Horrible! Actually playing this kind of game!

After careful consideration, Kutaragi went to the head office alone and found the current president, Nobuyuki Idei.

The two had an in-depth exchange and discussion on the recent incident of pokeni acquiring Sega.

Nobuyuki Idei covered his forehead, already irritable enough.

Since he took office, there has been a lot of doubt from the outside world, which has put tremendous pressure on his shoulders.

Mainly because Norio Ohga directly promoted him from the bottom of the board of directors to the top leader. Many people within Sony were unconvinced.

They all said that Nobuyuki Dei may not have the ability to take over a business as big as Sony.

It’s normal when you think about it. Sony carries out many businesses, including not only digital products, music, and music equipment, but also film and television, TV, game consoles, etc.…

The tentacles extend to almost every high-tech field, and the industry covers the whole world. Such a large group cannot control it without sufficient capabilities.

I don’t know how many people are waiting to see Nobuyuki Ibo’s joke.

Sony North America President Schulhoff was the first to bear the brunt.

Foreign debts are increasing, and internal divisions and cliques are still being created... Internal and external troubles, doubts are high, and various subordinates do not obey orders. Nobuyuki Dei is really the leader of the two.

But this is the test Norio Ohga gave him. If he succeeds, then the position of CEO and even future chairman of the board of directors will be his. If he fails, then he will bear the blame. When the board of directors makes a decision, he will have to resign immediately. Leave.

It's hard.

It looks glamorous, but is actually hellishly difficult.

President Norio Ohga is a complete old fox. None of the people at Sony are economical. I am an old man in his 60s and I have to take orders in the face of danger. Any question put on my face makes people want to vomit blood. Feel.

During this period of time, Nobuyuki Idei felt that a lot of his vitality had been lost. There were too many things, too difficult, too confusing, and no time for him to breathe.

If his body and bones were not still strong, he would have been unable to bear it long ago.

But at this juncture, something like this happened again.

Didn't Qing Zhiyuan vow to support him when he had dinner with him some time ago?

Why did they suddenly acquire Sega now?

Although it can be explained by business behavior, sometimes plans do not change quickly. When encountering such an opportunity, Qing Zhiyuan grasped it. This is his ability and his destiny.

You can't interfere, pokeni is a commercial company after all.

hateful! ! hateful! !

Qing Zhiyuan is a guy who only creates problems for others.

However, Nobuyuki Dejing always felt that his heart was filled with panic.

…

"So what should we do now?" Kutaragi Ken asked, "No matter what, if Sega does not give up the console, it will always be Sony's enemy. Even pokeni was our most important third party before, but now that Qing Zhiyuan has acquired Sega, It is bound to continue its previous console development strategy.

It is inevitable to become a competitor with us.

However, abandoning pokeni may cause great losses in the future. PS is able to achieve such high sales results in a short period of time, and P Corporation has contributed a lot. "

"Yes." Nobuyuki Idei listened silently to Kutaragi Ken's words and motioned for him to continue.

“If we are not tough enough, will many third parties think that since games can be developed on Sony platforms, they can also be developed on other game platforms in the future?

Should we ban pokeni to show our attitude? "

Kutaragi Ken asked.

This is actually the issue he is most concerned about. Today's conversation will depend on what he should do in the future.

Nobuyuki Idei remained silent, thinking silently.

"Are we going to force a third party to choose one of the two?" Nobuyuki Idei asked.

"Well... I haven't thought about it yet." Kutaragi Ken hesitated, "To be honest, I'm actually a little worried."

"What are you worried about?" Nobuyuki Idei looked at him with sinister and sharp eyes.

"I'm worried about repeating the same mistakes as Rentendo." Kutaragi Ken said bluntly, "Nentendo had an era like this before. In fact, it wasn't that long ago. In the era of FC and SFC, Rentendo was the only one. 100% More than 90% of the market belongs to them.

President Yamauchi has an iron-blooded approach. Anyone who displeases him will be banned with just one sentence.

