Japan, Capital, Nintendo.
For Nintendo, this year is definitely the most difficult year in history.
Since Hiroshi Yamauchi took over, Nintendo has grown from a small cardboard box manufacturer in Capital into the video game empire it is today.
But never before have we been at such a critical juncture.
To be honest, even when GAMENOVA was making such a big splash in the gaming industry, Hiroshi Yamauchi had never felt this terrifying sense of crisis.
Prior to that, although GAMENOVA had made occasional moves in the Japan market, it had focused the majority of its efforts on Europe and America.
Coupled with the pre- and post-bubble economy era and the prevailing xenophobic atmosphere, although Nintendo struggled to succeed overseas, he consistently enjoyed a comfortable and prosperous life domestically.
He could be considered a regional overlord.
Not to mention, with its few flagship IPs, Nintendo's first-party lineup, coupled with the affordable prices of the FC and SFC, could easily capture the low-end console market that Gamenova didn't want.
Nintendo's strategic approach has never had any major problems.
And that is indeed the case.
The market had always been peaceful and tranquil.
Even Sega, its former biggest rival, is now focusing on developing its arcade game business.
I heard that recently they've started this whole VOCALOID thing, and a bunch of other weird virtual idols.
For Nintendo, the current Japan market environment should be the perfect time for them to expand their reach.
But fate had other plans.
Sony, in a truly audacious move, dared to jump up at this critical moment, joining forces with Gamenova to deliver two solid blows to Nintendo's core.
Square Enix and other third parties fled PIayStation, while HAL Laboratory and Namco Entertainment joined GAMENOVA.
The vast third-party empire collapsed almost overnight.
Nintendo isn't some clueless fool like 3D0 who can't see the bigger picture.
From the very beginning, Nintendo was very clear about the positioning of its game consoles.
We absolutely cannot live without games.
"Go, call Yokoi and Uemura here, and... also Miyamoto, call them all over."
Hiroshi Yamauchi's gaze fell on his secretary, and he gave the order in a deep voice.
Nintendo urgently needs an internal meeting to figure out its next steps.
Before long, several core members of Nintendo, representing half of the company, gathered in the conference room.
Leading the pack was naturally Nintendo's absolute founding emperor, the iron-fisted president Hiroshi Yamauchi.
The two people on the left are Gunpei Yokoi and Masayuki Uemura.
One of them is the creator of the Game & Watch and the D-pad, an absolute hardware mastermind at Nintendo.
The other is the father of the Famicom, Nintendo's chief electronics engineer.
On the other side, of course, is Shigeru Miyamoto, the god of Nintendo games who created countless classic IPs.
If it weren't for the Minoru Arakawa, the King of North America, is still at Nintendo North America, he would definitely be here today.
The people present are undoubtedly Nintendo's right-hand men.
He was also his most important confidant.
Everyone knows about Hiroshi Yamauchi's iron fist.
Given the already high-pressure environment today, no one dared to speak first unless the old man Yamauchi gave the order.
Even Shigeru Miyamoto, who has the most influence, remained unusually quiet today.
When everyone was getting restless, Hiroshi Yamauchi slowly turned to Gunpei Yokoi beside him and asked, "Yokoi, how's the evaluation of the collaboration with Reflection Technology going?"
Reflection Technology, or RTI, is a technology company located in Massachusetts, United States.
This is also an important project that Nintendo has kept secret until now.
"Yes—I think it fits our strategic direction very well, and PrivateEye technology can be very useful."
Gunpei Yokoi's tone immediately became serious.
After all, this was a project he spearheaded himself.
When he first saw the samples displayed by RTI at the exhibition, he was immediately captivated.
At the same time, a bold idea began to take root in his mind and leave an indelible mark.
If Nintendo is going to make the next generation of consoles----
Gunpei Yokoi had a very bold idea.
" Nintendo lacks Sony's semiconductor R&D capabilities and Gamenova's wafer fabs. Continuing to focus on hardware development would be a dead end for us."
Nintendo has never relied on hardware capabilities to succeed.
Superior game quality and boundless creativity are Nintendo's forte.
There will be no surprises this time either.
Gunpei Yokoi licked his slightly numb lips, trying to organize his thoughts. "PrivateEye technology can provide different images to the user's left and right eyes respectively."
As he spoke, he placed the object he had brought to the meeting room on the table and showed it to everyone.
Compared to a monitor, this thing is only the size of a small box.
Its working principle is also extremely bizarre, even whimsical.
It is neither a traditional CRT television nor the currently fashionable LCD screen.
Instead, it's an LED array.
These LED lights use a high-speed vibrating reflector to flicker out a line of light.
