Traveling through the Tokyo bubble era

Chapter 892 Sega did not disappoint me!
Hideki Hanyu wanted to watch the fun, and then he did it.

After lunch, he did not return to the hotel, but went to the E3 exhibition again.

After all, it’s lively and it’s only fun to watch it live.

He is looking forward to seeing whether Sega will stab Sony in the back.

We are also looking forward to what products these two companies will launch.

After all, in this time and space, the competition in the console market has already been completely disrupted by him.

Due to the emergence of the first generation of PS consoles, the time for the sixteen-bit machine to be launched on the market was greatly advanced. In order to participate in the arms race, other manufacturers had no choice but to follow the example of Elf Entertainment.

Today, PS2 has once again advanced the time for the appearance of 3-bit machines and pushed gaming into the D era in one fell swoop.

It seems that those old rivals who tried to overthrow the rule of Elf Entertainment must have prepared their own trump cards when they knew that Elf Entertainment was prepared.

So, what will be the new console of the old rival?

Hideki Hanyu is really curious.

However, after arriving at the venue, while waiting backstage at the Elf Entertainment booth, Hanyu Hideki discovered that even during lunch time, the Elf Entertainment booth was still so packed that there was no room to sit.

Especially after the media conference, at the officially unlocked PS2 console exhibition area, there was already a long queue of players who wanted to experience it.

Even when setting up the booth, the staff of Elf Entertainment realized that the PS2 exhibition area would be very popular, so they gave this area the largest area and arranged forty consoles at once for players to experience.

But looking at the current hot state, it is obvious that they still underestimated the enthusiasm of the players.

Players already in the queue are expressing their dissatisfaction and hope that Elf Entertainment can increase the number of consoles available for experience.

But the problem is that adding more hosts requires adding more displays and more circuits, which cannot be done in a short time.

As a last resort, the booth staff had to borrow projection equipment from other exhibition areas and temporarily added four experience hosts.

But for the number of players who want to experience it, this is just a drop in the bucket.

Of course, these players’ dissatisfaction and complaints are actually a bothersome and happy issue for Elf Entertainment.

Players' enthusiastic experience and rave reviews after the show have made the top management of Elf Entertainment see the prospect of PS3 consoles selling well after the E2 exhibition.

However, Hideki Hanyu will certainly not interfere too much in these minor issues.

After seeing that there were no major problems with the booth, he went backstage and waited for the afternoon media conference to begin.

Since everyone else was busy at the booth, he was the only one left in the empty backstage, holding the hands of the two beauties and chatting with them.

As the afternoon media conference was about to begin, Hideki Hanyu was just about to arrange for someone to go to the front and call back a few senior executives.

But suddenly someone hurriedly walked into the backstage, seemingly holding something in his arms.

Hanyu Hideki took a closer look and realized that this was Tetsuya Aragaki.
After picking me up at the airport the day before yesterday, he started to act mysteriously and I didn't know what he was doing. I didn't even see him at the main booth this morning.

Seeing that Tetsuya Aragaki was so anxious, Hanyu Hideki stood up and walked over out of curiosity, wanting to see what the other party was doing in such a hurry.

Then when I got closer, I found that this guy was holding a device and came to the backstage to disassemble and repair it.

The key point is that the equipment that the other party dismantled looked somewhat familiar.

what……

This looks like a laptop?

"and many more!"

Hideki Hanyu first stopped Tetsuya Aragaki's dismantling action.

Then he asked, "Is this a computer?"

Aragaki Tetsuya stopped what he was doing and answered, "Yes, this is the latest laptop computer finalized by the company's Tokyo Research Institute, internally codenamed S600."

While Aragaki Tetsuya was talking, Hanyu Hideki looked left and right at the computer in front of him, stroked his chin and said, "It looks a little familiar."

“Because the design concept of S600 was proposed by you, the president, removing the big butt design at the connection makes the screen size larger and looks slimmer.

And then there is this red pointing device, which is used to control the cursor movement, and it was also a suggestion made by the president.

