Tokyo: Starting with taking on his wife's debts

That's it, he's really not suited to be a businessman.

"President Yamanaka, our President Tajiri likes to find inspiration in solitude, so... um... it's like what you see here..."

Shimada explained carefully, afraid of leaving a bad impression on Hideaki.

In the dozen or so steps he took, he secretly studied Xiuming's business card repeatedly, his doubts and shock growing stronger with each passing moment.

The back of the business card features an extremely minimalist design.

Using screen printing, a minimalist pattern, composed of tiny pixels, was printed on it, making it difficult to tell whether it was a tiger or a dog.

The color is a special metallic emerald design that emits a mysterious, faint green glow when illuminated.

I wonder which genius designed this pattern; it gives people a sense of profound mystery.

The company name is in full English, followed by the telephone and fax numbers.

Located near Central Park in Nishi Ward, Shinjuku, it's a prime location where land prices are incredibly high.

Below the address, there is a small line of text: Registered capital 4.5 million yen.

When Shimada glanced at the registered capital, he almost threw his business card away.

Are you crazy? The total cost of setting up our studio was only 5000 million yen, provided by President Tajiri.

I'm an industry insider myself, and I've practically worn out job postings in newspapers, but why have I never found any job postings for this unfathomable, financially powerful, and sophisticated game development company?

Shimada didn't doubt the authenticity of the document. After all, both the person's demeanor and the shock of the business card gave off a sense of déjà vu that made it impossible not to believe it.

Is there anything worth coveting in this struggling studio? Absolutely nothing.

“I like this young man,” Hideaki said, pointing to Satoshi Tajiri in the room. “He’s amazing.”

"Huh?" Shimada was about to knock on the door when his mind went blank, and he subconsciously turned around to look up at Hideaki's face.

"Only a focused genius could come up with such a brilliant idea as 'Pokémon.' I admire geniuses."

"Oh……"

Shimada was momentarily at a loss for words, so he could only ease the awkwardness by knocking on the door. He knocked twice, pushed open the door, and said, "President Tajiri, we have a distinguished guest..."

After all, it was a studio with a blurred hierarchy, and Satoshi Tajiri was a shy and reserved person, so everyone was very casual.

Inside the room, Satoshi Tajiri remained seated, turning his head. His eyes seemed to be lost in thought, searching for inspiration, and he looked puzzled.

Such a sudden visit is bound to raise questions. However, given that Hideaki is the president of a company with a registered capital of 4.5 million yen, it's not unacceptable for a small studio.

Chapter 117 Conversation?

After Shimada entered and stepped aside, Hideaki took two steps forward and stood in front of Tajiri Satoshi. He then extended his right hand to him, revealing what he considered his most satisfying smile, and said, "Hello, Mr. Tajiri, I am Hideaki Yamanaka. I apologize for disturbing you. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"Hello, Mr. Yamanaka..."

Satoshi Tajiri seemed unaccustomed to Hideaki's direct greeting; as he stood up to shake hands, the chair leg scraped against the floor with a harsh sound.

A flicker of embarrassment and panic crossed his slightly dull eyes, but it was quickly replaced by confusion. "Excuse me, what's wrong...?"

As he spoke, his eyes turned to Shimada.

He is said to have Asperger's syndrome, and is shy, introverted, and not good at socializing. It is commonly referred to as "autism without intellectual disability".

However, Xiuming knew that he was also mischievous when he was a child.

Therefore, acquired habits play a significant role. First of all, he is also a programmer. Most professional programmers experience "technical stress," and as they endlessly type code, they become increasingly withdrawn and poor at socializing.

At this point, you should show your kindness and harmlessness, and find common topics and shared interests. In fact, this is also the way to interact with normal people.

Shimada handed his business card to Tajiri Satoshi, then shrugged and said, "Akiyama-kun went to President Yamanaka's game development company and then leaked our situation—the development of 'Capsule Monsters' and the funding issues… That guy has absolutely no sense of confidentiality. President Tajiri, should I call Sugimori-kun over?"

Tajiri Tomomasa looked down at the "exquisitely elegant" business card. As soon as Shimada finished speaking, his expression froze, and when he looked up at Hideaki, his expression turned to shock and wariness.

As a small startup studio with a very high degree of freedom, we never imagined being headhunted, so we never considered signing any confidentiality agreements.

