game trailblazer

Chapter 315 Fierce Competition in Summer Vacation ([-])
The intercom phone rang, and Ken Kutaragi stretched out his hand and pressed the call button, and the voice of Miss Secretary Fujiwara Anri came from the loudspeaker: "President, Mr. Fukai is here."

"Well, let him come in." Ken Kutaragi said casually, and then closed the call.The appearance of Fukai Ichiro was not a surprise to him, but he came back earlier than expected. It seemed that things were going very well or badly. .

There was a knock on the door, Ken Kutaragi closed the documents on the desk, sat up straight and said, "Please come in!"

The door of the president's office was gently opened, and Ichiro Fukai walked in with a solemn face, then bowed respectfully, and said, "President, I'm back."

"Sit down and talk about it, how is the situation?" Ken Kutaragi stretched out his hand, motioning for Ichiro Fukai to sit opposite him.

Ichiro Fukai nodded respectfully, pulled the chair in front of the desk and sat down, and then introduced his situation: "President, according to your commission, I visited several influential directors and actors."

"Well," Ken Kutaragi leaned forward slightly, and asked expectantly, "How's the situation?"

Ichiro Fukai shook his head and sighed: "President, I'm sorry I didn't complete your commission. I visited many influential actors and directors this trip, but they all refused. For example, Jack Chen, he refused very simply , it seems that they are unwilling to deal with us, and JetLi is also unwilling to contact us. Later, I asked someone to investigate, and they should have signed a contract with another company, and it is very likely that Dongfang Industrial is promoting DreamBox128 The situation of the group and other people is similar, those who have enough weight have basically signed contracts with others, and we can no longer get in."

"Impossible," Ken Kutaragi hammered the table in dissatisfaction, and said, "There are so many famous directors and actors in the world, I don't believe he can sign it."

"That's true, but if you want to contact those Hollywood stars, Sony Computer Entertainment may not be suitable. President, I think it is necessary to apply to the headquarters and ask the people in Columbia to help. After all, they have connections in the film industry Wider." Ichiro Fukai put forward his own suggestion, turned his gaze to Ken Kutaragi, and waited for his decision.

Ken Kutaragi’s mood is very contradictory right now. Intellectually speaking, he understands what Ichiro Fukai said is reasonable. If he wants to invite influential stars to support the PS2 game console, it may be difficult to rely solely on Sony Computer Entertainment. After all, everyone is Two circles of people.But in terms of a man's self-esteem, he is unwilling to ask people from other departments to help. After all, Sony Computer Entertainment can have today's status in the Sony Group, which may be all due to the hard work of him and his subordinates. In the first half of the year, he was promoted to a director of Sony Group in recognition of Sony Computer Entertainment's good performance last year and his efforts in it.

Six years ago, the PS project was almost cancelled. If it wasn't for Ken Kutaragi's refusal to give up and a little coincidence, Sony Computer Entertainment would definitely not have the glory it is today.In Kutaragi Ken's view, Sony Computer Entertainment's achievements today are all thanks to his hard work, basically without the help of other companies under the Sony Group, and Sony Computer Entertainment's status today is also due to their own hard work from.Now if he asks for help from other companies, how will the higher-ups view Sony Computer Entertainment, and whether they will rely on him as much as they do now, Ken Kutaragi is very disturbed.

Many people are like this, "It is easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality", "It was difficult to find water in the sea", and they have tasted the sweet taste brought by career success and power, and it is difficult to let go.If Ken Kutaragi hadn't insisted on the PS project, if he was just an ordinary employee, then maybe he wouldn't need to worry about it now.It's a pity that he is now the president of Sony Computer Entertainment. Once many decisions are made, the impact will not only be on him, but will even lead to a sharp decline in the status of Sony Computer Entertainment in the entire group.

Ken Kutaragi waved at Ichiro Fukai, motioning Ichiro Fukai to go out first, and he planned to think about it alone and carefully weigh the pros and cons.But less than 10 minutes after Ichiro Fukai left, the telephone light on the desk lit up again. Ken Kutaragi frowned, reached out and pressed the call button.

The voice of Miss Secretary Fujiwara Anri came from the intercom: "President, Mr. Isao Okawa from Sega is calling for you, do you need to connect?"

