The air in the President's office was uncharacteristically warm.
Hiroshi Yamauchi leaned back in his chair, holding the latest sales daily report, a rare curve on his lips. In front of him, several Marketing Department heads sat upright, their faces also beaming with joy.
"super mario bros. 3 is doing very well," one Sales Supervisor reported. "Since the second week of release, our sales curve has started to rise, and the gap with Sega's pokémon land is rapidly closing. At this rate, we'll achieve a reversal by next week at the latest."
Another person added, "Sega's MD launch publicity campaign is nearing its end, and players' novelty is fading. Mario's brand appeal is long-term and has strong staying power. We've got this."
Hiroshi Yamauchi did not speak, only gently tapped the soaring red curve on the report with his finger. Everyone understood that the President was very satisfied with this result. That pokémon had suppressed them for so long, and now, Nintendo's ace was finally going to reclaim its throne.
The office door was suddenly pushed open, and a young employee rushed in frantically, files scattered on the floor, his face covered in sweat.
"President! This is bad! The latest, the latest data—"
The relaxed atmosphere in the office instantly solidified. Hiroshi Yamauchi's gaze turned cold, staring at the disheveled young man.
"Pick them up, and explain clearly."
The young man fumbled to pick up a few papers, his voice trembling: "Sega, Sega's game sales suddenly surged yesterday afternoon! This is real-time data just faxed over by Fami Tsū, please see—"
The Sales Supervisor took the crumpled paper, and after just one glance, his face turned as white as the paper. He trembled as he handed the data to Hiroshi Yamauchi.
On the report, the blue curve representing pokémon land, after a steady decline, suddenly shot up at an almost vertical angle, instantly catching up with Mario's sales, and even showing faint signs of surpassing it.
"What's going on?" Hiroshi Yamauchi's voice betrayed no emotion, but everyone felt a chill down their spine.
"It's, it's their game's Easter egg," the Sales Supervisor explained with difficulty, taking another report handed to him by the young man. "After completing the game, an animated movie trailer appears, called Mewtwo Strikes Back."
"A trailer?" Hiroshi Yamauchi frowned. "Putting a trailer inside a game?"
The Sales Supervisor handed the report to Hiroshi Yamauchi and continued to explain: "Then GALLOP also started airing the official theatrical trailer for Mewtwo Strikes Back after their prime-time animation slot. This created a triple-pronged promotional linkage: a pre-release trailer, an in-game completion trailer, and an official trailer. All viewers of pokémon animation and players of pokémon land, even everyone who has purchased pokémon merchandise, have paid attention to this trailer, causing a huge stir in the market."
"Now all television stations and newspapers are reporting on this, saying that Sega has pioneered a new interactive storytelling mode, turning games into movie 'prequels.' Countless players who were originally on the fence have rushed to buy the game just to see that trailer with their own eyes."
Hiroshi Yamauchi looked at the two curves on the report, almost entangled, the red Mario curve appearing to lack staying power,
while the blue pokémon curve was like a recently awakened beast, full of unpredictable explosive power.
The office was dead silent. The Marketing Department elites who had just been celebrating victory were now all bowing their heads, not daring to make a sound.
One moment they thought victory was assured, the next they were beaten back to their original state by an unheard-of, bizarre move from their opponent.
This huge disparity made everyone feel a sense of absurdity and powerlessness.
Hiroshi Yamauchi slowly put down the report in his hand, making a soft sound.
"A bunch of good-for-nothings. Takuya Nakayama alone came up with so many promotional tricks just for one pokémon, can't you people improve a little?"
As Hiroshi Yamauchi's words fell, even the sound of breathing disappeared in the office. The phrase "a bunch of good-for-nothings" stabbed like an ice pick into the hearts of every elite in the Marketing Department and Sales Department, making them not even dare to raise their heads.
In this dead silence, the Sales Supervisor who had first reported the good news, his face ashen, shuffled forward a step.
His lips moved, and it seemed to take all his strength to utter a sound.
"President, things might be worse than we thought."
Hiroshi Yamauchi didn't even lift an eyelid, just stared at the two intertwined curves on the table, as if he wanted to burn a hole through the blue line with his gaze.
The Sales Supervisor swallowed, handing over the second report in his hand. The paper of that report was much better than the fax just now, and it even had a colored game cover printed on it, looking particularly glaring.
"Sega's offensive hasn't stopped. Just as we were locked in a close-quarters battle with pokémon's sales, entangled and inseparable, they, they released two more new games."
He paused, seemingly organizing his words, but ultimately chose the most direct statement: "They announced today that this week they will release a strategy game called first super robot wars, and also a party game called kira kira island adventure."
Another Market Supervisor, who had been silent, couldn't help but add, "first super robot wars—just from the name, you know it's aimed at those core robot fans. And also those strategy game players who don't like action games and prefer to use their brains. Previously, these complex games could only run on PCs, and those developers were unwilling to simplify content to port them to the FC. Now that they can be made on the MD, are PC players also going to switch to Sega?"
"What about the other one?" Hiroshi Yamauchi finally spoke, his voice terrifyingly calm.
The Sales Supervisor's gaze fell on another page of the report. The art style on that page was completely opposite to the rigidness of robots, filled with plump, soft, adorable characters, and colors so vibrant they made one dizzy.
"kira kira island adventure—it's made by COMPILE Co., Ltd."
He answered with difficulty.
"The graphics are—very cute. It's a collection of several mini-games, and from the gameplay, it looks like it's for multiple players, and the difficulty doesn't seem high, but there are some elements of multiplayer competition. The goal should be to continue attracting the casual players, female players, and family users brought in by pokémon land. They probably want these people to continue playing other MD games after they've had enough of pokémon land, making the MD a regular fixture in every family living room. This shares the same goal as our living room strategy, but they can win over a wider range of players—"
The office fell silent again; now they all understood.
If the pokémon trailer linkage was an unexpected heavy punch, then these two new games were a relentless combo attack that allowed no breathing room.
To maintain a sufficiently high presence for the MD in the game market, rapidly expand the player base, and swiftly overcome the weak period of low installed base.
One move after another, one link interlocking with the next, precisely targeting every niche market, and then collectively besieging Nintendo's proud "all-ages" strategy.