Chapter Summaries

At a press conference, Trip Hawkins announced that 3DO would charge only three dollars in royalties per game and hinted at a partnership with a major consumer electronics company. The news electrified the press, while Matsushita vice president Kenji Aso kept the company’s involvement secret and waited for the right moment to reveal it.

• Trip Hawkins announced 3DO’s three-dollar royalty model, alarming and exciting reporters and industry analysts.
• When reporters asked about hardware partners, Hawkins said 3DO was in talks with several top consumer electronics companies and promised a console from a trusted brand.
• Kenji Aso, Matsushita Electric’s vice president, realized Hawkins’s announcement had gone as planned and hid Matsushita’s involvement from the other attendees.
• After the press conference, reporters rushed to spread the news, and that evening television coverage made 3DO the focus of discussion in a hotel lounge.
• Reporters debated the mystery hardware partner and redirected their attention from Sega and Apple’s announcements to investigating 3DO.

At CES, Ken Kutaragi unveiled Sony’s PlayStation as a powerful 32-bit console authorized to support Nintendo’s Super Famicom-CD format and compatible with existing SNES cartridges. He left the stage without revealing its release date or price, while the stunned press debated whether Sony had turned cooperation into a bid to supplant Nintendo.

• After Apple and 3DO’s announcements had heightened CES’s atmosphere, reporters gathered as Sony took the main stage.
• Ken Kutaragi introduced PlayStation and said Sony had Nintendo’s authorization to develop a console compatible with the Super Famicom-CD format.
• Ken Kutaragi listed PlayStation’s 32-bit hardware specifications, including a MIPS R3000 CPU, 180,000 textured polygons per second, and CD-quality audio.
• Ken Kutaragi announced that PlayStation would also play every SNES game cartridge already on the market, shocking the audience.
• Ken Kutaragi left without announcing a release date or price, and reporters erupted into arguments over Sony’s apparent challenge to Nintendo.

Minoru Arakawa responded calmly to Sony’s PlayStation announcement and directed reporters to Nintendo’s afternoon press conference. At the conference, he unveiled the SNES-CD, leaving the audience uncertain about Nintendo’s response.

• Reporters crowded Nintendo’s booth after Sony announced that PlayStation was authorized and compatible with SNES cartridges.
• Minoru Arakawa confirmed that Sony’s authorization was written into their contract and told reporters to attend Nintendo’s press conference at two o’clock.
• Reporters hurried to the main stage, suspecting that Nintendo’s composed reaction signaled a larger confrontation.
• Minoru Arakawa thanked Sony for its product and compatibility efforts, then introduced Nintendo’s SNES-CD peripheral.
• The audience saw the SNES-CD and wondered whether Nintendo could do more than accept its apparent defeat.

Minoru Arakawa announced that Nintendo would partner with Philips on the SNES-CD, end its cooperation with Sony, and sue over ownership of the PlayStation trademark. The announcement sent the convention into chaos, while Ken Kutaragi hid and reported the blow to President Ohga.

• Minoru Arakawa announced that Philips would provide the SNES-CD’s CD-ROM technology and support.
• Minoru Arakawa declared that Nintendo would terminate its cooperation with Sony and sue to claim the PlayStation trademark.
• Reporters rushed to phone their newsrooms, while Sony’s booth was left with only shaken employees and a prototype on display.
• Ken Kutaragi called President Ohga from a storage room and said Nintendo had been acting all along to seize the trademark.
• Reporters questioned a bewildered Philips manager at the home-appliance booth, and the convention descended into chaos.

At CES, Sega benefited as Nintendo’s lawsuit against Sony’s PlayStation dominated the news and drew attention away from Sega’s successful booth. Sony executives watched the media ridicule the company, while Ken Kutaragi sat in silence after turning off the television.

• Tom Kalinske told Bernard Stolar he already knew Nintendo had sued Sony over the PlayStation name, then pointed out Sega’s long game lines and brisk merchandise sales.
• Tom said Sega was fortunate to have held its press conference the previous day, before Nintendo and Sony’s dispute took over the headlines.
• Television and newspaper coverage portrayed Nintendo’s lawsuit as a devastating reversal for Sony and questioned whether Sony could sell the console under the PlayStation name.
• Reporters at a bar celebrated the dispute, and one journalist described Minoru Arakawa as having deliberately watched the media walk into a trap.
• A financial commentator said Sony might have to rename the console and redo its marketing, calling its press conference a joke.
• Ken Kutaragi turned off the television in a silent hotel suite as Sony executives sat among overflowing ashtrays.

