June 18th, American time.

Nine o'clock in the morning.

Hideki Hanyu led a group of Genie Entertainment executives and boarded a plane to Las Vegas.

Hideki Hanyu and his party were the last group of Elf Entertainment to set off.

The staff in charge of setting up the booth arrived in Las Vegas yesterday, led by Satoshi Iwata and Michael Katz.

Because they had to bring the items to set up the booth, they even drove there.

From San Francisco to Las Vegas McCarran International Airport, the flight is an hour and a half.

As soon as she got on the plane, Yasuko Sawaguchi took out a red and white electronic Poké Ball and couldn't wait to play.

I saw that on the plane of the hemispherical body, there was a black and white screen that was half larger than Tuoma Gezi.

Although this screen still looks small.

But don't underestimate it.

Sharp, who provided screens to Elf Entertainment, originally didn't pay much attention to Elf Entertainment.

At that time, the screen of the first generation of electronic pets was developed in conjunction with the development of the first generation of electronic pets, and it was still for the sake of Elf Entertainment that placed an order of five million units in one go.

As a result, the sales volume of Tuoma Gezi exceeded 10 million, and Sharp immediately raised Elf Entertainment to the level of an important partner.

Therefore, when Elf Entertainment was developing the second generation of electronic pets.

Sharp was very cooperative with the formation of a R&D team to help overcome technical needs.

This is an inconspicuous but cutting-edge monochrome LCD screen.

And after the completion of the research and development of the second generation of electronic pets, the cooperation between Elf Entertainment and Sharp has not ended.

Genie Entertainment has begun joint research and development with Sharp on a monochrome LCD screen that exceeds 2.4 inches and can display 4-color grayscale.

OF COURSE, THE NEW SCREEN WAS NOMINALLY DEVELOPED FOR THE THIRD GENERATION OF ELECTRONIC PETS, BUT IN FACT IT WAS FOR THE GAME BOY HANDHELD.

The screen under development, like the LCD screen on the Poké Ball, is the main pursuit of low energy consumption.

Takuma Geko's sales are stable, and Sharp attaches great importance to the cooperation with Elf Entertainment.

The R&D is progressing very smoothly.

In fact, when it comes to cooperating with third-party hardware manufacturers, sales are always respected.

With a successful product, other manufacturers will pay attention to it and meet the needs of R&D.

At this time, looking at Yasuko Sawaguchi, the Poke Ball in her hand has been successfully turned on.

The logo of Genie Entertainment is no longer rigid.

Instead, a simple animation of a Poké Ball opening appears.

Then, a cute electric mouse appears on the screen.

Along with it, there is also the sound of 'pickup, pickup'.

The second generation of electronic pets, finally with a voice.

Although limited by the body's performance, each Pokémon sprite has only two calls.

Victory, well-fed, good mood and other states, will use happy shouts.

If you are in a state such as failure, hunger, or a bad mood, you will use unhappy screams.

But even so, the familiar call of the electric rat still made Hanyu Hideki feel like a familiar world was coming.

Look at the image of Pikachu again.

Compared to the rudimentary version shown to Michael Katz before.

After being optimized by the technicians of the America branch, it is noticeably more vivid.

If the owner doesn't operate, he won't move.

But the Pokémon elves in the second generation of electronic pets, if the owner does not operate, will have their own small actions.

For example, Pikachu fed by Yasuko Sawaguchi.

If you don't, you'll flick your tail or wagging your ears in boredom.

Hanyu Hideki saw that the screen showed that this Pikachu hunger value was a little low.

Yasuko Sawaguchi chose to feed.

In the setting of the manual, Pikachu likes to eat ketchup.

But even second-generation electronic pets can't make a bunch of food on their own.

So all you can see is a black mass being eaten.

Then when the hunger level returns to normal, a heart floats on the screen.

Shows an increase in intimacy.

This is a new value added by Satoshi Iwata after Hunger, Health, and Mood when America was optimized later.

It mainly affects the outcome of the combat system.

Then Hanyu Hideki saw Yasuko Sawaguchi operate Pikachu to fight.

The object of this battle is a monster like a small bubble.

According to Satoshi Iwata.

