game trailblazer

Chapter 357 Kutaragi's Countermeasures

Among the crowded crowd, a certain reporter stretched out his microphone and asked loudly, "Mr. Inafune, what do you think about the release of "Onimusha" today?"

Keiji Inafune, the project leader of "Onimusha", replied with a smile: "I think the current good sales situation has already explained the problem..."

"Mr. Inafune, what do you think is the reason why "Onimusha" has achieved the current results?" Another reporter broke through the siege and plugged the microphone over.

"Well..." Inafune Keiji replied with a smile on his face: "First of all, I would like to thank the enthusiastic players, because of their support, we can get to where we are today step by step. Secondly, I would like to thank Mr. Kaneshiro Takeshi, and the Everyone who has worked hard in game development, without their efforts, there would be no "Onimusha" today. Finally, I would also like to thank the DreamBox128 platform. Without this powerful game platform, there would be no "Onimusha" The gorgeous effects in "..."

"Mr. Inafune, how do you comment on Sony Computer Entertainment's behavior of selling PS2 at a lower price..."

……

Miraculously, when Kutaragi Ken returned home and just turned on the TV, what appeared on the screen was the proud smiling face of Keiji Inafune, the project leader of Capcom's "Onimusha", which made him feel very uncomfortable.Although Ken Kutaragi has not received the latest sales data of PS2 consoles and games, and although he has not yet received the latest information on "Onimusha" and DreamBox128, he deliberately asked the driver to drive around Tokyo today, whether it is Shibuya was still Akihabara, and he saw long queues outside the game store that sold "Onimusha".This is enough to explain the problem. Just comparing the length of the queue outside the store, Sony Computer Entertainment fell behind again.

Seeing the reporter trying to shift the topic to Sony Computer Entertainment on the TV screen, Ken Kutaragi snorted dissatisfiedly, without having to look at him again, he knew that Keiji Inafune, as a capable member of the DreamBox128 camp, would definitely not have anything good to say Come on, he turned off the TV with the remote control, and sat down on the sofa, closing his eyes and resting his mind, while secretly thinking about the direction of Sony Computer Entertainment's next move.

Before Ken Kutaragi could come up with a reason, "Dinglingling~", the phone on the coffee table next to the sofa rang suddenly.Ken Kutaragi, who was interrupted from thinking, was even more upset, but he still habitually picked up the phone and put it to his ear, because this phone is not a well-known public number.

"I'm Aoyama, may I be President Kutaragi?" Aoyama Akihiro's familiar voice came from the phone.

"It's me, Aoyama-kun, how is the situation now?" Ken Kutaragi asked lightly, but his mood was involuntarily more nervous and expectant.

"President, I just got the latest sales data." Aoyama Akihiro replied on the phone, with a hint of uneasiness in his tone: "The situation is like this..."

According to Aoyama Akihiro, as of 2:2.6 p.m., the sales volume of PS2 game consoles today is 2 units. Perhaps because Christmas is approaching, the sales situation has been relatively good in the recent period. The corresponding PS128 game sales It’s not bad, if there is only PS[-], a high-performance game console, in this world, Ken Kutaragi might be happy, but it’s a pity that there is also DreamBox[-].

Also as of 128:5.2 p.m., 2 DreamBox 2 game consoles have been sold, which is just twice the sales volume of PS15 game consoles. Data, Aoyama Akihiro is still very confident.This is not the worst, or today, the high-profile "Onimusha" has sold [-] sets, and this is just the performance of "Onimusha" in the RB market.

If it were three or five years ago, Sony Computer Entertainment in the PS era really didn't need to pay too much attention to this kind of game that sold more than 2 copies on the first day. Games with such sales performance abound. For example, the game "Resident Evil 200", which is also launched by Capcom, once achieved a miraculous performance of selling more than 15 million sets on the first day.In comparison, the sales volume of 2 sets of "Onimusha" is really nothing, but in this period when PS[-] games are most scarce, even if it only reaches one-third of the sales volume, it will make Kutaragi Ken envious.

After briefly introducing the contents of the materials in his hand, Aoyama Akihiro stopped, held the phone respectfully, and waited for the president's instructions, but there was no sound from the other end of the phone, and he waited for about five or six minutes. He couldn't help asking carefully: "President, what should we do next..."

"Hmm..." Ken Kutaragi's slightly tired voice finally sounded on the phone: "Send the materials to the company immediately, and now it's time to make a decision."

