Rebirth Tokyo 1986

Chapter 371 Two Geniuses
The initial capital for the third phase of the Zodiac Fund reached $360 billion. Naturally, Masato Takeshita wouldn't entrust such a huge sum to his subordinates.

Therefore, his relaxed and enjoyable holiday lasted only a few days, far less carefree than that of the employees of Xinghai Fund.

"Cisco, Microsoft, Intel, Coca-Cola... bought $300 billion."

Masato Takeshita's stock investment goals were very clear: to invest in well-known American corporations that would become famous in later generations.

This stock investment will be the cornerstone of Xinghai Fund, ensuring the principal is protected while generating a certain profit.

Higher returns, on the other hand, would require the remaining $60 billion in investment.

For example, investing in AOL, or Sun Microsystems, the company that developed the Java programming language.

The most notable characteristic of these companies is that they appreciate in value exceptionally quickly within a certain period of time.

Of course, a better option is the rapidly emerging internet companies. A successful IPO can bring in even greater profits.

This is also the most important reason why Masato Takeshita planned to transfer Shinji Kikuno to Silicon Valley.

Xinghai Group could not afford to miss the first wave of the internet, and neither could Xinghai Fund.

"Yes, President!"

Shinji Kikuno was well aware of his chairman's investment strategy and immediately arranged for people to buy up a large amount of the aforementioned company's stock.

Because of the large number of listed companies available for investment, coupled with the strong capabilities of Xinghai Fund's operators, the third phase of the Zodiac Fund quickly completed its small plan of investing $300 billion.

Masato Takeshita was very happy and praised Shinji Kikuno's team with a smile: "Well done, well done."

Xinghai Fund's operators are highly capable, completing all investments in just 10 days.

More importantly, they accomplished all of this quietly without causing a ripple.

This left the young man momentarily speechless, even his praise sounding dry and uninspired.

"President, you flatter me. It's just average."

"Kikuno-san, there's no need to be modest. You're going to America next year, where modesty isn't the norm."

Americans have a very different way of doing things than the Japanese; they need to be proactive in taking credit.

If you are too humble, people will actually believe that's the truth.

As for whether it was unintentional or intentional, you'll have to judge for yourself.

While Xinghai Fund was busy with stock investments, Sony's PS game console was finally launched as scheduled.

Sega has no chance.

Masato Takeshita, while playing with Sony's first game console at Star Ocean Entertainment, immediately sentenced Sega to death.

Sony's PlayStation console uses state-of-the-art CD technology, while Sega is still following the traditional cartridge route.

Being a level behind in technology means that even Sega's past experience is of little use.

"Yes, Sega is in trouble."

Rogers looked at the game console in his hand and shook his head with a sigh.

Sega has always competed with Nintendo for market share by offering more advanced consoles.

This time, however, Sega found itself technologically behind. Having lost its greatest advantage, Sega's fate was sealed.

But this is normal; what brings you prosperity will also bring you ruin.

Among the three companies currently vying for the console game market, Sony has advantages in funding and technology, while Nintendo has the best game development capabilities.

Sega, however, couldn't compete with Sony in terms of technology and funding, nor with Nintendo in terms of game development capabilities, making it more likely to be eliminated by the times.

Unless Sega's machines and games become significantly cheaper, they will have no chance of turning the tables.

However, the reality is that Sony's consoles and games are cheaper than Sega's.

This made it impossible for Sega to play the game; they could only slowly wait to die.

However, Rogers quickly added.

"Sega still has its strengths, and the two sides will probably continue to fight for some time."

"That makes a lot of sense. The PS console will only truly rise to prominence when game developers release fun 3D games."

Sega's many years of experience in console and arcade production have amassed a loyal user base.

These users won't easily switch to the PS game console anytime soon; it will take time to encourage them to switch.

Smartphones are a typical example.

In the first few years after Apple was launched, Nokia was still the world's number one in sales.

Five or six years later, this honor was taken over by Samsung and Apple.

However, the difference isn't significant; one is a suspended death sentence, while the other is immediate execution.

Despite the immense advantages of the Sony PlayStation, the developers, including Ken Kutaragi, maintained a humble attitude.

The department responsible for receiving game developers practically begged them to kneel down and call them "daddy."

