game trailblazer

Chapter 295 The Business War at the End of the Century ([-])
On December 12th, the day before the last Christmas at the end of the century, near noon, Zhang Lexing returned to his special plane "BL24 Global Express" and set off to fly back to Hong Kong, because he had already made an appointment with Chen Zishan. The Christmas of the two is going to be spent together.

Opening the cover of the porthole, Zhang Lexing looked out the window. Tokyo on the ground has become smaller and smaller, but he can still vaguely distinguish the places he has been to in the past two days. He can't help but think of the place outside the east gate of old Tokyo, near the Hibiya Line. Akihabara, the place where he hangs around the longest.

Akihabara, commonly known as AKIBA, used to be a world-renowned electrical street. When many people travel to Tokyo, they will bring one or two items back from Akihabara. However, after the financial turmoil, RB otaku (also known as the legendary The number of otaku and otaku) has increased greatly, and many of them have gathered in Akihabara, so that there are more shops related to otaku, and there are more corresponding animations and games, especially the favorite of otaku" "Beautiful Girl Game" is the most obvious, so Akihabara has gradually changed from an electrical street and a computer street to a holy place for otaku.

Zhang Lexing once heard people say that there are several major characteristics of Akihabara: first, there are many maids handing out leaflets, and there are also many maid COS service shops, but generally they refuse to take pictures; second, there are quite a lot of arcade halls directly affiliated to manufacturers , such as Sega, Namco, etc.; third, there are many places for otaku idols; fourth, the content of eroge is relatively prosperous, with games, animations, magazines, DVDs, comics, novels, etc. in all aspects; Fifth, there are a complete range of medieval stores in the game...

But when Zhang Lexing was really standing on the streets of Akihabara, he realized that some rumors were not necessarily true. Maybe it was because he came early. I didn't see any maid COS service shop. Fortunately, although the beautiful girls who handed out flyers were not dressed as maids, they still looked quite eye-catching.

There are really many arcade halls directly under the game manufacturers. Although they are competitors, Zhang Lexing couldn't help but go in and take a look when he passed by. On the one hand, he wanted to see if there were any new arcade games. Find out what can be learned from the arcade hall here, so that the domestic Oriental video game city can operate better.

The room that Zhang Le traveled to belonged to Sega, and it had three floors in total, and its total area was about the same as that of BJ's arcade hall.The first floor of this arcade operated by Sega is mainly UFO machines, that is, claw machines and some amusement machines. Except for those that are not suitable for the domestic situation, the Oriental Electronic Game City basically has them. The surroundings of the plane are still richer here.The second layer is mainly some arcade games developed by Sega itself, especially the most fashionable music games, they have also followed suit, and the third layer is mainly fighting and shooting games, not only Sega's "VR Warrior" 3", there are also arcade games developed by other companies, such as "Street Fighter Zero", "King of Fighters", etc., not all of them are new games, some old games that are not too long in time, but they will be specially released on the machine The hint of "Old Substrate" is marked for the convenience of players to choose. From this point of view, Dongfang Electronic Game City can learn from it.

It is said that RB is a very erotic place. Zhang Lexing saw this very well in Akihabara. He even found a five-story place called "AV Factory" on the side of the road. This is where he worked. I have never seen it in other places, maybe it can only happen in places like RB where the erotic culture is very developed. The decoration outside the door of "AV Factory" is relatively simple, and there are no large-scale special posters. It is said that it is because of the law's regulations in this regard, but once you walk in the door, the situation is different. Commodities and bloody posters are enough to make many people who are not strong enough to "evolve" directly from humans to beasts.

But Zhang Lexing's visit this time is not to appreciate the erotic culture, his main purpose is to see the sales situation of the video game market during the Christmas period, and the first target is naturally those video game specialty stores.In order to see the real situation, Zhang Lexing did not notify the local company of this trip, but went directly to Akihabara with the people who came on the same plane, and went to several large-scale video games according to the homework done in advance. Observe the situation near the specialty store.

Maybe it’s because the end of the year is approaching, Zhang Lexing looked all the way, whether it’s Nintendo, Sega, Sony or Blue Bird (DeamBox128) sales stores, there are long queues outside, and the expressions of players waiting to buy games are equally enthusiastic , but the lines outside the Sony and Blue Bird product sales stores seem longer in comparison.Of course, just looking at it from a distance like this can't really tell the result. After all, he can't go all over the entire RB video game store in one go, and he doesn't have time to count the sales situation one by one.But just looking at the paper or electronic report, still can't personally feel the situation on the scene, so he came anyway...

