Chapter 249: Each Using Their Own Means
Nintendo headquarters in Kyoto.
Hiroshi Yamauchi was fiddling with the handheld game console in his hand, and there was no sign of emotion on his face.
However, Gunpei Yokoi, who was sitting below him, had a serious expression on his face.
"Is this the latest wide-screen portable game console launched by Shirakawa Electric that caused us trouble?"
After an unknown amount of silence, Yamauchi Hiroshi raised his eyes and spoke slowly.
"Hai" Yokoi Gunpei's originally broad cheeks now look a lot thinner because of his tense expression.
Shirakawa Electric's recently launched widescreen handheld game console has caused more than just trouble for Nintendo.
It can be called a business crisis, which is why Yamauchi Hiroshi and Yokoi Gunpei are now getting together .
What they are holding in their hands now is the wide-screen handheld game console produced by Shirakawa Electric. First of all, its appearance is much larger than before.
The most obvious sign is that the original LCD screen has been almost doubled in size.
In addition, when the handheld game console is turned off, colorful patterns are still displayed on the screen.
When Gunpei Yokoi first got this new product, he was shocked.
Has Shirakawa Electric's technology advanced to this level? You know, there are no color LCD screens on the market at this time.
Surprised, Gunpei Yokoi took it and examined it carefully, only to find that the color pattern was not displayed on the screen.
Instead, a special film was pasted on the LCD screen. The knowledgeable Gunpei Yokoi immediately thought of the similar film on Atari home consoles.
This is a very simple technology, and even the cost is quite low, but the effect it produces cannot be underestimated.
For example, the handheld game console in front of you comes with a game called "Prince of Tennis".
There are even green lawns on both sides of the screen as background patterns, and the net in the middle is exactly the same as in reality.
All of these are visual effects provided by the colorful film, but the display screen remains unchanged, still the original TN-LCD screen.
The response was slow and the ball was obviously out of place and jumping, but the combination of the two immediately took the effect to a higher level.
What a genius idea! Although Gunpei Yokoi looked serious, he couldn't help but admire it secretly.
This approach of using low costs to develop new ideas is in line with his principle of "lateral thinking with withered technology".
Turn decay into magic at the lowest possible cost.
Now this handheld game console, which has an ordinary colored film, has caused big trouble for Nintendo.
Shirakawa Electric's new widescreen handheld game console comes with only one game and is priced at 4,800 yen.
The screen is bigger, the experience and fun are improved, and the price is cheaper than before.
In terms of game content, there is not much difference between them.
The sales volume of handheld game consoles launched by Nintendo and Shirakawa Electric at the same time was about 30% lower than that of the latter.
As a veteran video game manufacturer, Nintendo has fallen into a disadvantage in all aspects, which makes them nervous.
"He is indeed a strong opponent." Yamauchi Hiroshi put down the handheld game console in his hand and let out a sigh.
Even he, who has always regarded game content as king, has to admit that some small hardware improvements can bring unexpected increases to the product's appeal.
"Mr. Yamauchi, how should we respond?" Gunpei Yokoi asked in a low voice to Hiroshi Yamauchi.
Of course Nintendo has to take some action, otherwise the handheld game console market will be swallowed up more and more by its competitors.
This is Nintendo's most profitable pillar industry at the moment, and there is no room for any mistakes.
"We will follow suit," Yamauchi Hiroshi gave the order without hesitation.
"But..." Gunpei Yokoi also wanted to do this in his heart, but to be honest, he was a little afraid of Shirakawa Electric.
Why? Those who plagiarize Shirakawa Electric seem to suffer the consequences of not being successful immediately.
Needless to say, Aiwa was sued by Shirakawa Electric and paid a large sum of compensation, and it is still in a state of decline.
The subsequent Gaode cross-key infringement case is still fresh in our memory. This company has simply changed its name to Shirakawa.
Even because of this, the handheld game console market, which was in chaos at the time, suddenly became quiet.
A person's reputation is like a tree's shadow. Even Nintendo, which is used to being a rogue, is a little scared.
And to this day, the cross key button is still the official design of Shirakawa Electric.
Even Hiroshi Yamauchi doesn't want to mess with the huge legal department behind it.
But this time, Yamauchi Hiroshi waved his hand to reassure him, "Don't worry, Yokoi-san, Shirakawa Electric does not have a patent for this technology."
"Huh?" Gunpei Yokoi was a little surprised.
Has Shirakawa Electric changed its mind? Why didn't they register this patent quickly? Did they forget about it?
As if he understood what he was thinking, Yamauchi Hiroshi explained, "Atari applied for a similar patent several years ago, and Shirakawa Electric couldn't apply for it even if it wanted to."
So that's how it is. Yokoi Gunpei subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief.
"By the way, President, should we..."
Gunpei Yokoi's meaning is very clear, whether to take advantage of the opportunity before Shirakawa Electric reacts.
Get the authorization from Atari first, and then ask Shirakawa Electric for infringement fees.
"Do you think that Mr. Shirakawa would leave such a big loophole?" Yamauchi Hiroshi would never underestimate Shirakawa Kaede.
"Hmm," Gunpei Yokoi thought so too. We are all smart people and there is no way they will ignore this problem.
