In the audience, not a single console manufacturer dared to believe the number.
But the players and journalists in the crowd were ecstatic.
What a massive win!
A 32-bit console this cheap—even if it was sold at a loss—players would only be thrilled. This was a gamer's paradise. They would have preferred it to be given away for free.
Thus, a stark divide formed in the venue—
The game developers in the front rows stared in astonishment, declaring that Sony had simply gone mad. At such a low price, they would either fail to recover their costs or have quality issues. It was impossible to price it as low as 299.
Meanwhile, the players seated slightly further back and in the middle were cheering and dancing, as if celebrating Christmas early.
Sony's PS marketing strategy was a classic business war tactic: a pure price war, driving the price down to the absolute minimum to flood and monopolize the market, then profiting through game sales.
One could say it was quite brutal and detrimental to competitors.
But whether Sony was actually losing money was something Aoki Haruhi didn't know for sure. If Sony claimed they weren't subsidizing the cost, there was no way to prove otherwise. As long as the books balanced on paper, it was fine.
Seeing the expressions of the crowd, Kutaragi Ken flashed a rare, genuine smile.
Regardless of the future sales performance, at least today—this morning—belonged to Kutaragi Ken and Sony.
"Congratulations, congratulations."
As Kutaragi Ken stepped down, Aoki Haruhi offered his congratulations.
The latter was momentarily stunned, shook his head, and smiled bitterly. "Congratulations for what? This is only the beginning. The war hasn't even started yet, and we have no idea what the final outcome will be."
"Rest assured," Aoki Haruhi said, patting his shoulder. "I have confidence in Sony. Don't forget, I designed a part of this game console myself."
"Uh..."
At this moment, all the wrinkles on Kutaragi Ken's face seemed to come alive, each developing a mind of its own and wandering all over the place, before finally merging together to form a giant, awkward grimace.
"I hope so," Kutaragi Ken sighed.
Indeed, Sony and Pokeni were now in the same boat.
If the PS sold well...
Actually, Pokeni wouldn't make much money from it. Sony's strategy had driven the price down so low that it was practically at cost.
After taxes and concessions, whether they would ultimately turn a profit remained to be seen.
However, it meant a massive advantage for future game development.
After the pre-show press conference, countless people felt that this Chicago Consumer Electronics Show was truly worth the trip. It was more spectacular than any previous one. The main reason was that the sight of such a fierce, white-hot battle—a real-time, no-holds-barred clash—was simply too thrilling to watch.
Countless media outlets rushed to send out reports that very day, desperate not to be scooped by their competitors. By the next morning, the news was already splashed across all the major video game and electronics magazines.
[ Chicago Consumer Electronics Show: The Console War ]
[ Sony Unveils New Product: Crushes Competition with Ultra-Low $299 Price Tag ]
Of course, these were just the headlines Aoki Haruhi had mentally translated, as he had bought the English versions of the magazines from the newsstand. Reading English took a bit more effort, but fortunately, his English foundation from his previous life was solid. He could figure out the meaning of more obscure words by piecing them together with the rest of the text.
[ At this year's Chicago Consumer Electronics Show, major game companies from around the world have unveiled their newly developed 32-bit consoles, marking what can only be described as a Console War. ]
In this battle...
There was the 32-bit Sega Saturn from Sega, the 3DO...
But the most eye-catching of all was the PlayStation brought by Sony Corporation.
This console was said to be an improved version of a prototype developed in collaboration with Nintendo two years ago.
On-site, one could see these gaming giants pulling out all the stops, striving to seize dominance in the future console market...
And unexpectedly, Sony's PS announced a super-low price of just 299.
Aoki Haruhi saw a young man reading a newspaper, and when he reached this part, his eyes widened in shock.
"WTF?! 299? For real?"
This year was truly a historic turning point.
From this day forward, Sony would step fully into the spotlight and lead a new era of gaming consoles.
After the pre-show press conference ended, Sega's US CEO, Kalinske, immediately sought out Aoki Haruhi.
"Aoki-san, I heard Pokeni is involved in Sony's console development. Is that true?"
