[The characters, places, organizations, events, and so forth appearing in this work have no connection whatsoever to reality and are fictional creations born of the author’s imagination.]
――――――――――
In an age that was neither the twenty-first century nor even computerized, having a loan executed in just two days was close to a miracle. It was probably possible only because it was backed by a blue-chip trust with over one billion dollars in assets, not a cent of debt, and even perfect credit.
The interest rate was 14%. It was lower than expected, so Henry went to the bank without complaint and filled out the paperwork. In his hand was a bankbook stamped with the enormous sum of 45.08 million dollars. Only after he left with the thick checkbook the bank clerk had handed him did it finally feel real that he was now an independent businessman.
Since he was already there, Henry went to see the building in Times Square that was practically his only personal asset—and that would one day become the crossroads of the world. But the scene he encountered there was far removed from what he had expected.
‘...This is definitely the place, so why is it like this?’
He felt, down to his bones, the fact that this was a parallel world. Never mind the dazzling electronic billboards of the future—even the countless light-bulb advertisements that should have been covering the building in this era were nowhere to be seen. Whether something had gone awry when Henry inherited the title, only the device for the annual “ball drop” event stood there forlornly, while the exterior was desolate beyond belief.
‘Where did that scrolling news-headline sign I saw in Shorts go? Wasn’t that supposed to be the symbol of Times Square in the seventies?’
To make matters worse, the public safety in the surrounding area was literally “Hell.” The reports that no tenants would come in even if the rent was offered dirt cheap had not been exaggerations. Looking out at the streets occupied by drug dealers and vagrants, at the chaotic Times Square of 1979, Henry let out a deep sigh.
“Fuck...”
.
.
.
The patent team moved swiftly. In just three days after the meeting ended, they purchased the core patent from Tiger Electronics for 800,000 dollars and even completed the corporate registration procedure Henry had requested in one smooth motion.
It was the moment Henry’s first personal company, [Enjoy], took its first step into the world.
On paper, its head office was in Delaware, where the corporate tax benefits were advantageous, but it was a clearly legal corporation that had even obtained a business license in New York. Though for now it was a tiny company consisting of only Henry and a single employee, there was no need to rush, since the talent acquisition plan was firm. Henry personally headed to the Manhattan office to meet William Palasek, whom he had brought in as part of the patent package.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Palasek. Welcome to our company, [Enjoy]. As you can see, it’s still modest for now, but before long, it will become the most famous game console company in Manhattan.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, boss. But... I thought about it the entire way to New York, and even up until I opened the door to this office, and I still can’t figure it out. Why exactly did you buy my patent and me wholesale? No matter how rich you are, boss, 800,000 dollars can’t be a small amount of money.”
Palasek had been extremely anxious the entire trip to New York. Some young master from a wealthy New York family had somehow found out and bought up both him and a patent that had been filed but not even approved yet.
Coming from rural Illinois to New York was certainly a good opportunity. Double the salary and rent support were extraordinary terms, and since there was no reason to refuse, he had followed along in a daze—but once he arrived, anxiety surged over him. What if that young master’s passion cooled quickly? What if he was cast aside because his abilities fell short of expectations? Such thoughts trailed one after another through his mind.
Henry looked at William Palasek’s stiff face and smiled faintly. He gestured for Palasek to sit, then took a seat first himself and began speaking in a gentle voice.
“I bought that directional controller you made because it was fully worth 800,000 dollars. No matter how much money I have, I don’t have a habit of throwing it into the street. Let’s start with a cup of coffee. You must have had a hard trip coming all the way from Illinois to New York.”
Henry looked Palasek straight in the eyes and drove the point home.
“Just in case, let me say this: put your anxiety aside. According to the contract, I’ll guarantee you at least one year no matter what. If anything, I’m worried you might run away. Now then, let’s start with something light. If you’re curious about anything, feel free to ask.”
“That really has 800,000 dollars’ worth of value?”
“Yes, without question.”
‘It’s practically the original patent for the D-pad, the future standard of controllers, and only 800,000 dollars? If I’d had the money, I would’ve bought it on the spot even for eight million.’
Henry leisurely took a sip of the fragrant coffee to moisten his throat, then continued the conversation.
“Mm, to begin with, our [Enjoy] is planning to make small handheld game devices, similar to the toy company you used to work for.”
“That’s the field I know best. It’s also what I’ve spent my whole life doing!”
“That’s why I brought you here. Haha. And as for how I came to know about that patent, and why I bought it... Jay, could you hand me the briefcase I brought from home? Mm, thank you.”
Henry opened the briefcase Jay handed him and took out a bundle of sketches he had drawn himself. They contained detailed concepts for the exterior of a handheld game device, the controller, and a cross-shaped directional pad. Henry spread them out in front of Palasek.
“This is a rough draft of our company’s first product line. And take a look at this directional pad. Its shape is quite similar to what you filed a patent for, isn’t it?”
“Wow... What a design. Even just from the sketch, it looks incredibly sophisticated! But this directional pad... The arrangement seems similar, but the detailed structure looks a bit different from what I had in mind.”
To grasp the key point from rough sketches alone—Palasek was not even thirty, but his engineering talent seemed certain. Henry smiled with satisfaction and added an explanation.
