Chapter Summaries

Nakayama Eri went into labor at Sugiyama Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital while Nakayama Takuya and their families waited anxiously. After a long delivery, she gave birth safely to a healthy son, and Takuya held her hand as their family welcomed the baby.

• Nakayama Takuya rushed Eri to the hospital, where he comforted her with family photos, scripts, and toys while she waited for labor to begin.
• On the third morning after her admission, Eri's water broke, and nurses took her into the delivery room as Takuya called their families.
• Takuya and both sets of parents waited through hours of labor, growing alarmed when Eri's cries stopped before the baby cried out.
• A nurse announced that Eri had safely delivered a healthy 2.93-kilogram boy and that both mother and child were safe.
• Takuya returned to Eri's room, cared for her, and joined their families in welcoming their newborn son.

Nakayama Takuya and Eri welcomed their son, named him Nakayama Kazuki, and brought him home after Eri recovered. At Kazuki’s seventh night ceremony, the family celebrated his birth, while Takuya and Eri adjusted to their new roles as parents.

• Nakayama Miyuki decided that Nakayama Takuya and Keiko would stay with Eri and the baby, and Nakayama Hayao told Takuya to care for his wife and child.
• When the baby cried, Takuya and Keiko helped Eri feed him, and Takuya proposed the name Kazuki, which Eri accepted.
• Eri and Kazuki recovered well, and Nakayama Takuya carefully prepared to take them home on the fifth day after the birth.
• At Kazuki’s seventh night ceremony, Nakayama Hayao formally wrote and explained his grandson’s name before Kazuki broke the solemn mood by spitting out a milk bubble.
• The relatives celebrated at the banquet as Nakayama Takuya and Eri received parenting advice, and Nakayama Maruji excitedly touched Kazuki’s fist and announced that his little brother had moved.

Silicon Valley Online launched ICQ, and college students quickly discovered its instant messaging, friend, emoticon, and group features, spreading it through the BBS. During the first day, registrations passed five thousand, while Tom Kalinske urged Frank Marshall to give the service's viral growth more time.

• Harry finished testing the ICQ and Passport systems with help from hackers, and Tom Kalinske approved the launch.
• Philip registered for ICQ at Stanford, added Matt as a friend, and tested instant messages and FaceWord emoticons with him.
• Philip posted his ICQ number on the BBS, accepted requests from students at other universities, and created the Cola Challengers Alliance group.
• Philip read that ICQ messages were temporarily stored on the server and could be managed locally, then watched the group's membership grow.
• At Silicon Valley Online, Harry reported more than five thousand registrations during ICQ's first twenty-four hours, and Frank Marshall ordered the server capacity expanded as Tom Kalinske defended the service's gradual viral growth.

ICQ’s viral growth convinced Sega’s board to pursue a first financing round for Silicon Valley Online, while Nakayama Takuya urged Sugiura to protect the company’s finances and equity. The chapter ended with Takuya and his family attending Kazuki’s Miyamairi, where the priest recorded the baby’s name in the shrine register.

• Harry announced that ICQ’s K-Factor had reached 1.8 as its online user count passed twenty thousand, and Frank celebrated with champagne before telling reporters that ICQ’s basic services would remain free.
• Tom told a Sequoia Capital investor that Sega was preparing to raise financing for its new social-networking venture, then reported ICQ’s growth and the investor’s interest to Tokyo headquarters.
• Nakayama Takuya explained network value to Sega’s skeptical directors, who unanimously approved a first financing round and appointed Sugiura to oversee it in the United States.
• Nakayama Takuya told Sugiura to focus on controlling Silicon Valley Online’s finances and equity while using the internet’s growing importance to attract investors.
• Nakayama Takuya changed Kazuki’s diaper at home before the Nakayama and Nakagawa families gathered for the baby’s Miyamairi.
• Nakayama Atsuo carried Kazuki into the shrine, where the priest blessed him and entered the name Nakayama Kazuki in the register.

Silicon Valley Online used its explosive user growth and network strategy to secure a $100 million valuation and $10 million in financing from Sequoia and KPCB. After announcing it would distribute Sega’s email client, the company drew a swarm of reporters, and Frank proposed a press conference to reveal its next target.

• Frank Marshall presented Silicon Valley Online’s growth data and explained its network-value strategy to Donald Valentine, while Sugiura listened.
• Harry announced that ICQ’s registered users had surpassed 500,000, and Tom Kalinske brought KPCB’s representatives into the meeting.
• Sequoia and KPCB each agreed to invest for a 5% stake, valuing Silicon Valley Online at $100 million and raising $10 million.
• Silicon Valley Online announced it would distribute Sega’s $9.90 email client, prompting a flood of media to its headquarters.
• Frank told Tom that they should hold a press conference and announce the company’s next target.

