The figures of the two people were reflected in the glass bearing the old sign, and soon left that patch of dim wood colour with their footsteps.
There were quite a few customers inside the store.
Several college students were gathered around the Super Nintendo trial play area, while two young office workers in suits stood in front of the computer display cases, quietly comparing the prices of different models.
Emi looked left and right; she still liked games very much, but recently she had been heavily exploited by a certain "bad capitalist" and simply had no time to play.
She followed Satsuki deep into the store and suddenly discovered that two clerks were dismantling a large promotional board.
The promotional board was printed with the logos of Sony and Nintendo, and in the middle was a device capable of reading Super Nintendo cartridges and CD-ROMs.
At the top, a line of eye-catching English words remained.
"PLAY STATION."
When one of the clerks turned the promotional board over, the back was already pasted with industry news just transmitted back from Chicago.
After Sony announced the cooperative device at the Summer Consumer Electronics Show, Nintendo announced the next day that it would advance another CD-ROM plan with Philips.
This sudden change had become the most-watched topic in Akihabara these past few days.
A few gaming magazines were placed near the shop window.
The largest headline read "Why Nintendo Chose Philips," and below it was a photograph of Norio Ohga with a gloomy expression.
Several nearby customers were gathered around the magazine discussing it.
"Sony does not even have its own games. If it really leaves Nintendo, who is it going to sell the machine to?"
"But the CD was made by Sony, Nintendo is going too far like this."
"What is the use of being able to make discs? Can Sony make 'Mario' by itself?"
After the two clerks removed the promotional board from the stand, they did not move it away immediately, but temporarily leaned it against the wall.
The store manager stood to the side, holding two freshly received faxes in hand.
One was from Sony, requesting that promotional materials for the cooperative device be temporarily suspended; the other was sent from Nintendo's Tokyo sales office, notifying that a new batch of Super Nintendo display stands would be delivered tomorrow morning.
The arrival times of the two documents differed by less than an hour.
"The second floor originally reserved a trial play area for this device."
The manager lowered his voice to instruct the clerks.
"Do not switch it to Nintendo's new display stand yet. Leave the space open and put out this week's software sales and reservation catalogues."
"What if Nintendo asks about it?"
"Just say the store is currently adjusting its displays."
The manager refolded the fax.
"S.A. CIRCUIT sells both Nintendo's machines and the records and imagery published by Sony. Before the matter between the two companies is over, there is no need to express an opinion for either side here."
The clerk nodded and turned to fetch the new display stand.
The nearby customers did not pay attention to their conversation and were still arguing around the magazine.
Only Satsuki glanced over in that direction, quickly withdrawing her gaze.
The person Itakura chose to manage this store at least had not forgotten who they were doing business for.
Emi listened for a while and walked with a frown to the dismantled promotional board.
"So Nintendo is really breaking up with Sony?"
"It looks that way for now."
Satsuki picked up a magazine from beside the shop window, but did not rush to open it.
On the second day after this incident occurred, Nintendo's executive director in charge of shareholder relations had already delivered an explanation through Itakura.
Kyoto wrote a full six pages, repeatedly emphasising that there were risks in disc licensing, software review rights, and overseas distribution terms. The phrasing was very polite, but the real meaning was only one sentence.
Nintendo would not allow another company to reach its hand into its software entrance by means of an external connection device.
Emi turned back to look at her.
"Nintendo has already explained it to Satsuki-chan?"
"Mm, it was written very long."
Satsuki opened the magazine, her gaze sweeping over that photograph of Norio Ohga with a gloomy expression.
"Like a child who did something wrong and worries about being scolded, they probably also know that this matter was not handled very nicely."
Emi looked again at the promotional board being packed away by the clerks.
"It was already quite ugly to begin with."
She was clearly somewhat dissatisfied with Nintendo's approach, and her voice was a bit heavier than just now.
"Sony made the sound chip for them, and spent so long making the disc device. Even if the contract could not be negotiated, should they not have waited until Sony had just announced the device at the exhibition, only to suddenly announce cooperation with Philips the next day?"
Satsuki's fingers paused on the edge of the magazine.
Nintendo cared about software licensing rights; this judgment itself was not problematic.
But Hiroshi Yamauchi choosing to make the news public in this way clearly had another layer of meaning.
He wanted Sony, and everyone trying to enter the video game industry, to see clearly that this door still remained in Nintendo's hands.
"Mr. Yamauchi wants control."
