Oguchi Hisao nodded, closed the folder, and a glint flashed in his eyes behind his glasses.
"Excellent. The Managing Director has approved the budget for the next phase of development. With the Mode|2 motherboard ready, we need to accelerate our efforts and aim to deliver a truly next-generation shock to the market by summer."
He walked over to the Model 2 prototype and touched its still-warm chassis.
"Once this thing is released, those old relics in arcades still stuck with low-res 2D graphics will have to step aside."
Yu Suzuki smiled, gripped the joystick again, and his eyes lit up with renewed fervor.
"Not just arcades. This is Jupiter's sibling. If it can run this well on an arcade machine, imagine what it'll do on a home console—"
He didn't finish the sentence, but everyone in the room understood.
"Alright, enough with the sentimentality," Hideki Sato said, clapping his hands to bring everyone back to reality. "This is just a prototype. We still have plenty of hardware testing to do before mass production. Get a good night's rest tonight. Tomorrow, we start stress testing!"
"We can hold the celebration banquet once everything is finalized."
The laboratory erupted in applause, each face alight with the thrill of making history.
Takuya Nakayama closed the folder, rubbing his throbbing temples. The low rumble of the Boeing 747 engine still echoed in his ears, but he didn't immediately try to sleep off the jet lag.
The word "Blizzard" on the briefing document stood out like a beacon.
Those brilliant yet unconventional guys had finally retired the clunky, geeky "Silicon & Synapse" brand and adopted the still-nascent "Blizzard" name for this era.
Blackthorne was indeed a good game.
A tough guy with a shotgun, a dark-style side-scrolling platformer—that style was perfect for the North American market.
But in Takuya Nakayama's eyes, it was merely an appetizer, not even a proper starter.
What he truly craved was the main course that hadn't yet been served.
One of the pioneers of PC real-time strategy games, the beginning of the Azeroth continent.
If he let these guys fumble their way through it step-by-step, who knew when Warcraft would take shape? Or whether crucial design elements might be cut due to funding pressures.
Now that Sega had invested, he didn't mind giving them a little push from behind the scenes to make this blizzard even more ferocious.
Redwood City, California.
This was the headquarters of Sega of America, where the air itself seemed to hum with freedom and dollars.
Having just shaken off the jet lag from a night of travel, Takuya Nakayama strode into the CEO's office with renewed vigor.
"Hey! Look who's here!"
Tom Kalinske, who had been animatedly reviewing sales reports, immediately rounded his desk and enveloped Nakayama in a hearty American bear hug. "Just got news from Japan yesterday—the Model 2 prototype test results are fantastic! Things that were giving us trouble with the software commands are now running smoothly and efficiently."
"That's no surprise," Nakayama nodded, smiling as he playfully punched Kalinske's shoulder. "It was worth every penny we spent on custom chips and the effort we put into developing with software commands first. This batch of Model 2 games has a real chance of hitting the summer market." He added, "But don't get too focused on the Model 2 and the new Jupiter console. The PC market is heating up too."
Tom shrugged and turned to pour Takuya Nakayama a cup of coffee. "You mean Blizzard? Mike Morhaime and his team are certainly interesting. Blackthorne sold very well. What, did you fly all the way here just to praise these young guys?"
"Praise is warranted, but it's not enough," Takuya Nakayama said, taking the coffee with a thoughtful look. "I believe their potential goes far beyond this. Remember how I asked you to keep an eye on the RTS genre?"
"You mean games like Westwood's Dune II?" Tom frowned. "That stuff's too hardcore—clunky controls. Only PC geeks like that."
"It's clunky now because no one's figured out the interface logic yet," Takuya Nakayama said firmly, taking a sip of his coffee. "Once someone cracks it, it'll be the next gold mine. Blizzard has that potential."
Tom looked at Takuya Nakayama thoughtfully.
In recent years, this young Managing Director had shown an uncanny knack for spotting trends. If he called something a gold mine, there was definitely gold buried beneath it.
"Alright, if you're so optimistic, should I ask finance to allocate some extra budget to Blizzard?"
"Money is a minor concern; the direction is what matters," Takuya Nakayama said, waving his hand. "I'll go see for myself. By the way, where are the guys from the Development Department? I need to tell them about the Model 2 prototype's test results."
Mentioning the Development Department, Tom smiled wryly. "They're downstairs. Ever since they heard about the R3000S tape-out success in Japan, these tech fanatics have been pestering me daily, asking when they can get their hands on a real unit."
When the two arrived at the Development Department, the previously noisy office area fell silent for a moment before erupting into a commotion.
"Managing Director!"
"Mr. Nakayama!"
Several senior programmers with bedhead surrounded them, their eyes gleaming like wolves that hadn't eaten in three days.
"I knew you lot cared more about the machines than me," Takuya joked, then turned serious. "Don't worry, the Model 2 development unit has already been packed and shipped. It should be on your desks by next week at the latest."
"Yeah!"
The crowd erupted in cheers, some even tossing their cans of soda into the air.
"Not only that," Takuya Nakayama raised his voice, silencing the crowd, "the home console prototype for 'Project Jupiter' will also be completed in a few months. Once the Model 2 development kits arrive, you'll all have plenty to keep you busy. Don't come crying to me about performance limitations not being exciting enough then."
The entire Development Department erupted in a frenzy.
In an era where hardware performance determined the ceiling of innovation, empowering programmers with greater capabilities was akin to giving soldiers the most advanced assault rifles.
They were tired of squeezing every last drop out of 16-bit limitations. Now, they could finally unleash their full potential.
Watching the developers lose themselves in this ecstatic frenzy, Takuya Nakayama's lips curled into a faint smile.
This was Sega's newfound confidence.
After calming the restless tech geeks, Takuya Nakayama glanced at his watch.
"Tom, I'm leaving this in your hands. I need to head to Irvine."
"So soon?"
"No choice," Takuya Nakayama straightened his collar and gazed toward the southern sky. "Seeing their plans has made me too excited to wait."
Tom looked bewildered. "Is it that urgent? What kind of game couldn't you develop?"
"PC interaction logic is different. The experience is completely different. You'll understand once the game is out."
Takuya Nakayama gave a mysterious smile without further explanation and turned to leave.
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