……

The dark war of '98 has begun, and the plans made by Seichi Won and Satoshi Iwata are underway, and at the same time, certain companies have their own strategic goals.

There is almost no way out of Ren Heaven Mountain, but he is unwilling to give up power to Arakawa Minoru.

But Arakawa has been waiting for this day for a long time, and he has begun to pack up a big package, preparing to take over Rentendo in substance, and if nothing else, Yamauchi will eventually hand over Rentendo to Arakawa because there is no one to choose.

This is not good news for the members of Rentendo.

The most important reason is that people don't agree with the fact that Minoru Arakawa treats games as commodities and he doesn't play them much himself.

To put it bluntly, Minoru Arakawa has no love for games, so what do employees who love games think.

On Sega's side, Shoichiro Iriko is fighting to the death with Hideki Sato, vying for the position of the next president.

……

In addition to Pokeni, there is another company that is intensively advancing its strategic goals, and that is Sony.

At the top of Sony, Shinyuki Idei is more than the president of the United States, Shulhoff's infighting is about to break out, either you die or I live.

And under this, Ken Nagatari, the president of Sony Computer Entertainment, also has his own thoughts.

In the evening, Ken Kutaragi made an appointment with Hideki Sato, one of Sega's candidates.

The two of them sat down to eat together and had a lively conversation.

Sato and Kuda Ryagi are the same age, and the former is two or three months younger than the latter, and the two have a good personal relationship

Once a quarter, Kutaragi invited Sato to dinner, and he always persuaded Sato to give up Saturn and withdraw from the competition.

And sometimes it is in a more funny and helpless tone:

"Xiushu-san, give up, the current Sega Saturn is finished, and it won't take a while for Sega to be buried for it."

Hideki Sato frowned fiercely, "It's not the end yet!" Kutara Mu-san, maybe in the future you will pay the price for your arrogance! ”

After saying that, the two of them looked at each other and laughed.

I don't seem to be worried at all about the topic we just discussed.

In simple words, it is-

Sega is Sega and Sony is Sony.

Hideki Sato is Hideki Sato, and Ken Kutaragi is Ken Kutaragi.

No matter how fierce the battle between companies is, that is a matter at the company level, and private feelings can be separated.

To put it bluntly, it is the life and death of Sega, what does it have to do with me Hideki Sato?

Or Sonny fights Sega without preventing Ken Kutaragi from having dinner with Hideki Sato.

However, personal friends are personal friends, and Kuta Ryoki Ken obviously has ulterior motives.

Hideki Sato is Ken Kutaragi, and it is also a breakthrough for Sony, compared to the hawkish Shoichiro Irito, the gentle [honest man] Hideki Sato is more beneficial to Sony as president.

So if you can, in fact, Sony's side prefers Hideki Sato to be on top.

Kutaragi Ken poured himself a sip of wine, laughed, and said in a joking way:

"Xiushu-san, you can't win me, where did you buy the processor?

From Hitachi, from Yamaha?

The optical drive is also bought and the profits are all made by them, so what are you left with?

And Sony can produce the parts of the PS itself. ”

"Damn! Kutaragi-san, you have too many words! Hurry up and drink bar you! ”

Hideki Sato stood up and poured a full cup for Ken Kutaragi.

The latter sat in place, looking at the guy in front of him with a flushed face, as if trying to see a hint of anger on Hideki Sato's face.

However, Hideki Sato is not angry no matter what he says, although he shouts that he is angry, he actually acts like a smile.

"Don't you forget, Sega's MD has had great successes, maybe the next console will be a success?"

"Huh?"

Kutaragi Ken was keenly aware of the key words in Hideki Sato's mouth.

He quickly supported his body with his hands, sat up straight from his lying state, and looked at Hideki Sato with eyes like a falcon.

"So, is Sega already working on a new console?"

Sega's development of a new game console is a company secret, but it is also an open reality in the industry.

From a long time ago, Ken Kutaragi knew that with Hayabusa's temper, it was impossible to admit defeat so easily.

