Recaps

Nakayama Takuya praised Mark Cerny's successful Jupiter prototype work and sent him to investigate graphics-card companies, especially NVIDIA. He then reassured Tom Kalinske about Sega's preparations for the Mortal Kombat hearing and announced he was returning to Tokyo, but Tom stopped him.

• Mark Cerny told Nakayama Takuya that Jupiter's prototype tests and its simplified development tools had succeeded, though custom chip work was inefficient and costly.
• Nakayama Takuya asked Mark Cerny to investigate graphics accelerator companies and recommended NVIDIA as a possible Sega investment.
• Nakayama Takuya reassured Tom Kalinske that Sega's ratings system and Mortal Kombat buyback plan had prepared the company for the coming hearing.
• Nakayama Takuya said he had booked a flight to Tokyo that night, and Tom Kalinske called him to wait.

After Sega was humiliated by CES, Nakayama Takuya proposed that game companies unite and create the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA), along with their own exhibition. Tom Kalinske embraced the plan, and they settled on holding the first show in Los Angeles in May next year.

• Tom Kalinske recalled how CES had placed Sega's booth beside the adult industry and neglected other game exhibitors.
• Nakayama Takuya proposed that game companies stop attending CES and create their own exhibition.
• Nakayama Takuya urged Sega to bring Nintendo, Sony, Electronic Arts, Capcom, and other companies together in the IDSA.
• Tom Kalinske enthusiastically agreed and said he wanted to send CES a withdrawal notice.
• Nakayama Takuya said Sega should support the association without dominating it and proposed holding the exhibition in May next year.
• Nakayama Takuya chose Los Angeles for the exhibition and said the IDSA headquarters should be in the United States.

Nakayama Takuya organized support for a new game-industry expo in the United States, then returned to Tokyo to find Sakura Wars cartridge sales thriving. During a family outing to Ueno Park, he spotted children dressed as characters from Sakura Wars.

• Nakayama Takuya assigned Tom Kalinske to recruit Minoru Arakawa, Trip Hawkins, the Guillemot Brothers, and other industry figures for a new expo, while he planned to approach Sony and Panasonic.
• Tom Kalinske agreed to work toward launching the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles the following May.
• Nakayama Takuya returned to Tokyo and learned that the Mega Drive cartridge version of Sakura Wars had shipped 450,000 copies in its first week, with more orders queued.
• The Sakura Wars television reruns drew higher ratings, and Game Gear ads promoted the Mega Drive release.
• Nakayama Takuya went flower viewing at Ueno Park with Nakayama Eri and their son, Nakayama Kazuki.
• Nakayama Takuya saw a girl dressed as Sakura Shinguji and a boy dressed as Ichiro Ogami posing beneath a cherry tree.

Nakayama Takuya saw Sakura Wars spreading into popular culture, then returned to Sega to review console development and discuss Bandai’s concerns. He examined a crude Chinese MegaDriver and GamePocket knockoff, leaving its quality uncertain beyond its awful sound.

• Takuya and Eri watched a Sakura Shinguji cosplayer in the park, and Takuya proposed adding a Sakura Wars stage play to the schedule.
• Hisao Oguchi reported that teams had accelerated Jupiter development by building frameworks on Model 2 machines, and Takuya told them to polish the games further.
• Mitsui Chuta called on behalf of Bandai’s President Yamashina to complain that Sega had grown distant, and Takuya invited them to Sega in early April to show them something.
• Takuya opened a package Tanaka had brought from Hong Kong and inspected Nine-Tattoo Dragon’s crude MegaDriver and GamePocket knockoffs.
• Takuya powered on the GamePocket knockoff and found that its startup sound had been replaced by an unpleasant electronic tone.

Nakayama Takuya reviewed Sega’s growing reach in Mainland China and Europe, accepting the bootleg console trade while expanding Sega’s ties with Ubisoft. He discovered CD Projekt in Poland and began considering how Sega might work with them after Ubisoft’s European agency contract expired.

