Chapter Summaries

Nakayama Takuya attended the production kickoff meeting for Mobile Suit Gundam F91 and urged the team to make Cosmo Babylonia’s mobile suits more distinctive and varied. Kunio Okawara agreed to bring Hajime Katoki onto the design team, and Nakayama left the Sunrise building after the meeting.

• Nakayama Takuya arrived at the kickoff meeting and listened as Yoshiyuki Tomino presented the new Gundam F91 project.
• Nakayama Takuya criticized Cosmo Babylonia’s mobile suit designs as forgettable and their weapons as too monotonous for compelling battles or model sales.
• Nakayama Takuya suggested making the designs more vicious than bizarre and inviting Hajime Katoki to collaborate with Kunio Okawara.
• Bandai’s representatives backed Nakayama Takuya’s concerns, arguing that the mobile suits’ appeal was crucial to the company’s sales.
• Kunio Okawara accepted the proposal and agreed to meet Hajime Katoki, and Nakayama Takuya declined President Ito’s dinner invitation and left Sunrise alone.

Nakayama Takuya proposed an F1 racing game to Yu Suzuki, who eagerly took up the project and began assembling a team. Nakayama then rejected several unoriginal game proposals and urged Sega’s developers to create distinctive games with stronger scripts.

• Yu Suzuki returned from vacation without new inspiration, and Nakayama Takuya suggested he make another racing game.
• Nakayama outlined rally, NASCAR, and F1 concepts, and Yu Suzuki chose F1 for its fixed tracks and focus on speed.
• Nakayama proposed a full-size cockpit with an F1 steering wheel and paddle shifters, and Yu Suzuki rushed off to start the project.
• Nakayama reviewed new teams’ proposals, rejected the ones that lacked distinctive features, and told the teams to improve their scripts.
• Nakayama considered checking Sega’s hiring rules after reflecting on the developers’ lack of originality.

Nakayama Takuya identified Sega’s rigid hiring standards as a source of its weak game proposals and ordered HR to recruit game-development applicants based on skills, creativity, and knowledge of games rather than academic majors. He left after instructing Kitashirakawa to revise the recruitment process, while recognizing that changing the company’s entrenched mindset would be the greater challenge.

• Nakayama Takuya visited HR and found that its recruitment rules restricted game-development jobs to applicants with matching academic majors.
• Nakayama Takuya used Shigeru Miyamoto’s industrial-design background to show Kitashirakawa that Sega’s standards could exclude creative talent.
• Nakayama Takuya removed major restrictions for game-development positions and told HR to assess applicants through professional skills tests.
• Nakayama Takuya required applicants to describe and critique games they liked and disliked, including Sega’s products.
• Kitashirakawa agreed to revise the recruitment regulations and prepare a new plan that day.
• Nakayama Takuya left HR, knowing that changing Sega’s entrenched attitudes remained a larger challenge.

Nakayama Takuya opened a public game-development discussion on Sega’s internal BBS to challenge the company’s rigid creative culture. Employees hesitated to post under the executive’s invitation until a new reply finally appeared, leaving them poised to see who had broken the silence.

• Nakayama Takuya found that Sega Academy contained no meaningful discussion about game creativity and posted an invitation for employees to raise development questions and ideas publicly.
• Takahashi read the notice and alerted his colleagues, prompting surprise and debate across the development departments.
• Employees heard that Nakayama Takuya had rejected every proposal from newly promoted development group leaders as conservative and dull, and took the BBS post as a warning to change.
• Developers watched the post’s view count rise while its replies stayed at zero, afraid to be the first to speak.
• A notification showed that the post had received its first reply, and employees rushed to refresh the page.

Nakayama Takuya promised Yu Suzuki’s team access to McLaren’s pit area to research force feedback and handling for an F1 game, setting off excitement across Sega. He then asked Director Yoshikawa to make the connection, arguing that the opportunity would benefit both development and promotion.

• Yu Suzuki asked Nakayama Takuya whether Sega could provide a physical reference for the paddle-shift steering wheel and its force feedback.
• Nakayama Takuya replied that he would ask Director Yoshikawa to contact Honda and arrange for core developers to observe McLaren’s pit area during the Japanese Grand Prix.
• Sega employees celebrated the prospect of visiting McLaren, and the BBS filled with jokes and requests to join the trip.
• Nakayama Takuya printed Yu Suzuki’s request and went to Director Yoshikawa’s office to ask him to arrange access to McLaren.
• Director Yoshikawa questioned the difficulty of securing pit access, and Nakayama Takuya emphasized the development and promotional value of the opportunity.

