The Conglomerate Family Became A Villain [EN]: Chapter 226

226. End of Competition (4)

Nintendo’s mistake.

No, it should be seen as an atrocity.

Nintendo, which became the strongest in the console game market in the 1980s, was not a generous ruler.

Each third party faced worsening conditions each time their contract was renewed. During the SNES [Super Nintendo Entertainment System] era, also known as the Super Famicom, they often had to deal with exploitative clauses that exceeded even the conditions John River mentioned.

‘Because of that, when Sony emerged as a new powerhouse, many developers turned their backs on Nintendo without hesitation.’

Having lost powerful third parties, Nintendo continued to generate high profits, but they had to concede the position of market leader to Sony.

Of course, Sony wasn’t entirely virtuous either. When they replaced Nintendo in the 2000s, they followed the same path as Nintendo.

Sony became corrupted, much like a hero in mythology. They passed on the burden to large game developers and presented ruthless conditions to small and medium-sized developers.

‘Eventually, the rise of online games based on the internet brought an end to Sony’s reign.’

That’s not to say that Sony or Nintendo went bankrupt. They remained strong in the console market and were major suppliers of excellent games and console devices.

“Meet all of Nintendo’s demands.”

John River’s eyes widened at Jung Hyun-woo’s words.

“Are you saying to meet all of Nintendo’s demands?”

Jung Hyun-woo nodded slowly.

“If we want to fight them, we need to develop a new console or have a killer title that Nintendo can’t refuse. But right now, we have neither, do we?”

Victoria Corporation had grown into one of the largest companies in the United States.

But not Victoria Corporation’s game division. They were performing well in their own right, but they had yet to show the market dominance of Atari, let alone Activision at its peak.

In other words, they were not at all prepared to fight Nintendo.

‘If we fight Nintendo in this situation, the game division is bound to lose.’

If they went to war with Nintendo now, Victoria Corporation’s game division would have to withdraw to the PC game market or make a humiliating agreement.

Jung Hyun-woo wanted to avoid a fight because he foresaw these outcomes.

But John River was the opposite. He believed that if they didn’t break Nintendo’s momentum now, they would be dragged along indefinitely.

“Charlie, please allow the game division to develop a console.”

He sincerely wanted to fight Nintendo.

‘Is he saying he wants to develop a new console?’

Jung Hyun-woo looked at him and shook his head.

“John, it’s too much right now.”

John River raised his voice.

“Charlie, we have enough technology and funding! Why should we bow our heads to Nintendo?”

Jung Hyun-woo replied coldly.

“We lack both technology and funding.”

“Charlie!”

When John River didn’t back down, Jung Hyun-woo didn’t raise his voice with him; instead, he spoke gently.

“John, let’s say we make a new console. How long do you think it will take to develop it?”

John River answered his question immediately, as if he had thought about it in advance.

“A year is enough.”

A year.

Jung Hyun-woo thought it was an absurdly short amount of time to develop a new console. But he didn’t deny the development period John River suggested and continued.

“Okay. Let’s say we complete console development in a year with the accumulated data. If we then calculate another year for game developers to test and build third-party support… two years will pass in a flash. How is the game division going to generate revenue during those two years?”

Even if the game division developed a console, they would still have to meet Nintendo’s demands.

John River’s voice and expression stiffened.

“You’re saying that strong will alone isn’t enough.”

Jung Hyun-woo said, as if trying to comfort him.

“John, the market is more ruthless than we think. If we happen to make a console and it fails, our game division will have to follow in Atari’s footsteps.”

Have to follow Atari.

He was saying that if they wanted to enter the console game market, they would have to bet the fate of the game division.

“Th, that’s…”

“If we continue to operate a business division that incurs huge losses, Victoria Corporation’s shareholders won’t stand still.”

John River had no choice but to bow his head.

“I understand. I will negotiate with Nintendo.”

Jung Hyun-woo said in a soft voice.

“John, I know Nintendo’s demands are unfair. But now is not the time.”

Robert listened to Jung Hyun-woo’s story and exclaimed inwardly.

