"Tom, do you really think a company that's just acquired Columbia Pictures and poached over a hundred people from Japan's game industry is going to obediently stay a white-label junior partner to Nintendo?"
On the other end of the line, Tom Kalinske sucked in a sharp breath.
He finally understood.
He finally grasped the true intent behind Takuya Nakayama's so-called "low-key" strategy.
"I get it!" Tom said, his voice brimming with excitement after the realization hit. "You're saying Sony is very likely going to stab Nintendo in the back at this show and announce their own console?!"
"Highly likely."
"So no matter how hard we shout, we can't possibly be louder than Sony flipping the table?" Tom summed it up with a blunt metaphor.
"That's one way to put it."
"Ha!" Tom Kalinske suddenly burst into laughter, the sound filled with a businessman's sharp insight and relief. "Now I completely understand! You're saying a once-in-a-generation clash of giants is about to erupt right next to us. If we try to compete with them over who shouts louder, that's just wasted effort. What we should do is quietly watch from the sidelines while those two monsters beat each other bloody."
The analogy was crude—but uncannily accurate.
"That's more or less it," Takuya laughed along with him. "Let them fight over the headlines. We only want the players."
"Alright! Let's do it that way!" Tom replied with renewed energy. "Half of the five hundred square meters goes to Speed Chase, the other half to The King of Fighters. What about the leftover corner space?"
"The leftovers?" There was a hint of slyness in Takuya's voice. "That's our cashier area."
"Cashier?"
"I've already had the factories rush out a batch of CES-exclusive merchandise," Takuya listed casually. "From Pokémon plushies to Sonic T-shirts, from Kirby hats to Metal Slug character badges—everything you could want."
Tom Kalinske was silent for two seconds, then broke into his trademark booming laughter.
"Hahaha! You devil! Using merch sales to pay for the booth, and turning it into a promo hook at the same time!
I love this idea!"
"Remember to mention it in the promotional ads," Takuya added. "Let players know there'll be tons of limited-edition merch at our booth—first come, first served, never reissued."
"No problem! Leave it to me—I'm great at fanning the flames!" After laughing his fill, Tom remembered something else. "Oh right, Visual Concepts—the studio you asked me to contact earlier. I've already spoken with them."
"Oh? How did it go?"
"Very smoothly," Tom's tone turned serious. "They're extremely interested in working with us. From what they said, EA has been squeezing them hard these past few years, and they've been desperate for a way out. We extend an olive branch at a time like this, and they're practically overflowing with gratitude."
"Good." Takuya lightly tapped the desk. "Then let's give them a lift at our booth too. See if you can arrange their space next to ours—set up a joint event and funnel traffic to each other."
"Bring them along?"
"Mm." Takuya's voice was calm. "Let everyone see—especially the people at EA—what kind of treatment teams that were exploited and abandoned by them can get at Sega. We want developers all over the world to know that Sega's ride is a better one."
On the other end, Tom Kalinske was completely convinced.
From exhibition strategy, to public opinion control, to poaching talent from competitors—everything had been arranged cleanly, step by step.
"Alright, I know what to do now," Tom said, unable to hide his excitement. "Just sit back and enjoy the show, Takuya. Chicago this year is going to be very, very interesting."
After hanging up, Takuya leaned back in his chair, gazing out at the sky beyond the window, now fully dark.
Sony. Nintendo. 3DO—
All the gods were about to take the stage, and a grand drama that would shape the industry for the next decade was finally about to begin.
And he had already secured the best seat in the house for Sega.
After finalizing Sega's CES strategy with Tom Kalinske, Takuya's days didn't get any quieter.
The entire Sega headquarters was like a finely tuned clock wound to its limit, every department running at full speed for the upcoming trip to Chicago.
From final tuning of the Sega-CD, to burning firmware for The King of Fighters demo units, to endless re-editing of the few dozen seconds of the Chrono Wheel trailer—every detail required his personal approval.
Just as he finished signing the last expedited order for limited-edition merchandise and was about to sneak home early to hold his son, his assistant knocked and entered.
"Executive Director, there's a fax from the UK addressed specifically to you."
The assistant handed over a sheet of paper that was still warm.
Takuya glanced at it, and when he saw the header reading "Argonaut Software," the corner of his mouth lifted almost imperceptibly.
It was here.
What he'd been waiting for had finally arrived.
The fax contained a technical specification sheet, boldly titled:
"Super FX 3D Graphics Coprocessor."
Below it was a list of figures that would make laypeople dizzy—but make experts' hearts race.
This was the first-generation version of the legendary Super FX chip from his previous life.
Nintendo's Star Fox had relied on it to achieve revolutionary true 3D polygon graphics on the otherwise 2D SFC.
And now, its technical blueprints lay quietly in his hands.
"Is Director Nakamura in the hardware department?" Takuya picked up the internal phone.
"He is, Executive Director. They're doing final tests on the Sega-CD demos for the show."
"Good."
Takuya hung up, made a copy of the fax, and headed straight for the hardware development department with it in hand.
The department was a mess—circuit boards, data cables, and testing equipment piled across desks. Several Sega-CD prototypes were hooked up to monitors, running eye-watering test programs.
Director Nakamura was staring at streams of code on the screen, sweat on his brow. When he saw Takuya enter, he quickly stood up.
"Executive Director! Why are you here? The Sega-CD's final tuning is complete—we absolutely won't have any issues at the show!"
"Relax, Director Nakamura," Takuya said with a smile, waving his hand. "I'm not here to inspect. I brought you something new."
He handed over the copy.
"Something new?" Nakamura took it in confusion. One glance—and his expression instantly lit up.
"3D—coprocessor? Made by the British? This—these specs—how did they even pull this off?!"
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