The PlayStation Gift
Yoo Jae-won confirmed the sender and immediately began dismantling the box. The address, sender, and reason for the package were all clear, so the chance of it being a bomb was close to zero. Thanks to that, even though Yoo Jae-won had a slight trauma about packages, his hands moved without hesitation as he opened it.
“This is a game console? Did you buy it directly from Japan?”
From Tiffany’s question, it was clear that what emerged after opening the boxes was indeed a game console. Yoo Jae-won had to unpack three separate boxes before he could even see the console itself. Inside the box marked with the EMS logo was another cardboard box wrapped in layers of bubble wrap, and inside that was the retail packaging for the PlayStation. The packing was incredibly meticulous. It seemed the sender had spared no effort with boxes and bubble wrap, worried that the console might get damaged during shipping.
“I didn’t buy it. The developer sent it to me. I have a pretty deep connection with Ken.”
As he took out the familiar-shaped PlayStation, Yoo Jae-won offered an explanation. He looked exactly like a husband who had bought a game console without consulting his wife and was now trying to justify it after being caught. Tiffany, however, wasn’t pressing him very hard. Her eyes held the same curious look they had when he showed her the ten-thousand-dollar USB drive. As a computer engineering graduate, Tiffany had a strong interest in electronic devices. She also enjoyed games and was quite good at them.
Yoo Jae-won began explaining everything related to the PlayStation to Tiffany.
“Wow, so this was business too? You really have laid out an incredible number of hidden traps that no one else knows about.”
That was Tiffany’s reaction after hearing that the miniature OS installed in the PlayStation was a tuned version of Android that Yoo Jae-won had provided, along with the story of his connection to Ken Kutaragi and the ongoing port of Doom for the PlayStation.
Well, there were many. Yoo Jae-won had cast a dense net at every critical junction in the major fields of IT. No matter what new technology emerged in the future, it would be tied to ID Group.
“Want to try it?”
“Yeah! Hurry up and connect it!”
Since Tiffany loved games, she immediately grabbed a controller and sat down beside Yoo Jae-won. He began connecting the PlayStation to the television while closely examining the console and its peripherals. They were 99 percent identical to what he remembered. Because of cost issues, the bundled controller lacked rumble feedback and felt very light. The manual mentioned that a premium version with rumble feedback could be purchased separately, which also matched his memories exactly.
The console itself was made of gray plastic with no sense of luxury whatsoever. The power button and CD-ROM eject button were large circular buttons on either side of the unit, just as he recalled. The slot for inserting memory cards alongside the controller ports was the same. The video output was limited to composite, clearly showing that high-definition output wasn’t possible. The clunky design and lack of extra features were simply characteristics of the era’s hardware, so they were easy to overlook.
Instead, one clear drawback stood out to Yoo Jae-won: the proprietary connectors. The ports for controllers and memory cards weren’t the USB standard that was becoming common in peripherals; they were Sony’s own oddly shaped proprietary design. Sony had always loved proprietary formats. From DAT to Betamax, they had poured enormous effort into popularizing their own standards, only to fail every time. Yet they stubbornly continued using them even now. Of course, Sony would eventually abandon proprietary formats and adopt USB, but that wouldn’t happen until the 21st century. For now, while their ambition was still burning bright, the best approach was simply to watch and wait.
“For a game console, it looks pretty stylish, doesn’t it?”
Even Tiffany, with her contemporary sensibilities, thought it looked decent, so Yoo Jae-won simply nodded. Moreover, the care Ken Kutaragi had put into the product was extraordinary. The special model number SCPH-1000 came with serial number 000000. Ken’s signature was on the CD-ROM lid, and when flipped over, the bottom was covered with signatures from other developers. There was also a short letter from Ken Kutaragi saying that after completing the retail version, he had sent the very first unit to Yoo Jae-won, hoping he would enjoy playing it and that their good relationship would continue.
The official business between ID Group and Sony Computer Entertainment had ended with supplying a tuned version of Android and licensing the live force-feedback technology. Although Doom was being ported to the PlayStation, ID Entertainment’s main platform was clearly the PC. After reading Ken’s letter, Yoo Jae-won felt sentimental and thought that if the PlayStation sold well, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to consider it as a secondary support platform.
“All done! Turning it on now!”
