Nintendo's headquarters were in Kyoto, but they also had an office in Tokyo, making it relatively easy to contact them.
Kobayashi Tetsu, naturally, went straight to the headquarters in Kyoto.
He even hired a bodyguard for the occasion: Iwata Satoru.
Though Kobayashi often joked that Nintendo would send an assassin after him, it was all in jest. Hiroshi Yamauchi wasn't that unhinged.
Even if they wanted to kill him, they wouldn't do it at their own headquarters.
Kyoto, Nintendo Headquarters.
In a private conference room, Miyamoto Shigeru sat restlessly, shifting in his seat and frequently tempted to stand up and pace.
For years, Atlus Studio had been a prominent subsidiary of Sega. Now, Kobayashi Tetsu had suddenly contacted Nintendo requesting a meeting—a development so surreal it defied belief.
Could he be defecting to Nintendo? Should I station five hundred security guards in the conference room, ready to charge in and assassinate him the moment he smashes his teacup? What if he actually shows up at Nintendo?
Miyamoto Shigeru was deep in these troubled thoughts when the internal phone on the table rang.
Kobayashi Tetsu had arrived.
He immediately sat up straight, preparing for the meeting.
Before long, the door opened, and an attendant brought in Kobayashi Tetsu and Iwata Satoru. The private meeting room, with its excellent soundproofing, effectively prevented any eavesdropping.
"President Kobayashi," Miyamoto Shigeru said, rising as the host and extending his hand.
Kobayashi Tetsu naturally shook Miyamoto Shigeru's hand, his gaze drifting to the top of Miyamoto Shigeru's head.
"Mr. Miyamoto, your hair is truly lush."
No wonder his name is Miyamoto Shigeru—Miyamoto means "thick hair." If his name were Miyamoto Sukun—"thin hair"—he'd probably be bald!
Miyamoto Shigeru: —??
This was their first in-person meeting. Facing Kobayashi Tetsu now, Miyamoto Shigeru's first impression was: This man's thinking is rather... unconventional.
If he were someone without achievements, one might call it scatterbrained. But as a successful person, one could only say it was unconventional.
After they both sat down, Kobayashi Tetsu briefly introduced Iwata Satoru.
Miyamoto Shigeru nodded, understanding dawning on him.
"So, he's God's right hand."
Kobayashi Tetsu desperately tried to discern a different reaction on Miyamoto Shigeru's face, but unfortunately, Miyamoto Shigeru seemed completely indifferent to Iwata Satoru.
This filled Kobayashi Tetsu with profound regret.
In the future, after Hiroshi Yamauchi's passing, Iwata Satoru would suppress Miyamoto Shigeru to become the President of Nintendo.
But now, to Miyamoto Shigeru, Iwata Satoru was just an ordinary game producer.
"Please have some tea. Don't worry, it's not poisoned," Miyamoto Shigeru said with a dry joke. He picked up his teacup first, gesturing for Kobayashi Tetsu to do the same.
Kobayashi Tetsu said, "Let's get straight to the point. The role-playing game developed by Atlas, codenamed Project FF, I intend to release on the FC."
"Pfft—*cough cough**!*"
Miyamoto Shigeru couldn't suppress his shock for a moment. He pushed his teacup aside and burst into violent coughs.
"No, you, I, wah—" Miyamoto Shigeru struggled to speak.
Kobayashi Tetsu said, "But it will also be released on the MS at the same time."
Given Miyamoto Shigeru's life experience, his mind was short-circuiting.
"Wait, you mean you want to release it on both consoles simultaneously? Don't you have an exclusive deal with Sega?"
Kobayashi Tetsu laughed. "Do you really think Sega could lock me down exclusively?"
Miyamoto Shigeru thought otherwise.
For example, Hiroshi Yamauchi was currently trying to monopolize Kobayashi Tetsu!
Rumor had it that Yamauchi was working tirelessly to "make a little person" and attract him over before the child became a JK.
However, these words gave Miyamoto Shigeru pause.
From a business perspective, this scenario wasn't entirely implausible.
Miyamoto Shigeru wouldn't condemn such a move. In fact, there were numerous instances of other platforms securing FC releases. But companies that engaged in such practices often ended up with tarnished reputations.
Take Capcom, for instance—
Ah, always Capcom!
