Oguchi Hisao put down his pen and looked up.
"My father is getting old. He won't be able to stay in the president's chair for many more years," Nakayama Takuya said in a calm tone, as if he were talking about the weather. "Once he steps down, there will be major changes in the upper-level personnel structure."
Oguchi Hisao's breath hitched.
This was a topic involving the highest power transition within the company; who would dare discuss it so casually?
"When I take a step up, this office, as well as the position of the head of the games division, will be handed over to you," Nakayama Takuya looked at him and lowered his voice. "You need to prepare in advance."
Oguchi Hisao's hand, holding the notebook, tightened.
Head of Sega's games division.
This was not just a title; it meant wielding the power of life and death over a platform with an installed base of tens of millions worldwide, determining the fate of countless third-party manufacturers.
He swallowed hard, suppressing the agitation in his heart.
"Managing Director, I—"
"Don't be in such a hurry to pledge your allegiance," Takuya Nakayama interrupted him. "With great power comes great responsibility. Sega's operations are vast—North America, Europe, the domestic Japanese market, arcades, home consoles, handhelds. If you want to oversee the big picture, hard work alone isn't enough. You need to build your own team and cultivate your own vision."
Hisao Oguchi nodded emphatically.
"Alright, go get to work," Nakayama waved him off. "Pick out the documents that need urgent signatures, and handle the rest yourself."
Oguchi put down his champagne glass, gathered the files, and walked to the desk, efficiently separating a few to hand to Nakayama.
After signing them, Oguchi exited the office and closed the door behind him.
Walking down the hallway, his steps felt lighter.
The aftereffect of the champagne was kicking in, leaving a warm, slightly tipsy feeling.
Inside the office, Takuya Nakayama raised his glass and drained the rest of his champagne in one gulp.
A new year, a new landscape.
The second half of the console war was time to be brought to a close.
Over the next few days, Sega operated like a precision machine, running efficiently under Nakayama's directives.
The Distribution Department urged contract manufacturers to increase production capacity for the Jupiter, especially by commissioning two new sets of shell molds for the limited-edition consoles customized for "Sakura Wars" and "Resident Evil."
The Public Relations Department began creating buzz for the spring releases of "Sakura Wars" and "Resident Evil."
On the covers of major gaming magazines, Shinguji Sakura's "Taisho Romantic" aesthetic alternated with zombies from the mansion.
The Third-Party Liaison Office was busy placating those manufacturers who had steered clear of the year-end sales war, arranging suitable release windows for them and offering a tilt of promotional resources in their favor.
The entire Japanese gaming industry was dancing to Sega's tune.
Sony Headquarters.
The heat was turned up high, but the air in the conference room felt stifling.
On one side of the long table sat several accounting specialists from the Finance Department.
In front of them lay thick sales reports, and the sound of calculator keys clicking away filled the room.
On the other side of the table, Ken Kutaragi sat with his collar slightly unbuttoned, holding a cup of cold black coffee.
He did not look at the finance personnel; his gaze was fixed on the gray, overcast sky outside the window.
On the other side of the long table, Ken Kutaragi's collar was slightly open, and he held a cup of black coffee that had already gone cold. He did not look at the finance staff; his gaze was fixed on the grey, overcast sky outside the window.
"General Manager Kutaragi." The finance director pushed up his rimless glasses and handed over a summary report. "As of the end of last December, PlayStation's cumulative global shipments reached 3.1 million units. The domestic Japanese market contributed nearly 70% of this. Regarding software, thanks to the support of top-tier third-party developers like Namco, royalty recovery has been better than expected."
Ken Kutaragi took the report and glanced at the final profit calculation figures.
The deficit was still glaring, but it had crossed the "lifeline" originally drawn by the Board of Directors.
Due to the year-end sales cushion, Sony Computer Entertainment had just managed to meet the financial targets set for PlayStation sales and royalty recovery. Their purse strings were not excessively tightened, and they could still invest resources into game development and wooing third-party developers, but they were destined not to be as glorious as Sega.
"So, the budget for '96 doesn't need to be cut." Ken Kutaragi threw the report onto the table, his tone stiff.
The finance director remained expressionless: "According to the previous Special Financial Grace Plan, the Electronic Entertainment Division has achieved the first phase of its goals. The group will not forcibly tighten your funding approvals. But I must remind you that Sega Jupiter's同期 sales are already approaching 9 million units.
This gap in market share will be very difficult to explain at the investor briefing."
The same period sales have already neared 9 million units. This gap in market share will be hard to justify at the investor briefing."
"That is my concern." Ken Kutaragi stood up. "As long as the money arrives on time, I will get the install base up."
He pushed open the conference room door and strode out.
At the end of the corridor, Nobuyuki Idei was leaning against the wall, flipping through a newspaper.
"Did you make it through?" Idei folded the newspaper and asked casually.
"Barely managed to hold onto the base," Kutaragi rubbed his temples. "That combination of moves Sega pulled at the end of the year was too ruthless. *Toy Story* opened up a massive market of new players, and then they used old game discounts to clear out third-party inventory. Takuya Nakayama calculated both the goodwill and the profits down to the bone."
Idei noncommittally replied, "At least you don't have to resign in disgrace. Let's go, President Oga is waiting for you on the top floor. There's good news today."
In the top floor president's office.
Norio Oga was examining a gold-colored disc.
Seeing the two of them enter, he placed the disc on the desk.
"News from IBM," Oga said, pointing to the disc. "Toshiba and Panasonic have conceded.
"They have agreed to adopt our dual-layer technology for the physical format; in exchange, we will adopt their scheme for the file system and error correction coding."
"News from IBM," Norio Oga said, pointing to the disc. "Toshiba and Matsushita have conceded. They have agreed to adopt our dual-layer technology for the physical format, and in exchange, we will adopt their schemes for the file system and error correction coding."
Ken Kutaragi pulled out a chair and sat down. "Is the DVD standard unified?"
"The DVD Consortium has been officially established," Oga said, packing his pipe with tobacco. "Our people in the home appliance division have been flying between Geneva and Silicon Valley for months, and they finally nailed it down. From now on, the dispute between MMCD and SD is over; it will be unified under the name DVD."
At the end of 1995, the "DVD Consortium," composed of Sony, Philips, Toshiba, Matsushita, Hitachi, Pioneer, JVC, Mitsubishi Electric, and other companies, was officially formed to jointly promote this unified standard.
It can be said that the DVD format was finalized at the end of 1995.
After the format war between the MMCD format (Sony and Philips) and the SD format (Toshiba, Matsushita, and others), the two camps, mediated by companies like IBM, reached a compromise in September 1995, forming a unified DVD standard.
This marked the completion of the main research and development for the DVD physical format and technical specifications, a major milestone for the DVD industry.
Nobuyuki Idei added from the side, "Semiconductor companies like Matsushita, NEC, and Fujitsu have already begun to accelerate the final design and tape-out of dedicated DVD decoding chips. We expect mass production to start within this year. For the entire Sony Group, this is a strategic victory."
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