That evening, Aoki Haruhi, Nao Tsuda, and Sony's Ken Kutaragi had dinner with Tom Kalinske.
Several large glasses of dark beer, steak, and a lot of meat.
They ate heartily.
Speaking of what happened at the press conference today, Kalinske still felt a chill of fear even now.
"It really scared me at the time," Aoki Haruhi said, "The screen even burned out. I didn't know how to salvage the situation, but Mr. Kalinske's on-the-spot reaction ability was truly powerful."
"Haha, you saw through it?" Kalinske laughed heartily.
Aoki Haruhi indicated, "I'm an educated person, you know. Some simple magic tricks are easy to see through."
"Fortunately, everything is over now, and it should still be considered smooth," Kalinske said with a smile.
"Of course, it's more than just smooth. With this twist and little interlude, today's press conference will become a classic even years from now," Ken Kutaragi said.
Only now did he realize that something had indeed gone wrong after all that.
"However, Mr. Kalinske, can I take this broken machine back to Neon? My staff at Sega and I need to inspect it to figure out what went wrong."
"Alright."
Kalinske didn't care that much and handed the game console to Ken Kutaragi.
"However, Mr. Kalinske, aren't you worried that the media might expose it in the future?" Ken Kutaragi asked, "After all, this magic trick is too simple. As long as there's a video, comparing the positions of the front and back pockets would reveal it, wouldn't it?"
"It's fine," Kalinske said with a smile, "At most, it proves I used two different game consoles, but it doesn't prove that the original game console had a problem. Unless you hand the evidence to them."
Ken Kutaragi looked down at the game console in his hand and smiled knowingly.
"Hahaha… "
"Any hardware has a yield rate. If the yield rate isn't 100%, then there will definitely be problems," Kalinske cut a small piece of steak, put it in his mouth, and chewed a few times, "But it's really unlucky to encounter it at a press conference. However, as long as the problem can be solved, and the failure rate of the machines players receive after the game console is released in August is low enough, then there's nothing to worry about."
"Hmm." Everyone nodded.
…
They chatted for a while, getting to know each other better, and Aoki Haruhi even acted as a translator during the meal.
Kalinske recalled a past event and laughed.
"Do you know?"
"Sega Genesis (called MD in Neon) also uses Motorola 68000 as its central processor, just like Commodore Amiga.
In the United States, there's a company called Electronic Arts, EA.
This company has rich experience in game development on this processor.
The first thing they did was not apply to become a third-party game company for Sega, but rather quickly reverse-engineer the Sega Genesis to develop games that could run without Sega's authorization.
This is truly outrageous. Why didn't they crack Nintendo's 10NES with that effort? Why pick on Sega?"
At this point, Kalinske's expression was very exaggerated, and everyone followed suit and laughed.
"Sega's charging standard for third-party games is far lower than Nintendo's, not 30%, but around 8-10 US dollars, which is equivalent to 20% of the selling price.
Then, the year before last, in 1990, Hawkins came to me.
He showed me EA's reverse engineering and proposed a cooperation request: only 2 US dollars could be charged per game cartridge, plus an authorization fee cap of 2 million US dollars per single game, otherwise EA would spread its technology.
Hawkins told me, 'We have successfully reverse-engineered the Genesis. If the contract is not signed, we will produce and sell game software that runs on the Genesis.' "
Kalinske put down his knife and fork, puffed out his chest, and looked at Aoki Haruhi and Nao Tsuda, "Can you imagine? What kind of rude demands are these?"
"I carefully looked at this young, handsome guy in front of me at the time, thinking if there was something wrong with his head."
"Haha, indeed."
Aoki Haruhi nodded with a smile.
EA is indeed a rogue, but a rogue with martial arts is unstoppable.
This kind of rogue logic is truly unparalleled.
One can only say that Westerners' thought processes are truly difficult to understand; they openly rob you and then expect you to thank them.
"Hawkins was playing a very high-risk game. Once Sega sued EA for its actions, Hawkins would most likely be in deep trouble.
However, what I thought at the time was that there was nothing wrong with cooperating with EA.
