Rebirth of America, this is my era

Chapter 201 The Wind Rises

Four days ago, in Kyoto, Nintendo headquarters.

Hiroshi Yamauchi, with his black hair combed meticulously and wearing his favorite brown sunglasses, sat leisurely on the sofa in the office. His short-sleeved shirt, shorts and big sandals made the place full of the feeling of midsummer. Hiroshi Imanishi and Arakawa in front of him were actually dressed in suits and looked very cautious.

He picked up the wine glass on the table and took a sip. The refreshing feeling made him instinctively squint his eyes and hum softly.

After a while, when the rich sweetness had faded, he asked, "Arakawa, do you mean that Ethan Jones called you yesterday and urged us at Nintendo to settle the sales revenue for the first half of the year?"

"Yes." Arakawa nodded and said, "I came back after receiving his call."

"Why?" Yamauchi Hiroshi asked, "You only need to give me a call for this kind of thing. I'll have someone give you the latest report."

Arakawa nodded his head in the same way as usual. He also said, "But I think this matter needs a face-to-face discussion. Do you remember the call I made to you at the beginning of the year? I told you on the phone that Ethan Jones should be targeted by someone."

Having said this, Arakawa Minoru stopped and looked around carefully.

Yamauchi Hiroshi had a calm expression on his face, while Imanishi Hiroshi nodded and smiled, as if in response.

This state of affairs also prompted Arakawa Minoru to continue, "The final situation is also reflected in this. Hollywood and Philips have launched fierce attacks on Ethan Jones. Whether it is Destiny Pictures changing its partners or MGM releasing a new game, it has dealt a certain blow to him."

These words made Yamauchi Hiroshi raise his head slightly.

Leaning back on the sofa, he looked down at his son-in-law.

His eyes flickered as he asked, "So?"

"So I think Ethan Jones's call was a sign."

"A sign that the battle has entered a white-hot stage."

Arakawa Minoru looked at Yamauchi Hiroshi seriously.

Although Yamauchi's serious face looks like it can stop a child from crying, Arakawa is not afraid, after all, he is also a rich second-generation. If he is not a son-in-law of Nintendo, Yamauchi is his wife's father and his father-in-law, not the head of the family.

His son-in-law's calmness made Yamauchi Hiroshi chuckle and he pushed the empty cup in his hand forward.

Hirofumi Imanishi, who was sitting opposite him, immediately stood up and poured him wine.

Shaking the cup in his hand and staring at the amber liquid, Yamauchi Hiroshi asked: "Do you think Ethan Jones has the upper hand or is at a disadvantage?"

When this question arose, Yamauchi Hiroshi's eyes instantly glanced up, wanting to observe his son-in-law's reaction.

however--

"do not know."

Arakawa Minoru shook his head decisively.

"..."

The unconventional answer stunned Yamauchi Hiroshi for a second, and the shaking wine glass stopped instantly.

Golden liquid came out of the cup and then suddenly fell down, wetting the sofa.

This situation did not anger Yamauchi Hiroshi, but instead made him burst into laughter, "Hahaha——"

"Arakawa."

Yamauchi Hiroshi put down the wine glass in his hand and said, "You came back because of this, right?"

"Yes." Arakawa said without hiding anything: "I can't see the current situation clearly."

Half a year ago, when 1978 had just arrived, Arakawa Minoru, who was reporting on the situation in the United States to his father-in-law Hiroshi Yamauchi, felt that the situation was clear. An article in Fortune magazine put Ethan Jones and the Destiny game on the spot, and the unparalleled money-making ability of the electronic game industry would attract countless capitals to try to get a piece of the pie.

This is indeed the case. Philips, unwilling to give up, joined forces with the American Creative Factory to launch a fierce attack on Ethan Jones. Whether it was cutting off the branch business of the Destiny game, ruining the cooperation between Columbia and Ethan Jones, causing a rift in the relationship between Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Ethan Jones; or blocking North American theaters from purchasing arcade machines for the Destiny game; or now launching a new game to confront head-on, it is the best embodiment of fierce competition.

Although on the surface, the North American game industry has been fighting fiercely, Arakawa always feels that something is wrong. Because there are more game companies in North America than just Philips-controlled Milova! In addition to Destiny, there is also Warner Communications that can make games without the constraints of patents! When Philips has united all the allies it can and is waving its fists to bully forward, where is Warner Communications? They are watching the show from the sidelines!
This behavior is totally unreasonable!
“I always feel that the current situation is a little weird.”

