Rebirth of America, this is my era

Chapter 107 Investigation and Decision

Of course, ideas are ideas and reality is reality. It is impossible to break away from Nintendo and sell video games on notebooks in a short period of time.

After suppressing his shock and expressing his admiration for the scene before him, seeing that it was already evening, Yamauchi Hiroshi realized that he had achieved his goal and happily treated them to a meal.

Because they had just arrived, Yamauchi Hiroshi did not try to create any local specialties. He took them to a Tokyo Western restaurant that had already been booked out and satisfied their appetite with a business banquet.

That night, the group rested in Tokyo and set off again the next day. Starting from Tokyo, they passed through Shinagawa and Kawasaki, and it took more than an hour to arrive in Yokohama, the second largest city in Japan.

There is also an arcade similar to the one in Akihabara here, but Yamauchi Hiroshi just took them for a walk outside. Then, the group came to the carriage road that was built a hundred years ago by Honda in order to open up the Port of Yokohama.

"One hundred years ago, when our country built this road, the original purpose was to provide convenience for passing horse-drawn carriages. However, as Yokohama developed, it gradually became an economic center. Our country's first Western-style theater, the Yokohama Grand Theater, was there, and that was in 1875..."

With Yamauchi Hiroshi's introduction, the modern center of Yokohama appeared in front of the two. Although the commercial atmosphere here is very strong, with restaurants, theaters, and banks everywhere, there is also a Nintendo storefront, and inside it, there are now "Snake" arcade machines. When Ethan and Evelyn appeared, they saw young people pursuing fashion everywhere.

If it were just these, Ethan and Evelyn would actually suspect that Yamauchi Hiroshi was cheating. But when Yamauchi Hiroshi led them to walk a little forward and came to a side alley of the carriage road, the scene of a Sega store sign above and a Nintendo "Snake" arcade machine below made the two of them stunned on the spot.

After seeing the puzzled faces of Ethan and Evelyn, Yamauchi Hiroshi said proudly: "Sega didn't get the agency, but their store also needs to make money, so they can only buy our machines."

"But I didn't sell it to them. I wanted a share of the profits."

"Not much, just 50 percent of the total daily income."

"The clerk at the door is from Nintendo."

Yamauchi Hiroshi waved to a young man.

This action made the other party excited and bowed in greeting.

But Ethan looked shocked!

What the hell!

Is Yamauchi Hiroshi so good at playing?
Use Sega's store to display your own machines?

What’s the difference between this and face-to-face NTR?

Of course, after the excitement, Ethan also discovered a problem.

That is, Nintendo has its own store in the notebook, and they can easily turn it into a game hall and operate an arcade. In such a place, they do not need to share the profits of the arcade with middlemen.

Ethan actually has something to say about this.

When Nintendo used arcade machines to eat into players' profits, the money from arcade machine sales was nothing to them.

But in the end, he decided not to say anything.

Because he understood why Yamauchi Hiroshi wanted to show him these things.

This not only tells about the breadth of Nintendo's business, but also shows the depth of their business. After all, these real estates left by their ancestors are the reason why they can succeed so easily.

I use my own store to do business, so isn't it a net profit no matter what I do?

If Akihabara in Tokyo demonstrates Japan's spending power on video games, and Bashamichi in Yokohama demonstrates Nintendo's control over a single region in Japan, then the following regions such as Osaka, Nagoya and Sapporo actually demonstrate Japan's concentration in video game consumption.

Because the population is dense and concentrated in a few cities, game companies here only need to hold on to a few core areas to reap a lot of wealth. In addition, with convenient road and rail transportation, the radiation to surrounding people has become an advantage that is difficult to achieve in North America.

And this advantage...

It can indeed save a company countless manpower costs.

After five days of walking and stopping to visit the nine major cities in Japan, Ethan gained an intuitive understanding of the market here. If his previous understanding came from the learning and accumulation in his previous life, then now, the reality visible to the naked eye can enable him to make better judgments in the future.