In order to save collective storage space, the combat object has only one shape.

It's just that there will be random numbers ranging from one to three, representing different levels of difficulty.

The screen size is limited, and the plural monsters don't appear at the same time.

Rather, one is killed, and another appears.

I saw a flicker of electricity on the screen, and then a curved line hit the monster.

This effect is still far from the real lightning effect.

But it's still a lot better than the original version.

After defeating the first opponent several times in a row, the battle victory is displayed on the screen.

It was clear that Yasuko Sawaguchi only found one monster at random.

Then it shows that some lessons have been gained.

Health, mood, and hunger have all been slightly reduced.

But intimacy has risen.

Of course, after winning the battle, Pikachu screamed happily twice.

Yasuko Sawaguchi may find it boring to play alone.

Then she turned her head to find Tajiri who was sitting behind her.

Propose online battles.

Tajiri is the same as Yasuko Sawaguchi.

After getting the electronic Poké Ball, he immediately became a heavy fan of Poké Ball.

In the previous life, Tajiri's favorite Pokémon sprite was the mosquito coil tadpole.

But the green Poké Ball he got was a small fire dragon.

Both of these Poké Balls have just been obtained, and their levels are still far from evolving.

But Tajiri has obviously played a little longer than Yasuko Sawaguchi.

Therefore, after the online game, the little fire dragon won several battles.

Yasuko Sawaguchi saw that she couldn't beat Tajiri Chi, so she turned around and came to bully Hideki Hanyu.

Hideki Hanyu also has an electronic Poké Ball in his hand.

However, after he opened a bobo, he became familiar with it, and he didn't play much, so he didn't raise the level at all.

So after connecting the data cable, he was beaten by Pikachu of Yasuko Sawaguchi.

After enjoying the joy of victory at Hideki Hanyu, Yasuko Sawaguchi was satisfied and put away the electronic pet again.

Hanyu Hideki looked back at this time and found that Tajiri and Yumori Ken were fighting online again.

The two are of the same level, and the competition is about intimacy and mood value.

However, in the case of almost the same stats, the result of the battle is randomly generated.

Due to the limitations of the body, the current animatronic pets will only change the attack animation after evolution.

As for matching the lineup, using skills, it is simply impossible.

But even so, the two of them were quite engaged in playing.

Such a scene, Eri Kitahara, who was sitting on the other side of Hideki Hanyu, of course, also saw it.

She asked Hideki Hanyu, "Hanyu-san, Poké Balls seem to be very popular, is our stock a little low before?" ”

Asako Hirohashi knew that the first batch of orders for the second-generation electronic Poké Poké Balls placed by Hideki Hanyu to the Neon factory was only one million units.

Less than half a million units have arrived in America today.

Compared with the first batch of production quantities of the original generation of Takuma Gezi, it is too much worse.

Eri Kitahara worries that once sales go up, follow-up production will not be able to keep up.

Hearing Eri Kitahara's words, Hideki Hanyu smiled wryly.

"Kitahara-san, do you think I don't want to?"

"Any questions?" Eri Kitahara asked.

"Kitahara-san also knows that although the second generation of electronic pets has more functions, the cost is more than double that of the first generation machine, and we must consider the production cost."

After Hanyu Hideki finished speaking, Eri Kitahara said with some incomprehension.

"But if the sales volume keeps up, even if the payment is a little slower, it can also solve the pressure on production costs."

Hideki Hanyu shook his head when he heard this, "Kitahara-san, the sellers of America only settle the bill in December every year, and we also need to bear the expenses of all the dealers' discount activities. ”

"What!" Eri Kitahara was shocked.

The accounts are settled once a year, and the cost of discount activities is also borne by the manufacturer.

What the hell is that?

Doesn't this mean that Genie Entertainment has made a product, not only needs to bear all the risks.

It is also hoped that there will be no cash flow problems for dealers.

Otherwise, it will be a bamboo basket for water.

And the more you sell, the greater the financial pressure.

"Yes, that's it." Hanyu Hideki said helplessly.

He also knew that Nintendo later America also enjoyed this treatment.

In the end, because the sales volume was good enough, he took out the confidence and asked the dealer to change it to 30 days to settle the payment.

