All good things must come to an end.
Even with such a lively Christmas season, it has finally come to an end.
Along with it came to an end, so too did this turbulent 1980s.
Video games rose from the ruins and soared to new heights.
"From the early days of video games being buried, to the makeshift arcade machines in rented rooms, to Gamenova's first official opening, we've been through a lot."
"Now, let us begin our greatest exploration!"
From the cradle of consumer electronics to the vast universe!
Lin Lixin adapted their classic opening line from " Civilization " as the closing remarks for the banquet.
If the venue weren't so inappropriate, he would have even wanted to go on stage and sing " Unforgettable Tonight ".
Goodbye, 80s! Hello, 90s!
Lin Lixin raised his glass high, met the gazes of everyone present, and drank it all in one gulp.
Then, he silently offered another toast in his mind. "And... a toast to our new adversary."
Hello, Sony.
January, 1990.
Tokyo, Empire Hotel, banquet hall.
A very important event is taking place here.
Hiroshi Yamauchi, then president of Nintendo, sat down at the table and signed his name with the prepared ink pen.
On the other side, Norio Ohga, then president of Sony, elegantly signed his name on the document.
Behind them was a backdrop that read "[ Nintendo - Sony Joint Development Signing Ceremony]".
Hiroshi Yamauchi ultimately agreed to Ken Kutaragi's proposal and officially signed a cooperation agreement with Sony.
Without a CD player, Nintendo would have faced an Nintendo obstacle.
Hiroshi Yamauchi glanced at Norio Ohga, who was not far away, and nodded slightly, his expression revealing neither joy nor anger. Norio Ohga, on the other hand, was smiling broadly.
Because Sony has finally obtained its own ticket.
The vast video game market is slowly unfolding before them.
Ken Kutaragi stood on the outside, with a group of other executives, his eyes shining.
He was genuinely happy that this collaboration had come to fruition.
Sony, which he is loyal to, and Nintendo, which he loves most.
With both sides joining forces, they are sure to achieve great things.
Gamenova?
Wash your bottom and get ready!
Let them see what real consumer electronics giants do!
Just how terrifying is Sony's strength?
Ken Kutaragi, who works at Sony, knows this best. Sony's annual revenue easily exceeds ten billion US dollars.
Even someone as powerful as Nintendo only had a little over a billion at his peak.
Sony is several times the size of Nintendo, nearly three times the size of Apple, and nearly ten times the size of Microsoft!
If it weren't for the $4.8 billion acquisition of Columbia Pictures in 1989, the financial statements would look much better.
With tens of thousands of employees worldwide, the globally popular Walkman player, and world-leading CD player, imaging, and audio technologies...
Gamenova may indeed be very strong, but compared to Sony... it still falls short.
The NP handheld console has sold over 100 million units, making it the world's best-selling game console.
Sorry, the Walkman has already sold over 300 million units worldwide.
It's not just a sales monster; it has become a symbol of the word "Walkman".
Even the Oxford Dictionary has already included the word "walkman".
In terms of sheer influence, it's hard to imagine any other consumer electronics product in the world being able to rival it.
People can live without playing games, but can they live without listening to music? Sony has now taken over the streets with Walkman, and Columbia Pictures and Columbia Records are supporting content that has always been a weak point.
All that's missing is a game console to dominate households, and a truly unified and complete consumer electronics chain will be fully realized.
Sony bought the soul of United States!
This is what the headline on the original magazine cover read.
It can be said that compared to the "small-scale" activities of Nintendo, Gamenova, Sega, and other manufacturers before, it is only now that the real players are entering the market.
It's time to show these peasants what real consumer electronics are all about.
" Sony is partnering with Nintendo!!!"
Sam looked at the contents of the magazine and exclaimed in surprise.
Unexpectedly, Lin Lixin's prediction was proven true so quickly.
Sony... that's a real behemoth that's hard to deal with.
Such a behemoth Nintendo forces with Nintendo, a company with a significant presence in the gaming industry... could very well be a tricky problem.
"What are you yelling about? Didn't I already tell you?"
Lin Lixin shook his head helplessly.
" Nintendo will inevitably approach Sony or Philips to solve the game size issue; it's just a matter of time."
"So what do we do? How do we deal with them?"
If such a terrifying force were to unite, it goes without saying who they would be targeting.
It's clear they intend to challenge Gamenova's dominance.
Sony, a consumer electronics giant, would never be content to be second to Gamenova and just drink the leftovers.