‘Huh! Unbelievable. Charlie’s skill is beyond even what I can keep up with. At this point, I can only say he was born with it.’

In his eyes, Jung Hyun-woo possessed a sophistication that far surpassed Jerome 넬, the former CEO of Activision. He thought Jung Hyun-woo seemed like someone who had leaped over 20 to 30 years of time.

He, who had only been listening to the story, interjected between the two.

“Charlie, if we don’t put any checks on them, Nintendo’s demands will become even more excessive. Shouldn’t we take some kind of action?”

Robert insisted that there should be some kind of move.

Jung Hyun-woo put his hands together and responded to his words.

“There is certainly a possibility that Nintendo’s demands will become excessive. But we have a lot of work to do right now. We can’t pull resources from other areas to fight Nintendo. Besides, if we declare war and don’t fight, we could become the boy who cried wolf.”

Victoria Corporation was engaged in numerous businesses. Even picking out the major ones, they were as follows:

Integrated Services Business: This business involved developing a real-time stock quote search service using the module system Jung Hyun-woo mentioned. It was a next-generation service program development project that followed in the footsteps of JP Services. Currently, this project was the development business that Victoria Corporation considered most important.

Financial Security Service: A security service development project that included not only securities firms but also insurance companies and banks. Victoria Corporation had researched related technologies with the CIA [Central Intelligence Agency].

Data Center Construction: A project that required enormous funds. Victoria Corporation was currently building its first data center in New York. Jung Hyun-woo planned to build at least five more of these data centers in the future.

Even without mentioning collaborations with Microsoft, IBM, and Dell Computer, these were just the major projects.

If they were to develop a new console to fight Nintendo, manufacture it, and distribute it, it would inevitably affect the various projects currently underway.

Jung Hyun-woo didn’t want that.

‘Victoria Corporation may have started as a game development company, but I have no intention of being bound by games.’

Moreover, he knew that Nintendo would reign as the absolute powerhouse in the console market for the next 10 years.

‘Of course, if we put in all our efforts, we might be able to change the future where Nintendo dominates the game market. But if we delve too deeply into that, the results won’t be worth the effort.’

He was going to wait until Nintendo tripped over its own feet.

“Charlie, even if we accept Nintendo’s demands now, shouldn’t we establish long-term countermeasures?”

Sarah argued that instead of taking immediate action, they should establish long-term countermeasures.

Jung Hyun-woo nodded in agreement with her opinion.

“That’s right. We can’t just be dragged around by Nintendo forever.”

He turned his gaze to John River and said.

“John, when you have time, have your team members come up with a 10-year plan. How to deal with Nintendo. Even how the next-generation console market will change.”

He was telling them to draw a picture of how to deal with Nintendo over the next 10 years.

John River’s expression brightened at Jung Hyun-woo’s instructions.

“I understand. I will carefully plan for the next 10 years.”

He was going to draw the future 10 years from now and come back again.

Of course, Jung Hyun-woo knew the future 10 years from now exactly.

‘Sony’s PlayStation will appear.’

As of 1986, Sony was promoting TVs and Walkmans as its main products.

If you grabbed someone in downtown Tokyo and said that Sony would beat Nintendo in the console game market, they would definitely think you were crazy.

* * *

Jung Hyun-woo yawned and raised both hands above his head.

“Haaam!”

Three hours since coming to work.

Nevertheless, he had only processed half of the pending approval documents.

‘Sarah and Robert processed most of them, and this much is left?’

Since there was no such thing as electronic approval, he had to sign each document by hand.

Beep.

At that moment, the intercom rang, and Luna’s voice, his secretary, was heard.

“Mr. President, it’s almost lunchtime.”

She was asking whether he would go out to eat or have it delivered.

“I’m going out to eat.”

He had a lot of work, but he had no intention of solving his meals while sitting at his desk.

‘My body will break down.’

As he got up, someone knocked on the door.

Tuk. Tuk.

“Coming.”

In response to his answer, Sarah opened the door and came inside.

“Are you going out to eat?”