Genie Entertainment wants to learn from Nintendo to change the rules, at least prove the sales of electronic Poké Balls.

In fact, there is one most important reason, Hanyu Hideki can't say.

It was the animatronic Poké Ball, even though it was popular with both Neon and Amerika employees during the trial.

But as his completely original stuff, he can't guarantee that it will be a big hit in America.

Therefore, it was decided to be conservative at the beginning.

Even if it's really welcome, it's too late to restock when it's out of stock.

After all, if you don't let customers enjoy the feeling of being out of stock, how can you be embarrassed to say that you are popular.

After an hour and a half flight.

Hideki Hanyu and his entourage arrive at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas.

As soon as you step out of the airport, the scorching heat hits your face.

Hideki Hanyu felt like the sun was abundant in California.

But when you get to the Nevada desert, you don't know what heat is.

Las Vegas, the first of America's four furnace cities, lives up to its name.

Fortunately, Satoshi Iwata, who arrived in advance, had already asked the hotel to arrange an air-conditioned bus for them.

After the group got into the car, they felt the cool temperature and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hanyu-kun also said that it's fun here, how can you go out so hot."

Yasuko Sawaguchi, who wore a sunhat and sunglasses, did not forget to fan her face with her hands to cool down her face after getting in the car.

"You can just come out and play at night, in addition to the casino, you can also see all kinds of big shows, circuses, big musicals, you name it."

After Hanyu Hideki finished speaking, he saw that Yasuko Sawaguchi was a little uninterested, so he continued.

"In addition to playing, Las Vegas is also the city with the highest concentration of luxury stores in the world, so you can not only buy all kinds of big brands by boat, but also buy your favorite clothes while watching fashion shows."

As soon as Hideki Hanyu said this, not only Yasuko Sawaguchi's eyes lit up.

Even Eri Kitahara, who was in a car, was interested.

"Miss Sawaguchi, when the exhibition starts, let's go shopping together."

"Hanyu-kun want to go with you?" Yasuko Sawaguchi went to see Hideki Hanyu.

"I'm going to be busy with the exhibition, but I still won't go."

Hideki Hanyu hurriedly found a reason to refuse.

Accompanying a woman to go shopping is such a thing, just do it once in a while.

But there are many shopping malls throughout Las Vic Homes, which are home to all the world's well-known brands.

If this woman goes shopping, she won't be able to finish shopping for a month.

If this is the beginning, he will not be exhausted to death.

Besides, even if he goes, it's a personal wallet, so it's better to give the money directly.

So he took a card out of his wallet and handed it to the other party.

"You and Kitahara-san are spending, if you see something good and help me buy some, I'll go back and send it to my friends."

"Hanyu-kun is the best." Yasuko Sawaguchi happily took the card.

Looking at the girl like that, if she hadn't been on the bus, she would probably have jumped into Hanyu Hideki's arms and kissed.

"Hanyu-san is so generous, then I'm welcome." Eri Kitahara also said excitedly.

Women, even strong women.

It's the same when it comes to shopping.

"You're welcome, don't you go shopping with Ming Cai-chan often, help me buy a few gifts for her, and I'll pack them and ship them back together when the time comes."

"No problem!"

Eri Kitahara immediately agreed.

Spending money is such a thing, for women, there is no need to explain it at all.

"When you go out to play, remember to inform Marco and ask him to arrange for someone to protect you." Hideki Hanyu confessed.

This time to come to America in addition to the staff.

There is also a team of bodyguards led by Marco.

There were even two female bodyguards specially brought.

In the 80s, the security situation in America was stronger than it was later.

But there's nothing wrong with being careful.

After a short time on the bus, they arrived at their hotel reservation.

It's not Caesar's Palace, the Metropolis, or Bellagio that tourists are familiar with.

It's a three-star hotel that looks ordinary, but the environment is good.

Saving money is part of the reason.

The main reason is that it is closer to the exhibition venue.

Want to enjoy high-class hotel services.

When the four-day exhibition is over, it will be too late to change places.

Anyway, Neon hasn't had much to do lately, so it's okay to play for a few more days.

