The Storyteller
Banned
11:42pm
Friday, 3rd June 1988
Nintendo Headquarters
Minami Ward, Kyoto, Japan
There were days when Izumi Kenta hated his job – this was one of them.
Still, he thought. Overtime is overtime.
Filing yet another stack of legal papers away – just two more stacks to go – he turned to another small pile. Reaching for the first paper, he soon realised that, like the last pile, this pile would be about the company’s gaming machines. However, unlike the last pile (which dealt with the machines found in Video Game Arcades across the land), this one would be about the so-called ‘Home Consoles’… something which Kenta knew very little about.
“Izumi-san, I’m going to get some coffee. Would you like some?”
Kenta looked up to see one of colleagues, a young man in his mid-20s by the name of Inoue Junichi, looking at him expectedly. His first thought was to dismiss the offer, not being a big Coffee drinker. On the other hand, he was feeling rather tired…
“Does the machine provide Black Coffee?” he asked.
“I believe it does.”
Another few seconds passed before he decided he may as well take his colleague up on the offer. With that, the young man left.
Turning back to the papers, Kenta began the monotonous job of reviewing the text for any errors, legal or grammatical. The first few pages were mostly concerned with Nintendo’s existing home products, the Family Computer and its westernised counterpart ‘Entertainment System’, as well as a peripheral device for the Family Computer called the ‘Disk System’. Nothing seemed amiss, so he filed them away.
The next few documents were a tad more interesting, mostly concerned with Nintendo’s next home system, tentatively titled ‘Family Computer 2’. Of course, lacking any real knowledge of gaming, it was the fact that one of the proposed sound chips for the new device would be designed and produced by the Sony Corporation that caught Kenta’s attention. Still, everything seemed to be in order, so onward the documents went.
The next document, a more recent one, gave Kenta pause.
And here I thought CDs were for playing music.
His first thoughts upon reading the contract were that Sony was being asked to make a music player for the new ‘Famicom 2’, which seemed a strange thing to want for a gaming machine, but upon further reading, he discovered that apparently the idea was for Sony to create a device for playing games that would be stored on CD rather than the standard ROM Cartridge.
Kenta paused and rubbed his eyes. It was far too late to be doing this.
“Izumi-san.”
Junichi had finally returned with the Coffee.
“Thank you.” Putting the contract down, he reached for the plastic cup being held out for him and took a sip. He immediately regretted it when he realised just how hot it was, letting out a slight splutter. Junichi offered his concerns, but they were quickly dismissed.
“So…” Junichi began, trying to strike up a conversation. “Anything of interest?”
Kenta took another sip of Coffee before shaking his head slightly. “A few items concerning a new gaming console.”
“The Famicom 2?”
Kenta nodded and motioned towards the contract he had just been looking through. “It seems we will be having dealings with Sony, particularly with some CD-based device.”
“Like the one NEC are planning for their PC Engine?” was Junichi’s response. “May I?” he added, looking at the contract.
Kenta gave his assent, not entirely sure what the younger man was referring to. With that, Junichi picked up the papers and began browsing through them.
“You seem remarkably well informed about such things,” Kenta noted.
“My younger brothers both have great interest in these things,” Junichi replied. He flipped through to the next page. “I think my parents are beginning to wish I had chosen another company to work for, with the questions that are asked of me when I visit.”
Kenta took another sip of Coffee and reflected on his colleague's words. Despite his own unfamiliarity with home gaming, he was aware of just how popular it had become in recent years. Even his own daughter, now growing old enough to care about such things, was beginning to make noises about such things, mostly due to the words of her friends. He had just begun to wonder if perhaps he would end up buying a Family Computer by the end of the year when he noticed Junichi frowning slightly.
“Something wrong?” he asked.
“I’m not sure,” the young man replied. “Perhaps you should look at this.”
Kenta put the now mostly-empty Coffee cup on the desk and took the contracts back from Junichi. Junichi indicated the part that he had been looking at and Kenta began to read himself.
A few seconds later, he was glad he had taken the offer for Coffee after all.
“Is Mizunuo-sama still in the building?” he asked Junichi, referring to his direct superior.
“I believe so,” Junichi replied, glancing at his watch. “Though he may be about to leave.”
“Then get him quickly, before he does so.”
As Inoue Junichi left to do his bidding, Izumi Kenta started reading through the contract again in greater deal, hoping that this was just a misprint, otherwise tonight was going to be a very busy night. For, while he may not have understood the nuances of video gaming, he certainly understood concepts like ‘creative control’. He also understood just how much his superiors valued said control when it came to the games made for their systems.
And if he was reading this right, someone had given full creative control over the games made for this CD system to Sony.
