All eyes were on Sega's new handheld on the big screen.

This handheld machine, compared with the GG launched by Sega in 1990, has slimmed down a lot, and the overall size is the size of a palm, and the total length of the horizontal grip is about the same as the future Huawei mate30.

On both sides are arrow keys and buttons, and in the middle is the screen.

When you hold it horizontally, you can feel quite comfortable.

Tom Collinsky, with a smug smile on his face.

Today, it is destined to belong to Sega.

Collinsky held the Sega GP in his hands, "Sega GP, total weight 256g. The size of a hand. ”

The people below may not have much idea about this.

However, the people who attended today frowned.

At this time last year, Sega's GG handheld had a total weight of more than 450 grams, almost close to 1 catty, which was about the same as a big brick.

The weight of GAME BOY is 300g.

And this time, Sega directly reduced the weight to 250.

Ren Heaven sat in the audience today Yokoi Junhei, who is also the leader of GB's production team, and when he heard this weight, his face showed an incredible expression.

It felt like someone had been slapped to the back of the head with a stick.

In his field of knowledge and concepts, it is almost impossible to make a game console so small and thin.

This was beyond his comprehension, and even Yokoi almost didn't jump out of his chair.

"It's impossible, how is it possible for existing technology to do this with a console? Don't they use batteries? ”

……

Collinsky picked up the new handheld with one hand, "Before I officially explain this handheld, please allow me to demonstrate it to you, so that everyone here can have a more intuitive feeling."

With that, Collinsky inserted a cassette into the game console, and the camera that was broadcasting the live broadcast quickly pulled in the lens to show the demo.

In 1992, there was no technology that could directly connect to electronic devices for screen projection, but the live broadcast technology was quite mature.

The scene was also broadcast live for the audience through several large color TVs and electronic screens.

The audience held their breath in anticipation of what they would see next.

Not far from Qing Zhiyuan, the employees of Ren Heaven couldn't help but be a little nervous.

However, Yokoi Gunpei, the director of development of Ren Heaven, sat in the audience and looked extremely calm.

Yokoi Junhei is the second legend of Renten, the number one in the hardware field, who developed and designed Game & Watch, red and white machines, and Game Boy, and is known as the father of Game Boy.

The D-pad was invented by Gunpei Yokoi.

With a pair of big eyes open, he silently stared at the game console in Kolinsky's hand on the stage, and he paid more attention to the game console itself than worried about what it didn't have.

……

Collinsky turned on the power, and the screen lit up immediately.

What appears is the start screen of Sonic the Hedgehog.

Sonic is a blue hedgehog who is covered with blue thorns covering most of his body, with peachy skin covering his arms, mouth, chest and abdomen, and black pupils.

He has six feather-like spines on his head, two protruding from the back, and a short tail.

He wears a pair of lightweight, ultra-frictional red sneakers with white laces with collars and gold buttons, and a pair of white gloves with sock-like cuffs.

Little Sonic wagged his finger in the middle of the screen.

Press the button and you'll be taken to the starting position of the game.

The little hedgehog stood on the left side of the steppe and ran under the control of Kolinsky.

It's a side-scrolling game, similar to Super Mario, but much faster than Mario in terms of speed, and when Sonic the Hedgehog jumps, his whole body curls up like a big gear with a sharp edge.

The sense of speed of turning is also adrenaline-pumping.

Originally, according to the company's strategy, in order to make the game console sell better, it should be directly integrated into Sega's most playable games, and the advantage of this is that it binds games to Sega and accumulates word of mouth.

On the other hand, when players buy a game console, they get a box of Sonic the Hedgehog cartridges worth 4,000 yen, and there is nothing more exciting for players.

However, on the GP handheld, in order to further save the space of the game console and make the handheld smaller and thinner, this time Sega did not directly integrate the game Sonic the Hedgehog into the hardware.

When Sonic the Hedgehog was seen, there was another round of applause below.

There were even small children screaming.

"Look, it's Sonic!"

"Colorful!"

"Oh my God, it's pretty good to have this effect on a handheld."

"Color screen game consoles! Sure enough, Sega is still Sega, and the color screen game console is obviously much better than the black and white screen. ”

"Well, there's nothing more joyful than being able to play Sonic anytime, anywhere, right?"

……

It's all in English, after all, this is Chicago in the United States, and the media and viewers who come are basically foreigners.

Fortunately, Qing Zhiyuan learned English well in his previous life, and he was a high-achieving student who graduated from 985, and he had to read English literature often, so he could hear it clearly.

When he heard that "there is nothing more satisfying than Sonic", Qing Zhiyuan smiled contemptuously in his heart.

That's because Pokémon haven't been born yet, and when our Pokémon is finished, you'll know what a handheld overlord is.

Next to him, Nao Tsuda's English was not very good, and when he looked at Qing Zhiyuan and smirked, he laughed too.