Arakawa looked at his father-in-law seriously and said, "Because I don't know why MGM fired the first shot in this war. If they didn't give up the movie business and they would return to Hollywood after building the hotel in Las Vegas, then it was the right thing for them to take action against Columbia after receiving the cooperation invitation from Philips."

"Because it's a win-win situation for them—"

"Win twice!"

"First, they can get rid of the shackles of patents and enter the video game industry."

“Secondly, they can regain their leading position in the film industry.”

"Both of those things were very good for MGM, so I can understand their approach, and I can understand why Philips was plotting and why Paramount and Disney were following suit."

"After acquiring MILO, Philips could not easily accept the fact that it had failed; and Paramount and Disney could not just sit there and watch their peers enter the video game field and make money while they themselves stood still."

“But even if Philips’ alliance and MGM’s move make sense, what about Warner?”

"Warner seems to have disappeared in the past six months!"

"And this situation is totally contrary to business common sense!"

"Because Warner Communications' involvement in the video game industry is in the form of acquisitions!"

“They bought Atari!”

"After spending tens of millions of dollars, they can't just sit back and watch the fight!"

Arakawa Minoru expressed his thoughts with a serious expression and a firm tone.

His words also made Yamauchi Hiroshi turn his attention to his chief of staff, Hiroshi Imanishi.

After catching his boss's gaze, Hiroshi Imanishi also smiled and said, "So, Arakawa, do you think we seem to have missed some important information in this war?"

"Yes." Arakawa nodded vigorously and said, "That's why I used Ethan Jones's visit to the TV as a signal. Under normal circumstances, he only needs to wait another week before he can see us. Because in our agreement, we have confirmed the time for submitting the report."

"But now he doesn't want to wait!"

“That could mean one thing.”

"He may need to use overseas sales to suppress those challengers in North America, even if such suppression cannot affect the sales of the machine, because such overseas sales will give North American arcade buyers and video game consumers a huge sense of superiority!"

"It's like someone in a class who always wants to get first place in the exam!"

"Academic performance is not what makes those people happy. The confidence that I am the best in the world is the key to giving them a truly comfortable feeling!"

"And this kind of thing..."

"It's just the core of American pride, isn't it?"

“And when a company needs to portray itself to others in this way…”

"Then they are definitely in a very critical situation!"

"It's a pity that we may not know where the crisis lies yet!"

"Hahahaha——" Arakawa Minoru's words made Yamauchi Hiroshi laugh again.

Hiroshi Imanishi standing by also nodded with a smile on his face.

At this moment, they have completely understood the meaning of Arakawa's excitement, or rather, Arakawa's words make sense. Because the whole world knows that Americans are the most confident people in the world, and their eyes are not on their heads! But on their butts! Because only in this way can they better laugh at those tiny humans who are left behind by them and can't even see the taillights of their cars.

Where does Americans' confidence come from?

For the general public, the answer to this question may be a difference in education.

For example, Americans have been educated to be winners since childhood.

Or, in other words, America has a tradition of telling stories of optimism.

This habit will make them say 'I have a dream' and 'I can make a difference' all the time.

But all of the above is bullshit!

The source of their confidence is actually that America has been winning!
When America has won time and again in the past few decades or even hundreds of years, let alone a person, even a dog would be so confident!

But this situation changed dramatically during the Jiaozhi War.

When the anti-war march in San Francisco ignited North America and the Saigon Iron Fist became a world-famous painting, the word confusion came into being. The hippie culture was actually a microcosm of the social trends. When the North American masses were caught in a dark cloud, how to boost their self-confidence, how to continue to shout that we can win, and how to make the people believe in America again, that was a headache for all the top leaders.

And at this time, an emerging industry suddenly achieved external colonization?

This is the best publicity point!
And when leading companies in emerging industries take the initiative to put on this coat...

They either want to achieve greater success or want to withstand a huge crisis.

The former is not applicable to the current Destiny game, but the latter...it really fits perfectly.

It was because Arakawa Minoru realized this that he rushed back to his country.

Because he didn't know what crisis the game of fate was defending against.