For Evelin, these five days of running around also made her feel the closedness of Japan, because in the entire Japanese market, all the local brands can be seen everywhere. Most of the cars on the road are Toyota, Honda, Nissan, and Suzuki. The ones hanging on the streets are Sony neon light boxes. There are AEON and Marubeni in the supermarkets, and the real estate is either Mitsubishi or Nomura, either Mitsui or Sumitomo.

Of course, there are foreign brands, but the only one that can be found everywhere is Coca-Cola.

"Coca-Cola is still powerful." This fact made Evelin sigh.

"There's nothing we can do about it. They have already taken this industry to the extreme." Ethan smiled and shook his head.

After looking at the major centers of the book, Yamauchi Hiroshi changed direction and brought the two to Kyoto, the spiritual hometown and cultural origin of the book, which is also the headquarters of Nintendo.

Since America did not bomb Kyoto during WWII, it is one of the few cities in Japan that has pre-war buildings, but this is not the point, because what Yamauchi showed the two was Nintendo's production base.

When Yamauchi Hiroshi unveiled the legendary Nintendo Game Department, the small building in Uji, a suburb of Kyoto, looked no different from the R&D offices of other companies. But when the display area recording Nintendo's popular products appeared, the super weird hand that sold more than 1.2 million units a year, the super ball machine with an average annual sales of over 700,000 units in three years, the love tester that was popular in the notebook, and the light gun that brought Nintendo 30 million US dollars in revenue...

These products all speak of Nintendo’s dream-making ability!

After waiting for Ethan to see Gunpei Yokoi with his slicked-back hair, Masayuki Uemura with a slightly bald forehead, and Genyo Takeda wearing glasses...

The fact that three of Nintendo's four kings already existed made him smile.

Because these talents are the foundation of Nintendo’s successful transformation!

If you can gather one talent, that's luck; if you can gather three, that's vision.

After visiting Nintendo's headquarters, R&D center and production line, Ethan's inspection had actually come to an end. But before he made a decision on whether to cooperate or not, Yamauchi Hiroshi took him to another place, the famous Heian Shrine in eastern Kyoto.

Next to the shrine, there is a secluded East Road.

According to Yamauchi Hiroshi, hundreds of years ago, in the 15th century, this place was still a dirt road that led to Shogoin, where the emperor spent the summer, and Goten-sho. Opposite the villa was the residence of the imperial physician to ensure his safety.

And now...

This is their home.

Yamauchi Hiroshi's ancestors bought this place a hundred years ago.

And became neighbors with their emperor.

He asked his subordinates to lift the huge bolt and push open the door that had a history of more than 500 years. Yamauchi Hiroshi made a gesture of invitation with a nostalgic look on his face and walked in with Ethan and Evelyn.

Walking on the century-old stone road, looking at the lush and wild garden, gazing at the small bridge across the flowing water, and admiring the teahouse made of cedar wood, Yamauchi Hiroshi smiled and said, "Mr. Jones, I don't know what your thoughts are on the chip cooperation."

"I don't know if you have other partners, and I don't know if you will communicate with other Benzi Electronics companies, but there is one thing I want to tell you frankly." "In our country, few people can own property here."

“And those who actually work on electronics…”

"They don't deserve it!"

Yamauchi pointed to the ground under his feet and said with a very confident smile: "Mr. Jones, I believe that after these days of investigation, you should have a general understanding of our Nintendo's strength, but I want to say that I can show you more..."

"I am sincere in wanting to reach this cooperation with you."

"Because cooperating with us can maximize your benefits."

Having said that, Yamauchi Hiroshi gave Ethan an affirmative smile.

"I can guarantee this."

"I can assure you of that at my ancestral home."

When these words appeared, Ethan's face also showed a bright smile.

"I believe in your ability, Mr. Yamauchi."

Calm words could not extinguish the excitement of the heart. Although Ethan still did not give a positive answer, Yamauchi Hiroshi was not in a hurry. He left Ethan his own space on the grounds that he would be away from the company for a long time and needed to go back to handle affairs. At the same time, he also arranged accommodation for Ethan in the Okazaki area next to the Heian Shrine, and asked his secretary to wait nearby 24 hours a day.

