Rebirth of America, this is my time

July 30, 1977, Kyoto.

As night falls, the lights of the downtown area of ​​the ancient city flicker. Streetlights, billboards, and neon light boxes of Coca-Cola and Sony are erected on the roadside, making people feel like they are in the brightly lit white night of Las Vegas. In the bars on the street, tall bottles of beer are placed in front of the men, and delicate cups are filled with warm sake. When the golden or white liquid flows down the throat, the busyness of the day is like a fragile insect. The cocoons peeled off piece by piece, and their bodies were filled with vitality again.

Correspondingly, on the other side of the Kyoto river, in the quiet ancient city, the Nintendo office building located here is brightly lit at the moment, but only a handful of employees are actually working overtime. Except for a few female receptionists in light blue overalls and short skirts who were still at their posts, the rest were all in an office on the top floor without a door number.

There's a large wooden table flanked by sofas, and the rug is an industrial gray with beige patterns dotting it. Hiroshi Yamauchi, who was wearing rubber sandals, was sitting on the sofa on one side of the low table. There were two people on the other end of the table, one named Hiroshi Imanishi and the other Minoru Arakawa.

...That's just the way it is.

Minoru Arakawa, who flew straight back from San Francisco, succinctly described his experience.

After listening, Hiroshi Yamauchi directly picked up the high-quality Scotch whiskey that had been opened on the low table and poured three-thirds of it into the thick crystal tumbler with ice cubes.

His wrist shook and made a crisp sound. The tinkling sound made him close his eyes, So Ethan Jones thinks that everything that happens now is a conspiracy that we planned in advance?

He asked in a calm tone.

Yes. Minoru Arakawa nodded and said: Although I told Ethan Jones about the possibility of accidents according to your wishes, when multiple accidents are superimposed at the same time...

Arakawa Minoru glanced at his father-in-law cautiously and spoke his mind.

If it were me, I wouldn't believe it either.

Haha—— His son-in-law's honest words made Hiroshi Yamauchi laugh.

So he threatened me?

Threaten me not to break the contract?

Threatening me to continue to perform?

Threatening me to push the game Star Wars to our country and drown Pac-Man in the sound of The Force?

Urgent words suddenly appeared.

Yamauchi Hiroshi, who had closed his eyes to listen, suddenly opened his eyes.

He shook his wrist vigorously, and the amber whiskey instantly swirled in the glass. I, Hiroshi Yamauchi, have been in charge of Nintendo since I was twenty-one!

I haven't been afraid of anyone since then!

How dare those old guys in the company who started out with my grandfather act like they're old in front of me?

ha--

I'll fire them all right away!

I also founded a taxi company. When the company started to make profits, those bullshit driver unions kept clamoring for me to increase their wages and benefits!

No one can get money from me that I don't want to give!

So I canceled the company directly!

No one dares to threaten me after that!

Because they know I will crush their jobs! Tell them to get out!

Snapped--

There was a roar and a cracking sound.

Yamauchi Hiroshi slammed the crystal cup in his hand to the ground.

Glass splashed everywhere, drinks flew around, and the ice cubes in the glass shattered, creating a sad ice flower on the gray carpet.

Arakawa Minoru shuddered and instinctively lowered his head.

Next to him, Imanishi Hiroshi looked like an old monk in trance, his eyes lowered and unmoved.

The only sound left in the huge space was the heavy breathing of Hiroshi Yamauchi.

After a period of heavy breathing, Hiroshi Yamauchi finally calmed down and asked with a gloomy face: Imanishi Hiroshi, assess the threat level Ethan Jones poses to us.

Before he finished speaking, the guy with a strong physique and regular features, who looked a bit like a Rottweiler, raised his head.

As a veteran who joined Nintendo in the early 1960s, he has worked in administration, finance, planning, human resources and other departments. In 1969, he even created a company to accommodate Gunpei Yokoi and Uemura at the request of Hiroshi Yamauchi. Masayuki, Takeda Genhiro's Nintendo Game Department, and served as the first development director, and now, he is the general affairs director of Nintendo appointed by Hiroshi Yamauchi.

As a true confidant of Hiroshi Yamauchi, the guy who graduated from the Law Department of Doshisha University has the right to intervene and supervise all projects within the company. It is precisely because Hiroshi Yamauchi has great trust in him that when Hiroshi Yamauchi asked him for his opinion, he also Without hesitation, he leaned forward and said: President, in my opinion, Ethan Jones's threat to us has a high probability of success.

There are three reasons.

