Ajal.
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Chapter 46 - Planning the Next Generation
🕑 Added 2025-09-15 11:56:29 +0000 UTCFollowing the Sega esports tournament announcement, mid-April.
Nintendo, with Enix, unveiled the Famicom’s new title, Dragon Quest.
Its tagline was blunt:
“Toriyama Akira’s designs!”
“A new genre—RPG!”
“A world where you’re the hero!”
Dragon Quest’s reveal shook the gaming world more deeply than Sega’s esports event.
The tournament innovated within existing modes.
Dragon Quest carved out a new genre track.
RPG? Role-playing game?
To Japan’s console players, it was an alien concept.
But “Toriyama Akira”—the man behind Dragon Ball—carried unmatched clout.
His name guaranteed quality.
The industry reeled.
The Legend of Zelda, with its large capacity and save feature, had proven deep games’ potential.
Now, Nintendo wielded a new genre backed by a top-tier IP.
Third-party publishers felt suffocated.
Their delayed games faced mounting release pressure.
Zelda was selling big.
Dragon Quest loomed.
The window between them was razor-thin.
Panic and chaos spread in the market.
Many publishers rushed to release shelved games before Dragon Quest, desperate to recoup funds before Nintendo’s twin blows buried them.
Tokyo, Sega headquarters, large conference room.
Mid-April.
The air felt frozen, heavy with pressure.
The massive oval mahogany table reflected stern faces.
David Rosen, flown in from Sega’s U.S. branch, sat upright despite jet-lagged eyes, underscoring the meeting’s gravity.
Each seat held a thick dossier.
Pages detailed Zelda’s steep sales curve since launch.
The Famicom Disk System’s startling adoption rate in Japanese homes.
Players’ near-fanatical love for the “save” function.
Their hunger for deep, dozens-of-hours gaming experiences.
And news of Nintendo and Enix’s Dragon Quest, sparking panic-driven sell-offs among third parties.
Hayao Nakayama sat at the head, fingers tapping silently.
He didn’t mention Fatal Fury’s esports craze—its success felt delicate now.
His gaze swept the board, voice low.
“You’ve all seen it.”
“Nintendo’s building a deep, wide moat around their console empire with the FDS and Zelda.”
“The ‘save’ function, simple as it seems, rewrites player habits.”
“It fosters long-term immersion, emotional investment.”
“This user retention is unprecedented.”
“Once players sink dozens or hundreds of hours into a world, how long can our arcade’s quick thrills hold them?”
“For our Master System, lacking this capability, it’s fatal.”
“Long-term, it could even erode our arcade business, our foundation.”
His words landed like cold stones, rippling silently.
Seeing no response, he slid arcade and esports data to the shareholders.
“The first Sega esports tournament’s early response is phenomenal! Registrations at designated arcades far exceed our highest projections! Media coverage is massive—TV stations reported it, even tales of players touring arcades like martial artists challenging dojos. Fatal Fury’s lifecycle is vastly extended, and Sega’s brand image has soared!”
The data softened the shareholders’ expressions.
David Rosen cleared his throat, speaking in accented Japanese.
“We’re seeing similar enthusiasm in North America.”
“The anime-plus-tutorial model is proving viable.”
“I believe the esports tournament can be replicated there, amplifying our influence.”
The optimism didn’t last.
A gray-haired, veteran director spoke slowly, voice cautious.
“Esports’ success is commendable.”
“But it doesn’t solve our core console market dilemma.”
“Our Master System lags far behind Nintendo’s Famicom globally, especially in Japan.”
“With FDS and Zelda soaring, and Dragon Quest looming, investing astronomical sums in a new 16-bit console—is the risk too high?”
“Should we consider safer strategies?”
“Focus resources on competitive Master System titles.”
“Or develop affordable peripherals to enhance current users’ experience.”
Shareholders offered ideas, mostly conservative.
They feared massive investment failing to dent Nintendo’s dominance, potentially sinking the company.
The room’s air grew stagnant again.
Hayao, seeing indecision, sipped tea. “Seems everyone has thoughts, but no consensus.”
All eyes turned to him.
He squinted. “Want to hear from the man behind our biggest revenue driver this year?”
Many recalled Hayao’s money-making youngest son.
“I’m not shy about talent. If no objections, I’ll call Takuya in.”
With Tetris and Fatal Fury’s massive profits, no shareholder objected.
Hayao summoned Takuya.
Soon, Takuya entered, his young face standing out among weathered ones, eyes steady, unfazed.
He nodded respectfully to the veteran director, then spoke, voice clear and forceful.
“I overheard concerns and proposals entering. I understand. But as Father said, Nintendo’s building a new ecosystem barrier with ‘saves’ and ‘deep content.’”
“Zelda’s success isn’t just a great game—it proves players will invest time and money in complex, grand experiences. Dragon Quest pushes this further—role-playing, letting players ‘live’ in a game world.”
“Against this, patching up our current platform or porting arcade games won’t cut it. We can’t beat Nintendo on their battlefield. To break through, we need a ‘generational leap’!”
“A 16-bit console isn’t just better graphics or sound. It’s stronger processing, larger memory, enabling new genres and gameplay we can’t yet imagine. It’s the key to opening a new front outside Nintendo’s moat!”
“Plus, with Fatal Fury, we’ve developed a mature 16-bit arcade board, System 16!”
“We can build arcade games with mechanics and skills far beyond 8-bit, bolstering our arcade business and countering the FDS/save game impact. Meanwhile, hardware manufacturing advances. By the time our console’s done, System 16’s Motorola 68000 CPU will be affordable. If our new console uses it, System 16 arcade games can port effortlessly, creating a vast launch lineup spanning genres—key to quickly building a player base to ensure the console’s survival! Then, we can chip at Nintendo’s walls. Look at Pac-Man’s fate or this week’s third-party stampede—publishers are fed up with Nintendo!”
“As for funding concerns, I’ve prepared a new revenue-generating plan!”
His words rang out, gaze sweeping the room, brimming with unshakable confidence.