Capcom first released Resident Evil on Nintendo's GameCube, then ported it to PlayStation, Xbox, computers, even Android—rumor had it they even backported a PS1 version. They covered every platform under the sun.
Despite Capcom's reputation, players still bought into their strategy.
Sega couldn't defect from Nintendo, but Atlas could.
Having recovered from his initial shock, Miyamoto Shigeru composed himself and said, "Very well, let's discuss your terms."
Kobayashi Tetsu said, "MAPP4."
Miyamoto Shigeru understood immediately.
"To keep costs down? You're right, we don't have a better option for now. But we need to agree on one thing: MAPP4 technology can only be used in Atlas games and cannot be licensed to any other company. Nintendo will designate the manufacturer for the cartridges. As for your end?"
Kobayashi Tetsu replied, "Atlas has contracted with a third-party manufacturer and will not involve Sega in cartridge production."
Miyamoto Shigeru nodded in understanding.
Matters like this didn't even require approval from Hiroshi Yamauchi; Miyamoto Shigeru held an extremely high position within Nintendo.
The two shook hands, sealing their intent to collaborate. More detailed contractual negotiations would be handled later by legal personnel.
With business concluded, both men relaxed. Miyamoto Shigeru joked, "Why don't you, President Kobayashi, take a tour of Nintendo's facilities? You know, Sega can offer similar terms, but why not maintain this long-term cooperative relationship?"
"Don't worry about it," Kobayashi Tetsu said casually. "Does Nintendo even have JK?"
Miyamoto Shigeru's pupils suddenly narrowed.
Don't panic! Hiroshi Yamauchi is still alive!
"Ha, just kidding. Hand the subsequent paper contracts over to the legal team to negotiate. I'm heading home now. Oh, right, Iwata-kun will be fully responsible for Project FF development from now on. He might be frequently traveling between Kyoto and Tokyo, so I hope Nintendo can give him the proper respect."
Iwata Satoru bowed respectfully toward Miyamoto Shigeru, who casually helped him up.
Even though Miyamoto Shigeru didn't see anything special about Iwata Satoru.
As they exited the Kyoto building, Iwata Satoru finally couldn't contain his confusion.
"President, aren't we supposed to be enemies with Nintendo?"
Kobayashi Tetsu replied, "Sega's enemy is Nintendo, but we're not Sega. Even if we were Sega, Nintendo wouldn't be our enemy."
It's clearly Sony and Microsoft!
The first console war was all about technology and games, but the second one drove game development costs skyrocketing. At the root of it all was that wicked old turtle, Sony. Because they had the money, they poured vast resources into developing the PlayStation, raising hardware standards by several tiers and sending game production costs soaring.
In the 1980s, you could make excellent games for just a few thousand dollars. By the 1990s, even several hundred thousand could still produce masterpieces.
By the turn of the millennium, companies without tens of millions could only make small-scale games. In the modern era, development costs are counted in hundreds of millions. Rockstar Games spent seven years creating Red Dead Redemption 2, and even then, the final product contained unfinished elements. The financial and temporal investment was immeasurable.
The game's production budget was just $170 million, but total marketing costs reached a staggering $800 million—over $5.6 billion RMB at the time's exchange rate!
If there's a future, Kobayashi Tetsu hopes to take on Sony first.
The conflict with Nintendo is merely a clash of philosophies, but Sony is purely here to muddy the waters.
During the Sega DC era, the console's performance wasn't actually inferior. However, Sony launched a campaign of false advertising, exaggerating the capabilities of the PlayStation. In reality, the PlayStation's performance fell far short of what Sony's promotional materials claimed.
But backed by Sony's massive marketing power, consumers were convinced of the falsehoods. This directly led to the stagnation of the DC platform and Sega's ultimate downfall as a console maker. After that, Sega withdrew from the console market, focusing instead on software development and arcade games.
Nintendo merely postured, but Sony truly cheated!
Kobayashi Tetsu wouldn't voice these thoughts now because Sony hadn't yet entered the gaming industry.
Once they did, their overwhelming scale—comparable to Samsung's dominant position in South Korea—would make them impossible for a single company to compete against.
When that day came, Kobayashi Tetsu would have no choice but to persuade Sega to form an alliance, like Sun Quan allying with Liu Bei to resist Cao Cao.
Or perhaps—
Kobayashi Tetsu pondered.
What if I were Sega?
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