But when they arrived at the hotel, the first thing they did was not to play, but to ask the staff to take them to the exhibition site.

After several people arrived at the entrance of the exhibition, they found that although the exhibition had not started, there were many people coming in and out.

Basically, they are the staff and workers who come to set up the booth.

Bringing the work badges prepared by the staff, Hideki Hanyu and his party entered the exhibition site.

As soon as he entered the door, Hideki Hanyu saw many well-known brand booths.

HP, IBM, Motorola, Apple, Philips, Siemens, Nokia, Sony, Casio, Panasonic, Nikon, Toshiba, LG, Samsung......

Although the booth layout of many brands is not as scientific and technological as that of later generations.

But it already represents the most cutting-edge consumer electronics of this era.

Hideki Hanyu would love to visit it.

Unfortunately, these booths have not yet been set up and are not open.

Not to mention that he has more important things to do.

Led by the staff, Hideki Hanyu soon arrived at the booth of Genie Entertainment.

Their booth is behind Sony, and the location is quite remote.

No way, that's the treatment of a newcomer.

Although the booth is remote, the staff is very attentive to the arrangement.

Dolls, comics, brochures, and demo bodies are well organized.

There are also television sets dedicated to advertising.

And in addition to the main display of electronic pets.

In the corner of the Elf Entertainment booth, I am also going to promote my own games by the way.

"Kung Fu", "Kung Fu: Death Break", "Mario Bros.", "Ice Cube".

There are also games developed by the America division.

In addition to selling arcade substrates, there is also a PC version.

Although these two markets are not as good as household machines, no matter how small the mosquito legs are, they are still meat, and they can make a little money.

And before that, it became famous, and when it was transplanted to the handheld in the future, there were at least potential consumers.

……

Hideki Hanyu had just arrived at the booth and had just taken a few glances at the layout.

Michael Katz, who had been here yesterday, stepped forward and said to Hideki Hanyu, "Mr. Hanyu, please come with me." ”

Michael Katz didn't say what he was going to do, but Hideki Hanyu immediately followed.

The two of them walked all the way to the corner at the back of the pavilion.

Hideki Hanyu couldn't help but sigh, "It seems that Nintendo's booth is the same treatment as us?" ”

"Mr. Hanyu, I know you see Nintendo as an important opponent, but no matter how successful they are in Neon, they are on the same level as us in America." Michael Katz said.

As soon as Michael Katz said it, Hideki Hanyu realized.

Although Nintendo has sold nearly 40 million units in Asia with its G&W handhelds, it is one of the giants in the neon gaming industry.

But in America, it's only an arcade game developer who relies on Donkey Kong to make a name for himself.

What made him scruple was the Nintendo of the future.

And not the Nintendo now.

Led by Michael Katz, Hideki Hanyu finally saw Nintendo's booth.

It was a booth in the middle of nowhere, and the location of the Elf Entertainment booth was half a catty.

Hideki Hanyu didn't come closer, just glanced at it from a distance.

After discovering that there were a lot of Disney elements on the booth, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

"Mr. Katz, I don't think we have to worry about it."

Katz asked, somewhat curiously, "Why." ”

"Because they're certainly not here to sell hosting. Nintendo can only have anything to do with Disney's version of the G&W handheld. ”

Hideki Hanyu said categorically.

G&W's handheld sales in Asia have been exaggerated, but sales have come to a standstill.

Nintendo is probably planning to open up a new market for America.

Regardless of how well G&W's handheld sells in America, this old-fashioned, one-game, one-game handheld doesn't pose any threat to his plans.

Hideki Hanyu, who let go of his heart, return to the booth of Elf Entertainment.

Next, Genie Entertainment just needs to do what it has to do.

No challenge is of course best.

It's just a challenge to meet the challenge.

It's all come this far, and there's nothing to be afraid of.

Next. Drawing on his experience in later exhibitions, Hideki Hanyu began to help set up the booth.

"Iwata-san, the number of televisions is too small, and I want anyone who walks by to look up and see our advertisement."

Hideki Hanyu pointed to the TV and explained.

The location of the booth is inherently remote, so all means must be used to attract visitors.

And the most intuitive feeling is the picture.