• Nakayama Takuya tested bootleg Chinese consoles and judged that their low prices and rental rooms were spreading Sega’s brand despite their poor quality.
• Nakayama Takuya reflected that PC gaming would dominate Mainland China and expected Sega to profit through Blizzard’s games and the coming Electronic Game Software magazine.
• Nakayama Takuya approved Ubisoft’s request for Jupiter development kits and told Hisao Oguchi to keep a backup of the decision.
• Nakayama Takuya spotted CD Projekt on a list of Eastern European distributors and learned that Marcin Iwiński and Michał Kiciński were importing games for Warsaw flea markets.
• Nakayama Takuya asked Hisao Oguchi about Ubisoft’s European agency contract and learned that it would expire on December 31, 1995.

Silicon Valley Online launched Webdir, a simple categorized directory that quickly drew a huge audience. Nakayama Takuya saw its potential as an Internet portal, and the next morning the company publicized its first-day traffic.

• Nakayama Takuya told his associates to keep CD Projekt under observation and give it special treatment while maintaining the status quo.
• Frank Marshall registered multiple Web-and-Directory domain names and launched Webdir with a clean page of categorized links.
• Silicon Valley Online's posters and BBS promotion brought hundreds of thousands of visitors, and Frank ordered the technical department to add servers as traffic surged.
• Nakayama Takuya examined Webdir in Tokyo and recognized its simple directory as a potential foundation for future services.
• Silicon Valley Online posted Webdir's first-day report, citing 201,342 unique visitors and 1,245,899 page views.

Silicon Valley Online’s Webdir drew enormous traffic and left its competitors reeling, while Frank celebrated the site’s success and expanded its capacity. At Stanford, Jerry Yang spotted an opening among the smaller sites Webdir priced out and decided to build a directory for the Internet’s long tail.

• Entrepreneurs complained on Silicon Valley Online’s BBS that Webdir had little technical merit, while users defended its usefulness.
• Frank handled rising Game Gear merchant inquiries and ordered more servers and bandwidth after seeing Webdir’s traffic.
• David Filo despaired that Webdir had beaten Jerry Yang and his planned directory to market.
• Jerry Yang found Webdir’s paid placement prices and realized smaller sites could not afford to compete for visibility.
• Jerry Yang decided to include tens of thousands of mid-tier and long-tail websites in his directory.

Jerry Yang and Filo decided to rename their free website directory Yahoo and compete with Webdir. Meanwhile, Frank used investor interest in Silicon Valley Online to delay Series B financing and strengthen the company’s position, leaving him pleased with his leverage over Sequoia.

• Jerry Yang persuaded Filo to build a free directory for students and other underserved internet users instead of competing through paid listings.
• Jerry Yang suggested the name Yahoo, and Filo agreed as they began building their own rival to Webdir.
• Investment banks crowded Silicon Valley Online’s offices seeking to join its next funding round.
• Donald Valentine urged Frank to begin Series B financing, but Frank warned that Webdir was easy to copy and proposed spreading rumors that financing might be delayed.
• Donald agreed to circulate the rumors, and Frank told Tom Kalinske that the tactic would raise the company’s value while using Sequoia as a shield.

Nakayama Takuya showed Bandai executives Yamashina Makoto and Mitsui Chuta Sega’s prototype Gundam cockpit arcade game. The demonstration left Yamashina aware that Sega’s development capabilities outstripped Bandai’s, and the chapter ended as the visitors left the development room.

• Nakayama Takuya welcomed Yamashina Makoto and Mitsui Chuta to Sega’s development room and revealed a black Gundam cockpit arcade cabinet.
• Otaku inserted a memory card and demonstrated the game’s detailed startup sequence, weighty movement, and realistic combat.
• Mitsui Chuta praised the machine as what men should pilot, while Yamashina Makoto recognized Sega’s technical advantage over Bandai.
• Nakayama Takuya downplayed the prototype’s unfinished graphics, motion logic, and collision bugs as Yamashina Makoto assessed Sega’s show of strength.
• Nakayama Takuya escorted the visitors toward the elevator as Mitsui Chuta remained preoccupied with the cabinet and Yamashina Makoto gripped his glasses cloth.

