If Lin Baicheng was going to the United States to trade gold futures, he would naturally have to bring some traders along. After thinking it over, he decided to take An Yuan and a few others with him.
After all, his plan was simple—he was going long on gold. Once he bought in, he would just hold the position rather than do short-term trades. There was no need for An Yuan and the others to stay in the U.S. permanently.
However, before he could even set off, the person he'd been waiting for—Yokoi Gunpei—finally arrived from Japan.
Yokoi had already resigned from Nintendo, and under Lin Baicheng's request, he had gathered several skilled hardware engineers to assist in developing new hardware.
Lin personally went to the airport to pick up Yokoi and his team, arranging for them to rest well that day before taking them to the Galaxy Games factory the next morning.
Among the group, Lin valued Yokoi the most, so he invited him alone to his office for a private talk.
"Yokoi, take a look at this," Lin said, pulling out a boxed device and placing it on the table.
Yokoi's eyes widened the moment he saw it. "This is the Atari VCS!"
"Oh? You recognize it?" Lin asked in mild surprise. The console had only begun selling in the U.S. in October. Could Atari have already opened channels in Japan?
"Yes, President," Yokoi replied, nodding. "Last month, President Yamauchi returned from America with one of these. He said it was Atari's latest video game console and asked us to study its technology—to estimate how long and how much it would cost for Nintendo to develop a similar device."
Lin leaned forward, intrigued. "And? How long and how much would that take?"
Yokoi thought for a moment before answering. "Roughly one to three years, depending on how much funding is invested. The more money put in, the less time needed."
Lin couldn't help but smile wryly. So even Yamauchi Hiroshi has already set his sights on the console market… not surprising at all.
Yokoi then asked, "President, are you also planning to develop such a console?"
"You're absolutely right," Lin said with a faint smile. "That's exactly what I intend to do. But I don't want you to simply imitate Atari's VCS. I want something better."
He gestured toward the machine on the desk. "Its CPU and memory are far too weak. The visuals are blurry, the game environments feel suffocating—it's all just… awful. I admit it's a classic, but Atari cut too many corners on the hardware. I want us to build a superior system, pair it with our own blockbuster games, and dominate the market."
Yokoi was stunned. "President, your vision is almost identical to Yamauchi's. You two truly think alike—great minds, indeed."
Lin raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Is that so? Then I'll have to treat Nintendo as a real threat."
It made sense, though. The Famicom—Nintendo's famous console—was born precisely from that mindset. Even though Lin had already poached Yokoi and Shigeru Miyamoto, he knew better than to underestimate Nintendo.
"However," Yokoi added, "Nintendo won't become our competitor anytime soon. Before I left, President Yamauchi calculated the costs—it would take at least ten billion yen. Nintendo simply doesn't have that kind of money right now. The project has been shelved for the time being. And even if Yamauchi wants to proceed, he still needs the board's approval, which will take time."
Lin's eyes brightened. "That's wonderful news!"
He didn't fear Nintendo—but it was always better to have one less rival.
"Yokoi," Lin said firmly, "we will develop this console. Don't worry about the funding. Whatever you need—equipment, facilities, or people—give me a list. I'll get them all for you."
"Yes, President," Yokoi replied with a serious nod. "But since our company has never had a hardware development department, everything has to start from scratch. We'll need to purchase all the necessary tools and machinery. The initial investment won't be small."
"Buy them all," Lin said decisively. "As long as you need it, I'll buy it. I can afford it—and I know just how massive the future console market will become. What we spend now will come back to us tenfold later."
Yokoi's eyes shone with determination. "President, I will not let you down!"
This was why he'd left Nintendo in the first place—to lead hardware development with strong financial backing. And now, standing before Lin Baicheng, he knew he had made the right choice.
"Let's work hard together, Yokoi," Lin said, patting him on the shoulder.
He believed that with his knowledge from a future life, Galaxy Games could rise to match—or even surpass—Nintendo. Anything less would be a personal failure.
"Yes, President!" Yokoi replied, his voice filled with conviction. He, too, wanted to prove that his decision to join Galaxy Games was the right one.
After their discussion, Lin introduced Yokoi to the company's senior staff—Liu Yihui, his sister Lin Shufang, and others.
However, unlike most Hong Kong professionals who could speak English, very few could understand Japanese. Communication between Yokoi, Miyamoto, and the company's management was difficult, so Lin hired a full-time Japanese translator to assist.
After all, Hong Kong was still a British colony—secondary education required English, and anyone who couldn't speak it had little chance of becoming a company executive.