Chapter 176: International Electronics Exhibition
September 6, 1994.
On a hot September day still dominated by the scorching heat of August, I dragged a sturdy travel suitcase out of the front door.
"Alright then, I'm off."
"Take care. Mr. Junhyuk."
Yuki, who had taken the day off for my business trip preparations, bid me farewell with a somewhat nostalgic expression. With her standing before me, I couldn't easily part ways and hesitated at the entrance, expressing my concern to Yuki.
"Hmm. Are you sure it's fine without me? I might even say I can't go on this business trip right now..."
"Of course, it would be nice if Mr. Junhyuk was here, but this time it's quite an important event. C... what was it again?"
"CES (Consumer Electronics Show: International Electronics Exhibition)."
Upon hearing this, Yuki opened her mouth with a faint smile.
"Oh, right. Wasn't that... an electronics product exhibition?"
I nodded slowly in response to Yuki's answer.
At a time when there weren't dedicated gaming expos, this event held in Las Vegas, USA, was akin to companies promoting their consoles to people worldwide.
While the event primarily showcased household appliances like TVs, refrigerators, air conditioners, given that gaming consoles fell under the electronics category, companies participated in the event annually.
Usually, I could have sent Mr. Kawaguchi and a few Pentagon employees, but this year's CES was anticipated to be a global event featuring an intense showdown between Nintendo, NEGA, and the Pentagon for various reasons.
"Sister will stay at our place when she finishes work, so it's okay."
"Hmm... I'll need to buy a good gift for Yuko when I return, right?"
Feeling regretful, I momentarily set down the suitcase, kneeling in front of Yuki and gently caressing her stomach.
"Dad will be back from his business trip. Stay well with Mom."
Seeing this, Yuki smiled and gently embraced my head.
"Take care. And say hello to Ellie and Mr. Wilson if you meet them."
"Yeah, I will..."
A while later, as I left the mansion pulling the suitcase, the bright sunlight filtered through the leaves, piercing my eyes.
Cicadas' pleasant cries echoed somewhere, making Yuki, who had followed me, smile with joy. Though I reassured her several times, she eventually escorted me to the parking lot.
It seemed that despite being an overseas business trip, she was also feeling a bit disappointed.
As I turned the steering wheel, leaving the mansion, I suddenly thought, 'Family is truly something wonderful...'
&
A while later, upon arriving at Narita International Airport, familiar faces caught my eye in front of the ticket counter.
"Boss, we're here."
As I approached Kaori, dragging my suitcase, I slightly gestured toward her.
Next to her were Hayashi, Morita, and Ms. Kawaguchi, the company's representative, accompanied by her secretary, Sayuri, all smiling and waving at me.
"Did you bid farewell to Yuki properly?"
In response to Kaori's question, I nodded slightly. Hayashi, who was beside her, teasingly grabbed her head and said,
"Just a farewell for a mere two weeks of business trip, and you act like we're going to the ends of the earth?"
"It is the ends of the earth!! It's on the opposite side of the globe!!"
"No, that's not what I meant... oh, forget it. What am I even saying to you."
Amidst Hayashi and Kaori's conversation, we burst into laughter in front of the airline ticket counter, each of us gripping our suitcases.
"Is everyone here?"
I asked, and Sayuri replied,
"No, not yet. Mr. Miyazaki, the manager of the Pentagon Shop, and Mr. Uchimura, the figure designer, are... oh, there they are."
Upon Sayuri's words, I turned my head, and I saw them rushing toward us.
"Huff... huff... sorry for being late."
While Miyazaki could manage, Uchimura was almost on the verge of passing out...
They were chosen to assist in the CES event and had joined us for this trip.
As Miyazaki's suitcase seemed to collapse, I took it instead and was surprised by its weight, asking her,
"Why did you bring so much?"
"It's my first overseas trip. I brought everything I could carry."
"But they sell essentials there..."
"Th-that's right?"
Hayashi smirked and, after lifting Miyazaki's suitcase, had a similar expression to mine.
"If it's overweight, additional charges will apply..."
However, contrastingly, Uchimura only had a single backpack. Are you going to a 2-night 3-day training camp or something...?
"Hey, Uchimura... is that all your luggage?"
"Yes? Oh, yes. I thought it'd be better to buy what I need there..."
"."
Why is he so indifferent?
I sighed deeply, looking around.
Fortunately, when I asked a passing airport staff member if there was a place to buy travel suitcases, they said there was a shopping center downstairs.
"Do we still have time?"
"Yes."
In response to Kaori's answer, I quickly purchased a new carrier from the underground shopping mall and divided Miyazaki's luggage into it.
