Chapter 19

"Thank you for receiving me so late at night, I am truly very sorry, Mr. Kujou." Even sitting on the sofa, Yamauchi Hiroshi still bowed earnestly, "When I heard that Mr. Kujou hopes to cooperate with us at Nintendo, I was very excited and couldn't wait to come and have a long talk with a young and talented person like Mr. Kujou."

"President Yamauchi, you are too kind." Li Xu, who really wanted to roll his eyes, maintained a smile, "I am just a young man with some creative ideas but almost no practical skills, and I've been quite lucky."

As he spoke, he waved his hand to dismiss the servants who had brought the tea—there were servants in the villa on this side of the Kiyomizu source, but not as many as in the old house in Bunkyo, and they didn't provide personal service.

Of course, if he had brought Yamaguchi Momoe, it would have been different.

"Mr. Kujou is too modest. Whether it's the early Snake, or the later Breakout, Space Invaders, and Pac-Man, they are all groundbreaking games. Mr. Kujou is indeed a genius game designer!" Yamauchi Hiroshi flattered.

It was really hard for him, a man in his fifties, to flatter a young man who was barely 18, and still maintain a serious and earnest demeanor as if he were desperately seeking talent. One might say... he is indeed a man of great deeds?

After all, as mentioned before, Li Xu's first pot of gold after his rebirth came from developing Snake, and that was when he was 12. After that, he developed many more games, all of which were popular in the 70s and 80s in his previous life. It wasn't an exaggeration for Yamauchi Hiroshi to call him a genius designer.

Of course, if that were the only reason, Yamauchi Hiroshi wouldn't be so respectful. At most, a department head from Nintendo would have come to talk to him, even if he had contacted them first.

But who could blame him for Li Xu's different background? Both in the U.S. and Japan, he was from prominent families and had significant capital. Not to mention a small company like Nintendo, even people from Mitsubishi and Mitsui would have to show respect.

Even if the talks didn't work out in the end, it would still be a significant gain to establish a connection. Who knows, this small layer of relationship might help him in a critical moment? Besides, he had contacted them first.

"However, please allow me to ask a somewhat impolite question, Mr. Kujou, why did you choose to cooperate with Nintendo on a new game? I heard that Atari recently ported Space Invaders to their game console?" Despite this, the necessary questions still needed to be asked, and the necessary matters still needed to be clarified.

As a successful businessman, Yamauchi Hiroshi knew when to act and when not to rashly invest money or time and energy in someone he didn't understand.

Even if he wanted to befriend a young man from a wealthy family, even if he had to be a fool, he had to be a valuable one.

"It's very simple. Atari's foundation is too shallow. The 2600 is a good console, eliminating the flaws of the previous model, and it will certainly cause a storm. Unfortunately, their shallow foundation cannot support such a massive scale." Li Xu smiled and spread his hands, exuding a commanding presence.

"Mr. Kujou means... Atari might not be able to overcome that hurdle?" Yamauchi Hiroshi asked cautiously.

Atari was the first electronic company to make game consoles, founded in 1972, and it was very young. While young companies are full of vitality, they also face more and greater difficulties and crises.

Those who can overcome these difficulties and crises will gradually become stronger. Those who cannot will likely decline rapidly and never recover.

"I am one of Atari's shareholders. I have seen how they transformed from a vibrant company into one that is now arrogant and complacent." Li Xu continued.

Electronic games first became popular with arcade machines, and Atari was one of the earliest companies to make arcade machines. Li Xu had dealt with them early on.

The games he designed or plagiarized sold in the millions, so when Atari wanted to port his works to their game consoles, he used this opportunity to invest in the company with these works.

Of course, Li Xu knew how Atari would eventually fail and die, but so what? Before they died, they would still have a peak. He could just withdraw early and make a profit.

So he was very clear about the changes within Atari, especially with the information from his previous life and the education he received in this life, he saw many details clearly.

"But..." Yamauchi Hiroshi still wanted to ask something.

"As for why I chose to cooperate with Nintendo," Li Xu interrupted directly, "first, Atari dominates in North America, and there are very few and uncompetitive American companies making game consoles; second, as I said before, they are too young and impetuous, full of energy, but easily lost after success."

Even if Yamauchi Hiroshi was as patient as he was, his eyebrows still twitched, and he took a deep breath. A young man barely 18, speaking in a mature and serious tone about people in their twenties and thirties who founded companies being too young and impetuous? The scene was a bit too jarring.

