Tokyo Video Game Tycoon.

The head of the video game division at Su Rui Electronics started swearing during the meeting.

He completely disregarded how difficult the game actually was.

He only saw that the Famicom could produce hit games, and in about the same amount of time, so why couldn't they do the same on their side?

Does that company have a three-headed, six-armed monster helping them day and night?

These programmers also had their own grievances that they couldn't express.

In Japan, where the hierarchy is very strict, not everyone dares to talk back to their superiors. Those who do are either exceptionally capable and have already climbed to a high position, or they are simply forced to pack their bags and leave.

At least the people in front of me are not that kind of people.

They can only swallow their anger and, at the very least, listen obediently when their superiors are scolding their subordinates.

"Our sales are terrible. Although the higher-ups haven't made many demands on us, we have to be responsible for the company's trust! Looking at our current results, I'm too embarrassed to face the higher-ups. I'm always the most humble person when they hold meetings!"

Everyone fell silent.

Nobody dares to mess with them now.

We'll talk to him again once he calms down, but it seems like it won't make much of a difference.

Clearly, this minister seems a bit eager to produce results.

“Say something! Why are you all mute? I need to know why we’re doing better, but the Famicom is still ahead of us.”

One of the programmers really wanted to say something.

This isn't just putting us at a disadvantage; it's like they've directly put a destroyer on top of us.

Super Mario 3 alone is a peak that they absolutely cannot surpass in the short term.

They felt that no matter how creative they were, they could never compare to the endless variety of gameplay in Super Mario 3.

It's like there's no end to the fun.

Many of them, wanting to experience the game from their supposed competitors, found themselves becoming addicted, which ironically caused delays in their work. Could this be considered malicious competition from rivals? Deliberately creating such an addictive game for programmers? Suing them would likely be seen as foolish by the judge.

"According to our secret investigation, the Famicom has sold at least 300,000 units, and is rapidly expanding at a rate of more than 5,000 units per day. As for Super Mario 3, my inside information is that it sold 100,000 copies in its first week. Do you know what that means?"

The group of programmers below showed no surprise when they heard the number.

One hundred thousand?

Isn't this normal? This game is definitely worth 100,000 sales.

Don't even mention the 300,000 Famicom consoles you surveyed; if there were 3 million, they would have reason to believe that the game's first-week sales could break one million.

This is by no means an exaggeration.

"They sell one cassette for 5,000 yen, and they sold 100,000 cassettes in the first week. I don't need to calculate that profit for you, do I?"

Of course, the cost cannot be calculated like that. Marketing costs, cassette production costs, and merchant costs must be deducted.

But judging from the first week's sales figures alone, everyone knows that this company must have made a huge profit.

In fact, the Famicom has sold more than 400,000 units, but the daily sales increase is only around 5,000 and is still slowly rising. Meanwhile, Super Mario Bros. 3 has sold more than 200,000 units, joining Dragon Quest, Tetris, Contra and Super Baseball in the 200,000 sales club.

bang bang.

A soft but rhythmic knocking sounded at the door. The minister looked towards the door with some impatience: "Who is it?"

The door was slowly pushed open, and a sprightly-looking elderly man in a suit walked in.

His eyes were sharp as an eagle's, as if he regarded everyone as his prey. He exuded a powerful aura as soon as he entered, making everyone feel a strong sense of oppression.

"President...President?! What brings you here?"

The minister, who was in his thirties, stared wide-eyed. Usually, the president was only present at ministerial-level meetings, while he, as a junior minister in a second-level department, had no right to speak at ministerial-level meetings.

Upon seeing the president's sudden arrival, he, who had previously been speaking eloquently to his subordinates, immediately became extremely humble, bowing deeply to the president, Hayakawa Kentaro.

The rest of the people in the office also quickly stood up from their seats.

"Please sit down. I'm here to check on this newly established department and see if you have any difficulties. If so, please feel free to tell me."

Kentaro Hayakawa, contrary to his usual demeanor, went from being imposing to being very amiable, showing remarkable control over his behavior.

He can be stern and authoritative with ministers, but he is much more approachable with his subordinates, making him a rare type of leader in Japan.

This surprised everyone.

"President...I'm very sorry, our department failed in the previous business venture."

"Yes, I already knew that before I came."

Kentaro Hayakawa nodded and walked to the spot where the department head had been. The department head practically scrambled to give up his spot to the president, while Hayakawa stood to the side, ready to be deployed at any time.

"Video games are a very promising emerging field, and perhaps this will be the next breakthrough for our company's development. So, even though you are only a secondary department, I have been paying close attention to you."

Everyone held their breath.

So, my movements have been being monitored all along?

Everyone, including the minister, was now breaking out in a cold sweat. Of course, the minister was sweating even more because he was the direct superior and would be the one most directly blamed for the department's problems.

"President, the video game industry doesn't seem very big yet, so we've been cautiously testing the waters, afraid of causing too much loss to the company," a department head asked timidly.