……

Compared to the others, Yokoi Junhei seemed much calmer, he looked at the Sega GP in Collinsky's hand, and whispered to the colleague next to him, "This kind of game console must have a high power consumption, and it doesn't pose a threat to the gameboy." ”

Before the words fell, the screen of the Sega game console demonstrated by Collinsky suddenly flashed twice, and then completely blackened.

There was silence.

Then, two seconds later, a burst of laughter erupted.

"Hahaha......"

"Sega GP is too rubbish, isn't it? It's only been a long time, and it just can't work? ”

"It's funny, won't they check the machine beforehand, at least get a handheld that can run the game demo?"

"What happened, did it die suddenly, or did it burn?"

"Is there a problem with the screen, or is the battery draining gone?"

"It's so funny, it's the first time I've seen such an interesting demo at a press conference."

"Sega is a big shame this time."

……

Gunhei Yokoi was also amused by the accident at the scene.

"This is the new handheld that Sega and Sony have jointly developed? I haven't waited for the official release.,There was such a big problem in the demo.,Are you embarrassed to say that your handheld is excellent? ”

"yes, there's something wrong with the quality of the console, right? What do you think, take it out without acceptance? ”

"Maybe it's just an accident."

In short, as a sworn enemy, seeing such a situation at Sega's scene, the employees of Ren Heaven laughed very happily.

……

the groove.

Qing Zhiyuan couldn't help but sigh in his heart-

Sega, what the hell is this luck?

It's probably similar to the blue screen of Microsoft's demo system, right?

Historically, Sega's unfortunate company has had a lot of bad luck.

It seems that luck was not on Sega's side from the beginning.

Seeing this, Qing Zhiyuan himself was in a cold sweat, if something like this happened to him on stage, he didn't know how to deal with it at all.

Moreover, my heart is half cold.

It's not good to be out of school, it's not good to be out of school.

……

The nearest Collinsky, though he didn't instinctively throw the console away, could still smell the scorching smell coming from it.

But this person's reaction ability is also quite fast, and he laughed directly.

This smile directly made everyone on the scene unable to fix it.

After two seconds, the crowd fell silent.

At this time, Collinsky tucked the GP game console into his trouser pocket and calmly asked, "What is the most worrying problem for color screen game consoles?" ”

"Is the screen not clear enough?"

"Is it because the operation of the game console is not good?"

He cruised around the edge of the stage while smiling politely at the crowd.

At this moment, everyone was a little confused in their hearts.

Why did he have such a big demonstration accident, and he could still be so calm?

Could it be that we were laughing wrong?

In fact, all this was premeditated?

The people of Ren Heaven also had similar expressions, looking at each other, and it was difficult to understand what was happening now.

How strong is this Collinsky's psychological quality?

"Both." Collinsky smiled and raised a finger and swung it twice, "But it's not." ”

"The biggest problem with the color screen handheld is the consumption of the battery."

If at first everyone was shocked, laughing, and skeptical of Sega's new handheld, then by this moment, it seems that they have calmed down and been pulled back to sanity by Kolinsky.

"Just now, I showed you how long a small battery can make a color screen game console play if you use the battery technology of the old era." Kolinsky concluded.

Then he pulled out a dry battery from his pants pocket.

"That's probably what players are worried about."

Collinsky smiled, and by this moment, he had covered up the problem of screen burning, and turned it into battery drain.

Then, he threw the dry battery in his hand to his feet and stepped on it again.

"In the new era, we no longer need dry batteries. Because, we have newer technology. ”

With that, Collinsky pulled out a brand new Sega GP from his other trouser pocket.

He turned the fuselage over, opened the back cover, took out the lithium-ion battery in it, and lifted it.

The camera quickly zooms in.

Countless spectators curiously stood up from their seats, including Gunpei Yokoi of Renten.

"This is our brand new, Sony-supplied lithium-ion battery technology." Collinsky smiled and beckoned to the staff in the audience.

The staff looked confused and didn't understand what he was going to do.

"The reason why the screen went black just now was because I used a battery that was drained. Next, I will replace a new battery for you to demonstrate. ”

Hearing this, the staff immediately came to their senses, and their brains cleared up, and they quickly found a lithium-ion battery from their backpacks, ran to the stage quickly, and handed it to Kolinsky.

Once the battery is replugged in, start the console and the screen will light up.

"Below - Sega!

GAME POCKET！

Again for you. ”

Whoa, whoa......

The scene erupted in a round of applause, and countless spectators stood up and cheered, only thinking that the bridge designed by Sega just now was too exciting.

"It's really scared to death, I thought there was really an accident."

"It's too dramatic, isn't it?"

"I thought the GP console was really broken, but I didn't expect it to be just a part of Sega's design."

"Fack, I thought it was true."

"But I have to say that Sega's performance was quite successful, and I was immediately intrigued."

"And impressive, isn't it?"

……

Qing Zhiyuan was stunned with fright, but looking at the reactions of the people around him, they laughed very exaggeratedly, their faces were red, and they seemed to have believed Collinsky's words-

It was just a pre-rehearsed presentation.

In order to make the performance more dramatic and eye-catching.

The logic in everyone's hearts is-

If something goes wrong with the console, why just plug in a new battery?