However, as for what Sega's new consoles will look like and what kind of performance they have, so far there is no knowledge about Ken Kutaragi.

Hideki Sato is sometimes very tight-mouthed, and even when facing a [good friend] like him, he is still vigilant to death.

"What do you think? This is a company secret, and I'm sure I won't tell you anything about it. Hideki Sato said, stalking his neck.

"You don't have to tell me the details of the parameters and functions, you can just say what kind of game you can play."

Kutaragi Ken laughed and looked at him with staggered eyes, "Pokeni's "Witcher: Demon Egg", can your new console support it?" ”

"That's for sure."

Hideki Sato raised his head proudly, "Not only can I support the Demon Egg, but I can't help more beneficial games in the future!" ”

Kutaragi Ken was stunned for a moment, and his heart chuckled.

If it's really as he says......

It's really a little dangerous.

He remembered that Qing Zhiyuan once took him to the pokeni office building and showed him the model of the 2B young lady......

If it can do that, Sony will be in danger.

But what......

Just as he was thinking this, he looked up at the seemingly absent smile on Sato's face, and Ken Kutaragi reacted.

"Aha! Xiushu-san, you're so bad, you deceive me, right? ”

In fact, no matter what Kutaragi Ken asks, Sato will not tell the truth, since it is better to say that the game console is good, it is better to blow it directly to the sky.

It's just that Sato didn't expect that this guy Kutaragi Ken would take his bragging just now as true.

"Now do you admit that our technology is amazing?"

Hideki Sato asked.

"Not really."

Kutaragi Ken picked up the wine glass on the table and silently took a sip to suppress the shock.

"Then you just had a hellish look on your face...... Wait," Hideki Sato pressed his hands on the small table, propped himself up and leaned closer to him, "You must have seen something very powerful that exceeds the current era, right?" ”

"This ...... How is this possible? ”

Ken Kutaragi turned his head to the side with some weakness, and he didn't dare to look directly into Hideki Sato's eyes.

It would be terrible to let him know that Pokeni could do such a terrible thing!

Looking back now, Ken Kutaragi still has palpitations, and the shock of seeing the 2B model at that time still lingers in his brain, as if it happened only yesterday.

When I think of such a high-precision model, I can run on a game console......

Kutara Kiken was a little fascinated.

However, in his opinion, it is impossible to bring such a model at present, and it will take at least 5 years to go.

That said, Pokeni has been ahead of its era in design for at least 5 years.

As soon as he thought of this, Ken Kutaragi couldn't help but shudder.

Fortunately, Pokeni and President Aochiyuan are friends of Sony, otherwise, I really can't imagine it.

However, in this world, only Sony can meet Qingzhiyuan's hardware needs, right?

……

The two of them drank and chatted again, and Kutaragi Ken was like a sister-in-law of Xianglin, who did not give up at all, and continued to persuade, "Xiushu-san, if I were you, I should give up Sega's host." ”

Hideki Sato frowned fiercely, "What's the use of you telling me this?" I'm not the president. ”

At this time, MD's success turned into Sega's poison, and Sega wanted Saturn to replicate MD's success, so he spared no expense for this, and ended up bruised.

Purely from a hardware point of view, the loss of 10,000 yen in the sale of a Saturn can be made up if the soft-hard ratio is high enough.

The so-called soft-hard ratio means that although the game console is sold at a loss, but the game developed on it can generate enough profits, then relying on the royalty commission, as long as the royalty income and the sales performance of Sega's own software are good enough, and the profit can cover the loss of the game console, it is acceptable.

The hardware is the console, and the software is the game.

But Saturn's hard-to-soft ratio is not high enough, so a host still has to lose five or six thousand yen

Therefore, Saturn's sales did not exceed 10 million in the end, in addition to market factors, there are also factors deliberately controlled by Sega.

Sega deliberately lowered Saturn's production to avoid even greater losses.

For third parties, not having enough game consoles means not having enough market and profits, so they can only be more afraid to develop games on Saturn.

It's a vicious circle again.