No one knows who posed a threat to the Game of Destiny.

In response to his consideration, Yamauchi Hiroshi raised his chin towards Imanishi Hiroshi. After receiving his boss's instructions, Imanishi Hiroshi said, "Arakawa, you have a quick mind, a strong sense of the overall situation, and consider things very carefully. What you said is indeed possible."

"but--"

Imanishi Hiroshi stretched out his voice and said, "This is not the reason why you came back."

"Why?" Arakawa didn't understand.

He said loudly: "If we find out what crisis the Destiny Game is facing, then we can decide our behavior based on the content of the crisis! If they really need our dividends and our sales, then we can cut off our cooperation! The loss of tens of millions of dollars and the collapse of overseas sales will put Ethan Jones in an even worse situation!"

"What if not? Is he not in the crisis you imagined?" asked Hirofumi Imanishi.

"Then just give up." Arakawa Minoru spread his hands in a very helpless manner.

At the same time, he also focused his attention on his father-in-law.

Yamauchi Hiroshi nodded in satisfaction at not letting go of any opportunity, "Very good, very good."

Staring at his son-in-law who may become Nintendo's successor, Yamauchi Hiroshi said: "If you are here for these reasons, then I will be very happy, because not being inferior to others is the only reason why our Nintendo has survived to this day. But at the same time, if you are here for these reasons, then I will also be very disappointed, because I told you at the beginning of the year that the straw that broke the camel's back was the last straw."

“We don’t need to be personally involved in that struggle that’s happening in North America.”

"All we have to do is watch them fight."

"Look at how bruised and battered they are. Look at how much damage they have done to their vitality."

"Because the companies that have the last laugh in an industry are rarely the ones that were first involved in the industry. As the first to try something new, they will definitely be the target of attack by all the latecomers. At the same time, the companies that have the last laugh are rarely the ones that grow rapidly, because while the sudden expansion of a company can make them a lot of money, it can also cause countless problems to suddenly erupt in an instant."

"..." Arakawa Minoru opened his mouth at the words of his father-in-law.

He wanted to say something, but no sound came out.

After a long while, he said, "So we just give up like this?"

"No." Yamauchi continued to shake his head, "We won't give up."

“On the contrary, it’s a great opportunity.”

"?" Arakawa Minoru didn't understand what his father-in-law meant.

Yamauchi Hiroshi smiled and said, "Although there is a very popular saying in the business field that business is business, betrayal always has a price."

"Last year we followed Miluohua and tried to stab Ethan Jones, but it didn't work."

"So we were forced to sign a 25 percent profit-sharing contract."

"We choose again this year, and when we stand with them..."

“We’re going to get something unexpected.”

"Do you believe it?" Yamauchi Hiroshi looked at Arakawa Minoru with a smile.

But Arakawa actually shook his head instinctively.

Yamauchi Hiroshi had expected this reaction. He picked up his glass again and took a sip. Then he said, "We will just give him the order for the 200,000 video arcade machines."

"Ethan Jones will be very happy when that fact comes out."

"Then, if he still wants to talk to you about something, then you tell him..."

"We at Nintendo were sued by Philips."

…………

The words of his father-in-law brought Arakawa back to his senses.

Looking at Ethan who was smiling, he said, "Of course, Mr. Jones, before I came again, our president specifically told me to tell you that Philips has filed a lawsuit against us."

"What?" Although his tone was surprised, Ethan's face was full of understanding.

"Philips sued you? Why?" he asked casually.

The next second, he said, "COLOR TV GAME?"

"Yeah~COLOR TV GAME."

Arakawa nodded and said, "Because the COLOR TV GAME project was not led by Nintendo, Mitsubishi, which proposed the project, did not obtain the patent authorization from MILOWA, so it is indeed an infringing product. Therefore, when Philips learned that Nintendo was infringing on their interests while MILOWA was paying for our light gun patent, they took us to court."

"Here are copies of documents related to the lawsuit."

When Ethan took the document handed over by Arakawa Minoru and briefly flipped through it, the bilingual content made him smile. Philips, which has a business in this book, demanded that Nintendo stop its infringement and recall all infringing products, and at the same time bear all responsibility for Philips' losses.

The compensation they demanded was 50 million US dollars.

Of course, these figures are just for reference, as they are within the range of asking for exorbitant prices and paying low prices.