Hideki Hanyu is still very confident in the ads they produce.

I believe that as long as you have seen it, you can't help but experience one or two.

"Check the AC power supply, there can be no power outage during the trial."

That's right, the electronic Poké Balls for the trial at the exhibition have a built-in AC power supply system.

A matching power supply can be used to supply power with alternating current.

This system is actually intended for Game Boy handhelds.

But because of Michael Katz's suggestion, a special version of the Poké Ball was made.

But for the time being, it will only be used at the exhibition, and it is not available in the basic version that is officially sold, and only the battery can be used.

It's not that I don't want to match.

Instead, after adding the power supply system and power supply, the original retail price of $29 will definitely increase.

In fact, even after the price increase, the price is cheap in electronic products.

After all, in the future, a Nintendo FC game cartridge will cost about $40 in America.

But Hanyu and Michael Katz consider that the electronic pet is a new product that has never been seen before in America, and they still want to open the market at a low price.

When the product is popular, it's not too late to launch other versions.

At that time, the version with AC power supply will only be one of many.

An increased version of the number of Pokémon Pokémon.

A limited edition with unique Pokémon.

The appearance changes, and the random Pokémon sprite pool changes.

As long as the product is popular, there are many ways to make money.

After being busy for a long time, Hanyu Hideki finally saw the promotional cartoon on the table and called Satoshi Iwata over again.

"Iwata-san, are the Pokémon-like doll costumes ready?"

"It's done." Satoshi Iwata replied.

"Now arrange for someone to wear a doll costume to distribute Pokémon promotional comics, the weather is so hot, remember to hire a few more groups of people to rotate to prevent accidents." Hideki Hanyu advised.

"I see."

After Iwata Satoshi finished speaking, he arranged the work according to Hanyu Hideki's instructions.

Michael Katz, who was on the side, looked at Satoshi Iwata's back and couldn't help but praise Hideki Hanyu.

"Iwata is a very good young man, and he did very well when he bought Starpath."

"That's why I kept him in America, hoping that he would learn more from Mr. Katz." Hideki Hanyu said.

"Don't worry, such an excellent talent, I won't let him be idle, Mr. Hanyu won't blame me for using it too hard."

Michael Katz joked.

"Haha, of course not." Hideki Hanyu said with a smile.

Thinking of the fate of Satoshi Iwata's untimely death, he still couldn't help but say more, "But we still have to pay attention to the health of our employees." ”

"Of course, Iwata and the rest of our employees are our most valuable asset."

"Then I'll be relieved."

……

In the methodical preparation of Elf Entertainment, the time came on June 20.

The International Consumer Electronics Show has finally kicked off.

Visitors, dealers, and buyers from all over America and even from other countries flocked to the fair.

Las Vegas, a gambling city in the desert, has a little more technological color for a while.

Enter the exhibition site.

It was obvious to everyone that due to the impact of Atari, the game elements at this exhibition were extremely weak.

If nothing else, just look at the dying Atari booth, which was not patronized at all.

Not only are ordinary tourists not interested, but even dealers are not interested.

At this year's electronics exhibition, the most popular booth is the major home computer brands.

The popularity of the home computer market has made these manufacturers make a lot of money, and each of them has spent millions of dollars on the layout of the booth.

However, in addition to big-name manufacturers, some small manufacturers in remote locations have also attracted a lot of attention with their unique products.

Genie Entertainment is one of them.

Especially compared to other small manufacturers, Elf Entertainment started to promote electronic pet Pokémon before the start of this exhibition.

Whether it's the Pokémon manga or Game Base magazine, it's all warmed up.

Many tourists come here because of the advance publicity.

After all, the gimmick of hyping electronic life has also attracted some attention in America.

In addition, several publicists wearing Pokémon doll costumes began handing out brochures containing manga two days ago.

Therefore, when the exhibition began, the Elf Entertainment booth became the most popular among the small factories.

Such popularity also proves that the efforts of Elf Entertainment have not been in vain.

And in addition to the pre-publicity.

The TV commercials carefully produced by Genie Entertainment also played an important role in the promotion of the exhibition.

At the booth, the same advertisement was being played on TVs facing different directions.

