Horrible! Actually playing this kind of game!

…

The secret war of 1998 has begun, and the plans formulated by Qing Zhiyuan and Satoru Iwata are in progress. At the same time, some companies also have their own strategic goals.

There was almost no way out for Rentendo Yamauchi, but he still refused to delegate power to Minoru Arakawa.

But Arakawa Minoru has been waiting for this day for a long time, and he has begun to take over Rentendo. If nothing happens, Yamauchi will eventually hand over Rentendo to Arakawa because there is no one to choose superior.

This is not good news for the members of Rentiantang.

The most important reason is that everyone does not agree with the fact that Arakawa treats games as commodities but he has never played the games himself.

To put it bluntly, Minoru Arakawa has no love for games, so what do employees who love games think?

On Sega's side, Ichigo Shoichiro is fighting to the death with Hideki Sato, vying for the position of the next president.

…

In addition to pokeni, there is another company that is working hard to advance its strategic goals, and that is Sony.

At the top of Sony, Nobuyuki Idei updated American President Schulhoff. Infighting is about to break out. Either you die or I live.

Underneath this, Ken Kutaragi, the president of Sony Computer Entertainment, also has his own thoughts.

In the evening, Kutaragi met with Hideki Sato, one of Sega's candidates.

The two sat together to eat and chatted animatedly.

Sato and Kutaragi are the same age. The former is only two or three months younger than the latter. The two of them actually have a good personal relationship.

Kutaragi would invite Sato to dinner once every quarter. He always advised Sato to give up Saturn and withdraw from the competition.

And sometimes he uses a rather funny and helpless tone:

"Hideki-san, give up. The current Sega Saturn is finished. Sega may also be buried with it in a while."

Sato Hideki frowned fiercely, "It's not the end yet! Kutaragi-san, maybe you will pay the price for your arrogance in the future!"

After finishing speaking, the two people looked at each other and laughed.

He didn't seem to be worried at all about the topic just discussed.

To put it in simple terms -

Sega is Sega and Sony is Sony.

Hideki Sato is Hideki Sato, Ken Kutaragi is Ken Kutaragi.

How fierce the battle between companies is, that is a matter at the company level, and personal feelings can be kept separate.

To put it bluntly, what does the life and death of Sega have to do with me, Hideki Sato?

Or Sony and Sega are at war, but it doesn’t prevent Kenga Kutaragi and Hideki Sato from eating.

However, personal friends are personal friends, Kutaragi Ken obviously has ulterior motives.

Hideki Sato is Kutaragi Ken, and he is also a breakthrough for Sony. Compared with the hawkish Shoichiro, it is more beneficial for Sony to have the gentle [honest man] Sato Hideki as the president.

So if possible, Sony actually prefers Hideki Sato to take over.

Kutaragi Ken took a sip of wine, laughed, and said in a joking way:

"Xiushu-san, you can't beat me, where did you buy the processor?

From Hitachi, from Yamaha?

The profit from the purchase of the optical drive has been made by them, so what do you have left?

And Sony can produce its own PS components. "

"Damn it! Kutaragi-san, you talk too much! Hurry up and drink!"

Hideki Sato stood up and poured a full glass for Ken Kutaragi.

The latter sat there, looking at the guy in front of him with flushed face and eyes, as if he wanted to see a trace of anger on Sato Hideki's face.

However, Hideki Sato was not angry no matter what he said. Although he said he was angry, he actually acted smiling.

"Don't forget that Sega's MD has achieved brilliant achievements. Maybe the next game console will be successful?"

"Eh?"

Kutaragi Ken was keenly aware of the key words in Sato Hideki's mouth.

He quickly supported his body with his hands, sat up straight from his lying position, and looked at Hideki Sato with a hawk-like gaze.

"So, Sega is already developing a new game console?"

Although Sega's development of a new game console is a company secret, it is also an open reality in the industry.

From a long time ago, Kutaragi Ken knew that with Nakayama Hayao's temper, he would not give up so easily.

However, as of now, Ken Kutaragi still doesn’t know anything about what Sega’s new game console will be like and what kind of performance it will have.

