Game Development Giant

We have to form an alliance with Sony.

Masayuki Uemura's voice was not loud, but in the almost silent conference room where you could hear a pin drop, it was nothing less than a thunderous sound.

When his voice just fell, Yokoi Gunpei was the first to show a surprised look.

Because he has said before that unless the price of Sony's CD-RM system is reduced to a range that ordinary people can afford, otherwise, this thing is just a high-end toy, a four- to five-hundred-dollar game console, no matter how many functions it has. Even though it is strong, it is impossible to compete with the $200 home game consoles of the same grade, because the price range between the two is really beyond the affordability of most people who buy game consoles.

But after the conversation between him, Masayuki Uemura and Hiroshi Yamauchi, Hiroshi Yamauchi immediately contacted Sony. Although Ken Kutaragi said sincerely that he would talk to people within Sony and he would definitely be able to give them a satisfactory result. s price.

Sony's efficiency is also very rapid. This is also Sony's real expansion period. The price Sony offers is also very sincere, but it is still too high for a game console.

Jiuduo also said with great regret that this was already the price he had obtained through his best efforts, and it was impossible for the group's senior management to make further concessions. Even Hiroshi Yamauchi looked at Uemura Masayuki in surprise. He didn't understand that his favorite general, the second-in-command in the hardware development department, could say such mindless words. If he could cooperate and form an alliance with Sony, he would have done it before. We have already cooperated and formed an alliance with them. The problem is that the price of CD-RM is impossible for Nintendo to accept.

Yes.

Although many people looked at him with surprised eyes, Uemura Masayuki's tone was still very firm.

He expressed his reasons in an almost unquestionable tone: In my opinion, it is impossible for the price of CD-RM to be reduced to a level acceptable to ordinary people in the short term. What I am talking about in the short term is It means within two years...

When Masayuki Uemura just finished these words, Gunpei Yokoi, Hiroshi Yamauchi and other Nintendo executives present were confused. Since you know the biggest drawback of CD-RM, why do you still want to form an alliance with Sony? Isn't this the opposite? Do you have to lose money to buy a console? Although Nintendo used this sales method when it released a certain model of game console before 1980, this method almost caused Nintendo to collapse, and Hiroshi Yamauchi also issued a death order in this regard. , Nintendo must not sell hardware at a loss. However, even selling hardware at a loss. It's impossible to just pay half of the price. Such a loss amount is absolutely unaffordable even if they sell their Nintendo.

However, after a few seconds of surprise, Yamauchi Hiroshi seemed to have thought of something. He frowned and his face became uncertain.

At this time, Uemura Masayuki's voice continued to echo in the conference room.

Actually, one thing we haven't seen is that for Sony, reaching cooperation and alliance is their most important thing. Didn't they ask us to use their CD-RM system? We agreed!

Snapped!

At this time, a Nintendo veteran and a director of the sales department slapped the table angrily and looked at Masayuki Uemura with red eyes. He said extremely angrily: Uemura, you just said it yourself, the price of CD-RM is absolutely unacceptable to us. But why do you still want us to make this kind of decision to seek death!

Hiroshi Yamauchi looked at Uemura Masayuki calmly and said calmly: You can continue talking....

yes.

Uemura Masayuki nodded, but he did not look at the veteran of the sales department. Instead, he explained directly: My suggestion is actually very simple. We agree to use the cd-rm system on our new host, but they must do their best to help us complete the research and development of a 16-bit computer that uses cassette reading. Moreover, we promised them that when we develop the next generation of 32-bit consoles, we will unconditionally agree to use the CD-RM system to develop our consoles regardless of the price of CD-RM at the time.

What! How is this possible! This sentence is impossible!

As soon as he finished speaking, the whole place erupted with voices of surprise and doubt. Only Hiroshi Yamauchi and Gunpei Yokoi sat calmly in their original positions.

Pa bang bang...

Yamauchi Hiroshi knocked on the table with his palm. The sound was not loud, but the noisy scene fell silent immediately.

You mean, when the next generation of consoles comes out, the price of CD-RM will reach the range that players can afford? Hiroshi Yamauchi asked calmly.

