The sound of a lighter flicking and a cigarette being lit came through the phone, followed by a long silence.
This novel is first published on twkan.com.
Tom was a marketing genius, but he wasn't a fool. His political instincts might be a bit slow, but they weren't nonexistent.
"Damn it," Tom cursed. "Are you saying we're going to become targets?"
"Not just targets—we're already standing on the executioner's block. Those sanctimonious hypocrites at Nintendo have been itching for an excuse to smear us. They'll claim Sega is a black market peddling 'electronic drugs,' while they're the guardians of 'family-friendly' entertainment."
Takuya's words hit Tom like a bucket of ice water, completely extinguishing his initial joy over the sales figures.
"This is my fault," Takuya said, taking some of the blame, even though the situation was largely a product of the times. "The people reviewing the games focused too much on gameplay and overlooked the cultural risks. I was too busy back then to properly oversee these titles. But now isn't the time for self-recrimination, Tom. We need to save ourselves."
"Pull the games?"
"No. Pulling them would be admitting guilt, and we'd be leaving money on the table. We need to get ahead of the government. If no one else is going to regulate, we'll regulate ourselves."
"Self-regulation?"
"Exactly. We'll form a coalition in Redwood City, reaching out to EA, Activision, even those tiny studios with just a few people, and all our Japanese counterparts. We'll tell them: if they don't want to be legislated into oblivion by those old geezers in government, they need to band together now." Takuya spoke rapidly. "We'll establish an independent Entertainment Software Rating Board. We'll label games, informing parents which are suitable for all ages and which are for adults only. By giving parents the power to choose, we'll make ourselves invulnerable."
"That sounds like a solid plan," Tom's voice regained its energy. "Sega will lead the charge?"
"Absolutely not," Takuya immediately countered. "Sega is a giant in Japan, but to Americans, we're still outsiders. If we push too hard, Nintendo will sabotage us, and even the remnants of Atari will see us as meddling. This board must appear to be a grassroots effort by the American industry itself. We should find a respected American figurehead to front it, while we provide the funding and support behind the scenes."
"You're right," Tom chuckled. "If we take the lead, they'll definitely resort to dirty tricks."
"That's called business acumen," Takuya replied with a smile, casually picking up the Midnight Trap disc from the table. "Oh, speaking of which, Digital Pictures just sent us Midnight Trap. This thing is a disaster."
"That bad?"
"The quality is secondary. The real problem is the game is full of girls running around in their pajamas and voyeuristic camera angles. If this gets lumped in with Mortal Kombat, it'll be a nuclear combo of violence and sex. Even the gods can't save us then." Takuya spun the disc in his hand like a dart. "Add it to the first batch of rated titles, even if we have to slap a '17+' label on it. Also, send someone to smooth things over with the developers. Even though the game is garbage, the Full Motion Video (FMV) technology is still innovative. We don't want to scare them off—we might need them later."
"Understood," Tom's voice crackled through the line, accompanied by the scratch of pen on paper. "I'll get right on it. Looks like another late night for me."
"It's worth the overtime if it means we won't be publicly humiliated in the Capitol."
Takuya hung up and rubbed his throbbing temples.
The first step in their crisis management strategy had been taken.
Three days later, the transatlantic call rang precisely on time.
Tom Kalinske's report contained both good news and bad.
The good news was that the American game developers had panicked at the prospect of legislative oversight by clueless old men in government. The proposal for a "Rating Committee" had garnered overwhelming support, even from EA and Activision, who usually chafed at being mere developers. After all, no one wanted their rice bowl smashed.
But Tom's tone clearly carried an undercurrent of something else.
"While contacting former Atari employees, we stumbled upon some unexpected intelligence," Tom lowered his voice, his tone cautious. "That old lion isn't dead yet. They're plotting something big."
The pen Takuya had been twirling in his hand stopped mid-spin. "Such as?"
"Project Jaguar." Rumor has it they started this project back in '91. Originally, they planned to release a 16-bit console codenamed "Panther" to compete with us, but seeing the Mega Drive and Super Famicom locked in a fierce battle, they realized they couldn't break into the market and scrapped the project. Now, they're aiming to leapfrog the competition with a 32-bit architecture, even claiming it's 64-bit. Intelligence suggests they'll launch it as early as this year, or at the latest, next year, even if they have to force it."
The sound of rustling papers came through the receiver, indicating Tom had done his homework on this potential rival. His tone turned serious. "Takuya, if these specs are accurate, this thing's theoretical performance is terrifying. Should we adjust our hardware development schedule?"
"No."
Takuya's response was firm, even taking a leisurely sip of his coffee.
When he heard "Atari" and "new console" together, what came to mind wasn't some monstrous threat, but that infamously ergonomic controller that resembled a telephone keypad, and their infamous marketing slogan, "Do the Math."
Atari was indeed the pioneer of the gaming industry, but the Atari of today had long been reduced to an empty shell by the Tramiel family, focused solely on squeezing out every last drop of residual value.
In my past life, the Jaguar console was a complete joke. Besides being notoriously difficult to develop for and having a laughably small game library, it offered nothing of value.
"Tom, have you been too stressed lately?" Takuya leaned back in his chair, his tone as casual as if they were discussing dinner plans. "Do you really think a company that buried E.T. in the desert and still hasn't learned to respect developers or players can turn things around just by stacking up some impressive hardware specs?"
There was a moment of stunned silence on the other end of the line.
"Technology has never been Atari's weakness—their brains are," Takuya added mercilessly. "As long as their management maintains this same mindset, it doesn't matter if they have a 32-bit console or even a NASA supercomputer. They'll still churn out garbage that makes players want to smash their TVs. It's in their corporate DNA."
After a brief silence, Tom suddenly burst into laughter, the tension and anxiety instantly dissolving into the airwaves.
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