Sato Hideki is a very tight-lipped guy sometimes, even when facing a [good friend] like him, he is still extremely vigilant.

"What do you think? This is a company secret. I will definitely not reveal the information to you." Sato Hideki said with a smile on his face.

"You don't need to tell me the detailed parameters and functions, just tell me straightforwardly what kind of games it can play."

Kutaragi Ken laughed and looked at him with squinting eyes, "Pokeni's "The Demon Hunter: Demon Egg", can your new console support it?"

"I am very sure of that."

Sato Hideki raised his head proudly, "Not only can we support Devil's Egg, but we may also support more powerful games in the future!"

Kutaragi Ken was stunned for a moment, and his heart thumped.

If it's true what he said...

Maybe there is really a hint of danger.

He remembered that Qing Zhiyuan once took him to the pokeni office building and showed him the model of Miss 2B...

If it can reach that level, Sony will be in danger.

But...

Just as he was thinking this, he looked up and saw the faint smile on Sato's face, and then Kutaragi Ken reacted.

"Aha! Hideki-san, you are so bad, you just deceive me, right?"

In fact, no matter what Kutaragi asked, Sato would not tell the truth. Since the game console is good, it is better to just brag to the sky.

However, Sato had no idea that Kutaragi Ken would take his bragging just now as truth.

"Now do you admit that our technology is great?"

Hideki Sato asked.

"That's not true."

Kutaragi Ken picked up the wine glass on the table and took a silent sip to calm down his shock.

"Then you looked like you had seen a ghost just now...wait a minute," Sato Hideki put his hands on the small table, propped up his body and came closer to him, "Have you seen someone who is too powerful and far beyond the current era? Something?"

"This...how is this possible?"

Kutaragi Ken turned his head to the side with some guilt, not daring to look directly into Sato Hideki's eyes.

It would be terrible if he knew that pokeni could do such terrible things!

Looking back now, Kutaragi Ken still has lingering fears. The shock of seeing the 2B model still remains in his brain, as if it happened yesterday.

When I think of such a high-precision model running on a game console...

Kutaragi Ken was a little fascinated.

However, in his opinion, it is currently impossible to drive such a model, and it will take at least 5 years.

In other words, pokeni has been ahead of its time in design for at least 5 years.

When he thought of this, Kutaragi Ken shuddered involuntarily.

Fortunately, pokeni and President Qing Zhiyuan are friends of Sony. Otherwise, it would be unimaginable.

However, in this world, Sony is the only one that can meet Qing Zhiyuan’s hardware needs, right?

…

The two drank and chatted again. Kutaragi was like Shobayashi's wife, not giving up at all, and continued to persuade, "Hideki-san, if I were you, I should give up the Sega console."

Sato Hideki frowned fiercely, "What's the use of telling me this? I'm not the president."

At this time, MD's success turned into poison for Sega. Sega was too eager to let Saturn copy MD's success, so they spared no expense in doing so, and the result was bruised and bruised.

From a purely hardware perspective, a loss of 10,000 yen would be incurred when selling a Saturn. If the hardware-to-software ratio is high enough, the loss can be made up.

The so-called soft-hard ratio means that although the game console is sold at a loss, the games developed on it can generate enough profits. Then relying on the royalties, as long as the royalties income and the sales performance of Sega's own software are sufficient. Well, if the profit can cover the loss of the game console, it is acceptable.

The hardware is the console and the software is the game.

But the hardware/software ratio of Saturn is not high enough, so a console still costs 5,000 to 6,000 yen.

Therefore, the sales volume of Saturn did not exceed 10 million in the end. In addition to market factors, there were also factors deliberately controlled by Sega.

Sega deliberately reduced the production of the Saturn to avoid greater losses.

For third parties, not having enough game consoles means there is not enough market and profit, so they can only be more afraid to develop games on Saturn.

This has become a vicious cycle again.

…

Sato Hideki actually criticized this. Deep down, he was more in favor of Kutaragi Ken's idea of ​​stopping Saturn. Perhaps becoming a third party is the wisest choice.

