Chapter Summaries

Sega’s GP2 sold nearly a million units worldwide in its first week, prompting major third-party publishers to commit to games and Sega to plan its next marketing push. The chapter ends with Famitsu praising the launch lineup and reporting GP2’s sales milestone as proof of strong player demand.

• Hisao Oguchi told Nakayama Takuya that Capcom, Konami, Namco, and Enix had begun pursuing GP2 development deals after the sales announcement.
• Nakayama Takuya negotiated with Capcom and discussed plans for more than twenty third-party games to launch in the fourth quarter.
• Hisao Oguchi reported that GP2 had shipped 980,000 units in seven days, including over 520,000 in North America and just over 410,000 in Japan.
• Nakayama Takuya rejected Ubisoft’s request for extra European stock and approved a press release announcing the million-unit milestone and upcoming games.
• Hisao Oguchi outlined the next lineup, including Ace Attorney, a new Sonic game, and Yu-Gi-Oh! Card Battle.
• Famitsu praised GP2’s launch games, and editor-in-chief Hirokazu Hamamura described the first-week sales as evidence of strong player demand.

As the GP2’s strong launch continued across Japan and North America, Hisao Oguchi prepared Sega’s plans for the approaching 1998 E3. He focused the company’s booth on the handheld while Jupiter had only two major games to show, including the delayed The Lost World: Jurassic Park.

• Watanabe and Kobayashi discussed the GP2’s popularity, its games, and plans for a multiplayer session with friends.
• North American players rushed to buy GP2 games and hardware after glowing reviews sparked a second wave of demand.
• Hisao Oguchi reviewed E3’s expanded industry forums and exhibition floor, where PC hardware and game merchandise had gained much more space.
• Hisao Oguchi learned that Sega’s main E3 booth would center on the GP2, with 36 demo stations and a small area reserved for Jupiter.
• Hisao Oguchi and the International Affairs Department head discussed how Universal’s demands had delayed The Lost World: Jurassic Park until the summer release window.

Hisao Oguchi reshaped Sega’s E3 booth plans to emphasize handheld games, then met Frank Marshall in Atlanta to discuss Silicon Valley Online’s E3 strategy and Sega’s plans for game merchandising. Their conversation turned to the next console race, where Sega’s custom graphics chip remained years from completion and Sony’s next system threatened to arrive first.

• Hisao Oguchi ordered Sega to shrink Jupiter’s playable area and dedicate more booth space to GP2, Plants vs. Zombies, and Yu-Gi-Oh!.
• Hisao Oguchi met Frank Marshall in Atlanta, where Frank outlined Silicon Valley Online’s large E3 booth and a Dungeons & Dragons Online graphics upgrade.
• Frank Marshall planned to pitch Silicon Valley Online’s servers, SDK, billing, and anti-cheat services as infrastructure for smaller online game developers.
• Hisao Oguchi explained that Hattori would warn industry peers against rushing into merchandise spin-offs before games had proved themselves with players.
• Hisao Oguchi said Sega’s custom graphics chip was on its fourth revision, while Frank Marshall warned that Sony might launch its next console before Sega was ready.
• Hisao Oguchi recalled that Sega’s directors had already worried in an April meeting that Sony could catch the company off guard.

At E3 in Atlanta, hardware makers and game publishers unveiled major new technology and games, turning the show into a showcase for the expanding PC gaming industry alongside consoles. The chapter leaves the rival platforms and developers competing for attention across packed exhibition halls.

• Hisao Oguchi told Frank that President Nakayama had returned the planning report and said to focus on the work at hand, while Frank said Tom could handle North America.
• Microsoft and Intel drew crowds with force-feedback steering wheels and PC-based arcade machines, while audio and graphics companies demonstrated new chips and hardware.
• Microsoft and SGI announced Project Fahrenheit to unite DirectX and OpenGL and presented a dual-standard graphics driver development kit.
• Reporters noted that hardware companies had become a major presence at E3 as Sega, Sony, and Nintendo continued competing in the console market.
• Namco, Electronic Arts, Eidos, Square, and Nintendo drew crowds with demos of Tekken 3, Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit, Tomb Raider III, Parasite Eve, and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
• Sierra showcased Half-Life, Homeworld, Baldur's Gate, Fallout 2, and Grim Fandango, while Gabe Newell arranged for a faulty graphics card to be replaced.

At E3, Hisao Oguchi watched Sega demonstrate how Jurassic Park 2 used crafting and dinosaur behavior to create survival gameplay, while Fast & Furious 2 showcased stable split-screen racing. At an industry conference, Hattori began Sega Galaxy’s presentation by explaining why the company had rejected four proposed tie-in projects.