Nakayama Takuya and Nakayama Hayao used a demonstration of Sega’s gaming technology and the promise of access to the U.S. market to pressure Bandai into handing over its game division. Months later, Sega’s disaster-prevention game went to pressing with official organizations listed on its cover, and Yoshikawa explained how he had secured their approval.

• Nakayama Takuya and Nakayama Hayao hosted Yamashina Makoto and Mitsui Chuta, discussing U.S. opportunities while avoiding direct business negotiations.
• Nakayama Hayao cut off Mitsui Chuta when he tried to praise Sega’s new Gundam game, and Yamashina Makoto recognized that Sega was using both its technical edge and the U.S. market to pressure Bandai.
• After Bandai’s representatives left, Nakayama Takuya told Nakayama Hayao that Sega had shown its strength and offered Bandai an incentive, leaving it little choice but to yield its game department.
• Nakayama Takuya said Sega would become the leading video game company if its upcoming hardware and Jupiter games succeeded, while Nintendo risked being left behind.
• In mid-April, the game formerly codenamed 72 Hours After the Disaster went to pressing as Disaster-Fighting Little Hero, with official organizations listed on its cover.
• Yoshikawa told Nakayama Takuya that Sega had won the organizations’ cooperation through a public-welfare donation and a clause allowing Sega to remove their endorsements if the game failed review or received poor feedback.

Nakayama Takuya and Yoshikawa saw Disaster-Fighting Little Hero gain official support after tests showed that it taught disaster-prevention skills effectively. NHK coverage and Sega’s advertising drew parents to buy the game and Mega Drive consoles, while hardcore gamers mocked Sega’s new direction.

• Nakayama Takuya asked Yoshikawa about the game’s internal tests, where skeptical female civil servants and mothers learned disaster-prevention lessons by playing.
• NHK News 7 reported that the Ministry of Education had joined Sega to launch the game as interactive disaster-prevention teaching material and showed test scores rising from 42 to 89.
• Sega ran newspaper and magazine ads emphasizing official endorsements, simple gameplay, and the game’s value as survival preparation for families.
• Parents bought Disaster-Fighting Little Hero and Mega Drive consoles at Sega’s Akihabara store, while hardcore gamers criticized Sega for making educational software.

Disaster-Fighting Little Hero became a million-selling social phenomenon, boosting Sega’s reputation through families’ disaster-preparedness efforts. Sony then unveiled a PlayStation 3D dinosaur demo to announce its entry into the next-generation console market, while Nakayama Takuya remained unsurprised.

• Families across Japan played Disaster-Fighting Little Hero together and used its lessons to improve their disaster preparedness.
• Disaster-Fighting Little Hero sold more than one million copies in two weeks, and NHK reported on its effects while Famitsu inducted it into the Platinum Hall of Fame.
• Ken Kutaragi dismissed Sega’s public goodwill and told Sony’s technical team to show the industry what its hardware could do.
• Sony sent game media a PlayStation technical demo featuring a detailed, smoothly animated Tyrannosaurus rex, confirming its move into the next-generation console market.
• Nakayama Takuya viewed Sony’s demo as an expected bid to attract developers and promote 3D games.

Nakayama Takuya visited Sony to recruit it into Sega’s proposed IDSA and E3, arguing that the game industry needed its own professional stage. Sony’s leaders reviewed the proposal, while Ken Kutaragi dismissed Sega’s effort as political maneuvering.