"Okawa?" Ken Kutaragi couldn't help but frowned again.Speaking of which, it is not that Sony Computer Entertainment and Sega have no contact at all. When they first entered the game industry, the two companies temporarily formed an invisible alliance in order to deal with their common enemy Nintendo.However, as the sales of SS game consoles and PS game consoles exceeded one million units successively, and Nintendo's N64 game console was not released for a long time, the two gradually moved towards confrontation, so that from the second half of 1995, Kutaragi Ken I never contacted Hayao Nakayama, the president of Sega at the time, and I didn’t expect that Isao Okawa would take the initiative to call today, which is really intriguing.

"Well, Ms. Fujiwara, put the phone in!" Ken Kutaragi thought for a while, and decided to hear what Isao Okawa was going to say first.

After a while, Isao Okawa's old voice came from the phone: "President Kutaragi, I am Isao Okawa."

"Oh~" Kutaragi Ken immediately said in a slightly joyful tone: "Mr. Okawa, I heard that you are not in good health recently, so don't work too hard. If there is anything else, let your subordinates do it."

Isao Okawa heard the irony in Kutaragi Takeru's words, but he didn't feel the slightest bit of displeasure, at least he couldn't hear it from his tone of voice, and said calmly, "President Kutaragi, are you free tonight? I happen to have a membership card of the Ginza Luming Club here, would you like to come and relax together?"

Kutaragi Ken frowned. Anyone who is a man in Tokyo knows what the Ginza Luming Club is. Of course, he also understands that Isao Okawa invited him to go with him to solve the man's physical problems.But everyone is still a competitor after all, especially Sega's SS (Saturn) game console is still defeated by the PS game console. Now if everyone sits together, Ken Kutaragi doesn't know what to say, so why don't you ask Okawa Isao , When is your Dreamcast host going to close the booth?

Just when Ken Kutaragi was hesitant to find an excuse to refuse, Isao Okawa said again: "President Kutaragi, I think you should be interested, because President Yamauchi is also planning to come tonight."

"President Yamauchi?" Ken Kutaragi was taken aback for a moment, and then asked again: "Mr. Okawa, you mean Mr. Hiroshi Yamauchi from Nintendo?"

"Of course." Isao Okawa answered briefly, and then fell silent, apparently waiting for Ken Kutaragi's answer.

Unexpectedly, Yamauchi Hiroshi would come back tonight, and Kutaragi Ken's thoughts changed instantly. If he just met with Isao Okawa, he would be honestly not interested at all, but Yamauchi Hiroshi's appearance made him have to pay attention.He may not pay attention to Sega, or even Nintendo, but if the two companies unite, it will be another scene he does not want to see.In the past, when the three companies fought hard, Nintendo and Sega could be said to be deadly rivals, but the situation is different now. Sega's situation is going from bad to worse, and Nintendo seems to be faltering. Isao Okawa is not like the previous presidents of Sega. If Hiroshi Yamauchi is touched, even if the two companies do not merge but unite, that would be a headache.

Of course, it should be impossible to talk about cooperation on such an occasion today. There is no reason for the three companies to cooperate together. Even if they have such an idea, Ken Kutaragi would not agree. If he wanted to rely on others, he hoped to rely on himself and his own team to accomplish it. Besides, a company like Sega with high-sightedness and low-handedness, he didn't like it at all, although he still respected Isao Okawa.

But since Hiroshi Yamauchi is going tonight, he has to go, not to talk about cooperation, but to make it impossible for others to talk about cooperation. Thinking of this, Kutaragi Ken said happily: "Then respect is worse than obedience. I will trouble you tonight." Mr. Okawa."

"Hehe~" Isao Okawa's hearty laughter came from the phone: "Then I will be waiting for President Kutaragi's visit at the Ginza Rokuming Club tonight."

Isao Okawa pressed the switch of the telephone, pressed the number of Nintendo President's office on the dial, then put the microphone to his ear, and said with a smile: "Hi, hello, is it convenient for President Yamauchi to answer the phone now?" Is it? I am Isao Okawa..."

At night, Ginza, the busiest business district in Tokyo...

Kobayashi Yuji supported the toilet partition, and spit out the uncontrollable undercurrent in his mouth with a "wow", and the clean porcelain white toilet immediately became a mess.After vomiting, he pressed the rinse button casually, shook his still heavy head, came to the sink, turned on the faucet and washed his face with cold water, feeling better.