“I think I need to walk a bit.”

Sarah nodded and said.

“Shall we walk together?”

“Let’s do that.”

Jung Hyun-woo, who came outside, frowned slightly.

“What is this?”

The reason he raised an objection to Sarah was because bodyguards were following him in front and behind.

Of course, they weren’t closely marking the two, but anyone could tell they were bodyguards.

“Robert told me to be careful.”

“Isn’t this a bit excessive?”

“You might think it’s a bit excessive, but it seems the CIA wants this too.”

Jung Hyun tilted his head to the side.

“The CIA?”

“It seems they classify Charlie as a key figure in the economic world.”

If Jung Hyun-woo were kidnapped or co-opted by the Soviet Union, it would harm the interests of the United States.

‘Tsk, to worry about such things.’

He clicked his tongue inwardly, but the Cold War was a stark reality.

“Speaking of which, how is Chernobyl doing?”

“I hear it’s not good at all.”

It had been well over a month since the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident.

‘I’d like to make a donation if I could, but that’s not going to happen.’

He knew that the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident was still ongoing.

‘It will take several more months for the Soviet Union to completely clean up the accident.’

As he narrowed his brow, Sarah asked.

“Are you very worried?”

“Because the Earth might be destroyed.”

Sarah raised her eyebrows and asked again.

“Really?”

Jung Hyun-woo smiled at her surprised eyes.

“I’m just kidding.”

Sarah lowered her eyebrows and said.

“When Charlie says it, it doesn’t sound like a joke at all.”

Jung Hyun-woo took a step and sighed.

“Hoo… This accident won’t destroy the Earth, right? But nuclear power is a huge force that can destroy humanity several times over.”

Cold War era.

People thought nuclear weapons could be used at any time. The Doomsday Clock was created during this time.

“Aside from this accident, I hope world peace comes soon.”

Jung Hyun-woo knew. That the Cold War would end soon.

‘The early 1990s, I guess.’

He wasn’t a history major, so he didn’t know the exact year or date.

“Someday, we’ll be able to eat McDonald’s in Moscow.”

“Really?”

“It won’t take that long.”

The two entered a restaurant they frequented. And there, they met someone.

“Professor Dempierre?”

Eric Dempierre was an MIT [Massachusetts Institute of Technology] mathematics professor who had been on Jung Hyun-woo’s admission interview panel.

“Oh, isn’t that Charlie?”

He was sitting alone without any colleagues.

“Did you come alone?”

Eric Dempierre nodded.

“Sometimes it’s not bad to be alone. Are you two a couple?”

At his question, Sarah blushed slightly.

“Hello. My name is Sarah Hilton. I’m the COO [Chief Operating Officer] of Victoria Corporation.”

Eric Dempierre smiled at her introduction.

“To think there’s such a young COO.”

While he was exclaiming, Jung Hyun-woo said to Sarah.

“Shall we have lunch with the professor?”

Sarah nodded at his suggestion.

“If it’s okay with the professor.”

When Jung Hyun-woo spoke to Eric Dempierre, he readily accepted his request.

“A meal with young executives is always welcome.”

He looked brighter than before.

“Is Professor 노른 doing well?”

“That friend is not just doing well. He’s doing very well. Actually, that’s why I changed my subject.”

“Did you change from mathematics to another subject?”

Eric Dempierre nodded and replied.

“Applied mathematics. Actually, it only has mathematics in the name, but it’s not mathematics.”

“It’s not mathematics?”

“It’s a subject that studies new programming languages.”

Jung Hyun-woo opened his mouth and exclaimed at his answer.

“Ah! A new programming language.”

“You seem interested.”

“Of course.”

Sarah watched the two of them get lost in programming languages and quietly waited for their conversation to end.

‘Are all geniuses like that?’

Concentrating on what they want to do, to the point where they can’t even look around.

She thought this habit was a characteristic of geniuses.

Jung Hyun-woo and Eric Dempierre delved into stories about CPU [Central Processing Unit] and network systems beyond programming languages.

Tak.