After all, we were facing a god-like opponent, Nintendo NES.
The fewer enemies, the better; the more teammates, the better.
Let's just assume he had a problem.
EA wanted a free game console platform.
We needed third-party games that could compete against Nintendo, and our interests were aligned.
If such an opponent sided with NES, the consequences would be unimaginable.
So I said, 'Alright, but there are also conditions to add.
I want you to sell the rights to EA's "John Madden Football." I want to change some content and market it as a different game. We will release two games, "John Madden Football" and "Joe Montana's Football."
Of course, we will pay for promotion, and we will pay you a fair royalty.'
Hawkins seemed a bit shocked.
Two football games, released simultaneously, this should stir up quite a storm.
Adult-oriented sports games happened to be Nintendo's weakness.
'Alright, we are partners. Let's defeat Nintendo together.'
I shook hands with Hawkins and reached a consensus.
Afterward, EA ported "John Madden Football" to the Sega Genesis.
No one would have thought that a game originally planned to sell 70,000 copies would actually sell 400,000 copies on the Genesis.
Isn't that amazing?"
Kalinske asked with a smile.
Everyone nodded.
What Aoki Haruhi was thinking was—
Although Nakayama Hayao and Hiroshi Yamauchi both came from the same stubborn mold, both wanting to dominate and monopolize the market.
It was truly fortunate for Sega to have a sales manager like Kalinske in its American branch.
Is the essence of the console war really about the consoles?
No, it's about the games.
Take Sega GG losing to Nintendo GB, for example. On one hand, it was because of the hardware's short battery life, high power consumption, and bulky body.
But in terms of performance, Sega's GG handheld crushed Nintendo's GB.
And one of the most crucial turning points was—
Nintendo and Sega both released the game Tetris on their handhelds at the same time, but later Nintendo obtained the license for Tetris and then sued Sega.
So Sega's Tetris was forced to be taken down.
One game decided the outcome.
…
From this perspective, Kalinske, who chose to cooperate with EA instead of suing them for their rogue behavior, and together resisted Nintendo, truly showed a much broader vision.
"Then, Mr. Kalinske, can you give us the same discount as EA in the future?" Aoki Haruhi said with a smile, "Otherwise, we'll have to reverse-engineer Sega's game console."
Hearing Aoki Haruhi's words, Kalinske froze for a second, almost spitting out the beer in his mouth.
"Hahaha… Qing, you really know how to joke."
The atmosphere on site was relaxed and lively.
…
After talking with Kalinske, Aoki Haruhi gained a lot.
American players and Neon players are fundamentally two different species.
The American market is also very different from the Neon market or the Chinese market.
These Western players prefer fresh, stimulating games that can make their adrenaline surge and secrete large amounts of dopamine.
Simple, crude, and direct games are very popular here.
As for players in Neon and China, they might pay more attention to inner qualities, focusing on deeper things with cultural connotations.
However, this doesn't mean that American players can't appreciate them, or that American manufacturers lack depth.
It's just that in their view, before pursuing storytelling and depth, they must first satisfy their appetite.
If Pokeni wants to enter the Europe and America market in the future and make it big there, then it will have to change its mindset.
Fortunately, Aoki Haruhi has many Western masterpieces in his mind. The key is to decide which one to copy first, ah, no, which one to make first.
And who to find to make it, and how to make it.
In this era, the income of Neon people was far higher than that of Chinese people, and the income of Americans was far higher than that of Neon people.
In comparison, the selling prices in the Europe and America region can be set higher. If you have enough confidence, a game can even be sold for 99 US dollars (equivalent to 12,400 Japanese Yen).
Some major titles are like this; as long as they are excellent enough and can be loved by players, their pockets will open for you.
This is the America Kalinske described, and this is also the impression the current America gave Aoki Haruhi.
After staying in Chicago for two days, Aoki Haruhi accompanied Nao Tsuda to clothing stores, bought some clothes women like, and also spent a happy time together at night.
On the third day, they returned to Tokyo, Neon, together.
…
Entering June, Pokémon was already in its final testing phase.
Once confirmed problem-free, it could be released.