"Please don't misunderstand, I'm not here to pry into your ideas,"

As Hideaki spoke, he pulled out a colorful brochure of the company profile that he had prepared long ago from his briefcase and handed it to Satoshi Tajiri. He continued, “I am an investor, and I only invest in ideas that I believe can change the times. I think your project is one of them. I would like to take ten minutes to talk with Mr. Tajiri about how to solve your current difficulties and keep the project going.”

Xiuming's tone carried an undeniable air of authority, causing the young man, who had autistic tendencies and was not good at talking to people, to instinctively accept it.

Satoshi Tajiri accepted the lavish company brochure.

The cover is made of heavy coated paper, which is thick and solid, with a heavy feel, and feels cool and smooth to the touch.

The company logo is printed using a hot stamping process, reflecting a low-key yet luxurious texture under light. The text has a smooth, raised feel to the touch, but also gives a sharp impression, as if it could cut your finger.

It remains minimalist with a geometric layout.

Most Japanese brochure designs are typically cramped and confined, emphasizing the maximization of resources. However, Hideaki's extensive use of white space demonstrates a sense of grandeur.

The camera angles used to photograph the Shinjuku office are striking, employing a low-angle, wide-angle lens to showcase the spacious and expansive area.

Its written description contains not a trace of Japanese humility or politeness, and is as authoritative as a military order.

"Registered capital: 4.5 million yen," the bold, highlighted text occupies a separate page.

The design is futuristic, as precise and rigorous as the International Finance Corporation's annual report, with each page resembling a poster.

Satoshi Tajiri's pale fingers trembled slightly, his eyes filled with shock.

Shimada leaned closer to Tajiri Satoshi to look at the brochure, noticing the huge office on it, and then thinking about the current dirty, messy, cramped studio, the registered capital of 4.5 million yen, and the fact that they hadn't received any salaries for three months.

My mouth suddenly felt dry, and I kept gasping for air.

Xiuming seized the opportunity, picked up the clear glass bottle containing the beetles from the table, and, feigning delight, said in a nostalgic tone:

"Is that a scarab beetle? I haven't seen one in ages. I remember catching insects in the fields when I was little, and I'd often get bitten by a water beetle. Thinking back now, it really makes me miss those carefree days..."

Satoshi Tajiri glanced at Hideaki, then looked down and focused his gaze on the color pages.

Xiuming was speechless: "So dense! Can't you make the best of a situation? I brought up a topic you're really interested in."

“I recently bought a plot of land in Daejeon-gu and decided to create an eco-park with a pastoral landscape, in the form of a farm stay, filled with insects, to commemorate my lost childhood…”

Satoshi Tajiri moved his lips, but still didn't say anything.

"It's getting late, and I have other things to do," Xiuming put the glass bottle back on the table, glanced at his watch, and thought, "This old watch is cheap and should be replaced."

He flicked his sleeve to cover his watch... then took out the previously designed investment framework agreement, gently placed it on the table, and continued, "I'll leave the materials here for you to discuss further. Your enthusiasm and talent shouldn't be buried by funding issues. Rest assured, I have no interest in interfering with the creative process. My interest lies in building the best stage for geniuses. We are colleagues, and I am also a developer. I understand your needs."

The purpose of this meeting is not to sign a contract on the spot; that's simply unrealistic.

Instead, it creates an opening, forcing Satoshi Tajiri to take his option seriously.

Currently, all the copyrights to Pokémon are in the hands of Satoshi Tajiri alone. After all, Nintendo doesn't have much faith in it, hasn't invested in it, and hasn't granted it a license based on the Game Boy handheld console. It's just that he's researching it on his own.

Game Freak is currently still developing "Mario & Wario".

Five more games are waiting for them to develop in order to gain the approval of Shigeru Miyamoto and the entire Nintendo executive team before they can receive funding.

In reality, after the release of "Mario & Wario," it became a blockbuster. Shigeru Miyamoto, the father of Mario, immediately recognized Satoshi Tajiri's talent.

A few months later, thanks to his and Gunpei Yokoi's (the father of the Nintendo Game Boy) strong insistence, Nintendo executives agreed to invest in Pokémon with a "let's give it a try" attitude.

Gunpei Yokoi was also impressed by Satoshi Tajiri's idea and was persuaded by him.

After all, it was developed based on the Game Boy console he created. When Game Freak Studios was short of money, he also actively negotiated with Nintendo and secured OEM contracts for 6 games for the studio.

