Horrible! Actually playing this kind of game!

Chapter 476 380. Things are going to change!

1998 was a year of turmoil and changes.

During this year, Neon's currency continued to depreciate, many people's wealth shrank, and many large companies, especially those in the real industry, were having a very difficult time. Companies that already lacked labor conditions were even more difficult. Layoffs.

Everyone has a feeling that winter is coming.

Survival has become the most urgent need in many people's minds, and there are actually very few companies like Pokeni that are still spending heavily to purchase overseas assets.

This is a change in the general environment.

Secondly, in the game industry, a series of changes are also happening quietly.

Sony, Rentian, and Sega, the three industry giants, are brewing a new storm.

First of all, on the Sony side, the current CEO and co-executive president, Norio Ohga, who was born in 1930, is already 68 years old and is considering retirement. There is a high probability that he will exist as a shareholder of Sony after retirement, but and no longer participate in Sony's decision-making.

He has his own unfulfilled dream, which is to make more contributions to the music industry. It is best to have time to hold a personal concert with him as the conductor.

Before that, Norio Ohga had never had a chance and was always busy with things at Sony.

But you must know that this old man is actually a very outstanding musical talent. Not only is he the father of CD, when he was in charge of Sony, he launched a series of CD players, Walkmans, audio equipment, etc.

At the same time, he was also very talented in music. After graduating from university, Norio Ohga entered the Munich Conservatoire for further studies and graduated from the Berlin State University of the Arts as chief musician.

His singing career began immediately.

One of his life aspirations is to become a famous baritone singer.

While studying abroad, Ohga once pointed out the design flaws of the music player produced by Tokyo Communications Industry Corporation (the predecessor of Sony Corporation) at that time. As a result, he was appreciated by the founder of Sony Corporation and was invited to join Sony Corporation.

It can be said that Mr. Norio Ohga is a musician who was completely delayed by Sony.

But facts have proven that Norio Ohga is not only talented in music, but also has extraordinary talents in company management.

Without Norio Ohga, Sony would not be able to achieve what it is today.

Moreover, Norio Ohga is a very courageous entrepreneur. Without his endorsement of Kutaragi Ken and his support as CEO for this middle-aged man with passion and creativity, it would be impossible for Kutaragi Ken to get the Sony board of directors. Without support, the later PS game consoles and the brilliant Sony Computer Entertainment would no longer exist.

…

However, Norio Ohga is now considering retirement due to his advanced age and his own dreams to pursue.

After the news from Sony came out, the company's stock price immediately fluctuated violently.

Everyone is speculating on who the next successor to Sony will be.

Although Ken Kutaragi serves as the president of SCE and has carved a niche for the Sony Group, in terms of seniority in the company, Ken Kutaragi is far from his turn.

The most promising candidate now is actually Nobuyuki Idei, who currently serves as Sony's president, representative director and chief executive officer.

This man single-handedly established Sony's French branch when the vigorous "May Storm" was taking place in France.

But in terms of age, Nobuyuki Dei actually does not have any advantage. Nobuyuki Dei, who was born in 1937, is now 61 years old. Although he is not yet retired, he seems to be about the same as Norio Ohga.

At the age of 7 years old, the difference is quite obvious when you are young, but after you are over 60 years old, the gap does not seem to be that big. 61 and 68 years old, no one should laugh at the other.

There is another candidate, Mickey Schulhoff, who is in charge of Sony's US branch and our branch. He has a very good relationship with Sony's former chairman Akio Morita and is considered a leader in Western Europe.

What he is best at is engaging in film and television, TV, Internet and entertainment-related industries.

In short, when Sony is changing dynasties, the situation is very unclear. Both Nobuyuki Dei and Mickey Schulhoff are actually capable and qualified people.

Although Kutaragi Ken also made some achievements, he always came a little late.

…

On Rentiantang's side, we are actually facing the same situation.

In the president's office, Hiroshi Yamauchi sat on a chair and covered his forehead with his hands.

Although his body still looks strong, his expression is already slightly tired. What he is considering is the issue of the next generation of Rentendo's successor.