The release date was agreed upon with Sega: August 1st, when Sega's handheld console would be released, Pokémon would be launched simultaneously.
Originally, Kalinske wanted to demonstrate Pokémon at the Chicago Electronic Consumer Exhibition this time, but unfortunately, the online multiplayer function was not yet completed.
…
At the same time, Sega began to win over other factions.
…
Sega first approached Namco, proposing a strategy hoping Namco could develop games for the new handheld console, and offering very high discounts.
Then came Koei and Konami…
Except for companies like SNK, which had direct competitive relationships in the game console field, Sega approached almost everyone.
The prices offered were also very sincere.
The seigniorage, ah, no, the royalty fee was only 15%, which was even cheaper than the original 20% requirement, and only half of Nintendo's 30% royalty fee.
In addition, as long as cooperation was reached, the number of games developed on Sega consoles each year would not be restricted, but Sega would still retain the right to review.
…
These two points alone were enough to make many game manufacturers excited.
However, due to pressure from Nintendo and the difficulty in predicting the future market, these companies were still observing and wavering.
If they offended Nintendo by cooperating with Sega, it would be very difficult to make money.
Not every company had the ability to enter the Europe and America market.
And in Neon, Nintendo was everything.
However, Nintendo, on Hiroshi Yamauchi's side, did not feel that his position was being shaken or that there was an imminent threat.
The SFC was gaining momentum.
Moreover, Hiroshi Yamauchi did not believe that a newly released handheld game console could bring about much change.
After all, the main force in the game console market was still TV.
…
June 28, 1992.
Tokyo.
Pokeni Co., Ltd.
"Do you feel it? The strong smell of gunpowder." Aoki Haruhi sniffed the air and sighed.
A great war was about to break out.
The next few years could be described as tumultuous, and the console war would become white-hot.
Although he already knew the historical process, these things were changing now after all.
What changes would happen in the future, and what key role Pokeni could play in it, were still unknowns.
However, Aoki Haruhi was already working hard to increase his own chips, so that he could be a player in the game, not a pawn controlled by others.
Seeing the CEO's idiotic expression, HR-chan couldn't help but sigh.
"CEO, please be sober, okay?"
Aoki Haruhi frowned deeply. What do you know?
"Oh, by the way, Kiue Masaharu from Kyoto Animation is already here. He's been waiting outside for a long time."
"Oh, alright, tell him to wait for me in the meeting room," Aoki Haruhi said.
"Oh, and call Lisa Asano too."
…
In the meeting room, Kiue Masaharu finished playing the 20-second sample video he produced.
Aoki Haruhi looked down at their proposal, a slight smile on his lips.
Mm-hmm.
Quite good.
It almost perfectly restored the cartoon content from Aoki Haruhi's childhood memories, and the art style was even more refined.
Based on Pokeni's own design foundation, the characters, both human and non-human, basically wouldn't deviate much.
After all, with animation and games linked, the game would ultimately be the main focus.
Otherwise, if a character is called Monick in the animation and Pikachu in the game, and their appearances don't match, it would be very troublesome.
Several main characters, as well as the important Team Rocket villains, were hand-picked by Aoki Haruhi and had to be included in the animation. Even their personalities had already been set.
This was quite difficult for Kiue Masaharu, akin to dancing with shackles on.
Fortunately, the final script written was not bad.
In the original Pokémon, Ash's character prototype came from the creator, Satoshi Tajiri.
Then, because Nintendo's Miyamoto Shigeru had been kind to him—it was Miyamoto Shigeru who took an interest in this game and positioned it as a key project for Nintendo's handheld console, and Miyamoto Shigeru also provided a lot of guidance to Satoshi Tajiri—Satoshi Tajiri included the character Xiaomao during the creation process.
Now, these twists and turns no longer exist, and this part of the story is missing from Pokeni's production process.
So, although the characters are still called Ash and Xiaomao, they no longer have much to do with Satoshi Tajiri and Miyamoto Shigeru.
…
After finishing the script, he discussed some details with Lisa Asano.
Aoki Haruhi smiled happily.
"So, we'll just wait for the animation to air in August."
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