Game Development Giant

Such a media conference held by Mars Entertainment for countless times was uneventful. Except for Jester helping to answer a few difficult questions during the question-and-answer session, except for the release time of Mars Entertainment's Dreambox 2, Apart from the release price and the games released at the same time, there are actually no other reporting points for the game media.

As for those mainstream or financial magazines, they want to study this launch event of Mars Entertainment to see what impact it will have on companies related to Mars Entertainment. For example, many companies have already formed alliances with Microsoft. years, and has developed an operating system.

It is said that both Jester and Bill Gates have high hopes for this system.

At that time, they were extremely hopeful that Mars Entertainment would become a listed company, so that they could make a lot of money while Mars Entertainment launched new consoles. However, it seems that Jester has no interest in going public. There were many financial institutions in the past. Including the top investment banks in the United States, they all wanted to encourage Jester to list Mars Entertainment, but Jester's rhetorical question left these financial institutions speechless.

What did Jester ask?

In fact, it's very simple. Jester smiled and said to the lobbyists from financial institutions who came to persuade him: "What are the benefits of going public?"

Lobbyists from financial institutions naturally knew everything when answering this question, and they learned from internal channels that Jester is still the second-largest shareholder of a commercial credit company that is currently in the limelight on Wall Street, with a shareholding second only to Sandy Weir.

Although commercial credit companies are now very popular on Wall Street and their annual profits are among the best all year round, they are not liked by mainstream financial institutions, such as JP Morgan.

Because when Sandy Weir started his business again, they came up with their new entrepreneurial slogan. That is an aspect that the current bankers and financiers have ignored. The slogan they proposed at the beginning was to 'serve those who come to McDonald's'. A customer buying a burger'. This is completely different from the corporate customers that JP Morgan insisted on before.

It can be said that the current transformation of Wall Street's thinking from producers, that is, corporate customers, to consumers, that is, individual customers, started with Sadie Weill. In fact, Sandy Weill started this when he was at American Express. He has done this before. For example, he vigorously promoted American Express's personal black card. The reason why he was kicked out by American Express was not only because he was framed, but because his thinking and philosophy were completely inconsistent with the ideas of American Express's old board of directors. on a parallel line.

"Money? I don't lack this kind of money. Moreover, Mars Entertainment now doesn't need the money from going public to develop."

This is an unconvincing reason, and these lobbyists also know that they have no means when faced with such an excuse. Yes, the other party does not need the funds from the listing to expand the market, and their own profits That's enough for this, so why give up your shares?

After much consideration, Jester decided to lower the price of Dreambox 2 to US$249. The price is almost the same as Sega’s MD. This price has also been recognized by many media. Because the price of Sega’s MD is higher, the price is not too expensive.

But. What they didn't expect was that just the day after Mars Entertainment announced the price, Sega immediately jumped out and slapped them in the face.

Hisao Oguchi did not hold any media conference, but he attended a TV show. This TV show was prepared a week ago. Maybe Hisao Oguchi had already prepared for this show. Because he was his competitor, the host asked Hisao Oguchi what he thought of Mars Entertainment’s new console.

Unexpectedly, Hisao Oguchi's first sentence made the audience find it difficult to understand. Hisao Oguchi faced the host's question and said calmly: "We think the price of Mars Entertainment's Dreambox 2 is too high. Take a look. , in the Dreambox era, their Dreambox could not compete with Nintendo's NES for only US$199, but now, it has reached US$250. Isn't that in the 32-bit era? Want to increase it to three hundred dollars? I think this price is very unreasonable."

The host was extremely shocked when he said this, because the price of 250 US dollars was set by Sega first, but now Sega people say that the price is unreasonable, which is simply an anecdote for the ages.

Hisao Oguchi also knew that he would cause public outrage after saying these words, but he did not take it seriously. He continued: "I know that the price of two hundred and fifty US dollars was the price of our MD host at the beginning, but I was in Sega's development team at the time, so I don't know how the price was determined. However, after I took over as the head of the marketing department in North America and was responsible for the sales of MD consoles in North America, the first thing I did was , which is a price reduction.”

