Takuya Nakayama raised an eyebrow, the specifications of the chip instantly flashing through his mind.
"The low-power chip used in PDAs?"
"Exactly," Hideki Sato nodded vigorously. "It's a low-power compatible chip based on the MC68000 architecture, originally designed for handheld computers and enterprise-grade mobile terminals. We spent a long time negotiating with Motorola, even promising a significant installation volume, before we finally secured this custom version specifically optimized for gaming."
Then, Hideki Sato pointed to a slightly smaller secondary chip beside it.
"The coprocessor is an improved, compatible version of the Z80 currently used in the GamePocket. On one hand, it can perfectly offload the pressure of audio decoding and I/O processing, but most importantly—"
"—It's fully backward compatible with the GamePocket's massive game library," Takuya Nakayama finished with a smile, having already deduced the core strategy.
"Exactly!" Hideki Sato pulled a whiteboard closer, grabbed a marker, and wrote MC68000+Z80 in bold letters.
Takuya Nakayama's grin widened as he stared at the text.
This was Sega's most prized and familiar recipe! The Mega Drive, which had once dominated living rooms and forged countless legends, had conquered the world with this very same classic dual-chip architecture.
"In terms of raw performance, this combination obviously won't be as powerful as the full-fledged Mega Drive, given the power and size constraints of a handheld," Sato explained. "But its hidden advantage is too obvious to ignore! We've accumulated a massive amount of low-level code, mature development tools, and even a vast library of existing game engines from the MD era. Whether it's us or third-party developers, we can port them over directly with just a few compatibility patches and some optimization."
Takuya picked up the heavy prototype from the table, weighing it in his hand.
"The barrier to entry for development is extremely low, and the toolchain is already in place. Third-party designers who are used to making Mega Drive games will probably be able to start working on this development kit without even reading the manual," Takuya Nakayama praised highly. "Hideki Sato, this is much smarter than simply piling up raw specs on paper. Not only will it keep R&D costs down, but we also won't have to worry about our initial game lineup at all."
He lowered his head, carefully examining the device in his hands.
The outer shell was still a rough engineering part, unpolished, but the overall layout of the buttons had already taken shape.
It inherited the horizontal grip layout from the GamePocket, with the screen centered, making it look like a miniature controller.
On the left was Sega's signature circular eight-way directional pad; on the right were the A and B action buttons.
In the bottom right corner, the small Start and Select buttons were arranged side by side.
Takuya Nakayama's index finger subconsciously rested on the top of the device, lightly pressing it twice.
Click, click. The sound of the micro-switches was crisp and pleasant.
"You added L and R shoulder buttons?" Takuya Nakayama raised an eyebrow, his expression one of 'just as I expected.'
"Exactly." Hideki Sato handed over two AA batteries. "Modern game systems are becoming increasingly complex. Two action buttons just aren't enough anymore. If we forced them onto the front panel, it would severely restrict thumb movement and ruin the grip. Placing them on the top shoulder is the most ergonomic solution—the index fingers rest there naturally."
Takuya Nakayama nodded in approval. He slid the batteries into the rear compartment and flicked the power switch on the side.
The screen flickered once, then sprang to life.
Gone was the dull, monochrome gray of the GamePocket.
A vibrant, full-color image burst forth!
Though the low resolution left the edges jagged, it was undeniably in color.
Coarse, colorful pixel blocks drifted down from the top of the screen—a classic Tetris demo for testing.
Takuya's fingers flew across the buttons. The blocks rotated, accelerated, and vanished in seamless lines.
Yet, after less than two minutes of play, he felt a faint warmth radiating from the battery compartment on the back of the device.
"This screen—" Takuya Nakayama stopped mid-motion, his brow furrowing slightly.
Hideki Sato let out a heavy sigh, deflating like a punctured ball. He pulled open a drawer and placed two more AA batteries on the desk.
"This is the biggest, and most fatal, problem we're facing right now." Sato pointed at the screen, his voice thick with helplessness. "The color STN LCD. To test its maximum power draw, we're running a background program that simulates complex calculations and high-frequency color rendering, designed to mimic the power consumption of a large-scale RPG or action game."
"And the result?" Takuya asked.
"You just put in four high-capacity AA batteries," Sato said, holding up three fingers with a wry smile. "At most, they'll last three hours. If we're running a major title that requires frequent cartridge reads or calls on the audio chip, that time could drop to two and a half hours."
Takuya set the prototype back on the desk with a dull thud.
Four batteries, three hours.
What did that mean?
"This means that if we take this thing outside, players won't just have to buy the game—they'll need to carry a dozen spare batteries in their backpacks."
"This isn't a handheld console," Takuya Nakayama shook his head. "It's a portable power drain, a battery-eating monster. Players can afford the console, but they can't afford the batteries. With this kind of battery life, they'll abandon it."
"Have you tried a TFT screen?" Takuya asked.
"We have. The display is definitely better, with much less ghosting, but the power consumption is even more terrifying. Plus, the cost is too high at this stage." Hideki Sato rubbed his aching brow. "Current color LCD technology is almost all transmissive. In plain English, you need a backlight tube behind the screen to illuminate it. And that tube is an absolute power hog!"
The laboratory fell silent.
Only the hum of the instrument cooling fans echoed through the room.
The engineers stopped their work and looked tensely at Takuya Nakayama, waiting for the Managing Director to make a decision.
Takuya pulled up a chair and sat down, his fingers tapping unconsciously on the tabletop.
Thump, thump, thump—
After about a minute, he abruptly stopped tapping and looked up at Hideki Sato.
"Late last year, NEC held a semiconductor technology seminar in Tokyo," Takuya Nakayama said, his gaze piercing. "They presented a technical paper on a new type of liquid crystal panel. Several professional industry journals followed up with reports on it. Did you notice?"
Hideki Sato froze for a moment, his mind racing to retrieve the relevant information.
As the head of hardware, he naturally kept an eye on cutting-edge technology, but he couldn't immediately recall which specific one this was.
"Are you referring to... that low-power reflective TFT-LCD still in the lab stage?" Sato asked tentatively.
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