What they want is to carve out their own territory in the field of video games.
Then drag the current ruler off the throne!
"Deal with them... we'll leave them alone for now."
Lin Lixin shook his head. The cooperation between Nintendo and Sony is a very complicated situation, and in the short term, they are simply unable to pose any substantial threat to Gamenova.
Even if they actually cooperated in a down-to-earth manner, it would still take at least a year for the first-generation PlayStation to be released.
This year is enough time for Gamenova to make many strategic moves.
If Nintendo follows its old path and stabs Sony in the back, creating a nemesis for itself, it will be several more years before the PS is truly born.
What really troubles Lin Lixin about Sony is a new technology they'll be developing next year.
Lithium-ion batteries.
As a time traveler, no one understood the correctness of the lithium battery route better than Lin Lixin.
Neither nickel-cadmium batteries nor the nickel-metal hydride batteries they are currently trying to use are long-term solutions.
Lithium batteries are the most crucial piece of the puzzle to break the deadlock in the rechargeable battery field.
It is also the cornerstone of future portable devices.
Such important technology absolutely cannot fall into Sony's hands.
But before that, Lin Lixin had another matter to attend to. " Sam, is the annual report for the arcade department ready?"
"Oh, of course, let me look..."
Sam pulled a document from the filing cabinet and tossed it to Lin Lixin.
"It's pretty much as you said, barely breaking even, but still on the danger line."
I guessed so.
Lin Lixin nodded and quickly flipped through the file.
As Gamenova grew larger, many of its independent departments began to reveal problems that had been hidden in the past.
For example, novaarcade, the Nova Arcade division.
It... has been losing money!
Well, losing money is nothing new at Gamenova.
In fact, Lin Lixin has been using Micron Semiconductor's profits to cover the losses in other businesses.
Video game projects often involve huge investments that are difficult to recoup. Not to mention the various creative studios, large and small, which receive a guaranteed base salary in addition to their revenue sharing.
But the situation at Nova Arcade is different from theirs.
Because the business of Nova Arcade itself is actually very healthy.
Arcade orders have been plentiful and never stopped.
Logically, Nova Arcade should have been the most profitable part of Gamenova's gaming business.
This is how arcade games should be.
But the truth is quite the opposite.
Almost every month, the income and expenditure of Nova Arcade are just about to break even.
The reason for this is actually...
There are too many people.
Lin Lixin put the documents aside and found the root of the problem.
In fact, he had discussed this with Sam a long time ago. Nova Arcade had a very troublesome problem: its sales network was so large that it covered the entire United States.
Thousands of salespeople are scattered across the country, and their monthly salary expenditures are enough to drain the revenue generated by the game projects.
In particular, half of the arcade machines are large, flagship titles like " Ace Combat," which are difficult to sell in large quantities.
"Are you planning to lay off staff and optimize the organizational structure? I can talk to Gary about it."
Sam thought for a moment and came up with a relatively reliable solution.
Redundant personnel naturally need to be optimized through downsizing.
"Optimization... is not feasible for now. Salespeople are the key to our arcade revenue sharing system."
Lin Lixin shook his head.
Before the internet truly matures, they really have to rely on this labor-intensive approach to solve the revenue sharing problem for tens of thousands of arcades across the country.
Even disregarding these factors, value-added services such as logistics, transportation, installation, and maintenance still require manpower.
To build a complete end-to-end ecosystem, Nova Arcade definitely needs such a large team.
Since cost reduction and efficiency improvement aren't working, there's only one other option left... "Let's make games. Ultimately, isn't the problem that game revenue can't cover expenses? That's easy to solve."
After thinking for a moment, Lin Lixin had already made up his mind.
Arcade games were the fastest way to make money before the advent of pay-to-win online games.
"So... that arcade machine is actually a pretty good collectible. I can't believe I've never bought it."
Lin Lixin envisioned an arcade masterpiece that is Legend throughout the entire history of gaming.
If there's any arcade game that can be called a "money-printing machine," then this is probably it.
It has many unique titles.
The world's first game to use a laser disc.
The world's first video game to introduce fully dynamic video.
The world's first truly interactive movie game.
The world's first game to use stereo sound and live voice acting.
Quick Response Events, the infamous foundation of the QTE system. A nightmare for arcade players, a coin-devouring monster, a terrifying business monstrosity with a return on investment exceeding 20 times.
" Sam, call Gary and have him get a copy of ' Dragon's Lair ' and send it over. I need it very much."