"Not big? Is there something wrong with your data?" Kentaro Hayakawa glanced at the department head, his eyes filled with doubt.

The minister immediately lowered his head even further.

"Well... I've been closely monitoring the movements of Youxing Electronic Entertainment. We've been updating their data, so there shouldn't be any problems."

Kentaro Hayakawa raised his hand and said, "Then show me the data you've collected."

The minister immediately handed over the data files he had previously placed on the desk.

After a quick glance, Kentaro Hayakawa placed the documents on the table.

"The data is outdated, and your investigation is not detailed enough. If nothing unexpected happens, the sales volume of Youxing Electronic Entertainment's game consoles should have reached more than 400,000, with four games exceeding 200,000 in sales."

The data survey was flawed, and the discrepancy was significant, which can be considered a rather serious mistake.

To put it more seriously, this could clearly lead management to misjudge the development of the entire industry.

As for how Kentaro Hayakawa obtained more detailed data, he naturally had his own channels; old people always have some hidden cards up their sleeves.

"Just considering the time since Yuxing Electronic Entertainment was founded, it has made substantial profits in just six months by relying solely on the video game sector. This shows that the industry is now a gold mine, and no one can yet fathom its full potential. It would be a great pity if we gave it up."

Now this minister doesn't even dare to speak.

The major data error has left him with nothing but apologies; anything he says now would be seen as an excuse.

"Therefore, I have decided to increase the investment of funds and human resources in your business unit. Even if it cannot be a first-level business unit for the time being, it will be the most preferential department among the second-level units."

Increase investment in funds and manpower? Does this mean the president didn't mean to criticize them?

Everyone seemed to have heard the unspoken message, and a surge of secret joy welled up inside them, especially the minister, whose eyes lit up. This meant that his real power was about to increase even further.

So, does that mean that failing occasionally isn't such a bad thing?

"However, I think this ministerial position should be changed. It seems you are not up to the task. You will temporarily serve as the deputy minister. A new minister will take over tomorrow."

The minister, who had only been in office for a little over a month, had barely had time to be happy before his heart was suddenly plunged into an icy lake.

It’s over.

This is tantamount to demotion, and in such a company, being demoted is basically a death sentence for one's future career.

The direct order from the president left almost no room for negotiation, clearly indicating that Kentaro Hayakawa was starting to take video games seriously.

In fact, even the management and shareholders of Surui Electronics were somewhat puzzled by his thinking, not understanding why he suddenly became so optimistic about the video game industry.

However, they are all focused on making money. As long as the year-end bonus is substantial, having multiple departments is not a big deal.

Chapter 75 New Business

Kentaro Hayakawa removed the old department head and replaced him with a new department head named Ueto Hayakawa, who is Kentaro Hayakawa's youngest son. He is 35 years old and had previously been in charge of overseas business.

Now that the overseas business is on track and no longer needs his help, his father called him back to manage a new department called the Video Games Division.

To be honest, he really didn't understand video games, and was even more clueless than that former minister.

However, this time Kentaro Hayakawa gave him a clear plan.

The marketing of video games and game consoles should be completely separated from their development and not confused. The development of video games should be given 100% respect. At the same time, like the Famicom, we should accept third-party game development and try our best to discover game development talent.

With these rules in place, Hayakawa Ueto only needs to manage the team and coordinate the work between the groups.

The former minister was originally transferred from the Marketing Management Department, so now that he is the deputy minister, he will be primarily responsible for marketing matters and will no longer be allowed to interfere in any game production-related matters.

The marketing team is only responsible for promoting the game product after acquiring it, and is not allowed to interfere with any game creation process.

Surui Electronics adapted very quickly, making rapid readjustments in just half a month.

When game developers and console developers are respected, their motivation immediately changes.

Now they are no longer forced to make a game within a certain timeframe, but a minimum limit has been set, requiring their game development team of more than 20 people to produce at least one game within three months.

Meanwhile, the additional manpower was increased by adding a new game development team, but this development team had only one task: to disassemble the game.

They disassembled all the game programs on the Famicom from the inside out to see how they were made from scratch.

Surui Electronics is a large group. They are not afraid of failure, but they are afraid of becoming complacent after failure.

If it weren't for this belief, Surui Electronics would never have developed into a large international group.

Meanwhile, outside Zhu Youxing's office, a man in a suit sat with a confident smile, holding a thick stack of documents, patiently waiting.

Not long after, the door to Zhu Youxing's office opened from the inside, and Zhu Youxing's voice came out at the same time.

"Tell the second engineering development team that the battery must be made well. This is the only thing that cannot be compromised. If Japan cannot find a suitable product, then look around the world."

"Yes, President, I understand."

A young engineer walked out of Zhu Youxing's office and then hurried upstairs.

"Hello sir, you may come in now."

The man in the suit smiled and nodded politely to his assistant before stepping into Zhu Youxing's office.

"Hello, President Zhuyou, it's a pleasure to meet you."

The people from the Second Engineering Development Department had just left when the next person walked in.