Chapter 84. Kiyoshi Yuuma is Expert at Painting Pies
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Three days later, Kiyoshi Yuuma reorganized the new proposal and, bringing Tsuda Nao along, once again visited Sony headquarters.
Seeing the proposal, Sony's current President, the 70-year-old Morita Akio, was stunned.
"Sega?!"
"Yes, Sega." Kiyoshi Yuuma nodded. "We plan to develop a new handheld console together with Sega. So far, Sega can be considered the most influential game developer in the world besides Nintendo.
If we can collaborate with Sega, Sony will definitely be able to enter the gaming market smoothly."
Morita Akio quietly swallowed.
To be honest, Kiyoshi Yuuma's proposal this time was incredibly appealing.
It spoke directly to his real intentions.
[Not wanting to enter the gaming market.]
[Deeply hurt by Nintendo's betrayal...]
All of that was false.
Otherwise, Sony wouldn't have been preparing for so long.
It was just that, without any foundation in the gaming field, trying to break in had left them without even a foothold.
The previous Pokeni proposal was actually good. It directly targeted Sony's pain point.
The only issue was—
Pokeni lacked influence. The company was too small and not well-known. Sony's board believed it wasn't strong enough to support Sony's ambition to enter the gaming market.
So the proposal was shelved.
Originally, Sony had been preparing to contact Namco, but now Kiyoshi Yuuma had returned with an even more enticing plan.
As he said, Sega could indeed be considered the most influential game developer in the world besides Nintendo.
Since Nintendo established its gaming dominance, countless manufacturers had tried to challenge it.
But the only one capable of truly shaking the empire's foundation was Sega.
Whether in console R&D or game content production, Sega was Nintendo's greatest rival.
Especially after Sonic the Hedgehog burst onto the scene. That game could go head-to-head with Super Mario, placing Sega and Nintendo on equal footing in the minds of the public.
By comparison, Sony was still a newcomer in the gaming field.
To say they weren't tempted would be a lie.
As Sony's President, Morita Akio had no reason to refuse.
...
"But has Sega really agreed?" Morita Akio asked skeptically. "You know Sega is also a console developer. So far, they've never collaborated with third parties."
Sega's President, Nakayama Hayao, was practically another Yamauchi Hiroshi.
The two were practically identical in temperament.
Not only did they operate with strong-arm tactics, they were also famously petty.
When the MD was first launched and at its peak, Sega refused any outside interference. Even requests from third parties to develop games on the MD were rejected by Nakayama Hayao.
If Nintendo's SFC hadn't launched later—prompting many manufacturers to switch to Nintendo and causing Sega huge setbacks— Nakayama would never have allowed third parties to get involved with the MD.
If they were that cautious about game releases, then allowing anyone to interfere in console R&D was even more unlikely.
"No problem," Kiyoshi Yuuma said with a smile. "Without Sega's agreement, I wouldn't dare come to Sony."
Hmm?
So Pokeni really had some ability.
Morita Akio couldn't help but look at the young man with renewed respect.
In this world, convincing Sega to bow its head and making that stubborn Nakayama change his business philosophy was an extremely difficult task.
Yet this young President had managed it...
It was impressive.
Morita glanced at Kutaragi Ken at the far end of the table, his brows tightening slightly.
Why didn't Sony have such talent?
...
"Alright, I understand."
Morita stood up, holding the proposal and speaking earnestly:
"President Kiyoshi, please give us some time. We need to discuss internally before making a decision."
Though the words sounded similar to their previous meeting, this time, when Kiyoshi Yuuma shook his hand, he felt a faint tremor at the President's fingertips.
A tremor from excitement and anticipation.
"Then please decide as soon as possible," Kiyoshi Yuuma smiled. "Because I can't guarantee Sega won't suddenly change their mind."
Uh...
Morita's brows sank deeply.
"Alright, President Kiyoshi."
...
"Not bad."
As they left, Tsuda Nao shot Kiyoshi Yuuma an approving look.
"My back is drenched with sweat from nerves," Kiyoshi Yuuma exhaled.
Tsuda looked at him with an amused mix of irritation and admiration.
Honestly, his courage was enormous.
He lied without a flicker in his expression.
He hadn't even met Sega's President yet, but dared to claim he had [secured] Sega.
"Sega is all that's left now. Keep going." Tsuda slapped him on the back.
"Hiss…"
Kiyoshi Yuuma let out a pained sound, then turned to Tsuda Nao with a cheerful grin.
"Could you please be gentler?"
...
That afternoon, Sony held a high-level meeting regarding Pokeni's proposal.
Unlike Nintendo and Sega, which operated more like dictatorships, Sony relied heavily on collective decision-making through such meetings.
At the meeting, Kutaragi Ken provided detailed explanations and reports to board members and senior executives about Pokeni's four-way joint R&D proposal.
After listening, everyone was inwardly thrilled.
"Leaving Pokeni aside, collaborating with Sega alone has enormous appeal."
"If we can truly reach an agreement with Sega, this will be a pivotal opportunity to reenter the gaming field."
"We've tried contacting Sega before, but President Nakayama's stance was firm—he refused to share console R&D rights with any third party. I wonder how Pokeni's President managed it."
"What an extraordinary young man."
If you achieved what others couldn't, you had unique cooperative value.
Without that, Sony could simply abandon Pokeni and negotiate directly with Sega.
But because they had already failed with Nakayama, Kiyoshi Yuuma's proposal now seemed even more valuable.
Pokeni's four-way R&D plan was a golden key for Sony.
With it, they could unlock the long-desired gateway to the gaming market.
"How Pokeni convinced Sega isn't the key. What matters is that cooperation with Sega is possible."
"Yes, this proposal brings Sony benefits with essentially no downsides. If negotiations succeed, we can enter the gaming market. If we fail, Sony loses nothing."
"Then, regarding Pokeni's proposal, please vote by show of hands," Morita said.
"In favor."
"In favor."
"In favor."