Time flies, and it's October in a blink of an eye.

Lin Ruidong came to Tokyo, Japan, and Hayao Nakayama told him the good news, the "red and white machine" sold out in less than 470,000 units in Japan in two months, that is, the first batch of products were all sold out, and the main game "Super Mario" was very popular in Japan, and the image of the plumber was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

"Well, according to this development, we can exceed 3 million sales in the first year. In this way, the Japanese market will be our own unique situation. Lin Ruidong said happily.

As long as the red and white machine succeeds in Japan, it will also form a hegemonic situation in Europe and the United States like the Atari 2600 when it was launched. In this way, he will become an influential presence in the field of video games at Audrey Inc., which will surpass Atari President Ones, so it is logical to go to the top of the group.

Although even without these achievements, with his mother's influence, he can serve as a senior member of the group, but it is obviously not so convincing.

"Yes, when we release the red and white console, it will also announce that other game manufacturers in Japan will have to be trampled under our feet forever," said Nakayama. Such excellent hardware products and software products can be called a perfect pair, "Super Mario" drove the sales of "red and white machines", and "red and white machines" became "Super Mario". ”

He had already described Lin Ruidong as admiring at this time, and as far as he knew, Atari came to Japan to develop because of this young man's single-handedness, and it is said that other high-level Atari leaders were even more opposed. If it weren't for this young man's succession in planning "Cabbage Doll", "Donkey Kong", Game & Watch, etc., even if his mother was Audrey Hepburn, I believe he would be more blocked.

Now, he's succeeding!

He is also successful, he enjoys 10% of Sega's equity, and he is not completely a 'wage earner'. Although he is so successful now, he does not dare to be an enemy of Lin Ruidong, because almost everything in Sega has the shadow of Lin Ruidong, and Lin Ruidong is the chief planner.

"In the next step, in order to enrich the 'red and white machine' game software ecosystem, I hope you will invite Nangong Meng and Hudson to join our game software ecosystem. Of course, we have to strictly follow the 'royalty system' formulated by our game console software ecosystem, and only 5 games can be released on external game console platforms every year."

The royalty system, although harsh, ensures that the game is rough and messy. Each game software vendor can only release 5 game software (one year) on the Atari and Red & White platforms, which means that they will work hard to launch the best five.

According to his father, the biggest reason why Atari 2600 can still occupy more than 40% of the market in Europe and the United States is due to its game software. As for the hardware, it's not good enough at all, and many other brands of game consoles have already surpassed the Atari 2600 in terms of technology.

Now it's different, the advent of the red and white machine is equivalent to another era ahead of everyone, and it is impossible for anyone to make the same excellent product in two years. As for two years later, the red and white machine has swept the world, and it is naturally even more fearless of challenges.

Hayao Nakayama said, "Actually, Nintendo is also a good game software developer in Japan, but it is the two that you mentioned Mr. Ryan", which is not famous, but it is an insignificant company.

Lin Ruidong immediately said: "You can't cooperate with Nintendo, unless they can accept the acquisition." By the way, even if you buy them, no matter how bad they are, you will poach their backbone. ”

The reason why he reacted this way was that he heard his father mention Nintendo, so he immediately regarded Nintendo as an opponent.

Hayakuo Nakayama was stunned for a moment and said, "Acquisition? ”

Lin Ruidong nodded and said, "It's an acquisition." I know a little bit about Nintendo, which used to have a good performance in the junior video game space, and then consoles that did well in Japan, and if we were willing to be acquired, we could strengthen our forces and have one less competitor. ”

He still has a lot of products to develop, such as the upgraded version of the 'Game & Watch', the 'Game Boy', which is like the upgraded 'Red and White Machine' of the 'Atari 2600'. In the field of handhelds, "Hong Kong Cube" is invincible, followed by "Donkey Kong", and these games are funded by the Lin family.

In addition to this, there are CD game consoles, and even more game software will be developed to let Audrey dominate this field.

Hayabusa Nakayama replied, "Then I'll try it!" ”

Lin Ruidong said with satisfaction: "If you don't want to be acquired, then Nintendo is our potential competitor. Mr. Hayao Nakayama, I have recommended to the Board of Directors that you will be the Global Head of SEGA Games, and I hope that we will work together to make SEGA Games the new hegemon in the field of video games. ”

Even after he took up the senior position of the group, he initiated the acquisition of Disney at the beginning, and the video game field will also be his responsibility.

"Thank you Mr. Ryan for your continued trust, I will definitely live up to your expectations!" Hayabusa Nakayama said with his head bowed and leaned on his waist.