Hiroshi Yamauchi, who was born in 1927, is now 71 years old.

Moreover, in recent years, under repeated attacks from Sony, Pokeni and Sega, Hiroshi Yamauchi's physical and mental conditions have become less than ideal.

There is always a feeling of inadequacy.

Under such circumstances, Hiroshi Yamauchi also came up with the idea of ​​entrusting the company to others after retiring.

However, compared to Sony, there does not seem to be much suspense about the subsequent candidates. The media and the outside world agree that Hiroshi Yamauchi will pass the position of president to Minoru Arakawa, his son-in-law.

Minoru Arakawa is the top leader of Rentendo's American branch.

However, one thing that gives Hiroshi Yamauchi a headache is——

My son-in-law is good at everything and has strong business abilities, but he has two very fatal flaws.

The first is that Minoru Arakawa hardly plays games.

It is actually hard to imagine that a leader who has never played games wants to lead a game company to glory.

It is undeniable that Arakawa is a business genius, and Hiroshi Yamauchi also admires him. Being able to make Rentendo bigger and stronger in North America is enough to prove his talent.

However, on many concepts, Minoru Arakawa actually has huge differences with Hiroshi Yamauchi.

The game industry that Hiroshi Yamauchi is proud of, in the eyes of Minoru Arakawa, is just a bunch of digital tools, a tool used to make money, and may be sold when necessary.

To put it bluntly, Minoru Arakawa has no feelings for games.

This is what worries Hiroshi Yamauchi the most.

Although Rentendo is somewhat domineering in the entire game industry, Yamauchi's philosophy of making "games that bring happiness to people" has always been an important spiritual totem that has allowed Rentendo to reach this day.

What Hiroshi Yamauchi is most worried about is whether he can maintain this totem after passing the baton to Minoru Arakawa.

Once the spiritual totem is gone, the company is not far from destruction.

Can a person who has no love for games really run a game company?

This is something worth considering.

And the other one, Minoru Arakawa, is actually a bit like Son to some extent. Perhaps this is also the nature of a businessman, who likes to gamble heavily.

Acquisitions, mergers, expansions, asset sales...

Money will make money, and investing well may be what Minoru Arakawa cares about. Moreover, this person is very courageous, and sometimes he really has a gambling streak. This is what makes Hiroshi Yamauchi feel uneasy.

When a company reaches the level of Rentian, as long as it doesn't commit suicide, it is basically stable. But if it makes some mistakes, it's hard to say.

…

Another candidate for Rentendo is Mr. Shigeru Miyamoto.

As the backbone of the company and the legendary producer of Neon Company, Shigeru Miyamoto’s name is almost the same as that of Rentendo, and the game IP created by him is well-known to every household. Even Shigeru Miyamoto is so legendary that he has the title of [Game of Legends] God's title.

Emotionally speaking, Miyamoto Shigeru is almost equivalent to Yamauchi's adopted son, almost treated as a family member.

Therefore, whether it is handing over the company to Minoru Arakawa or Shigeru Miyamoto, it is a matter of course.

However, Hiroshi Yamauchi is not particularly satisfied with Shigeru Miyamoto.

There is absolutely no problem with Shigeru Miyamoto as the producer, but as a manager, especially the top management of the company, what is needed is not the ability to produce games, nor is it just a love for games, but more importantly, business and management Talent.

Can we make a decision for the general direction of the company and find a suitable path? Can we save the company from crisis, reverse the situation, and open up the market...

These are actually more important.

However, Yamauchi Hiroshi did not see this in Miyamoto Shigeru.

At this time, Yamauchi couldn't help but sigh——

How great would it be if Shigeru Miyamoto and Minoru Arakawa could be combined?

But,

At this moment, the name "Qing Zhiyuan" suddenly popped into his mind.

Yamauchi Pu was startled.

I almost knocked over the teacup in my hand.

…

The last one is Rentian’s old enemy, Sega.

Sega is facing the same problem as Sony and Rentendo——

President Hayao Nakayama is already very old.