Tom Kalinske tested Metal Slug on Sega’s new System 32 board and watched arcade owners snap up the first American shipment. He called Tokyo headquarters to request up to twenty thousand more units, declaring that the war had only just begun.

• Frank Marshall announced ICQ’s plans for London servers and multilingual versions while Tom Kalinske oversaw Metal Slug’s arrival at Sega of America.
• Tom Kalinske and Sega’s engineers tested Metal Slug, marveling at its graphics, smooth performance, vehicles, and varied combat.
• Tom Kalinske held an ordering meeting for arcade owners and distributors, where concerns about the System 32 board’s price initially slowed orders.
• An East Coast distributor ordered three hundred cabinets, triggering a rush that sold out all two thousand units in less than two hours.
• A Los Angeles arcade owner bought the remaining demo cabinet, and Tom Kalinske told his assistant to ask Managing Director Nakayama for twenty thousand more units.

Nakayama Takuya’s Metal Slug launch overwhelmed U.S. arcades, prompting Sega to rush more cabinets and boards across the country while delaying the Japanese release. Nintendo executives dismissed the game as an arcade sideshow, and Shigeru Miyamoto began reading a market brief about it.

• Nakayama Takuya learned that the first two thousand Metal Slug cabinets had sold out in two hours and told Tom Kalinske that twenty thousand more cabinets and boards were on the way.
• Nakayama Takuya explained that Sega would hold back the Japanese release until Metal Slug had built momentum in North America.
• Arcade owner Louis watched players crowd around his Metal Slug machine, while arcade owners across the United States clamored for more units.
• Minoru Arakawa and Howard Lincoln discussed Metal Slug, but Arakawa dismissed its success and kept Nintendo’s focus on home consoles.
• A Nintendo assistant delivered a North American arcade market brief to Shigeru Miyamoto, who read the words “Metal Slug.”

Shigeru Miyamoto dismissed an unfamiliar Sega arcade game while focusing on finishing The Legend of Zelda, but Metal Slug’s rapid spread across American arcades began drawing teenagers away from home consoles. Minoru Arakawa recognized the threat to Nintendo’s North American market and resolved to rely on the upcoming SNES release to win players back.

• Shigeru Miyamoto asked his assistant to obtain detailed information about Metal Slug from North America, then returned to testing The Legend of Zelda despite his poor health.
• Nakayama Takuya’s promised twenty thousand Metal Slug units reached the United States and were quickly distributed across the market.
• Metal Slug crowded American arcades and drew teenagers away from Art of Fighting, Mortal Kombat, and home-console games.
• Minoru Arakawa and Howard Lincoln examined declining sales and retailer reports showing that fewer teenagers were visiting stores and more were going to arcades.
• Minoru Arakawa realized Sega’s arcade rollout was a deliberate attack on console players and vowed that the SNES release of Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda would bring them back.

Nakayama Takuya persuaded Square to delay Final Fantasy IV’s North American release so it could launch alongside a soundtrack album and an official art and setting book. Months later, the coordinated release reached North American stores just as Metal Slug players were looking for another game.

• Nakayama Takuya proposed turning Final Fantasy IV’s music into an OST and a single, and its artwork and world details into an official book.
• Sakaguchi Hironobu and Nobuo Uematsu embraced the plan, and Miyamoto Masashi agreed to Square’s delayed, expanded release.
• Final Fantasy IV, its soundtrack CD, and its art and setting book appeared together at prominent North American game counters.
• After playing Metal Slug, two boys noticed the Final Fantasy IV display in a game store window.

Sega’s lavish North American release of Final Fantasy IV drove a sharp recovery in Mega Drive sales and renewed pressure on Nintendo. Minoru Arakawa recognized that Sega’s worldwide release strategy and cheaper collector’s edition had won players’ goodwill, leaving him to confront Nintendo’s disadvantages.

• Jesse and other customers eagerly bought Final Fantasy IV’s collector’s edition, which bundled the game with a soundtrack CD and art book.
• Final Fantasy IV’s release sent Mega Drive sales in North America surging after Metal Slug had hurt them.
• Minoru Arakawa reviewed the game’s rising sales figures while the first batch of SNES consoles arrived in North American warehouses.
• Howard Lincoln accused Sega and Square of using the collector’s edition to placate North American players, then revealed it was also sold in Japan.
• Minoru Arakawa showed Lincoln that the complete set cost less in North America than the soundtrack and art book cost separately in Japan.
• Minoru Arakawa concluded that Nintendo had lost ground through its slower overseas releases and poor treatment of international players.

