The numbers were climbing extremely fast. Less than a week after the demo footage of "Super Mario 64" was released, pre-orders had doubled.
There was a knock at the door.
Gunpei Yokoi walked in, carrying the latest production capacity report from the Uji Factory.
With not much going on regarding the Game Boy lately, he had been pulled in to assist with matters related to the N64 launch.
"The two new production lines are running smoothly now," Gunpei Yokoi said, pulling out a chair to sit down and handing over the report. "The yield rate is stable at over 95%. By the end of the month, we can have 650,000 units in stock in Japan. For North America, as per President Arakawa's request, the first batch of shipping containers departed from the Port of Yokohama yesterday, and we will arrange chartered cargo planes for subsequent restocking."
Hiroshi Yamauchi flipped through two pages of the document, his gaze lingering on one of the lines of data.
"How many do they need for the launch in the U.S.?"
Gunpei Yokoi pushed another fax from Seattle to the middle of the table.
"President Arakawa's requested quota is 800,000 units for the first month."
The only sound in the office was the low hum of the air conditioner.
Yamauchi Hiroshi stared at the English markings on the fax paper.
800,000 units.
"He also intends to keep increasing that number depending on the situation," Yokoi added. "The response from retailers in North America has been even more enthusiastic than expected."
Yamauchi Hiroshi tossed the fax back onto the table and snorted.
This kid's appetite was growing bigger by the day.
Though his words carried dissatisfaction, there was also a father-in-law's underlying approval of his son-in-law's capabilities.
Redmond, Washington, United States.
In the meeting room of Nintendo of America, the atmosphere was far more tense than in Kyoto.
Minoru Arakawa stood in front of a whiteboard, his tie loosened and his sleeves rolled up to his elbows.
Scattered on the table were distribution agreements from major national retailers like Walmart, Toys "R" Us, Best Buy, and Kmart.
Beside them were stacks of TV commercial schedules and maps of North American logistics and transportation routes.
The American market was not Japan.
The heavy-handed, coercive tactics of the Shoshin-kai won't work here.
Retailers care about profits, the media chases trends, children are easily drawn to commercials, and parents are extremely price-sensitive.
In recent years, Sega's aggressive marketing campaigns in North America have carved a massive chunk out of the market share that used to belong to Nintendo.
Sony, leveraging its strengths in home appliance distribution, has managed to get PlayStation placed in prominent locations in every major department store.
If Nintendo continues to roll out products at its old, sluggish pace, by the time Christmas arrives, the shelves will already be occupied by everyone else.
Minoru Arakawa didn't leave any room for negotiation for his subordinates.
The in-store demo kiosks at Walmart and Toys "R" Us had to be installed and fully operational by the first week of June.
He tapped his marker heavily against the whiteboard twice.
"At least one demo unit in every big-box store, and two in stores in major cities. Locking consoles in anti-theft cabinets—that's a thing of the past. I want children lining up in front of the shelves. As long as there's a line, the parents walking by will open their wallets."
The head of the Marketing Department flipped through the documents in their hands.
"The time slots for the TV commercials have all been locked in. We'll be running them at high frequency during animated slots on children's channels, weekend sports broadcasts, and evening family prime time. The budget has exceeded the original plan by 30%."
Minoru Arakawa nodded.
"I'll sign off on the extra amount. If we skimp on ad spend now, we'll lose sales when it launches in June. Spend the money; build the momentum."
Sitting to the side, Howard Lincoln held the audit documents from the Legal Department.
"Don't attack Sony and Sega directly in the ad copy."
Lincoln pushed up his glasses. "Phrasing like 'the true 64-bit' that implies exclusivity needs to be handled with caution. Sega and Sony's legal teams aren't just for show; they're ready to pick us apart at any moment. Besides, with the cautionary tale of Atari, that kind of marketing might just create distrust among our customers for no reason. We need to trust in the quality of our games and Mario's appeal."
Arakawa glanced at him.
"I don't intend to argue about the term 'GG' with them in court. We'll let the game visuals speak for themselves. Players have eyes; they can tell the difference between true 3D space and warped texture mapping."
The financial officer cleared his throat, bringing the conversation back to the most critical issue.
Price.
If we follow the current cost accounting plan, the launch price in North America will be set at $199. This price is on par with Sega's Jupiter and Sony's PlayStation.
The atmosphere in the conference room became somewhat heavy.
Pricing was a tough battle.
Sony's PlayStation could afford to sell hardware at a loss to gain market share because Sony had its massive home appliance business and film and entertainment empire to subsidize it.
Moreover, they held the patents for disc manufacturing and CD-ROM drives, so the losses could be quickly recouped through subsequent software licensing fees.
Sega's Jupiter, with its tens of millions of installed units and low-cost manufacturing systems established in China and Mexico, had long since diluted its hardware costs to well within the safety margin.
With the lucrative profits from its arcade business, Sega had enough capital to engage in a price war.
As for Nintendo's N64, the Rambus memory and SGI custom graphics chip it utilized were expensive to manufacture.
The production cost of cartridges was far higher than that of optical discs.
The hardware price could not be cut at will.
However, Nintendo had removed the expensive CD-ROM drive, saving a significant amount on hardware costs.
Even if the console price were slashed to $199, after accounting for distribution and retail profit margins, it could still maintain a meager profit without falling below the loss line.
Minoru Arakawa picked up the N64 controller prototype from the table, flicked the analog stick with his thumb a couple of times, and pressed the trigger button on the back, which emitted a crisp click.
$199 was acceptable.
He delivered his verdict.
"We aren't going to play the game of losing money just to shout about it. Leave enough profit margin for the retail side, fill the stores with GGs, and blast through the market with launch software. Parents may indeed set aside a budget for Christmas, but children won't wait until Christmas to start making a fuss."
Several channel managers lowered their heads and quickly took notes in their notebooks.
"The U.S. market has its own unique operating patterns.
A June launch, just in time for summer vacation."
Several channel managers lowered their heads, scribbling rapidly in their notebooks.
"The US market has its own unique operational rhythm. A June release coincides perfectly with summer vacation. Kids have plenty of time to wander around malls, hanging around demo kiosks to kill time."
"As long as we create a queuing effect at retail locations, gaming media will naturally follow up with coverage and generate buzz."
Minoru Arakawa's calculations were long-term.
What he wanted to seize wasn't just the first week's sales data in June, but to win back the narrative dominance of the entire North American gaming market for the second half of the year.
Using the quality of Super Mario 64, he intended to forcibly drag players' attention away from Sega and Sony.
In the spring of 1996, the global personal computer market was experiencing a fundamental shift in its underlying ecosystem.
Microsoft's Windows 95 operating system, launched in the second half of the previous year, was rapidly replacing the old DOS system with its graphical interface and powerful multimedia support.
Without exception, every new machine from major PC manufacturers came pre-installed with Windows 95.
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