November 25th. Payday at SEGA.
Kobayashi Tetsu had just come back from the bank after checking his balance. Not a huge sum—only a little over ten million yen earned—but overall, not bad.
Tokyo, being a coastal city, rarely saw snow. Even with December approaching, the temperature still hovered above freezing.
When Kobayashi pushed open the door of Old Dixie's Family Restaurant, he saw Yuji Naka already waiting alone, looking like he'd been there for a while.
Where did he even find that old sweater? It's unbelievably ugly, Kobayashi thought.
If he's really that broke, Kobayashi wouldn't mind sponsoring him a bit—no need to pay it back; just go buy something new in Ginza!
Naka stood and waved the moment he saw him.
"Tetsu-kun, what took you so long?"
"Had to stop by the bank… and also did a bit of something else."
Kobayashi paused slightly when he said that.
That "bit of something else" was definitely not just one thing.
He had simply handed a freezer-burned Famicom to Kentarō. That was all.
They sat down and ordered dinner.
"Manager?" Kobayashi called out, raising a hand. "Could you turn on the TV? It's too quiet—makes me lose my appetite."
The manager laughed, switched the TV on, and handed him the remote.
Kobayashi casually flipped it to TBS—one of Japan's five major private stations, and the ratings king of the 1980s, with network reach across the entire Kanto region.
Naka looked puzzled.
"Tetsu-kun, since when do you watch TV while eating? You look like an old man."
"Just felt like it today," Kobayashi replied casually.
He checked his watch. The time was almost right.
December was nearly here.
The SEGA staff who'd been sent to Hokkaido for fieldwork should have returned by now.
"The weather's getting cold," Kobayashi murmured.
Naka nodded. "Yeah. And next year is the SG-2000 launch. It should go well, right? Though the Famicom is still a nuisance. If only we could get rid of it somehow."
Kobayashi's lips curled into a soundless smile.
Yes.
And what else had he been busy with for an entire month instead of making games?
Exactly that.
He lifted the soy-sauce chili bottle and drizzled it carefully over his pork cutlet bowl, the motion reverent, ritualistic.
From his seat, Naka could clearly see the TV hanging from the ceiling. On this chilly afternoon, a small news segment aired—sponsored by some unknown company.
"My home is in Sapporo! Yesterday my Famicom worked fine, but today it just died! Won't turn on!"
"I asked my friends in Tokyo—they don't have this problem!"
"Nintendo, give us our money back!"
Naka jerked his head up in shock.
"No way—Nintendo got into trouble?!"
Kobayashi paused mid–chili drizzle and nodded in agreement.
Yes. What an amazing coincidence—Nintendo was in trouble.
As for what he had been doing the past month—that was difficult to guess indeed.
The launch-model Famicom used CPU hardware supplied by Ricoh. However, Ricoh's chip production reused techniques developed while manufacturing for Commodore.
To avoid intellectual property issues—to avoid looking like piracy—Ricoh masked off parts of the 2A03's microcode.
It seemed fine on the surface, but this created a fatal flaw.
With part of the processor's functions restricted, the Famicom malfunctioned in low temperatures—glitched graphics, freezes, and failure to boot!
In history, this problem first exploded in Sapporo and rapidly spread across Japan, leading to massive return demands at Nintendo stores.
Sapporo, practically Japan's northern frontier, had winters as harsh as Harbin's. So of course it would break there first.
But this time…
It wasn't the return wave that made the news.
It was SEGA who had sent people to Sapporo to create this coverage.
Kobayashi spread the sauce evenly, then picked up a piece of pork with his chopsticks and took a bite.
"Mmm. Perfect."
A large chunk had been sliced from the whole cutlet—making it look rather funny.
Suddenly, Naka sprang to his feet.
"Tetsu-kun! Then Nintendo is in serious trouble! When the SG-2000 launches early next year, SEGA will get a huge advantage!"
Kobayashi raised a hand, pressing downward in a calming gesture.
"Sit. Sit. Just routine business. Don't mind it."
Of course he couldn't orchestrate something that big alone. All he had done was quietly leak the issue to Kentarō, who then brought it up at a SEGA meeting.
Judging from the news today…
Kobayashi smirked slightly.
The effect was beginning to show.
"Come on, eat," he urged Naka. "Once we're done, let's stop by Shimayori's game shop."
Most importantly—
There was a Nintendo specialty store right across the street.
The two boys were young and hungry; their pork bowls disappeared in no time.
"Let's go," Kobayashi said.
Time to see what was happening across the street.
…
…
Shimayori Game Shop.
Shimayori Yōsuke rarely returned home; like many shop owners, he lived in the back of the store. That morning, when he opened the shop, he nearly jumped—there was a crowd outside.
For a moment, he thought his store was in trouble.
But after asking around, he learned:
It was the store across the street that was doomed.
"Because it's cold, the Famicom suddenly stopped working and can't turn on? So everyone wants refunds?"
Shimayori clicked his tongue.
A tragedy.
This was definitely not good.
He cupped a hot-water bottle in both hands, looking across the street.
The manager of the Nintendo store looked like he was about to lose his mind.
When he saw the giant crowd that morning, he thought they were all there to buy something. But no—they were all there to return their consoles.
He couldn't possibly accept that many returns—not enough cash on hand.
But rejecting them all at once? That would cause a riot!
Just then, the delivery guy arrived with new promotional materials, and Shimayori casually pasted one on his shop window.
January 1st, 1984!
The improved SG-2000 will be released!
Launching simultaneously: a light-gun shooting game—Kobayashi Duck Hunt.
Standard package: 19,800 yen.
Special bundle with light gun and game: 24,800 yen!
Shimayori grinned.
Ahh, SEGA was finally doing well!
They were even releasing console bundles now.
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