The first point is that Star Wars is indeed a very good game. According to North American media reports and Arakawa Minoru's personal witness, in more than a month after the game was launched, 30,000 people appeared on the streets of North America. There are multiple electronic arcade machines, a number that was unimaginable in North America before.”

In the past few years, the North American arcade market has indeed been booming, but because of the vast area and sparse population, they cannot sell electronic arcade machines as crazily as we do. Arcade machines will only exist in big cities because the population in remote villages cannot support the local population. Merchants are anticipating the revenue of game arcades. Therefore, when merchants in major cities are full, those merchants who pursue the ultimate profit will not purchase them.

This time is different. Even if the North American theater chain distributed the goods first, which harmed the interests of the original merchants, they still showed enough enthusiasm for the arcades when they came in, because the people in North America were all crazy about games and movies. Then The fire that cannot be extinguished is the reason why Star Wars arcade machines are sold again and again, and when this fire reaches our country...

I personally think Pac-Man probably won't be able to beat them head-on.

It's not a question of whether the game is good or bad, it's that the Star Wars game has a companion movie, and that movie was made by George Lucas...

Speaking of this, Imanishi Hiroshi lengthened his voice and turned his head to look at Minoru Arakawa.

The young man who felt the other party's movements sighed and said: Father-in-law, I can swear that Star Wars is the best movie I have ever seen. If I have to describe it, it can only be invincible.

I don't know whether the movie Star Wars will set off the same shocking wave in our country as it did in North America, but I know that the directors in our country combined may not be able to make such a movie with such unparalleled effects. It’s really amazing.”

Although Arakawa Minoru's words have the meaning of inflating other people's ambitions and destroying his own prestige, Hiroshi Yamauchi didn't care. After venting, he picked up a glass of whiskey again, tasted it and asked: What do you think, Star Wars How many units can the game sell after being launched in our country?”

Estimating sales is not difficult for the two people present.

After looking at each other, Minoru Arakawa, who had seen how powerful the game was, took the lead and said: One hundred thousand units.

Aha - This figure made Hiroshi Yamauchi laugh. Snake sold 65,000 units, and Pac-Man is expected to sell at least 100,000 units. And you are telling me now, Pac-Man is expected to sell at least 100,000 units. The estimated shipment volume of Star Wars is 100,000 units? If that's just this number...

One year. Arakawa added.

What? Yamauchi's smile stopped abruptly.

One hundred thousand units a year. Minoru Arakawa repeated seriously.

Yamauchi Hiroshi narrowed his eyes for a moment.

He looked at Imanishi Hiroshi, who pursed his lips and nodded.

Oh, then Ethan Jones is really awesome.

Yamauchi Hiroshi was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said: But this is useless, right?

Our country has special management standards for the import of movies. Generally speaking, there is a long gap between the original release period of imported movies in our country and other countries.

The purpose of this is to protect our local films.

For example, the movie Jaws by Ethan Jones's good brother Steven Spielberg was released in North America in the summer of 1975, but it was not released in our country's theaters until December?

It's a good time difference.

“In half a year we can sell a lot of Pac-Man arcade machines.”

Yamauchi Pu said with a smile.

That's the second reason.

Before he finished speaking, Imanishi Hiroshi added: President, although our country has special management standards for film imports, there are often exceptions, right?

'Star Wars' has already caused a craze around the world. When Fox comes to our country to apply for review with a movie, it will definitely be faster than other movies.

And if among them, Ethan Jones really licenses the Star Wars game to Fox, those manufacturers who want to get game agents from Fox will definitely be more eager than movie manufacturers. I saw the movie coming out.

Even if we can get Pac-Man to get a head start, what's the use?

We couldn't sell 100,000 arcade machines in that empty six months.

more importantly……

If we really sell it, we will have to give Ethan Jones 14 percent of each unit.

Imanishi Hiroshi sighed.

... Pu Yamauchi took a breath.

Although Arakawa Minoru had already mentioned this matter when paraphrasing Ethan Jones's words, and it was still from Ethan Jones's perspective, when his own people said that the sales of Pac-Man would only be cheaper After Ethan Jones, Hiroshi Yamauchi instantly felt that his heart was being grasped by a pair of invisible hands. The sudden pressure made him breathless.

At this moment, the thought of squeezing Pac-Man into his hand even came to his mind.

But the next second, he knew that he couldn't act on impulse.

Because the contract Nintendo signed with Destiny Games is a guaranteed distribution contract.

