game trailblazer

Chapter 354 Sony's Tragedy

Kutaragi walked briskly into the office building of Sony Computer Entertainment. The staff along the way bowed respectfully when they saw him. He smiled and waved, and walked into his special elevator calmly.The elevator went up quickly, and Kutaragi Ken looked out through the transparent viewing window. The gradually shrinking ground gave him a feeling that everything was under control, and his mood became more cheerful.

Although the development of Sony Computer Entertainment during this period cannot be said to be smooth sailing, at least it has improved greatly compared to before. With the export license that took effect in October, the PS10, which was trapped on an isolated island, finally entered the overseas market, and landed in North America successively. Compared with the European market, although there is still a huge gap with DreamBox2, although due to the relationship of production capacity, the sales in the European region are basically just a formality, but the results in the North American market alone have made Kutaragi very pleased.

In just over two months, with the support of well-prepared first games, PS2 has achieved sales of 200 million units in North America, completely overwhelming the aging N64 and the weak Dreamcast, becoming the runner-up on the sales list , It is only one step away from DreamBox128, which has been the sales champion for several months. Kutaragi Ken feels that as long as he works harder, he may be able to surpass DreamBox128 and create a new PS2 dynasty.

As the saying goes, people feel refreshed when happy events happen, and good things happen one after another. Ken Kutaragi felt this way at this time.In fact, he didn't have too much expectations for Sega. After all, Kazan Tetsu, who was in power at the time, was more inclined to Nintendo. However, after some careful operations, the internal wind direction of Sega really changed. Of course, I have to thank the old man Yamauchi for his stubbornness. , if Nintendo really intends to cooperate with the family, I am afraid that no matter how many moves Ken Kutaragi makes, nothing will change.After some wooing, Sega's Hideki Sato faction fell to Sony, and then as Hideki Sato replaced Kayama Tetsu, Sega's decision-making gradually became more inclined to Sony Computer Entertainment, even the joint venture game that Isao Okawa established in response to the situation. The development company is a bit planning to officially launch the PS game project.

Of course, from Kutaragi Ken’s point of view, he didn’t expect Sega to bring much change to Sony Computer Entertainment. Although Sega has always been known as the number one in technical strength, the market performance of repeated defeats makes people not optimistic about them. .For Kutaragi Ken, Sega is willing to turn around and concentrate on being a game developer, just adding a third-party game development company. He even feels that he is giving Sega a chance to survive.But it is still a good thing to have more friends and fewer competitors.

With a sound of "ding", the elevator door slowly slid open to both sides, Kutaragi Ken stepped out of the elevator, and walked into his spacious president's office along the aisle.Miho Suzuki, the secretary in the outside room, was sitting in front of the computer and typing on the keyboard. Seeing Ken Kutaragi walking in, she quickly got up and greeted him with a bow, and then greeted with a sweet smile: "President, morning what!"

The air-conditioned room is warm and warm, without the damp and cold feeling outside. Miho Suzuki is wearing a light blue short-sleeved shirt with a narrow waist. The tailored clothes bring out her impressive size. A dark striped silk scarf brought out a refreshing and pleasant temperament, and she was wearing a black lace skirt underneath, which faintly revealed a little spring color, which made people have a bit of room for reverie.

His eyes circled around the neckline of Miss Suzuki's shirt with a slightly larger opening, and then went all the way down to enjoy the spring scenery along the way, Ken Kutaragi nodded with satisfaction. After training, Miss Suzuki has more taste than when she first came. Yes, with such an extra flower in the somewhat boring office, I think the days to come will be much more fun.

After saying hello, Suzuki Miho obediently walked to Kutaragi's gym, took off his heavy coat for him, and prepared to hang it on the coat rack by the door.Kutaragi Ken, who was in a good mood, touched Suzuki Miho's elastic buttocks, then pushed the door straight into the inner room of the president's office, leaving only Suzuki Miho standing there with a shy expression on his face.

Walking into the room, Ken Kutaragi didn't sit down immediately, but came to the view window with a wide view and stood there looking out.Outside the window are some high-rise buildings in Tokyo, and further away is the noble residential area of ​​Roppongi. These common sights fall into the eyes of Kutaragi Ken today, but they have a different meaning.