After Nintendo ended its partnership with Sony and challenged Sony’s right to use the PlayStation name, Norio Ohga ordered an emergency response. In Japan, Kozuki Kagemasa shifted Konami’s priorities by raising the Super Famicom to the same internal level as the Mega Drive.

• Ken Kutaragi told Norio Ohga that Nintendo had ended its cooperation with Sony, partnered with Philips, and announced a lawsuit over the PlayStation trademark.
• Norio Ohga ordered Ken Kutaragi and his team to return to Tokyo immediately, then called Sony’s legal department to summon an emergency meeting.
• Kozuki Kagemasa received news of Nintendo’s move at Konami headquarters and summoned the Development Department heads.
• Kozuki Kagemasa ordered Konami to give the Super Famicom the highest internal rating, equal to the Mega Drive.

Kozuki Kagemasa ordered Konami to develop simultaneous Super Famicom and English versions of its flagship games as Nintendo’s standing rose after its legal fight with Sony. At CES, Nintendo celebrated a surge in SNES orders, while Yamauchi Hiroshi warned Minoru Arakawa not to mistake retailers’ orders for sales and urged him to expand distribution and handle overseas legal affairs.

• Kozuki Kagemasa told Konami executives to develop simultaneous SFC versions of upcoming flagship games and singled out the new Castlevania for a simultaneous release.
• On CES’s third day, Nintendo’s booth drew crowds while Sony removed PlayStation displays from its booth.
• Minoru Arakawa told reporters Nintendo had chosen Philips as the most suitable partner and promoted the English-localized Legend of Zelda.
• Howard Lincoln told Minoru Arakawa that channel partners had increased orders and that SNES sales since the press conference had exceeded the previous month’s total.
• Yamauchi Hiroshi cautioned Minoru Arakawa that channel orders were not confirmed player sales and warned that Sony could still retaliate.
• Yamauchi Hiroshi told Minoru Arakawa to spread SNES stock across North America and Europe and handle overseas legal affairs.

Players flocked to Sega’s booth and stores for games and merchandise, while Ken Kutaragi and his team returned to Japan after the failed PlayStation partnership and faced Sony’s board. The chapter ended as Ken entered the boardroom to answer to Norio Ohga and Sony’s directors.

• Players found Sega’s limited-edition merchandise sold out and rushed to Chicago’s game stores to buy current-generation games.
• Ken Kutaragi returned to Tokyo with his team, haunted by Minoru Arakawa’s thanks and the collapse of their plans.
• Norio Ohga’s secretary ordered the team to rest and forbade them from handling business or making calls before nine the next morning.
• Ken and his team arrived at Sony headquarters in dark suits and entered the boardroom, where Norio Ohga told them to sit.

After Nintendo’s move threatened Sony’s PlayStation project, Sony’s directors debated whether to abandon the video game business or fight on. Nobuyuki Idei argued that Sony could redesign the machine and contest the trademark, and Norio Ohga’s closing challenge left the board facing the choice between retreat and resolve.

• Director Iwata urged Sony to cut its losses and withdraw from the video game business, blaming Ken Kutaragi and his superior for the project’s commercial risks.
• Nobuyuki Idei opposed retreat, warning that abandoning SCE’s recruited talent and public commitment would damage Sony’s reputation and finances.
• Idei asked Ken Kutaragi how long it would take to remove Nintendo-licensed technology, and Kutaragi estimated ten months with sufficient resources.
• The legal chief said Sony had strong grounds to win the PlayStation trademark, though the lawsuit could take about a year and a half.
• Iwata and other directors argued that Idei’s plan risked Sony’s finances, but Idei defended the need to keep fighting.
• Norio Ohga silenced the board and challenged Iwata to consider which company customers would trust: a rising challenger or an old manufacturer afraid to face one.

Norio Ohga ended Sony’s internal resistance to Ken Kutaragi’s console project, ordering a new machine within ten months while assigning Iwata to integrate the project’s technology across Sony’s home electronics. After the industry resumed its usual business, Nintendo and Sega remained the leaders as 3DO and Sony had yet to release consoles.