"Of course, the resistance to price cuts is huge, so I can only save the country at the beginning by bundling game functions into a game console. A game cartridge plus a game console only costs 270 to 280. The price in U.S. dollars, you know, it used to cost at least three hundred dollars.”

The host also nodded. Hisao Oguchi was right about this. Hisao Oguchi made this change in the first week after he took office as the marketing director of Sega North America, and judging from the subsequent market reaction, , his change is still very popular. In the past month, although these bundled and discounted MD consoles were only sold for one month, the sales volume was only higher than the total sales volume of the previous month. Less than 30 percent behind.

You know, the month before is Christmas season.

This is a very incredible number. It can be seen that Hisao Oguchi's strategy is very successful.

"This isn't the end yet."

Hisao Oguchi's words made the host and the audience who participated in the show find it incredible. Many of them are game enthusiasts, including many who have bought Sega consoles. They feel that Sega's products are cheap enough now, but Hisao Oguchi It's not over yet, so how can it be over?

"I have asked the headquarters for instructions before, because the previous instructions from the headquarters have not been issued, and I have not announced this news in any public forum. To be honest, I am also being criticized internally for what I will prepare to implement next. It was so serious that they even called me Sega’s scum.”

Saying that, Hisao Oguchi laughed at himself first, but after laughing at himself, he still smiled and said: "But fortunately, President Nakayama Hayao supports my proposal, which makes me feel very gratified. In fact, this project To put it bluntly, the measure is very simple, that is, to give profits to the players who support us. What is profit sharing? My previous bundling sales strategy was a kind of profit giving, but I also said that this is not enough, very not enough."

"Then what's enough?"

The host asked seriously. This was something he had not prepared when discussing issues before the previous show. He also did not expect Hisao Oguchi to ask these unexpected questions at the scene, but then again, the questions the other party asked The more exciting it is, the higher it will increase their ratings, so why not do it? He is also happy to cooperate with the other party.

"It's very simple, that is, to show our sincerity, the greatest sincerity, once and for all. It is useless to talk about what we will do in the near future, because the players have no How to get accurate information from your ASAP? What is ASAP? It is also called ASAP after one day, but is it called ASAP after ten years? The most useful thing is that starting from next week, all SEGA sixteen-bit MDs sold in North America The entire price of the console has been reduced to US$201, and at the same time, the bundled sales of games and game consoles have also ended at the same time."

"What?"

Maybe it was because Hisao Oguchi's tone was too fast, or maybe the thing he said was too vague and unconvincing.

After the host said something shocking first, he immediately asked the next question like a barrage of questions: "Mr. Oguchi, are you not kidding? Are you really sure that this is what Sega North America will do next week?" Is it a policy to be implemented? Is there a time limit?”

After asking this series of questions, Hisao Oguchi's face was still extremely dull. He did not answer immediately. First, he announced to the players that when he just announced that the price of the MD console was reduced to 201 US dollars, the audience burst into cheers. The players present Whether you are a Sega fan or not, everyone supports the news of Hisao Oguchi.

"Of course I'm not joking. In fact, everyone who knows me in the palace knows my character. I don't like joking. I am naturally sure that this is Sega North America's policy for the next week. All our preparation measures Everything has been done, and I am the planner and preparer of this policy..."

"As for the time limit of this policy, I can only say that it is not within the scope of my rights, because my appointment is the responsibility of the headquarters in Japan. If they are not satisfied with my performance and transfer me back to Japan, then so will I. There is no way, so the time limit does not depend on me, but on the Japanese headquarters. But one thing, I can guarantee, that is, as long as I am in Sega North America for one day, then this policy will not be abolished. If you Seeing that I was suddenly transferred, it means that this policy will be scrapped."

As soon as Hisao Oguchi finished speaking, the entire audience at the show cheered again. This time, their voices were much louder than the previous cheers. (To be continued...)