Chapter 176: False Alarm? A Trap? - Part 1

"COLOR TV GAME 6?"

"What in the world is this thing?"

Ethan Jones's brow furrowed, his eyes filled with endless surprise.

He couldn't find any past-life memory related to this device in his brain! In his recollection, wasn't Nintendo's first game console the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)? And when was that? After the Atari crash, in the mid-80s? With "Mario Bros." as their flagship title, they dominated all competitors from Japan upon their debut and then swept across the entire world with unstoppable force.

Because Nintendo was overwhelmingly powerful in that era, being the first in the gaming industry to trample over other game manufacturers, Ethan Jones, a gamer himself, had this history down pat. But now... before the NES, Nintendo had other console products? This... this was news to him! Did his butterfly effect cause this? Or was this console an original part of history?

Ethan Jones was baffled, genuinely struggling to grasp the situation.

But when he forced down the astonishment and unease in his heart, and after scrutinizing the content on the newspaper, the report, set in black on a gray background, made his eyelids twitch! The report stated:

"As Destiny Game's 'Star Wars' sets the American gaming market ablaze, drawing countless individuals to the streets to play, our editors became curious about the historical achievements of Ethan Jones, the game developer. In our memory, every game released by Ethan Jones has detonated across the North American continent, his creativity and imagination leaving us in awe..."

"While gathering information and attempting to compile Ethan Jones's real achievements since his debut, we discovered that the two games he launched before 'Star Wars' had already successfully penetrated overseas markets, taking root in Japan. To ensure comprehensive data, we specifically contacted media in Japan and then received astonishing news..."

"Two months ago, 'Snake' was still a bestseller in Japan, dominating the gaming market like a titan, with its green serpent visible in almost every city. But since the beginning of last month, June 1st, its popularity was completely overshadowed by Nintendo's new products, COLOR TV GAME 6 and COLOR TV GAME 15..."

"Given the straightforward names of these products, we won't delve into what they are. The numbers following their names indicate the number of games included with the console..."

"Since these products are currently only sold in Japan, we hadn't received any samples before publishing this article. However, according to Japanese media, these products sold out immediately upon release, receiving widespread praise for both the machine's performance and the game content..."

"What the Japanese public loves most, however, is their price. The COLOR TV GAME 6, which includes six games, is priced at 9,800 yen, while the COLOR TV GAME 15, with fifteen games, is sold for 15,000 yen..."

"Just mentioning these prices may not convey their affordability. Thus, we inform you that the average annual income in Japan last year was 1.52 million yen. Purchasing a COLOR TV GAME 15 only costs about one percent of their annual income. Perhaps this is why their sales might have surpassed 100,000 units within a month?"

"However, even if their sales are good, we're not worried about Nintendo entering our country like Toyota, Honda, or Nissan, because we have Ethan Jones and Destiny Game. Once 'Star Wars' arrives in Japan, I believe everyone there will be won over."

Though the entire article was written from a perspective that praised Destiny Game, and though Ethan Jones was lauded throughout the piece, when phrases like "sold out immediately upon release" and "sales already exceeded 100,000" appeared before Ethan, he felt as if a heavy hammer from the void struck him hard on the back of his head! Indeed, a console selling 100,000 units might not seem significant in the future, where bestsellers ship by the millions, but this is 1977!

In an era before the internet, when information dissemination still took time, and game distribution couldn't break away from physical media, a home console selling 100,000 units upon launch?

This was indeed a market explosion!

"What's going on?"

"Can someone tell me what's happening?"

Ten minutes later, in the Destiny Game's meeting room.

Ethan Jones, brandishing the newspaper in his hands, angrily questioned the company's financial director: "Alan Massey! Aren't Nintendo's financial reports supposed to come monthly, quarterly, annually?"

"They've been using the MOS 6502 chip on such a large scale, how come we didn't know about this? Did you not report this to me, or did they not reflect it in their financial statements at all?"

"Ah?!?!"

Ethan Jones roared in fury!

After a few seconds' pause, he continued, "I know this is my personal business! But I also set up a separate salary for you to handle this part of

 the business, right?"

"After such a significant anomaly, you didn't think to notify me?"

Ethan Jones was so agitated he stumbled over his words.

Up to this point, Ethan Jones had two aspects of collaboration with Nintendo, involving the content management of "Snake" and "Pac-Man," and the hardware production of the MOS 6502 chip.