But now he can't influence Sega at all, let alone make changes to Sega's marketing strategy.

"Xiu Shusang,"

Kutaragi Ken looked at him and smiled evilly.

"What are you doing?" Sato Hideki looked at his sinister smile and was a little scared, "Don't laugh like that, you laugh so scary."

Kutaragi cleared his throat, suppressed his smile, and said seriously, "If you serve as president, I suggest that Sega transform into a third party for Sony."

"Huh?" Sato Hideki looked surprised.

"The profits of Sega consoles are very thin. You should know this better than me. Everyone is making consoles, so there is no need to go around the bush, right?

Sega needs to rely on other companies to produce so many parts. I'm afraid it won't be able to recoup the cost of selling a game console.

The more you sell, the more you lose. "

"Instead of continuing like this, it is better to let go earlier and give up the console. Sega will still be a very great game manufacturer."

Kutaragi continued, "Furthermore, once Sega abandons the console market and becomes Sony's third party, I guarantee that I can get the best discount for you. In terms of royalties, I can give Sega the lowest alone, and we will also help Sega with promotion."

Kutaragi hoped that Sega would transform into a third party and promised preferential treatment.

Sato himself actually wanted to withdraw from this bitter battle.

"But, I'm not the president."

Sato sighed and emphasized again.

"It doesn't matter, I believe in you, Hideki-san, you will become the president sooner or later." Kutaragi Ken laughed, "Shogun Shoichiro has no ability to pull Sega out of the abyss. Even if he can take over, he will not be able to pull Sega out of the abyss. Will fall into the abyss.

When the time comes, you will be the president of Sega. "

"and……"

Kutaragi Ken smiled and looked at Sato Hideki and said:

"Sony is your bargaining chip to become president."

…

Kutaragi Ken is also betting on Sega's future successor.

Naturally, there are also people who are betting on Shoichiro Inukai. In the eyes of many people in the industry, Shoichiro Inikayo has a greater chance of becoming the president than Hideki Sato.

Just like Kutaragi Ken said, Nakayama Hayabusa will not stop in the console market, and Shoichiro Nakayama is a hard-line fighter. On the contrary, people like Sato Hideki who want to give up the console and switch to a third party must not stop Nakayama Hayao. like.

However, what they don’t know is——

Just when everyone was placing bets on the future successor of Sega, Qing Zhiyuan had already found another way and launched an attack from the rear.

Qing Zhiyuan said:

Whoever of you wants to fight for the crown prince should fight for the crown prince.

As for me, I am only interested in the emperor.

Whether the Sega dynasty will still be on the throne in the future is a question.

…

In the evening, Qing Zhiyuan invited President Nakayama Hayao to take a sauna together.

The two of them were sitting in the sauna room, sweating all over their bodies and feeling extremely clear.

"Ah...it feels like I haven't seen it for a long time..." Mr. Nakayama sighed with his eyes closed and his face covered with a towel.

"Qingsang, we haven't had a sauna together like this for a long time.

How comfortable! "

Nakayama Hayao sniffed and coughed, "In recent times, you must also know that I have been under a lot of pressure and have a lot of worries."

Qing Zhiyuan laughed lightly, "In the future, President Zhongshan will retire, so we won't have to worry so much."

"Ha ha,"

Mr. Nakayama sat up, took the towel off his face, and then twisted the sweat stains on it.

"So, Ao-san, who do you think I should give Sega to? Is it Yoyo or Sato?"

A guy like Qing Zhiyuan, who didn't usually make appointments with him, must have had a strong personal purpose when he suddenly asked him to come to the sauna.

Recently, everyone is talking about the fact that Sega is going to change its president. Hayao Nakayama thinks he is not feeling well, and of course he wants to retire.

He personally guessed that Qing Zhiyuan came to him because he wanted to know about the future president.

Maybe this guy already has his favorite candidate.

Thinking about it carefully, I'm afraid it would be more beneficial for pokeni to have Hideki Sato take over at Sega, right?

