Chapter 171: The finished product must be seen within one month
Shirakawa Kaede took the handheld game console from Iwata's hand and looked at it carefully. The screen was very small and there were only five buttons around it.
The two red round buttons on the left and right represent the direction keys, and the other three buttons below the screen are some auxiliary function keys.
For example, switching games, calling up the time, etc. In short, it looks quite simple.
"When was it released and how much does it cost?" After playing with the handheld game console for a while, Shirakawa Kaede had a rough idea in his mind, so he looked up and asked Iwata Satoru and Tanimura Masahito.
Iwata answered first, "It was released a week ago, and the price is 5,800 yen."
No one paid attention to it in the first two days after it was launched, until yesterday when Iwata Satoru accidentally saw this small machine in a convenience store and thought of the handheld game console that Shirakawa Kaede once mentioned.
Out of curiosity, he bought one and after careful study, he found that it was indeed the portable game console mentioned earlier.
Hence, today’s HAL trip of Shirakawa Kaede took place. Competitors have already appeared, so of course he wants to understand its various performances first.
5800 yen, Shirakawa Feng estimated silently, this price is really outrageous.
Judging from the material cost alone, it can be done for less than 2,000 yen.
Now, Baichuan Feng can roughly understand the manufacturing costs of these electronic products at a glance.
So apart from the cost of materials and the game's R&D expenses, the rest is basically profit.
The cost of developing a game is probably mainly manpower. The development of this kind of small game does not take a long time and is not difficult.
Therefore, the cost in this regard is only a small part of the investment.
If you calculate it this way, the profit of a handheld game console can even be as much as 2,000 yen.
To be honest, Baichuan Feng was extremely excited by this profit return rate. Such a small thing could almost make half the profit of a Walkman.
It's possible, absolutely possible. It's not as difficult to make as a Walkman, but it's very profitable.
Baichuan Feng paced back and forth in the office with his hands on his hips, and suddenly he stopped.
"Can HAL come up with two mature games in one month?"
"Huh?" Not only Iwata Satoshi, but even Tanimura Masahito showed surprised looks.
“Time waits for no one, now is the best time to seize the market.
If we wait any longer, a large number of other manufacturers will join in, and it will be difficult for us to expand the market by then.”
Baichuan Feng, who has experienced the marketing of Walkman, knows that speed is of the essence and the current market is still in a semi-blank period.
This is the best time for Shirakawa Electric to seize the market. It is right to show the Shirakawa Electric brand in the game market first.
Otherwise, when other people join, with so many brands around, who will know which one your Shirakawa Electric belongs to?
This is why Baichuan Feng is so anxious. The public has a first-come-first-served impression, and entering the market earlier means that they have more experience.
When faced with a myriad of brands, it goes without saying that people will choose the ones they are familiar with or the ones they have heard of first.
Looking at Shirakawa Kaede's serious eyes, both Iwata Satoshi and Tanimura felt unprecedented pressure.
It was not until then that they remembered that the peer in front of them was not only a student of Meiji University, but also the president of a company.
It was not obvious at other times, but only now can we discover the huge difference between the two.
However, it was Masahito Tamura who reacted first among the two. He gritted his teeth and said.
"HAL will definitely finish the coding of the two games within a month, but as for hardware debugging..."
"The hardware will be handed over to Shirakawa Electric, and a prototype will be delivered within two weeks. As for the software burning, it will be handed over to HAL."
Baichuan Feng accepted the promise without hesitation, he had confidence in Baichuan Electric.
This is not the first time that reverse engineering has been done. Besides, this handheld game console is not even worth reverse engineering.
Any graduate student in the technical department can handle it.
In Shirakawa Kaede's opinion, the only things worth paying attention to in this handheld game console are its chip and LCD display.
But the chip is not a problem at all, an 8-bit chip from an ordinary calculator is enough.
It's a calculator, not a computer.
That’s right, it’s the kind of calculator you pick up and use for calculations.
There is no need to even develop this kind of chip. It is much cheaper to purchase it directly, about a few hundred yen per chip.
Another LCD display is not a problem either, a regular printed screen will do the trick.
The so-called printed screens are the electronic watches worn by primary and secondary school students.
So in terms of hardware, Baichuan Feng felt that two weeks was enough.
"In that case, there will be no problem with HAL. We will launch our own handheld game console in a month."
Tanimura was decisive for once, and all obstacles had been cleared. If he didn't show some courage at this time, it would be unreasonable.
By the way, Tanimura has now quit his job at Seibu Department Store and is running HAL full-time.
With plenty of time, work efficiency will naturally improve.
As for Iwata Satoshi, Shirakawa Kaede patted him on the shoulder. "Feeling the pressure?"
The slightly plump Iwata nodded first, then shook his head.
"Don't worry, Shirakawa-kun. The game programming framework has been set up and it will definitely not affect the launch of the handheld game console."