• Nakayama Takuya met Nobuyuki Idei at Sony headquarters and proposed the IDSA and an industry-only E3 exhibition.
• Nakayama explained that Sega wanted a fair role as a joint initiator, and said it would approach Panasonic and have its American president speak with Minoru Arakawa.
• Nobuyuki Idei said Sony needed to discuss the proposal, then went to the Hardware Development Department to summon Ken Kutaragi.
• Nobuyuki Idei brought the IDSA draft to Norio Ohga and Sony’s gaming leaders, where Ken Kutaragi scoffed at Sega’s plan as political speculation.

Sony agreed to join Sega’s proposed IDSA as a co-founder, seeing it as a chance to establish PlayStation’s standing in the industry and leave the poor conditions at CES. Tom Kalinske then urged Nintendo of America’s Minoru Arakawa to join, but Arakawa said Kyoto had to decide and summoned Howard Lincoln after Tom left.

• Nobuyuki Idei and Ryoji Chubachi persuaded Ken Kutaragi and Norio Ohga that joining the IDSA would benefit Sony and give PlayStation a stronger industry debut.
• Norio Ohga approved Sony’s membership and told Nobuyuki Idei to reply to Nakayama Takuya.
• Tom Kalinske visited Minoru Arakawa in Redmond and presented Sega’s IDSA proposal, noting that Sony and Electronic Arts had already agreed.
• Minoru Arakawa recognized that Nintendo could lose influence if it stayed out, but said Kyoto had to make the decision.
• After Tom Kalinske left, Minoru Arakawa summoned Howard Lincoln.

Minoru Arakawa tried to persuade Yamauchi Hiroshi that Nintendo needed to join the IDSA after CES mistreated its booth and rival Sega gathered industry support. Yamauchi refused to let Nintendo headquarters join but authorized its North American branch to do so, and ordered Enix to join as well, leaving Nintendo with a way to retain influence in the new association.

• Minoru Arakawa showed Yamauchi Hiroshi photographs of Nintendo's poor CES booth and argued that the company risked being shut out of the new industry organization.
• Minoru Arakawa reported that Sega's Nakayama Takuya was organizing the IDSA and that Nintendo's absence could cost it influence over industry standards and E3.
• Sony joined the IDSA as a co-initiator, and Square, Konami, Namco, Capcom, Panasonic, and NEC followed.
• Yamauchi Hiroshi told Nintendo's executives that Nintendo Co., Ltd. would not join the IDSA, but allowed Minoru Arakawa to make the decision for Nintendo's North American branch.
• Yamauchi Hiroshi ordered Minoru Arakawa to tell Enix to join the IDSA so Nintendo would have an ally inside the association.

IDSA was founded as Sega declined leadership and proposed E3 as a new industry exhibition. Silicon Valley Online also launched WeBlog, giving prominent BBS moderators their own sites and drawing users to the new platform.

• Tom Kalinske said Sega would not take the IDSA chairmanship or a fixed executive-director seat and proposed Doug Lowenstein as chairman.
• Minoru Arakawa and Nobuyuki Idei supported Sega’s proposal, and the manufacturers completed the association’s formation.
• Tom proposed holding the first E3 at the Los Angeles Convention Center the following May, and the representatives approved it.
• On May 2, 1994, Silicon Valley Online launched WeBlog and gave prominent BBS moderators exclusive second-level domains for their posts.
• The moderator Silicon Valley Veteran announced on the BBS that his new home was on WeBlog.

Frank and Tom promoted WeBlog through Silicon Valley Online’s websites, messaging client, and offline advertising, drawing writers and users to the new platform. Its rapid growth overwhelmed the servers, strengthened the company’s advertising leverage, and attracted major media coverage.

• Frank recruited freelance writers and directed them to publish their work on WeBlog, raising the site’s content quality.
• Silicon Valley Online promoted WeBlog through Webdir, ICQ, and flyers at Stanford, Berkeley, and San Jose’s computer market.
• WeBlog gained more than 2,000 users on launch day and drew 160,000 unique visitors and three million clicks in its first three days.
• Frank and Tom saw users’ pursuit of likes and followers drive engagement, while bloggers shared links that pushed server loads to the red line.
• Frank ordered more servers and bandwidth and told Tom to demand higher advertising bids from GG merchants.
• The Wall Street Journal questioned Silicon Valley Online’s growing control over online discovery, and Wired described WeBlog as a destination for recording people’s lives.

