Recaps

David cleared Final Fantasy VII after an emotional marathon, while reviewers in Japan and North America prepared unprecedented perfect scores for the game. Their praise left the story poised to fuel a major surge in attention and sales.

• David watched Final Fantasy VII's ending and said the story had torn his heart apart.
• Marcus praised the game and its story, while Mike decided to buy a copy and fight Sephiroth himself.
• Takahashi told Sato he had cleared the game and submitted a review with a perfect score from all four editors.
• Yamada urged Sato to trust the score, and Sato ordered a high-profile cover and two hundred thousand extra copies of Famitsu.
• Tom gave Final Fantasy VII a ten in NetGeneration, saying it had raised video games to the level of cinematic art.

Final Fantasy VII’s record sales and universal perfect reviews led Sega to sustain the game’s momentum while keeping Jupiter consoles in stock. In Akihabara, Suzuki found no appealing new Super Famicom games and watched crowds flock to Jupiter demo machines, leaving him reconsidering his resistance to 3D consoles.

• Hisao Oguchi reported that Final Fantasy VII had sold 3.91 million copies worldwide in its first two weeks and received perfect reviews from game media.
• Nakayama Takuya told Hisao Oguchi to preserve the game’s scarcity while ensuring Jupiter consoles remained available.
• Suzuki visited Video Game Sun and found the Super Famicom new-release shelves nearly empty.
• The store manager told Suzuki that major developers had moved on from 16-bit games to 3D platforms.
• Suzuki watched a crowd gather around Jupiter demo machines playing Final Fantasy VII and reflected on how widely the game had captured public attention.

Players who had dismissed 3D games bought Sega Jupiter consoles and Final Fantasy VII after trying it, while Diablo launched worldwide alongside Battle.net on December 31, 1996. The chapter ended with Jack buying Diablo in Los Angeles after hearing that it could change PC gaming.

• Suzuki gave in to the praise for Final Fantasy VII and bought a Jupiter console and the game.
• Brian forced Charlie to try Final Fantasy VII, and Charlie became absorbed in it for hours.
• Charlie bought a Jupiter console and Final Fantasy VII the next morning.
• Diablo reached stores worldwide on December 31, 1996, as Battle.net went online.
• Jack found Diablo at a crowded CompUSA and handed the game box to his roommate Paul.

Jack and Paul tested Diablo, discovering its action combat, randomized loot and maps, and smooth Battle.net multiplayer. Meanwhile, Blizzard’s team watched Battle.net’s player count soar on launch night as its servers remained stable.

• Jack bought Diablo and showed Paul its real-time combat, randomized dungeons, and loot.
• Jack and Paul joined a Battle.net room and fought monsters cooperatively with an archer and a mage.
• Mike Mohan and David Brevik monitored Battle.net at Blizzard as online players surpassed five thousand and continued to climb.
• Blizzard’s technicians reported that the servers were handling the rising demand with stable performance and low packet loss.

Battle.net survived its launch-night surge as Mike and David Brevik celebrated its stability. In Japan, shoppers avoided major games in favor of casual titles, and Konami president Kozuki Kagemasa learned that Capcom's blockbuster sales were also far below expectations.

• Mike and David Brevik watched Battle.net handle the launch-night player surge without crashing, while customer service dealt mostly with players’ home network problems.
• Mike ordered the staff to keep monitoring the servers through New Year’s and promised them an expensive steak dinner paid for by Sega.
• At the Video Game Sun store, exhausted students rejected discounted RPGs and action games, buying Mario Kart 64 and puzzle games instead.
• The store manager found that major releases were languishing while casual and puzzle games sold unexpectedly well, with Mario Kart 64 nearing another sellout.
• Kozuki Kagemasa reviewed Konami’s disappointing holiday figures and called Tsujimoto Kenzo to ask about Capcom’s sales.
• Tsujimoto Kenzo told Kozuki Kagemasa that Capcom’s anticipated blockbusters had sold less than a third of expectations.

Kozuki Kagemasa, Tsujimoto Kenzo, Kudo Hiroshi, and Nakamura Masaya met to understand why their major games were failing while casual titles sold well. They concluded that Final Fantasy VII had exhausted players, and Nakamura warned that big games would struggle until players recovered.