When Zhang Lexing was sitting in the "BL901 Global Express" and looked at the increasingly smaller Tokyo on the ground through the porthole of the plane, a sentence suddenly popped up in his mind, "... I left quietly, just as I came quietly; I With a wave of your sleeves, you won't take a single cloud with you."This passage is from Xu Zhimo's "Farewell to Cambridge", but it is very appropriate to describe him now.When he came to Tokyo this time, he really didn't inform anyone. He came quietly, stayed for one night quietly, and then left quietly. He didn't make a lot of purchases like tourists, except that the kitchen on the plane was supplemented with some ingredients. It can be said that basically he didn't buy anything, because he had already prepared Christmas gifts and the like, so he didn't need to bother in Tokyo.

The plane gradually passed through the clouds and started to level flight. Zhang Lexing closed the cover of the porthole, loosened the safety belt, stood up and planned to go to the small gym to exercise.At the same time, "BL901 Global Express" is slowly adjusting its direction and flying towards Hong Kong along the route...

A few days later, the latest sales statistics of the DeamBox128 game console were released. As of December 12, the global sales volume of the DeamBox26 game console has exceeded 128 million units, and the North American region has exceeded the 3000 million mark. 1000 million units is only one step away. The cumulative sales volume in Europe has reached more than 1000 million units, and even the mainland has achieved sales of more than 600 million units. It can be said that in the competition of the new generation of game consoles, DeamBox200 game consoles have already achieved considerable advantages.

On the screen of the video conferencing system, Xu Yeming is introducing the recent market situation: "...According to the latest market statistics report, the current distribution of the main market share of the home game market is as follows. Although Nintendo's 'Dolphin' host is not on the market , the performance of N64 game consoles has also declined, but by virtue of their absolute dominance in the portable handheld market, they still maintain a market share close to 42%. Sega's situation is very bad, Saturn game consoles have completely withdrawn from the market, only It only circulates in some second-hand video game stores, and the sales of Dreamcast hosts have not improved much, even during Christmas. In the case of continuous shrinkage, Sega’s current market share has dropped below 10%. It belongs to the worst one among several major manufacturers.

Sony Computer Entertainment's newly launched PS2 game machine performed well, and it has achieved sales of 90 units in just a few days, which is very close to the situation when DeamBox128 was launched in RB. The PS2 took it lightly. Although the PS2 game console has just started, with the cumulative number of more than 7000 million PS game consoles of the previous generation, their market share is about 32%.

And our DeamBox128 game console, after half a year of sales, has achieved a cumulative global sales volume of 3120 million units, currently accounting for about 14% of the home game market share..."

After listening to Xu Yeming's introduction, Zhang Lexing confessed: "Well, in just half a year, we surpassed the established manufacturer Sega. This achievement is still very good and we are very proud of it. I believe that the main reason for this achievement is that we were able to advance The layout, in addition to accumulating a strong enough game development force, has also attracted many game developers to join, so it can always maintain a strong attraction to players. In addition, the performance of the DeamBox128 game console itself is quite powerful. Have current good grades.

However, there is no final conclusion yet. The DeamBox128 game console has not yet formed a decisive advantage, and the portable handheld market has basically entered the market. Whether it is Sony Computer Entertainment or Nintendo, there is still the possibility of a comeback. Now is not the time to take it lightly. We have to Work harder. "

"Boss, don't worry, the follow-up marketing plan has been determined, and now we just need to wait for the right time to implement it." Xu Yeming said on the screen with a firm expression: "I will personally watch over RB, and there are also North American and European markets. Someone will take care of it, I believe there will be good news soon."

"Very good," Zhang Lexing nodded in satisfaction, and said, "We must keep an eye on them, especially Sony Computer Entertainment's PS2. If necessary, we can lower the price appropriately. Now that the batches have come up, there should be a comparison in terms of cost." There is a lot of room to operate.”

……

At the same moment, RB Kyoto Nintendo headquarters...

Hiroshi Yamauchi rubbed his sore and swollen temples, and sighed softly. He is in a bad mood now, and the reason is the two reports in front of him.One of them is the initial report of the Christmas business war. Judging from the above, the current situation of Nintendo is very bad, especially RB. The sales of the game also fell sharply. If it weren't for GBC's encouragement and support, Hiroshi Yamauchi doubted that Nintendo would not be able to sustain it.However, in comparison, Nintendo North America is doing quite well, at least the situation is not as bad as RB. Of course, this may be related to the relatively high ownership of N64 in North America.

But in any case, the current situation is already very unfavorable to Nintendo. It doesn’t matter if the new generation of portable handheld GBA is released later. Anyway, the current portable handheld market is basically monopolized by the GB family, but the “Dolphin” console is relatively weak. trouble.This matter is to be blamed on Hiroshi Yamauchi himself, who made him be confused by the flashback of the N64 at the beginning, and abruptly postponed the launch plan of the "Dolphin" host, and now it is impossible to think ahead, after all The game console is not something that can be sold just after being produced. There must be a variety of accessories, and there must be a first party, a second party, and a third party to develop the game. Yes, so although Hiroshi Yamauchi is very anxious and really wants the "Dolphin" console to be launched soon, he can only think about it.