Even if they don't sell Pac-Man, when the time comes, they still have to pay Destiny Games a share based on the guaranteed factory quantity. If not, it will be a breach of contract.

Such a fact made Yamauchi Hiroshi sit on the sofa.

He raised his head slightly and narrowed his eyes slightly.

When his body sank into the soft sponge, his face under the yellow glasses became a little pale under the light. What about the third reason? he asked.

The third reason is more difficult. Imanishi Hiroshi said: Because of Ralph Bell's video game patents, there are currently only three companies in North America that can freely make video games.

One company is Mi Luohua, which owns a patent.

An Atari that holds low-price patents for a long time.

In order to obtain the support of Ralph Bell, one company did not have to worry about patents at all, let alone patent fees, and only had to pay a small consulting fee.

Other than that, as long as all other companies dare to bypass them to make video games, they will face crazy lawsuits from Milova. If the price demanded by Milova was more reasonable before, then after they were beaten by Ethan After Jones blew up twice, they wanted to kill all their other competitors. Therefore, many American game companies have discovered that they may not be able to make video games without relying on the three companies, and this Three families...

There is no family to rely on.

Needless to say, Mirova, dozens of lawsuits in the past two years have ruined their reputation. Needless to say, Atari, who started by plagiarism, is currently the weakest game company in North America. Although the Destiny game is famous He is the tallest and has the best reputation, but everyone can see that Ethan Jones is not the kind of person who can accept mediocre games. So far, Destiny Game has only made one announcement to the outside world. It was a recruitment information, and what he wanted was creativity. People, rather than acquiring other companies, so if nothing else happens, when the remaining game companies find that North America is no longer suitable for them to survive, the vast majority of game companies will flock to our country.

Just like Sega...

Since they were sued by Milohua, they have never released a new game.

They can no longer survive in North America, and their branch in our country also intends to acquire the headquarters. If they really do this, it means that the next video game war will start in our country. .”

And after losing the support of Ethan Jones...

“Whoever gets Star Wars representation will get the upper hand in this war.”

When we piss off Ethan Jones, it's not a duel between us and him.

Because Taito, Namco, Bandai... they have all announced in the past few years that they have officially entered the video game market. They will be eager to chop off our heads and give them to Ethan Jones as a token of vote...

Imanishi Hiroshi's eyes flickered.

In his sight, Hiroshi Yamauchi, who was leaning on the sofa with his back facing the sky, looked a little decadent.

In fact, as early as last year, when Hiroshi Yamauchi said that Nintendo must obtain the license for 6502 and Pac-Man, he was opposed to the advancement of the COLOR TV GAME project.

In his opinion, they could lose a little money in the early stages of this project to cover up their ambitions and gain peace for all eternity, but... Hiroshi Yamauchi rejected his idea.

President Yamauchi at the time felt that no matter how great Ethan Jones was, it would be impossible to launch a game more powerful than Pac-Man because there is an upper limit to a person's inspiration, even if he is a famous artist. , then it is impossible to make breakthroughs throughout your life.

They will definitely have their own peak!

It can last for a while at most!

Then it will inevitably go downhill!

But now?

Special code!

Hiroshi Yamauchi, who was leaning on the sofa, suddenly cursed.

Ethan Jones is a monster!

How did he grow his brain?

Why do each of his games sell better than the last?

“Why don’t we have artists like this?”

ha--

Yamauchi Hiroshi made a fist with his right hand and slammed it on the sofa next to him.

The dull banging sound told of his unwillingness.

In fact, when he learned that Ethan Jones had defeated Atari's New Generation and Mirowa's Apollo in just three days, he wanted to kill the COLOR TV GAME project in his hands. .

But unfortunately, it was too late by then.

The advertisement for COLOR TV GAME has been launched. One hundred thousand units of 6 and 15 have been produced each and sold in department stores in major cities in Japan. In addition to the loss of tens of millions of dollars in payment due to the temporary cancellation, there are also losses from Mitsubishi. Huge liquidated damages, based on five times the compensation, plus compensation from advertising and dealers, their losses will definitely exceed 80 million...

Although they could afford the compensation, and he, Hiroshi Yamauchi, was also willing to pay, the cancellation at that time would only make Ethan Jones feel that they were guilty of committing crimes!

so……

Even if he has a good eye on the book, he can only watch the machine being sold smoothly!

Their luck at the beginning made them a lot of profit, but now...

How much do they have to pay for this profit?

Hiroshi Yamauchi doesn't know.

But what he knew was——

We have to give Ethan Jones an explanation now right?

