August 15, 1977
Kai Tak International Airport, Hong Kong.
Lin Baicheng stood at the airport exit with Liu Yihui, Wu Jianjun, and Lei Dashi. They were there to pick someone up.
They didn't wait long — they had calculated the plane's arrival time precisely and came to the airport about ten minutes early.
"President Lin, it's Yamada and Xiao Li," said Liu Yihui.
Yamada was Yamada Hideyoshi, and Xiao Li was one of the two employees Hong Kong had sent to Japan. Accompanying them were three Japanese visitors — two men and one woman.
"President!"
Although Yamada Hideyoshi had never met Lin Baicheng before, he knew Lin would personally come to meet them today. Since he already recognized Liu Yihui and saw Wu Jianjun and Lei Dashi standing behind, it wasn't difficult to figure out which one was Lin Baicheng.
"Good. You've done well this time. Introduce me to the three representatives from Taito Corporation."
Lin Baicheng patted Yamada on the shoulder and looked toward the three Japanese visitors.
"Yes, President!"
Yamada could speak some Cantonese — otherwise, he couldn't have done his earlier part-time job, since the Hong Kong factory wouldn't have hired a translator just for him. Similarly, the American branch also employed staff who could speak Cantonese.
"President, this is Mr. Nakanishi Akio, Executive Director of Taito Corporation. Beside him is Mr. Ishihara Sato, Section Chief of the Sales Department, and lastly, Miss Nohara Mami, their interpreter."
"Hello, Mr. Nakanishi."
Lin Baicheng extended his hand, knowing that Nakanishi was the person in charge of the negotiations.
Yamada translated for him.
"Hello, Mr. Lin!"
Nakanishi Akio extended his hand as well, speaking in Japanese, which Nohara Mami translated simultaneously.
Lin Baicheng said, "Mr. Nakanishi, I've already arranged accommodations for you. You must be tired after the flight. Please rest at the hotel for now — tonight, I'd like to invite you for a few drinks. We can discuss business tomorrow, how about that?"
After Yamada translated, Nakanishi nodded in agreement without objection.
The group left the airport. Lin Baicheng and his team first sent Nakanishi and his colleagues to the hotel before returning to the factory. Yamada was asked to stay at the hotel to rest and serve as the intermediary, keeping contact with the Japanese delegation and helping with their requests.
The reason Taito Corporation's delegation, led by Nakanishi Akio, had come to Hong Kong was to discuss the Japanese distribution rights for Hong Kong Blocks. Since Yamada didn't have the authority to make such decisions, Nakanishi and his team had to travel to Hong Kong for the negotiations.
When Lin Baicheng first learned about this, he was a little surprised. After several days without any news from Japan, he had assumed that the companies there either weren't interested in Hong Kong Blocks or simply wanted to buy it outright.
Unexpectedly, things took a turn for the better — the largest game company in Japan, Taito Corporation, wanted exclusive rights for the Japanese market and was willing to come in person to negotiate. That clearly meant serious interest — perhaps another big deal was about to happen.
Therefore, Lin Baicheng warmly welcomed Nakanishi's delegation, hoping to reach an agreement beneficial to both sides.
That evening, as hosts, Lin and his team treated the Taito delegation to dinner and a night tour of Hong Kong's skyline — though they skipped places like saunas, which Lin personally disliked.
The next day.
Inside the Galaxy Games factory, in the boss's office, the two sides began their formal negotiations.
Representing Galaxy Games were Lin Baicheng, Liu Yihui, and Yamada Hideyoshi. Representing Taito Corporation were Nakanishi Akio, Ishihara Sato, and Nohara Mami.
After some polite exchanges, they got down to business.
"Mr. Lin," said Nakanishi, "your company's Hong Kong Blocks is indeed an excellent arcade game. Taito Corporation is willing to pay a high price to purchase the Japanese rights and produce it ourselves."
Nohara translated as he spoke.
"Mr. Nakanishi," Lin replied with a smile, "your company can certainly purchase the permanent arcade rights for Hong Kong Blocks in Japan, but I suspect you won't like my price."
Lin had no real intention of selling the rights outright, but if Taito was willing to meet his price, he wouldn't mind walking away with a lump sum.
"How much does Mr. Lin want to sell it for?" asked Nakanishi quickly.
"Seventy-five million U.S. dollars — non-negotiable."
That price had been carefully calculated by Lin. A single arcade cabinet sold abroad for about $1,500. After deducting costs and tariffs, he earned about half — roughly $750 profit per machine. The $75 million asking price represented the profit from 100,000 units.
Lin had done his research — a hit arcade game in Japan could sell 200,000 to 300,000 units over three to five years, translating to around $100–200 million in revenue.
So, on the surface, his price wasn't unreasonable — but it did carry some risk, since there was no guarantee that Hong Kong Blocks would become a major hit in Japan.
"Seventy-five million dollars? Impossible! That's far too high!"
Nakanishi shook his head immediately.
The price was steep — but Lin didn't see it as unreasonable. After all, this was for permanent rights to the arcade version; Taito could profit for more than a decade if the game remained popular.
Of course, this offer only included arcade rights — not console or other adaptations.
"Mr. Nakanishi, as I said, you might find my price unacceptable."
Lin smiled, then smoothly shifted the topic: "So, let's discuss a licensing partnership instead. I assume your company has a secondary plan in case a full purchase isn't possible?"
"Of course. Then let's talk about licensing," Nakanishi replied, nodding.
Lin's offer was far beyond Taito's budget — their maximum was $20 million, barely a quarter of Lin's asking price. Clearly, there was too much of a gap between both sides' expectations to continue that discussion.
"For licensing," Lin continued, "we can grant a three-year exclusive distribution license in Japan, allowing your company to manufacture units locally. The retail price must not fall below $1,500 per cabinet, and once the contract expires, Taito will have priority renewal rights under the same conditions.
"One more condition — the game boards must be duplicated in our Hong Kong factory. If there are no issues with these terms, we can discuss pricing."
These were the main conditions Lin had previously discussed with Liu Yihui.