"It seems that your company is somewhat careless in its choice of business partners."

Ethan said with a grin.

"We at Nintendo will never betray any of our allies."

Arakawa actually replied in a sincere tone.

“How many units of your COLOR TV GAME series have been sold?”

Ethan closed the file and handed it back.

"The total number of 6 and 15 has exceeded units," said Arakawa Minoru.

"Oh - they're selling well -"

Ethan nodded and smiled, “Anything else?”

…………

"Then we'll tell him we have an idea for their new game."

Yamauchi continued: "We also want to obtain the agency rights for their new game."

"However, unlike before, we will no longer sign a 25% profit-sharing contract with them for the Destiny Game, nor will we agree on any minimum sales guarantees with them."

"Because that's not fair to us."

…………

"Oh, I think the current contract is quite fair." Ethan said, shaking his legs. "The guaranteed sales can give you a certain amount of pressure and help you sell arcade machines better, right?"

"And the 25% profit-sharing contract is also within your acceptable range."

"After all, you can make money from the players."

"But Mr. Jones, our store also has costs." Arakawa Minoru argued, "The property tax in our country is very high..."

There are three main types of property taxes in this book, namely acquisition, holding and transfer. Acquisition refers to the tax that needs to be paid when purchasing a property. Holding refers to the tax that needs to be paid during the period of holding the property. Transfer refers to the tax that needs to be paid when selling a property.

Under this subdivision, the tax that shops located in this area need to pay every year is the property tax, and there are two main tax items in this item. One is the fixed asset tax, which is generally levied at 1.4% of the shop's valuation, and the other is the urban planning tax, which is 0.3% of the valuation.

That is to say, if the assessed value of a store is 10 million yen, then the tax they pay on the property ownership items each year is 170,000 yen. This number may not seem high, but it can still bring great pressure to the store owner.

When they own a shop, it is impossible for them to leave it vacant. They can either run it themselves to spread the property tax, or pass it on to the tenants. In short, they cannot be stupid enough to give money to the government.

But what does this have to do with Ethan?

I don't own your stores, so why should I care whether you pay taxes or not?
“Although the cost is high, the value is greater, isn’t it?”

"You know, you are now the world's second largest economy!"

Ethan smiled and said, "According to the current rate of development, your country's economy will soon reach a greater peak, and may even surpass us to become the world's number one. In this case, your country's real estate industry will become the world's most valuable industry!"

"By then, it won't be a problem to sell the whole of Tokyo and buy the whole of the United States!"

"So don't bother me about such trivial matters as taxes."

…………

"No! Why would we do that?"

After hearing his father-in-law's words, Arakawa Minoru almost jumped up from the sofa.

Ben's narrowed eyes now widened.

A look of confusion suddenly flashed from his pupils.

His question made Yamauchi Hiroshi laugh without saying anything. When Arakawa was about to lose control, Nintendo's chief of staff Hiroshi Imanishi said, "Arakawa, this matter is actually very simple."

"When Ethan Jones called you, on the surface, he was urging us to pay the bill, but in fact, he wanted to find out the current state of our relationship."

"As you said, when there are suddenly several strong competitive players in the North American video game industry, stable cash flow is the most important thing."

"And our backstab will make him extremely uncomfortable."

Having said this, Hiroshi Imanishi stopped.

Yamauchi Hiroshi took over the conversation and said, "Although our attack at this time will make him vulnerable from both sides, this method of inflicting pain without killing him will not cause him to fall into the abyss of failure."

"Since we can't kill them with one strike, then we shouldn't do it."

"Not only that, we have to be very kind."

"Let Ethan Jones think that we are harmless and that after what happened last year, we have realized our mistakes and are determined to stand with him."

"But there's no way he would believe it!" Arakawa Minoru retorted loudly.

"It's not important, right?" Yamauchi Hiroshi also raised his voice and said, "It's his business whether he believes it or not! It's our business whether we do it or not! Besides! Does he have a choice now?"

"Kick us out and find a new agent?"

"Do not make jokes!"

"Last summer was his best chance! And he missed it!"

"When surrounded by strong rivals in North America, he can no longer kick us away!"

"So as long as we don't quarrel with him, he will just cooperate with us tacitly!"