Nakayama Hayao, who was born in 1932, is now 66 years old. Although he is younger than Hiroshi Yamauchi, he is also considering retirement.

Sega considers you the failure of the Saturn game console in the console battlefield, and it is still on the verge of financial crisis.

Over the years, Hayao Nakayama has been working hard and his hair has turned completely white due to anxiety.

If this continues, on the one hand, he will not be able to keep up with his energy and physical strength, and on the other hand, he does not want Sega to be destroyed in his own hands.

Sega now has two very strong candidates.

The first one is Shoichiro. Born in 1940, he is now 58 years old, but he is very energetic and is considered a hardliner or radical among Sega.

In his opinion, if you want to restore Sega's decline in the game console market, you should continue to invest a lot of money in the development of the next generation of consoles.

We must defeat Sony on the frontal battlefield and regain the glory that belongs to Sega.

Especially at this time, Shoichiro Ikkai saw the decline of Rentendo. As long as Sega can win the console market, it will be the new king in the gaming field in the future.

Another candidate, Hideki Sato, was born in 1950 and is only 48 years old now. He is younger in comparison, but in terms of mental state and personality, he is very mature and steady.

Compared with the fiery temperament of his friend Shoichiro, Sato Hideki is a deep and reserved type.

At this time, the factional struggle within Sega was actually very obvious and fierce. Not only did Neon Company fight with Beimi Branch, but there was even a situation where both parties were developing consoles at the same time to grab credit and resources. No one accepted the other.

On Neon's side, Sega also had factional struggles between arcades and home consoles.

Shoichiro Ikua belongs to the TV game school and advocates putting the company's main focus and main business on TV games.

Hideki Sato belongs to the arcade school. He has been an arcade development engineer since he entered the industry, and he produced pinball game machines for the company and achieved great success.

Hideki Sato has more enthusiasm for arcades and believes that the company should focus on arcade games. The console market has now become a dead sea, and it is too difficult to break out of it.

Not only will a lot of manpower and material resources be invested, but given Sega's current economic situation, there is a real danger of falling into the abyss.

…

In short, several major companies are now unstable and are facing the problem of leading replacement.

Under such circumstances, not only friends in the industry were frightened, but even the news media and members of various companies vaguely sensed a hint of danger.

This storm is brewing at sea, like a volcano about to erupt under the sea, and it may cause a major earthquake in the industry.

After changing people, the style is also different. Will the previous methods of dealing with each other still apply, and will future cooperation be able to proceed smoothly...

These are actually problems.

Moreover, after the leaders of these three major companies are changed, will their corresponding corporate strategies change? This is also a big question.

These issues combine to create a huge storm.

It might be slightly better if a company changes its boss, but if so many influential companies change their leadership, the problem will be huge.

…

Under such circumstances, everyone is in danger and cannot clearly see the future situation. They only feel that dark clouds are pressing down on their face, but they don't know what to do.

The first one to take action was Qing Zhiyuan from pokeni.

But what is very unexpected is that this young president, a new leader in the game industry, neither went to find Ken Kutaragi, who has a good relationship with him, nor Norio Ohga of Sony, nor Mr. Hayao Nakayama of Sega.

Of course, given that the relationship with Hiroshi Rentendo Yamauchi was relatively stiff in the past, Qing Zhiyuan would naturally not go to President Yamauchi to talk about anything.

Probably not able to talk.

Qing Zhiyuan made an appointment with a mysterious figure to have dinner with him in the evening.

And ordered a great seafood feast.

In the box, Qing Zhiyuan sat on the floor and waited for a long time.

About ten minutes later, the box door was opened, and a vigorous middle-aged man in a suit and leather shoes walked in.

"You've been waiting for a long time."

The person who came had short hair that was parted in the middle, neatly combed, and wore a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. He looked gentle and elegant.

"No, no, please sit down."

Qing Zhiyuan raised his hand to greet him.

"Nice to meet you."

The other person smiled and extended his hand.

Qing Zhiyuan quickly stood up and held his hand.

"You're welcome. This is my first time meeting you. Please give me your advice, Mr. Satoru Iwata."

…

…

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There is another chapter tonight