Frank faced growing media attention as WeBlog’s traffic and blogger payouts challenged traditional journalism, while Sequoia sought a higher-priced investment in Silicon Valley Online. The company’s published earnings list sent WeBlog registrations surging, leaving the media and investment worlds scrambling to respond.

• Frank told Tom that WeBlog’s verified accounts and revenue sharing threatened traditional media, and instructed the Public Relations Department not to answer newspaper attacks.
• Frank and Tom reviewed a fifteen-percent stock-option pool for Sega’s core staff while Frank stayed at Sega North America to avoid investors.
• Donald Valentine offered Sequoia a fifty-percent premium for an investment, but Frank rejected the offer and showed him WeBlog’s first-week financial briefing.
• Donald learned that bloggers were receiving substantial revenue shares and left to consult Sequoia’s shareholders.
• Silicon Valley Online published WeBlog’s top blogger earnings in the San Jose Mercury News, and registrations doubled within twenty-four hours.

Sequoia’s Donald scrambled to revise his offer for Silicon Valley Online as the company attracted new financing interest. Meanwhile, Sega’s Nakayama Takuya joined the Metropolitan Police Department’s investigation into the White Smoke Incident, where a high school student’s clue may have opened a new lead.

• Donald learned Goldman Sachs would offer Silicon Valley Online a $50 million credit line and ordered his assistant to pursue a stronger deal with Frank and Sega North America.
• Director Yoshikawa called Nakayama Takuya to discuss the Metropolitan Police Department’s request for Sega’s help with the White Smoke Incident.
• The Metropolitan Police Department’s task force found that a player’s tip about chemical distribution matched a hidden line in its investigation.
• Police Superintendent Iwata brought Nakayama Takuya and Yoshikawa to the task force office and introduced them to student Sakurai Seizo, who had provided the key clue.
• Task force leader Toyama Tetsuo asked Sakurai Seizo to explain in detail how he had found the discolored lawn.

Sakurai Seizo explained how Ace Attorney 4 inspired him to investigate suspicious chemical activity and collect grass samples from a riverside property. Lab results confirmed traces of a nerve-agent byproduct, and Superintendent Iwata offered Sakurai a path toward joining the police.

• Sakurai Seizo said Ace Attorney 4 inspired him to follow a man carrying industrial solvent to an old riverside neighborhood.
• Sakurai Seizo found discolored grass near the suspect's house, collected it along with healthy grass as a control sample, and sent both to Sega Headquarters with his notes and map.
• A Sega employee forwarded Sakurai Seizo's evidence to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's special task force.
• A technical officer reported that the discolored grass contained methylphosphonic acid, a decomposition product of an organophosphorus nerve agent.
• Superintendent Iwata praised Sakurai Seizo and offered to recommend him to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Academy after high school.

Sakurai Seizo accepted a police recommendation after helping uncover a suspicious lead, and the Metropolitan Police Department began covert surveillance of a house in Matsumoto. Nakayama Takuya left thinking the case involved little more than illegal dumping or chemical resale.

• Iwata praised Sega’s cooperation, and Sakurai Seizo accepted a handwritten recommendation to join the police.
• Iwata ordered Toyama Tetsuo to coordinate with Nagano police and begin surveillance once the search warrant was approved.
• Toyama’s team escorted Sakurai to Matsumoto, where he directed them to the suspect’s house before they sent him home.
• Detectives disguised as utility workers installed a hidden camera, while another team set up a telephoto lens and directional microphone.
• Nakayama Takuya dismissed the case as likely involving illegal dumping or chemical resale and focused on Sega’s business concerns.