In order to realize this function, we also specifically borrowed some technologies from the PS2 joystick. Although there are still some flaws, it can completely replace the external mouse and the clumsy trackball solution.

Regarding the screen of this computer, we used a color TFT LCD panel provided by Sharp..."

Tetsu Aragaki carefully introduced to Hideki Hanyu the various new functions and configurations of the S600 computer.

Almost every one of them is a suggestion given by Hideki Hanyu after he saw the original so-called "gaming laptop" based on the subsequent development of laptop computers.

For example, the red button used to control the cursor trajectory is really too familiar.

While Hanyu Hideki listened carefully, his expression remained calm and unchanged.

But inwardly, his mouth was already wide open in surprise.

When he first saw the "gaming laptop" that Tetsuya Aragaki had tinkered with, he just gave some suggestions casually. He thought that even if the other party could really make it, it would definitely take a long time.

But who would have thought that Tetsuya Aragaki would actually lead the technical staff of the Elf Entertainment Tokyo Research Institute to implement his suggestions so quickly.

This laptop, code-named "S600", is basically 700% similar to IBM's historically significant and groundbreaking Thinkpad C, which had a major impact on the development of laptop computers, just by looking at its appearance.

But the problem is that it is still two and a half years away from the release of Thinkpad 700C.

Tetsuya Aragaki really gave him a big surprise.

At this time, Tetsuya Aragaki's introduction was coming to an end.

He said with some regret, "Although I followed the president's suggestion and went to Microsoft to cooperate on the computer system, Microsoft did not attach much importance to the cooperation and the system they provided us was very simple..."

Upon hearing this, Hanyu Hideki quickly said, "This is not important. Microsoft is a listed commercial company. Your computer is still in the research and development stage. It is normal for them not to pay attention to it."

Then he pointed at the computer and asked, "So you haven't shown up these past two days because you've been busy with this computer?"

Aragaki Tetsuya nodded, "I brought two S600 prototypes to the E3 Expo and placed them in the surrounding exhibition area for players to try out."

"Is it worn out?"

Hideki Hanyu asked as he looked at the half-disassembled computer.

Aragaki Tetsuya shook his head. "No, that's not the case. The PS2 is so popular that a TV used to test the console broke down. I plan to use this S600 as a monitor for the console."

After hearing Tetsuya Aragaki's explanation, Hanyu Hideki hurriedly stopped him and said, "Don't change it. If the TV is broken, go buy another one. The most important task of your S600 at this E3 exhibition is to collect trial feedback..."

Just as Hanyu Hideki said this, Iwata Satoru walked into the backstage and reminded Hanyu Hideki.

"President, the media conference at the main booth will begin soon."

"I understand. Let's go now."

Hanyu Hideki first responded to Iwata Satoshi, then turned to Aragaki Tetsuya.

"Remember what I said, and...after today's exhibition, remember to find me when you return to the hotel. I have some ideas I want to discuss with you."

After Tetsuya Aragaki expressed his understanding, Hideki Hanyu left the Elf Entertainment booth and led everyone to the main booth.

When Hideki Hanyu arrived at the main booth, although the media conference had not yet started, the auditorium was already full of spectators.

The appearance of Hideki Hanyu and people with the same surname immediately caused cheers at the scene.

After all, for video game enthusiasts, knowing all the important figures in Elf Entertainment is a basic skill.

What's more, Hideki Hanyu is a gaming star with a distinctive appearance. Basically, as long as he appears, there will be no mistake about him.

At the same time, major media outlets took advantage of the opportunity before the press conference started to take a lot of photos of Mr. Hanyu.

Parts of the Japanese media, in particular, started to press their shutter buttons more vigorously after seeing Akina Nakamori and Kyoko Koizumi sitting next to Hideki Hanyu.

Although the Japanese people are no longer surprised by the gossip about Hideki Hanyu, the scandals about the scumbag and his two "old lovers" Akina Nakamori and Kyoko Koizumi have been serialized for countless issues.