"But Yamauchi-san, if we do this, will it infringe on Atari's rights?"
If Nintendo follows directly, wouldn't that also be a potential infringement?
"Don't worry. First of all, Atari can't find Neon. Also, even if they come, we have plenty of ways to deal with them."
Hiroshi Yamauchi had already made up his mind. I may have to consider Shirakawa Electric again, but as a foreign company, there are too many ways to deal with you.
"We will discuss the widescreen design directly with Sharp. I believe there will be no technical difficulties."
"Hayi"
Nintendo's LCD screens have always been supplied by Sharp, and even Gunpei Yokoi himself worked at Sharp for a period of time before joining Nintendo.
The two companies have a long history of cooperation and get along quite well.
Therefore, they are not troubled at all by the issues of wide screen or color film.
"By the way, who supplies the display screens for Shirakawa Electric?" Suddenly, Hiroshi Yamauchi thought of another question.
"It seems to be Suwa Seiko." Gunpei Yokoi had learned about this information.
As a competitor, he studied Shirakawa Electric's hardware thoroughly.
"It turns out to be Suba Seiko, an old friend of Sharp." Yamauchi Hiroshi let out an inexplicable sigh.
The world's first commercial LCD screen was born in Neon in 1973, and the manufacturer of this LCD screen was Suwa Seiko.
Another manufacturer that followed closely behind to produce LCD screens was Sharp, and the two of them are considered pioneers in Japan's local LCD industry.
Although the first commercial use was by neon manufacturers, LCD technology was invented by RCA (Radio Corporation) in the United States.
It announced the related invention in 1968, which shocked the industry at that time.
Motorola, AT&T, and HP have all personally invested heavily in the research and development of LCD displays.
Unfortunately, they all went in the wrong direction, and LCD technology was not yet mature.
They were eager to rush towards the big screen, but in the end they invested huge amounts of money but never got any returns.
So a few years later, RCA itself withdrew from further research on LCD commercialization.
However, in 1972, Suwa Seiko and Sharp took a fancy to this technology, so they obtained licenses from RCA and started their own research and development.
Just in the second year, Suwa Seiko successfully applied LCD screens to its watches.
Yes, Suwa Seiko is a watch company. LCD has made no achievements in the large-screen commercial field, but it shines brightly in the small screen.
From their respective origins, Suzuki and Sharp are both competitors, but they also have a bit of friendship.
However, it is not necessarily true that they are competitors. After all, Sharp does not make watches. A faint light flickered behind Hiroshi Yamauchi's brown glasses.
…
“The improved handheld performs quite well, it seems the same thing still applies.
When the content is similar, hardware becomes the key competitive condition.”
At the HAL Research Institute in Akihabara, Shirakawa Kaede was discussing the market performance of the new handheld game console with Iwata Satoru, Akagi and others.
"Overall, it's really good, but the cost has increased a lot compared to before."
Akagi is responsible for the hardware design of the handheld game console and is well aware of the cost of components.
"Especially for LCD displays, as their size increases, the purchase price also rises sharply."
Because the number of games has decreased, Shirakawa Electric has given a slight discount on the price of the widescreen handheld game console.
Although sales have increased significantly compared to before, the cost of display screens has increased, and the overall profit increase is not very obvious.
Baichuan Feng didn't have any good solution for this. "Let's talk to Suba Seiko about the display screen and see if they can give us a discount.
If that doesn’t work, talk to other suppliers, such as Sharp, which is also a major LCD screen manufacturer.”
In fact, the reason why Shirakawa Kaede chose to cooperate with Suba Seiko first was because Nintendo had already reached an agreement with Sharp.
He didn't want to go to Sharp unless it was absolutely necessary.
Who knows if the company's order volume will be inexplicably known to Nintendo? This is information related to the market's expected sales and must not be leaked easily.
"Shirakawa-kun, in addition to the screen, the processor is also an important factor affecting the design."
Iwata looked at Shirakawa eagerly. He still remembered the self-developed chip that Shirakawa had told him about a few months ago.
Baichuan Feng smiled and took out a blue shielding bag from his bag.
"I knew Iwata-kun would mention this. Here it is."
"Hey," Iwata took it impatiently, "Shirakawa-kun, what is this...?"
"SIC8089, an enhanced version of the 8-bit processor. Its performance is nearly twice that of the Z80. It was just successfully taped out and I sent it to you."
"Really?!" Iwata rubbed his hands excitedly.
You should know that the chip currently used in Shirakawa Electric's handheld game console is still a 4-bit processor.
What I have in my hand now is the enhanced 8-bit version, which is definitely a upgrade from a musket to a cannon.
Now that he has the new device, Iwata can't wait to start developing the new handheld game console.
“The chip has just been successfully taped out and has not yet been put into commercial use. There may be some minor defects or hidden bugs.
So regarding the development of the new handheld, Iwata-kun, don’t be anxious. This tuning process may not be completed in a short period of time.”
Just in early August, the newly developed SIC8089 from SIC was also seen in real life.
After preliminary testing, it can be put into actual development and use.
Therefore, handheld game consoles become the best application venue.
However, chips are similar to machines and require a long period of running-in with users before they can perform at their best.
And for such a job, Satoru Iwata is undoubtedly the most suitable person.
