章節 74: I want to increase investment
The situation with the Famicom is so good, while the PN game console next door is so bad.
In the month after its release, the game development team did indeed produce four games, purely aiming to win by quantity. Each game was priced at the minimum of 3000 yen, and it seems they believed their games were worth that much.
With a bit of experience in game development this time, they didn't make particularly low-level mistakes again, such as screen flickering that makes people uncomfortable, and other bugs.
But the games still weren't fun enough.
There's no established game industry system yet, and they have no idea how to make games. They're just feeling their way forward.
They rushed to make four different types of games, including a role-playing game similar to Dragon Quest, a baseball game, a genre they developed themselves called photography games, where you play as a camera and capture landscapes and occasionally supernatural events from around the world, and the last type is a Mario-like jumping game.
One can only say that these programmers are really skilled. Employees from big companies are all capable, and even in just one month, they can squeeze out four games that are still somewhat playable.
But the feedback on sales is very unsatisfactory.
In the next month, the PN game console barely managed to surpass its first-week sales, with just over twenty thousand units sold. This can be said to be a real flop.
Players' money doesn't come easy, and when they see something everyone agrees is good, they naturally won't hesitate. And as for the PN game console, after Super Mario 3 came out, no one talks about it anymore. It's obvious which one to buy.
No one talks about it because they've been dazzled by the excellent games on the Famicom and have forgotten how bad the PN games are. Of course, there are still some criticisms online.
For example, those who didn't have much money but gritted their teeth and bought the PN game console to show off.
They were quite happy when they bought it and thought it was worth it.
But comparison is the problem.
When they experience the fun of the Famicom at a friend or colleague's house, they only have one thought in mind.
Why did I make such a stupid decision to buy this thing?
They'd rather throw it in the trash than let their colleagues know they scrimped and saved to buy it.
The head of the electronic game division at Suri Electronics directly scolded everyone at the meeting this time.
He didn't care how difficult it is to make games.
He just saw that the Famicom could produce blockbuster games, almost in the same amount of time, so why couldn't they do it here?
Does their company have demons with three heads and six arms working day and night to help?
These programmers also have grievances.
In Japan, where the superiors are strict, going against your boss in such a way isn't something anyone dares to do. Those who dare are either truly exceptional and have climbed to high positions, or they're forced to roll up their bedding and leave.
At least the people here are not that type.
They can only swallow their pride and keep quiet. At least when the boss scolds his subordinates, they should listen obediently.
"Our sales are very poor. Although there haven't been too many demands from above, we still have to be responsible for the company's trust! Look at the current results, I'm ashamed to report to the higher-ups. When they have meetings, I'm always the most humble!"
Silence fell among the crowd.
No one dares to touch the mold now.
When the boss calms down, they'll talk a little more, but it feels like talking won't make any difference.
Clearly, this minister seems to be eager to make some achievements.
"Why aren't you all speaking? How come you're all silent? I need to know why we're doing better, but we're still being overshadowed by the Famicom."
One of the programmers really wanted to say something.
It's not that we're being overshadowed, it's that they're directly crushing us with a destroyer.
Just Super Mario 3 alone is a peak they absolutely can't surpass in a short time.
They feel that even if they have more creativity, they absolutely can't compare to the endless gameplay variations in Super Mario 3.
It's like you can never finish playing it.
Among them, many people, in order to experience what they call the competitor's games, find themselves getting addicted to them, which in turn delays their work. Is this considered malicious competition from competitors? Deliberately making these fun games to get these programmers addicted? If they were to sue, they'd probably be seen as idiots by the judge.
"Now, according to the data we've secretly investigated, the Famicom has sold at least three hundred thousand units, and it's rapidly expanding at a rate of over five thousand units sold per day. And as for Super Mario 3, my little bird told me that their first-week sales reached one hundred thousand units. Do you know what that means?"
After hearing this number, the group of programmers didn't show any surprise.
One hundred thousand?
Isn't that normal? This game is definitely worth one hundred thousand sales.
Not to mention that the Famicom now has over three hundred thousand units according to your investigation. If it had three million, they would have reason to believe that its first-week sales could directly exceed one million.
That's not an exaggeration at all.
"One cartridge is priced at five thousand yen, and they sold one hundred thousand cartridges in the first week. Do I need to do the math for you?"
Of course, the money can't be calculated like that. Among other things, marketing costs, cartridge production costs, and retailer costs need to be subtracted.
But just the first-week sales number alone, everyone knows that this company is definitely making a huge profit.
In fact, now the Famicom has sold over four hundred thousand units, and the daily increase in sales is indeed around five thousand, and it's still slowly rising. Super Mario Bros. 3 sales have already exceeded two hundred thousand and have entered the camp of games with sales over two hundred thousand, along with Dragon Quest, Tetris, Contra, and Super Baseball.
