Tokyo Video Game Tycoon.

That would be fatal.

Putting aside the issue of publicly disclosed patents, the most serious problem once the game console's source code is released is cracking.

Moreover, it's the most basic hack, meaning these four game consoles will be completely defenseless against piracy in the future.

By making it public, it's practically a declaration of surrender to piracy.

Therefore, Matsuhashi Minoru was unwilling to accept it no matter what.

In addition to publicly available host source code, the compulsory licensing of patents includes those for light guns, D-pads, shoulder buttons, and some patents that were previously claimed early but whose usefulness has not yet been demonstrated.

However, the Department of Justice may also be afraid that Yuxing Electronics Entertainment might become desperate and abandon the US market, and then stop publishing its patents.

Therefore, they only requested that Youxing Electronic Entertainment could license the patents for a fee, but absolutely could not lock up the patents again and prevent anyone from using them.

Patent licensing fees will also be subject to certain restrictions and cannot be too expensive.

They call this promoting industry development.

After listening to the full details, Matsuhashi also mentioned the efforts of his team, which delayed the implementation of these rules for a period of time.

This was the last effort they could make.

"By the way, President, besides our people doing their best to slow down the situation, there's another company that you probably didn't expect that helped us. That company used its influence to affect the rule-making process. Originally, we had to disclose more patents, but with that company's involvement, the number was immediately reduced significantly."

"Hmm? Sounds like a big company. Who is it?"

Morgan Stanley.

Zhu Youxing was quite surprised.

It was actually this company that was helping me?

Why? Simply because their release of Doom Slayer boosted the popularity of their system?

That would be an amazing return.

The main reason he released Doom on PC was because PCs are indeed more powerful and can produce better graphics. Zhu Youxing simply wanted to experience a game with better graphics and conduct a high-performance game test.

But it seems like I've unknowingly gained a friend.

Morgan Stanley is very similar to Microsoft in his previous life. They are super giants in the US electronics industry, with an almost unshakeable position and so much money that they can't spend it all.

Zhu Youxing said, "I really didn't expect Morgan Group to help me, but I will definitely remember this favor. I will consider cooperating with Morgan Group again in the future if there is an opportunity. But now, we should start to develop our response strategy."

Matsuhashi asked in confusion, "President, you've already come up with a solution? So quickly?"

Zhu Youxing shook his head: "No, actually it wasn't something I just thought of now, but something I had thought of a long time ago."

"What strategy is it? Is there any way to prevent the source code of our game console from being released?"

"No, this is unstoppable. Let it be made public. In fact, it's a good thing."

"Good news?" Matsuhashi Minoru almost thought he had misheard.

With the source code released, Yuxing Electronics Entertainment's revenue from these game consoles will likely plummet.

Previously, legal protections ensured that these game consoles could maintain their popularity to some extent.

But now the US government is stepping in to forcefully push for the release of the source code of the four game consoles, which is tantamount to telling people that they can pirate these four game consoles as much as they want, and we will turn a blind eye and not care.

Yuxing Electronic Entertainment can certainly use legal authorization to protect its own rights and interests, but the cost of suing each party one by one is incalculable, and its biggest cash cow will be destroyed, leaving it with no follow-up strength and possibly dragging it down.

Zhu Youxing patiently explained, "Here's what I'm thinking: since the source code will inevitably be made public, let's turn it around and make use of it. This way, we can make all four game consoles completely open source, and we might as well make the development kits for the four game consoles public as well, squeezing out the last bit of value: the value of talent."

"How are you supposed to squeeze them?" Matsuhashi Minoru was increasingly confused.

"You can start preparing now, put up new ads, release the game development kit, hold an event, and reward everyone who develops games for our consoles, from individuals to groups, with huge sums of money. As long as their games meet our requirements, they will receive bonuses and long-term contracts. I want to sweep up all the game developers in the United States and bring them all into my camp."

Zhu Youxing paused for a moment, then said, "As for the name of the event, let's call it the Game Star Project, to discover the future game stars."

The world will never lack talented people. So far, Zhuyouxing has not found many. This is a good opportunity to recruit such talents by making the game console completely open source.

Geniuses, come quickly! Our game console doesn't require you to pay any licensing fees. As long as you have interesting ideas, you can freely develop games on our console, and all sales revenue will belong to you 100% of the profits. We won't take a penny. At the same time, we will give you a new contract, a contract that will bind geniuses to us forever.

"Besides these, I feel it's finally time to unleash our long-hidden trump cards: the GBA and the GS1 console. These two consoles have been in development for a long time, and now is the perfect time to release them, isn't it?"

Chapter 298 Japan's Revenge Spending

Over the past two days, the employees at the headquarters of Youxing Electronic Entertainment have generally not been in high spirits.

It seems that the forced open-sourcing of game consoles is a foregone conclusion.

It seems there's no solution.

This means that the games they develop next will be unlikely to generate value.

So everyone was feeling very down.

It's not that not making money means the game is bad or that it has no value, but it still makes me feel a little disappointed.

However, Zhu Youxing remained quite calm.

With Zhu Youxing as their pillar of support, these people won't truly have an emotional breakdown.

In a typical company, the boss would probably be starting to panic.

