The numbers on the screen flickered and jumped:
MD Software Sales: 260 million units.
Sega CD Software Sales: 20 million units.
GamePocket Software Sales: 230 million units.
After a brief silence, the audience erupted in enthusiastic applause, especially the third-party game developers. These figures owed much to their contributions, and they had all profited greatly from Sega's two platforms.
The attendees were all industry insiders, and they understood the implications of these numbers.
This represented billions of dollars in cash flow, the lifeblood of countless developers, and the very foundation upon which Sega dared to usher in a new era today.
"These aren't just numbers," Takuya Nakayama said, turning to face the shifting screen. "These are votes cast with players' wallets."
The data vanished, replaced by a dynamic montage of vivid images:
A McLaren race car emblazoned with Pikachu roared past on the Suzuka Circuit.
Spielberg posed for a photo with a Tyrannosaurus Rex model at a Hollywood premiere.
Long queues of fans snaked through the streets of Akihabara, waiting to buy [ Sakura Wars ].
Arcades across America buzzed with crowds gathered around [ VR Fighter ] and [ Gundam ] cabinets.
"Over the past few years, under the Sega Galaxy framework, we've been trying to break the boundaries of gaming."
The crowd around the Virtua Fighter 2 and Gundam arcade cabinets buzzed with excitement.
"Over the past few years, under the umbrella of 'Sega Galaxy,' we've strived to break down the boundaries of gaming," Takuya Nakayama said, gesturing to the familiar images on the screen. "We've transformed games into movies, into anime, into the roar of Formula One engines. We've proven that video games are not just children's toys; they are a part of popular culture, an integral part of modern life."
"Thank you to all our partners. It's with you that Sega has reached this point."
With that, Nakayama bowed deeply to the audience, and thunderous applause erupted.
The applause continued for a long while before finally subsiding.
Nakayama walked to the center of the stage. The light and shadow behind him slowly receded, returning the space to deep darkness, leaving only the silhouette of a cube that had been covered by a black cloth just before the lights faded.
"These achievements belong to the past. Today, we gather for the future."
In the audience, Ken Kutaragi loosened his arms from his chest, his expression grave.
He had long anticipated that Sega would be a formidable rival, and he remained confident in his ability to surpass them. But now he realized that this was a mountain as formidable as the Himalayas, one that would require all his strength to scale.
Takuya Nakayama's eyes burned with intensity as he lowered his voice, yet its resonance grew more penetrating than ever.
"The glory of the old era has faded. Now, let us witness the shape of the new world."
As his words faded, the massive projection screen darkened once more.
There were no hurried drumbeats, no clamorous electronic sound effects.
Only a deep, resonant hum, as if from the depths of the cosmos, vibrated through the audience's eardrums.
A single point of starlight materialized at the center of the screen. Then, the perspective stretched rapidly, soaring past the blazing sun, through the darkness of the asteroid belt, and over Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars—each planet receding in a blur.
Finally, the view settled on the colossal gas giant.
Its iconic Great Red Spot rotated slowly, churning up storms like a thousand swirling snowdrifts.
The image abruptly contracted, the planet's outline transforming into sleek, flowing blue lines. The SEGA logo hovered above, while below it, the sharp, rugged letters of "JUPITER" appeared. The hollow of the letter "P" was cleverly stretched and distorted to align precisely with the Great Red Spot, preserving the industrial design's minimalist aesthetic while imbuing it with an ineffable mystery.
The instant the VCR ended, the cold spotlight at the center of the stage suddenly intensified.
Takuya Nakayama wasted no time. He grabbed a corner of the black velvet cloth and yanked it aside with a sharp motion.
A soft swish echoed through the hall.
With the obstruction removed, the console, which Takuya Nakayama had forcibly "re-designed," finally revealed its true form.
The matte black body, instead of reflecting the light, seemed to absorb it like a black hole, drawing all eyes.
The most exquisite detail was the acrylic light strip on the front. As power flowed through, a faint, deep blue glow, reminiscent of Jupiter's atmosphere, slowly illuminated—like the breath of a colossal beast awakening in the abyssal depths.
A wave of stifled gasps swept through the audience.
In an era where computer consoles still resembled VCRs or lunchboxes, Jupiter's aggressive, industrial design was a revelation.
"This is our answer," Takuya Nakayama said, standing beside the console with one hand in his pocket, his demeanor as relaxed as if he were showing off a new toy to friends in his living room. "Some of you might ask, 'Why Jupiter?' The reason is simple."
He held up five fingers. "SG-1000, Mark II, Mark III, Mega Drive. These are the four footprints of Sega's home console journey. And this one... this is the fifth step."
"The fifth planet in the Solar System: Jupiter. It's the largest and fastest-rotating planet in the Solar System."
The audience erupted in knowing applause.
This kind of hardcore, geeky romance was exactly what the media and developers in the room loved.
"But the beauty of this machine isn't just its shell." Takuya Nakayama pressed the laser pointer in his hand, and the screen instantly switched to a complex, intricate architecture diagram.
"Developers, I know what you've all had enough of? Enough of poring over hundreds of pages of obscure assembly language just to render a few polygons. Enough of losing your hair coordinating two CPUs to make compromises on hardware costs."
He pointed to the chip at the core of the diagram, his voice suddenly rising. "So this time, we've perfected simplicity!"
"The CPU is the R3000S we customized with SGI. No need for the nightmare of dual-core collaboration—just one powerful, massive heart."
At that moment, Ken Kutaragi, seated in the audience, felt his pupils contract sharply.
R3000—this was originally one of the core architectural directions he had considered for Sony's PlayStation.
When Sony approached SGI to customize the chip, they knew Sega had submitted their customization request ahead of them and had been steadily ahead in progress.
"I know what's on everyone's mind: 3D, polygons, the future."
The numbers on the screen began to flicker wildly, finally settling on a line of bold white text:
320,000 Polygons/Sec
"Assisted by the Geometry Transformation Engine (GTE) and the Graphics Processing Unit, Jupiter can stably output 320,000 polygons per second." Takuya Nakayama glanced at the stunned faces in the audience and added calmly, "Please note that these figures are based on actual gameplay with textures and lighting effects enabled, not theoretical idle performance in a laboratory."
Boom—
The audience erupted in a clamor of discussion.
In this era, 320,000 polygons per second might not sound entirely unattainable, but achieving this level of performance was no small feat, especially within a home console.
"As for the storage medium—" Nakayama's gaze playfully swept across the front row, "we've abandoned cartridges in favor of CD-ROM. Here, I must express our special gratitude to our partner, Sony Corporation, for providing Jupiter with the most stable 2x CD-ROM drive."
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