shifted Sega into preparing for its next generation of arcade machines and consoles. He suspended most unapproved MD and Model 1 projects but approved several titles that could support Sega’s transition.

• Mark Cerny finalized the CPU instruction set plan, and Nakayama Takuya sent it to SGI for development.
• Mark’s firmware enabled the Model 2 prototype to run code, prompting the team to develop tools and optimize the board.
• Nakayama Takuya ordered Sega to prepare for the next generation, suspending unapproved MD and Model 1 proposals while allowing premium System 32 projects to continue.
• Nakayama Takuya approved the Super Robot Wars team’s MD game featuring Mobile Fighter G units and called for exaggerated battle animations.
• Nakayama Takuya kept the Shinobi project on System 32 as a future console demonstration and allowed the nearly completed Kirby game to continue on MD.
• Nakayama Takuya let the King of Fighters team continue on System 32 and told them to improve the balance without adding infinites.

Nakayama Takuya redirected Sega’s development teams toward preparing launch titles for the next-generation console. Rieko Kodama presented a Phantasy Star III proposal that used advanced 2D techniques and selective 3D effects, and Takuya approved its direction.

• The Sonic team told Nakayama Takuya that Sonic 2 had only just begun after Yuji Naka and Hirokazu Yasuhara were reassigned.
• Nakayama Takuya asked the Sonic team to plan a next-generation launch title combining 3D backgrounds, classic 2D gameplay, and changing camera angles.
• Nakayama Takuya paused remaining projects as teams completed their current work and began receiving development proposals over the following two weeks.
• Rieko Kodama presented her Phantasy Star III proposal, featuring pseudo-3D environments, translucent effects, voiced cutscenes, and a traditional turn-based battle system.
• Nakayama Takuya praised and approved Rieko Kodama’s plan to use the new hardware’s 2D strengths while avoiding the risks of full 3D.

Takuya approved Rieko Kodama’s plan for Phantasy Star III and backed her choice of Toshihiro Nagoshi to direct its story, promising him a chance to lead a new project if he succeeded. Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s racing team then asked to pursue an original game instead of making VR Racing 2, and Takuya asked what kind of racing game they had in mind.

• Takuya approved Rieko Kodama’s Phantasy Star III proposal and tasked Toshihiro Nagoshi with directing its script and narrative.
• Kodama asked to make Nagoshi the leader of an independent team after the project, and Takuya approved her request while promising Nagoshi a new project if he delivered.
• Takuya met with Tetsuya Mizuguchi and his racing team, who explained that Yu Suzuki’s focus on Virtua Fighter 2 had left them without a clear role.
• Mizuguchi told Takuya that his team wanted to create a game of their own rather than make a sequel to VR Racing, and Takuya asked what style of racing game they wanted to develop.

Takuya proposed a highway racing game with police pursuit modes, while insisting the team keep the experience within one disc. A Pokémon development team then presented a paper-cutout approach for the next-generation Pokémon game, leaving Takuya to consider their 2D characters in 3D environments.

• Takuya suggested combining street racing with police chases, letting players evade patrol cars or pursue racers as police.
• Takuya warned Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s team to balance its racing modes and assets so the game would fit on a single disc, and Tetsuya agreed to reassess the plan.
• After a week without other development teams visiting, Ogasawara Eiji presented Takuya with a proposal titled Paper Pokémon Adventure.
• Ogasawara Eiji explained that the game would use 3D environments and hand-drawn 2D Pokémon processed to look like paper cutouts, avoiding crude-looking 3D models.

Nakayama Takuya approved Ogasawara Eiji’s paper-thin Pokémon adventure proposal after giving the team design requirements. The next morning, Rieko Kodama brought Uchida Makoto and other arcade developers to meet him, as they feared they had become obsolete in the shift to 3D.

• Ogasawara Eiji presented a paper-thin Pokémon game built around exploration, puzzles, and switching between Pokémon abilities, and Nakayama Takuya praised the proposal.
• Nakayama Takuya asked Ogasawara Eiji to make the camera comfortable, combat impactful, and puzzles intuitive without treating young players like idiots.
• Nakayama Takuya signed off on the proposal, and Ogasawara Eiji left with it.
• Rieko Kodama brought Uchida Makoto and other arcade developers to Nakayama Takuya after finding them drinking their sorrows away over their uncertain future.
• Uchida Makoto told Nakayama Takuya that the team struggled to imagine 3D games and feared they had become obsolete.

Takuya proposed a 2D action game that would evolve into an interconnected exploration maze, using Japanese yokai instead of Castlevania’s vampires. He outlined its sealing and possession mechanics for Uchida Makoto and the veteran planners, leaving them to consider the design.

• Takuya stopped Uchida Makoto and the others from blaming themselves for being unable to make 3D games, and argued that ambitious 2D games could still succeed.
• Takuya decided Sega should develop a Japanese-themed Metroidvania and wrote Castlevania and a Heian-period night parade of one hundred demons on the whiteboard.
• Takuya explained that defeating and sealing yokai would grant permanent movement abilities, letting players revisit areas and reach previously inaccessible paths.
• Takuya described possession as a high-risk combat power that increased attacks but drained sanity and vitality, potentially causing madness or death.
• Takuya proposed connecting Heian-kyo and nearby regions into a maze where players would unlock areas with yokai abilities and discover routes through exploration and backtracking.