“Exactly. It can’t simply be a matter of pressing directions. It needs to be a structure that moves like a seesaw around a central pivot. Only then can diagonal inputs be perfectly controlled with just one thumb. Your patent contains the design for that core principle. It’s also the reason I found you. Turn to the next page. I have plenty of other ideas as well.”
The documents encompassed everything from the early home console D-pad of [Nintendor], which would one day conquer the world, to a futuristic flat D-pad, and even the D-pad for [Shoni]’s PlayStationt, which had evolved from Palasek’s original form. Henry had poured in every bit of information he knew, even including the eight-directional D-pad used in [Saga]’s Saga Pad, which had been called a masterpiece among controllers.
Each time Palasek turned over a sketch, he could not hide his amazement. Before long, the look in his eyes had changed into that of a believer gazing upon Henry with reverence.
“Boss, these ideas are truly genius! This elegant shape... Wow, this is something that goes beyond replacing the joystick. It will change the history of game consoles!”
“Yes. That’s why I created this company and paid as much as 800,000 dollars for your patent. What you need to do, Mr. Palasek, is bring these drawings into reality. The patent you have now is excellent, but because it lacks a central support, it will have a chronic problem where pressing firmly in the middle causes all four buttons to be pressed at once. We’ll need to solve those shortcomings one by one.”
Palasek’s early directional pad was certainly innovative. It was not merely a new interface, but practically a treasure map that would drive device sales and later bring in massive royalties.
Of course, because it was an early version, it had plenty of weaknesses as well. As Henry had pointed out, the lack of a central support meant simultaneous input errors were frequent, the tactile feedback transmitted to the fingertips was insufficient, and even its durability was flimsy. But perhaps due to the limitations of [Tiger Electronics], it never developed beyond that. In the end, once [Nintendor] perfected the concept and gained worldwide popularity, the original company met a hollow end, wandering from one low-end game device to another before being acquired by another toy company and disappearing.
It had introduced an invention that changed the world, only to exit the stage in shabby fashion. Of course, Henry had not the slightest intention of repeating that tragic history.
“What you’ll be in charge of, Mr. Palasek, is the evolution of this directional pad. You won’t simply be making one product. You need to design various prototypes in advance and keep developing them further.”
“Yes, boss! I’m confident! ...But.”
Palasek, who had answered enthusiastically, suddenly trailed off. He awkwardly looked around the desolate office, where there were only Henry, himself, and Henry’s two bodyguards. His voice echoing through the empty space was almost embarrassing.
“...Ahem. We’ll be hiring more people soon and operating properly. In any case, just remember that you’ll be overseeing the controller R&D division, Mr. Palasek. I’ll make sure you can work in a proper environment within next week.”
After leaving the building in that awkward atmosphere and parting ways with Palasek, Henry burst into the laughter he had been holding back in the car on the way home. When he thought of the royalties he would rake in from countless game devices to come, the corners of his mouth almost began twitching.
‘Once the game console company gets on track, I’ll pour money into the controller R&D department and sweep up every control-system patent and design in the world. If I build a patent barrier like an iron fortress that no one can bypass, then even if I don’t make game consoles myself, the company will have money pouring in like a waterfall. Heh heh.’
.
.
.
June 19, 1979, the [Enjoy] office inside the One Times Square building.
After his first meeting with Palasek, Henry’s clock began spinning madly. As he carried out and conversed through countless interviews he had to personally participate in, time flew like an arrow. The family office and think tank were still being set up, but the game console company and investment company that Henry had emphasized so much had, before he knew it, finished recruiting talent and settled onto the right track.
Henry’s first personal company, [Enjoy], made a splendid launch with him as the beneficial owner holding 100% of the shares and assuming the position of CEO. The true strength of this company lay not in Henry’s financial power, but in the personnel structure, which had been assembled even better than he had expected.
The core personnel were veterans from [ARF Electronics], which would be evaluated in the future as having made game devices ahead of their time. Whether ARF’s financial state was even more of a disaster than expected, they were not merely tolerant of their employees being poached—they practically pushed them out the door, saying, “Please, just take them.” Henry absorbed the talent without hesitation and swallowed up all their calculator design technology and patent license usage rights for the bargain price of just 300,000 dollars.
From compact arithmetic circuit designers to LCD display experts, built-in sound craftsmen, and even programmers with game development experience. It was practically like copying and pasting the dream team needed to produce a game device.
Among them, Henry especially cherished the veterans of low-power circuit design, honed through making compact calculators. Given the nature of handheld devices, which had to last as long as possible on a single battery, their know-how in maximizing power efficiency was set to become [Enjoy]’s most important weapon.
“Put the fun of a game device onto the precision of a calculator. Our mission is the perfect handheld device.”
Under the mission Henry gave them, Marcus Wayne, who had handled distribution and marketing at the industry giant [Yatari], joined as the person in charge of practical operations. Sick to death of [Yatari]’s characteristic lax management and hippie-like organizational culture, he was caught by Henry’s family office radar as soon as he returned to his hometown of New York and was immediately scouted.
At first, Marcus firmly refused, thinking it was nothing more than the hobby of a rich young master from a wealthy family. But he became captivated by the Palasek design Henry showed him and the clear vision of an “arcade machine in your pocket,” and decided to join the company.
Perhaps because, in a situation where the company had no organizational culture at all in its early days, he had been given authority comparable to the CEO’s, every time Henry came to work, Marcus Wayne was always passionately devoted to managing the company.