Then it must be a dead battery, not a faulty gaming console.

So after this series of operations just now, Collinsky successfully dispelled the doubts of the audience.

But only Qing Zhiyuan and Collinsky, who was standing on the stage, knew very well in their hearts that the performance just now was definitely not a pre-designed performance.

It's a real problem.

Collinsky first put the burned out console in one pocket, and then pulled out the good one from the other.

It's not the same console at all.

This kind of thing is very common in reality, after all, the product has a yield rate, even if two qualified game consoles have been prepared before, it is not impossible for a situation to occur.

……

At this point, Qing Zhiyuan was already scared into a cold sweat, but he also had to applaud Collinsky with admiration.

The fact that I was able to get things back today mainly relied on Collinsky's strong psychological quality, extraordinary reflexes, and-

A little bit of a rainy day.

If you hadn't put a game console in the other pocket beforehand, you wouldn't have been able to get past it.

But it also says one thing -

That is, Sega's new handheld is indeed small enough, small enough to be about the same as the phone of the future, so that it can be truly put in the pocket.

At the same time, the suit that Collinsky wore today was also quite suitable, just enough to cover both trouser pockets when it was open, otherwise the bulging part would let the audience know that he actually had two game consoles hidden on him.

As long as it is covered up today, it doesn't matter if someone will find out the real magic trick based on media footage later.

At most, it can be proven that Collinsky used two consoles for demos, but who can prove that the first console actually failed?

……

When he saw the lithium-ion battery, Yokoi Junhei finally understood-

No wonder this game machine can be so small and so lightweight.

It turned out to be a battery after a long time.

"I can't imagine that there is such a powerful technology in the world."

Yokoi's eyes were gloomy, and he sat down in his chair like a deflated ball.

……

Sonic the Hedgehog was successfully demonstrated.

Tom Collinsky explains the various parameters of the Sega GP:

"Screen size 3.2 inches."

(iPhone12The screen size is 6.1 inches, 1 inch is equal to 2.54cm, 3.2 inches is about 8 cm, the screen is calculated according to the diagonal length, that is, the size of the square, the side length is 5.6 cm)

In fact, it is already a very small screen, only equivalent to about half the screen size of an ordinary smartphone in the future in 2023.

It is precisely because of the small screen that Sony's lithium-ion battery can be driven.

The current Sega GP is probably equivalent to the color screen mobile phone of the future. But the screen is a bit bigger than those phones.

"8-bit machine, can display 4096 colors. The resolution is 160x146."

"The battery life can reach 3 to 5 hours."

Speaking of which, Collinsky showed off the charger and charging cable technology.

"The lithium-ion battery technology developed by Sony can be charged directly without the need to purchase additional dry batteries."

3 to 5 hours of battery life, in fact, is nothing, after all, the gameboy's battery life is 8 to 15 hours.

This shows that the power consumption of color screen game consoles is indeed too large.

But the expensive thing is to be able to recharge.

In the future, as long as the smartphone can be charged, what will matter if the battery life is only 3 hours when playing games all the time?

……

How can there be such terrible technology?

Rentendo Yokoi Junhei said that it was hard to believe, but when he saw it with his own eyes, his heart was shaken.

If that's true, then battery technology will bring about a sea change in the whole handheld.

……

After introducing Sega's GP handheld, everyone in the audience stared at them with big eyes, waiting for Collinsky's final news.

That is, the price issue that everyone is most concerned about.

The GameBoy is currently priced at 12,500 yen in the market and $99 in Europe and the United States.

And it's also a black and white screen.

So GP has such a strong performance advantage, and the shortcomings of endurance have been made up, it will not be cheaper than the gameboy, right?

Everyone is evaluating the price in their hearts.

It's about 25,000 yen, or about 199 dollars.

As a result, Kolinsky picked up the microphone, a smile on the corner of his mouth, and said directly, "99! ”

"Wow!"

A tsunami sounded below.

The audience couldn't help but revel.

"Waterfack? Did I hear me right? Is this really the price of Sega GP? ”

"Color screen machine, new battery, thin and light, actually the same price as GB?!"

"Is Sega crazy? Can this pay for itself? ”

"It doesn't matter if he's crazy or not, I'm definitely crazy!"

"It's horrible, Sega."

"yes, Sega is too conscientious, isn't he?"

……

Kolinsky was about to leave, but halfway through he turned back and said into the microphone, "August!" ”

At this point, Sega's press conference has come to an end.

Collinsky introduces Sega's new handheld to the end.

All the audience members stood up from their seats and applauded.

There was a thunderclap.

Qing Zhiyuan clapped his hands vigorously, not only because of the success of the press conference, but also because of the joy that Collinsky was able to turn the tide.

To this day, he still has palpitations.

But that's all in the past.

What awaits Sega and Pokeni in the future will be a bright future.

On Ren Heaven's side, both Yokoi Junhei and Randy's faces are not very good-looking.

Just trying to squeeze out a smile when facing the camera.

……

(End of chapter)