Among these, the "Snake" agency belonged to a personal collaboration between Ethan Jones and Nintendo. When the contract was signed, "Snake" hadn't registered copyright but applied for temporary patent protection legally. The applicants were Ethan Jones and Evelyn Johnson, two independent individuals, so the revenue from this was considered their personal income, not processed through the company's accounts.

Later, when Professor Barbara Babcock informed them that Disney had succeeded greatly by registering copyrights in the company's name for better legal protection, Ethan Jones had Eulise Noble register copyright for "Snake" under the company's name.

Even if the copyright holder changed, the nature of the previously signed contract remained unaffected, especially since the company was theirs. Thus, the revenue from "Snake" in Japan's arcade business still belonged to the personal income of Ethan Jones and Evelyn Johnson, making it inappropriate for the company to manage these accounts.

However, considering hiring an accountant troublesome and with the current copyright of "Snake" under Destiny Game, having an independent accountant manage his personal income would inevitably require multiple interactions and communications with the company, which seemed too cumbersome. Therefore, after learning that California's employment regulations didn't prohibit company finance personnel from managing other business for the boss, he continued to entrust these tasks to Alan Massey and opened an additional salary for him. The same went for the MOS 6502.

In Ethan Jones's view, this centralized management allowed him to effectively stay informed about all matters without constantly summarizing reports from different sources. Thus, when he discovered Nintendo had launched a home console, his instinctive reaction was to seek accountability, asking Alan Massey how he reviewed the financial statements.

And when that angry questioning arose, Alan Massey appeared very wronged.

"Boss, this has nothing to do with me!"

"The 'Pac-Man' and MOS 6502 agency contracts were signed last August!"

"In the financial statements I've received over the past ten months, they haven't been officially produced! As for why... that's what you told me, saying they mentioned factory construction takes time. Moreover, they knew 'Pac-Man's launch would impact 'Snake's revenue, so they decided to officially release the arcade version of this game after August this year..."

Alan Massey spread his hands.

Although his father had worked for Ethan's uncle, Evelyn's father Thomas Johnson, for many years, it didn't mean he was willing to take the blame for this inexplicable situation.

And his words momentarily stunned Ethan.

Then, slapping his forehead, Ethan sat down.

Right!

During last year's negotiations, Hiroshi Yamauchi indeed mentioned wanting to "squeeze every last drop" from "Snake." He wouldn't launch the "Pac-Man" arcade version while "Snake" was popular in Japan. He planned to introduce the new game after "Snake's" daily sales began to decline.

That timeline was supposed to be one year.

Specifically, August 1977.

More importantly, Japan didn't have its own advantages in CPU production. MOS Technology managed to reduce the cost of chip production because they used PerkinElmer's new equipment, not Kodak's old stuff, for projecting circuit diagrams onto wafers. While it was easy to purchase this equipment in America, shipping it to Japan required a series of approvals. Nintendo and MOS Technology could handle all this, but it would take time. By the time those machines arrived in Japan, at least half a year would have passed, so actual production was expected to begin this year.

When he heard these arrangements, Ethan had no objections.

Because Hiroshi Yamauchi assured him, even if the "Pac-Man" arcade version hadn't sold, they would pay him a sales commission for a hypothetical shipment of 10,000 units when settling last year's half-year revenue, to show Nintendo's immense sincerity.

But now...

Where was the sincerity?

Nintendo had developed its home console without his knowledge?

But that didn't make sense either.

Without access to the MOS 6502, how did Nintendo manage to develop the COLOR TV GAME 6 and COLOR TV GAME 15?

Ethan Jones was perplexed.

He thought, even if Hiroshi Yamauchi wasn't thinking clearly, he wouldn't go as far as to purchase chips from others to produce home consoles after acquiring the production rights for the MOS 6502, would he?

"Sorry, Alan, I was too angry."

Realizing this, Ethan Jones immediately apologized to Alan Massey.

"Oh, boss... it's okay... I was also quite shocked..." Alan Massey shook his head and waved his hand, saying, "Nintendo's emergence of this console is too bizarre."

As Alan Massey said

, at this moment, Ethan Jones felt like the people at Nintendo were like ghosts, mysteriously releasing two home consoles.

Since those consoles are currently only sold in Japan, with no products available in North America, hardly anyone knows their real situation. Therefore, Ethan Jones asked Eulise Noble to immediately contact the newspaper that published the news, hoping to obtain more information.

Soon, the editor of the "San Francisco Chronicle" was invited to Destiny Game.

Unfortunately, their information couldn't satisfy Ethan—