Chapter 163: Sega’s Request (bonus)

"Our DRAM?" 

Ethan was slightly taken aback. "Why not use Toshiba's or Fujitsu's?" 

A Japanese game company had come all the way to the United States to buy memory chips, and not just any memory chips, but Micron's, a company that was in the middle of restructuring and upgrading its semiconductor business. 

"Ethan, I'm talking about the American version of our next-generation console, we've named it the SEGA Genesis." 

Genesis, the American title for Sega's fourth-generation home console. 

Only then did Ethan understand. Because of the semiconductor agreement, the price of DRAM which had previously plummeted in the US had already begun an astonishing rebound. 

If Sega intended to rely on their assembly plants in the US, whether they chose Japanese or American DRAM actually made no difference to them. 

"Ethan, I don't know how good Micron's technology is, but I trust your judgment." 

The fact that Ethan was willing to use products from a company he had just acquired in his next-generation console, rather than choosing a more experienced company, already showed how confident he was in his own decisions. 

Hayao's expression remained serious as he met Ethan's gaze. Unlike other executives, Hayao Nakayama's influence extended beyond Sega alone. That was precisely what allowed him to look beyond the usual constraints and approach problems with a more aggressive mindset. 

"DRAM..." 

Ethan pondered for a few moments before suddenly smiling. 

Micron had just integrated and restarted several production lines, so it really did need a large-scale customer to absorb its additional production capacity. 2

After all, the NovaXeno wouldn't be using conventional DRAM. Instead, it would rely on high-speed synchronous memory, SDRAM, which was still in trial production at the time. 

More importantly, this might be an excellent opportunity to set a trap for Nintendo. 

Once NEC released its so-called "Famicom killer," the PC Engine, Nintendo would have no choice but to rush development of the Super Famicom. By then, however, its memory technology would already be lagging behind. 

According to historical records, the Super Famicom had only 128KB of memory, roughly equivalent to a single 1Mb memory chip produced by Micron. 

By then, Nintendo would be caught in a difficult position, with Sega pressing it from the front and the PC Engine closing in from behind. Who knew how overwhelmed they would become? 

"Of course, Mr. Nakayama. How many are you planning to order?" 

"Five million 1Mb memory chips." 

"Hmm... That's quite a large order. By the way, Mr. Nakayama, would you also be interested in PPU graphics chips?" 

This massive order was enough to bring all of Micron's production lines back to full operation. 

... 

Sam, however, was somewhat anxious about the whole thing. Selling higher-performance hardware to a competitor was practically inviting trouble, wasn't it? 

"Trouble? Why?" 

Faced with Sam's question, Ethan looked completely unconcerned. 

"What if Sega's Genesis turns out to be a much more powerful console than expected? Wouldn't that be a problem for us?" 

"Then let me ask you this. Suppose I gave you a 32-bit Atari with 16GB of memory and support for a 4096×2160 resolution. Would you buy it?" 

Sam fell silent, only then did Ethan continue. 

"When it comes to game consoles, specifications have never been the most important thing. What really matters is the games. This isn't a PC, so no one is going to spend a fortune on a game console simply because it has better hardware." 

"In fact, higher and more complicated specifications mean greater development difficulty. Neither Sega nor Nintendo has the advantages we have with Nova Language and OpenGL, and neither can compete with our market share." 

"Even third-party developers know which side they should be on." 

There was one more thing Ethan didn't say. Even without Sega, Nintendo would never willingly give up a market as large as America. So, rather than letting a single company to dominate the market, it was better to let the two compete against each other. 

After all, right now, there was no other game company in the world capable of occupying the same position in the industry as GAMENOVA. 

"Besides, those $100 or $200 consoles aren't even targeting the same market as us. And even if they really did become a threat, it would still take them several months, perhaps even a year or two, to develop and launch a product that could seriously compete with us." 

"And before that happens, we can use Sega's money to steadily develop our own games." 

Acquiring a major stake in Micron had already drained a significant portion of GAMENOVA's cash reserves. With NovaXeno's high production costs adding even more pressure, GAMENOVA would have been forced to keep pouring money into Micron just to get the company back on track if this order hadn't come through. 

So, in a sense, GAMENOVA was using a competitor's money to fund the development of its own games. If anything, Ethan should have been the one thanking them. 

Sam followed Ethan back to the conference room. He had been caught up with a pile of other work and hadn't had a chance to get involved until now. 

Being left out of something as interesting as game planning had left him restless and eager to jump in. He could barely sit still and contain his impatience. 

"Nonsense! Byzantium naturally has to go for a Domination Victory! A Religious Victory is out of the question!" 

"You're the one talking nonsense! The prosperity of the Empire under Basil II was inseparable from the support of the Church!" 

The moment they stepped into the room, the loud voices of Will and Sid arguing reached them. 

Because he was still unfamiliar with the language and his personality didn't quite mesh with the other two, Kojima seemed somewhat reserved. He sat quietly to the side, listening as they debated their ideas and occasionally nodding in agreement. 

As soon as Will saw Ethan enter, he struck the table and abruptly stood up, turning toward him. 

"Ethan, you tell us. Should Basil II's Byzantium focus on a Domination Victory or a Religious Victory?" 

Ethan helplessly spread his hands. 

"Why force players to play the game a certain way? Can't they pursue either route? Rather than specializing in one, why not design them to complement each other?" 

Noticing that the others had fallen into a familiar pattern when designing the character, Ethan quickly steered them in a new direction. 

"Ah, you're right. We were too stuck in our usual way of thinking and didn't consider other possibilities." 

The two stared at each other for a moment before finally realizing where they had gone wrong. 

"I've got it. How about this? Every Holy City converted to Byzantium's religion could grant Byzantine units +3 Combat Strength or Religious Strength." 

Once the discussion got moving, everything else began to fall into place naturally. 

Sam listened for a while, but it soon became clear that he wasn't going to get a chance to speak. So, without interrupting, he picked up the spreadsheet on the table and began looking through the list of civilizations they had already designed. 

But the more he read, the more confused he became. The contents were completely different from what he had imagined. 

There were no massive stat boosts or dramatic numbers. Instead, most bonuses amounted to just one or two points, making them seem almost laughably small. 

When Ethan finally finished the discussion and sat down across from him, Sam pointed to the spreadsheet. 

"Ethan, is this really going to feel satisfying to play? Aren't these bonuses a little too small?" 

"Take this one, for example, the Korean civilization's trait: mine adjacent to a Seowon gets +1 Science, while a farm adjacent to a Seowon gets +1 Food." 

"What can you even do with such a small amount of Science? It feels like there wouldn't be much difference between them and the other civilizations." 

Since each civilization was designed as a distinct faction, its strengths and characteristics should have been clearly different from the others. That was what made choosing between them so much fun. 

But the numbers on this sheet seemed to go completely against that idea. The bonuses were so small that they felt almost meaningless. 1

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