game trailblazer

Chapter 355 Sony's Tragedy

"It shouldn't matter. Sony Computer Entertainment is one of the top game companies in China. The government has no reason to do such a thing." Kutaragi Kennobu said, in fact, he himself was quite uncertain, but in front of his subordinates It's still necessary to maintain the necessary face, so let alone the facts, first of all, you can't easily admit defeat.

I don't know if I really believed Kutaragi Ken's words, or just to cooperate, Aoyama Akihiro's expression softened immediately, and even showed a faint smile, echoing: "The president is right, I'm still too abrupt gone."

Kutaragi Ken also showed a smile on his face, but as soon as Aoyama Akihiro left, his face darkened immediately.Kutaragi Ken comforted his subordinates before, saying that the RB government would not do such a mindless thing, but in fact it had already been done at the beginning of the year. It was a colossal disaster for Sony Computer Entertainment, and even more so for himself.

In this commercial society, people will only see the glory of the successful, and those who fail will only get ridicule and ridicule. losers are worse.In the past few years, thanks to the success of PS, Ken Kutaragi's position within Sony has continued to rise, and now he has climbed to the position of director, which can be regarded as entering the decision-making circle of the group headquarters, which is simply supreme for him glory.But Ken Kutaragi also knows that standing in this position, he must have blocked the way of many people. If PS2 can achieve similar success as PS, then his position will definitely be more stable, but if PS2 fails, then Now those who support him are likely to turn their backs on him immediately, and some people who are blocked by him are very likely to jump out and make trouble immediately. At that time, most of the right to participate in decision-making that he has acquired so hard will be lost. At that time, he couldn't accept it no matter what.Many people are like this. If they have never tasted the taste of power, they may still be able to remain calm, but once they have power, they will never want to go back to the past after a long time, and even more unwilling to give up the power in their hands , Ken Kutaragi feels the same way now.

Sighing softly, Ken Kutaragi came to his desk, picked up the phone and dialed a number, then said with a smile: "Mr. Aso, sorry to bother you, I have something to trouble you ..."

Aso Ichiro is a friend of Kutaragi Ken in the political circle. Although the position is not particularly high, the news is relatively well-informed.Kutaragi Ken is still unwilling to go to the upper echelon of the company. After all, the news has not been confirmed yet. If it is just Aoyama Akihiro making a fuss, he will not be ashamed, so he wants to inquire about the situation through Aso Ichiro first.

After listening to Kutaragi Ken's narration, Aso Ichiro readily agreed. After all, this is not a particularly troublesome matter, it's just a few phone calls.Ichiro Aso agreed to Ken Kutaragi's request, and made an appointment to contact him again in the evening. Ken Kutaragi then put down the phone and felt a little more at ease.

Gently exhaling, Kutaragi Ken returned to the window and continued to look out, but now he can't get back the mood just now...

That night, Ichiro Aso called as scheduled, but what he brought was not good news: "Kutaragi-kun, what you are worried about really exists. The U.S. government did send an official note two days ago, asking the RB government to suspend The export of PS2 game consoles..."

"What!" Although Ken Kutaragi had been mentally prepared in advance, when he heard that Aso Ichiro confirmed the news of Aoyama Akihiro, he couldn't help but exclaimed, because what Aso Ichiro said was far more than what he said. The news mentioned by Aoyama Akihiro was even more shocking, and it was at this time that Kutaragi Ken finally figured out the whole story.According to Ichiro Aso, the reason why the US government asked the RB government to suspend the export of PS2 game consoles was actually out of military considerations.

"Military reasons? How is this possible!" Ken Kutaragi almost fainted. At the beginning of this year, the PS2 could not be exported because the RB government will list the PS2 game console as a conventional weapon-related multi-purpose product for foreign trade, based on military control. Considering that as long as PS50000 game consoles are exported to regions other than RB or brought out over a certain amount (the amount was set at 2 yen at the time, which was less than the price of two PS2s), the Minister of International Trade and Industry must sign and approve .It is because of this kind of boring reason that I kept the PS2 in the narrow land of RB, and watched others easily attack the overseas market. After finally getting the export license to take effect, the PS2 can finally land in North America and Europe. The market is coming, and there is such a thing again, Kutaragi Ken feels that he is almost out of anger.

"Kudaragi-kun, don't worry, the thing is like this." Aso Ichiro explained on the phone: "I think you should know that there are sanctions against an evil country like Iraq, and many products including weapons are fall within the scope of the embargo."