If the process is fast enough, it can utilize the persistence of human vision to assemble an image, much like scanning.
It's strange, but it has an advantage that a cathode ray tube can't match.
It is surprisingly small in size.
Everyone looked at the box on the table, which was only slightly smaller than the palm of their hand.
Even LCD screens require various driving components and backlight panels, making it difficult to compress space effectively.
Given the current level of manufacturing technology, it's unrealistic to expect LCDs to be as thin as a coin, as we see in later generations.
But this thing----
Gunpei Yokoi pulled out an identical version from under the Table and put the two together.
"RTI is planning to design a miniature display for industrial equipment, but I think this might be an opportunity for the gaming industry."
This is also what he does best.
Instead of getting bogged down in the frenzied competition of functionalities, we should focus on what we already have.
Try to uncover their untapped potential.
"PrivateEye's size allows us to compress it to an incredible degree, bringing both eyes incredibly close to the display for enhanced immersion."
As he spoke, he picked up the thing and gestured with it in front of him.
Indeed, by looking through the peepholes of both machines, both eyes can see the image.
Compared to watching television, this machine can fill the player's entire field of vision with video games.
I can't even imagine what a "giant screen" experience that would be like!
That's right, a super giant screen even more exaggerated than a projector!
For Nintendo, this machine has a truly remarkable feature.
It doesn't need a television.
This is a truly independent machine.
That alone is enough to make one's mouth water.
But for Gunpei Yokoi, his ambitions go far beyond that.
"Achieving the desired effect isn't actually difficult; simply duplicate the image twice and render each copy on two different machines. But—what if we want the two monitors to display different images?"
As video games have entered the modern era, every manufacturer is vigorously researching the 3D route.
Gamenova went even further, brazenly showcasing its proud 3D capabilities in the fifth generation.
Having a 3D accelerator card and having only a graphics chip are completely different concepts.
but--
Who says 3D has to be limited to 3D game worlds?
What if we Kung-Fu Master on visual appeal?
In 1838, a United Kingdom scientist invented the stereoscope, which, by presenting slightly different images to the left and right eyes respectively, could deceive the brain and create a fake three-dimensional image with depth.
Hiroshi Yamauchi frowned and replied in a deep voice, "So... VR stereoscopic display?"
"Exactly, thanks to RTI's PrivateEye technology, we are able to develop true VR devices for the next generation, and—VR games! True 3D games!"
"Mao, what do you think?"
Hiroshi Yamauchi nodded slightly, without giving an immediate reply.
To be honest, deep down he actually highly approves of this approach.
Stereoscopic visuals might just be the key to Nintendo's breakthrough.
Whether they can break through the all-out attack from Sony and Gamenova depends on this one move.
Should they focus all their efforts on traditional fifth-generation consoles, or should they switch to a VR gaming console that has never been done before?
This is a difficult choice.
Nintendo has limited R&D resources, and focusing on one area will inevitably drag down the other.
"In fact, Junping and I have already tried to develop some small demos for it."
Shigeru Miyamoto answered immediately.
He is a staunch advocate for VR projects.
When Gunpei Yokoi first mentioned this to him, he was the first to wholeheartedly agree.
Even before Yokoi proposed the concept, Shigeru Miyamoto himself already had a strong interest in VR.
Gunpei Yokoi's ability to secure resources to attempt a bet on VR was largely due to his support behind the scenes.
3D glasses were a style favored by Shigeru Miyamoto.
"However, I don't think we should dump all our resources on it. Nintendo is too fragile right now, and we can't afford such a big risk. In my opinion, the next generation of consoles and VR headsets can be launched simultaneously; they are not conflicting products at all."
How so?
" Sony and Gamenova are both striving for 3D, which is obvious to everyone. 3D models, true 3D space, and the triangle rendering method are very likely the right path for the future, and we should not give up on this path easily."
Once you fall behind in the initial stages, the cost of catching up will be hundreds or thousands of times greater than it is now.
"VR, on the other hand, takes a completely different approach. It's still a traditional two-dimensional game, but it creates a sense of three-dimensional space through virtual reality."
"In game development, VR can save a lot of time. We can let the core development department focus on developing true 3D games for the next generation, while the core hardware department can focus on VR for the time being. This way, the progress of both sides will not be delayed."
This is Shigeru Miyamoto's true thought.
He highly approves of VR, but that doesn't necessarily mean he believes VR will succeed.
Don't put all your eggs in one basket; that's the wise thing to do.
"Very good, then—Yokoi, you will start the development as the head of the VR project, project codename [VirtualBoy]."
"Yes!"