The other report was a proposal from Nintendo North America, and it was Hiroshi Yamauchi’s son-in-law Mino Arakawa who wrote the proposal. It is said that everyone is his own, but when he saw the content of this report, Hiroshi Yamauchi almost couldn’t help but want to Scold Arakawa Minority's old lady.The reason is that Arakawa actually proposed to relocate Nintendo’s headquarters to the United States in this report, “…Currently, North American companies have contributed 70% of Nintendo’s revenue…The headquarters is far away in RB Kyoto, North American companies It is also isolated overseas, whether it is from the convenience of management or the relationship between income and status, the current situation is very necessary to change... Therefore, on behalf of the North American company, I propose to relocate the company's headquarters to Redmond, Washington, For the convenience of nearby management..."

Before finishing the report, Hiroshi Yamauchi's heart started to burn. In his opinion, Minoru Arakawa's report had no good intentions at all. It was obvious that he wanted to use the performance of the North American company to force the palace, "...this Arakawa I still want to turn the world upside down!" Hiroshi Yamauchi thought indignantly in his heart: "It seems that I should take some precautions."

Meanwhile, inside Tokyo University Hospital...

Kizuko Shoichiro hurried into an intensive care unit, and asked in a low voice to the nurse Mika Hosokawa who was sitting near the door: "How is Mr. Okawa doing today? Can I have a chat with him?"

"The situation is not bad. I ate a lot in the morning, but you don't want to chat with Mr. Okawa for a long time." Hosokawa Mika replied.

Kizuko Shoichiro nodded gratefully, then came to the hospital bed, and called softly: "Mr. Okawa, Mr. Okawa!"

Isao Okawa was resting on the bed with his eyes slightly closed at this time, when he heard a familiar voice, he slowly opened his eyes and found that it was Shoichiro Atsuko who had come.He forced a smile, and said, "It turns out to be Jinjiao Zhaojun."

"Mr. Okawa, I heard that you are not feeling well, so I came here to see you." Nieko Shoichiro said humbly.

Dachuan Gong raised his hand and waved it, and said, "You don't need to be so troublesome, your work is more important."

"Mr. Okawa, I..." Before he could finish speaking, Izuko Shoichiro hesitated.

Isao Okawa saw that Mitsuko Shoichiro had something to say, so he encouraged him: "Speak, it's okay."

"Mr. Okawa!" Izumi Shoichiro bowed sharply, then took out a document and handed it over: "This is our proposal, please take a look."

"Well," Okawa Gong didn't answer, but asked vigilantly, "What is this?"

"We think that the Dreamcast console can no longer be sustained, and we hope to quit the home game console hardware market and become a game developer." explained Shoichiro Nieko.

Da Chuan Gong slowly raised a hand, waved it suddenly and said, "Throw it all away!"

After finishing speaking, Isao Okawa closed his eyes and stopped talking to Shoichiro.Kizuko Shoichiro sighed, put the documents back in his briefcase, then turned and left in a slumped manner.

"Maybe my time at Sega is over." Shoichiro thought in his heart as he walked into the room.

Also located in the Sony Computer Entertainment headquarters building in Tokyo...

Ken Kutaragi was watching the PS2 sales performance report just delivered. It can be seen from the above that the sales of PS2 game consoles are still relatively satisfactory, with 90 units sold in just a few days.However, compared with DreamBox128's global breakthrough of 3000 million units and sales of nearly 1000 million units in the RB region, 90 units is incomparably small. More importantly, the games launched on the DreamBox128 game console are not at all created by that unlucky ghost from Sega. Comparably, the threat to the PS2 game console is impossible to eliminate in a short time.

However, Ken Kutaragi’s headache is that the development system of the PS2 game console has left many defects in a hurry, and the new system of the PS2 will not be able to be mastered for a while. Many game developers complain that it is too difficult to develop PS2 games. , and even went too far, actually comparing the development system of the DreamBox128 game console, saying, "DreamBox128 has more processors, and their development system is very easy to use. Not only is the information complete, but there are also many development examples. , PS2's development system is nothing compared to it..."

This is unbearable. If it weren’t for pointing at these third parties to develop games for Sony Computer Entertainment, Ken Kutaragi would have liked to have fired them all. “It seems that it would be safer to acquire a few more game development companies!” He said in I thought to myself.

After thinking for a while, Kutaragi took out the survey report on the sales of DreamBox128 game consoles, and after carefully looking at the figures above, he threw the report down on the desk and said bitterly: "Hmph! It's too early to be complacent, and it's not yet time to decide the outcome!"

(End of this chapter)