The words "defeat Nintendo" struck most of the people present like a bolt of lightning.
The silence in the air was completely broken. Some eyes, originally filled with suspicion, indifference, or even hostility, began to change. Some gasped in shock, unable to believe such a direct statement would come from the president's son; some curled their lips, seemingly thinking it was a fool's dream; but others, especially the young people whose eyes still held a hidden flame, clearly showed a touched emotion in their pupils. Perhaps it was a long-suppressed recognition, perhaps a long-dormant desire for challenge, or perhaps just the simple, arrogant, yet incredibly tempting words that ignited the spark of unwillingness to be mediocre deep within them.
The Third Development Department, a place within the company that didn't have top-tier resources or outstanding achievements but had always been striving to prove itself, seemed to have not heard such an undisguised declaration of ambition in a long time.
Takuya understood as he watched these complex reactions. Good, the fire was lit. Now, it remained to be seen how brightly it would burn.
Hayao Nakayama had been standing beside him, observing his son's performance, his face still expressionless. Only after Takuya finished speaking did he give an almost imperceptible nod.
"Alright, the introduction is complete," he broke the brief silence. "Takuya, come with me to the conference room."
He turned and led the way out again, leaving behind an entire office of employees with varied thoughts and a complex atmosphere in the air, still lingering with shock and a certain expectation.
A small meeting, specially prepared for Takuya Nakayama, was about to begin.
Inside the spacious conference room, the long table was already filled with people.
Besides several team leaders and deputies from the Development Department, there were also managers from the Market Department, the Legal Department, and even the Overseas Business Department.
Hayao Nakayama sat at the head of the table, his gaze sweeping across the room.
"Takuya, begin."
Takuya Nakayama carefully placed the cardboard box he had taken from Ito Ryoji at one end of the conference table.
Under everyone's puzzled gazes, he opened the box and took out the rugged-looking Electronika 60.
Next were the transformer and connecting wires.
After some slightly clumsy operations, he pressed the power switch of the Soviet computer.
The fan began to hum deeply, the screen flickered, and finally stabilized, displaying green Cyrillic characters.
He inserted the floppy disk with what appeared to be "Tetris" written on it and entered a command.
The floppy drive made a "clack-clack" sound.
A few seconds later, monochrome blocks began to slowly fall on the screen.
It was an extremely simple interface, with no background music, no sound effects, only the most basic movements, rotations, and eliminations.
A slight stir rippled through the conference room, mixed with whispers of confusion.
This was the "gift" brought by the president's son?
Something that looked even more primitive than an Atari game?
Takuya Nakayama spoke calmly, his voice clearly audible throughout the conference room.
"What you are seeing is the prototype of this game."
"Its name is 'Tetris,' and it comes from the Soviet Union."
He briefly introduced the game's origin and started the computer to demonstrate its gameplay.
As blocks fell, stacked, and cleared, and as the falling speed of the blocks accelerated with accumulating scores, whispers gradually arose in the conference room, and several people from the Development Department showed interest.
Then, under everyone's even more puzzled gazes, he turned off the Electronika 60.
Immediately, Takuya Nakayama unplugged the old Soviet computer's connecting wires and neatly packed them away. The humming stopped, and the screen dimmed, as if an era had ended. The whispers in the conference room also subsided, and everyone watched his next actions, their curiosity piqued once more.
He turned around and placed his MS-DOS laptop on the table, skillfully connecting it to the projector. He pressed the power button, and the startup sound began.
Soon, the projection screen lit up. This time, it was no longer monotonous green characters, but a game screen with relatively richer colors and a much more refined interface. The blocks had different colors, the background was no longer pitch black, and some decorative patterns could vaguely be seen.
"This is a version I improved and added features to, based on that prototype." Takuya Nakayama's voice was still calm, but there was a subtle sparkle in his eyes.
He sat down and tapped on the keyboard. On the screen, the monotonously falling blocks from the original Soviet version were now imbued with vivid colors: red, blue, green, yellow… combined, the visual experience far surpassed the monotonous green from before.
The colorful blocks began to fall, noticeably faster than before. Even more surprisingly, some simple yet rhythmic electronic music started playing. The melody was simple but incredibly catchy. It was an 8-bit version of classic Russian tunes, including "Kalinka" and "Troika," which Takuya had added, referencing the FC version from his previous life.
"Tap, tap, tap…" He quickly moved and rotated the blocks.
"Click!" The block settled.
"Whoosh—ding!" A line of blocks perfectly aligned and instantly cleared, accompanied by a crisp, pleasant sound effect.
The smooth operation, vibrant colors, dynamic music, and sound effects immediately captured everyone's attention. Those who had found the Soviet prototype crude and uninteresting earlier now leaned forward. This looked… interesting. Several people from the Development Department watched intently, some even unconsciously nodding along to the music.
This was already much more appealing than the primitive version from before. Many people started to wonder, this kid, he actually seems to have something? If he made all of this himself, then his foundation in both software and hardware is quite good.
But Takuya Nakayama was not satisfied with this. He paused the single-player demonstration, his gaze sweeping over the clearly focused faces of the crowd.
"These improvements are just the basics. I've added a core mode to it—versus."
He switched the game mode, and two side-by-side game areas appeared on the screen, separated by a line, with scores displayed above each.
"Versus?" Someone couldn't help but ask.
"Yes, versus," Takuya Nakayama explained. "In this mode, when one player clears two or more lines, a corresponding number of 'garbage lines' will rise from the bottom of the opponent's field, increasing their pressure. The more lines cleared, the more garbage lines are created for the opponent."
This design made the eyes of several people in the Development Department light up. A competitive element! This was much more exciting than simply stacking blocks!
"Would anyone like to try it?" Takuya Nakayama looked towards the Development Department.
A few people exchanged glances, eager to try, but also a bit embarrassed to "play a game" in front of the president and executives.
Takuya Nakayama directly called out names: "You two, please demonstrate for everyone."
The two who were called out paused, then stood up and sat down on either side of the keyboard, their expressions a mix of nervousness and excitement.
"The rules are simple: the last one standing wins." Takuya Nakayama briefly instructed, then pressed the start button.
The exciting versus music began!