Shoichiro Ikuoka's behavior is very tough, and the cooperation will not be very pleasant. Moreover, after the company is handed over to Shoichiro Ikuoka, the war with Sony will definitely continue. As a partner of Sega and Sony, pokeni will definitely feel uncomfortable being caught in the middle. .

However, what Qing Zhiyuan said next was far beyond Nakayama Hayao's expectations.

Qing Zhiyuan spoke slowly and smiled calmly:

"To be honest, I'm going to find President Okawa Isao."

"Huh?" Nakayama Hayao turned around in surprise. After careful observation, he was sure that the young man was not lying, and then he slowly closed his mouth.

"You want to buy Sega?"

There is no other reason to find President Isao Okawa.

Because if you want to cooperate with Sega, you won't go to the parent company at all. Sega's president has absolute autonomy. President Isao Okawa has not interfered with Sega's operations so far.

"Yes," Qing Zhiyuan nodded, "I have this intention,"

Nakayama Hayao was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.

"Okay! Very good! This is the Qing Zhiyuan I know. I really saw the right person. Qingsang, you are really a very courageous person."

"But you know what?

Let’s not talk about whether we can buy Sega. Let’s take a step back and say, if pokeni buys Sega, what will you do with Sega?

If it is just a game producer, pokeni itself is enough.

If you are a hardware manufacturer, Sega only has handheld consoles worth digging into.

Once you take over the console business, it means that you will have to fight Sony in the future. Qingsang, do you have such determination? "

At this moment, the originally dim eyes of the 66-year-old man suddenly burst out with brilliance. The long-dead ashes representing the fire of desire in his heart seemed to be captured by Qing Zhiyuan's boldness at this moment. Ideas ignited.

And burning brightly.

"Hahaha, why did President Zhongshan say so tragically?"

It is normal for companies to divide and merge, sometimes to be competitors and sometimes to be partners.

If the company is really personified because of some personal emotional factors, it is actually a misunderstanding.

Just like Penguin and Byte, they compete with each other, but they can cooperate with each other for common interests. Douyin can attract traffic to Penguin's games, and Penguin's games can also attract traffic to Douyin.

Both cooperation and competition may be the norm.

Just like pokeni and Sega before it, P's games compete with Sega's. However, Pokémon is released on Sega's handheld console, so it's a collaboration.

This relationship is very subtle, but it is also these subtle relationships that give him the opportunity to take a sauna with Nakayama Hayao.

But.

The next second, Qing Zhiyuan became serious and responded to him with stern eyes.

"Without determination, I wouldn't have bought Sega."

If you miss it, it’s gone.

Because Qing Zhiyuan knows the direction of history, if he misses Sega at this time, there will be no Sega in the future.

Shoichiro's takeover of Sega will definitely fail. In Hideki Sato's era, Sega will completely withdraw from the hardware platform and become a complete third party.

You only get one chance.

Even if they have to fight Sony after taking over, the original Sega can do it, but now Pokeni, which is more powerful than Sega and closer to Rentendo, why not give it a try?

Moreover, Nobuyuki Idei is far from being as simple as everyone thinks. After he kills Sony North America President Schulhoff, Sony's integrated power will become extremely powerful.

Again, now is the best time. If he really wants to give it a try, Qing Zhiyuan is also willing.

"In that case, what do you need me to do?" Nakayama Hayao became excited.

The market difficulties that Sega has experienced during this period, including the turmoil of substitutions, and the heavy burden on his body, all kinds of gloom were swept away at this moment.

Qing Zhiyuan is like a small sun, projecting light from the clouds and illuminating the whole world.

It made him want to burn himself involuntarily.

Yes, burn yourself.

At this moment, this was the thought that popped into Hayao Nakayama's mind.

Qing Zhiyuan will be better than anyone else when he takes over Sega.

He is indeed the man I like, he is courageous, courageous and capable!

bless you.

"Help me persuade President Okawa Isao." Qing Zhiyuan said with a smile, "Give Sega to us."

…

…

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There is another chapter tonight (end of this chapter)