……

Hideki Sato actually has a lot of complaints about this, and deep down he agrees with Ken Kuta's idea that stopping Saturn may be the wisest choice to be a third party.

However, he can't influence Sega at all, let alone make changes to Sega's marketing strategy.

"Hideki-san,"

Kutaragi Ken looked at him and laughed evilly.

"What?" Hideki Sato looked at his sad smile and was a little scared, "Don't laugh like that, you laugh so scary." ”

Kutaragi cleared his throat, retracted his smile, and said, "If you are the president, I suggest that Sega transform into a third party of Sony." ”

"Huh?" Hideki Sato looked surprised.

"Sega hosting's profits are very thin, you should know this better than me, everyone is a host, there is no need to detour around the corner, right?

Sega relies on other companies to produce so many parts, and I'm afraid that the cost of selling a game console will not be recovered.

The more you sell, the more you lose. ”

"Rather than go on like this, it's better to let go sooner and give up the console, Sega is still a very great game producer."

"Moreover, once Sega gives up the console market and becomes a third party of Sony, I promise to get the greatest discount for you, and the royalty can be the lowest for Sega alone, and we will also help Sega to promote." ”

Kutaragi wanted Sega to become a third party and promised preferential treatment.

Sato himself actually wants to quit this bitter battle a little bit.

"But I'm not the president."

Sato sighed and emphasized again.

"It doesn't matter, I believe you, Xiushu-san, you will become the president sooner or later." Kutaragi Ken laughed, "Shoichiro Irito, he simply doesn't have the ability to pull Sega out of the abyssal quagmire, and even if he can get on the throne, he will fall into the abyss."

When the time comes, you will be the president of Sega. ”

"And ......"

Kutaragi Ken smiled, looked at Hideki Sato and said:

"Sony is your bargaining chip to become president."

……

Ken Kutaragi is also betting on Sega's future successor.

Naturally, there are also people who are betting on Shoichiro, and even in the eyes of many industry insiders, the probability of Shoichiro Koko becoming president is greater than that of Hideki Sato.

As Ken Kutaragi said, Hayao Nakayama will not stop in the console market, and Shoichiro Iriko is a tough fighting faction, but people like Hideki Sato who want to give up the console and become a third party are not liked by Hayao Nakayama.

But what they don't know is—

Just when everyone was betting on the successor of Sega in the future, Qing Zhiyuan had already found another way and launched an attack from the rear.

Qing Zhiyuan said:

Whoever of you loves to fight for the prince will fight for the prince.

As for me, I'm only interested in the emperor.

Whether the throne of the Sega Dynasty will be in the future is a question.

……

In the evening, Sei Chi Won invited President Hayao Nakayama to take a sauna together.

Two people sat in the sauna, sweating all over, very transparent.

"Ah...... The feeling of not being seen in a long time......" Mr. Nakayama sighed with his eyes closed and his face covered with a towel.

"Qingsang, it's been a long time since we've been in a sauna like this together.

It's so comfortable! ”

Hayabusa Nakayama sniffed and coughed, "Recently, you must have known it, there is a lot of pressure on my side, and there are a lot of worries. ”

Qing Zhiyuan laughed lightly, "In the future, President Zhongshan will retire, so there won't be so many worries." ”

"Haha,"

Mr. Nakayama sat up, took the towel off his face, and wrung the sweat stains on it.

"So, Ao-san, who do you think I should give Sega to, is it to be a friend or to Sato?"

Qing Zhiyuan is a guy who usually doesn't ask him out, but suddenly asks him to take a sauna, he must have his own strong personal purpose.

Recently, everyone has been rumored that Sega is going to change its president, and Hayabusa Nakayama thinks that he is unwell, and of course he has the intention of retiring.

He personally guessed that Qing Zhiyuan came to him and must have wanted to know something about the future president.

I don't know if this guy already has a favorite candidate.

If you think about it, I'm afraid that it will be more beneficial for Pokeni for Hideki Sato to take over Sega, right?

