The global momentum of the DDR City Championship ultimately gave Sega another weighty bargaining chip at the negotiation table with Toshiba.
The negotiations finally concluded.
The news was personally brought back to Sega Headquarters by directors Terauchi and Hatano.
Facing this tempting, irresistible million-level order, and the visible cultural phenomenon stirred up by DDR globally, Toshiba finally completely let go of its last bit of reserve.
They agreed to Sega's terms, with a bulk purchase price of less than 2000 Japanese Yen for the MC68000 chip and less than 800 Japanese Yen for the Z80 chip.
Not only that, Toshiba also solemnly promised that starting from January 1988, it would prioritize ensuring Sega's production capacity and begin stable supply.
When the news came back, all the high-level executives breathed a complete sigh of relief; the heaviest stone pressing on their hearts was finally moved.
Directors Terauchi and Hatano wasted no time and immediately activated the resources of the Hong Kong and Taiwan OEM factories that had been prepared for a long time.
The MD console production line, like a precisely wound machine, began to emit a low and powerful roar, operating at full speed with a single command.
With the activation of the production line, the launch lineup of flagship titles for MD was finally finalized.
These included four 移植 games: fatal fury, tetris, Action Fighter, and space harrier.
And, Sega's own ace IP pokémon's first official game, pokémon adventure: pokémon land.
Other games developed concurrently will also be released at a rhythm of one game per week starting half a month after the MD's release, forming a continuous sales offensive and gradually building up the game lineup's depth.
The release date was set for February 13, 1988, the day before Valentine's Day.
By this point, internal secrecy regarding the MD at Sega no longer held much significance.
It could even be said that in a company like Sega, with its numerous factions and intricate interpersonal relationships, a core project being kept under wraps until all details were revealed two months before its release was already a small miracle.
The entire company, from research and development to marketing, from production to logistics, all departments entered the highest level of combat readiness.
The air was filled with a sense of tension, excitement, and anticipation; everyone was making their final sprint for the upcoming next-generation console war.
While the MD project was progressing in an orderly manner, Takuya Nakayama turned his attention in another direction.
He gathered the joint development team, who were just boosted in morale by the huge success of DDR and were enjoying hero-like treatment throughout the company, and proposed a brand new task.
To develop a home version of DDR that could run on the MD.
The core of this plan included a dedicated LD player that needed to be externally connected to the MD console, and a home version of the dance mat.
In the meeting room, the team members, who had just been immersed in joy, showed some confusion on their faces.
"Takuya-kun, the cost of an LD player is very high."
The project leader was the first to raise the question, which was also the biggest concern in everyone's mind.
"I know."
Takuya Nakayama's answer was calm and assured, clearly well-thought-out.
"Therefore, this set of equipment was never positioned as a mass consumer product from the beginning."
He tapped his finger lightly on the whiteboard, attracting everyone's attention.
"I position it as a'symbol of honor,' an ultimate 'fan benefit.'"
"The first batch of products will be launched as 'DDR Global City Championship Limited Edition Commemorative Models.'"
"The body will be printed with the exclusive logos and representative color schemes of the champions, runners-up, and third-place winners of this competition."
"This is prepared for core players with sufficient purchasing power, it is a top-tier peripheral for them to purchase and collect.
Its existence is to, in turn, enhance the brand prestige and 話題性 of our MD console."
The confusion on the team members' faces gradually gave way to an excited realization.
Takuya Nakayama continued to throw out his ideas.
"Additionally, I require this external LD player to have a switching function, allowing it to independently play ordinary LD movies on the market even when not connected to the MD console."
He scanned the room, explaining, "This can greatly increase the product's added value, making it more than just an expensive gaming peripheral. At the same time, this is also a bargaining chip to make this product a small part of Sony's LD strategic ecosystem, in exchange for Sony's free technical authorization and low-cost component procurement."
Finally, he changed the subject, adding the most crucial safety valve to this seemingly radical project.
"Most importantly, this project does not require large-scale stocking."
"After releasing the limited commemorative edition, we will adopt a small-batch distribution combined with pre-orders and small-batch production, strictly controlling output, absolutely avoiding any risk of hardware inventory backlog."
These words completely dispelled the team's last concerns.
December 27, 1987.
The first working day after the Christmas holiday.
The champions and runners-up of DDR from sixteen cities worldwide finally settled after weeks of fierce competition.
However, just as the heat of the competition subsided slightly, an interesting phenomenon occurred.
Japanese embassies in fourteen overseas cities around the world almost simultaneously received short-term tourist visa applications far exceeding those of the same period in previous years.
Japan, Tokyo, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In a bright and clean office, an official responsible for cultural exchange affairs was holding a cup of hot tea, with an irrepressible look of joy on his face, looking at the data report that had just been compiled.
"Excellent! This is truly excellent!"
He excitedly said to his colleague beside him, "It seems that this year's overseas cultural tourism promotion budget was spent on the right place! The number of overseas tourists coming to Japan during the New Year period is expected to experience an explosive growth!"
This perfectly aligned with the Japanese government's current desire to enhance its international influence, and the atmosphere in the entire office was one of jubilation.
This was undoubtedly one of the biggest political achievements of the year, proving that Japan's national influence and cultural appeal were increasing day by day.
The official had even begun drafting a report to his superiors to report on his achievements.
However, to make the report more detailed, he instructed his subordinates to conduct a sample analysis of the backgrounds of these new visa applicants, in order to find out which aspects of the promotion had achieved such outstanding results.
The analysis results came out quickly.
When that thin, yet enough to subvert the officials' perceptions, analysis report was placed on the desk, everyone in the office was stunned.
The report showed that the vast majority of these tourist visa applicants, who had surged in a short period, were young people around twenty years old.
And their reasons for applying for visas, or the materials they carried with them, all pointed to the same goal.
Tokyo, DDR Global Finals.
The smiles on the officials' faces froze.
After a brief moment of confusion, there was an unprecedented silence, mixed with absurdity and shock.
They immediately realized that a brand new model of "cultural output" and "tourism attraction," driven entirely by private commercial activities, had boldly taken shape without their knowledge.
This was no longer just a game competition.
It was an unprecedented global event that could bring tangible economic and cultural benefits to the country.
In the office, the senior official who had previously been immersed in joy slowly took off his glasses and carefully wiped them with a cloth.
His movements were slow, but his eyes sparkled with a new, cautious, and deeply interested light.
He began to re-evaluate Sega and Sony, as well as emerging things like video games, which they had previously disdained, and their influence on young people around the world, from a never-before-seen perspective.