"My God!" Kevin muttered, slumped on the sofa, utterly numb. "Was the god on the track today drawing names out of a hat? Is that how they're deciding who gets eliminated?"
In the end, when the checkered flag dropped, the first driver to cross the finish line was Riccardo Patrese, the seasoned veteran of Williams Racing.
But McLaren Racing wasn't left completely empty-handed.
Gerhard Berger, the jovial Austrian, steadily navigated the chaotic race as his teammates and other strong competitors dropped out one after another. His steady driving secured a valuable second-place finish, earning him a spot on the podium.
As Berger sprayed champagne on the podium, the McLaren technicians in the Pit Lane finally cracked faint smiles.
After the race, Takuya Nakayama and his team watched on TV as Senna gave a dejected interview in the dressing room.
Mark Cerny was about to suggest offering condolences when Takuya shook his head.
"Let's leave them alone," he said softly. "At a time like this, any words of comfort would be superfluous. Let them be alone for a while."
Mark nodded.
As a sponsor, celebrating Berger's second-place finish was only natural, but approaching Senna about his disappointment at that moment would clearly be unwise.
The next day at Nagoya Airport, Mark Cerny, dragging his suitcase, glanced back at Kevin and the others.
Though the team still felt uneasy about the race results, the thought of the container filled with "holy grails" soon to be shipped back to the US by sea brought uncontainable grins to their faces.
Takuya Nakayama came to see them off.
"Mark, you've worked hard this time. Virtua Racing's debut was a great success."
"It was your team's execution that made it perfect," Mark said, extending his hand. "Well then, we're heading back to the States."
"Safe travels," Takuya replied, shaking Mark's hand.
The clamor and passion of the Japanese Grand Prix gradually faded from the Suzuka Circuit as the teams and spectators departed.
Takuya Nakayama's life also transitioned from the roar of engines on the track back to the offices of Sega headquarters.
A report titled "Japanese Grand Prix Collaboration Project Post-Mortem" quietly lay on his desk.
In just three days, sales of the limited-edition Pikachu plushies and related merchandise had already surpassed the 100 million yen mark.
The sheer magnitude of the numbers forced the finance department to triple-check their calculations.
More importantly, Virtua Racing's stunning debut at the Formula One event, amplified by media coverage, ignited global buzz among both gaming enthusiasts and motorsports fans.
"When Technology Embraces Speed"—the headline penned by Reporter Watanabe—has since become the go-to tagline for Virtua Racing in gaming magazines worldwide.
The exorbitant cost of the Model 1 hardware did indeed limit the game's distribution. Many small- to medium-sized arcade owners could only look on in frustration, but this didn't deter large chain arcades from installing it as their new crown jewel attraction.
At Sega's No. 1 Building in Akihabara, two side-by-side Virtua Racing cabinets remained virtually non-stop from opening to closing time. Even though a single play cost two hundred-yen coins—double the price of other games—nothing could dampen players' enthusiasm for experiencing that unparalleled sense of speed.
The office door swung open, and Yu Suzuki strode in, a printed report in hand, his expression as focused as ever.
"Executive Director Nakayama," he said.
"Mr. Suzuki, please have a seat," Takuya Nakayama said, pointing to the sofa opposite him. He smiled and pushed the post-mortem report across the table. "Our collaboration with Formula One and McLaren has been a tremendous success. Virtua Racing played a crucial role in that."
Yu Suzuki merely glanced at the report's startling one-hundred-million-yen sales figure before setting it aside, clearly uninterested.
He handed over the report he'd brought. "This summarizes player feedback from Akihabara Hall One."
Takuya Nakayama took the report and looked it over. Instead of sales figures, it was densely packed with data on player gameplay duration, highest speeds achieved, cornering choices, and even the average angle of the steering wheel's rotation.
"Most players gave the highest ratings for the sense of speed and the steering wheel's force feedback," Yu Suzuki said calmly, as if stating an established fact rather than boasting of his achievement. "However, twelve percent of experienced players reported that during high-speed navigation of the 130R bend, the steering wheel's force feedback felt somewhat stiff, and the tire grip threshold feedback was not sufficiently linear."
Takuya Nakayama was left somewhat bewildered by this.
He only knew that the game was a success and that players loved it. That was enough for him.
As for the 12% of player feedback regarding technical details so obscure even he struggled to understand them, he considered them mere nitpicking given the current hardware limitations.
"This—this shouldn't affect its status as a great work, right?" Takuya Nakayama ventured cautiously.
"It doesn't," Yu Suzuki replied, shaking his head. Yet beneath his glasses, his eyes burned with an unyielding intensity. "But it could have been perfect. This is the best we can do for now."
Suzuki shook his head again and continued, "Model 2's motherboard development hasn't gone smoothly. There are too few affordable components on the market, and their performance is lacking. We've had to test each one individually."
Takuya offered some consolation. "Technological iteration always takes time. We can't rush it. Steady progress is key. Besides, some on the board are still grumbling that we haven't squeezed enough profit out of the Mega Drive."
Yu Suzuki stood up. "That's all we can do, then."
He left Takuya's office, leaving it silent once more.
Takuya swiveled his chair, his gaze settling on the calendar on the wall. A red circle marked the end of October.
Only a few days remained until November.
Meanwhile, Nintendo wasn't standing still.
The summer release of Super Mario Kart was like a game-changer, exploding into countless family living rooms.
Takuya Nakayama had just reviewed the figures two days prior. That seemingly simple kart-racing game had already sold over four million copies worldwide since its release—a staggering number that signaled Nintendo's Super Famicom console had fully recovered from its initial growing pains of lacking game titles and was now aggressively reclaiming market share.
Nakayama's fingers tapped rhythmically on his desk, the soft clicks echoing in the room.
It's time.
He picked up the intercom phone. "Have Manager Tanaka from the Marketing Department come to my office."
Soon, a middle-aged man in wire-rimmed glasses, looking slightly anxious, knocked and entered.
"Managing Director, you summoned me?"
"Manager Tanaka, please sit." Nakayama gestured to the sofa opposite his desk, his expression impassive. "Nintendo's Mario Kart is selling quite well, isn't it?"
Please Support me by becoming my patreon member and get 30+ chapters.
[email protected]/Ajal69
change @ with a
Thank You to Those who joined my Patreon