• Kozuki Kagemasa and Tsujimoto Kenzo discussed their companies' poor sales of big-budget games and arranged a meeting with Kudo Hiroshi and Nakamura Masaya.
• At the Ginza gathering, Kudo Hiroshi and Tsujimoto Kenzo described how casual games were selling while their major releases stalled.
• Nakamura Masaya revealed that Mario Kart 64 had gained nearly two hundred thousand sales during the New Year period.
• Nakamura Masaya explained that players who had spent two weeks immersed in Final Fantasy VII were burned out and wanted simple games to play with friends.
• Kozuki Kagemasa feared that Square's hit had tipped the console war toward Sega, while Nakamura Masaya advised waiting until spring promotions to recover losses.

Tsujimoto Kenzo and Kudo Hiroshi pulled back promotion budgets after Final Fantasy VII overwhelmed the holiday market, while Yamauchi Hiroshi reviewed Nintendo’s performance and weighed its next move. Nintendo’s N64 had reached six million sales, but Yamauchi insisted that survival was not enough and asked about the new The Legend of Zelda.

• Tsujimoto Kenzo ordered major-title promotions stopped and budgets postponed until after February, and Kudo Hiroshi said Hudson would focus on casual games.
• Yamauchi Hiroshi reviewed sales reports and criticized third-party companies for scheduling major releases against Final Fantasy VII.
• Shigeru Miyamoto reported that Mario Kart 64 had sold 450,000 copies during Christmas week and another 200,000 over New Year.
• Shigeru Miyamoto announced that the N64’s global installed base had surpassed six million units.
• Yamauchi Hiroshi said six million sales were not enough and asked Shigeru Miyamoto how development on the new The Legend of Zelda was progressing.

Nintendo and Sony responded to Sega’s growing console lead, driven by Final Fantasy VII, by reassessing their strategies. The chapter ended with Nobuyuki Idei acknowledging that Sony’s commitment to console games and content had been insufficient.

• Yamauchi Hiroshi promised Shigeru Miyamoto unlimited time and funding to develop a fully 3D The Legend of Zelda.
• Yamauchi Hiroshi told Shigeru Miyamoto to court struggling third-party developers, especially Capcom and Namco, with better terms.
• Ken Kutaragi presented Sony’s leaders with a report showing PlayStation falling further behind Jupiter in North America and Japan.
• Norio Ohga joined Nobuyuki Idei and Ken Kutaragi, identifying Sega’s partnership with Square and Final Fantasy VII as the cause of its content advantage.
• Nobuyuki Idei admitted Sony’s strategy had strayed and that its resolve in console games was not strong enough.

Nobuyuki Idei gave Ken Kutaragi control of Sony’s game-development budget and ordered him to secure a blockbuster to rival Final Fantasy VII. At Square’s celebration banquet, Nakayama Takuya dismissed Sony’s chances and Sakaguchi Hironobu thanked Sega for its technical support.

• Nobuyuki Idei took control of Electronic Entertainment Department budget approvals and ordered Ken Kutaragi to recruit or sign developers to exclusive deals.
• Ken Kutaragi accepted Idei’s order to find Sony a studio and a game capable of matching Final Fantasy VII.
• Square celebrated Final Fantasy VII passing five million global sales, with 2.81 million sales in Japan, 1.68 million in North America, and 590,000 elsewhere.
• Hisao Oguchi told Nakayama Takuya that Sony was pursuing developers, but Nakayama said Sony would find few worthwhile studios left.
• Sakaguchi Hironobu thanked Yuji Naka and Sega for technical help with Final Fantasy VII and discussed further support for a future game.

At Square’s banquet celebrating Final Fantasy VII’s five million sales, Nakayama Takuya praised the partnership with Square as executives turned to the game’s booming merchandise business. The chapter ended with Nobuo Uematsu ready to rehearse the next symphony concert.

• Mizuno Tetsuo announced that Final Fantasy VII had sold five million copies, and Miyamoto Masashi thanked Sega and Nakayama Takuya for their support.
• Nakayama Takuya congratulated Square and called Sega and Square comrades-in-arms as the developers cheered.
• Square’s development team celebrated the milestone while Nakayama Takuya joined company leaders in a quieter seating area.
• Hisao Oguchi reported that merchandise was selling rapidly, including 500,000 artbook and soundtrack bundles shipped in one week, while figures and strategy guides faced long backlogs.
• Yuji Naka said Sega’s technical team was helping improve figure production, and Hisao Oguchi planned to expand production and spring-break promotion.
• Nobuo Uematsu said he had revised the orchestral arrangements and could begin rehearsals for the second symphony concert at any time.

Nakayama Takuya proposed a Sega-backed sequel to Chrono Trigger, hoping to give Yasunori Mitsuda a major project and secure the franchise for the Jupiter console. Sakaguchi Hironobu considered the plan, which would let Sega develop the game while Square supplied its direction and setting.