It is because of this that countless third parties are dissatisfied.

If it weren't for President Yamauchi's toughness and arrogance, neither Pokeni nor Square would have been able to stand on the opposite side.

Then there would be no subsequent success of PS.

This is something I am very worried about, and I always feel that we should learn from President Yamauchi’s lesson. "

"So?" Nobuyuki Idei continued to ask.

Kutaragi Ken frowned and gritted his teeth, "But...it's hard to evaluate whether President Yamauchi's iron-fisted rules are right or wrong.

I couldn't understand it before. I always felt that President Yamauchi was too tough.

But when I actually got to this point, I saw that Sony’s game consoles had a strong enough monopoly effect. The market is ours, and the users are also ours.

I often think about this question -

If those disobedient guys are whipped up, and anyone who wants to leave Sony, or wants to have their own way on other game platforms, will be taught a lesson, even if it is a small manufacturer, will it be blocked after it is blocked? It will have the effect of killing the chicken to scare the monkeys.

So can third parties honestly develop games on the platform built by Sony? "

"Well... I understand your thinking." Nobuyuki Idei said, "This is the law of the lions. Before you become the lion king, you always want to challenge the old lion king.

I can't wait to attack them in groups.

After you become the Lion King, if you don't knock down any lion that wants to challenge your authority, more and more lions will come to challenge you.

Once you let other lions see your weakness, you are in danger. "

Kutaragi Ken twisted his face into a twist, and the more he thought about it, the more he thought it was a dead end.

…

"The war has begun. Don't take any chances."

Nobuyuki Idei sighed and covered his forehead, feeling that one head was as big as two.

Pain, splitting headache.

This was also the problem pokeni gave him.

"Judging from the facts, after pokeni acquired Sega, it has become the opposite of us. Whether we admit it or not, this is the fact.

So in the future, in the console market, it will definitely be a battle between us and pokeni.

Get ready for battle. "

Kutaragi Ken was stunned for a moment. Although he was a little hesitant, he was actually relieved to hear this conclusion from Nobuyuki Idei.

Because the person who made the final decision was not him, but President Dei.

"Then I will ban pokeni when I get back." Kutaragi Ken said.

"Idiot!" Idei scolded Nobuyuki softly.

"Huh?" Kutaragi Ken was a little stupid for a moment.

"Let pokeni's new game be released on PS first!" Nobuyuki Idei said.

"Huh?" Kutaragi Ken asked doubtfully, "Why, didn't you just say that war is inevitable and we should be prepared for war?"

"That's true,"

Nobuyuki Idei took out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the sweat from his forehead. The weather in June was too hot.

"But, we shouldn't take the initiative to cut it."

"Huh?" Kutaragi Ken couldn't understand.

"Pokeni has not broken up with us yet, but if Qing Zhiyuan wants to fall out with him just because he acquired Sega, this reason is difficult to establish." Nobuyuki Idei said, "We have not signed any agreement with pokeni before, and they are not us. There is no breach of contract by the second party.

Moreover, Qing Zhiyuan has not stated whether he wants to cut off from us. There is no need to take drastic actions at this time. "

Nobuyuki Idei wiped the sweat from his forehead again and said with a sneer, "This is a problem that Pokeni has given us. To show others our attitude, should we kill him as a challenger and become like Hiroshi Yamauchi?" , or can we compete and cooperate at the same time and take different paths?

But the latter is obviously more difficult.

We have first-mover advantage in the former.

If Qing Zhiyuan wants to compete head-on with us, he will take the initiative to cut it off. At that time, we will activate the first-mover advantage to block him and prevent pokeni's games from being launched on the PS platform. This will be more secure. "

Nobuyuki Idei said, “Don’t panic, stabilize the third party first.

Don't make the same mistake as Rentian. "

Throwing the problem back to pokeni, rather than staying with Sony, was the judgment made by Nobuyuki Idei.