Unexpectedly, Masayuki Uemura shook his head. He said simply and directly: Because in my opinion, the advantages of CD-RM in storage are too obvious. For game development, it also makes it easier for designers to take advantage of it. , the difference may not be big now, but by the time it reaches 32, this gap will be infinitely magnified. By then, with the same investment and the same technical capabilities, CD-ROM games and cassette games Now, the two are no longer on the same level. At that time, if you continue to use cassettes, you are really asking for death.

What Masayuki Uemura said is just his personal prediction. This is not recognized by the hardware development street. In fact, when developing games, cartridge storage is not useless.

However, his words are also very popular with some people, especially game designers. Although Nintendo’s technical reserves in cassettes are the best in the world, even Mars Entertainment may not be as good as them, but cassettes are difficult to develop. It is difficult to get stuck, this is an indisputable fact.

Even Gunpei Yokoi nodded involuntarily when Masayuki Uemura said.

Obviously, he at least recognized part of what Uemura Masayuki said.

This is a bet. For Nintendo, as long as the CD-RM can be reduced to a price acceptable to ordinary people when the next generation of game consoles comes, then they will have to give up the cassette technology that they have finally saved. It's not a big deal. Although it hurts, when it's time to give up, you have to give up, but if the price of CD-RM has not dropped enough by that time, or the advantage of CD-RM over cassettes has not been extended to the point where it is impossible to The degree of comparison, then it may be a disaster for Nintendo.

The decision-making power in such a matter of life and death naturally lies in the hands of Pu Yamauchi. Others dare not and are not qualified to make decisions for him.

Hiroshi Yamauchi obviously knew this. He slowly closed his eyes, seeming to be recalling every word Masayuki Uemura just said. No one knew what he was thinking, and he didn't let anyone present. After waiting for too long, in just over a minute, he opened his eyes, exhaled, and his expression became relaxed. It was obvious that he had made a decision.

Call Mr. Kutaragi Ken with me.

Ever since Fujitsu used Sony's own PCM sound source to grab a multi-billion-yen early-stage contract for Nintendo's FC sound source, Ken Kutaragi has received great attention from Sony's top management. The suggestion he made some time ago to cooperate with Nintendo, Sony's top management also agreed after discussion. However, because of the price of CD-RM, Sony did not intend to make too many concessions, so the cooperation plan was not concluded, which also made Jiuduo a little disappointed.

Unexpectedly, while he was dealing with some recent documents in the office, he received a call from Hiroshi Yamauchi himself.

Hiroshi Yamauchi rarely called him. The people who contacted him at Nintendo were usually the head of a certain department, the hardware development department or the purchasing department. But Hiroshi Yamauchi called him personally. This was the second time. .

The voice on the phone was very familiar to him. It was the indifferent and cold voice of Hiroshi Yamauchi with no emotion at all.

Mr. Jiuda, are you free now? I would like to meet you. If it is convenient, can you come to my place?

When Kutaragi Ken heard what Hiroshi Yamauchi said, his husband hesitated for a moment, and then immediately agreed. His sixth sense told him that maybe something very important had happened, and it was very likely that he was the one who cared about the most. thing, but what happened recently?

He is not from the gaming industry. Although he is very interested in this industry, his sources of information are definitely not as quick as those from some gaming companies.

But it didn't take long for Jiuduo to discover the problem.

He asked his secretary to find some game reports, whether they were from newspapers or publications, Japan, the United States, etc. In less than half an hour, he knew the problem. This was a report from a Los Angeles newspaper. When the boss of Mars Entertainment was asked a question, he personally admitted that their development plan for a 16-bit computer has been in progress for several years...

No one knows what Kudo and Hiroshi Yamauchi talked about in the room. There was no other third party present when the two of them were inside.

The conversation didn't last long, only half an hour, but all Nintendo employees could see the faint smile on Kudo's face when he left Hiroshi Yamauchi's office. Obviously, this time Talking about it was very satisfying to him.

Just three days later, Norio Ohga, Sony's vice president and known as Akio Morita's successor, came to Nintendo in person.

Sony and Nintendo have officially cooperated on the development of home game consoles.

The next day, a newspaper with such a title appeared on Jester's desk, and Jester looked at the title and was speechless for a long time. The history he knew had finally changed.