……

Sony Chairman Akio Morita and Sony President Norio Ohaga, who converged on their edges and traveled in a low-key manner, specially came to the famous electric street Akihabara for a "private interview with microservices".

Home appliance stores such as televisions, washing machines, and refrigerators are still thriving, and there are many video cameras, stereos, and music CDs, and many of the bestsellers are Sony's flagship products.

However, there was no joy on the faces of Akio Morita and Norio Oga, and Guy Akihabara also had a more popular hot seller, that is, the second-generation Xiaobawang game console. All kinds of related game stores can be said to be in the ascendant.

"The men are busy playing golf, and the women don't have their own entertainment besides housework?"

This highly provocative advertising slogan suddenly made the dance machine a popular video game for Japanese women, and the slogan "Fitness in Entertainment" gave everyone a glimpse of what it means to "make the best money for women".

People's obsession with dance machines has directly driven the sales of the second-generation Xiaobawang game console, and with the increasing market share of this platform, it naturally gives other types of games the opportunity for consumers to pay for them.

……

"This cassette is the one that Akina Nakamori said on the TV show."

"Great, I can finally make a difference, please wrap it up for me."

……

From time to time, such conversations between salesmen and customers reached the ears of Akio Morita and Norio Oga, causing them to frown.

"The second-generation Xiaobawang game console is so expensive, millions of units have been sold, and we are only at the level of co-developing CD-ROM drives. And indifferent to this market. It's a pity. Norio Ohga's tone was full of eagerness.

"The market for home TV game consoles is too competitive. In Japan alone, there are veteran manufacturers such as Nintendo, Sega, and NEC. Especially last year's home video game console market crash in North America, I don't know how many companies went bankrupt. Akio Morita shook his head, "The hot sales of the second-generation Xiaobawang game console rely on the dance machine, but the trend of the dance machine sweeping Japan is a phenomenon and almost impossible to replicate." ”

"But after the shuffle, in terms of the whole world. The number of game companies has decreased dramatically, and the living space has become larger. It's like EA, which now almost has a monopoly on the video game industry. And Nintendo's FC console has been able to survive even if it has suffered serious setbacks. Norio Oga is clearly more optimistic.

"I'm not against Sony's foray into the home video game console space, but before that, we have to do a good job of accumulating technology. Compared with the sudden collapse of Atari, it is really terrifying that EA, which is getting bigger and bigger, can survive this sudden market disaster. ”

Akio Morita said with a grim face: "We must admit that Tang Chang's company. The technology is advanced enough, and the reaction speed is even more unrivaled. Just according to the COMDEX rhythm of spring and autumn every year, there are new products launched every half year, which almost drags down all the competitors. ”

"That's just as well." He nodded, "Let's take the personal computer as an example, I originally thought that after obtaining the authorization of the second-generation Fangyuan personal computer compatible machine, I could completely understand the technology of this industry, but I didn't expect that the third-generation Fangyuan personal computer has added so many new tricks, and its performance in the renewal of the generation, there is quite a never-ending meaning." Fortunately, the PC business is profitable, and we are not at a loss. ”

"Tang Huan has been able to maintain a leading position in these highly competitive industries for a long time, and it is by no means relying on technical advantages alone." Akio Morita pointed to the billboard in front of a game store and said: "You see, the royalty system launched by EA and Taidong has adjusted the game developers on the second-generation Xiaobawang game console platform in an orderly manner, and each game is like a movie rating system, giving various positions." ”

"However, I heard that the implementation of this royalty system has not been smooth." A smile appeared on his face, "At the beginning, in order to maintain their share of game works, EA and Taidong set a cap of four games per year for third-party game companies such as Hudson, Namco, Capcom, Jellico, and Konami, but they were opposed, so they raised the upper limit from four games to six games, and changed the hard cap to a soft cap, as long as the game quality and rating meet the standard, it is not within the limit. ”

"From the current point of view, I think EA and Taidong are playing a set of power tricks to retreat into advance." Akio Morita also smiled, but there was a little more playfulness in his smile.

"The opposition of third-party game companies occurred after the success of the dance machine and the sharp increase in the market share of the second-generation Xiaobawang game console platform, which just shows that they are extremely optimistic about the prospects of the second-generation Xiaobawang game console platform."

"EA and Taidong are like the big bad wolves who coaxed Little Red Riding Hood to open the door, although they agreed to relax the upper limit on the number of works of game developers, but let them further sign a lot of detailed terms in the royalty system, including game ratings, centralized production, etc., and also left an image of the outside world willing to share benefits with collaborators, which is really cunning to the extreme."

Listening to Akio Morita's analysis, Oga Norio opened his mouth, but in the end he was speechless.

"It's clear that EA is an industry leader in sorting out the order in the video game space and trying to re-establish a set of market rules that can operate stably for a long time."

Akio Morita continued slowly: "Then we can sit back and watch the success of EA, on the one hand, we can observe and learn from EA's experience, and on the other hand, wait for the recovery of the North American home video game console market." ”

Dahedian nodded convincingly, "Then the chairman thinks that how long will we have to wait before it is suitable to enter the home video game console market." ”

"It mainly depends on two conditions." Akio Morita held out his finger and counted, "First of all, there must be clear signs of recovery in the North American home video game console market, and I estimate that it will take at least two years." Second, we need the opportunity for industry rules to change, just as there is an opportunity to upgrade from 8-bit PCs to 16-bit PCs. There is no such condition. Latecomers will not be able to break through the monopoly of EA's hegemon. ”

"It seems. We're going to have to wait a while. Norio Oga sighed softly. Tang Huan's methods are indeed clever, but some of his methods have always confused me. Take, for example, personal computers and video game consoles, which have been pushing the boundaries of CD-ROM tirelessly. ”

"Do you think that Tang Huan already has quite a lot of interests in the VCR market, and then improving the status of CD-ROM in this way is fighting left and right, and weakening the existing profitability?" Akio Morita asked with interest.