Nakayama Takuya learned that a classified police operation tied to a student’s lead may have saved half of Matsumoto City, then turned back to Sega’s business negotiations. Silicon Valley Online secured a major Series B investment and began preparing for an IPO, while Cartoon Network faced a flood of calls from parents whose children wanted more airtime.

• Nakayama Takuya received an urgent report that the Metropolitan Police Department was conducting a major classified operation and that Superintendent Iwata credited a student’s lead with possibly saving half of Matsumoto City.
• Nakayama Takuya set aside the classified matter and focused on Silicon Valley Online’s Series B negotiations.
• Donald Valentine demanded additional shares for Sequoia Capital, and Frank proposed a $300 million valuation.
• Donald agreed to invest $30 million for another 10% of Silicon Valley Online on the condition that the IPO process begin immediately, and KPCB matched the offer.
• Tom Kalinske accepted the combined $60 million investment and told Frank to negotiate lower underwriting fees with Goldman Sachs.
• Betty told Cartoon Network’s content director that parents were calling because their children were upset they had not watched enough television.

Mashin Hero Wataru and Mado King Granzort drew strong interest from American children, triggering Cartoon Network to rebroadcast them and pay Sunrise Animation a larger share of Game Gear revenue. Ted Turner realized Sunrise had used the broadcasts to promote Bandai’s toys and chose to continue airing the shows while demanding more money in the next negotiation.

• Mashin Hero Wataru and Mado King Granzort’s 4:30 p.m. broadcasts attracted complaints from children who missed episodes and reached an average rating of 1.6%, activating higher fees and a fifteen-percent Game Gear share in the contract.
• The content director ordered Cartoon Network to rebroadcast the week’s five episodes on weekend mornings to appease parents and improve ratings.
• The weekend rebroadcasts quieted the calls, and the ratings reached 1.4%, requiring Cartoon Network to pay Sunrise fifteen percent of Game Gear revenue but no share of peripheral sales.
• Ted Turner reviewed Bandai America’s report showing the toy robot had sold more than ten million dollars’ worth in three months and concluded Sunrise had used Cartoon Network as a promotional outlet.
• Turner decided to keep broadcasting the shows but instructed Betty to demand more money from Sunrise in the next negotiation.

Nakayama Takuya shared Sunrise’s strategy for earning money from Japanese animation in America, prompting other studios to consider exporting their shows. A month later, Director Yoshikawa rushed in with breaking news from NHK showing a police raid near Mount Fuji.

• Miyagawa Yasuo admired Sunrise’s royalty check, while Nakayama Takuya explained how the company profited from merchandise despite modest licensing fees.
• Nakayama Takuya hosted an overseas expansion session for animation studios and revealed Sunrise’s $500-per-episode licensing strategy alongside Bandai’s strong American sales.
• Nakayama Takuya urged studios to edit shows into simple, tightly timed episodes and focus on selling related products to American children.
• After a month passed, Director Yoshikawa interrupted Nakayama Takuya’s rest and turned on NHK, which showed riot police raiding a building near Mount Fuji.

Nakayama Takuya learned that the police had arrested Shoko Asahara and uncovered Aum Shinrikyo’s sarin plot after a lead connected to Sega’s Ace Attorney team helped the investigation. He ordered security precautions for Sega and then tested the newly completed Virtua Fighter 2.

• Nakayama Takuya watched the news report that police had raided Aum Shinrikyo’s headquarters and arrested Shoko Asahara after tracing a crucial lead to a player’s environmental sample.
• Nakayama Takuya realized the investigation had prevented the Tokyo subway sarin attack he remembered from his previous life.
• Nakayama Takuya told Yoshikawa to avoid publicity, give the Ace Attorney letter-screening staff paid leave, and protect Sakurai’s identity.
• Nakayama Takuya visited Yu Suzuki’s lab and played Virtua Fighter 2, admiring its improved character models and 3D visuals.