Nakayama Takuya secured Yoshikawa’s help contacting Honda for a future F1 game and advised Sega to stop worrying about TurboDuo and prepare to replace Electronic Arts. Sony’s recruitment drive brought in more than a hundred developers, though Nobuyuki Idei questioned whether they were talented enough to become stars.

• Nakayama Takuya revealed that he wanted to make a rally racing game, and Yoshikawa agreed to contact Honda about the F1 requirements while asking him to hold off on discussing the rally project.
• Tom Kalinske told Nakayama Takuya that NEC and Hudson had formed Turbo Technologies Inc. and launched the TurboDuo, but Nakayama dismissed it as no real threat to Sega.
• Kalinske complained that Electronic Arts wanted to cut its royalties, and Nakayama predicted it would leave Sega for Trip Hawkins and Panasonic’s next-generation console.
• Nakayama told Kalinske to recruit sports-game developers, have Mark Cerny monitor talent, and approach Visual Concepts as an alternative to Electronic Arts.
• Ryoji Chubachi reported that Sony had recruited more than one hundred developers from Sega, Konami, and Namco, and Nobuyuki Idei challenged the value of the hires because none appeared to be an industry star.

Sony completed the PlayStation prototype and decided to unveil it at the May CES in Chicago rather than wait for the Tokyo Toy Show. As Nintendo celebrated the expected Super Famicom CD, Yokoi Gunpei heard that Sony Computer Entertainment was aggressively poaching developers and began wondering why Nintendo had not been targeted.

• Ken Kutaragi announced that the PlayStation hardware prototype was finished and that Sony had completed the Super Famicom CD drive to the bare minimum required by its contract.
• Norio Ohga chose the May CES in Chicago as the stage for Sony to demonstrate the PlayStation, with technical demos planned for the end of April.
• News of the completed Super Famicom CD lifted Nintendo's spirits, and Shigeru Miyamoto returned early from vacation.
• At an izakaya, Yokoi Gunpei heard Kobayashi and another producer complain that Sony Computer Entertainment had poached developers from several game companies, including Konami, Namco, and Capcom.
• Yokoi Gunpei asked why Sony had not poached anyone from Nintendo or Enix.

Yokoi Gunpei warned Nintendo that Sony was secretly poaching game-industry staff and might be preparing to launch its own console. Nintendo’s executives discovered that Sony’s Super Famicom-CD contract granted it independent console and game-publishing rights, and they waited for the Legal Department to review the agreement.

• Yokoi Gunpei realized Sony’s alliance with Nintendo might conceal a plan to enter the console market, then rushed to report his suspicions to Yamauchi Hiroshi.
• Yokoi Gunpei told Nintendo’s executives that Sony was poaching employees across Japan’s game companies and was likely seeking its own platform.
• Yamauchi Hiroshi questioned why Sony had avoided poaching Nintendo, prompting Masayuki Uemura to recall the contract’s supplementary clauses.
• Masayuki Uemura revealed that Sony could sell compatible consoles and independently publish games without Nintendo’s consent or royalties.
• Yamauchi Hiroshi summoned the Legal Department and ordered the executives, including Masayuki Uemura, to remain at the company until the contract was reviewed.

Nintendo discovered that Sony had used loopholes in their SFC-CD agreement to prepare an independent console and game business. Yamauchi Hiroshi ordered Masayuki Uemura to keep pretending to cooperate while Yokoi Gunpei went to recruit Philips as a new partner.

• Nintendo's legal chief showed Yamauchi Hiroshi contract clauses that would let Sony sell compatible hardware and publish games without paying Nintendo royalties.
• Shigeru Miyamoto, Yokoi Gunpei, and the directors realized Sony had been poaching Nintendo developers to build its own console and game empire.
• Yamauchi Hiroshi dismissed the directors, praised Yokoi Gunpei for saving the company, and ordered Masayuki Uemura to continue cooperating with Sony while secretly gathering information.
• Yamauchi Hiroshi rejected Yokoi Gunpei's suggestion to terminate the partnership and instead decided to seek Philips as another CD-ROM partner.
• Yokoi Gunpei accepted Yamauchi Hiroshi's assignment to go to the Netherlands and tell Philips that Nintendo wanted a new friend to help improve the SFC-CD.

Nakayama Takuya joined Square and Rieko Kodama’s Sega team as they finalized the framework for Journey Through Time, combining Sakaguchi Hironobu’s battle ideas with Kodama’s time-spanning story. As the project moved to task assignments, Nobuo Uematsu declined to lead the music and recommended Mitsuda-kun instead.