Nakayama Takuya rallied Uchida Makoto and Rieko Kodama around a yokai-themed action game, defining its story, ukiyo-e art, and unusual musical direction. After the team rushed off to work, Tanaka from the Marketing Department arrived urgently at Takuya’s office.

• Takuya outlined a yokai adventure featuring sealed great yokai, a journey through Heian-kyo, and a final battle against Yamata no Orochi alongside Abe no Seimei.
• Uchida Makoto eagerly accepted the project, while Rieko Kodama proposed an animated ukiyo-e art style that Takuya approved.
• Takuya insisted the game focus on hardcore action and told the team to seek Kaoru Wada for orchestral music mixed with traditional instruments and enka for the final battle.
• Uchida, Rieko, and the others left the office energized to begin work.
• Tanaka from the Marketing Department urgently knocked on Takuya’s door, and Takuya opened it.

Takuya learned that a warehouse supervisor and two quality inspectors had stolen Sega consoles from its Hong Kong factory and sold them through a triad connection. He planned to pressure the triad boss with a British barrister, while the discovery that most of the consoles had gone to Mainland China revealed the strength of demand there.

• Tanaka reported that workers at Sega’s Kowloon factory had labeled good consoles as defective and smuggled them out for resale.
• Tanaka explained that the warehouse supervisor’s elder brother was connected to a Kwun Tong triad that controlled transport around the factory.
• Takuya rejected Tanaka’s suggestion to pay more and ordered him to hire a British barrister to confront the triad’s boss.
• Tanaka said thirty-two consoles had been stolen, with twenty-eight shipped across Lo Wu Bridge to Mainland China and four sold at a Mong Kok secondhand shop.
• Takuya noted that the flow of consoles into Mainland China showed how thirsty the market there was.

Takuya planned to turn Nine-Tattoo Dragon into a business partner and use his channels to bring Sega products into Mainland China. He proposed secretly supporting local factories in making pirated copies, shocking Tanaka.

• Takuya told Tanaka to have Sega’s lawyer demand compensation from Nine-Tattoo Dragon while offering him legitimate security or transport work if he dealt with the traitorous underlings.
• Takuya explained that he wanted to use Nine-Tattoo Dragon as a local partner for Sega’s warehouses and logistics.
• Tanaka warned that Mainland China’s factories could copy Sega hardware cheaply and that families might reject expensive game machines.
• Takuya proposed selling Mega Drives, Game Pockets, and games as scrapped goods in Hong Kong for Nine-Tattoo Dragon to channel into Mainland China.
• Takuya suggested connecting Nine-Tattoo Dragon with underground electronics factories in Shenzhen or Dongguan and secretly supporting them in making pirated copies.
• Tanaka nearly choked on his water when Takuya revealed the plan, protesting that Sega would be supporting piracy.

Nakayama Takuya proposed secretly helping Nine-Tattoo Dragon spread localized pirated Sega games in mainland China while strictly preventing them from reaching other markets. After Tanaka agreed to deliver the plan in person, Takuya visited Development Group Three and found its core members idle amid the busy office.

• Takuya told Tanaka to leak Chinese translations of Sega games to pirates and encourage cheap, pay-by-the-hour gaming shops in mainland China.
• Takuya warned that pirated consoles and cartridges must not flow back into Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau, or other Southeast Asian markets, and argued that copying the aging Mega Drive would help Sega build future customers.
• Tanaka agreed to travel to Hong Kong and tell Nine-Tattoo Dragon that Sega wanted to make him a friend.
• Takuya toured Sega's development groups and found Development Group Three's new staff working hard while Shimizu and the other core members lounged around.

Nakayama Takuya visited Team Three and heard Shimizu pitch a soccer game, then gave him a proposal for a Gundam piloting battle game. The chapter ended as Shimizu examined the proposal’s dual-stick controls and weighty movement physics.

• Nakayama Takuya caught Shimizu and Team Three appearing to slack off, but Shimizu defended their work as gathering creative inspiration.
• Shimizu suggested developing a soccer game that used the new console to portray players’ individual appearances and abilities.
• Shimizu argued that King of Fighters 2 was ready for the new hires to handle, while Team Three wanted a more challenging project.
• Nakayama Takuya brought Shimizu and the core members to his office and handed over a proposal titled Mobile Suit GUNDAM: Battle Operation.
• Nakayama Takuya explained that the game would focus on piloting Gundams with dual-stick controls, inertia, and movement that conveyed their weight.

Nakayama Takuya outlined a hardcore Gundam arcade game with dual joysticks, detailed mecha, and dog-tag memory cards, and Shimizu’s team rushed off to develop it. By March, Sega and Madhouse posters in Akihabara announced another Anime-Game Crossover project, raising players’ expectations for a high-quality release.

• Nakayama Takuya proposed a one-on-one and single-player Gundam game designed to push the Model 2 board’s graphics and destruction effects to their limits.
• Nakayama said Sega had secured Sunrise’s cooperation and arranged for Hajime Katoki to design mecha that could also be recreated as Bandai model kits.
• Nakayama proposed dog-tag-shaped memory cards that would save players’ customized machines and serve as collectible status symbols.
• Shimizu praised the proposal, then led the developers out to begin work on the game.
• In March, Sega and Madhouse posters appeared across Akihabara, drawing attention to the Anime-Game Crossover strategy and Sega’s reputation for quality.