Sega introduced Virtua Fighter to North American arcade owners and players, presenting its 3D fighting gameplay as a new attraction after Metal Slug. The first players were quickly drawn into the game, and a losing boy immediately paid to play again.

• Sega quietly unloaded ten thousand Virtua Fighter cabinets and MODEL1 boards at the Port of San Francisco.
• A Sega sales manager demonstrated Virtua Fighter to arcade owners, who marveled at its 3D movement and began placing orders despite its high price.
• Frank ordered twenty cabinets and worried whether players would accept the angular-looking characters.
• Frank watched players question the game's graphics and limited roster before a sidestep and elbow strike sparked their interest.
• The first player to lose inserted another twenty-five-cent coin and prepared to try again.

Virtua Fighter drew huge crowds to Frank's arcade, while Minoru Arakawa and Howard Lincoln prepared Nintendo's North American SNES launch. Nintendo's advertisements and arriving games revived players' interest, leaving the SNES poised for a major release.

• Frank watched Virtua Fighter attract long lines and bragged to another arcade owner about how quickly its coin boxes filled.
• Jesse and Tim discovered Virtua Fighter after finishing Final Fantasy IV, and Jesse kept challenging the game after losing.
• Minoru Arakawa set aside the report on Virtua Fighter and focused on the SNES launch plan with Howard Lincoln.
• Howard Lincoln reported that English-language copies of Super Mario World and The Legend of Zelda: Triforce of the Gods had cleared customs, and Minoru ordered distribution.
• Nintendo launched a sweeping advertising campaign across the United States, prompting players to notice the SNES and its new games.

Nintendo celebrated the SNES selling over two million units in its first week, while Sega prepared a theater-based launch for Hook. Tom Kalinske welcomed the Japanese development team and revealed that thousands of Hook arcade machines would be installed in cinema lobbies across North America on the film’s premiere day.

• Nintendo's first-week SNES sales exceeded two million units, and Howard Lincoln and Minoru Arakawa celebrated the result.
• Nintendo's marketing director reported that arcade traffic and coin drops for Sega's Metal Slug and Virtua Fighter had declined after the SNES launch.
• Tom Kalinske welcomed Ono and the Japanese development team at San Francisco International Airport.
• Bernard told Kalinske that North America's ten largest theater chains had agreed to make space for Hook machines in their ticketing halls.
• Kalinske revealed that five thousand Hook arcade machines would be placed in cinemas across America on December 11, with distributors later buying them back for resale to arcade owners.

Sega’s Hook arcade game debuted in movie theaters alongside the film, drawing crowds and turning the lobbies into busy gaming spots. Mike and his friends played together before the screening, then watched Hook with a new sense of connection to its characters.

• Sony Columbia Pictures promoted Hook without mentioning its arcade game until Sega’s machines and posters appeared in theater lobbies two days before the film’s release.
• Mike and Jack spotted two crowded Hook arcade machines at the AMC Theatres and recognized Peter Pan on the screen.
• Mike, Jack, and their friend pooled their money to play as Lost Boys characters, enjoying cooperative battles against pirates.
• The theater manager watched the lines grow and calculated the extra income the machines would bring.
• Mike and his friends watched Hook, seeing its characters differently after playing as them.

Hook’s game and movie drove customers to each other, boosting arcade earnings and the film’s opening box office. Sega and Columbia TriStar celebrated the cross-promotion’s success while Steven Spielberg remained troubled by the critics’ reviews.

• Fat Joe reluctantly hung a Hook poster in his Chicago arcade after a Columbia TriStar representative paid him.
• Arcade regulars left to see the movie, but new visitors arrived after missing their chance to play Hook at the theater, and Fat Joe embraced the promotion.
• Sega executives learned that the game had influenced at least ten percent of the film’s opening-day audience and that theater cabinets had filled their coin boxes repeatedly.
• Sony Columbia Pictures executives celebrated the film’s box office and audience response despite poor reviews from critics.
• Steven Spielberg sat apart from the executives, reading negative reviews and frowning over their criticism.

Spielberg turned his regret over Hook’s technical limits into resolve to make a more ambitious film, while Sony executives discussed how PlayStation could secure launch games through partnerships. Nintendo’s North American sales began to flatten as Hook’s success brought arcade machines into movie theaters, prompting Howard Lincoln to blame the shift on Sony and Columbia.