"As long as we stay by his side, no matter if he is on guard against us or not, we can control all his profits in our country! When he is sweeping across everything like Caesar, these things will not bring him down! But when he is in trouble, this is the final rope that can strangle him!"

"Now all we have to do is wait!"

"Wait?" Arakawa laughed in anger.

"Father-in-law, you have been saying this word for a long time!"

"But you never took any action!"

"Yes! But so what?" His son-in-law's attitude made Yamauchi Hiroshi's pupils blaze with anger, and he shouted: "Arakawa! Do you know why there are some long-lived elderly people in this world?"

“It’s not that they have good genes!”

"But they are patient!"

"If you want to live longer than others, you have to forget about time!"

Yamauchi Hiroshi's scolding made Arakawa Minoru open his mouth wide.

Shock and confusion were written all over his face at this moment.

After gasping for a while with his chest heaving, Yamauchi Hiroshi's gaze gradually relaxed.

"Just wait a little longer."

"It won't take long this time."

"Because those Americans can't possibly be more tolerant than we are."

Such words made Arakawa Minoru take a deep breath.

Stand up and bow.

Turn around and say goodbye.

…………

"Mr. Jones, I will bring your request to our president."

At the entrance of the Game of Destiny, Minoru Arakawa leaned towards Ethan and said, standing at the bottom of the stairs.

"Okay, I'll wait for your news."

Ethan put his hands behind his back, smiled and nodded. Under his gaze, Arakawa Minoru got into his car.

As he left, Ethan went back upstairs and into his sister's office.

When Evelin found that the door of her office was pushed open from the outside again without reason, she knew who the person was, and without even raising her head, she asked directly, “Is Yamauchi Hiroshi’s son-in-law gone?”

"Yeah." Ethan sat down in the chair in front of his sister's desk.

"How did the talk go?" Evelyn asked.

"It's pretty enjoyable." Ethan replied.

After a brief conversation, the only sound in the huge office was the sound of Evelin’s flying fingers.

The tapping sound is the sound of white fingers tapping on the keyboard.

The sudden silence was caused by the girl turning her head to look in front of her.

When Evelyn, who was wearing thin-framed glasses, moved her eyes away from the Apple monitor and focused on Ethan, her intellectual face was full of curiosity.

"Do you need a mirror?" she asked.

"how?"

"You should look at your own face."

"Is it ugly?"

"At least it doesn't represent happiness now."

This joke made Ethan laugh to himself.

He immediately shook his head, staring down at his hands.

After a long while, he said, "It's just as I thought."

"Nintendo has made the choice that is best for them."

When Ethan discovered that MGM dared to post articles to drag him down without restraint, he knew that there must be a problem with the book, because Nintendo would never be willing to be alone.

When facing Philips, they dared to stab him in the back. When Ethan Jones became powerful, they dared to turn against him. This not only proved that they had great ambitions, but also proved that they did not take the agreements in the business contract seriously at all.

But the latter is also normal.

Because a contract is only useful when both parties have equal strength.

Ethan knew that Nintendo was still ready to make a move, so calling them to pay was the best option at the moment. On the one hand, he could use the overseas sales to attack his peers in the industry in public opinion, and on the other hand, he sold a flaw to Nintendo to see if they would turn against him.

If they turn against us, that would actually be a good thing.

This is like actively pricking a boil to facilitate recovery.

But if they can't hold back...

That would be very uncomfortable.

What's even more uncomfortable is that they deliberately showed their submission.

"Is this what you call pleasure?"

Evelyn poured Ethan a glass of water. "So why did you continue to cooperate with Nintendo last year? Because they paid more? Or is it that our cooperation with them is no longer easy to separate?"

"All of them."

Ethan spread his hands and said, "Twenty-five percent of the sale price is probably the highest price we can get so far. Moreover, since we have already licensed Pac-Man to them, if we change the partner to use Star Wars to impact Pac-Man..."

“That would be a huge loss for us.”

Ethan admitted that the continued cooperation last year was based on considerations of interests.

Cooperating with Nintendo can maximize your own interests, it's that simple.

Moreover, when making this decision, he also took into account the integrity of the people in this country.

If Nintendo really breaks off relations with him, they will definitely be able to directly copy the code of "Pac-Man", change the name, change the skin, and sell it as a pirated product.

In that case, the loss of their destiny game will be even greater.