"Yes, President!" Even though the President was not in front of him, Aoyama Akihiro instinctively nodded his head and agreed respectfully.

……

Suzuki Miho gently opened the door of the president's office, and walked in with a cup of dark brown coffee in a white porcelain cup.On the large sofa in the room, Kutaragi Ken was lying down and taking a nap in his clothes. In order not to disturb the president's rest, Suzuki Miho walked very carefully even though there was a carpet on the floor, and walked lightly to the coffee table. She slowly He put down the small tray holding the white porcelain cup.

There was a slight noise when the small tray touched the coffee table, and it fell into the ears of Kutaragi Ken who had been in a meeting all night, but it seemed to be a loud noise, and he was awakened suddenly.Opening his eyes and looking blankly, the first thing that caught Kutaragi Ken's eyes was Miho Suzuki's apologetic face.

"Sorry, President, I interrupted your rest!" Suzuki Miho bowed her body and whispered embarrassedly.

Kutaragi Ken sat up and waved to Suzuki Miho. His mind is still a little confused and he doesn't want to talk yet.Suzuki Miho bowed, turned around and quietly left the president's office.Kutaragi Ken stretched out his hand to pick up the coffee on the coffee table and took a sip. The hot liquid seemed to make him feel better. He put down the white porcelain cup, and he got up and went to the window and pressed the button, accompanied by a slight "buzzing" With a sound, the electric curtains were slowly pulled up, and the dazzling sunlight broke in immediately, and the office suddenly became brighter.

Turning his head and glanced at the wall clock on the wall, the time was close to 10 am, Ken Kutaragi frowned slightly, he didn't expect that he fell asleep for such a long time.Last night's meeting lasted for a long time, and it lasted until almost six o'clock in the morning this morning. This may be the first time in the history of Sony Computer Entertainment. In order to arrange the next work, Kutaragi Ken was busy for almost two hours. After an hour, I finally ate something before falling down on the sofa to rest for a while.

Kutaragi Ken is still a little tired now, but his emotions are very excited. Although the performance of "Onimusha" is a bit outstanding, it basically does not exceed his prediction. The two cards that were held in his hand before can be released now. One is "Formula One 128" created with reference to the most popular racing game "GT Racing" on DreamBox2001, and the other is "Sly Fox Adventure" which is used to replace "Crash Bandicoot" in the PS era.Although the PS2 is a bit behind in terms of the overall number of released games, although the DreamBox128 camp has outstanding games such as "Onimusha", although Ken Kutaragi can only selectively ignore the North American and European markets, but he is very concerned about his company's first party. , The second party's game development strength is still very confident. He feels that under the leadership of "Formula One 2001" and "Sly Fox Adventure" created by gathering its elite troops, at least in the RB market, it can break through the DreamBox128 camp. Du, if he can be given a little more time, the North American and European markets that have been temporarily abandoned are not completely powerless.

Sitting on the sofa and slowly sipping coffee, Kutaragi Ken felt that his spirit was much better than when he just woke up. This may be because of the fresh air pouring into the room, or because of the brewed coffee brewed by Suzuki Miho. Intimate coffee, in short, he has no sleepiness in his mind now, and his mood seems to have improved.

After drinking all the coffee in the cup, Ken Kutaragi, who was in a good mood, even made a special trip to send the cup and tray outside to Suzuki Miho's desk, and by the way admired the spring scenery from the neckline when the secretary bowed, he was satisfied I went back to my office, planning to do something to pass the time.

Before Kutaragi Ken could figure out a series of technical issues such as the position, height and touch of the sofa, window sill and other alternative positions, the phone on the desk suddenly rang, and he had no choice but to temporarily put aside the boundless thoughts in his heart, and walked to the desk Beside, helplessly picked up the phone.

"President, do you want to answer Mr. Qingshan's call for you?" The sweet voice of Suzuki Miho came from the phone.

Kutaragi Ken couldn't help but thumped in his heart. He knew that Aoyama Akihiro would definitely not be bored enough to call to say hello at this time, so he hurriedly ordered: "Quick, come in right away!"

Suzuki Miho responded, and then there were a few button presses, and soon Aoyama Akihiro's voice appeared on the receiver: "President, the situation is not very good, Konami released "Heartbeat Memories 128" on the DreamBox3 platform today ..."

(End of this chapter)