Now it is mid-December, and the year-end business war is getting closer and closer. Last year, PS12 debuted very hastily, so that it failed to find any bargains in the year-end business war that year.Drawing on the experience of last year, Sony Computer Entertainment has made a lot of preparations this year, even before PS2 landed in the North American market. Although there were occasional setbacks, all preparations have been completed by now.The production capacity of PS2 has been troubled since it entered the RB market. As several core factories have entered the mass production period, it has been fundamentally resolved, and even the production cost has been reduced a lot. However, at least the competitiveness has improved a lot compared with before. Another problem that plagued game software has been greatly alleviated now. After a comprehensive attack by Sony Computer Entertainment, the first party in its hands , second-party, and third-party game development capabilities have increased significantly, and the games used to finale the business war at the end of the year are also ready to go.

Kutaragi believes that this year’s year-end business war will definitely give his opponent a big “surprise”. With enough production capacity to support it, the European market that has been forced to ignore during this period can also start to fully develop, and the North American market can also be better. With a strong effort, he believes that after getting rid of the burden, Sony Computer Entertainment will create a new glory, surpass the current competitor DreamBox128, and build a new PS2 dynasty just like the PS dynasty.

Just as Ken Kutaragi was looking at the scene outside the window, imagining the glorious future of PS2, "Dingling~", the phone on the desk suddenly rang.He snorted dissatisfiedly, turned around and came to the desk, picked up the phone and put it to his ear to answer, and his face immediately returned to normal at this moment.

The indicator light indicated that this was an internal call, so Kutaragi Ken asked very rudely: "What's the matter?"

"President~" Suzuki Miho's timid voice came from the phone: "Mr. Aoyama is here, he said he has something very important to report to you, do you..."

"Why is Aoyama here at this time? Is there really something urgent happening?" Ken Kutaragi pondered in his heart, and ordered to the phone, "Well, let him come in."

……

Not long after, Aoyama Akihiro appeared in front of Kutaragi Ken with a scorched face. Kutaragi Ken, who was sitting on the sofa, stretched out his hand to signal him to sit beside him, and then asked, "Mr. Aoyama, what made you so anxious?"

"President, something serious happened!" Aoyama Akihiro said anxiously, while panting slightly, as if he just ran all the way here.

"What's the big deal?" Ken Kutaragi asked suspiciously.

"President, I just received news that the PS2 export license may be cancelled!" Aoyama Akihiro said word by word.

"What!" The news revealed by Aoyama Akihiro was so shocking that Ken Kutaragi couldn't help but stood up, grabbed Aoyama Akihiro's sleeve, and asked: "Why is this? Isn't this license only valid? How long has it been?"

"President, I'm not very clear either. I rushed over to tell you as soon as I received the news, and I haven't had time to investigate in detail." Aoyama Minghong's face flashed with shame, and he suddenly felt that he had come as if It's a bit presumptuous.But now it has come to the critical moment of the PS2 campaign. If the news is true, the upcoming business war at the end of the year will become a tragedy for Sony Computer Entertainment. That's why he rushed to report in such a hurry that he forgot Check it out first.

Kutaragi Ken sat down again and fell into deep thought. He knew the seriousness of the news that Aoyama Akihiro said. If it was true, it would be a disaster, and Sony Computer Entertainment’s preparations for the year-end business war would also be in jeopardy. All vanished into thin air.DreamBox128, which is one step ahead, has already achieved a very large advantage. If Sony Computer Entertainment's PS2 drops the chain at this critical moment, the consequences will be self-evident, and the throne of home game consoles can only be completely handed over to others. This Christmas If the PS2 in the golden period can't make great efforts to catch up, then the hope of surpassing DreamBox128 will never have a chance to be realized again.

Kutaragi Ken didn't want the PS2, which he pinned all his hopes on, to become a tragedy, but things at this level were beyond his control. A burst of despair suddenly surged in his heart, and then he remembered the uncertainty in Aoyama Akihiro's words . "This news may be untrue..." Kutaragi Ken comforted himself, and then made up his mind, planning to find out through his own relationship first. The matter may not be desperate yet, even if the news is in jeopardy One is true, he can still turn to Sony headquarters for help, although this may lead to a decline in the headquarters' evaluation of him, but for the future of PS2, he is ready to go all out...

(End of this chapter)