Chapter 1028 – Gbox
Feng Yu’s lazy nature prevented him from going up the stage to give a speech. Although the opening ceremony of Wind and Rain Games is grand and had invited many tyc.o.o.ns, Feng Yu wants to introduce Kameda Masao and Lin Tianming to them.
Most of the tyc.o.o.ns and representatives from various companies are there to congratulate Feng Yu. Still, there are some with looks of disdain and hatred.
One of the people who is showing disdain is Sony’s representative. He is also Norio Ohga’s a.s.sistant, Jun’ichi Inoue.
To Sony, Wind and Rain Games are their compet.i.tors in game development, and many of Feng Yu’s businesses are direct compet.i.tors with Sony.
Sony had lost to Aiwa in the music player industry. However, Sony still has PlayStation to bring in profits for them.
But now, Microsoft is entering the video game console industry. Microsoft felt they should upgrade themselves from being an office necessity to a lifestyle necessity. After all, the lifestyle product market is bigger.
Microsoft had wanted to support Sega, but Sega’s console is a failure, and there are too few game t.i.tles. They are not a match for Sony’s PlayStation.
If the consoles are not selling well, Microsoft, which is developing the operating systems for the consoles will not make profits.
So, Microsoft went to speak to Sony. Use our Microsoft operating system for your consoles, and we promise to develop the best operating system for your products.
But Sony felt Microsoft does not know about video games. Microsoft had helped Sega developed an operating system for their console, claiming to enable the console to go online. But what happened in the end? That console failed. The pre-sales had been ongoing for so long, and yet not many people ordered. Even if it is launched, it will also be a failed product. Maybe, they will not even recover their cost.
Sony does not want to work with Microsoft as they blamed Sega’s failure on Microsoft.
Thus, Sony rejected Microsoft and chose to work with Microsoft’s rival, Linux.
Linux system is free and is supported by many hardware and PC manufacturers. Once Linux developed to be as good as Microsoft’s systems, Microsoft sales will be affected.
What Sony did was considered a provocation to Microsoft!
Bill Gates is p.i.s.sed and decided to develop his own console to rival Sony! He wants to teach Sony a lesson!
The easiest way to enter a new industry is to acquire a strong company in that industry. At this time, the only video game console that can rival Sony is Nintendo. Nintendo owns around 40% of the market share, Sony owns more than 50%, and Sega and the rest makes up for the remaining.
Bill Gates drops Sega as he felt Sega could not compete with Sony and Nintendo, and he set his sights on Nintendo.
But Nintendo refused to be bought over by Microsoft as they are still making profits. Their cash on hand is more than 6 billion USD.
A company that is at its peak and has sufficient funds will not be acquired by another company.
Bill Gates is furious.
At around this time, Feng Yu went to look for Bill Gates and told him that about his intention of entering the video game console industry. He asked Bill Gates if he is interested in working with him.
Feng Yu had asked Aiwa Little Tyrant to develop a video game console. Still, he underestimated the technical difficulties of developing a game console and had invested too little money. As a result, Aiwa Little Tyrant’s technologies are about the same level as Sega Saturn.
Sega Saturn’s sales are less than 10 million units, losing to Sony and Nintendo. Even if Aiwa Little Tyrant developed their own console, the sales would not be good too. In China, video games are not as popular as the western countries and j.a.pan.
After all, Microsoft had worked with Sega before on their new console and has more experience than Aiwa Little Tyrant. Also, Microsoft can get the rights of many games. One of the reasons why Sega had failed is because they have too little games.
Bill Gates becomes interested after Feng Yu approached him. He sent Ballmer over for a site visit and realized Aiwa Little Tyrant do have good technologies. More importantly, video game consoles require DVD or CD technologies.
When it comes to DVD technologies, Wind and Rain Electronics is stronger than Sony. Microsoft felt Sega had failed because they had used outdated CD-Rom technologies!
Feng Yu is also a Microsoft shareholder, and it’s easier for them to work together.
Ballmer also knew Sony and Feng Yu are on bad terms. Feng Yu had bought Aiwa’s shares from Sony, and Aiwa had replaced Sony as the leader in the portable music player industry!
Sony also hated Feng Yu to the core! Now, Bill Gates is also looking at Sony the same way as Sony looks at Feng Yu. He can’t wait to see Sony’s video game console fails!
The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Furthermore, Feng Yu is someone who is on the same level as Bill Gates.
Feng Yu and Bill Gates have funds, technologies, and connections. These are their advantages, and if they developed a gaming console, it would surely replace Sony as the market leader!
Of course, Bill Gates hopes to teach Nintendo a lesson as well. After all, Nintendo had announced they would be working with IBM, and IBM is Microsoft’s rival in operating systems.
Ballmer had represented Microsoft to congratulate the opening of Wind and Rain Games and, at the same time, discuss the details of their cooperation on Gbox.
Bill Gates wants to name this console as Microsoft Video Console, and Feng Yu wants to call it Wind and Rain Console. Both sides gave in and decided to name the console as Gbox (Game Box).
But both sides still have not decided on the investment proportions, shares, etc. This will not be an easy negotiation as both parties have money, and both want to have the controlling shares!