• Nakayama Takuya, Nobuo Uematsu, Hisao Oguchi, and Mizuno Tetsuo toasted Final Fantasy VII and planned a major video game music concert.
• Yasunori Mitsuda reflected on his longing for another major project, and Nakayama Takuya praised his Chrono Trigger soundtrack and promised him a new stage.
• Nakayama Takuya proposed Chrono Trigger 2 to Sakaguchi Hironobu, who said Square lacked the staff to develop it.
• Nakayama Takuya offered Rieko Kodama's available Sega team as the main development force, with Square providing the project plan, core setting, and overall direction.
• Sakaguchi Hironobu weighed Sega's proposal and its generous profit-sharing terms.

Nakayama Takuya approved Square’s involvement in Chrono Trigger 2 and shifted his attention to the growing threat of a speculative attack on the Thai baht. After learning that major hedge funds were courting Thai financial elites, he ordered Sega’s Investment Department to wait until Soros and the other funds openly confronted the Bank of Thailand.

• Sakaguchi Hironobu agreed that Square would take the Chrono Trigger 2 project and assign Yasunori Mitsuda to compose its music.
• Rieko Kodama assembled a development team for Chrono Trigger 2, and Nakayama Takuya signed off on the budget.
• Director Hoshino brought Nakayama reports about newspapers predicting the Thai baht’s depreciation and hedge fund representatives meeting Thai bankers and financial executives.
• Hoshino argued that Thai financial elites would abandon their government and join foreign funds if the baht’s defenses began to fail.
• Nakayama circled the names of Thai bankers in the briefing and told Hoshino that Sega must wait until Soros and the major funds attacked the Bank of Thailand first.

Tomb Raider surged in popularity in Japan and North America after players discovered its immersive 3D action-adventure gameplay. Ken Kutaragi learned that its North American sales had suddenly taken off and looked into its developer and publisher.

• A Video Game Sun manager recommended Tomb Raider to Suzuki, who wanted an action game after finishing Final Fantasy VII.
• A college student praised Tomb Raider’s controls and tomb exploration, and Suzuki bought a copy.
• Suzuki played Tomb Raider for hours, controlling Lara as she explored caves and fought wolves.
• Tomb Raider’s sales climbed sharply in Japan and North America as players embraced the game.
• Ken Kutaragi reviewed North American sales data and learned that Tomb Raider had sold over one hundred thousand copies in the third week of January.

Ken Kutaragi saw Tomb Raider’s potential and rushed to London to pursue exclusive rights for Sony, while Nakayama Takuya chose not to compete with Sony’s spending. Sega expected to focus on its other projects as Sony negotiated with Eidos.

• Ken Kutaragi played Tomb Raider and recognized its technical quality and commercial potential.
• Ken Kutaragi learned Eidos was in financial trouble and decided to offer money for Tomb Raider sequel exclusivity and priority cooperation with Core Design.
• Hisao Oguchi told Nakayama Takuya that Sony had sent Ken Kutaragi and a large team to London to negotiate with Eidos.
• Nakayama Takuya refused to challenge Sony’s offer, reasoning that exclusivity over future Tomb Raider games would not change this generation’s console war and would cost Sony heavily.
• Hisao Oguchi agreed that Sega should let Sony pursue the deal while Sega concentrated on its other projects.

As Soros-led hedge funds launched a coordinated attack on the Thai baht, Nakayama Takuya and Hoshino agreed that Sega would wait for the market to show a clear collapse before entering with limited, leveraged positions. Their plan left them poised to profit while keeping most of Sega’s capital in reserve as February 17 approached.

• Hoshino reported that Quantum Fund and other hedge funds had borrowed roughly 15 billion Thai baht and were attacking through spot, forward, and interest-rate markets.
• Nakayama Takuya confirmed that Sega should avoid borrowing baht and rushing into the market while interest costs remained high.
• Hoshino proposed waiting one or two weeks for the Bank of Thailand to reveal its response, then shorting Thai baht through NDFs and the SET Index.
• Hoshino capped Sega’s planned exposure at 8 percent of assets in NDFs and 3 percent in SET shorts, reserving the rest of its capital.
• Nakayama Takuya approved the plan and said Sega would let the Wall Street funds draw the Bank of Thailand’s fire before making its move.

Nakayama Takuya and Hoshino discussed the Bank of Thailand’s drastic defense of the baht and decided to keep their funds out of the immediate fight, waiting for a better moment to short the market. By March, Video Game Sun’s shelves reflected changing sales as Tomb Raider continued to sell steadily.