When he first heard that it would take a month to complete everything, Satoru Iwata was indeed shocked.
However, after listening to Shirakawa Kaede's analysis, Iwata became excited again.
This is not impossible, it can even be said to be completely no problem.
What could be more exciting than having your own game console with games designed by yourself?
Iwata, who is still a student, has the courage and spirit of a newborn calf who is not afraid of a tiger. At this moment, he has even begun to get ready for a big fight.
"Okay." Seeing that the army's morale was good, Baichuan Feng didn't say any more empty words.
"Everyone, this is HAL's first appearance. We must let those guys see the charm of the young soul."
"One Kuso!", "Go ahead!"
Sure enough, some middle school-style encouragement is more effective for these young people than any promises.
"By the way, Shirakawa-san, what's the name of our handheld game console?"
At this time, Masahito Tamura suddenly remembered that the project code name for the game console had not yet been determined.
Name? Shirakawa Feng glanced at the Nintendo handheld in his hand.
"Let's call it Game Boy."
Game Boy? Everyone looked a little confused, but this was not a bad idea.
At least it sounds more purposeful than Nintendo's Game Watch, which is a gaming console.
It's not some weird gaming watch, the time function is completely useless in Shirakawa Kaede's opinion.
Because there is no overlap at all between the two groups of people: those who want to check time and those who want to play games.
If adults want to check the time, they will not stare at the game console. Isn't a watch on the wrist more classy than that?
As for students, they don't pay much attention to time, they just want to play games.
Therefore, before the prototype of Shirakawa Electric's handheld game console came out, Shirakawa Kaede cut out a function.
HAL came and left in a hurry.
However, he took away Nintendo's handheld game console, which will be handed over to the technical department and completely dismantled.
It's not technically difficult, but there shouldn't be any problem if you understand your opponent's background.
…
After handing over the matter of the handheld game console to his subordinates, Baichuan Feng no longer paid much attention to it. He had more important things to do.
One day in mid-May, Shirakawa Kaede and a group of people from Shirakawa Denki came to Kawasaki City, across the Tama River.
To be precise, he was invited. In recent times, Baichuan Feng has received more than one or two similar invitations.
Moreover, these invitations are all from the government, which is really prestigious.
The reason why it has suddenly become popular is that Shirakawa Electric is currently looking for a site to build a new factory, with an investment of at least several billion yen.
So when this news got out, Kawasaki in the west, Hachioji City in the north, Chiba in the east, etc., all took action.
Even people in Akita, my hometown, heard the news and made a long-distance call to Shirakawa Kaede.
However, due to planning limitations, there are currently no plans in the Northeast.
This also shows the charm of Shirakawa Electric Investment.
It was only 1980, so what did billions of yen mean?
If it were the 1920s after the millennium, the purchasing power would be about 10 to 20 billion yen today.
Such a huge amount of funds is even higher than the gross domestic product of many companies.
At least outside of Tokyo, there are few companies of this scale.
So it is not difficult to understand why Shirakawa Electric has become so popular all of a sudden.
After Shirakawa Kaede and his party arrived, they were personally received by the Governor of Kanagawa Prefecture, Nagasu Ichiji, and the Mayor of Kawasaki, Ito Saburo.
"Nagasu-san, Ito-san, please take care of me."
Since the two local leaders personally came to welcome him, Baichuan Feng would naturally give them enough face.
Nagasu Ichiji and Ito Saburo, who were both in their sixties, bowed very politely and shook hands with him.
"Mr. Shirakawa is indeed young and promising, worthy of being a genius from the Meiji era."
These two local government officials actually came from prominent families. One graduated from Hitotsubashi University, and the other graduated from Waseda University.
In terms of strength and reputation, it is far ahead of Meiji.
However, Baichuan Feng's youth still exceeded their expectations.
Although I have read relevant information before, I am still surprised when I see the real person.
So praises like "young and promising" and "Meiji genius" were given out as if they were free.
“Thank you two seniors for your praise. Baichuan is just a latecomer and does not deserve such praise.
For today's inspection, I would like to ask the two seniors to introduce it to me."
When dealing with these politicians, Baichuan Feng was not sure what taboos there were.
Therefore, this inspection team also includes political talent from Meiji University.
Baichuan Feng is good at making use of every resource around him. If he doesn't need it now, he may not need it in a few years.
Upon hearing this, the Governor of Kanagawa and the Mayor of Kawasaki immediately turned around and took him to their destination, Kawasaki District.
This is the most prosperous district in Kawasaki City and the only way to go north to Tokyo.
The industrial park that Shirakawa Electric wants to inspect is called KING SKYFRONT.
This place is close to Ota Ward, Tokyo, and close enough to Kawasaki Port, making it the absolute first choice for the new factory site.
Then let's see what conditions these two can offer.
