Before Takuya Nakayama could speak, Director Hoshino, who had remained silent until now, suddenly raised his hand.
"Before we discuss the R&D budget, I'd like to show you a freshly prepared investment return report."
He stood up and handed a thinner document to each person present.
When the directors saw the final profit figure at the bottom of the page, the air in the conference room seemed to be sucked out.
"This... this..." The director who had advocated for a reactive strategy pointed at the long string of zeros, his hand trembling. "This is..."
"Last month, under Executive Director Nakayama's precise forecasting and remote direction, we executed a large-scale financial operation involving the British pound," Hoshino Ichi said, his voice clear and steady. "This sum not only covers the majority of the next-generation console's development budget, but there's even surplus."
The only sound in the room was the collective gasp.
All eyes focused on Takuya Nakayama.
The gazes held shock, doubt, and most of all, disbelief.
Could this young man, who could create games that swept the world, also effortlessly harvest such terrifying capital on the unfamiliar battlefield of finance?
Takuya Nakayama met the assembled gazes and spoke calmly.
"The Super Famicom entered the market later, but it's catching up to us. It was we who defined the rhythm of the 16-bit war with the Mega Drive. Now, do you want us to hand over the hard-won lead we've fought so hard to secure, to trail behind Matsushita or Sony, breathing dust from their heels?"
He paused, his tone sharpening.
"The success of the Mega Drive was built on players' trust in Sega's spirit of innovation and challenge. If we stop here, waiting in place, we'll betray the trust of tens of millions of players worldwide who believe in us. Once that trust is lost, no amount of money can buy it back."
"As for being a late mover," he smiled, a hint of disdain in his expression, "our intelligence suggests that Matsushita's 3D0 may be priced extremely high. That price alone will ensure it misses the mainstream home console market. If we wait to see it fail before starting our own development, do you think we'll make it in time? The market window is fleeting."
"We won't be followers. We will be the ones who set the rules."
His resounding words echoed through the conference room.
The two conservative directors exchanged a glance, silently set down their documents, and chose to remain silent.
The final vote was a foregone conclusion.
With two abstentions, the proposal passed unanimously.
Sega's next-generation console project was officially approved.
Project Director: Takuya Nakayama.
As the meeting concluded, Takuya Nakayama exited the conference room, letting out a long sigh.
He knew that from this moment on, a new battle had begun.
His opponents were no longer limited to Nintendo; they now included every gaming giant worldwide eyeing the throne.
The day after the board meeting, Takuya Nakayama summoned Yu Suzuki, Yuji Naka, and Hardware Development Department Manager Nakamura back to the familiar conference room.
Unlike the solemn atmosphere during the initial briefing, today's air carried a sense of settled determination, like dust settling after a storm.
"The board approved it," Takuya Nakayama stated bluntly, wasting no time. "The project is officially greenlit, and the budget has been approved."
The three men showed no surprise.
Having worked with Executive Director Nakayama for years, from the Mega Drive to the esports tournaments, and through those legendary financial maneuvers, they had long grown accustomed to this young Managing Director turning seemingly impossible goals into reality.
The element of surprise had become an expectation.
"Now, we need to finalize the specific development criteria for the core hardware." Takuya Nakayama's gaze first landed on Yuji Naka and Department Manager Nakamura.
"First, the heart of this machine: the central processing unit, or CPU."
He looked at Yuji Naka, his tone unusually solemn. "Naka-kun, this time, the customization of the CPU will require your close collaboration with Department Manager Nakamura. I have only one core requirement: usability."
"I don't care how many transistors it has or how high its clock speed can go. What I need is a CPU that is friendly to developers. The instruction set must be simple and efficient, and hardware resources must be easy to access. We want small- to medium-sized third-party vendors to be able to get up and running easily, rather than being intimidated by a pile of complex development tools."
Takuya Nakayama deliberately emphasized his next words: "You were once responsible for optimizing the development environment for the Mega Drive, so you know better than anyone the pain points.
This time, you must eliminate these problems from the very source of chip design."
Yuji Naka nodded silently, his eyes sharp and focused behind his glasses.
He understood that the Executive Director was aiming to build, from the ground up, a third-party ecosystem for the new console that would be far larger and more robust than the one for the Mega Drive.
"As for the CPU's 3D processing capabilities," Takuya Nakayama shifted the topic, "Department Manager Nakamura, arrange to recall everyone we sent to Britain to collaborate with Argonaut Software on the Super FX coprocessor."
"Huh?" Department Manager Nakamura blinked in surprise.
"Those Brits are too inefficient. Our people are just wasting their time over there." Takuya's tone was calm, yet it carried an unmistakable air of decisiveness. "They've worked on the coprocessor and have firsthand experience with how CPUs handle 3D instructions. Bringing them into the new CPU development team will be a significant help."
He tapped his fingers on the table and added, "Once we bring them back, I'll have Director Hoshino find an opportunity to liquidate all our shares in Argonaut. Their technology is already outdated and lacks long-term value."
The three listeners felt a chill. The Managing Director's commercial instincts were always frighteningly sharp.
Finally, Takuya's gaze settled on Yu Suzuki, who had been fidgeting nervously throughout the meeting.
"Suzuki-kun."
"Yes!" Yu Suzuki immediately straightened up.
"Before the final custom chip is ready, I need you to prototype a machine using the chip's development version and other components," Takuya Nakayama said with a smile. "Of course, not a console, but your next-generation arcade motherboard: Model 2."
Yu Suzuki's eyes lit up immediately.
"You can think of it as a pre-release validation platform for our next-generation console," Nakayama continued. "On the Model 2, create a tech demo using our new approach—3D skeletons combined with 2D sprite graphics."
"This demo will serve two purposes: to test the actual performance of our new chip and to provide the most direct inspiration and data for the final optimization of the CPU instruction set. Your development experience will directly influence the final form of this heart of our system."
"Model 2... new architecture..." Yu Suzuki nodded slowly.
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