Yamauchi Hiroshi, who was lying on his back, murmured.

We can't let another company get him, can we?

Imanishi Hiroshi did not say anything, but Minoru Arakawa said: Father-in-law, I want to ask you something. Can I know how correct Ethan Jones's guess is?

Pfft—— This question made Hiroshi Yamauchi laugh.

His whole body was still slumped there, but his head was lifted hard by the force of his neck.

Those cloudy eyes were emotionless, and the words in his mouth were even colder.

Is this important? he asked.

Of course. Minoru Arakawa nodded seriously, If we hadn't done it before...

all.

Before he could finish speaking, Yamauchi Pu smiled and said:

Ethan Jones is right. It was only after I received a call from Mirowa that I found out that Ethan Jones owns the cheapest chip in the world.

And I did learn the location of Ethan Jones from their mouth, Mi Luohua.

Although Milova didn't mention their new console development plan to me at the time, I did know that Milova wanted to kill Destiny Game...

I called Ethan Jones to come to Kyoto because I wanted to help Milohua!

Because Ethan Jones is too strong!

After seeing his game, I just can't think of a way to deal with him!

But this kind of powerlessness should never appear in a shopping mall, you know?

If Ethan Jones dominates the entire North American game market with overwhelming force, then he will definitely come to deal with us next!

You should know why I said that, right?

If we at Nintendo can clear the obstacles in our own market like him, then I will also raise the banner and try to occupy all overseas markets!

And when I met him for the first time! I could already see the light in his eyes!

And when he came to Tokyo-

He is standing in Akihabara! His pupils are full of desire!

Since then, I knew that what he actually wanted was more!

So what we have to do is to keep him in North America! Let North American game companies continue to fight with him! This will give us more development time!

but--

Atari and Mirowa are really two losers!!!

They are two pieces of shit!!!

The hysterical roar caused the veins on Yamauchi's neck to bulge with blood.

His cheeks turned red instantly, causing Minoru Arakawa to lower his head.

Although Hiroshi Yamauchi admitted everything, Minoru Arakawa didn't feel anything was wrong.

He has been accustomed to business struggles since he was born. He understands that in the shopping mall, there are always winners and losers. People will only see the success of the winners. As for the others?

losers——

So we have to kneel down and beg him for forgiveness now, right?

Yamauchi Hiroshi stared at his son-in-law for a few times and sighed helplessly.

When he turned his attention to Imanishi Hiroshi, he asked: What satisfactory answer do you think Ethan Jones wants? Money? Or an apology?

Why should we apologize?

Imanishi Hiroshi said: President, when did you do those things?

Those were accidents and we've investigated them multiple times.

We can't apologize for an accident.

Yes. Hiroshi Imanishi's question made Hiroshi Yamauchi laugh and nodded: We at Nintendo will never betray our allies. Everything is an accident.

So- he asked.

So we discussed cooperation with him normally. Imanishi Hiroshi said: Like Pac-Man, we appreciate Star Wars very much, and we want to obtain the agency of Star Wars. For this reason, We are willing to rework the guaranteed shipment volume and share of Pac-Man.

Everything that was done before is cancelled. The new plan now is to guarantee a minimum shipment of 150,000 units, divided into 20%, and a single machine selling price of no less than two thousand US dollars.

In this way, the share they receive can be increased from more than 20 million to a guaranteed minimum of 60 million.

At the same time, we also need to sign an agency agreement with them for Star Wars to control the movie's release next year. At the same time, we also need to sign a guarantee with them for the shipment of 200,000 arcade machines, and the share will be 20%. The selling price is no less than two thousand dollars.”

This transaction can bring them a net profit of at least 80 million.

In these two transactions, we made a profit of 70 million.

I believe this large amount of money can fully prove our innocence in the accident.

At the same time, as a show of sincerity, we also invite them to send commissioners to supervise.

Ethan Jones has a stake in the chip factory, right? Let him directly send a director and a supervisor to work. We at Nintendo have always been upright and not afraid of any supervision.

Imanishi Hiroshi looked at Hiroshi Yamauchi with a smile.

Hiroshi Yamauchi shifted his gaze to Minoru Arakawa.

At this moment, the young man still lowered his head, but Imanishi Hiroshi gave him an elbow.

Ah? Minoru Arakawa quickly raised his head when he came back to his senses.

Then, he found that his father-in-law was looking at him with a smile.

Arakawa, could you please take a trip— Yamauchi Hiroshi said.

If I can survive on my knees, I will smash my knees for the future——

And all this—

It's up to you——