• Spielberg heard an executive console him about Hook, then became eager to use better technology on a future dinosaur film after remembering Michael Crichton’s script.
• Hook passed one hundred million dollars at the North American box office a week after release, bringing Sony Columbia and arcade and theater owners substantial revenue.
• Ken Kutaragi and Ryoji Chubachi reviewed Sega’s winter results and discussed PlayStation’s timetable and the difficulty of attracting game developers.
• Norio Ohga proposed that Sony fund most of the development of exclusive games with capable third parties while allowing them to take most of the profits.
• Minoru Arakawa and Howard Lincoln saw Nintendo’s sales growth flatten, and Howard angrily blamed the company’s intelligence team for missing Sony’s move into movie theaters.

Minoru Arakawa responded to slowing SNES sales by ordering Nintendo to help third-party developers bring games to North America faster, while Nakayama Takuya cautioned Sega that its advantage might not last. The story then shifted to Christmas 1991, when Sony executives watched the Soviet Union’s final collapse on television.

• Minoru Arakawa told Howard that the SNES needed more games and ordered Nintendo’s Marketing Department to assist North American third-party developers with translation, testing, and funding.
• Nakayama Takuya celebrated Sega’s slowing of SNES sales but warned his staff that Nintendo would push its third-party partners to respond.
• Nakayama Takuya recalled the coming collapse of the Soviet Union as Christmas 1991 approached.
• On December 25, Gorbachev announced his resignation as president of the Soviet Union, and the Soviet Union officially dissolved the following day.
• Norio Ohga, Ken Kutaragi, and Ryoji Chubachi watched the Soviet flag come down on television at Sony headquarters.

Norio Ohga interpreted the post-Cold War sales boom as a peace dividend and ordered Sony to accelerate PlayStation and recruit talent from third parties. At Sega, Nakayama Takuya urged his staff not to lose heart over Nintendo’s European surge, pointing to the Mega Drive’s worldwide lead as an advantage in the coming console war.

• Ken Kutaragi predicted that reduced military spending might ease technology restrictions and help Sony’s semiconductor division.
• After SNES sales surged across Europe during Christmas, Norio Ohga linked the boom to post-Cold War optimism and consumer spending.
• Norio Ohga ordered Ken Kutaragi to accelerate the SFC-CD project and PlayStation, and told Ryoji Chubachi to recruit top talent from third-party developers.
• Sega received reports from Ubisoft showing strong European demand for SNES and requests to import Sega arcade games.
• Nakayama Takuya explained that Nintendo’s sales had brought SNES close to ten million worldwide, then reminded Sega staff that the Mega Drive still outsold it by more than twenty million units.

Nakayama Takuya rallied Sega’s marketing department by promising the Sega CD and its RPG Dream Team, then learned Sony Computer Entertainment was offering generous deals to poach Sega’s core developers. He planned to retain key deputies and programmers by letting them form independent development teams, leaving the proposal for the board meeting.

• Nakayama Takuya restored the Marketing Department’s morale and urged Sega to expand its games and arcade presence while preparing for the next-generation console.
• Nakayama Takuya learned that Sony Computer Entertainment was offering Sega programmers doubled salaries, higher positions, and project leadership.
• Nakayama Takuya decided Sega would negotiate modest raises for development leaders but let those determined to leave go.
• Nakayama Takuya proposed allowing deputies, chief programmers, and core artists to establish new development groups and become team leaders.
• Nakayama Takuya told his assistant to keep the targeted employees at Sega for now and said he would present the plan at the board meeting.

Nakayama Takuya persuaded Sega’s directors to let Sony poach employees while Sega expanded its development teams and waited for Sony’s conflict with Nintendo to unfold. Meanwhile, Mark Cerny’s team advanced its John Wick arcade game toward a summer release, building a light gun with recoil feedback and cinematic close-combat QTEs.

• Nakayama Takuya explained that Sony was secretly developing its own console from the SFC-CD project while recruiting developers across the industry, and proposed using the distraction to strengthen Sega.
• Nakayama Hayao approved the strategy, and the board unanimously agreed to let Sony’s poaching proceed while Sega built new teams.
• A week later, Sega’s HR head reported that fewer than five core developers had resigned and that seventeen groups had applied to form independent development teams.
• Bernard Stolar told Mark Cerny that Universal Pictures planned to release John Wick in early July, and Mark promised the game would be ready in time.
• Mark Cerny directed his team to refine the arcade light gun’s recoil feedback and cinematic QTE combat, as development revealed the game’s distinctive potential.