The inspection trips to Hong Kong and Taiwan concluded, and Director Terauchi and Director Hatano returned to Japan feeling relaxed. The dust of travel on their faces couldn't hide the hint of triumph in their eyes, suggesting a fruitful journey.
However, under the slightly inquisitive gaze of Takuya Nakayama, who was there to meet them, they tacitly refrained from revealing any specific details.
"The relevant results will be uniformly reported at the board meeting," Director Terauchi simply responded, his tone flat yet carrying an undeniable weight.
Director Hatano, on the other hand, smiled and patted Takuya on the shoulder, his eyes showing a cunning glint like an old fox.
With the return of these two key figures, Takuya Nakayama's plan for purchasing a million chips was officially put on the agenda by them at the board meeting.
To completely dispel the board's doubts about the one-million-chip order and secure their unreserved and full support, a meticulously prepared demonstration of the new console's launch game lineup was about to begin.
Various development departments within Sega, as well as third-party partners like COMPILE and GameArts, and Square, all received notifications and actively responded.
They would bring their latest achievements, painstakingly developed for the new console, although most of them were still early, rough versions, with a long way to go before final completion.
The demonstration was held in the highest-floor conference room at Sega Headquarters.
Board members arrived successively and took their seats, the air filled with a complex mix of caution and anticipation.
First to be showcased were several arcade Ported works from Sega's internal team, along with kira kira island adventure brought by COMPILE.
When the bright and colorful, with cute characters, screen of kira kira island adventure lit up, the atmosphere in the conference room visibly relaxed a bit.
This was a collection of family-friendly party games, with lighthearted and humorous background music accompanying the demonstration of multiple fun mini-games on the screen. Its diverse gameplay and delicate graphical performance, far exceeding the current capabilities of the FC, made the directors present light up.
They seemed to already see the new console's enormous potential in attracting a large family user base, which was a stark contrast to the SG-1000 era's strategy of focusing on hardcore arcade ports.
After a brief moment of relaxation, the real main event followed.
final fantasy from Square and Sega's hidden ace, phantasy star, two heavyweight RPG masterpieces, were about to take turns on stage.
The screen quickly filled with the visuals of final fantasy.
Compared to the childish and bright feel of dragon quest, this work exuded a more mature and profound temperament.
Amazingly exquisite pixel art vividly depicted every character and every scene.
The several cinematic cutscenes interspersed in the demonstration, with their camera work and atmosphere creation, subtly revealed a cinematic narrative sense.
A senior director, looking at the classic job settings and crystal theme, couldn't help but murmur, "This reminds me of the grand occasion when dragon quest ii was released back then."
That social phenomenon triggered by a single game is still a legendary topic in the industry.
Finally, it was Sega's own phantasy star, developed under the leadership of Yuji Naka.
When the unique opening animation, blending sci-fi and fantasy elements, played, the atmosphere in the conference room reached its peak.
Cold starships and ancient magic intertwined on the screen, creating an unprecedented wonderful visual experience.
The first-person perspective maze exploration screen brought a strong sense of immersion, as if personally in a perilous alien dungeon.
And its era-leading graphical performance and ethereal electronic soundtrack made even these veterans, accustomed to top-tier arcade graphics, admit that this complex game type, capable of providing a deeply immersive experience, was indeed difficult for arcade platforms to perfectly support.
During the intermissions between the two RPG demonstrations, Takuya Nakayama provided timely supplementary explanations.
"Directors, please see, these two RPG masterpieces with distinct styles are only a part of the role-playing game lineup we have prepared for the new console."
His voice was clear and steady, echoing in the quiet conference room.
"The classic orthodoxy of final fantasy and the sci-fi exploration of phantasy star each have their own styles."
"We must carefully coordinate the development progress of these two works and the interval between their final release dates."
"We need to create continuous peaks of market excitement, rather than releasing them at the same time, which would cause player fatigue and unnecessary internal competition. Only then can we maximize our commercial interests."
And finally, Sega Development Group 8's first super robot wars was showcased.
The graphical performance, far exceeding the FC, achieved by dedicating all processing power to combat animations during battles, silenced some who had previously criticized the purchase of robot animation licenses.
Throughout the demonstration, regardless of the game, the arcade-level graphical quality, the smooth and natural character animations, and the visibly complex game mechanisms and system depth all clearly told all the directors present that this was absolutely incomparable to the old FC.
The performance advantages displayed by the new console, and the richness of the game release lineup prepared during this period, all demonstrated confidence in the new console project to the directors.
The demonstration finally concluded.
Representatives from various game development teams and companies, with faces full of excitement and infinite aspirations for the future, successively left the conference room.
Their works received recognition from Sega's top management, which was a tremendous encouragement for their efforts during this period.
In the spacious conference room, only Sega's directors remained.
The lively discussions from earlier during the demonstration gradually subsided.
The spectacular game screens that had just been displayed still lingered in their minds.
"Impressive."
President Hayao Nakayama was the first to break the silence, a subtle hint of emotion in his strong voice.
"The launch lineup presented by the company's various development teams and co-developers has indeed given me stronger confidence in the new console's market prospects."
Director Hatano also nodded heavily in agreement, echoing, "The President is right. Such strong software power is enough to support the large hardware inventory we discussed earlier. These games are capable of making players willingly pay for the new console."
His gaze swept over his colleagues, his tone full of confidence.
Director Terauchi cleared his throat and re-emphasized the deeper strategic significance of the one-million-chip order.
"When Executive Director Nakayama discussed this order with us earlier, he also mentioned that this million-piece order is not just about maximizing the reduction of current hardware costs."
"More importantly, it is to establish a price benchmark that is absolutely favorable to us for our subsequent chip procurement. Once Toshiba accepts this unit price, in the future, whether it's themselves or other potential suppliers, if they want to inflate prices again, they will have to seriously consider their position."
"This is paving the way for Sega's long-term interests in the future, and it is about gaining the initiative in the supply chain."
The atmosphere in the conference room became even more enthusiastic due to these words.
Confidence, unprecedented confidence, grew in the heart of every director.
Amidst such surging enthusiasm, Director Terauchi looked at everyone with shining eyes and proposed in a deep voice, "Then, regarding Managing Director Takuya Nakayama's proposal to purchase 500,000 MC68000 chips and 500,000 Z80 chips from Toshiba, totaling one million chips, we will now proceed to a vote."
As his words fell, the conference room was silent.
A moment later, hands were raised one after another.
The final vote result was almost overwhelming.
Except for two directors who were always conservative and unwilling to directly bear such a huge risk, who abstained, all other directors present, including President Hayao Nakayama, voted in favor without hesitation.
The proposal passed with a high majority.
The board ultimately decided to delegate Director Terauchi and Director Hatano to represent Sega Corporation and personally go to Toshiba Corporation to conduct formal negotiations on this chip procurement order totaling one million units.