"On the contrary, Nintendo has a solid foundation. Although it has nothing to do with the semiconductor industry, it has its own accumulation in making games. Moreover, in the early stages of an industry, a craftsman's spirit is very important, so I see potential in Nintendo." Li Xu continued, regardless of what Yamauchi was thinking, "Especially after the news that Nintendo plans to make a handheld console, I am certain that you will not abandon game consoles, so—"

He smiled slightly, "If Nintendo can remain calm and learn from Atari's failure, it will surely achieve something no one can match."

This argument was something Li Xu had thought hard about. To convince a seasoned fox like Yamauchi Hiroshi, he needed a plausible excuse. He couldn't tell him that Atari would fail in three years and cause a major collapse in the North American game market. If he did, the old man would likely turn and leave without a word.

Even so, the credibility of this excuse was still lacking. After all, Li Xu was still too young, and the Japanese always placed great importance on seniority.

But he had no other choice. When he indirectly asked Sony if they were interested in making a console, the old fox there clearly and firmly stated that they had no such plans.

It made sense. In recent years, Sony had been busy fighting with JVC over video tape standards, and the electronic game industry was still new. Why would they be interested? So, even though he knew Sony was a better choice, Li Xu still had to deal with Yamauchi Hiroshi.

"You can see this as an investment on my part," Li Xu concluded, "I have some confidence in my judgment of the future, President Yamauchi."

"Since that's the case..." Yamauchi Hiroshi pondered for a moment, then turned to look at Yokoi Gunpei, who had been sitting stiffly beside him, "Bring it out, Mr. Yokoi."

"Hai!" Yokoi Gunpei, who had been silent like a statue, immediately responded and took a small item from his briefcase, handing it to Li Xu.

"This is the sample of the handheld console we are about to launch, Mr. Kujou," Yokoi Gunpei introduced the rectangular device, "We call it Game & Watch, and it will be officially released at the end of April. Due to technical limitations, each Game & Watch has only one game. The buttons on the left and right sides of the screen are the directional keys, and the two above—"

Li Xu held the Game & Watch in his hand and listened patiently to Yokoi Gunpei's introduction, even though it seemed very primitive to him. However, some of the design ideas were still interesting.

For example, they had deliberately added different colored patterns in the corners of the screen to make the black and white images look more colorful.

It had to be admitted that in the early stages of an industry, before clear... patterns were formed, the craftsman's spirit of the Japanese was indeed very useful.

"Thank you for your introduction, Mr. Yokoi. This is indeed a remarkable invention," Li Xu praised sincerely after Yokoi Gunpei finished.

Before this, there were handheld consoles, the first one born in 1976, but they were all extremely primitive. The screen of the first handheld console was just a row of light-emitting diodes!

Game & Watch was the first handheld console to use an LCD screen, which brought a qualitative leap in game visuals. This is why the gaming industry considers it the first true handheld console. From this perspective, Yokoi Gunpei, who designed it, was indeed a genius, which is why conspiracy theories flew after he left Nintendo and was involved in a car accident.

"But I have a question, Mr. Yokoi," after the other's modest response, Li Xu pointed to the directional buttons, "You said the buttons on the left and right sides of the screen are the directional keys, right?"

"Yes," Yokoi Gunpei nodded.

"Then, if I want to port Pac-Man to Game & Watch, what about the up and down directions?" Li Xu asked with a smile.

"We can add two more buttons above the two existing ones," Yokoi Gunpei answered immediately, clearly having thought about it.

But Li Xu was waiting for this answer: "Have you considered that in situations requiring quick operations, the player's thumb would need to move up and down continuously, which can easily cause fatigue and make the character's response slower? This could lead to the player getting stuck just a few seconds away from passing a level, and repeated failures could make the player lose patience."

Yokoi Gunpei's brows furrowed, but Li Xu didn't give him time to think: "Actually, this problem is easy to solve."

He waved, and a servant quickly brought paper and a pen. Li Xu spent a few minutes drawing what he wanted and handed it to Yokoi Gunpei.

At first glance, Yokoi Gunpei couldn't look away. His eyes widened, and his hands trembled: "This... this..."

"A directional pad," Li Xu said succinctly, "The player can use just one thumb, and the response is more sensitive."

This was the reason for his calmness. If words couldn't convince, then facts would. As the father of handheld consoles, Yokoi Gunpei would certainly see the value of the directional pad. This was his idea, after all.

As for plagiarizing someone else's idea in front of others, well, that's a topic for another time.