Satsuki closed the magazine, her fingertips gently pressing down on the cover.
"As for how embarrassing this would make Uncle Morita, it was probably never factored into his costs."
Emi glanced at her.
"Satsuki-chan also thinks Nintendo went too far, right?"
"Too far? Between capitals, there is no such thing as going too far." Satsuki shook her head slightly. "I am just explaining Mr. Yamauchi's thoughts."
She put the magazine back with a natural expression.
"Do not let these words spread to Kyoto; your father's factory still has to deliver a batch of interface components to Nintendo next month."
Emi immediately lowered her voice.
"I only said it in front of Satsuki-chan."
"That will not do either."
Satsuki reached out a finger and gently tapped her forehead.
"You are no longer a child hiding in the factory sneaking peeks at test cartridges. Suzuki Electronics is still in Nintendo's supply chain, and a single sentence you casually say might turn into the company's attitude once it reaches someone else's ears."
Emi covered her forehead, feeling somewhat wronged.
"There are no Nintendo people here."
"Over there by the third row of shelves, the man in the grey jacket."
Satsuki glanced to one side.
"After entering the store, he first looked at the Super Nintendo display location, and then asked twice about this week's allocation quantity. Most likely someone from the Kyoto sales department."
Emi subconsciously turned her head.
The man in the grey jacket was holding a box of games, talking in a low voice with a clerk.
Sensing the gaze from this side, he quickly turned his face to the other side.
Emi immediately withdrew her gaze and moved close to Satsuki again.
"He could not have heard, right?"
"Now you know how to be scared?"
Satsuki looked at her nervous appearance, a trace of a smile finally appearing on her lips.
"Rest assured, it is so far away, he cannot hear."
"Satsuki-chan!"
Emi only then realised she had been scared by her again.
Satsuki ignored her protest and turned to walk towards the stairs.
Emi chased after her for two steps, still dwelling on the previous question.
"Then will Sony give up?"
"Uncle Morita will probably find a way to suppress the matter first."
Satsuki stepped onto the first step, sorting out the matter.
"Inside Sony, there were originally many people who felt that games were just toys for children. Now that the cooperation has suddenly broken down, it just gives them a reason to call off the plan."
"What about Mr. Ohga?"
"His temper is not that good; he probably will not allow Sony to exit just like this."
Satsuki continued walking upwards.
"What Mr. Ohga cares about may not just be this machine. Nintendo choosing to announce its cooperation with Philips the day after Sony announced the device has already turned the whole thing into a matter of Sony's face."
"Inside Sony, many people originally opposed entering the video game industry. Now that the cooperation has broken down, they will naturally demand to stop the investment and treat this matter as a misjudgment to be dealt with as quickly as possible."
Emi followed behind her, and upon hearing this, turned back to glance at the promotional board that had already been dismantled.
"Then will Mr. Ohga agree?"
"That is why I said his temper is not that good."
Satsuki turned her head back.
"Stopping the project now is equivalent to admitting Mr. Yamauchi is right—that after leaving Nintendo, Sony cannot do anything."
"Mr. Ohga certainly will not be able to swallow such a conclusion."
"At the very least, he will preserve the technology and personnel already invested, suppress the voices inside the company demanding an immediate retreat, and then have people re-evaluate other cooperation partners."
"If all the doors that can be borrowed are closed, building a door of one's own might not be harder to accept than just admitting defeat."
Satsuki paused at the corner of the stairs, her gaze falling back onto that promotional board.
"As for Ken Kutaragi—someone who spent a few years and managed to build a door, only to be driven outside in public right after placing it at the exhibition."
"Even if Mr. Ohga is willing to let the matter rest, he will probably find every possible way to continue the project."
Emi thought carefully for a moment.
"So Sony might really make a game console by itself?"
"There is such a possibility."
Satsuki withdrew her gaze and continued walking towards the second floor.
"It is just that from refusing to admit defeat to actually building a machine that can be sold, there is still a very long way in between."
"Then which side is Satsuki-chan prepared to stand on?"
Satsuki withdrew her gaze and continued walking toward the second floor.
"Why must one stand on a certain side?"
Emi followed behind her and was stunned for a moment.
"But Nintendo and Sony have already fallen out to this extent."
"It is them who fell out; Saionji's business has not disappeared along with it."
Satsuki arrived on the second floor, her gaze sweeping over rows of game cartridges and software boxes.
"Suzuki Electronics still manufactures parts for Nintendo, and S.A. Investment also holds shares in Nintendo. The more Nintendo's machines sell, the more valuable these businesses become."