Therefore, continued cooperation is inevitable.

As for the possibility that Nintendo might betray again?
This Ethan was actually mentally prepared.

But what can we do even if we are prepared?
Because trouble is like a pile of feces when you are constipated. Only when it reaches your buttocks will you know how uncomfortable it is.

"Since this is something we chose, we can only accept it."

Evelyn leaned back on the table and supported herself with her hands.

"Besides, Nintendo is willing to settle the payment with us based on the guaranteed sales of 200,000 units this time! When they transfer 70 million to our account, even if they betray us again in the future, our losses will be reduced because of the arrival of this cash, right?"

Ethan laughed at his sister's optimistic words. "Yes." He nodded and said, "If you look at it from this perspective, they really spent a lot of money to gain our trust..."

"So, be happy?" Evelyn tilted her head and smiled.

Without giving Ethan a chance to reply, she turned around and turned off the Apple computer on the table. After stuffing five and a quarter floppy disks into her bag, the girl grabbed Ethan's arm and pulled him up.

"Let's go, let's go~"

"what?"

"It's time to get off work!"

"No! It's four o'clock in the afternoon, right?"

"I'm off work when I say so." Evelyn pushed Ethan toward the door. "There's a new French restaurant in San Jose. I heard their Burgundy beef is great. I want to try it."

"...Okay..." Ethan understood his sister's thoughts and accepted the invitation with a smile.

Just as Evelyn said, as long as Nintendo can transfer the money, it means that the cooperation between the two parties is still on the right track, but the fact is...

Nintendo is faster this time than any time before!

Ethan met with Arakawa Minoru on July 20th, and by July 27th, Destiny Game had received an eight-digit U.S. dollar transfer from Nintendo into its corporate account at Wells Fargo.

When the number of 70 million lies quietly in their accounts...

What is betrayal and what is not?

Is this fucking green and fragrant American dollar?

Ethan simply suppressed his previous worries!
As long as Nintendo can keep making money, they are great!

"Special code!"

“It’s still fun to collect money!”

“It would be even better if I could get paid without doing any work!”

After kissing the bank statement twice, Ethan began to think about how to spend the money. As for paying taxes? That's totally impossible, right?

Just as he was thinking about whether he should acquire something from outside, a sudden knock on the door almost scared him to death. "Who is it?" he shouted unhappily.

"I'm the boss!" Ballmer shouted and pushed the door open.

Ethan's eyelids twitched when he saw his anxious behavior.

Before he could ask, Ballmer handed him a newspaper.

"The boss is bad!"

"Rockwell Corporation suddenly published a statement in the newspaper today, saying that they already hold 5% of Allen Bradley's outstanding shares! Now they are officially filing a takeover bid for Allen Bradley!"

"..." Ethan was stunned by the words that sounded like a machine gun.

At this moment he even wanted to ask Ballmer what was wrong with him!
What company is Allen Bradley? He has no idea!

In this case, Rockwell's acquisition of them has nothing to do with Ethan Jones!

But when he lowered his eyes and glanced at the newspaper in front of him...

The recognizable 6502 made him jump up instantly!

"Sxxt! The major shareholder of MOS?" He looked up suddenly after seeing the report clearly.

"Yeah!——" Ballmer replied loudly.

Ethan's face suddenly changed after hearing these words of affirmation. He picked up the receiver on the table and wanted to make a call. However, just as he was about to dial, he found that he couldn't remember the other party's number at all. After being stunned for two seconds, he directly pressed the receiver hard on the phone.

"MFxxk!!!"

"Take over Chuck Pete's company for me!!!"

“Oh no!!!”

"Go call the driver!!! We are going to Mountain View right now!!!"

When Ethan was hurriedly preparing to leave, Arakawa Minoru in Vancouver also received news from his classmates in New York. After hanging up the phone, he directly made a transatlantic call.

After Yamauchi Hiroshi, who was sleeping, was awakened by the shouts of his subordinates, he lay down on the windowsill in the house after listening to the phone call, looking at the bright moon in the sky, and his face, which was covered with years, was full of relief.

"got windy."

he murmured.

After a moment, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but rise.

"Hahaha--"

"Ha ha ha ha--"

"Hahahaha-"

Excited laughter rose up into the sky and resounded through the clouds.

(End of this chapter)