He admired this boss from the bottom of his heart, as if everything was under control.

Later, Lin Ruidong inspected Sega, and for the past three years, he has been traveling to Japan almost every month, for more than a week at a time.

Now that he has finally 'emerged', the high-level of Atari are speechless after trying the 'red and white machine', knowing that the general trend has gone. Research on the Atari 2600 is coming to a halt, and some hardware engineers will be laid off, while others will remain as employees of Sega Games USA.

In short, Atari, which was originally invincible, has now been 'defeated' by the subsidiary, and Lin Ruidong will next integrate the two companies - the anti-child is the mother, the group will focus on the video game company, and Atari will become the game software company.

The other side.

Nintendo was on the verge of bankruptcy, and since Sega's game console was only 14,800 yen, and it was one version ahead of other game consoles in Japan, it immediately formed a well-known blow to the entire Japanese game manufacturer, and Nintendo was no exception.

For example, after the Atari 2600 was launched, Nintendo also launched a game console at the end of 1976, after Atari's video game watch was launched, Nintendo also launched similar products, and after Atari's Game & Watch was launched, Nintendo also launched similar products.

However, due to the loss of the opportunity and the lack of good enough game software support, Nintendo's profits are relatively weak, and it is difficult to support the high R&D expenses.

This is one step to lose the opportunity, step by step to lose the opportunity.

An excellent product does not need specific talents, just like the red and white machine does not necessarily have to be led by the military level, what is really needed is a huge R & D cost.

In the previous life, Nintendo was able to succeed because of the success of the console Color TV Game 6, the handheld Game & Watch, and the game watch, which created favorable conditions for the development of the 'red and white machine'.

In this life, Nintendo lost the market for handheld Game & Watch and game watches (Atari is produced and sold in Japan through Sega). As for the Atari 2600, it did not enter Japan because the price was too high.

Nintendo's conference room.

President Hiroshi Yamauchi convened a meeting with Honsho Kinpei, the head of hardware, Masayuki Uemura, and Shigeru Miyamoto, the head of software.

"Sega Games has already sold more than 500,000 units, and according to this sales, their annual sales are equivalent to the total demand of the whole of Japan (without taking into account the increase, it will actually enlarge the market). I called everyone here today to think of a way for the company to avoid bankruptcy! ”

"To develop a product as excellent as the 'red and white machine', it will take nearly two years and a lot of research and development funds. But what is certain is that we can develop it, after all, Sega's R&D personnel are originally our Japanese engineers. The parts of the red and white machine are also made in Japan (the shell is not made, but made in Hong Kong). ”

Masayuki Uemura said: "Although the hardware can be developed, a large reason why the red and white machine sells well is because of Super Mario. ”

Actually, there's the issue of patents, but there's room for manoeuvre with this thing.

Everyone looked at Nangong Meng, the person in charge of game software, because the pressure was on him.

Nangong Meng understands that "Super Mario" simply takes video games to a new level, and it is difficult for such a classic game to be born.

"Super Mario, Golf, and Baseball are all based on 8-bit consoles, and they are worth learning from. If you want to develop a similar product, it also requires a lot of money and risk. ”

Hiroshi Yamauchi's face was displeased, and both hardware and software were talking about funding, but Nintendo was now at the end of its rope.

"I'll take care of the funding, even if it's a loan, we want to be the representative of the Japanese game industry, Sega Games is not a Japanese company, and we won't let them dominate the Japanese game industry. So, ladies and gentlemen, this is the pride of the Japanese Empire, and I ask you to redouble your efforts. ”

Directly showing the national integrity finally inspires everyone's confidence.

Sega Games was founded in Japan in the early years, and the current president is also Japanese, but industry insiders know that this is an American-controlled company, and the parent company behind it is Atari Games, and the capital behind it is Audrey Corporation, the world's largest toy manufacturer.

Only a day later, Lin Ruidong came to Nintendo with Hayano Nakayama.

Yamauchi was a little stunned, he didn't expect the Sega people to come to Nintendo, and the two sides met in the conference room.

Lin Ruidong said straight to the point: "President Hiroshi Yamauchi, we have found that there is an infringement in your company's production of handheld products. ”

Hiroshi Yamauchi blushed, this was directly slapped in the face.

After he felt weak for a moment, he pretended to be calm and said: "Mr. Ryan, President Zhongshan, doesn't your company have a legal officer, do you need to negotiate this kind of thing in person!" ”

Lin Ruidong said: "I didn't call the legal counsel because we didn't want to talk about the matter and wanted to negotiate and deal with it!" ”

Hiroshi Yamauchi replied: "I think it's better to let a professional like legal affairs handle it, after all, I believe that we are not infringing!" ”

It is difficult to identify the infringement, after all, the whole machine must not have patent rights, only some small places have infringement, but this is the place where the production of handheld computers must be controlled.