Aoki Haruhi frowned deeply, wondering which bastard had leaked the news.
"Yes, Sony wanted to develop a new game console, and we happened to have a need for new game development. So we asked if they could provide some hardware support based on our design. Overall, we proposed the requirements. You could say we participated in the design."
Fuck~
Kalinske cursed inwardly.
That fox, Aoki Haruhi... Does he think he's the one who's been wronged by saying it like that?
With just a few casual words, he's completely washed his hands of the whole thing.
"I didn't know you were developing a 32-bit machine beforehand," Aoki Haruhi said. "Sony approached us first, so we just went with the flow. After all, we're all in a cooperative relationship."
Kalinske opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.
"But..." Aoki Haruhi added reassuringly, "You shouldn't worry too much. When I was in Japan, President Nakayama and I had dinner and discussed the Sega Saturn. We're definitely still going to cooperate with Sega—after all, we have a common enemy. Don't forget, our goal is to defeat Nintendo."
Huh?
Hearing this, Kalinske's anger subsided slightly.
"President Aoki, I'd suggest you avoid tying yourselves too closely to 'friends' like Sony, who are so fickle," Kalinske said, stopping there without elaborating further. He exchanged a few more words with Aoki Haruhi before taking his leave. "I'll let you get back to your work. We look forward to collaborating with Pokeni."
Watching his hurried departure, Aoki Haruhi couldn't help but chuckle.
The guy's probably been caught completely off guard, he thought. He's rushing back to report the situation to President Nakayama and figure out their next move.
By comparison, Aoki Haruhi was the most relaxed person at the entire press conference—so relaxed that even Kazuma Takahashi, his own employee, couldn't stand it.
"President, how can you be so calm?" Kazuma Takahashi frowned. "I expected some drama at this electronics show, but I never thought it would be this explosive. It feels like watching a battle of the century from the front row."
Aoki Haruhi gave him an amused look.
Feels like?
It is.
"President, don't you see? Small companies like ours are just getting squeezed in the cracks. No, it's more like these giants are stirring up a vortex, and we're being dragged into it. If we're not careful, we could be in real danger," Kazuma Takahashi said.
"Nonsense. What danger could there be?" Aoki Haruhi shot him a sideways glance.
Seeing the President's unflappable composure, Kazuma Takahashi froze for a moment before a look of sudden realization dawned on him.
"President, have you noticed something we've missed?"
"Hmm, it looks like there are many competitors, but the outcome is already decided," Aoki Haruhi said. "This was always a winner-take-all game. In the end, it just comes down to who has the most money and who can burn through it the fastest."
There was nothing new under the sun—just the game of capital.
From the electronics field to the internet, and later to food delivery and ride-hailing in China... it was all built by burning money.
Sony had ample funds, clearly enough to crush the others. Combined with their own technological accumulation, the result was already a foregone conclusion.
"Ah... I see..."
Kazuma Takahashi lowered his head, lost in thought for a moment, then his eyes widened as he suddenly understood.
"By the way, President, why do you think Nintendo is so calm about all this?"
"They..."
Aoki Haruhi paused, his expression showing that the question had stumped him.
"Their philosophy is just too far ahead of its time. They probably aren't even interested in developing a 32-bit console right now."
At this time, Nintendo's Yokoi Gunpei seemed to be busy developing a VR game console.
However, taking too big a step could lead to a nasty fall.
Strategic blunders were always the most fatal.
Now that he finally knew the truth about the "Endgame," Kazuma Takahashi's heart was at ease.
The next day, he didn't overthink things. Following his president's example, he warmly welcomed everyone who came, not caring what they did, and focused all his energy on promoting their own platform.
The Pokeni booth wasn't very large, but it was packed with players. Many had come specifically to experience it. This was mainly because P Corporation was showcasing the sequel to last year's smash hit, Diablo.
Last year, Diablo had sold like crazy in the West. This had even boosted Sega's Mega Drive sales, pushing it to a staggering 4 million copies. The main reason was that players had never experienced this type of real-time combat, especially from a top-down perspective. More importantly, the entire world-building resonated deeply with Western players, giving them a strong sense of immersion.
