After a few dull beeps, the call connected, and a powerful voice with a thick American accent immediately rang out.
"Takuya? I knew you'd call right away."
"Tom, it sounds like you're fighting a war over there," Nakayama Takuya said with a smile, leaning back in his chair.
"More troublesome than a war!" Tom Kalinske on the other end clearly wasn't joking. "The CES organizers just finalized the booth layout. I faxed it to you the moment I got it. We secured a pretty good spot—but the area is only a little over five hundred square meters."
"Five hundred square meters?" Takuya quickly did the math. It wasn't tiny, but considering what Sega planned to bring, it was definitely tight.
"That's right—only five hundred!" Tom emphasized.
Takuya lightly tapped the small "Sega" block on the faxed map, his expression completely calm.
"Five hundred is a bit small," he said into the receiver, as casually as if commenting on the weather. "But Tom, we don't need to cram everything in. We just need to put in the most essential titles."
There was a brief pause on the line. "Which ones?"
"Let's start with your side," Takuya leaned back further, settling into a more comfortable position. "How's Mark Cerny's Speed Chase coming along? Can you pull out a single stage and make a playable demo for the show?"
"A demo?" Tom's voice instantly perked up. "No problem at all! Mark's team is already in the final testing phase. Forget one stage—they'd love to haul the entire game over! That thing is—damn—it's explosive!"
"Good. And what about Universal Pictures? Did they agree to early exposure at the show, or do we have to wait until the film's release to sync promotion?"
"I haven't asked yet," Tom replied quickly. "I'll have Bernard talk to them right away. Don't worry—after the success of Captain Hook, the effect of that collaboration is still fresh. I bet they'd love for us to build hype early. Shouldn't be a problem."
"Excellent." With that settled, Takuya finally laid out his own cards.
"From Tokyo, I'll bring three things."
"First, the Sega-CD console."
"Second, the first trailer for Chrono Wheel."
"Third, live playable demos of The King of Fighters."
The line fell silent for several seconds.
Takuya could almost picture Tom Kalinske frowning as he mentally divided up the booth space.
"Takuya, with all that stuff, five hundred square meters won't be enough, will it?"
"Of course we won't pile everything into the booth," Takuya laughed. "Tom, the show has a main stage, right?"
"It does, but—"
"Get us thirty minutes of stage time," Takuya cut him off, his tone firm. "We'll do just two things up there: announce the Sega-CD, then play the Chrono Wheel trailer. Say a few words, whet everyone's appetite, and then we're done."
Tom immediately got it.
"You're planning to launch the Sega-CD and reveal Chrono Wheel on the main stage, and leave the booth purely for demos?"
"Exactly!" Takuya snapped his fingers. "The stage is for the media and industry insiders—for them to write articles, analyze, and marvel. Our booth is for the players."
He tapped the booth map on his desk. "Clear out those five hundred square meters. Put Speed Chase light-gun cabinets on one half, and fill the other half with The King of Fighters versus setups. We don't need to say a word. Let players line up. Let the roar of the machines and the screams of excitement be our best advertising."
Tom Kalinske went quiet.
The plan sounded clever—but it felt like something was missing.
It lacked Sega's usual flamboyant, sky-piercing bravado.
"Takuya, that's it?" Tom asked, genuinely surprised. "Hide the good stuff in the booth and wait for players to discover it themselves? That doesn't sound like you. When we launched the Mega Drive and the Game Pocket, we made sure the whole world knew."
"Times have changed, Tom," Takuya replied evenly. "This CES—I have a feeling something big is going to happen."
"Something big?"
"Yeah. Didn't you mention last time that Trip Hawkins and his people formed a new company called SMSG? Oh right, they're calling it 3DO now. My guess is they'll almost certainly show up with their prized console this time. And Nintendo—their SFC-CD project has been dragging on long enough. They might bring it out to show as well."
"Then shouldn't we go all out and crush them completely?!" Tom's voice rose instantly, back in his familiar rhythm. "We've got the Sega-CD, Chrono Wheel, and two arcade games that scream blockbuster! We should rent the biggest billboard, extend our stage time to two hours, and steal everyone's attention!"
"You won't steal it," Takuya chuckled softly. "Tom, our content speaks for itself. Once players get their hands on it, word of mouth will spread naturally. Instead of spending money on flashy hype, we're better off preparing more machines, letting players play a few more minutes, and selling some limited merch. That's what really matters. And besides—I have a hunch."
"What kind of hunch?"
"Don't rush. Take another look at that booth map. Where's Sony's booth?"
"Sony?" Tom muttered, momentarily confused. "Aren't they just selling TVs and Walkmans? Let me see—"
The sound of paper shuffling came through the line.
After more than ten seconds, Tom spoke again—but this time, his trademark booming voice was gone, replaced by restrained disbelief.
"—Wait. Something's not right."
"You see it?"
"Sony's booth—they're not packed in with Panasonic, Toshiba, and the other appliance makers. They've moved to the very edge of the consumer electronics zone—right next to—right next to our game publisher area!"
"Exactly," Takuya said calmly, without a hint of surprise.
Tom Kalinske's mind raced, a startling thought forming.
"Takuya… you once said Sony was developing the SFC-CD for Nintendo, and could even make a compatible machine themselves. And they've been poaching our people too—don't tell me…"
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