"Put the Japan Team in the ga," Takuya Nakayama said with an unyielding tone. "If the national team actually qualifies, the whole country will celebrate, and our ga will benefit from the publicity. And if—" He paused, then spread his hands. "If they don't qualify, then all of Japan's football fans will need this ga even more. Because only in our ga can they control the Japan Team and lift the World Cup trophy."
"So... this is... 'spiritual consolation'?" Hiroshi Ono said, suddenly understanding.
"Sothing like that," Takuya Nakayama replied, nodding uncertainly.
Hiroshi Ono and the others huddled together, exchanging quick glances.
Developing a sports ga was straightforward when it ca to the underlying collision detection and physics feedback logic—they were experts in that. That wasn't the real challenge.
The real challenge lay beneath the surface: the data that powered the ga's core chanics.
"Managing Director, the frawork and AI are solid. Whether it's the hard lock after a clearance or the goalkeeper's reaction ti, we can fine-tune those behaviors," Hiroshi Ono said, his brow furrowed. "But with 24 teams and hundreds of players... The data for powerhouses like Brazil and Italy is manageable. But where do we get the stats for African and Middle Eastern teams? We can't exactly squint at newspapers and guess. Just gathering this information would bury our dozen-person team under the workload."
Takuya Nakayama chuckled at this, his fingers tapping crisply against the redwood desk.
"Don't worry about that. Every trade has its experts." Takuya seed suprely confident. "I'll have Director Yoshikawa handle it. He has excellent connections with governnt departnts and major associations. Getting the Japan Football Association to provide technical guidance and player data would be free publicity for them—they'd jump at the chance. As for the expenses involved..."
He swept his hand grandly. "Any amount, as long as it's for establishing data channels—I'll approve it all."
Hearing the words "unlimited budget," Hiroshi Ono swallowed hard.
"But this money isn't being wasted," Takuya said, his smile fading. He leaned forward slightly, his gaze intense as he stared at his subordinate. "Do you know why I'm willing to spend so much on this project?"
"To... ride the wave of next year's popularity?" the planner ventured cautiously.
"Popularity is fleeting," Takuya replied, his tone turning serious.
Drawing on his experience from his previous life, he knew that in the lucrative Western market—the world's strongest gaming market—the most consistently successful genres were cars, guns, and sports.
Sega already had car and gun gas; all they lacked was sports. Now was the perfect ti to enter the market.
He paused, then drew a circle on the table with his finger. "Early investnt in intelligence networks and data might seem like throwing good money after bad, but once this pipeline is established, it becos our exclusive moat. When other companies see the profits in football gas and try to muscle in on our territory, the sheer volu of precise, proprietary data we possess will keep them out in the cold, eating dust."
Hiroshi Ono listened, stunned, his pen flying across the page. This "moat" strategy was entirely new to him as a pure technologist; it was sothing he'd never even considered before.
"And the most crucial point..." Takuya suddenly rembered sothing, tapping his fingers on the table, his tone turning serious. "Our ga absolutely cannot include 'World Cup' or 'FIFA' in its title, and the trophy in the ga must not resemble the World Cup trophy."
"Huh? Why not?" Hiroshi Ono paused his pen. "Wouldn't that make it more imrsive?"
"FIFA has already sold the exclusive rights to EA in the United States." Takuya grimaced, rembering EA's monopolistic behavior in his previous life, a glint flashing in his eyes. "But that doesn't stop us from making money. EA got the shell of the tournant; we'll go after the at of the content."
"Your mission is to secure licensing agreents with as many national teams as possible. We only need the real team nas and permission to use their uniforms. That's all we need."
Takuya stood up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window. "As long as the players on the screen wear the uniforms of their favorite teams, players won't care if the trophy they raise has two fewer decorative rings than the official one. The imrsion created by using real nas and identities—that's our true brand moat."
Hiroshi Ono closed his notebook with a soft click.
The Managing Director has already laid the groundwork this far. If we still fail to make a na for ourselves, I might as well quit as Team Leader at Sega.
"Understood! We'll start drafting the frawork for the plan as soon as we get back."
Late June, Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo.
Inside the headquarters of Toho Pictures, Sato, the head of marketing and distribution, stared at the weekly North Arican box office report freshly spewed from the fax machine, his fingers tapping rhythmically on the desk.
To him, those steadily rising curves represented nothing but golden eggs laid by a dinosaur.
"The situation in North Arica is already a raging inferno," Sato said, slamming the thin thermal paper onto the conference table and surveying the section chiefs gathered around it. "Universal Pictures' ssage is clear: Spielberg's film might break every box office record in history. The pressure is now on us. The Japanese premiere in July absolutely cannot falter."
In the past, Toho had always maintained ironclad control over the promotion of Hollywood blockbusters in Japan, fearing that partners might steal the spotlight.
But this ti, things were different.
Sega and Bandai were being... too cooperative.
The conference room door swung open. A secretary led representatives from Sega and Bandai inside.
Sato had braced himself for a battle. After all, ga companies and toy manufacturers usually insisted on plastering their logos all over movie posters, turning cinemas into giant retail outlets.
But when Sega's public relations representative began speaking, Sato was stunned.
"This is our proposed second-wave TV GG campaign plan," the representative said, handing over a thick proposal. "For all GG airti, the first fifteen seconds will feature highlights from the film, with Sega's logo appearing in the final three seconds."
Sato flipped through the proposal, his eyebrows arching high.
This was the first ti in his three decades of experience that he'd encountered such a generous partner—willing to foot the bill without seeking any lilight. No, this was the first ti he'd seen such a magnanimous collaborator.
Before he could fully process this, the Bandai representative chid in, "It's the sa on our end. Our model GG releases will align with the film's release schedule, focusing on 'movie-accurate' editions. We won't reveal spoilers early, nor will we resort to juvenile marketing that might undermine the film's atmosphere. Director Yoshikawa specifically instructed us to maximize audience anticipation for the film."
Sato closed the proposal and leaned back in his chair.
A veteran of the industry, he knew there was no such thing as a free lunch.
Sega and Bandai were simply using the film's montum to boost their sales.
But this overly cautious approach, treating the film as if it were made of glass, certainly gave Toho Pictures the respect it deserved.
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