• Nakayama Takuya arrived at Square for the formal planning meeting with Rieko Kodama’s team.
• Sakaguchi Hironobu proposed visible enemies, seamless battles, and cooperative combo techniques.
• Rieko Kodama outlined the journey through the Middle Ages, the Ice Age, and a ruined future, and she and Sakaguchi developed ideas for changing history across eras.
• Nakayama Takuya approved the finalized framework, and the teams began assigning tasks.
• Nobuo Uematsu declined to lead the music and introduced Mitsuda-kun as the composer he would supervise.

Nakayama Takuya finalized Yasunori Mitsuda’s role on a new game project and demanded a two-minute trailer by the end of May for CES in Chicago. He then visited Development Group Three, approved its King of Fighters work, and renamed the first installment before asking to see its combat.

• Nakayama Takuya praised Yasunori Mitsuda’s Celtic-flute demo and confirmed the project after Nobuo Uematsu endorsed him.
• Nakayama Takuya asked Square president Miyamoto Masashi for a two-minute trailer by the end of May, prompting Sakaguchi Hironobu to protest that development had not begun.
• Nakayama Takuya watched Development Group Three test a fight between Kyo Kusanagi and Rugal and heard Shimizu explain the tournament’s story and planned ending.
• Nakayama Takuya rejected the provisional name King of Fighters '92 and named the game King of Fighters 1: Murder Beneath the Feast.
• Nakayama Takuya told Shimizu that the series should use subtitles rather than yearly titles and asked to see the combat system in action.

Nakayama Takuya watched Development Group Three demonstrate the new fighting game's evasion, super moves, and comeback mechanics, then approved their work and proposed a Metal Slug guest team. The team had completed several country- and region-based rosters, while the Mercenary Team remained unfinished.

• Team Leader Shimizu demonstrated Kyo Kusanagi's energy-building attacks, evasion rolls, and Orochinagi super move to Nakayama Takuya.
• Shimizu showed how a fighter in the red-health state could spend energy to use a super special move and build enough energy for a devastating MAX version.
• Nakayama praised Development Group Three's work and asked how they were planning the character roster.
• Shimizu reported that the Japan Team, Korea Team, Fatal Fury Team, and Art of Fighting Team were complete, but the Mercenary Team had not been started.
• Nakayama revealed that he planned to borrow a team from Metal Slug for a guest appearance.

Nakayama Takuya added Marco Rossi, Tarma Roving, and Eri Kasamoto to the game and ordered a Japan Team demo for CES in Chicago. After Shimizu began preparing the special version, Takuya received an urgent call from Tom Kalinske about CES.

• Nakayama Takuya assigned Marco Rossi, Tarma Roving, and Eri Kasamoto to the game, giving Eri motion plans and signature special moves.
• Nakayama Takuya told the team to leave the new characters’ backstory to the Children of the Star Ring staff and asked Shimizu about development progress.
• Nakayama Takuya ordered a demo featuring only the Japan Team, with the Art of Fighting Team and Fatal Fury Team as its opponents.
• Shimizu agreed to prepare the demo for Nakayama Takuya to present at CES in Chicago at the end of May.
• Nakayama Takuya’s assistant gave him a CES booth-layout fax and relayed Tom Kalinske’s request to discuss an urgent matter, so Takuya called him.

Nakayama Takuya planned Sega’s limited CES space around player demos while reserving the main stage for the Sega-CD announcement and a Chrono Trigger trailer. After noticing Sony’s booth was positioned beside the game manufacturers, Tom Kalinske began to suspect Sony had a larger gaming presence planned.

• Tom Kalinske told Nakayama Takuya that Sega had received a booth of only a little over five hundred square meters.
• Nakayama Takuya asked Tom to prepare a John Wick demo and check whether Universal Pictures would approve an early reveal.
• Nakayama Takuya planned to bring the Sega-CD, a Chrono Trigger trailer, and a King of Fighters demo, using the main stage for the first two announcements.
• Nakayama Takuya assigned half the booth to John Wick arcade machines and the other half to King of Fighters cabinets, focusing on letting players try the games.
• Nakayama Takuya asked Tom to locate Sony’s booth, and Tom realized it was beside the game manufacturers’ area rather than among appliance companies.

Nakayama Takuya prepared Sega’s CES strategy to capitalize on the coming Sony-Nintendo confrontation and bring Visual Concepts closer to Sega. He then received Argonaut Software’s Super FX 3D coprocessor specifications and took them to Sega’s hardware department, where Nakamura reacted with astonishment.