By the time Aoki Haruhi reached their booth, he found the entire area completely surrounded by a dense crowd.
Seeing Aoki Haruhi, Kazuma Takahashi jumped up and down, waving frantically from the crowd.
"President! President!"
The crowd didn't understand Japanese and had no idea what Kazuma Takahashi was saying, but they all glanced over curiously in the direction he was waving. After a brief look, they turned back to watch others play Diablo II.
"President, someone is here to see you," Kazuma Takahashi said, squeezing through the crowd.
"Eh?" Aoki Haruhi was slightly taken aback. "Who is it?"
Following close behind Kazuma Takahashi were three Americans.
One of them wore glasses and was quite handsome. The other two bore a striking resemblance to each other, clearly brothers.
After a brief introduction, Aoki Haruhi learned that these three were the founders of a game company called Condor.
The two leaner men with long, narrow faces were the Schaefer brothers—Max and Erich.
The one with glasses, who looked a bit like Batman, was David Brevik.
Their company had just been founded the previous September. Initially, it was a studio specializing in porting games, but they were now planning to develop their own original title.
They also declared themselves fans of Pokeni, admitting to a fanatical obsession with Diablo.
"This game is exactly what we've been dreaming of," David Brevik said. "Getting to play Diablo II today is truly the happiest day of our lives."
"No, no. You're too kind," Aoki Haruhi replied with a smile.
His eyes were still fixed on David Brevik. He felt certain he'd heard the name before.
After a two-second pause, Aoki Haruhi watched the man grow more animated as he spoke, and a flash of inspiration suddenly struck him.
Holy shit!
David Brevik, the Schaefer brothers... aren't these the founders of Blizzard North?
Aoki Haruhi finally remembered.
Condor Game Company was the predecessor to Blizzard North—the very team that created Diablo. In his past life, this was the same group of people who had developed the legendary Diablo.
And now, the original creator of Diablo was praising Aoki Haruhi's own version of Diablo as a masterpiece.
What kind of experience was this?
Aoki Haruhi couldn't help but shake his head and laugh.
It's like the Dragon King biting its own tail.
Back then, the founders of Condor Game Company had exhibited their game at this very same Chicago Electronics Show. At the time, Diablo was still a half-finished prototype—and a turn-based game, no less.
A turn-based game? Can you believe that?
The inspiration for Diablo I did indeed come from the classic 1983 Roguelike game Moria. But by the 1990s, Roguelike RPGs were already considered outdated relics of a bygone era.
As a result, the outdated Diablo I naturally met with resistance everywhere.
At the time, David Brevik, the father of Diablo, attended the Chicago Consumer Electronics Show with the original Diablo I proposal in hopes of securing investment to develop the game.
It was at this very show that he encountered Blizzard, which was also working on outsourcing and porting projects. After a long chat with several of Blizzard's founders, they suggested that David Brevik turn Diablo into a real-time game.
This single conversation set the stage for two historic events:
First, upon returning, David Brevik did indeed discuss the idea with his colleagues, and they voted to change Diablo into a real-time roguelike. The process of making it real-time was, in retrospect, quite crude—the programmers simply sped up the animations, fast-forwarding the turn-based combat, which became the real-time system we know today.
Second, Condor Game Company accepted investment from Blizzard and became part of the company, eventually becoming the legendary Blizzard North. Blizzard North would go on to create the Diablo series, while the original Blizzard team developed Warcraft.
At this thought, Aoki Haruhi's mind went blank for a moment.
He never expected to see them here at the Chicago Electronics Show.
Hasn't history already been rewritten?
Without Diablo, why would you even think of attending an electronics show?
Could it be the great Steins;Gate...
The world lines converging?
"Actually," David Brevik said, giving a thumbs-up and pointing behind him, "we're exhibiting this time too. We brought a little game with us."
"Really?"
Aoki Haruhi's excitement surged, his curiosity piqued—
What could Condor, without Diablo, possibly create?