Seeing that Zhu Youxing remained calm made them feel a little more at ease.

Today, Zhu Youxing suddenly gathered everyone together.

Each person in charge of the game development team remained remarkably calm.

They are also the backbone of the employees. As long as Zhu Youxing remains calm, they will not panic at all.

These people are now the backbone of Youxing Electronic Entertainment, developing numerous games.

"The atmosphere is a bit heavy." In the conference room, Zhu Youxing smiled kindly.

Zhu Youxing said, "I know you guys haven't been in a good mood lately. The release of the game console's source code is indeed fatal."

"President, isn't there a way to keep it confidential?"

“Of course there is,” Zhu Youxing nodded. “That is to give up the US market and develop in other countries, but it would be a pity not to eat the big cake of the US market.”

At this moment, Hayasawa Airi couldn't help but ask, "So, what do you think, Takeyu?"

"The release of source code is bad, but we can actually turn this opportunity into an opportunity. Piracy and cracking will indeed affect the revenue of video games, but conversely, piracy and cracking can also expand the user base. Sometimes you win the hearts of users first, and then you win their money. This is also a good strategy."

This is roughly equivalent to the pay-to-win mobile games of later generations, where you can enter for free at first and then take the opportunity to fleece you later.

However, this statement is clearly not very acceptable to most people.

"Actually, I've wanted to say this for a long time: our game consoles are slowly falling behind the times. I've been waiting for this opportunity, and now we should consider launching a new console."

"President, are you talking about GS1 and GBA?" Everyone's hearts skipped a beat.

Over the past year or two, the two game consoles have been polished to an excellent level, but without Zhu Youxing's permission, they dared not release them casually, and everything was waiting for Zhu Youxing to give the order.

In fact, they had been looking forward to the announcement of the two game consoles for a long time.

Judging from what Zhu Youxing is saying now, it seems that the time has finally come?

Their spirits were lifted one by one.

"President, do you mean to completely abandon the old console market and start a new one? But even if we start a new console market, what if the US imposes sanctions again?"

Zhu Youxing smiled: "So, we need to wait until the United States finalizes and implements the new regulations. At that time, if the United States wants to change the rules again, it will need to revise the bill again in a big way, which will be quite costly. At the same time, to put it bluntly, the US government is also quite concerned about its reputation. If it uses such underhanded methods to deal with an entertainment company time and time again, it will look bad to them, and the public will question the government's management capabilities. This is the opportunity I need to seize."

"President, does that mean they won't do something like this again?"

"It won't happen again, at least not in the short term; that would be too beneath the dignity of a major power."

Zhu Youxing was indeed prepared for the US sanctions, but he never told outsiders directly.

Because no matter how you look at it, it sounds a bit like a charlatan's prophecy or metaphysics. How could Zhu Youxing have predicted that the United States would impose sanctions?

There's no need to explain anymore.

They only felt that Zhu Youxing was very farsighted.

"So please rest assured, but since the new regulations in the US haven't been fully implemented, our game consoles can't be made public. In the meantime, we have to pretend we're doing everything we can to make money in the last few days, so we might have to trouble you to work overtime."

Zhu Youxing looked at everyone very seriously.

"Thank you for your contributions to the company. The company will certainly not treat you unfairly. You will need to work hard during this period. Of course, I will stand with you."

Zhu Youxing's words greatly encouraged everyone.

They had no idea what Zhu Youxing's plan was before, and were completely clueless.

But it is different now.

Now that Zhu Youxing has helped them clarify their direction, and it sounds feasible, their hearts have settled down.

As long as the core personnel developing these companies remain stable, Youxing Electronic Entertainment will not be shaken in the slightest.

In recent days, Japanese newspapers and media outlets have been scrambling to report on the incident involving Yusei Electronics Entertainment in the United States.

The general public reaction was hostility toward the United States.

They had previously been harmed by the United States, which was the direct culprit behind the bursting of the bubble economy. This time, the United States is attacking Japanese companies again, which has aroused a certain sense of shared hatred.

Since the United States is about to stop making money, in order to avoid the rise of Yusei Electronics, a Japanese company, people have started to spontaneously and actively spend money to buy Yusei Electronics' game consoles and cartridges.

Moreover, it was driven by a slight sense of revenge spending.

We absolutely cannot allow you Americans to destroy our national enterprises.

As a result, both handheld and game consoles saw a surge in sales in Japan.

Originally, the number of users in the Japanese market was only around ten million, and subsequent growth began to slow down.

But because of this, the number of users began to surge.

The price of game consoles themselves is not particularly expensive, and most Japanese families have the spare money to buy one.

Finally, even the original NES games started to see a surge in sales, with first-party games that had never broken the million-sales mark before now achieving it one after another.

These games are indeed quite cheap now, with a cartridge costing only 500 yen, making them an absolute steal.

Then, after these people buy the game and try it out a bit, they will find that video games are really fun. As long as they don't get addicted, it's really worth it as entertainment.

This is much cheaper than going out for a drink in Ginza or having a Japanese or French meal.

Under these circumstances, Yuxing Electronics Entertainment's inventory was rapidly depleted, leading to shortages of some of its lower-selling cartridges.