Of course, such as Atari's D-pad, joystick, light gun, etc., this is a very clear patent, as long as there is a game manufacturer to use it, you must pay royalties.

Of course, this patent will only work in Europe, the United States and Japan, and other places will not pay you a patent.

Hayao Nakayama smiled and said, "President Yamauchi, in fact, we are here to seek cooperation. ”

One of the two sang red face and white face, obviously prepared. Because Lin Ruidong felt that his father attached great importance to Nintendo, he planned to strangle Nintendo in the cradle, so he decided to come to the meeting in person.

Hiroshi Yamauchi said, "How to cooperate? ”

Hayao Nakayama said, "To become our game software provider, we have two conditions. ”

Hiroshi Yamauchi knew that pie would not fall from the sky, so he said calmly: "Those two conditions? ”

"First, Sega is willing to buy a 51% stake in Nintendo at a high price; The hardware division of the second Nintendo joined Sega and abandoned hardware research and development. ”

Hiroshi Yamauchi stood up angrily, and then said, "You guys are making trouble! ”

Lin Ruidong said at this time: "Nintendo has run out of funds and is on the verge of bankruptcy. And the birth of the 'red and white machine', you have no hope of turning over, even if you develop similar products, it will be two or three years later, the solid market has already been occupied by Sega, and you are still facing the risk of infringement. On the contrary, if Nintendo joins Sega, it can become a software vendor that we focus on, and I believe that President Hiroshi Yamauchi also understands that hardware does not make money, but software makes money. And our largest software vendor, the annual profit has reached 30 million US dollars, that is, the company that developed "Hong Kong Cube". ”

The last sentence is the real key!

Red and white machines have occupied the market, and it is difficult for the later products to threaten its position, unless it is a CD game console, 32-bit game console, but these are not developed from generation to generation, not to mention the need for huge financial support.

Yamauchi Bo calmed down, and then he said: "We will not agree to be acquired, I believe that Sega will find us, then it must regard us as opponents, so even if it is a huge loan, I will not let you monopolize the market." ”

Hayao Nakayama left a business card and said, "President Yamauchi, the real purpose of doing business is to make money. If you figure it out, you can come to us at any time, and the matter of shares is also negotiable, and we can do 49%, as long as you give us the hardware department. ”

Then Lin Ruidong and Zhongshan Hayao got up and said goodbye.

On the way, Lin Ruidong said with a smile: "The reason why I want to buy Nintendo is because I fancy their talents, so if possible, you try to dig up the cores of Hengjin Jinping and Miyamoto Shigeru." ”

In fact, he doesn't really attach great importance to the Rampant Army, after all, the successful development of the red and white function has shown that Sega's talents are very mature (a small number of American R&D personnel joined in the early days, most of them were Japanese engineers); His real goal is to dismantle Nintendo.

After all, the opponent that my father likes must be right.

Hayao Nakayama nodded and said, "Well, I'll try, anyway, Nintendo is our biggest potential opponent in Japan." ”

Lin Ruidong said with a smile: "Well, although I believe that in two years, Sega's annual profit will reach 3~500 million US dollars, sweeping the world's video game manufacturers, but I will still maintain the importance of potential opponents." ”

Hayao Nakayama was dumbfounded, and then said: "Mr. Ryan is so optimistic about the red and white machine, "Super Mario", etc., you must know that Panasonic's profit is only 400 million US dollars. ”

Lin Ruidong said: "Sega will surpass Panasonic's profits, in addition, I will consider listing Sega in Japan in the future, and Sega's employee stock ownership plan, I am also considering, in short, I will not treat everyone badly." ”

The Atari 2600 generated $2 billion in annual sales that year, and its profit that year also reached more than $200 million, accounting for half of Audrey's profits. Nowadays, red and white machines are obviously much easier to popularize, and the important thing is that the revenue of game software is the majority.

Hayao Nakayama was overjoyed and said, "In this way, everyone will definitely go all out!" ”

He holds a 10% stake, and if he can really surpass Matsushita, he will also become a top entrepreneur in Japan. He doesn't suspect that Lin Ruidong is lying, after all, Atari has set a turnover record of 2 billion, so Sega is naturally more promising, after all, the superiority of the red and white machine and "Super Mario" is obviously obvious.

(End of chapter)