–
Friday, 3rd June 1988
Nintendo Headquarters
Minami Ward, Kyoto, Japan
There were days when Izumi Kenta hated his job – this was one of them.
Still, he thought. Overtime is overtime.
Filing yet another stack of legal papers away – just two more stacks to go – he turned to another small pile. Reaching for the first paper, he soon realised that, like the last pile, this pile would be about the company’s gaming machines. However, unlike the last pile (which dealt with the machines found in Video Game Arcades across the land), this one would be about the so-called ‘Home Consoles’… something which Kenta knew very little about.
“Izumi-san, I’m going to get some coffee. Would you like some?”
Kenta looked up to see one of colleagues, a young man in his mid-20s by the name of Inoue Junichi, looking at him expectedly. His first thought was to dismiss the offer, not being a big Coffee drinker. On the other hand, he was feeling rather tired…
“Does the machine provide Black Coffee?” he asked.
“I believe it does.”
Another few seconds passed before he decided he may as well take his colleague up on the offer. With that, the young man left.
Turning back to the papers, Kenta began the monotonous job of reviewing the text for any errors, legal or grammatical. The first few pages were mostly concerned with Nintendo’s existing home products, the Family Computer and its westernised counterpart ‘Entertainment System’, as well as a peripheral device for the Family Computer called the ‘Disk System’. Nothing seemed amiss, so he filed them away.
The next few documents were a tad more interesting, mostly concerned with Nintendo’s next home system, tentatively titled ‘Family Computer 2’. Of course, lacking any real knowledge of gaming, it was the fact that one of the proposed sound chips for the new device would be designed and produced by the Sony Corporation that caught Kenta’s attention. Still, everything seemed to be in order, so onward the documents went.
The next document, a more recent one, gave Kenta pause.
And here I thought CDs were for playing music.
His first thoughts upon reading the contract were that Sony was being asked to make a music player for the new ‘Famicom 2’, which seemed a strange thing to want for a gaming machine, but upon further reading, he discovered that apparently the idea was for Sony to create a device for playing games that would be stored on CD rather than the standard ROM Cartridge.
Kenta paused and rubbed his eyes. It was far too late to be doing this.
“Izumi-san.”
Junichi had finally returned with the Coffee.
“Thank you.” Putting the contract down, he reached for the plastic cup being held out for him and took a sip. He immediately regretted it when he realised just how hot it was, letting out a slight splutter. Junichi offered his concerns, but they were quickly dismissed.
“So…” Junichi began, trying to strike up a conversation. “Anything of interest?”
Kenta took another sip of Coffee before shaking his head slightly. “A few items concerning a new gaming console.”
“The Famicom 2?”
Kenta nodded and motioned towards the contract he had just been looking through. “It seems we will be having dealings with Sony, particularly with some CD-based device.”
“Like the one NEC are planning for their PC Engine?” was Junichi’s response. “May I?” he added, looking at the contract.
Kenta gave his assent, not entirely sure what the younger man was referring to. With that, Junichi picked up the papers and began browsing through them.
“You seem remarkably well informed about such things,” Kenta noted.
“My younger brothers both have great interest in these things,” Junichi replied. He flipped through to the next page. “I think my parents are beginning to wish I had chosen another company to work for, with the questions that are asked of me when I visit.”
Kenta took another sip of Coffee and reflected on his colleague's words. Despite his own unfamiliarity with home gaming, he was aware of just how popular it had become in recent years. Even his own daughter, now growing old enough to care about such things, was beginning to make noises about such things, mostly due to the words of her friends. He had just begun to wonder if perhaps he would end up buying a Family Computer by the end of the year when he noticed Junichi frowning slightly.
“Something wrong?” he asked.
“I’m not sure,” the young man replied. “Perhaps you should look at this.”
Kenta put the now mostly-empty Coffee cup on the desk and took the contracts back from Junichi. Junichi indicated the part that he had been looking at and Kenta began to read himself.
A few seconds later, he was glad he had taken the offer for Coffee after all.
“Is Mizunuo-sama still in the building?” he asked Junichi, referring to his direct superior.
“I believe so,” Junichi replied, glancing at his watch. “Though he may be about to leave.”
“Then get him quickly, before he does so.”
As Inoue Junichi left to do his bidding, Izumi Kenta started reading through the contract again in greater deal, hoping that this was just a misprint, otherwise tonight was going to be a very busy night. For, while he may not have understood the nuances of video gaming, he certainly understood concepts like ‘creative control’. He also understood just how much his superiors valued said control when it came to the games made for their systems.
And if he was reading this right, someone had given full creative control over the games made for this CD system to Sony.
–
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