"Oh, I understand." Ken Kutaragi looked like he suddenly understood, "Waiting for pokeni to cut it, we also have a statement to the outside world. Sony has not abandoned the third party, but if the third party abandons us, then we have to block them."

"Yes, it is like that."

Nobuyuki Idei took a deep breath, "Wait until I deal with Schulhov first and then go back and deal with them."

Solving the hidden dangers within Sony is more important and more difficult than pokeni. The biggest problem Norio Ohga placed in front of him was not pressure from the outside, but internal pressure.

If Schulhoff, the president of Sony North America, was not eliminated for a day, Nobuyuki Idei would not be able to concentrate Sony's power to carry out an effective attack, let alone carry out the reforms in his mind.

There was a lot of resistance at every step.

The pokeni could really use a little more time.

"What if Qing Zhiyuan doesn't plan to cut off from us?" Kutaragi Ken continued to ask.

"Isn't that better?" Nobuyuki Idei glared at him, "Pokeni's game sales reach tens of millions every year, and when they make money on the PS platform, we make money.

Why do you have to struggle with money? "

"Yeah, I got it."

"Besides, Qing Zhiyuan will definitely cut it. There is no reason to buy Sega and not start a war." Nobuyuki Idei frowned and said, "Kutaragi-san, in the final analysis, what we have to fight for in the end is hard power.

If we are strong enough, the third party will always be ours, and we still have a first-mover advantage. Such a big advantage cannot be reversed at once.

And funding is also part of hard power. "

When the time comes, a price war or something like that will also be a means.

Although Idei Nobuyuki didn't say it explicitly, Kutaragi Ken was a smart man and quickly understood what he meant.

To a certain extent, the success of the PS was achieved by burning money. Sega Saturn lost 5,000 yen or 6,000 yen for every copy sold.

Doesn’t PS lose money?

It's just that after burning money to gain the market, the soft-to-hard ratio is high enough to cover losses.

At least from this level, Sony actually has a great advantage. PS occupies the market. In the future, PS2 will make pokeni bleed as long as it burns money. It is a comparison of their respective hard powers.

Regardless of whether it is in terms of hardware technology or funds, Kutaragi believes that there is no possibility of losing.

Of course, as Nobuyuki Idei said, all of this must first resolve the company's internal disputes and stop internal friction before it can be completed.

Otherwise, every department will have to spend money, especially the North American side. Schulhoff Acquisition Company has not considered the overall revenue status of the group at all. The more Sony earns, the more it will spend. No matter how big the size and earning power are, they can’t handle it.

Nobuyuki Idei's reforms are, first, to lay off some departments of the company that are very cost-effective or even dragging down the company's performance. Second, they are to clean out the company's bad apples and take back their power.

After doing this, he then entered new areas and concentrated money and power to realize the digitalization of Sony he envisioned.

Sony Group's current debt is as high as 1.9 trillion yen.

It is not easy to increase revenue and reduce expenditure while also developing.

If you really want to fight pokeni, you must be prepared for everything.

Not only technical reserves, but also financial reserves are also a key part.

In fact, as Satoru Iwata analyzed before, the current Nobuyuki Idei does not want to cause any trouble before killing Schulhov.

"Okay, I understand everything." Kutaragi nodded seriously and prepared to leave.

"But." At this moment, Nobuyuki Idei stopped him again.

"Um?"

“About the pride effect.

Remember, for third-party game developers, our attitude is very important now.

They never care about what's going on now, they just follow whoever wins in the end.

Look at Square.

Let’s look at SNK again, where are there any permanent partners?

To put it bluntly, as long as we can defeat pokeni in the future console war, then they will turn to us. "

"Okay, remember." Kutaragi Ken responded seriously.

To be honest, today's conversation was better than Kutaragi expected. Many people in the outside world felt that Nobuyuki Idei was not capable.

But Kutaragi Ken doesn't think so.

Nobuyuki Idei's ability and methods are actually quite brilliant. In the future, he will definitely bring the company together, and it is only a matter of time before he gets rid of North America President Schulhoff.