"I do. After Tang Huan obtained the license of the VCR and videotape from JVC, he quickly introduced the new videotape format S-VHS, which has now basically replaced the VHS format, otherwise our Betamax format would not have taken such a sharp turn for the worse, and we had to make many concessions in the process of cooperation with RCA in order to try to regain the disadvantage in the United States. ”

Norio Oga observed Akio Morita, who was in charge of the matter, and saw that the other party's expression remained unchanged, but he still added: "Tang Huan is currently behind in this field, and even trampled the original owner of VHS, JVC, under his feet, but fortunately he was not put into our Betamax camp like CD-DA did. ”

This foreshadowing is done. Norio Ohga continued with confidence: "Tang Huan is using CD-ROM, a business whose business model has yet to be verified, to squeeze the S-VHS video recorder, a business whose market value has matured. Don't know what's going on in his head? No wonder some people have the title of madman, in addition to calling them nouveau riche. ”

"People in the world often think of geniuses as crazy, but they just don't understand the idea of geniuses." Akio Morita smiled faintly, "I brought you to Akihabara this time just to see if I could find out Tang Huan's plans." Son's younger brother opened an electrical appliance shop here, and with his brother's close relationship with Tang Huan, he was even able to get some conceptual products and businesses. Maybe we'll get a glimpse of it. ”

The two were chatting, and the subordinate in charge of leading the way said respectfully: "President, president, this is this electrical appliance store." Some of the latest products here require pre-order, and even confidentiality and feedback agreements have to be signed. ”

Akio Morita waved his hand and strode into this electrical appliance store belonging to the Sun family, and the first sales area that caught his eye was the hot video game area. In addition to the second-generation Xiaobawang game console and game cartridges, the products sold also include various peripherals, Xiaobawang handheld machines, Xiaobawang arcade machines, and video games running on personal computer platforms.

A salesman is demonstrating to a young man and a woman that the second-generation Xiaobawang game console is connected to the TV through the A-V terminal, which is superior to connecting the TV through the tuner.

……

"Sure enough, I'm not afraid of interference, the picture is so delicate. When playing with a dance machine, the effect is even better. The woman praised happily.

"Then don't buy a Sony TV for our new house,Buy a Sharp TV,In addition to supporting this A-V terminal,The infrared remote control is really very convenient to use,When watching the program, you can press it casually,You can be lazy。 The man chuckled.

……

When Akio Morita heard this, his face suddenly darkened.

He was just about to raise his leg and walk inside, when he heard the salesman suggest to the young man and woman who were about to get married: "Two, how can there be no VCR in the home entertainment system, why don't you go to the area over there and take a look, and I'll go to the warehouse to get you the game console." ”

The young men and women walked in the other direction in a good way, and happened to be on the same road as Akio Morita and Norio Oga.

……

Looking at the S-VHS video recorders of Epson, JVC, Panasonic, Sharp, Kyocera and other brands on the shelves, Akio Morita has a feeling of being dazzled.

Sony is also obsessed with mastering industry standards, as early as the 1970s, in the videotape format competition, it dominated everything with the U-Matic format, which aroused the hatred of Panasonic and other companies, so in the new round of videotape format competition, it supported JVC's VHS format and Sony's Betamax format to work against each other.

It is precisely because of Sony's "solitary" style of acting that Akio Morita is very uncomfortable with so many brands of S-VHS video recorders appearing in front of him.

When the salesman asked him with a smile which one he was interested in, Akio Morita subconsciously asked, "Why don't you have a video recorder here that supports Betamax format?" ”

"The S-VHS format is a generation more advanced than the Betamax format, and the functions provided by Betamax are all available in S-VHS; But on the other hand, Betamax does not have many of the functions of S-VHS, and Betamax is not as good as S-VHS in terms of the number of types of video recorders and the richness of video tape program content. So, we only sell the more popular S-VHS recorders here. ”

The salesperson's tireless and detailed explanation, not only did not win the appreciation of Akio Morita, but he was so angry that he smoked in his heart, and secretly said in his heart, "When did Sony, the king who controls the industry standard of video tapes, fall to the point of being so skillfully belittled by a small salesperson?" ”

Seeing Akio Morita's unhappy look, Norio Oga hurriedly took over the conversation and asked, "You have so many types of S-VHS video recorders here, it's a bit dazzling." Which one is the best, you recommend it. ”

"That's up to you." Salespeople are obviously at a loss for what to do with their customers, and they are familiar with it, "For example, the Epson video recorder will be at the forefront of the list in terms of the most powerful features, and it can support S-VHS tapes for up to 8 hours." ”

Akio Morita pouted disdainfully, "As long as Sony is willing, it can also make the length of the Betamax tape reach 8 hours by sacrificing the picture quality." ”

The salesman continued, "The S-VHS format is known as the most complete standard for analog recording of videotapes, and it can even be connected to a personal computer to back up data. ”

Hearing this, Akio Morita was stunned for a moment, his face slowly became serious, and there seemed to be a scene in front of him that organically integrated home entertainment systems such as televisions, video recorders, game consoles, and stereos.

The salesman raised his finger and said, "In addition, this Epson video recorder supports a new videotape digital recording format - D-VHS, which is more powerful." However, customers need to become our members before they can make a purchase. ”

"D-VHS in Digital Record Format?" Akio Morita muttered in his mouth, and at the same time remembered the CD-ROM that Tang Huan was actively promoting, and he vaguely felt that there seemed to be some connection in it.

After a few more consultations, the two new guests said, "We want to buy another video surveillance system, and it is best to install it today, are your engineers there?" (To be continued.) )