• Nakayama Takuya explained to Tom Kalinske that Sega should let Sony and Nintendo dominate the headlines while focusing on attracting players.
• Tom Kalinske agreed to split the booth between John Wick and King of Fighters, use the remaining space to sell limited-edition merchandise, and promote the goods through Game Gear advertising.
• Nakayama Takuya told Tom Kalinske to arrange a joint booth event with Visual Concepts, using Sega’s support for the studio to draw attention from developers and pressure Electronic Arts.
• Nakayama Takuya oversaw Sega’s CES preparations before receiving a fax from Argonaut Software containing specifications for the Super FX 3D Graphics Coprocessor.
• Nakayama Takuya brought a copy of the specifications to Hardware Development Department head Nakamura, who was amazed by the coprocessor’s design.

Nakayama Takuya asked Nakamura to assess whether a chip could let the Mega Drive run basic 3D games, then discussed television programming with Eri at home. He urged her to tell her father to launch Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, leaving the new program poised to follow Supermarket Battle.

• Nakayama Takuya asked Nakamura for a feasibility report on adding a chip to Mega Drive cartridges to run basic 3D games.
• Nakayama Takuya returned home and played with his three-month-old son, Kazuki, while Eri prepared dinner.
• Eri and Nakayama Takuya discussed Supermarket Battle's record ratings and how Japan's economic slump had tightened viewers' budgets.
• Nakayama Takuya told Eri to ask her father to bring out the proposal for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.
• Eri agreed to call her father after dinner, recognizing that the show could offer viewers hope during the downturn.

Tom Kalinske prepared Sega’s CES booth and anticipated a showdown between Sony and Nintendo, while Ken Kutaragi eyed Nintendo with ambition. At Sega’s opening presentation, Tom built excitement around the company’s games and promised a new world and greater power for the Mega Drive, but had not yet revealed how.

• Tom Kalinske inspected Sega’s minimalist booth, which featured playable John Wick and King of Fighters stations and a merchandise area.
• Tom saw Ken Kutaragi emerge from Sony’s booth and fix his attention on Nintendo’s booth with a cold smile.
• The CES officially opened in Chicago on May 28, 1992, with video games drawing widespread attention.
• Tom Kalinske took the stage at 10:30 and energized the audience by celebrating Sonic, Pokémon, and Metal Slug.
• Tom asked what more Sega could bring players and promised to reveal a new world and greater power for the Mega Drive.

Tom Kalinske unveiled the Sega-CD and announced Sega’s partnership with Square to create Chrono Trigger. Sakaguchi Hironobu praised the new platform and promised an unprecedented adventure, leaving the CES crowd in thunderous applause.

• Tom Kalinske introduced the Sega-CD and highlighted its capacity, sound, and graphics capabilities.
• Tom Kalinske revealed Square’s logo alongside Sega’s and presented an animated Chrono Trigger trailer featuring characters and scenes across time.
• Sakaguchi Hironobu took the stage and joked about Nakayama Takuya’s efforts to recruit him, including Sega staff sending vacation photos and research from around the world.
• Sakaguchi Hironobu said Square was willing to endure the demands of development because players and creators deserved better games and a new creative stage.
• Sakaguchi Hironobu promised that Chrono Trigger would bring players a grand adventure across time and space on the Sega-CD, then bowed as the audience erupted in applause.

After Tom Kalinske ended Sega’s press conference by directing everyone to its booth, the crowd rushed to try the games and buy exclusive merchandise. Sega’s booth drew huge lines and booming sales, leaving the other companies’ displays deserted by comparison.

• Tom Kalinske praised Sakaguchi Hironobu’s complaints, then announced Sega’s booth, its John Wick and King of Fighters demos, and limited-edition merchandise.
• The audience rushed to Sega’s booth, where long queues formed for the arcade games and merchandise.
• Players took turns trying King of Fighters and John Wick, and eliminated players received commemorative coins.
• Visitors saw the three-hour demo wait and joined the merchandise line, where scalpers competed for signed Akira Toriyama posters.
• The cash register rang continuously as rival companies watched Sega’s crowded booth with envy.

Apple CEO John Sculley introduced Newton as a future personal digital assistant but revealed no device or working prototype, disappointing reporters. Trip Hawkins then presented 3DO as an open standard for next-generation interactive entertainment, drawing strong interest with its hardware-licensing model and three-dollar game royalty.

• John Sculley announced Apple's Newton and described its promise without showing a physical device or prototype.
• A Wall Street Journal reporter asked when Newton hardware would be available, and Sculley said it would arrive at an appropriate time.
• Reporters criticized Apple's concept-only presentation as the press conference ended.
• Trip Hawkins introduced the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer with footage of a powerful multimedia system.
• Hawkins said 3DO would license an open hardware standard and charge only three dollars per game sold, prompting an uproar.