Chapter 178: Something's Off - Part 1

"Ethan, where do you think the issue lies with this matter?"

Returning home that evening, Ethan shared the latest developments with Evelyn.

As he presented Spielberg's delivered consoles, the bewildered Evelyn inquired, "Oh, Ethan, I'm not quite sure what you mean."

"Isn't it a good thing that the COLOR TV GAME isn't a CPU-based console?"

"What's the problem with it being a circuit board game machine, similar to the Magnavox Odyssey?"

"After all, the Odyssey is the world's first commercially available home video game console. It's natural for others to unconsciously imitate it when they aim to follow its lead."

From Evelyn's perspective, Ethan's alarm seemed peculiar.

Their primary concern upon learning about Nintendo's COLOR TV GAME had been the design philosophy of the machine. If it bore similarities to the New Generation and Apollo, then they would be in significant trouble, indicating that Nintendo had leapfrogged them in the gaming project domain, following Atari and Magnavox.

But once confirmed that COLOR TV GAME was merely a circuit board arcade, that threat should have naturally dissipated, leaving no reason for Ethan's nerves. At least, Evelyn saw no need for such tension, "because our progress should match Nintendo's if they aimed to develop a CPU-based console."

"No, No, No…" Ethan, however, shook his head, explaining, "Evelyn, it's precisely because Nintendo produced a non-CPU console that there's an issue."

"What?" Evelyn's forehead creased in confusion, failing to grasp Ethan's point.

Ethan earnestly looked at her, asking, "Tell me, when we visited Japan last year, didn't Nintendo's president, Hiroshi Yamauchi, explicitly state that even if we rejected them, they would do everything possible to secure the distribution rights for the MOS 6502 chip in Japan?"

"Yeah~"

Evelyn nodded, remembering, "For that, he even took us to see his... ancestral home?"

"Right! He even showed us his ancestral home!" Ethan emphasized, "When he was so desperate to acquire the chip, doesn't it imply he believed chips were the future? If he didn't think chips were the future, there would be no reason for him to obsess over securing the distribution rights, right?"

Evelyn paused for a few seconds, pondering his rapid-fire questions.

After a moment, her eyes narrowed.

"I understand what you mean now." Evelyn spoke, "Ethan, you're suggesting that when someone believes chips are the future, they wouldn't pursue a machine like the Odyssey, especially since the Odyssey didn't sell well in North America."

"Bingo!" Ethan snapped his fingers, "That's exactly my point!"

Ethan found Nintendo's current actions strange. After acquiring the rights to produce the MOS 6502, why would they then create a circuit board game machine?

It made no sense.

If circuit board game machines were the present answer, and the Magnavox Odyssey had caused a sensation, leading to a trend, then Nintendo creating a circuit board game machine would be perfectly reasonable.

But the issue was Magnavox wasted three years on the Odyssey, pushing global shipments to just 350,000 units.

Even with a gross profit margin of fifty percent, such low shipments over an extended period wouldn't justify the project for Nintendo.

Not to mention, the project's gross profit margin wasn't even thirty percent.

When the production cost of multi-game circuit boards was around thirty dollars, spending time on circuit board game machines was indeed less appealing than developing arcade machines.

After all, Nintendo owned venues, maximizing their profits from arcade operations.

Thus, when Ethan discovered that COLOR TV GAME wasn't a CPU-based console but a circuit board game machine, a wave of confusion washed over him.

"Honestly, I feel that Hiroshi Yamauchi and his team must have been working on the COLOR TV GAME home console before securing the MOS 6502 authorization last year. Or, when the COLOR TV GAME closely resembles the Odyssey..."

Ethan trailed off, hesitant to voice his worst suspicions, but after a pause, decided to lay out the direst outcome, "They might have also secured licensing for the Odyssey."

Such words caused Evelyn to close her eyes and lean back into the soft embrace of the sofa, her nerves tensing at the sudden realization, forming connections that clarified everything, "You mean, Nintendo learned of the MOS 6502 from Magnavox?"

"Our trip to Japan was actually orchestrated by Magnavox?"

"At that time, Magnavox was already developing a CPU-based home console. Fearful of us releasing new groundbreaking games like 'Pac-Man,' they sought to distract us from North America, giving themselves ample time for research and release?"

"And the evidence is…"

Evelyn opened her eyes, her gaze sharp as she looked at Ethan, "Before we left North America last year, Magnavox had already been aggressively acquiring game companies?"

Although Evelyn phrased her insights as

 questions, her words were filled with certainty.

"Yeah—"

Ethan was pleased his sister understood him.

He looked at her squarely, adding, "If I remember correctly, we already found Magnavox and Atari's acquisition behavior strange back then, didn't we?"

"They had no need to aggressively push business operations right before the bicentennial celebrations when society at large was in a celebratory mood."

"We thought they were taking advantage of the situation, but now it seems... they wanted to complete some acquisitions while public attention was elsewhere."

"And soon after we caught wind of this, Hiroshi Yamauchi appeared."

"Back then, we were unsuspecting, thinking it might have been a coincidence, but now it appears..."

Ethan pressed his lips together, his inference clear.

Evelyn picked up the thread, "It does seem premeditated."

"He said he was in Boston to watch a sailing event, which seems specifically mentioned for us, knowing your interest in sailing."

"Then, he actively invited us to Japan."

"And that trip cost us over a month."

"By the time we returned, there was trouble at the factory, and you were tied up with those issues for a long time. If it were just that, it would be one thing, but the most fatal aspect is..."

"You've mentioned the instigator behind all these incidents has yet to be found?"

Evelyn's serious gaze locked with Ethan's.

And Ethan...

He simply nodded with a smile.

"Yes, my dear sister, those instigators have yet to be found."

Their eyes met, suspicions rising.

At this moment, they felt everything they had experienced was utterly off!

They believed the series of what could be called accidents appearing one after another...

Actually couldn't be called accidents anymore!

It's just that at the time, they couldn't find a logical explanation, and those issues had to be addressed, so they had to push the causes to the back of their minds. Now, with Nintendo unveiling the COLOR TV GAME, a product strikingly similar to the Magnavox Odyssey...

Ethan Jones felt all the accidents were orchestrated!

If Nintendo was brought in by Magnavox...

Then the coincidences all made sense!

"They've been targeting us from the start! They want to crush us with a CPU-based console! They need a flawless victory! That's why they did everything possible to hold us back, preventing us from developing new products!" Ethan took a deep breath, voicing his speculation with a heavy tone.

"As to whether Atari and Magnavox are in cahoots?"

"I don't know."

"But I now believe these incidents were all their doing!"

Despite lacking evidence, the rational speculation still had Evelyn nodding along.

After connecting the dots, she truly felt Ethan's reasoning made sense.

However, moments later, her face brightened with a smile.

"Ethan, if all the accidents we've experienced were Magnavox and Atari's machinations, then our current success is even more impressive, isn't it?"

"Under their siege, we still managed to create 'Star Wars'?"

"Wow..."

"That sounds really cool!"

The girl gleefully winked at Ethan.

At this moment, she genuinely admired her brother, whom she had teased for many years, for his incredible achievements.