Chapter 153 PlayStation
Outside Su Yuanshan's office was Zhou Xiaohui. As the actual "first secretary" of Yuanxin, Zhou Xiaohui now primarily handled coordinating administrative office affairs, although her own office was still right outside Su Yuanshan's door.
After inviting Kutaragi Ken, Su Yuanshan picked up the phone again, thought for a moment, then put it down. He walked out of his office and pushed open Zhou Xiaohui's door, smiling as he said, "Sister Xiaohui, help me request a guest list from the government for the upcoming software exhibition."
The provincial government's software exhibition had been discussed since last year, but it wasn't officially finalized until last month—perfectly missing the opportunity for Yuanxin to invite the "Eight-Nation Alliance" to the provincial capital.
Because of this, the Technology Bureau had even called to complain.
But honestly, the provincial government couldn't really blame Yuanxin. They wanted to host a software exhibition and even wanted to put "World" in front of its name. Infrastructure and other elements couldn't afford to be sloppy—Yuanxin simply couldn't wait.
At that time, not only did the provincial capital lack a professional exhibition hall, but even basic infrastructure was still severely outdated. In Su Yuanshan's opinion, there simply were no conditions to host a software exhibition.
But what Su Yuanshan thought didn't matter—new leadership had come in, and one of their first priorities was science and education-driven prosperity. The software exhibition was the first "fire" of the year.
This "fire" had to burn, no matter what.
After much consideration, starting early in the year, the provincial government began actively collaborating with overseas professional exhibition companies, seeking joint ventures to build an international exhibition center. Simultaneously, they prepared for this year's software exhibition.
In the end, they decided to hold the exhibition at the stadium.
However, hosting a computer-related exhibition required more than just a venue—power supply was crucial. Only after ensuring everything was ready did they finally set the date: November 14.
The timing was perfect—just past the rainy season, entering early winter, when the weather was cool and pleasant.
As the leading tech company in the provincial capital, Yuanxin was, of course, notified immediately and received special attention from the Technology Bureau, who asked them to fully embrace their leadership role.
And the reason invitations were sent out six months in advance was to give software companies enough time to prepare—so they wouldn't be empty-handed at the exhibition.
"Okay," Zhou Xiaohui quickly picked up the phone, placing it between her ear and shoulder as she typed "Technology Bureau" into her computer. Instantly, all the relevant contacts and information popped up.
Naturally, Yuanxin was using Xinghai CRM.
This customer management software, developed two years ago by Xi Xiaoding out of boredom while in Silicon Valley, had quietly captured most of the domestic market after several expos, becoming another major cash cow for Xinghai. Calling it a cash cow might be a bit much, but it was certainly drought-proof and flood-proof.
Twenty minutes later, Zhou Xiaohui walked in with a long fax list.
Su Yuanshan was startled at first sight: "Don't tell me they faxed it over?"
Zhou Xiaohui laughed, "Of course! The fax machine rattled for ages—I thought it broke."
Shaking his head and thinking about how much more convenient the future would be, Su Yuanshan joked, "We should bill the Technology Bureau for all the fax paper they made us waste."
—Not that the paper itself mattered; the real hassle was counting everything.
Su Yuanshan scanned the faxed list and found that it was indeed very "international" this time. About half the invited companies were foreign, including giants like Microsoft, IBM, and Sun Microsystems.
As for the domestic side, about half were major universities with achievements in computing.
As for private companies... not many. Among the notable ones were a few from Hong Kong and Taiwan, and from the mainland, the only prominent names were Yuanxin Group, Kingsoft, Huayuan, Gaoruan, and Giant...
Looking at the list, Su Yuanshan couldn't help but admire the leadership's cleverness.
Currently, the domestic computer market was primarily concentrated in enterprises and schools. With this setup, even if foreign giants thought the domestic market was too small, they wouldn't want to miss this "targeted customer group" and would actively participate.
As for domestic software companies... if they didn't have anything impressive to show, well, they'd just accompany the "old monks playing chess"—killing time.
"It's still all about political performance..." Su Yuanshan laughed, picking up a pen and the phone at the same time.
The next day, Kutaragi Ken and his assistant arrived early, and Su Yuanshan welcomed them warmly.
In the early winter sun, although the breeze was occasionally chilly, under the warm red sun, the air was refreshingly pleasant.
Su Yuanshan and Kutaragi Ken walked ahead, with Zhou Xiaohui and the assistant following behind.
"Mr. Kutaragi, may I ask how many partners you currently have?" Su Yuanshan asked as they strolled under the grape trellises, twirling a dead vine in his fingers. By now, he no longer bothered to hide the fact that he spoke Japanese fluently. In fact, after some intense studying, his Japanese was good enough for normal conversation.
The reason for his question was simple: he knew that after Sega's decline, Nintendo dominated the console gaming market. That was why Nintendo had so unceremoniously kicked Sony aside.
Although Sony's overall size was much larger than Nintendo, in the gaming industry, Sony was a newcomer. It was like a fresh character in the newbie village getting ambushed by a max-level boss. Naturally, Sony couldn't expect much support.
In the previous timeline, Sony, fueled by a sense of injustice, had poured enormous subsidies into securing game developers, launching the PlayStation with a ferocity that eventually succeeded.
Hearing Su Yuanshan's question, Kutaragi Ken paused.
After a few seconds of contemplation, he smiled bitterly, but quickly steeled his expression: "We believe the number will grow."
"I believe it too," Su Yuanshan chuckled lightly, feeling more assured. "After all, PlayStation has the most powerful 3D capabilities. It just needs time for people to accept it."
"Exactly." Receiving Su Yuanshan's affirmation made Kutaragi Ken very happy.
"But the shorter this acceptance process, the better," Su Yuanshan said, tossing the dead vine aside and smiling. "Have you received the invitation for the upcoming World Software Expo in November?"
Kutaragi Ken looked puzzled about how a software expo related to PlayStation.
"I'm quite familiar with domestic software companies," Su Yuanshan said. "Among the participants this time, several have strong potential. They may not have their own major products yet... but they could become your partners."
Kutaragi Ken looked increasingly surprised.
"You mean, cooperate with domestic software companies?"
"Exactly." Su Yuanshan smiled.
He couldn't help but sigh internally.
Domestic piracy was inevitable. It had not only crushed single-player games but also greatly harmed the entire legitimate software industry.
Su Yuanshan had no particular love for games, but it was clear that gaming could indirectly support the growth of domestic software development.
Before the Internet wave fully hit, before business software could go global, pushing gaming abroad was a necessary compromise.
At the very least, it could feed a generation of programmers.
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