The Game-Man 1 (Patreon)

The Game-Man - or ‘The Secret Wholesome Chungus Path for Guangdong by Nintendo’ (TNO!State of Guangdong, Nintendo Semi-SI)

‘Despite what many would assume, Nintendo’s origins are by far among those companies that could proudly state having been built quite early on in  the first age of corporations. Created in 1889 as Yamauchi Nintendo by Yamauchi Fusajiro, the company began its production through the mass-manufacturing of hanafuda, playing cards which were quite popular in the Meiji and Taisho Era.

The business would also see major expansion during the Second World War as the production would also expand on other members of the Co-prosperity Sphere, leading it to become one of the leading businesses in the country. But while the company experienced a major boost to its sales, concerns started to be raised during President Kaneda Sekiryo’s tenure regarding the chances of the business ultimately stagnating.

In 1949, years after the end of the war, with the massive postwar economic crisis created by the political issues within the Taisei Yokusankai (The Imperial Rule Assistance Association) fastening the rope around many companies that had no basic grip over the newer economic trends, President Sekiryo abdicated to his grandson, Yamauchi Hiroshi.

This is where the company, rebranded as Nintendo Karuta, would soon experience the meteoric rise to the highest peak of Japanese and Worldwide business.

- From The Game-Man of Guangdong, History of Nintendo - Introduction, 1991

It was 1950 and the world was… at a standstill.

To Yamauchi Hiroshi, this day was not meant to be as relevant as many would expect.

It’s been a year since he took over the company his grandfather had nurtured to this wonderful state, but Hiroshi knew that much had yet to be done. In a year alone he had to weed out corruption that had entrenched within the senior managerial sector, freeing up new posts and refusing to show any compassion as threats were made by former workers.

It got so bad that the Kempeitai got involved which, in itself, was…

Bad.

A sigh left the 23 years-old businessman, the odd case that ‘struck’ him making his presence known once more as he sat by his office, browsing the various files left to check and sign with utter precision.

“Yes.”

We can’t fix it, however. Not yet.

Another reasonable thought.

The Kempeitai was just not the ‘secret police’ that could be wrangled through bribes and intimidation- not anymore and not with the government still relying heavily on armed protection against potential ‘rebels’.

To say that the Japanese society was polluted by inefficient corruption would be a severe understatement of the situation. Just five years after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and still Tokyo recognized the need for war rations, for war taxes and for the so-called ‘spiritual mobilization’.

The propaganda had gone wild in these years, but even more was the radicalization of the government. What once had been just a tool for the military to get around the hurdles presented by the ‘Reforms Bureaucrats’ was now turning into an outright ticking bomb that someone would eventually detonate.

The Emperor was too detached from politics to care, and the old politicians that once worked to limit the boundaries of the reformed government were no longer alive. Hiroshi didn’t exactly care- or rather, he cared but knew better than just join a rebellious faction.

The world wouldn’t let him live for long if he so accepted such a notion- no, he was just too small of a fish to handle this sort of issue just yet. Patience was on his side, time was on our side.

The voice’s interjection allowed him to finally tackle it. It was not a mere voice, not a thought that strayed from his common mindset- no, Hiroshi knew he was talking with someone else. Not a ghost or a spirit, but someone that got ‘stuck’ to him.

Someone that, by all intent, could have been a bad thing as far as he was concerned to but… Hiroshi was still a man of logic. He may have panicked a bit at the voice’s first interactions, but he managed to outlast the grip of fright by listening to the sort of things he was telling him. Nothing mystical, nothing suspicious, only good and reasonable thought.

An introduction happened, and the ‘American’ name left him a bit perplexed but… overall sure he wasn’t going crazy. He would have been more creative if he had indeed developed a different personality.

Plus, the circumstances wouldn’t match with the absurd circumstance- he may have wasted his mind over the law books at Waseda, but that was a most ironic thought at best.

Still, this ‘Soul’ was now a thing and he presented himself as the sort of ‘reasonable advisor’ that poked right at Hiroshi’s own ambitious ideas and… ideals. It would be wrong to say that Hiroshi was sold to the current Japanese creed over its businesses, having long embraced his grandfather’s ruthless but still fair business model with sprinkles of modernity needed to progress into the new era.

John’s own plans seemed to coincide with that, especially with the current idea he bestowed to him- since hanafuda had served Nintendo well in its business, then it would be fair to say that card games made cheaply could go really far depending on the market.

And while many businesses relied heavily on using the Japanese Market as the ultimate end-goal while exploiting external capital to their advantage, Nintendo thus moved to do something else.

Mahjong in particular was an old game that was well-known both in China and other South-Asian countries. It was a small game, not worthy of gambling like Hanafuda, but it allowed for some clever steps in securing a wider market. Plans were set, people were contacted and small manufacturers were approached with deals.

In this world, small fishes could be eaten or made part of the pack. Hiroshi conceded that both options were fair, but he recognized that acquiring and then gutting the leadership of these modest companies would be not only a capital waste but also a missed opportunity due to the location of these places.

As much as Hiroshi agreed that Guangdong was a dangerous place to set roots in, the business he was tackling was not within proximity of threats. The artisanship required for the production of the proper tools of the game was in China, specifically southern China.

At this point, the notion of ‘State of Guangdong’ was in its early infancy. Hiroshi had heard of its conception and, with it, the creation of the ‘LegCo’ or Legislative Council. Such an idea was intriguing through the pink-tinted lens that it was presented as within the papers, but John’s insight on what was to come out of that business left Hiroshi fairly bothered.

He may have not accepted the notion of moderating capitalism when needed, but the thought that Guangdong would sacrifice so much dignity for profit was quite a horrendous thought to concede to.

Then again, Suzuki Teiichi was known to be a ‘yes-man’ for those that tickled him happy and his connections with both Kaya Okinori of the Technocratic Faction and the more mainstream factions of the Taisei Yokusankai made that possibility a very truthful expectation.

However, Hiroshi had a plan. And that plan was the product of two men trying to cooperate in a very risky operation. At the moment, Guangdong had just three companies working in the region: Fujitsu, Matsushita, and Yasuda. The former was firm in the Technocratic camp, Matsushita was the bribable friend you tend to have at school by being rich, and Yasuda was… a problem.

A very huge problem from what could happen in the early 1960s.

Yes, Hiroshi knew that he had to accept being part of a broken system first and then work his way through the ranks first in Guangdong and then in Tokyo. The world was changing- with Europe lost to the Nazis, the US collapsing under its political issues and seeing radical changes in its system and Asia being slowly turned into a battery for Japan’s own economical rise to greatness… Hiroshi had to move carefully to secure a better future for his homeland.

He knew that things wouldn’t go bad for a few more years, but he was no fool as he knew that, even now, the seeds of disaster had already been planted by Yasuda and his cronies. He needed to weave this path of greatness with care and caution.

So, when profits turned up within the next year to be quite optimal and far greater than expected, a relocation to Guangdong plus a petition to join the small LegCo was met with delight by Chief Executive Suzuki.

The man was a Hanafuda player and, as much as Hiroshi came to despise the man within their first personal interaction, he found him to be a gullible moron if bribed well enough to allow some ‘good things’ to happen within the region.

It was 1952 when Nintendo fully rooted within Kochu (formerly-known as Guangzhou), but within that very year, a new entry would characterize a new development for Nintendo’s own ventures: the broken Gadgeteer was, indeed, in need of a good boss.