"Hmm..." Ken Kutaragi nodded involuntarily. Of course he had heard what Ichiro Aso said. Although he didn't know where Iraq was, he still knew that Iraq was under sanctions as he often reads the news. : "But, what does this have to do with the PS2 game console?"

"According to the US government note, the US Defense Intelligence Agency found that in the past two months, almost 4000 PS2s have flowed to Iraq. According to intelligence, most of the buyers have inextricable relationships with the Iraqi government. .” Aso Ichiro continued to explain.

"But what does this mean?" Ken Kutaragi still couldn't understand. Even if Saddam likes to play PS2 games, what does this have to do with the export of PS2? After all, Sony Computer Entertainment only sells game consoles, but It's just an advanced toy.

"Theoretically, it should have nothing to do with PS2, but..." Aso Ichiro changed the subject and gave a reason that made Kutaragi Ken dumbfounded.

According to Ichiro Aso, the PS2 game console had nothing to do with sanctions such as the arms embargo, but the U.S. Department of Defense Intelligence Agency received an intriguing piece of information that a Middle Eastern scientist who had participated in supercomputer research He disappeared mysteriously recently, and it was reported that the scientist was taken to Iraq. Just over a month after the scientist disappeared, Iraq successively imported about 4000 PS2 game consoles.These actions once puzzled the intelligence officials, and no one connected the disappearance of the scientist with the purchase of PS2 game consoles. Later, some people put forward a conjecture that the purpose of the Iraqi government’s import of 4000 PS2 game consoles was not to make Saada Tom enjoys the game, but to use the game console to build a supercomputer.

"What, a supercomputer, how is this possible!" Ken Kutaragi shook his head. Although he was confident in the performance of his game console's processor, he was not arrogant enough to think that the PS2 game console could act as a supercomputer.

"Theoretically, it is possible. The U.S. Department of Defense Intelligence Agency asked experts to evaluate it." Aso Ichiro explained: "I don't know how to do it. It seems to use some interface to connect PS2 as an accessory to an outdated supercomputer. , can greatly enhance the computing power of supercomputers. In short, the US government believes that if PS2 continues to be exported, it is likely to enhance the technological capabilities of some evil countries, and even be used in the research and development of nuclear weapons. Therefore, before the investigation is clear, PS2 Exports must be suspended."

Ken Kutaragi almost spit out a mouthful of blood. He didn't expect that the PS2 was banned for such a speechless reason. The signature EE (Emotion Engine) processor that was advertised in the past turned into a big sword on the head of PS2. , this is really impermanent.The use of PS2 to build a supercomputer also involves places like Iraq. Ken Kutaragi knew that it would not be possible to find out in a day or two, and now there is only one week before the golden period of the business war at the end of the year. According to the normal process, the investigation work is absolutely It cannot be completed, which means that at the end of this year, the commercial war PS2 can only be trapped in the local market.

After the repeated efforts of DreamBox128 and PS2, RB's game machine market has basically been divided up, and it is not easy to think of a large hardware sales volume, unless it is possible to use low-price dumping measures that hurt people. Digging points from competitors' bowls, but opponents will not give up easily, and others can use overseas markets to deal with, the situation is very unfavorable for PS2 game consoles.

Originally, Kutaragi Ken wanted to do a big business during the end of this year's business war. For this reason, he stocked up a lot of PS2 game consoles first, just to regain the market share lost due to production capacity some time ago. It became a burden for Sony Computer Entertainment, especially the millions of PS2 game consoles that were produced and planned to be launched in the European market in North America, and immediately turned into a huge inventory pressure.

A series of marketing activities and game marketing plans that were originally prepared have also been disrupted now. Ken Kutaragi is in a very chaotic mood now, and he doesn't know what to do for a while.If only the RB government has any ideas, Kutaragi Ken can also try to ask the headquarters to mediate, but the pressure from the US government is not so easy to deal with.Although RB people are unwilling to admit it, since the RB economic bubble burst in the 90s of the last century, the RB government’s ambitions have been lost. Now it’s just a younger brother who follows the Americans. The boss has spoken. How can you be a younger brother? Dare to have any opinions.

A feeling of despair emerged slowly from the bottom of Ken Kutaragi's heart. He suddenly felt a sweetness in his throat, and couldn't help but open his mouth to spit it out. The world in front of him suddenly turned bright red...

(End of this chapter)