Early March in Tokyo carried the lingering chill of late winter. In Akihabara's electronics stores, Sega MD shelves buzzed with crowds, their popularity unwavering. In stark contrast, Nintendo's FC section was lackluster. The prime March spot for Konami's games, reserved for *The Goonies II: Fratelli's Last Stand*, stood empty, as if it had vanished from existence.
This was just the beginning. Keen players soon noticed Konami, a staple on FC release lists, was missing. Titles like *Gradius*, *Jackal*, and the anticipated year-end *Gradius II* had sunk without a trace. Nintendo's ban was a cold blade, severing all ties. To set an example, it even struck Hudson, a developer with a strained relationship with Nintendo. Their eagerly awaited port, *Star Soldier*, was halted mid-production, banned from release.
Nintendo's iron fist declared its unchallenged authority to the industry. Yet Hudson had a fallback, having developed *Star Soldier* for both FC and PC Engine simultaneously. Nintendo's crackdown left its March FC lineup with only Taito's *Kikukai Kai* as a notable third-party release, which met lukewarm reception.
Bandai, though less profitable on FC than Konami, held a lethal edge: its vast array of hot IP licenses. These, originally slated for FC cartridges, now flooded to MD, bringing Sega a massive potential user base—a move akin to arming the enemy.
At Konami's headquarters, President Kagemasa Kozuki's office was thick with tension. He clutched an unlit cigar, eyes locked on a market report and loss assessment, his face ashen. He hadn't anticipated Nintendo's Yamauchi would react so ruthlessly. Sega MD's threat had clearly exceeded his estimates. The report's red numbers for *The Goonies II* stung—high market expectations, prepaid cartridge production costs to Nintendo, now a bitter irony. Only *Contra*'s astronomical FC sales, bolstering Konami's cash flow, spared it from further cuts.
Kozuki faced two paths: absorb the massive losses from canceled key titles, redirect wasted R&D to MD development, or grovel back to Nintendo, begging Yamauchi's forgiveness and returning to FC under harsher terms. Yamauchi's vindictive nature meant returning would chain Konami to worse conditions, a permanent loss of leverage. Going back was surrender.
"Grit it out!" Kozuki crushed the cigar in the ashtray, eyes flashing with a gambler's resolve. Konami would bear the losses and bet everything on MD. His hatred for Yamauchi peaked—this feud was set in stone.
Nintendo's third parties watched Konami's plight with dread, fearing tighter control and similar punishment. Meanwhile, Bandai's headquarters buzzed with calm confidence. Facing Nintendo's ban, Bandai's president offered reporters a perfunctory regret, unruffled inside. Their FC game profits were modest; plastic models and character merchandise were the real cash cows. Nintendo's ban barely dented them, while Sega's robust technical support and lenient terms opened a vibrant growth avenue.
Bandai's boardroom hummed with excitement—a golden opportunity. With Sega's tech team aiding *SD Gundam G Generation* and the MD port of *Super Robot Taisen*, Bandai's developers, ever pragmatic, sniffed new prospects. A project lead, pointing to *Weekly Shonen Jump*'s latest *Dragon Ball* chapter, noted, "Toriyama-sensei's *Dragon Ball* is at its peak, with Goku, now grown, battling Piccolo Daimao at the first Tenkaichi Budokai—a thrilling climax!"
He highlighted the manga's intense fight scenes. "MD's hardware can deliver fast, exhilarating combat. With our *Super Robot Taisen* experience, a fighting game based on this Tenkaichi Budokai shouldn't be hard. Fans would jump at it." The idea ignited the room. They rallied veterans from *Super Robot Taisen*, fluent in MD's architecture, and borrowed Sega engineers on-site. A new project launched: *Dragon Ball: Tenkaichi Budokai*, a bespoke MD fighter leveraging MD's superior power and *Dragon Ball*'s soaring popularity to land a shocking Kamehameha in the market.
March passed in this tangle of Nintendo's struggles and third-party shifts.
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