She walked forward a few steps, her gaze falling again on the records and video products published by Sony on the other side.
"On Sony's side, S.A. has an Asian content distribution network, semiconductor cooperation, and component supply agreements. If Sony truly decides to manufacture its own game console, it cannot bypass software, chips, and distribution channels."
"As a shareholder, we naturally have no need to declare our stance."
Emi quickly understood.
"So, whether they continue to cooperate or make two separate machines, Saionji will have business?"
"That is right."
Satsuki turned back and smiled at her.
"At least you did not just stay angry on Uncle Morita's behalf."
Emi muttered softly:
"Clearly Satsuki-chan also thinks Nintendo did not handle it well..."
As if she had not heard, Satsuki reached out and took a box of game software from the shelf, looking at the production company printed on the back.
"Leave the matter of consoles to them first."
"Nintendo, Sega, NEC, plus Sony which might enter the field later. The more machines there are in the living room, the fiercer their competition for software will be."
She put that box of games back onto the shelf, her gaze slowly moving along the adjacent game, music, and imagery merchandise.
"Let them fight over that machine."
"Saionji will first go look for things that can be put into the machine."
"Things that can be put in..."
Emi looked over following her gaze.
On one side of the shelf were game software, and on the other side were anime LDs, movie videos, and game music CDs.
Several young people had just finished picking out cartridges and walked over to the adjacent shelf to look for original soundtrack records.
The same group of customers moved back and forth between different commodities, and the boundaries were not as clear as imagined.
A college student who had been waiting for a spot in the trial play area earlier now had an extra box of game cartridges in his hand.
He walked to the music shelf, searched for a moment, and took down another original soundtrack record printed with the same character.
His companions thought the price was too expensive and advised him to buy the game first.
But the college student hugged both things in his arms, saying only that the record included tracks not used in the game, and if he missed it, he might not be able to buy it later.
On the other side, a young woman wearing a light-coloured dress had originally been choosing an anime video, but was eventually attracted by the character setting collection next to it.
She stood there browsing for a long time, until the clerk reminded her that the sample book could not be sold, before copying down the title and preparing to look for it elsewhere.
What they were purchasing was no longer just images or sound.
As long as they came to like a certain character, the commodities originally scattered across different shelves would be connected together by that person themselves.
Satsuki reached out and took down a box of anime video.
The packaging was made very delicately, and the selling price was astonishingly high, yet the main feature duration on the back was less than an hour.
Emi leaned over to the side to take a look at the price, her eyes widening a bit.
"It is so short and yet it sells for so much?"
"The people making it need to eat, and the people buying it are too few."
Satsuki flipped the box over and looked at the companies to which production, distribution, and music copyrights respectively belonged.
"In an anime, the visuals belong to one company, the music to another, and the video distribution is yet another. Having finally created a popular character, if you want to put it into a game or merchandise, you have to go find a whole circle of people to negotiate all over again."
She put the videotape back onto the shelf.
"S.A. already has recording studios, artists, image distribution, and karaoke. What it lacks is just people who can put stories, visuals, and programs together."
Emi's eyes gradually lit up.
"Then we can do it ourselves."
"Do not rush to say 'we' yet."
Satsuki reached out a finger and tapped her forehead.
"Your job right now is to make 0.35 microns a reality."
"Game consoles need chips too."
Emi covered her forehead, softly striving for herself.
"Images, sound, data reading—they all require faster processors. If we design it ourselves, we can—"
"Stop."
Satsuki timely pressed down on her.
"Today I brought you out to rest, not to move the Odaiba meeting to Akihabara."
Emi swallowed back the rest of her words and still looked somewhat unconvinced at the game console next to them.
Satsuki turned to Chizuru.
"Go back and have Itakura compile a few sets of materials."
Chizuru took out a notepad from her small bag.
"Game software companies, arcade board manufacturers, animation studios, and companies related to manga and character licensing."
Walking forward, Satsuki looked at those commodities adjacent to each other on the shelves.
"The scale does not need to be too large. First find people who can produce works, but whose next production fee is always without a destination."
"Do we need to draft an acquisition budget?"
"Not for now."
Satsuki paused in front of the stairs and glanced back inside the store.
"Have Itakura bring people over first. Those who can draw, those who can write stories, those who can program—all are fine."
She smiled softly.
"The task given to him six years ago was originally to find these madmen. Now it is time to see just how many he has found."