Kutaragi believes that under the leadership of Nobuyuki Dei, Sony may become even stronger in the future.

…

Now that the analysis was clear, Kutaragi Ken had no worries and directly invited Qing Zhiyuan out for dinner.

Kick the ball back to him.

As soon as they met, Kutaragi laughed and said, "Congratulations, Pokeni has acquired Sega. It's really amazing."

Qing Zhiyuan hadn't sat down yet, but looking at the smile on his face, he couldn't help but laugh.

"No, it's just the right time."

"Come on, come on, President Ao, sit down and say." Kutaragi Ken greeted enthusiastically.

Qing Zhiyuan sat down.

The two of them were chatting while eating.

"Kutaragi-san," Qing Zhiyuan said with a smile, "you know, right? A company is a company, and individuals are individuals. We have always been good friends. This has not changed, right?"

"Of course." Kutaragi Ken poured him wine, "I really like President Qing. I can learn a lot of new things every time I eat and chat with you."

Kutaragi Ken is really a person who distinguishes between public and private matters, so he was able to have dinner with Sato Hideki, the head of the host R\u0026D department of rival Sega, and maintain a long-term and deep friendship.

Kutaragi himself also thinks very clearly. He thinks about Sony when he works at Sony, but he doesn't necessarily always stay at Sony in the future. Today's enemies may be his friends tomorrow.

Maybe one day he will also go to pokeni?

Therefore, it is unwise for people who substitute company relations with personal feelings.

"No, no, it's obviously me who should learn from you."

Now that both parties have reached a consensus on [friendship] and [separation of company and individual], the rest is easy to talk about.

After three rounds of drinking, both of them were a little tipsy.

Kutaragi jokingly complained, "President Ao, you have done me a terrible job this time."

"Huh?" Qing Zhiyuan squinted and smiled, "How do you say that?"

"You are obviously our important third party, but you directly bought Sega. President Qing, aren't you planning to develop game consoles in the future?"

"Hahaha..." Qing Zhiyuan burst into laughter.

This guy is adorable as hell.

"Well, I don't know. We acquired Sega because we thought Sega had value. But I promised President Isao Okawa that I would not interfere with Sega's operations."

Damn, this little fox.

Kutaragi Ken thought to himself, Qing Zhiyuan is really watertight. Answering your question is like not answering it.

However, the problem is that Sega is now developing a game console.

In fact, it is equivalent to acquiescing to enter the console market.

"So, will Pokeni still be Sony's third party in the future?" Kutaragi asked with a smile, "I remember your new game is about to be released, right?

what do you say that is?

"Insect Master".

Yes, insect master. "

"That's for sure." Qing Zhiyuan responded with a smile, "Insect Master is about to be released, haven't we passed your review before?

Now that the matter has been decided, it must still be released.

Why can't you get along with money? "

"ah……"

A trace of panic flashed in Kutaragi Ken's eyes, but he quickly calmed down.

"That's it, that would be great."

"Yes, please take care of Kutaragi-san." Qing Zhiyuan laughed.

However, although the two people seemed to be in harmony on the surface, when they saw each other's eyes, they already made judgments in each other's hearts——

"Mushishi" will most likely be the last game that pokeni and Sony collaborate on.

Qing Zhiyuan didn't break his face, and Sony didn't break his face directly.

Say goodbye to each other, the future will be to fight on our own.

This is probably the realization.

There was a tacit understanding between the two of them, but from another perspective, this might be the best way to say goodbye, and it would also allow both parties to maintain the greatest dignity.

"very nice."

Kutaragi Ken sighed heavily.

"Come on, Qingsang, have another drink."

…

Early the next morning, Qing Zhiyuan returned to the company, and his first words were——

"Everyone, prepare for war!"

"The battle between us and Sony has begun!"

…

…

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No updates tonight

thank you all

See you tomorrow (end of chapter)