Fortunately, the two’s conversation stopped with the appearance of the waitress.

“Here are the dishes you ordered.”

The first thing that came out was Eric Dempierre’s lunch.

Jung Hyun-woo trailed off, as if he hadn’t thought about it.

“Ah, come to think of it, our order…”

“I ordered it.”

Jung Hyun-woo blinked at Sarah’s words.

“When?”

“When you two were talking about the 386 CPU.”

Intel’s 80386 chipset, commonly called the 386 computer, was released at the end of last year.

“I see.”

Eric Dempierre said, picking up his fork.

“The 386 chipset supports up to 4 gigabytes of memory.”

The memory commonly used in 1986 was 2MB and 4MB.

4 gigabytes was nearly 1,000 times that, so it was only a theoretical limit, not practical use.

“Our company should switch to 386 computers too.”

Eric Dempierre smiled at Jung Hyun-woo’s words.

“Wouldn’t you like to change our lab too?”

Jung Hyun-woo had a close relationship with MIT.

“How many do you need?”

At his question, Eric Dempierre paused.

“Are you really going to change it?”

“Collaboration with MIT has made Victoria Corporation what it is today.”

Of course, he wasn’t just trying to help Eric Dempierre out of goodwill towards MIT.

He was interested in the new programming language that Eric Dempierre was researching.

‘Assembly or Basic are slowly fading away now.’

Jung Hyun-woo was not going to miss out on the next-generation language either.

‘The next-generation language, and the people who will lead the next era will start to appear one by one.’

His eyes were on the 21st century.

* * *

Once the work on the Victoria Corporation side was settled, the next was Victoria Fund.

“Charlie, I heard the talks with Japan went well.”

John Pierre flew to Boston himself to meet Jung Hyun-woo.

“I managed to handle it.”

“The return on Japanese real estate is insane.”

John Pierre’s face was bright with the ever-increasing profits.

“I think it would be difficult if the profits get too big.”

“Is it because of the attention around you?”

“As I said before, the Japanese government might point us out as evil.”

It was true that Jung Hyun-woo’s $15 billion had influenced the formation of Japan’s real estate bubble.

But even if it wasn’t him, the Japanese real estate bubble would have grown.

“How’s the exchange rate?”

“The yen is strong.”

The yen was passing the 35% point compared to last year.

“Is the exchange rate alone generating more than $1 billion in profit?”

John Pierre replied in a cheerful voice.

“Even calculating from the point of taking out the loan, it’s 15%. We converted $15 billion into yen, including the principal, so that alone is more than $2.2 billion in profit.”

Adding in the increase in real estate prices, Victoria Fund’s profit reached $5 billion.

“Investing $3 billion and earning $5 billion. It’s an unbelievable rate of return.”

John Pierre nodded and responded to his words.

“It’s common to turn a small amount of money by 100% or 200%. But turning a large sum of money like $100 million or more like this is very difficult.”

Jung Hyun-woo asked him.

“Do you think it will go up further in the future?”

“Are you talking about the exchange rate?”

“I think the yen bubble will start to burst soon.”

John Pierre erased his smile and said.

“Actually, that’s what I’m worried about.”

“Are you worried about the deterioration of profits in the second half of the year?”

“If the rate of return declines, the stock price will also decline.”

Jung Hyun-woo tilted his head at his answer.

“Victoria Fund hasn’t been listed yet, has it?”

“I bought Victoria Corporation stock in January.”

John Pierre had invested all of his severance pay from leaving JP Morgan in Victoria Corporation.

“John was also a Victoria Corporation shareholder.”

John Pierre nodded his head greatly.

“Where else is there a company like Victoria Corporation?”

His rate of return on Victoria Corporation had exceeded 30%.

“John is even worried about Victoria Corporation’s stock price, it’s touching.”

“Victoria Corporation will break through $40.”

Jung Hyun-woo lowered his voice and asked.

“Do you really think so?”

John Pierre nodded and replied.

“It will go to $50 within two years.”

$50.

It was the point where Victoria Corporation’s market capitalization would reach $100 billion.