Hideaki had already changed his plan to "monopolize" all the IP rights of Pokémon, as it was indeed unrealistic.

Before meeting Satoshi Tajiri in person, he had considered that if he couldn't fully acquire Game Freak, he would "borrow" his ideas and directly partner with Nintendo with his own investment. After all, such huge profits were enough to make anyone abandon their "human" identity and become a beast. At that time, as long as he didn't go too far, Nintendo would definitely abandon Satoshi Tajiri without hesitation and cooperate with him, who had brought his own investment.

But now, Xiuming suddenly realizes that he still has some conscience.

Satoshi Tajiri is a genius, and Hideaki likes geniuses, especially those who are single-minded geniuses who have only one dream in their lives. He really can't bring himself to do it.

Of course, the best option would be to acquire Game Freak Studios outright.

This way, the genius with Asperger's Syndrome wouldn't have to appear in the media and on television so frequently, and wouldn't have to take large amounts of psychedelic drugs to overcome his physiological tension.

He was sent to the hospital for treatment multiple times.

Chapter 118 Five AVs

The immense popularity of Pokémon at the time revived Nintendo, which was on the verge of collapse, and the game became Nintendo's flagship product.

Its developer, Satoshi Tajiri, was interviewed and said that he would occasionally act strangely when taking psychedelic drugs. In addition, Tajiri is not good at talking, so he is often maliciously misunderstood.

This has caused Nintendo great concern.

What Nintendo fears most is that some unscrupulous media outlets are using this as an excuse to spread rumors that Pokémon might be released on hardware platforms outside of Nintendo's ecosystem in the future.

For example, there's Nintendo's old rival, Sega, and Sony, which almost drove Nintendo to the brink of collapse.

One can easily imagine how Nintendo's top executives felt when they heard the news.

Therefore, Hiroshi Yamauchi, the over 70-year-old president of Nintendo, personally stepped forward to negotiate with Tomokazu Tajiri, Tsunekazu Ishihara, and others.

Ultimately, Game Freak was restructured, and Nintendo consolidated its control over it. An agreement was reached with Satoshi Tajiri, retaining him as president of Game Freak and sharing profits proportionally with his shareholding. Tajiri's father was also added to the POKMON board of directors, but Tajiri was no longer allowed to participate in Pokémon game development or related interviews. However, all related games still retained the "Original Concept Satoshi Tajiri" name.

He only has this one dream in his life. If he is no longer allowed to access the games he developed, will he be happy?

Of course, whether Satoshi Tajiri himself is secretly happy or secretly unhappy, no one knows. However, Hideaki "presumptuously" felt sorry and regretful for him.

If it were Hideaki, he would let Tajiri Satoshi dedicate his life to studying this game, studying it until he's too old to climb, and as long as he's still willing, he'd let him work... This is Hideaki's recognition of a genius, and Tajiri Satoshi would surely be happy.

The current results are fantastic, and Satoshi Tajiri said he'll consider it.

To maintain the high-class and sophisticated atmosphere he had created, Xiuming decided not to elaborate further.

After all, everything that needed to be said had been said. The general meaning was: "I appreciate your creativity, I don't covet the copyright, but I can't bear to see a brilliant idea die because of a lack of money." "I'm not a capitalist full of money, but your colleague." "I also had a childhood where I loved insects." "Young men, stick to your dreams, keep going, I'm with you." ... It certainly wasn't said so bluntly; it was said indirectly, letting them figure out the meaning for themselves.

The details of the subsequent acquisition are all in the investment intention framework document, which they can read themselves to avoid awkwardness when discussing it face-to-face.

Based on normal logic and real-life cases, very few "autistic geniuses" care about how much money they have; they only care about whether their dreams can be realized and developed in their own hands.

Hideaki believed that Satoshi Tajiri was the same kind of person, and that he would agree.

His final proposal was more lenient than the one Nintendo gave him, and it didn't force him to give interviews to the media.

Although he also loses the copyright, he will still receive equity and a share of the profits.

After all, he's not a businessman and has no idea how to manage copyrights. His control over copyrights makes him vulnerable to exploitation. This is something Nintendo was worried about, and Hideaki also had to consider.

When he finally gets restless, it will be several years later. By then, portal websites will be booming, he can start a blog and post articles, how awesome would that be?