But who can blame Hideki Hanyu, who is very popular in Japan now and has so many fans? Whenever there is news about Hideki Hanyu, there will be no worries about sales in Japan.

In the morning, Hideki Hanyu showed off his prowess at the E3 main booth.

In the afternoon, Hideki Hanyu brought two beauties with him, one is a retired queen and the other is a popular idol.

With a little bit of embellishment, the audience will not dislike this news. Amid the cheers of the audience and the flashes of the media, Hanyu Hideki sat in his seat with confidence.

As for Akina Nakamori and the little fairy who were following him being photographed together, he didn't care at all.

Now that I have some free time and am in a good mood, I'd like to explain a business cooperation.

I'm too busy and too lazy to explain. The media can say whatever they want.

Anyway, his playboy persona has been deeply rooted in people's minds, and he has never concealed it, so he no longer cares about public opinion in this regard.

And instead of caring about the media, he might as well care more about other people at the scene.

For example, the manufacturers who took the initiative to greet him after he appeared.

For example, after he sat down, the president of Sega, Hayao Nakayama, nodded to him from a distance, and he also nodded slightly in return.

If the occasion wasn't really inappropriate, Hideki Hanyu would have wanted to talk to Sega in person and come up with some ideas for Hayao Nakayama.

After all, as someone who likes to watch the fun, one naturally hopes that the fun will be as big as possible.

Not long after Hideki Hanyu sat down, the lights in the venue began to dim.

The afternoon media conference is about to begin.

The host then came on stage and, after his opening remarks, introduced Sony President Ken Kutaragi.

Compared to the fanfare when Genie Entertainment debuted, the response to Sony Interactive Entertainment, which has no achievements in the field of electronic games, can only be described as cold and muted.

Apart from the polite applause from the media and manufacturer representatives, the audience basically just "watched with cold eyes".

Faced with this situation, Ken Kutaragi had naturally anticipated it.

But although he thought he was mentally prepared, his expression inevitably changed when he saw that among those applauding were the top executives of Elf Entertainment led by Hideki Hanyu.

After noticing this change, Hanyu Hideki immediately said with a bit of boredom, "With such a mentality, he is really an unqualified opponent."

Iwata Satoshi, who was standing next to him, heard this and whispered, "Let's wait and see, maybe there will be a surprise."

Then, they watched as Ken Kutaragi, after an impassioned speech that caused no response, showed everyone the 32-bit console created by Sony and Nintendo.

As expected, Sony, which has strong technical R&D capabilities and a large number of patents, uses CDs as game storage media for its new console, just like in another time and space, and also supports the running of 3D games.

But the problem is that since Genie Entertainment has already announced a 3-bit D console, the shock of Sony's launch of the new console has been greatly weakened.

It can even be said that there was basically no shock at all.

Because apart from CD game discs and support for 3D games, whether it is the console configuration performance, appearance design, or the old handle shape, there is a clear gap between them and Elf Entertainment.

Therefore, the "surprise" that Iwata mentioned does not exist at all for Hideki Hanyu.

wrong……

In fact, Sony still has something that will "surprise" Hideki Hanyu.

That's the name of this Sony console.

Hideki Hanyu has been looking forward to what name Sony will give to the new console after he snatched the name "PS".

And now, he finally knew.

Perhaps because of the cooperation with Nintendo, Sony named the console for their first entry into the video game market as "X Entertainment System" in the European and American markets.

The abbreviation is "X·ES" host.

According to Ken Kutaragi, the origin of the naming of this console is not complicated.

A few years ago, when the Nintendo FC console landed in the European and American markets, it was named "Nintendo Entertainment System", which means "Nintendo Entertainment System".

Now Sony has replaced Nintendo with X.

X means unknown, infinite, perfect, etc.

So the meaning of Sony's new console is "unlimited/perfect entertainment system".

According to this naming pattern, when this console is returned to the Japanese market for sale, it will be named "X·FC" console.