• Hoshino rushed into Nakayama Takuya’s office with news that the Bank of Thailand had intervened heavily and raised overnight lending rates above twenty percent.
• Hoshino concluded that the Bank of Thailand’s extreme measures suggested its usable foreign exchange reserves were running low, and Nakayama Takuya agreed it was panicking.
• Nakayama Takuya told Hoshino to keep watching while Soros’s forces and the Bank of Thailand wore each other down before the Investment Department entered the market.
• Hoshino ordered round-the-clock monitoring and prepared to establish NDF and SET short positions when the timing was right.
• By March, Video Game Sun had moved Final Fantasy VII back to its classics section while Tomb Raider continued selling steadily.

Suzuki discovered that Castlevania X: Symphony of the Night offered satisfying action, exploration, and RPG progression without lengthy story interruptions, and he bought the Jupiter version. Konami then received strong first-week sales across both platforms, easing Kozuki Kagemasa’s frustration after the company’s January setbacks.

• The shop owner showed Suzuki Castlevania X: Symphony of the Night, and Suzuki watched two college students explore its castle and praised its flexible gameplay.
• Suzuki bought the Jupiter version and played for more than three hours at home, enjoying its exploration, combat, and equipment collecting.
• Konami’s Sales Department head reported that the game had sold more than 350,000 copies across both platforms in its first week and that retailers were demanding restocks.
• Kozuki Kagemasa reviewed the sales and player feedback, concluding that Konami had learned from its January losses by letting the game’s quality speak for itself.

After Symphony of the Night became a runaway hit, Kozuki Kagemasa ordered more copies and began gathering player feedback to guide Konami’s future projects. He then directed the company to adapt the game’s assets for pachinko and pachislot machines, aiming to turn its success into a lasting source of profit.

• Kozuki Kagemasa ordered the factory to print another batch of Symphony of the Night and accelerate localization for Western markets.
• Famitsu editors praised the game’s connected castle, exploration, RPG progression, combat, and music as its reputation spread internationally.
• Konami’s sales head reported rising second-week sales and unexpectedly strong interest from female players, which Kozuki attributed partly to Kojima Ayami’s artwork.
• Kozuki ordered detailed player surveys and heard that the art book, posters, and Michiru Yamane’s soundtrack were nearing release.
• Kozuki told the Sales Department head to send every game asset to Konami’s Amusement Machine Division for pachinko and pachislot adaptations.

Kozuki Kagemasa ordered Konami to turn Castlevania into a top-priority pachinko project while Sega pursued a broader partnership with Sotsu. Director Hattori showed Matsushima Pokémon’s enormous global revenues, leaving him to consider Sega’s proposal to bring Sotsu into its larger plans.

• Kozuki Kagemasa ordered the amusement machine division to build a Castlevania pachinko prototype within three months and place co-branded machines in arcades across Japan by year’s end.
• At a private Ginza dinner, Matsushima asked Director Hattori about Sunrise’s reorganization, and Hattori explained that Sega was shifting resources toward the studio.
• Director Hattori warned Matsushima that Sotsu risked being left behind as a commission-taking intermediary, while Honda clarified that Sega wanted to work with Sotsu rather than terminate its contract.
• Director Hattori gave Matsushima Sega Galaxy’s latest copyright revenue statement, which showed Pokémon earning enormous sums across games, cards, merchandise, and animation.
• Director Hattori explained that Sega Galaxy managed Pokémon through a complete global copyright operation, presenting it as the larger game Sega wanted Sotsu to join.

Director Hattori persuaded Matsushima and Sotsu’s shareholders to consider merging with Sega, which planned to use Sotsu to strengthen its control over Japan’s anime and manga properties. Two weeks later, Nakayama Takuya reviewed Rieko Kodama’s Chrono Trigger 2 proposal as Hattori arrived with an apparently welcome fax.

• Director Hattori convinced Matsushima that joining Sega would protect Sotsu’s shareholders and expand their access to resources, and Matsushima asked to take the proposal back for review.
• Director Hattori reported that Sotsu’s core shareholders had reached a preliminary consensus about joining Sega.
• Nakayama Takuya described how Sega would combine Sotsu’s production expertise with its investments in major IPs and told Hattori to oversee the acquisition negotiations.
• Nakayama Takuya mocked Bandai’s precarious position and anticipated that Sotsu’s merger would leave Sega’s entertainment empire difficult to challenge.
• Two weeks later, Nakayama Takuya read Rieko Kodama’s Chrono Trigger 2 proposal while Director Hattori entered with a fax and an unconcealed smile.