Holding the sink, Kobayashi Yuji looked at himself in the mirror, and still had a feeling of illusion in his heart.The bathroom he is currently in is located in the Ginza Luming Club. This kind of place was not something he could come to due to his income and status. However, he happened to help a big boss some time ago. He comes to this club to enjoy life.Before coming here, Yuji Kobayashi heard a lot of rumors, such as high consumption and elegant kimono accompanying girls. After experiencing it now, I feel that it is true, especially the kimono girl who belongs to him tonight. In-depth exploration, but just relying on the woman's ingenious words has given him a sense of satisfaction that he has never experienced before, and he even drank a few more glasses than usual.

Staggering out of the bathroom, Kobayashi Yuji declined the help of the waiter at the side, leaning on the wall and walking towards the private room he was staying in just now.After turning a few corners, he stretched out his hand and twisted the handle to push open the door. Standing at the door, he waved his hand and shouted loudly: "Mr. Yamada, I'm back again, haha..."

Everyone in the room looked at Kobayashi Yuji with astonished eyes. He laughed twice and realized something was wrong. He shook his head and looked into the room carefully. His face became embarrassed. It turned out that He went to the wrong room.Kobayashi Yuji smiled embarrassingly, bowed embarrassedly, and said, "I'm sorry, I went to the wrong room!"

After finishing speaking, Yuji Kobayashi closed the door and ran away like flying.After running for a few steps, he suddenly remembered something, and carefully recalled what he saw in the room just now. The three men sitting on the sofa seemed familiar.Kobayashi Yuji's footsteps slowed down, he was thinking hard while walking, suddenly it seemed like a flash of lightning flashed across his mind, he whispered in surprise: "How is this possible! How could it be the three of them!"

Kobayashi Yuji almost couldn't help but want to go back and confirm his conjecture, but before he came in, the big boss specifically explained what rules this kind of club has, and those who deliberately disturb others are unwelcome. It can also be said that he went to the wrong room last time. If he went again now, he might be kicked out of the club, and even the big boss who brought him here would be implicated.

Forcibly resisting the impulse in his heart, Yuji Kobayashi hurried back to his private room, and after drinking the rest of the wine in the glass, he found an excuse and left the room early.After leaving the Luming Club, he found a phone booth on the side of the road, dialed a number and went out.About 5 minutes later, a black commercial vehicle drove over and parked on the side of the road. Yuji Kobayashi opened the door and got in, took a camera from his assistant, and then whispered instructions to the driver.The black business car started quickly, turned around along the road, and stopped on a street near the Luming Club.Kobayashi Yuji changed the lens of the camera, adjusted it, then set up a small tripod in the car, fixed the camera, and began to wait for his target.

This wait lasted for more than an hour. Just when Yuji Kobayashi thought he had misread and was about to give up, the target finally appeared.The first one to come out was Hiroshi Yamauchi from Nintendo. Accompanied by two entourages, he got into a white Nissan sedan by the side of the road, started the car and drove away.Next came out was Ken Kutaragi from Sony Computer Entertainment. He seemed to have come alone, got into a black car by the side of the road, and drove away in the same direction.The last one to come out was Isao Okawa from Sega Corporation. His expression could not be seen clearly from the viewfinder of the camera, but it could be seen that his health was not very good, and he left with the support of others when he went out.

Taking this opportunity, Kobayashi Yuji took a lot of photos in one breath, and the results were not bad, at least the faces of the three people could be seen clearly. The only regret is that there is no group photo of the three of them together, but this kind of thing is also possible. I can only think about it, in this kind of high-end club, if you dare to take out your camera, the result will not only be as simple as being kicked out, but may even disappear somewhere in Tokyo Bay.

After taking the photos, Yuji Kobayashi asked the driver to drive him back to his studio. He had already woken up from the wine, and he was very excited when he found the big news. He wanted to develop the photos as soon as possible, and then send them to Go to the editorial department, he believes that the editor-in-chief will be very interested in this matter.Hiroshi Yamauchi from Nintendo, Takeshi Kutaragi from Sony Computer Entertainment, and Isao Okawa from Sega, these three people gathered in the exclusive club in Ginza. There was no sign of a woman, which meant that these three people were probably here to discuss some serious business.Kobayashi Yuji didn't know what the specific business was, but this didn't prevent him from imagining and guessing some possibilities.In fact, no matter what the situation is, if these three people can get together, it will be tantamount to a big earthquake for the game industry.

(End of this chapter)