Hideki Hanyu couldn't help but twitch his lips, thinking that Sony's naming method, could it be that there are time travelers within the company?
He stole Sony's PS, so Sony just took advantage of the future Microsoft.

By the way, he actually likes Microsoft's "X-BOX" quite a lot.

Considering that he is now a major shareholder of Microsoft, if Microsoft plans to enter the game console market in the future, would he help come up with a new name?

How about taking out a Nintendo SFC and calling it "S-BOX"?
Super box, sounds pretty cool.

Since the consoles launched by Sony had no highlights at all, Hideki Hanyu got bored and gradually started to think divergently about the naming of Sony's consoles.

As if noticing his distraction, Satoshi Iwata next to him suddenly nudged Hanyu Hideki with his elbow.

When Hideki Hanyu came to his senses, he looked up and understood why Iwata Satoshi reminded him.

It turned out that at this time, Ken Kutaragi's introduction had reached the stage of announcing the retail price.

"The North American retail price of the X·ES console is $268!"

When Ken Kutaragi shouted out this number, the audience, who had been silent until then, finally showed a little emotional reaction.

After all, it is 299 US dollars cheaper than the 31 US dollars of Elf Entertainment, which is enough for everyone to buy one more game.

But the problem is, even though Ken Kutaragi had been sufficiently evasive at the press conference, he still exposed one of the biggest problems of the PS console.

That is, the game lineup of the X·ES console is too "poor".

All the 3D games that are highlighted and can hold up the show are from Nintendo's game IPs.

As for Sony's first-party game showcases, they were basically all briefly mentioned without much in-depth introduction.

The reason for doing this is simple. Either it is a new game and has no influence, and they don’t want to take up precious press conference time.

Or maybe the game is just so bad that there's really nothing good to introduce.

All in all, compared to the luxurious game library of Elf Entertainment, which is not even worthy of being included in the press conference even with sales of tens of millions, Sony and Nintendo are really not enough to beat them even if they are tied together.

After seeing that Ken Kutaragi announced a lower price than the PS2 console as expected, Hideki Hanyu also glanced at Hayao Nakayama who was not far away.

He didn't know if it was his illusion, but he always felt that after seeing the price of 268, Nakayama Hayao showed a strange smile on his face.

How to describe Hideki Hanyu?
It's a feeling that he will definitely have something exciting to watch.

Next, as Ken Kutaragi left the stage, Hayao Nakayama took the stage after a short break.

Hideki Hanyu finally got the "excitement" he had been waiting for for a long time.

As expected, Nakayama Hayao also announced Sega's 3-bit console at the E exhibition.

However, compared with the actual machine demonstrations of Pokemon Entertainment and Nintendo, Nakayama Hayao only displayed the engineering prototype and briefly introduced the console configuration.

But even though it was just a verbal introduction, Hanyu Hideki was still very interested in listening to it, and he was much more focused than when he was watching Sony's press conference just now.

Because in terms of console configuration, this console, named "SEGA Saturn" by Hayao Nakayama and also supporting 3D games, directly overturned Hideki Hanyu's impression of Sega consoles.

There will no longer be the high configuration, high requirements, and high performance of another time and space. It is completely a matter of saving as much as possible and simplifying as much as possible, emphasizing the idea of ​​"enough is enough".

And Nakayama Hayao's introduction to Sega's new console is as simple as the configuration of this console.

After quickly introducing the configuration, he directly announced the price.

"$229."

After dropping this number, Nakayama Hayao turned around and walked off the stage without looking back.

As Iwata Satoru questioned, "Will this really not lose money?", Hanyu Hideki turned around and looked at the seating areas for Sony and Nintendo not far away.

It was discovered that the faces of the two top company executives headed by Ken Kutaragi and Minoru Arakawa were as black as the bottom of a pot.

Finally I saw the lively Hideki Hanyu and I was instantly delighted.

"Haha, well done! Sega didn't let me down!"

(End of this chapter)