It is very different from Nintendo and even Sega.

Their attitude was excellent.

This is normal, though, since Sony is currently in a position to benefit from game developers, so their attitude is naturally very good.

When Sony becomes the dominant player, although it won't be as domineering as Nintendo, it won't be able to provide the same level of service as it does now.

The emergence of Sony's game consoles has a significant impact on the future, but for current game developers, it simply means having another console manufacturer.

It might just disappear from the market quietly, like game consoles from companies like NEC, at any time.

Therefore, only a few companies attempted to release their works on the PS game console, and Sony had to pay copyright fees for the games.

This is equivalent to Sony spending money to buy games to promote its own console.

If a console is just a dry, uninspired device with no games, no matter how advanced it is, no one will buy it.

Game consoles are important, and games are equally important.

Sega failed to retain its console manufacturing division like Nintendo did because its top-tier first-party games didn't sell very well.

Not to mention comparing it to Nintendo, it can't even compare to companies like Square, Enix, and Capcom.

Sony, in its later years, learned a great deal from Sega's mistakes and continuously strengthened its own game division, producing blockbuster titles such as Uncharted, The Last of Us, and God of War.

This is how Sony's consoles were able to surpass Microsoft's Xbox, which had superior financial and technological capabilities.

The rivalry between Sony and Sega has not had much impact on Xinghai Games for the time being, and the two put the matter aside after chatting for a while.

"What did Nintendo say? Do we have a chance now?"

"President Yamauchi is unwilling to release the person, so we'll probably have to wait a while longer."

"This, okay."

Masato Takeshita really wanted to poach Gunpei Yokoi to help the Seikai Group oversee computer research and development.

His ideas are very suitable for the current computer industry. What the computer industry needs most is to use mature technology, not advanced technology, to produce computers.

Of course, they can't be exactly the same. A small number of top-quality sample products are also needed.

Regardless of price, they use only the most advanced technology. This naturally makes customers think highly of Xinghai computers.

"Keep an eye on it. Yokoi-san is going against the collective will of the company. He won't last long."

Nintendo's mainstream philosophy is to pursue technological advancements in its consoles, while Gunpei Yokoi continues to pursue the path of purchasing mature components to reduce costs.

Even if Hiroshi Yamauchi wanted to retain Gunpei Yokoi, it would be difficult. Unless he were willing to purge most of the company's management for Yokoi's sake. This was simply impossible, as he himself favored a path of technological advancement.

Don't be fooled by Hiroshi Yamauchi's usual nonchalant demeanor, as if he doesn't take Sega seriously at all.

In fact, he was very wary of Sega's path of technological advancement.

In his view, Sega's games were far inferior to Nintendo's. As a result, Sega's more advanced consoles allowed them to steal a large share of Nintendo's market.

If Nintendo had a more advanced game console, coupled with its own superb game development capabilities, wouldn't it be able to sweep the game market once again?

Ideal is full, the reality is very skinny.

As it turns out, Nintendo is not cut out for the technology route.

Gunpei Yokoi's game consoles utilize mature technology; competing on gameplay concepts is Nintendo's only way forward.

"Yes, President!"

Rogers was aware of Gunpei Yokoi's predicament at Nintendo and had great confidence in him.

At that moment, he suddenly thought of the product that Gunpei Yokoi had recently developed.

"Chairman, Mr. Yokoi is currently pushing forward a product called VUE with all his might?"

"VUE, what's that?"

The young man frowned, wanting to know more clearly.

"Well, how should I put it? It means that after wearing this device in front of your eyes, players can directly see the screen and play the game."

Rogers didn't know what kind of product it was either, and could only try his best to describe it to Masato Takeshita in his own words.

"Oh, you must be talking about VR, virtual reality technology."

"Yes, yes, that's it."

"Oh, that's interesting. It seems like it won't be long before Yokoi-san comes to our company."

The VUB project, also known as the VB console, is considered Nintendo's most unsuccessful console.

This console was designed to be at the forefront of VR virtual imaging technology, but due to limitations in technology, it ended up being an awkward and shabby console that required a tripod to operate.

Gunpei Yokoi didn't want this awful thing to go public at all, and was even taken aback by a casual remark from an employee of NEC, a partner in the project.

