Chapter 162: Business Proposal

"Development will proceed according to the original plan for now." 

Hideki offered a few words of reassurance before taking one last look at the specifications, his brow furrowed in thought. He then turned and walked away. 

"I'll discuss this with the president." 

.... 

At Sega's headquarters. 

Hayao Nakayama quietly listened to Hideki's report as he looked at the astonishing specifications printed in the magazine. 

"Hideki, what do you think?" 

There was no particular emotion in his voice. He was simply asking for the opinion of a subordinate he held in high regard, just as he normally would. 

Hideki's abilities were beyond question. 

He had been with Sega's hardware division since the development of the company's first-generation SG-1000, steadily working his way up through the years. It would not be an exaggeration to call him the "father of Sega hardware." 

However, Hideki was still relatively young and lacked the experience that came with years of leadership. 

Hayao's gaze fell upon Hideki, his eyes shifting with a subtle nuance. 

Shoichiro Irimajiri was much more mature than Sato and came from a genuine bureaucratic background, unlike Sato, who was a technical official who had risen through the ranks of the hardware department. 

As for which of the two would make the better successor, Hayao honestly couldn't decide. 

"President, in my opinion, those flashy new features aren't really that big a deal." 

"How so?" Hayao asked calmly, signaling that Sato could elaborate. 

"No matter how impressive the advertising makes it sound, the NX is still a game console. In the end, everything comes down to the games." 

He paused before pointing at a particular section of the specifications. 

"What really concerns me is this." 

Sato reached out and pointed at the "RAM" section of the specification list. 

"256KB of system memory, plus another 256KB of video memory." 

Their current Sega Mega Drive, which they were developing at full speed, only had 64KB of system memory and 64KB of video memory. 

More system memory and video memory meant more sprites could be displayed on screen and more data could be processed in real time. 

And that ultimately meant richer, more complex games. 

Even during the 8-bit era, GAMENOVA's development capabilities had been enough to leave its competitors struggling to catch up. 

Now, it had been given hardware powerful enough to fully unleash those capabilities. 

Just what would its new game, Civilization, be capable of? The mere thought of it was frightening. 

Hayao was silent for a moment before giving a slight nod. 

"An optical disc drive and hundreds of kilobytes of memory..." 

Hayao couldn't help but marvel at it. 

GAMENOVA had boldly equipped its console with hardware that rivaled the capabilities of productivity machines, all while keeping the system's price just above three hundred dollars. 

He could see the situation clearly. This wasn't simply the result of GAMENOVA's strategy of selling hardware at a loss. Micron was another crucial factor. 

Ever since Japanese manufacturers had begun flooding the American market with cheap DRAM, Micron and other domestic manufacturers had been hit hard. Warehouses were overflowing with memory chips that had nowhere to go. 

In other words, they were losing money on every chip they sold, and GAMENOVA's arrival had happened to solve that problem. 

Not only had it absorbed virtually all of Micron's production capacity, but it had also given the company a technological boost. 

A game company with its own semiconductor fabrication plants… its ability to control costs was something even Nintendo, their greatest rival, could hardly compete with. 

Perhaps only NEC, which was developing its quasi-16-bit PC Engine, had this kind of capability. 

"Prepare the paperwork and book me a flight. I'm going to visit Ethan in person." 

... 

"Isn't Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation ability a little too darkly humorous? Plantations give −2 Loyalty per turn." 1

At GAMENOVA headquarters, several members of the development team had gathered in a conference room for a brainstorming session. 

The basic framework of Civilization was now complete. All that remained was to fill the game with a massive amount of content. 

Leaders and civilizations were the core subjects of this brainstorming session. 

Will's mouth twitched. He honestly had no idea how to respond to Ethan's suggestion. 

"Surprisingly, that actually makes a lot of sense... But why the hell does Gandhi's effect increase the production speed of nuclear bombs?" 6

"Ahem, I was just joking. Obviously, the Mahatma's effect would be related to a Religious Victory." 

Ethan chuckled. In Civilization, Gandhi was practically synonymous with nuclear bombs, so it was hard for him to think of the character without making the association. 

Sid helplessly shook his head. After spending so much time together, he'd long since gotten used to the unique development atmosphere here. 

"I think Kojima's suggestion is more interesting. Hojo… What was his name again? Sorry, I'm not very familiar with Japanese history." 

"Hojo Tokimune, a shogun from the Kamakura shogunate period." 

Ethan raised an eyebrow, genuinely surprised by Kojima's suggestion. 

"Why not someone more famous, like Oda Nobunaga or Tokugawa Ieyasu?" 

"I think choosing a famous Sengoku daimyo like Oda Nobunaga would make the game feel too predictable. We should give players something they don't expect." 

Hojo Tokimune had played an important role in the development of early samurai culture, and there was also the legend that he successfully resisted the invasion of the Mongol Empire with the help of the typhoons that came to be known as the "kamikaze." Those elements alone provided plenty of material for creating an interesting leader. 

Ethan nodded before taking out the next card. 

"Then the next civilization: the ancient Babylonian kingdom…" 

"Hammurabi." 3

Ethan hadn't even finished speaking before everyone answered in unison. Apparently, there was no disagreement on that one. 

"All right, then next..." 

"Ethan, someone is here to see you." 

Sam suddenly pushed open the conference room door. 

Ethan nodded, indicating that he understood, and after giving a few quick instructions, he left the room. 

If the visitor wasn't someone worth meeting personally, Sam would have handled them himself rather than interrupting the meeting. 

"Mr. Hayes, we finally meet." 

Ethan pushed open the door to the reception room and found a middle-aged man waiting inside. He had clearly seen his share of years, yet his eyes remained remarkably sharp and clear. 

A trace of surprise crossed Ethan's face, but he quickly figured out why the man had come. 

The shockwaves caused by the NovaXeno were still spreading. 

"You are... Mr. Nakayama, right?" Ethan recognized him immediately. 

A veteran who had earned his reputation through years of fierce competition with Nintendo, refusing to back down even as the industry changed around him. Even as he grew older, he remained deeply devoted to the video game industry. 

Sega's golden age in the 1980s had been built under his leadership, and now that he had personally came at GAMENOVA's headquarters, there was little doubt that the NovaXeno was the reason. 

"It's a pleasure to see you, Mr. Nakayama. What brings you here?" 

"Mr. Hayes." 

Hayao took the initiative to extend his hand, his gesture clearly conveying goodwill. 

"NovaXeno is a magnificent machine. I can see GAMENOVA's uncompromising determination to push the industry into the 16-bit era." 

His accent was fairly heavy, but Ethan spoke several languages fluently, so understanding him was hardly a problem. 

"I heard that SEGA is also developing its own 16-bit console? Looks like we managed to get there first." 

"Indeed... GAMNOVA's R&D capabilities are truly enviable." 

Hayao made no attempt to conceal his envy. If Sega had that kind of technological strength, they could have wiped the floor with Nintendo and crushed them. 

He paused, met Ethan's eyes, and finally revealed the true purpose of his visit. 

"Ethan, I'd like to discuss a supply agreement with GAMENOVA, or rather, with Micron. We're hoping to use your memory chips in SEGA's next-generation console."