Knock, knock.
A slight but rhythmic knocking sounded, and the minister looked impatiently at the door. "Who is it?"
The door was pushed open slowly, and a sprightly old man in a suit walked in.
His eyes were as sharp as an eagle's, seeming to regard everyone as his prey. He exuded a strong aura as soon as he entered, making everyone feel a strong sense of oppression.
"The... the president?! Why are you here?"
The minister in his thirties widened his eyes. Normally, the president's presence would only be seen in meetings of the ministerial level, and he, as a junior minister in a second-tier department, didn't even have the right to speak at ministerial-level meetings.
Seeing the sudden arrival of the president, he immediately became extremely humble, bowing deeply to the president, Kenataro Hayakawa.
The others in the office also hurriedly stood up from their seats.
"Sit down, everyone. I'm here to see how this newly established department is doing, to see if you have any difficulties, and if you do, you can tell me directly."
Hayakawa Kenataro's behavior was quite different from usual. From the imposing demeanor he had just shown, he now appeared very kind and affable, showing remarkable versatility.
He could be formal with ministers, but he could be much more friendly with subordinates, which was rare among Japanese leaders.
This caught everyone off guard.
"President... President, I'm very sorry, our department has failed in the commercial aspect."
"Yes, I already knew that before I came."
Kenataro Hayakawa nodded, then walked to the position where the minister had just been. The minister, almost scrambling, immediately vacated the seat for the president, while he stood on the side, ready to serve and be dispatched at any time.
"Electronic games are a very promising emerging field, and perhaps this will be the next breakthrough for our company's development. So, although you are only a second-tier department, I have actually been paying attention all along."
Everyone's breath stagnated.
So our movements have been monitored all along?
Including the minister, everyone, including him, broke out in a cold sweat, of course, the minister's sweat was even more profuse, because he was the immediate supervisor, and if the department had a problem, he would face the most direct blame.
"President, the electronic game industry doesn't seem very large right now, so we've been cautious and tentative, afraid of causing too much loss to the company." the minister cautiously asked.
"Not large? Is your data wrong?" Kenataro Hayakawa looked at the minister with doubt in his eyes.
The minister immediately lowered his head even more.
"I... I've been closely monitoring the movements of Gamestar Entertainment. We've been updating our data, so there shouldn't be any problems."
Kenataro Hayakawa raised his hand and said, "Then let me see the data you've collected."
The minister immediately handed over the data files he had placed on the desk earlier.
After a brief scan, Kenataro Hayakawa put the file on the desk.
"The data is outdated, and your investigation is not detailed enough. If there are no surprises, Gamestar Entertainment's game console sales should have exceeded four hundred thousand by now, with four games surpassing two hundred thousand in sales."
A serious mistake in data investigation, and a significant one at that, which could be said to be quite a serious mistake.
To be more serious, this would obviously lead management to misjudge the entire industry's development.
As for how Kenataro Hayakawa was able to obtain more detailed data, he naturally had his own channels, as old people always have some unknown cards up their sleeves.
"Just by looking at Gamestar Entertainment's establishment to the present, they've made substantial profits in just six months in the purely electronic game sector. This shows that this industry is currently a gold mine, and nobody can tell how big the potential really is. If we give up now, it would be a pity."
The minister is now speechless.
The serious error in data collection has reduced him to nothing but an apology, and now anything he says would be seen as sophistry.
"So, I've decided to increase the investment of funds and manpower in your department. Even if you can't reach the level of a first-tier department temporarily, you'll still be the best treated department in the second tier."
Increased investment of funds and manpower? Does this mean the president isn't blaming them?
Everyone seemed to hear the unspoken message, feeling secretly delighted, especially the minister, whose eyes also lit up. This means his actual power is going to be even higher?
Then occasional failures don't seem to be such a bad thing?
"However, I think the position of this minister should be changed. It seems that you are still having difficulty in handling big responsibilities. For the time being, you should take the position of deputy minister. Tomorrow, there will be a new minister to take over."
The minister, who had just taken office a little over a month ago, hadn't been happy for long, and now his heart was suddenly thrown into an ice lake.
It's over.
This is equivalent to a demotion, and in such a company, once demoted, it basically means the end of one's career.
Direct orders from the president, there's almost no room for anyone to plead, and it's obvious that Kenataro Hayakawa is really starting to take electronic games seriously.
In fact, even the management and shareholders of Suri Electronics are a little puzzled by his intentions, not understanding why he suddenly seems so bullish on the electronic game industry.
But they all follow the money, as long as the year-end dividends are substantial, having a few more departments is nothing.
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