Chapter 22: Please dig at the corner of my wall

  Sega has been having a tough time in recent years, under the intense pressure from Nintendo, they can't compete for players, can't grab market share, barely surviving, living a very miserable life.

  Yang Yun had already noticed this at the Jingcheng Department Store, where Sega's counter was much smaller than Nintendo's, and the crowd gathered at the entrance mostly consisted of onlookers playing free games, whereas Nintendo's counter always had customers who were willing to spend money buying the Famicom console and additional game cartridges without batting an eye.

  Why? Nintendo is more fun and sells better! This is the same as shopping on Taobao, sorting by sales volume, looking at prices, buying what can be afforded, and then making a purchase. The stores and items that are ranked lower aren't even looked at... Chinese people have always liked to follow the crowd...

  Sega's life was bitter, it can be said that they were not born at the right time. This company founded by American Jews struggled in the United States and Japan for twenty years, but ultimately could not escape being acquired by the Japanese.

  In the early 1980s, Sega of Japan released a number of highly successful arcade machines and its first home console, which were sold simultaneously in Japan and North America. Unfortunately, due to the global downturn in the video game industry, it was severely beaten by Nintendo and collapsed in the North American market, only able to retreat back to Japan.

  In the late 1980s, Nintendo released the Famicom (FC) and it was a huge global success. Sega responded by releasing its own 8-bit console, intending to compete with Nintendo. However, Nintendo partnered with Sony and procured large quantities of high-quality components, gradually defeating Sega.

  And then the shocking North American video game crash of 1983 left Nintendo in a state of panic, prompting swift changes to their operating plan. Over several years, they tightened their grip on the Japanese market for video game software development, introducing the "Seal of Quality" and implementing stricter licensing policies for developers. This shift made Sega's library of games unable to compete, leaving Sega at a disadvantage once again.

  By 1989, in an attempt to escape the crisis, Sega took the lead and launched a 16-bit game console, with great ambition, selling 2 million units in North America. However, Nintendo still did not respond, refusing to engage in hardware upgrades competition, instead shifting the battlefield by launching the Game Boy handheld console, intending to lead the global gaming industry into a new trend, which once again caught Sega off guard.

  Sega was not willing to be the second forever, when they saw Tetris, they foresaw its prospects, and after contacting the copyright owners Yang Yun and Alexey, the flames in their hearts were reignited.

  The Game Boy combined with Tetris is a perfect match. Sega people see it very clearly, and once Nintendo takes it down, Sega will be even worse off.

  The best strategy should be to grab the patent rights of Tetris, even if we can't release a handheld console for the time being, and not let our arch-rival Nintendo have its way.

  Unfortunately, Sega's headquarters was very sensitive to Yang Yun's quotation. They hesitated for just a moment, and since Yang Yun's motives were not pure in the first place, they ultimately lost the Russian block and could only watch as Nintendo obtained the patent authorization. On their **, they triumphantly announced the release of new products and went global.

  Sega, which was one step late, felt the arrival of winter.

  Everyone in the industry knows that Nintendo's Game Boy with Tetris is a great help, and Sega's days are not going well!

  Yang Yun is not a savior, he came to find Shi Jia, and did not take into account the face of the party and the country, the idea of pulling Shi Jia brothers together, on the contrary, he wanted to take advantage of the fire to loot, preparing to find out if there are any cheap deals that can be taken on this second-generation ancestor.

  Nagano still received Yang Yun, this Japanese man was disheartened, seeing Yang Yun's spirited and proud appearance, he could only sigh, filled with envy: "Mr. Yang, congratulations to you, sold at a good price!"

  Yang Yun smiled: "Yongye Jun, there's an old Chinese saying that goes like this: 'If you miss this village, you won't find this store.'"

  Nagoshi said with emotion: "I know that all of this is our fault. If heaven gives us another chance, Sega will absolutely sign the contract without hesitation!"

  Yang Yun thought to himself, if Sega were willing to agree to this price, that would be a miracle! Does Sega have the money? Even if Sega had the money, they wouldn't sign with them, they're going after the next big thing!

  The two of them drank a few cups of tea and chatted idly. Yang Yun asked, "Yongye Jun, I quit my job at the Small King Company when I was young, did you know that?"

  Nagano nodded and suddenly remembered something: "Mr. Yang! I didn't expect that in just a few days, you've created another new game? It's really great, you're truly talented!"

