“Brother-in-law, why did Nintendo invite you as a special guest to the launch of their new game console?” Leng Zhimeng asked curiously as they sat on the plane flying to Tokyo.
The reason Mr. Huang was going to Fusang this time was that Nintendo had invited Huang He to attend the launch event for their new game console. This was actually a very strange and incredible matter, as the Jiangnan Group and Nintendo had no prior contact whatsoever.
Nintendo's impression in the hearts of Chinese people had always been very aloof, and they even seemed indifferent to the domestic market, showing no interest.
So when Mr. Huang received the news of Nintendo inviting him to the new console launch, he was somewhat shocked himself. This was truly unscientific!
However, since Nintendo had invited him, Mr. Huang naturally wouldn't refuse. He was also very interested in Nintendo, so he readily agreed to the invitation and boarded the plane to Fusang, intending to see what Nintendo had up its sleeve.
This was Mr. Huang's first time visiting Fusang. However, unlike his first trip to the United States, which required temporarily inviting local students to act as receptionists, as Mr. Huang and his team discreetly departed from the VIP channel at Haneda International Airport, several people in black attire were respectfully waiting for him at the entrance. They then escorted him into several business vehicles.
This startled the nearby pedestrians, who thought Mr. Huang was an important official of some organization.
These people in black were actually half of Mr. Huang's personnel in Fusang, members of his own company.
However, it wasn't the Fusang branch of Jiangnan Group, but rather the Fusang branch of oo Network, or more accurately, the Fusang branch of 00 Game Center.
As mentioned before, Mr. Huang intended to build 00 Game Center into a global gaming platform, similar to Steam.
Facts proved this choice was correct. Although Ito Makoto did not succeed in developing the Fusang branch into a powerhouse, he was at least able to quickly investigate and provide detailed information to Mr. Huang.
According to the information Ito Makoto had gathered, Nintendo was about to release a brand new, completely next-generation game console.
Those familiar with Nintendo know that Nintendo's first generation game console was the FC (Famicom), followed by the second generation N64, the third generation Wii, and the fourth generation Switch.
In fact, in Nintendo's official promotions, the Switch is considered the ninth generation game console. So where did the five generations in between go?
The five generations in between were actually improved versions based on the previous generation, much like the different versions of the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4s. Such minor version updates had a far less significant impact on Nintendo and the entire gaming industry than the four major generational shifts.
However, these four generations were only for home consoles. Nintendo's handheld consoles also had continuous version updates. Among them, the Nintendo handheld console with the most minor version updates was undoubtedly the first generation, with versions like GBC, GBA, GBA SP, GBM, and so on, spanning over a decade.
Of course, some might argue that the GB and GBA were two major versions apart, but this is a matter of opinion. Many believed that although the GBA had significant improvements in screen and performance compared to the GB, it couldn't be called a new next-generation version, which led to much criticism from players.
Especially since last year, Nintendo's most important competitor, Sony, had launched the PSP handheld console, which made Nintendo feel like it was standing on the edge of a precipice.
Previously, after Sony launched the PlayStation console, it had created a huge impact on Nintendo's home consoles. When the PlayStation was released, Nintendo's main console was still the FC, which was over a decade old.
One featured 3D color display, while the other was a pixelated game machine. The vast difference between them directly led players to vote with their feet and flock to Sony's embrace. Nintendo temporarily lost its position as the market leader.
Although Nintendo later rushed to release the N64, due to Nintendo's president Hiroshi Yamauchi's insistence on game cartridges and his refusal to use CDs as a game medium, the volume of games on the N64 could never surpass the CDs used by the PlayStation. As a result, by 1997, Nintendo was once in a state of financial crisis, a situation that continued to the present day.
A crucial factor that helped Nintendo persevere from 1997 to 2004 was the rise of a game, Pokémon, which would later become familiar to everyone.
This game, developed for handheld consoles, was destined to dominate the entire gaming market upon its release. With this single game alone, the sales of the Game Boy handheld console surged by an unknown amount.
At the same time, this game also cultivated an untold number of loyal fans for Nintendo.
Therefore, the Game Boy and its successors had always been Nintendo's last haven and lifeline. But now, Sony had launched the PSP, which once again comprehensively surpassed the GBA in performance. Moreover, the PSP also featured Digimon, an excellent game developed for Pokémon fans.
Furthermore, with four seasons of Digimon anime released, the market for Pokémon faced another huge impact. The sales of the PSP were on the verge of surpassing the GBA.
If the GBA also lost its market share, then Nintendo would be doomed to a complete downfall.
Thus, Nintendo began to accelerate the development of a new generation of handheld game consoles, and the product to be unveiled at this launch event was the truly new generation handheld console, the NDS.