But ultimately, the arm can't fight the thigh, and the VB mainframe was hastily launched at Hiroshi Yamauchi's insistence.

The result was a crushing defeat, creating Nintendo's worst-selling console ever and drawing ridicule from global media.

Gunpei Yokoi also left the company because of this console and his disagreement with Nintendo's mainstream ideology.

It can only be said that Gunpei Yokoi is currently influenced by Nintendo's technology-first philosophy, which is why he plunged into VR technology when it was still immature.

However, having learned his lesson, he should no longer act rashly in the future, which would better meet the requirements of Starsea Computer.

"Is the VB project going to be a failure?"

"Given the current technological limitations, success is simply impossible. You've seen Sega's VR headset before."

After VR entered the consumer market, Sega was the first game company to try it out.

The result was obvious: the research and development ended in failure and loss.

This is normal, because even in 2024, before he traveled through time, VR was just a very niche gaming sector.

There are some products, but they are mostly in the technological development stage. As for making money from VR games, that's not very realistic at the moment.

"Yes, I understand."

Gunpei Yokoi of Nintendo needs to be closely watched, and Kalinsky, head of Sega America, cannot be overlooked either.

Furthermore, compared to Gunpei Yokoi, Masato Takeshita valued Kalinsky more.

This is a marketing genius who often turns the impossible into the possible.

During his university years, he founded a men's magazine targeting men, especially male university students, who are generally considered difficult to persuade in the advertising industry.

The magazine not only features content that men care about, such as sports, beautiful women, and cars, but also includes practical tips for interviews and barbecuing, which naturally led to everyone's success.

Major companies recognized the value of this magazine and began purchasing advertising space.

This success earned Kalinsky enough money for his college tuition.

Keep in mind this is America; even Obama had to pay off student loans for decades.

After graduating from university, he joined an advertising company and then promoted vitamin products for a pharmaceutical company.

This product was on the verge of being phased out, but he successfully turned it into the world's best-selling vitamin product by leveraging the promotional power of animated characters.

After leaving the advertising agency, his next stop was Mattel, the company that launched Barbie dolls.

At the time, Mattel's Barbie sales plummeted from $1 million to $4000 million, and everyone said Barbie was doomed. But Barbie was quickly reborn under Kalinsky's management and thrived ever since.

However, Kalinsky disliked intense office politics, so even after becoming the president of Mattel, he chose to leave.

A great marketing master can easily succeed anywhere.

He then joined Mattel's rival, and the new company quickly went from losses to profits of $3.5 million.

When he later joined Sega, he sold more than 2000 million Sega Mega Drive consoles in Europe and America with his outstanding marketing skills, capturing 55% of the console market share in Europe and America.

Meanwhile, in Japan, Sega Mega Drive only sold three to four million units.

The difference is obvious, which also shows Kalinsky's superb strength.

"This must be very difficult, Sega's new console is about to be released."

"It's precisely because Sega's new console is about to be released that I'm telling you to hurry up and poach talent."

"Kalinsky was very dissatisfied with Sega and wanted to leave."

Kalinsky hated internal strife within companies, and Sega happened to be the company with the most severe internal strife.

He had been considering leaving long before the Sony-Sega joint development plan for a game console was thwarted.

Yes, when Sony was preparing to enter the gaming industry, it had connections not only with Nintendo but also with Sega.

However, the proposed collaboration with Sega also ended in failure.

"Is that so? That's good."

"Okay, let's get it done as soon as possible."

Kalinsky was easier to deal with than Gunpei Yokoi.

The only difficulty is whether he will be disappointed with the Japanese company.

Because most Japanese companies are very traditional, everything has to be submitted through multiple layers of bureaucracy, making the process cumbersome and troublesome.

Sega Japan often holds meetings for hours over even the smallest matters.

Kalinsky is different; he can get small things done in minutes.

In addition, innovation is a major challenge for traditional Japanese companies.

Kalinsky encourages employees to innovate, and there's no harm in failure.

Sega Japan, on the other hand, is very conservative in its approach and always strives to achieve the maximum possible result.

But in this world, there are no foolproof things, so naturally the probability of success is getting smaller and smaller.

The failure of Sega Japan can be seen as a microcosm of Japan's failures in the creative industries.

(End of this chapter)