• Norio Ohga cited Akio Morita’s warning that Sony would remove its own sign rather than abandon a future it recognized out of fear of a lawsuit.
• Norio Ohga gave Ken Kutaragi ten months to build a new machine that belonged purely to Sony.
• Norio Ohga challenged Iwata’s call to retreat from unfamiliar fields, then appointed him to lead a new Technology Integration Department working with Kutaragi’s engineers.
• Sony’s directors accepted Ohga’s plan, and he adjourned the meeting with Kutaragi’s project backed by the company.
• After the 1992 Consumer Electronics Show upheavals subsided, Nintendo and Sega remained the gaming industry’s leaders while Sony and 3DO continued developing their consoles.
• Sega’s executives felt relieved that the company had only shared part of the CD-ROM development costs with Sony, while other industry leaders recognized the growing interest of wealthy outsiders.

Universal Pictures accelerated promotion for John Wick after the game demo drew major attention at CES, releasing a teaser poster and preparing a trailer. The chapter ends as players and gaming media spread excitement about the game’s gun-fu combat.

• Ron Meyer told Tom Kalinske that Universal was moving John Wick’s publicity plan forward and would release its first teaser trailer the following week.
• Universal’s casting team chose Liam Neeson as the lead after Nakayama Takuya proposed a weary, battle-hardened killer and John Woo recommended Philip Kwok for the action style.
• Universal released a stark poster showing Liam Neeson in a black suit with the tagline “Don’t set him off.”
• Jesse showed Mike the John Wick game screenshots and explained how its QTE gun-fu combat worked.
• Players across America and gaming media praised the CES prototype as a new kind of action game.

High-Speed Pursuit’s arcade cabinets drew overwhelming orders and anticipation as Sega prepared their North American launch. At the film’s Hollywood premiere, Mark Cerny and the development team arrived among major stars, visibly awed by the event.

• The Los Angeles Times and movie fans debated High-Speed Pursuit’s unusual game-and-film promotion and Liam Neeson’s action role.
• Sega received orders for 22,000 of the first 25,000 cabinets, and Fat Joe asked to increase his order.
• Theater managers urged Universal Pictures to deliver the machines, eager to profit from the crowds they expected.
• By the third week of July, Sega installed the game boards, shipped the cabinets, and Fat Joe’s arcade placed ten machines in prominent spots.
• Mark Cerny and the development team attended the July 16 Hollywood premiere, where Dave excitedly recognized Sylvester Stallone and Bruce Willis.

At the John Wick premiere, Mark Cerny and his team watched audiences react to the film’s gun-fu, then Sega launched the movie-based light-gun arcade game alongside its North American release. Moviegoers crowded around the cabinets, eager to try the action and see the film.

• Bruce Willis and Stallone discussed the film’s gun-fu before the screening, while a Remington representative spoke with a Los Angeles Times critic.
• Mark Cerny, Dave, and the programmers watched John Wick’s fast, brutal action scenes, which showcased moves they had designed as QTEs for the game.
• The theater applauded when Mark Cerny and his team appeared in the credits, and Mark received Tom Kalinske’s message that the game would launch at midnight.
• On Friday, July 17, moviegoers crowded around the John Wick arcade cabinets outside North American cinemas and tried the light-gun game.
• A young man used the game’s QTE prompt to help John Wick evade gunfire and execute an enemy, impressing the crowd and prompting Joe to say the game made him want to see the movie.

John Wick’s film and arcade game became a nationwide sensation, drawing audiences into arcades and gun stores and inspiring interest in firearms and tactical shooting. Tom Kalinske and Bernard Stolar reviewed the game’s record sales and the growing cultural impact, as shooting groups began promoting training camps around the movie’s gun-fu.

• Moviegoers praised John Wick’s action and lined up to play the arcade game, while some sought out nearby arcades after screenings.
• Gun-store customers asked George about John Wick’s weapons and accessories, and George explained which movie techniques were realistic and which were staged.
• Media reviews praised the film’s excitement despite criticizing its narrative depth, while audience interest boosted traffic at arcades and gun stores.
• Bernard Stolar told Tom Kalinske that arcade sales had reached a new high, theater machines had sold out, and orders for nearly eight thousand more were close.
• Stolar showed Kalinske reports that gun groups were organizing tactical-shooting and rapid-response camps inspired by the film’s gun-fu.

Stolar told Tom Kalinske that John Wick had inspired a firearms craze, including booming sales of concealed-weapon renovations. After the film’s $32 million opening weekend and a surge in arcade orders, Kalinske and Ron Meyer agreed to build a wider assassin universe rather than rely on John Wick alone.