Nakayama Takuya and Director Hattori prepared to acquire Sotsu by offering its shareholders a reassuring deal that preserved the company’s team and independence. The five core shareholders arrived at a private Atami inn for negotiations over the acquisition’s terms and their future roles.

• Director Hattori told Nakayama Takuya that all five of Sotsu’s core shareholders had proposed deeper contact with Sega after seeing Pokémon’s financial report.
• Nakayama Takuya and Director Hattori reasoned that Sotsu’s shareholders were chiefly concerned about management and personnel arrangements after the acquisition.
• Nakayama Takuya promised that Sotsu would retain its brand and original team, receive better pay and benefits, and share in profits from Sega Galaxy’s IP.
• Director Hattori arranged a private hot-spring inn in Atami for the meeting with Sotsu’s shareholders.
• That night, the negotiations began at the inn over an elaborate kaiseki dinner and premium sake.

Director Hattori reassured Sotsu’s shareholders that Sega would preserve the company’s brand and management while offering flexible payment options. Matsushima and the other shareholders agreed to coordinate acquisition details with Honda the next morning.

• Matsushima praised Sega’s plans but Suzuki questioned whether Sotsu would remain independent after an acquisition.
• Director Hattori promised that Sotsu would keep its brand and management, with Sega limiting its involvement to financial and legal coordination.
• Honda presented Sega’s offer of cash or a combination of cash and Sega stock, while Hattori deferred valuation until due diligence.
• Matsushima accepted Sega’s proposal in principle and said he would have his team coordinate with Honda the next morning.
• Hattori and the five Sotsu shareholders toasted to a happy partnership.

During spring break, players returned to buying demanding blockbuster games, helping third-party publishers clear their backlogs and recover from Square’s earlier hit. Capcom and Konami shifted their plans toward safer revenue, with Resident Evil 2 and SRPGs among their console priorities.

• A college student who had spent months playing casual games returned to Video Game Sun and bought a demanding Capcom action game.
• The store manager saw spring-break discounts draw customers and help publishers sell their delayed blockbuster games.
• Tsujimoto Kenzo decided Capcom would focus on arcade games and later port them to consoles to rebuild its finances.
• Tsujimoto Kenzo ordered Capcom to pour its resources into Resident Evil 2 and told Shinji Mikami to make it a benchmark that could rival Tomb Raider.
• Kozuki Kagemasa celebrated rising pachinko revenue and ordered Konami to expand the business without a budget limit.
• Kozuki Kagemasa said Konami should try making SRPGs rather than relying only on Igarashi Koji’s Castlevania X: Symphony of the Night.

Kozuki Kagemasa pushed Konami to develop beatmania, while Hudson and Namco planned their summer releases around Nintendo and Ace Combat 2. At Sega, Nakayama Takuya visited the hardware lab to inspect a new handheld prototype, whose core architecture had been finalized around Motorola’s DragonBallEZ.

• Kozuki Kagemasa ordered Konami to accelerate development of the rhythm game beatmania.
• Kudo Hiroshi decided Hudson should return to Nintendo’s camp, and Kudo Yuji planned to visit Yamauchi Hiroshi in Kyoto.
• Nakamura Masaya made Ace Combat 2 Namco’s summer showcase and ordered the company to devote promotional resources to it.
• Sato Hideki showed Nakayama Takuya Sega’s new handheld prototype and explained that its core architecture had been finalized using Motorola’s DragonBallEZ.

Nakayama Takuya examined Sega’s new handheld prototype, which paired an MC68000 with a backward-compatible Z80 to make porting games easy. Its vivid color display drained four AA batteries in as little as two and a half hours, so Nakayama asked Sato Hideki about NEC’s experimental low-power reflective TFT-LCD.

• Sato Hideki explained that the prototype used a customized MC68000 and a compatible Z80, giving it Mega Drive development tools and access to the GamePocket library.
• Nakayama Takuya inspected the handheld’s controls, including its L and R shoulder buttons, and tested its color Tetris display.
• Nakayama Takuya noticed the battery compartment warming, and Sato Hideki revealed that four AA batteries lasted only about three hours under demanding conditions.
• Sato Hideki said TFT displays consumed even more power and cost too much, leaving the laboratory uncertain how to proceed.
• Nakayama Takuya asked whether Sato Hideki had seen reports about NEC’s low-power reflective TFT-LCD, which was still in the laboratory stage.