  Yang Yun smiled and nodded, accepting the compliment: "Nintendo only signed a patent transfer agreement with my team for Tetris. As for other games, they didn't think much of them. Nagao-san, I'm a free man now..."

  Nagano's eyes lit up: "So, Mr. Yang is here to discuss the transfer of tank game patents?"

  Yang Yun shook his head: "The ownership of the tank game is in the hands of Xiaobawang Company, and I have signed a non-compete agreement with them. It's not possible for me to profit from the tank game now. What I want to discuss with you, Nagino-kun, are those game ideas that are still stored in my mind. Are you interested? Maybe we can make up for the regret of not being able to collaborate last time?"

  Nagano was somewhat excited: "Mr. Yang, I'm very interested. Does Mr. Yang have a detailed plan?"

  Yang Yun certainly has plans.

  After leaving the company of Little Emperor, he prepared to create his own computer software company, focusing on the field of entertainment games, with the same nature as Alexey's KTT Red Square Company, developing and operating its own copyrighted games.

  He is now short of neither money nor ideas, but experienced programmers and operators to help him get things done.

  All games are computer application software, all programmers and artists tap code, draw pictures, paste pictures, write out. A game requires multiple designs, push/rebuild, programming, testing, modifying BUGs, reprogramming, he can only be responsible for creativity and copywriting.

  After painstakingly making a game, it's not something that can be left unattended once it's made. There are too many external factors that determine whether it will be popular or not, and operations are another important aspect of it.

  For example, Tetris, if it wasn't for the Game Boy platform and was operated by Sega instead, probably wouldn't have reached sales of 100 million copies, a terrifying number, at most it would only be in the tens of millions.

  If Sega doesn't take over, considering China's current poor environment, Tetris will only be smashed into Yang Yun's hands, and it's likely that they won't even be able to capture the domestic market, let alone spread it globally.

  Yang Yun said: "Yong Ye, I want to create a game software company, solely owned by me personally, with no relation to Tetris at all. Then this company will develop games under the Sega Game Gear standard, and if necessary, can refuse to join Nintendo's quality management system, do you understand what I mean?"

  Nagano was shocked.

  The current gaming industry is divided into two factions, one of which is Nintendo's game console, with hardware suppliers such as Sony and Philips Sharp, bundled together using Nintendo's industry standard to account for 70% of the world's game developers, occupying more than 80% of the global gaming market.

  Another camp is led by Sega, with hardware suppliers being NEC and Jaleco. The number of game developers was very small because Nintendo tied up the game developers in an exclusive manner; once a developer joined Nintendo's camp, it was impossible to join Sega's embrace.

  Nagata was incredulous: "Mr. Yamauchi, didn't Nintendo impose any restrictions on you when they signed the contract for Tetris? Nintendo has extremely strict controls over Capcom and Konami - they can only develop five games per year for Nintendo, and all of the game cartridges must be manufactured by Nintendo's factories. And for each cartridge sold, Nintendo takes 60% of the net profit!"

  Yang Yun felt somewhat complacent: "Because the owner of Tetris is Alexey, and I'm just a nobody. In Nintendo's eyes, there are only Soviets; their views on Chinese people are still stuck in the barbaric era."

  This is actually a smokescreen. Yang Yun had thought of this when applying for Russian Square, and bringing in Aleksey as a shield was quite effective!

  "Nagoshi hastily said: 'Mr. Yang! Sega is absolutely different from Nintendo, I have been strongly recommending your talent to the headquarters all along, if you don't have any contractual constraints with Nintendo, the Sega camp would be very happy to welcome you to join us!'"

  Yang Yun corrected with a serious expression: "I can collaborate with Sega, but I won't join them. It's the same as how Capcom does it."

  "Nagano hastily apologized: "Misunderstanding! Misunderstanding! I assure you, Sega will definitely give you the best partner treatment, it will be beyond your expectations! When is Mr. Yang ready to start?"

  Yang Yun narrowed his eyes, looking at the Japanese man as if he were a delicious meal: "The game is all in my head, what I lack most now is game development personnel, I wonder if Mr. Nagano has any good staff to introduce?"

  Yes, I'm here to steal your sweetheart!

  Because he grasped Sega's pulse and could foresee that Sega would kneel down and beg: "Please dig my wall corner!"

  Sega had no choice, its camp was dwindling in numbers, and every good game designer had to be grasped tightly, let alone a genius like Yang Yun who could create Tetris.

  As long as it's not excessive, they are willing to satisfy any request Yang Yun puts forward.