• Stolar described how John Wick had spurred demand for firearms, training, and hidden weapon-storage renovations.
• Ron Meyer told Kalinske that the film had earned $32 million in its opening weekend, while Kalinske reported more than 8,000 additional arcade-cabinet orders.
• Meyer raised the possibility of a sequel, and Kalinske proposed expanding the series into stories about other assassins and the wider assassin world.
• Kalinske suggested releasing films every two to three years alongside games, and Meyer agreed to develop new characters and an assassin database.

Ron Meyer used John Wick’s box-office, arcade, and firearms-sales success to persuade the NRA and gun companies to support an expanding Killer World franchise. In Tokyo, Nakayama Takuya reviewed the results and turned his attention back to Japan.

• Ron Meyer called his secretary to arrange meetings with the NRA and firearms companies.
• Ron Meyer presented John Wick’s box-office and arcade success, along with increased gun sales, to the assembled executives.
• Ron Meyer pitched Killer World as an expandable franchise, and the executives discussed integrating firearms and products into future films.
• Wayne LaPierre supported the plan, while Remington and Colt offered investment and technical support.
• Nakayama Takuya reviewed the North American reports at Sega headquarters and refocused on Japan.

Nakayama Takuya urged Shonen Comp's editor-in-chief to launch setting books through reader surveys and preorders, offering to connect the magazine with more game companies. After checking King of Fighters' rollout, Nakayama went to an Adachi Ward game center to hear players' reactions firsthand.

• Nakayama Takuya reviewed Shonen Comp's latest issue and learned its sales were modest but stable, supported by exclusive Sega and Sunrise materials.
• Nakayama proposed using magazine questionnaires and preorder thresholds to sell setting books with little financial risk, and Editor-in-Chief Sumita agreed to organize a meeting.
• Nakayama read a report that more than ten thousand King of Fighters arcade machines had been deployed in Japan, with remaining orders due within three days before overseas distribution began.
• Nakayama traveled by subway to a game center in Adachi Ward and listened as players cheered during a match.

Nakayama Takuya visited a Tokyo arcade and recognized the young Daigo Umehara as a fighting-game prodigy, deciding not to interfere with his growth. Back at Sega, he reviewed the history of the Sega Esports Tournament and its upcoming plans.

• Nakayama Takuya watched arcade players enjoy King of Fighters and admired the excitement around the game.
• Nakayama Takuya saw a child defeat challengers with Goro Daimon and learned that the boy, Daigo, had won eight matches in a row.
• Nakayama Takuya recognized Daigo Umehara as a future legend and decided against signing him, believing he should develop through arcade competition.
• Nakayama Takuya left the arcade and returned to his office, where he opened the Sega Esports Tournament planning file.
• Nakayama Takuya reviewed the tournament's history, including its 1988 partnership with Sony to promote DanceDanceRevolution.

As the 1992 Sega Esports Tournament’s city qualifiers began, Daigo Umehara was the only person to register for the King of Fighters event at an Adachi Ward arcade. His reputation drew challengers from other wards, turning the arcade into a busy training ground for him and a source of unexpected income for the owner.

• Nakayama Takuya reviewed the 1992 tournament events, which featured Virtua Fighter and King of Fighters.
• The Adachi Ward arcade owner opened registration, and Daigo Umehara signed up as the sole King of Fighters contestant.
• The other youths backed out after seeing Daigo’s name on the form, leaving the owner with no additional registrations.
• Challengers from other wards came to test Daigo, but he defeated them quickly and they paid for more arcade play.
• Daigo gained experience against players with different styles while the arcade owner’s cash box grew heavier.

Ten-year-old Daigo Umehara stunned the Tokyo qualifiers with his precise play and advanced to face former champion Bai Ye. Daigo defeated Bai Ye’s Terry Bogard with a command throw, leaving their semifinal match underway.

• Daigo spotted Nagai Kenta and Bai Ye at the Tokyo qualifiers and remembered them as the champions who had inspired him six years earlier.
• Daigo defeated his Shibuya opponent three to zero, silencing the crowd and drawing Nagai Kenta and Bai Ye’s attention.
• Daigo advanced to the semifinals, where he was matched against Bai Ye, and the two began their match.
• Daigo’s Goro Daimon avoided Bai Ye’s Burn Knuckle and finished Terry Bogard with Hell to Paradise Drop.