Shoichiro's style of acting is very tough, and the cooperation will not be too pleasant, and after the company is handed over to Shoichiro Irito, it will definitely have to continue the war with Sony, and Pokeni, as a partner of Sega and Sony, must be uncomfortable in the middle.

However, what Qing Zhiyuan said next greatly surprised Hayabusa Nakayama.

I saw Qing Zhiyuan slowly speak and smile calmly:

"To tell you the truth, I'm going to go to President Okawa."

"Huh?" Hayao Nakayama turned his head in surprise, and after careful observation, he made sure that the young man was not lying, and then slowly closed his mouth.

"You're buying Sega?"

Looking for President Ko Okawa, there is no other reason.

Because if you want to cooperate with Sega, you will not find a parent company at all, and the president of Sega has absolute autonomy, and President Okawa has not interfered in Sega's operation so far.

"Hmm," Qing Zhiyuan nodded, "I have this intention,"

Hayakuo Nakayama was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing.

"Good! Very good! This is the Qing Zhiyuan I know, I really didn't see the wrong person, Qingsang, you are really a very courageous person. ”

"But you know what?

Not to mention whether you can buy Sega, take 10,000 steps back and say, if Pokeni buys Sega, what will you do with Sega?

If it's just a game producer, Pokeni himself is enough.

If it's a hardware manufacturer, Sega only has a handheld that is worth digging into.

Once you take over the host business, it means that you will have to fight with Sony in the future, Qingsang, do you have such determination? ”

At this moment, the 66-year-old man's originally dim eyes suddenly burst out with brilliance again, and the ashes in his heart, which had long since died, representing the fire of desire, seemed to be ignited by Qing Zhiyuan's bold ideas at this moment.

And it's burning.

"Hahaha, why is President Zhongshan so tragic?"

It's all too normal for companies to be divided and merged, sometimes competitors, sometimes partners.

If the company is really personified because of some personal emotional factors, it is actually a misreading.

Just like Penguin and Byte, they are in competition with each other, but for the common good, the two sides can cooperate with each other, Douyin can attract traffic to play Penguin's game, and Penguin's game can also attract traffic to Douyin.

Collaboration and competition may be the norm.

Just like Pokeni and Sega before, P Company's games and Sega are in competition with each other, but Pokémon is released on Sega handheld, and it is a cooperation.

It's a delicate relationship, but it's these delicate relationships that give him the opportunity to take a sauna with Hayabusa Nakayama now.

But so.

In the next second, Qing Zhiyuan became serious, and his eyes responded to him with burning eyes.

"If I hadn't been determined, I wouldn't have bought Sega."

If you miss it, you won't have it.

Because Qing Zhiyuan knows the direction of history, if he misses Sega at this time, there will be no Sega in the future.

Shoichiro Irito's takeover of Sega will definitely fail, and in the era of Hideki Sato, Sega will completely withdraw from the hardware platform and become an outright third party.

You only get one chance.

Even if you have to fight Sony after taking over, the original Sega can, but now Pokeni, which is stronger than Sega and closer to Renten, why not give it a try?

Moreover, Nobuyuki Idei is far from being as simple as everyone thinks, and after he kills Schulhoff, the president of Sony Beimi, Sony's integration power will become extremely powerful at that time.

Again, now is the best time, if you really want to try it once, Qing Zhiyuan is also willing.

"In that case, what do you need me to do?" Hayao Nakayama became elated.

The market difficulties experienced by Sega during this period of time, including the turmoil of substitutions, and the burden on his body, all kinds of gloom were swept away at this moment.

Qing Zhiyuan is like a small sun, projecting light from the clouds and illuminating the whole world.

Let him involuntarily want to burn himself.

Yes, burn yourself.

At this moment, this is the idea that pops into Nakayama's mind.

Qing Zhiyuan will take over Sega better than anyone else.

is worthy of the man I fancied, with courage, courage and ability!

Bless you.

"Help me persuade President Ko Okawa." Qing Zhiyuan smiled and said, "Give Sega to us." ”

……

……

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There's one more chapter tonight (end of chapter)