• A Sega technician used scavenged supplies to craft a Molotov cocktail, distract two velociraptors, and escape without firing the hunter’s rifle.
• Hisao Oguchi praised the balance between environmental interaction and hardware limits, then instructed demonstrators to show another strategy for trapping dinosaurs.
• The Overseas Affairs Department head told Hisao Oguchi that Fast & Furious 2’s split-screen performance had been stabilized and confirmed that a judging station was reserved for the Game Critics Awards panel.
• Industry professionals attended sessions on international localization, online promotion, and other business topics before Sega Galaxy’s scheduled presentation.
• Hattori presented four rejected projects and explained that Sega Galaxy had shut them down because their market assumptions and projected costs made them risky.

At the industry summit, Hattori warned against exploiting game franchises with shoddy products, while Frank promoted Silicon Valley Online’s global network services for online games. After the summit, the Game Critics Awards named winners across the industry, and players rushed to preorder Sega’s award-winning Jurassic Park: The Lost World.

• Hattori cited the Atari Crash and urged industry leaders to protect consumer trust by making quality games and merchandise.
• Frank presented Silicon Valley Online’s network infrastructure and SDK as a way for developers to run online games without maintaining their own servers and global connections.
• Reporters described Hattori and Frank’s summit speeches as a coordinated strategy that positioned Sega and its affiliates in both merchandise quality and online services.
• GamePro and EGM published the inaugural Game Critics Awards, naming Half-Life, Homeworld, Baldur’s Gate, and other games among the winners.
• Sega’s Jurassic Park: The Lost World won best console game, and online discussions drove players to hurry to retailers to preorder it.

Kenta and the other regulars at Yamada Game Shop received the second batch of GP2 games, including Super Robot Wars, alongside a coordinated Gundam Sentinel anime and model-kit release. After discovering the S Gundam and the unreleased Deep Striker design in the game’s setting guide, they went to Ishikawa Kenji’s apartment to watch the OVA and learn the story behind it.

• Mr. Yamada opened the shipment of new GP2 games, and Kenta bought Super Robot Wars while the fat guy bought Ace Attorney and Pokémon Adventure.
• Kenta started the game and encountered Ryou Roots, the S Gundam, and its ALICE control system, while Ishikawa Kenji explained the Gundam Sentinel setting.
• Ishikawa showed Kenta and the fat guy the Sentinel OVA release, and A-Watari arrived with a newly released S Gundam model kit and details about the tie-in promotion.
• Ishikawa advised Kenta to review the story behind the game and showed him the Deep Striker design, which had never been built in the original setting.
• Kenta, the fat guy, Ishikawa Kenji, and A-Watari went to Ishikawa’s apartment, where they watched the OVA’s opening scenes of Federation soldiers and postwar political disputes.

Kenta unlocked the Deep Striker by preserving the GP03D, joining the Albion route, and building Ryou Roots’s kill count. After the Deep Striker survived the Zod-iac’s attack and destroyed it, ALICE became a permanent copilot, leaving Ryou to adjust to her interventions.

• Kenta diverted the falling colony instead of fighting the Delaz Fleet, saving the GP03D intact and preventing the Solar System from firing.
• Kenta chose the Albion route to Pezun and used Ryou Roots’s S Gundam to build up his kill count.
• Before the assault on Pezun Base, a hidden event combined the GP03D’s preserved parts with the S Gundam to create the Deep Striker.
• The Deep Striker survived the Zod-iac’s beam with only 800 HP remaining, then destroyed the enemy flagship with a critical hit.
• ALICE permanently reconstructed herself as the Deep Striker’s copilot and gained Spirit Commands, including Love.
• Ryou Roots complained about ALICE’s overprotective interventions, while she warned him to stop drinking caffeine.

Kenta and Ishikawa revealed the hidden Deep Striker route in Super Robot Wars, sparking a buying frenzy among Akihabara model kit fans and boosting interest in the GP2. A game company's executives then examined Sega's sales strategy and found that the handheld was attracting many users beyond traditional core gamers, including young women who favored Plants vs. Zombies.

• A-Watari and Ishikawa discussed the Deep Striker's hidden route, and Ishikawa photographed its unlock details and posted a guide on Silicon Valley Online's forum.
• A-Watari collected the limited Deep Striker conversion parts, and Kenta showed nearby shoppers the unit running in Super Robot Wars on his GP2.
• Model kit fans crowded around Kenta's handheld, and several began buying GP2 consoles and Super Robot Wars cartridges.
• In late June, Famitsu's sales charts showed rising GP2 shipments after Sega's second batch of games.
• President Suo and his staff reviewed Sega's varied game lineup and survey results, which showed that many GP2 users were outside the usual core-gamer demographic and that young women often played Plants vs. Zombies.