It took some time to divide the luggage, but we managed to finish ticketing safely and head towards the boarding gate.
After completing the departure inspection, as we emerged into the shopping area with various duty-free shops, Kaori, experiencing her first trip abroad, exclaimed loudly, "Duty-free!! It's a duty-free shop!"
Seeing Kaori's exclamation, Representative Kawaguchi looked at his watch, wearing a puzzled expression.
"Isn't it a bit tight on time?"
Checking the boarding time myself, I agreed with Representative Kawaguchi's words.
"Since there will be duty-free shops at the Las Vegas airport on our return, how about doing the shopping there?"
"Aww... I was looking forward to the airport duty-free shops..."
As Kaori pouted, Ms. Miyazaki blushed apologetically and apologized to her, "I'm sorry. I brought too much luggage..."
Upon this, even Uchimura seemed to feel the need to speak up for Miyazaki.
"I'm sorry. I brought too little luggage..."
"."
What are these people talking about right now?
As everyone looked at Uchimura with surprised expressions, Sayuri, who was beside Representative Kawaguchi, livened up the mood with applause.
"Well, there's a simple duty-free shop near the boarding gate, so let's move there for now."
With her role as the eldest sister among the women, we collectively headed towards the boarding gate following her words.
In the midst of this, Representative Kawaguchi approached me and spoke, "Junhyuk, how did the proceedings in the U.S. go? Do you think we'll arrive safely?"
"According to Rob, we might just make it in time, but there's no certainty."
"The highlight of this conference is 'that thing,' and if it's still not ready, it might be a bit awkward, don't you think?"
"If that happens, NEGA, poised to release the new device, will be the biggest beneficiary. If not..."
"If not...?"
"Then the attention will shift to the new device jointly prepared by Mintendo and Sensoni."
"What!? Could it be that they're announcing the new device at this CES!?"
"It's quite possible..."
No, actually, this is certain.
It's a historical fact that Mintendo and Sensoni are unveiling the 'Gear Station Project' at this CES, something I've known for a while now.
I heard from an employee who used to work closely with Mintendo during their tenure that Sensoni's Kurakagi has been frequently visiting Mintendo since last year.
Perhaps surprised by Mintendo's swift actions, Representative Kawaguchi's expression hardened.
If NEGA Saturn and the Gear Station Project are announced, our Pentagon will have nothing to show on the hardware front at this CES.
At this moment, all we can do is hope that Rob arrives at the CES venue on time...
&
Let's briefly touch upon the gaming industry in 1994. Starting from Street Fighter 2 and leading to Psych Force, the early '90s witnessed a surge in fighting games, and by 1994, they were enjoying significant success.
Among these, NEGA's Real Fighter, released in December '93, made a considerable impact on gamers at the time.
While 3D graphics had been sporadically experienced before, the level of detail in depicting characters was rare.
The polygonal fighters displayed movement along both axes, providing a different dimension of combat in a virtual space compared to traditional 2D games.
Especially, when the protagonist Akira received a strong hit, the palpable impact made it seem as if the player experienced the pain directly.
It truly pursued realism, as its title suggested.
Due to the game's unforgiving technical damage, both novices and experts were constantly on edge while playing Real Fighter.
From a novice accidentally executing a move that led to an expert's defeat to rushing in only to be thrown out of bounds resulting in immediate loss, NEGA's Real Fighter gained a reputation as the first and best fighting game.
However, ironically, due to NEGA's flagship fighting game, the development of the next-generation device was hindered.
Why?
Because NEGA Saturn was primarily designed with a focus on 2D technology from its planning stages.
The goal of NEGA Saturn was to secure an absolute coin return rate in arcade centers like SMK's representative games and create the best idol game based on beautiful illustrations to form a core user base.
The annual purchase volume of games by console maniacs was about five times higher than that of light users who cleared games quickly and moved on. Targeting the hardcore user base, Saturn, in a frenzy, obsessively pursued 2D technology to compensate for the failure of its predecessor.
However...
It was their own main director, Suzuki Ryu, who had created an innovative 3D game, Real Fighter. That was a situation that drove NEGA insane.
Because, unfortunately, NEGA Saturn's 3D performance was too weak to run 'Real Fighter.'
In the end, NEGA didn't abandon the almost completed NEGA Saturn, despite spending astronomical development costs, due to a single 3D fighting game. But they couldn't completely ignore the trend leaning towards 3D technology.
And NEGA found its answer. As always, through the worst means...
How?
By forcefully pushing 3D capabilities into a console already built exclusively for 2D...
>
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