If you have any questions, please contact us as soon as possible.

Nodding his head in thanks, Ethan closed the door and walked into the house, then lay down on the tatami, closed his eyes, and asked his sister, "What do you think of Nintendo?"

“If you look at it from a partner’s perspective, they are good enough.”

“You could even say it’s perfect.”

After a week of walking, Evelyn was also tired. Like Ethan, she lay down to rest and expressed her opinions that she had accumulated over the past few days. "But from a competitive perspective, they are a bit scary."

"Although you told me before that Nintendo has many excellent products, it was only after I went to their factory that I found that those products are simple in technology but full of creativity."

“It is a terrifying ability to innovate a technology that has already become popular or even obsolete.”

"Because in this way, they will never be strangled by others."

This fact made Ethan chuckle.

He knew that Evelin was right.

In his previous life, NS was electronic garbage from any angle.

But there is no way, the creativity is awesome.

"Then do you think the chip authorization can be granted?" Ethan asked what was on his mind.

"Yes." Evelin gave her answer decisively.

"Why?" Ethan was curious.

Evelyn said, “Because I have faith in you.”

'? ? ? '

This answer was beyond Ethan's expectations.

She turned her head slightly to look at her sister.

The other person's face was already full of smiles.

As if she felt his actions, but it was more like she didn't believe her own words, so Evelin said again: "Okay, okay, the fact is that whether we grant Nintendo chip authorization or not, they will unswervingly run madly on this road."

"If we don't give them the license for 6502, they will definitely look for other chips."

"And with the influence of Yamauchi Hiroshi in the notebook, there will definitely be notebooks provided by other manufacturers."

"so……"

"Since we can't figure it out, let's make the money."

"Hahaha—" Ethan laughed at his sister's words.

Yes!

After so many days of investigation, he finally understood why Nintendo was successful!
This is not only because Yamauchi Hiroshi has a keen sense of smell and extraordinary vision, but also because the accumulation of his ancestors enables him to build like crazy!
Although there has always been such a joke in Ethan's previous life, if you want a family's property to continue as long as possible, you can't let the children in the family try to start a business, because most of the time, the rich second generation with a silver spoon in their mouths are out of touch with the world. When they are separated from the masses and float in the clouds, most of the businesses will not succeed.

Because the largest consumer group in this world is the general public.

but……

Yamauchi Hiroshi is clearly an exception.

In fact, he still has the arrogance of a rich kid in his bones, otherwise he would not have taken Ethan to see his ancestral home and show off the power of his ancestors. But at the same time, he can restrain his temper for the sake of his career.

This is a very scary self-control.

A self-control that cannot be influenced by others.

Ethan believed that if he did not sell the license, Yamauchi Hiroshi would definitely turn around and look for a new partner!

That being the case...

It would be better to be friendly as Evelyn said.

Because this way, you can really earn more!
As for future competition?
We’ll talk about it in the future.

If he can take on MILO and Atari, why can't he take on Nintendo?
Who is afraid of Who!
Note: ① Hiroshi Yamauchi's ancestral home really exists. Their home has a total of 1975 tatami mats, while at that time, an ordinary family's home only had eight to ten tatami mats. ② Hiroshi Yamauchi has always wanted to make chips. In the book "Game Over", in the second chapter, it is written that at a dinner in 2000, Hiroshi Yamauchi discussed consumer chips with Nintendo's senior management. Because MOS had already given out the chip license at that time, Nintendo could not get it, so Uemura Masayuki suggested that Hiroshi Yamauchi look for Ricoh to produce it. At that time, Hiroshi Yamauchi was the only one in the entire Nintendo who firmly believed that chips could change the world. When the notebook consumer market could only consume less than 91 chips a year, he went directly to Ricoh to place an order for 92 million chips. This approach was just to reduce the chip price to yen. Uemura Masayuki's suggestion also became Nintendo's most painful thing, because in -, they had to pay $ billion for chips every year.

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(End of this chapter)