CH124 - Tokyo

When Ethan informed Hiroshi Yamauchi that he was moved by his sincerity and decided to accept his invitation to visit Japan for an inspection, the 49-year-old third-generation leader of Nintendo, now as lively as a flower, smiled and bowed excitedly. Despite Ethan's attempt to stop him, he eventually embraced Ethan with open arms to express his gratitude.

As this involved traveling abroad, Ethan had two things to take care of before departure.

The first was obtaining a passport, a simple matter that could be arranged either by Ethan himself or with Hiroshi Yamauchi's assistance. The second was hiring a translator. While Hiroshi Yamauchi was proficient in English and could communicate effectively with Ethan, it wouldn't be appropriate for him to act as a translator during their visit. After all, the head of Nintendo wouldn't want to be the translator, especially when language barriers could lead to misunderstandings.

And in the United States, it wasn't a straightforward task.

Don't ask why; it's a matter of cultural confidence.

Of course, with enough money, one could find a solution. After about four days of searching, Evelyn managed to secure the services of a Japanese language professor at Brandeis University, who was in his fifties. He had previously worked as a business translator for Ford in Japan before returning to the United States due to marriage.

Although Ethan wasn't certain about his Japanese proficiency, considering his five years of work experience with Ford, it was reasonable to assume that he would be competent.

With all preparations in place, Ethan and Evelyn flew back to Los Angeles from Boston on July 18, 1976. After a brief rest, the next day, they boarded Hiroshi Yamauchi's charter plane bound for Tokyo.

Simultaneously, upon hearing the news, Magnavox sighed in relief.

"Surely, after hearing about the MOS 6502, Hiroshi Yamauchi will do everything to obtain that chip. His dedication... truly worth learning from!"

The old man's words received nods from the slender and plump figures.

After expressing their sentiments, the old man urged, "Since Ethan has left North America, it means their company won't release new games for a while. We must seize this valuable time to acquire other game companies in the market! Simultaneously, instruct the R&D department to accelerate development, recruit more if necessary, and have the purchasing department directly contact Intel for chips!"

"Time is precious, okay?"

"We've failed twice already; we can't afford to fail this time!"

"Understand?"

"Of course!" the two figures responded promptly.

While Magnavox was reacting, Nolan Bushnell heard about Ethan's departure from Warner. As for the authenticity of the news...

Everyone believed it to be true!

Because, damn it, Spielberg shouted it out loud on set! In that moment, almost everyone heard it—Spielberg asked Ethan to help get two autographed photos of Akira Kurosawa!

Although Nolan Bushnell wasn't sure why Ethan left in good condition, he knew this was an opportunity. Gathering his subordinates, he yelled, "Quick, quick, contact Intel to buy chips!"

"Start with fifty thousand..."

"No! Start with a hundred thousand!"

"A hundred thousand 8080s!"

"Attention! Make sure to push the price below thirty!"

"And also! Make sure Intel keeps our business confidential!"

The sudden two orders left Intel bewildered.

At this moment, Gordon Moore, Intel's founder and CEO, couldn't fathom how his company suddenly received orders to purchase two hundred thousand 8080 chips?

Although he had confidence in their chips, seeingMagnavox and Atari as buyers...

He had a clue.

These two must have been driven insane by Ethan Jones.

If that's the case...

"Well, this money is surprisingly pleasant," Gordon Moore murmured.

Money is delivered to your door, so why not take it?

Gordon Moore gladly accepted the orders from Magnavox and Atari.

Of course, since the customers requested confidentiality...

He would respect their request! After all, two hundred thousand 8080s could bring in six million in revenue!

But not promoting it was impossible.

MOS chips were selling so well, that if Intel didn't speed up, they would explode, right?

So, after thinking about it, Gordon Moore instructed his subordinates, "Release the news. Say that Magnavox purchased several hundred thousand chips from us, expecting revenue close to ten million."

Exactly!

Atari asked for confidentiality, but Magnavox didn't!

In this situation...

Magnavox you take the blame!

Meanwhile, during Intel's frantic production process, after twelve hours of flying, Ethan finally arrived in Tokyo on July 21, 1976, Eastern Nine District time.

In fact, as the plane approached Tokyo, Ethan had already removed his eye mask. Through the plane's window, he looked down at the first major city in Japan. The dense buildings resembled a spider web but more like the shell of a turtle, spreading from the shores of Tokyo Bay, occupying almost all visible land.

On the sea surface of Tokyo Bay, countless ships shuttled back and forth like busy ants, toiling strenuously for the needs of their colony.

Since Evelyn was sleeping against Ethan, his act of looking down woke her up. As she opened her drowsy eyes and saw Ethan gazing out, she also turned to see the world below. She widened her eyes and exclaimed, "Is this a city?"

"Yeah," Ethan nodded with emotion, "Tokyo."

"The most populous city in the world. There are probably..."

"The population of Tokyo reached ten million a few years ago, and the entire metropolitan area now has twenty-five million people."

While Ethan and Evelyn were talking, Hiroshi Yamauchi, who heard the voices, also turned his gaze to the outside world.

Looking at the vast land, he also showed a sense of emotion on his face. "Perhaps it's because the population is too dense here; everything is flourishing."

When this statement came out, Ethan had some impressions of doing well in business. After all, when it came to discussing total sales, no one in the world had more experience than him.

But Evelyn had no concept of all this.

However, when they boarded the Toyota business car sent by Nintendo and ventured deeper into the Tokyo metropolitan area with Hiroshi Yamauchi, the congested traffic on the capillary-like roads, the multitude of figures on the overpasses, and the narrow designs of houses along the main roads that Nintendo favoured all vividly expressed the concept of a dense population.

When waiting for Hiroshi Yamauchi to order the driver to take the car to Akihabara, the electronics city of Tokyo, Ethan and Evelyn truly felt what the atmosphere created by a dense crowd was like.

Although Akihabara in this era didn't have the rich otaku culture of the future, the conspicuous neon lights were eye-catching, and the Nintendo logo, a green snake devouring an apple, was visible everywhere.

Standing at a crossroads, whether looking left or right, as far as the eye could see, there were figures of arcade games like Snake. Students on break, salarymen after work, the largest group stopping to consume in front of electronic game arcades.

They sometimes gripped the joystick tightly, their faces twitching in an attempt to achieve success;

Sometimes they waved in frustration, angrily declaring their failure;

Sometimes they inserted coins to try again, attempting to achieve a higher score;

Sometimes they sighed and seemed to complain about the difficulty of the game.

When these scenes appeared...

With every blink, you could see the image of money falling!

With every breath, you could hear the sound of money flowing!

Ethan admitted that, although he had lived two lives and witnessed too many astonishing things...

But...

The feeling of making money in front of him was truly incomparable in North America!

If not for the exchange rate, Ethan even felt that in this densely populated country, this was the true paradise for nurturing electronic games!

Because with more people, the atmosphere tended to rise!

Once the atmosphere rose, people easily got hooked!

"Is this the effect of selling thirty million in six months?" Looking at everything in front of her, Evelyn murmured, "This is more exaggerated than the prevalence in our country..."

As she spoke, she also glanced at Ethan.

At the same time, Ethan happened to look at her.

In this gaze, both of them saw a fact from each other's eyes—

This trip was indeed worthwhile!

Compared to cold hard dollars, the market in front of them was more desirable!

If possible, Ethan even wanted to take advantage of this moment to tease Hiroshi Yamauchi!

Agency?

Agency my foot!

I, Ethan Jones—Want them all!