The two young actors stood opposite each other and threw the Poké Ball in their hands violently.

When the Poké Ball flies in the air, it transforms into an animated Pikachu and a small fire dragon.

After a battle of lightning and fire, the two Pokémon Pokémon were retracted into the Poké Ball.

However, after the retrieval was completed, the picture changed.

The Poké Ball in the hands of the two young actors has been turned into an electronic Poke Ball body.

The two bodies are also connected with a data cable.

In addition to this ad, there is also a Pokémon catch, as well as another online battle ad.

A total of three advertisements are played alternately.

The combination of live-action and animation, unique creativity, immediately attracted many people to stop.

Driven by curiosity, most of the people who are attracted will come to the booth to experience it.

According to employee demo surveys, most people find the digital Poké Ball interesting.

That's it.

Either because of the early publicity, or because of the advertising attracted, or because of the recommendation of friends on the spot.

More and more tourists came to the Elf Entertainment booth.

This also led to a shortage of trial machines at the Elf Entertainment booth on the afternoon of the first day.

Backstage at the Elf Entertainment booth, Hideki Hanyu and the others couldn't hide their joy when they saw such a scene.

At this time, Michael Katz suddenly pushed the door and walked in, and said to Hideki Hanyu with an excited face, "Mr. Hanyu, you would never have imagined who I saw just now?" ”

"It must be someone who makes Mr. Katz so happy." Hideki Hanyu said.

"It's really a very important person, someone from Walmart's purchasing department has come to contact us!"

Hearing Michael Katz's words, Hideki Hanyu couldn't help but rush to the excitement.

Wal-Mart's position in the North American retail industry is needless to say.

Although working with such a large retailer will definitely bring down the price, and the relevant negotiations will not be easy.

But when you think about Walmart's size, it's worth it no matter how hard it is.

And as long as the electronic Poké Ball can enter Walmart, it will immediately drive other retailers to follow up and cooperate.

"What did Walmart say?" Hideki Hanyu asked.

"It's just a preliminary contact, and we need to follow up." Michael Katz said.

"Then I'm going to ask Mr. Katz, you're familiar with this."

"Mr. Hanyu, please rest assured."

……

Just when Hideki Hanyu and Michael Katz were excited about the Walmart contact.

At the same time, in front of the booth of Elf Entertainment, two neon people walked in.

They didn't go to the queue to experience the electronic Poké Ball.

Just standing in the distance, curiously looking at the booth of Elf Entertainment.

One of the men looked at the Elf Entertainment booth and said to his companions.

"Just now I was wondering why so many people ran behind our booth, and they all came here."

When my companion heard this, he asked strangely, "Doesn't Minister Aoki know about this club?" ”

"Please also tell me." Said a man called Aoki.

"Some time ago, Neon was a famous electronic pet, and it was a product of this elf entertainment." Aoki replied with a good look at Kuzuki.

"It turned out to be this company, and it seems that it is planning to enter the American market, since it is a neon club, let's send them an invitation to the evening party."

……

At the elf entertainment booth, Hideki Hanyu led Yasuko Sawaguchi, opened the backstage door and walked outside.

Genie Entertainment was going well at the exhibition, and Hanyu Hideki felt that there was no point in him continuing to guard.

With an hour to go, the first day of the fair was coming to an end, and he planned to wander around.

But before he could take a few steps, he heard someone calling from behind.

When I looked back, I found that it was Satoshi Iwata who chased after me.

Hideki Hanyu thought there was some big accident at the booth.

After all, Eri Kitahara and Michael Katz are still around.

It's not a big accident, it's impossible to run to him.

He hurriedly asked, "Is there something wrong with the booth?" ”

Satoshi Iwata shook his head and said, "There was no accident at the booth, it was an invitation from a Sony employee." ”

Satoshi Iwata said as he handed an invitation to Hideki Hanyu.

Hanyu glanced at the cover of the invitation, only to see that it was written.

【International Consumer Electronics Show, Neon Club Exchange Dinner】

Thank you for the slow travel book sea, Xuan Wuhan, saynol, Tongzhai master, mouse pad what, book friend 20221002162433115 for the reward.

(End of chapter)