After finishing the connections, he powered it on. As expected, the screen stayed black at first. After a few seconds, a grand electronic chime rang out, and the yellow PlayStation logo appeared along with the name of Sony Computer Entertainment, the game division. Following the logo screen, a very simple menu appeared: Play Game, Play Video & Photo, Memory Management, and finally System Settings. This was the desktop of the embedded Android version Yoo Jae-won had tuned for the game console. Normally, inserting a CD and turning the power on would launch the game immediately, but without a CD, this settings screen appeared. Of course, pressing the select button during a game would also bring up this menu.
Since Yoo Jae-won had created the operating system himself, there was no need to consult any manual. Only one thing had changed: the Play Video & Photo item. Originally, he had only included VCD playback functionality, so it had simply been labeled Play Video. Now the word Photo had been added as well. It seemed he had made it possible to view image files stored on memory cards or blank CDs on the television.
Everything else was exactly as he had made it. Since there wasn’t much to experiment with in this state, Yoo Jae-won rummaged through the bundled game CDs. Apparently quite a few titles were being released alongside the PlayStation launch, as there were more than ten CDs included.
“Honey! Look at this—the CD is black! That’s so cool! I guess it’s a CD that computers can’t read?”
Tiffany had been sorting through the game CDs with him when she pulled one out and remarked with surprise. She showed him the back of the disc, which was glossy black plastic. Normal CDs had a holographic sheen on the back, but the disc Tiffany had taken from the case was completely black. The interesting thing was that the black coloring was simply to indicate it was a PlayStation-exclusive CD; functionally, there was nothing special about it. The PlayStation could read regular CDs just fine, since it was essentially a standard CD-ROM drive.
“No, it’s just a CD made with black plastic, so computers can read it too.”
Yoo Jae-won connected an external CD-ROM drive to his Shell Book and demonstrated. Although the file system was different, installing the developer drivers allowed it to be read without issue. Of course, the executable structure was completely different, so it couldn’t be run on a PC. However, because the discs could be accessed on computers, pirated copies were easy to make. Naturally, the PlayStation had copy-protection chips installed, but simple modifications could disable them so easily that pirated discs flooded the market.
“Then, should we try this one first?”
The first game CD inserted into the PlayStation that Yoo Jae-won had set up was the one Tiffany chose: Battle Arena Toshinden. It was a versus fighting game where characters wielded swords. Originally an arcade title, it had perfectly captured the 3D trend of the era. The impact felt good, and the controls were excellent. In particular, it introduced free movement—a hallmark of 3D games—into versus fighting, specifically lateral movement. Players could not only execute commands but also dodge with three-dimensional maneuvers, making high-level matches a complex battle of wits.
However, in terms of recognition, it still fell far short of Sega’s Virtua Fighter or Virtual Boxer, the default game on the Android operating system. Interestingly, after first announcing Glide X, the demo game created to showcase 3D performance had been Virtual Boxer, and it had far more passionate fans than Yoo Jae-won had expected. Even though there were only two characters and the gameplay was essentially rock-paper-scissors dressed up as action, many people loved it. There were frequent inquiries about when a sequel would come out, but unfortunately, Yoo Jae-won had no plans for one yet. He would make one eventually, of course, but not right now. He had intended to greatly increase the number of characters and incorporate various martial arts techniques beyond boxing to create a mixed martial arts game, but the level of graphical advancement he wanted had not yet been achieved. He planned to wait until at least the HD era, when high-resolution textures, real-time lighting, and 3D accelerator cards capable of handling high polygon counts were available. That would take several more years.
“It’s starting!”
While he was lost in thought, the loading finished and Battle Arena Toshinden finally appeared. The graphics were better than expected. The textures were smoothly rendered, and the flowing movement of clothing looked decent. Transparency effects and lighting were also quite convincing. While memories tend to look better in hindsight, people often felt disappointed when they actually dug old games out of drawers and played them. Yet right now, it genuinely looked better than the Toshinden he remembered. The reason was simple: the PlayStation’s specifications were significantly higher than the previous generation. The 3D acceleration chip’s performance had been greatly improved, and while the CPU was still the MIPS R3000, the HPC process had increased its clock speed and processing power. This performance boost had directly translated into better graphics. It was certainly a positive development.
The problem was that Yoo Jae-won was the only person who knew this. Unless someone knew what the PlayStation from his previous life had been like, they wouldn’t be able to recognize how much better this version was. And right now, he was the only person in the entire world who knew that.
The PlayStation’s real competitor wasn’t Nintendo or Sega’s video game consoles—it was the latest PCs. If someone asked Yoo Jae-won to bet on its chances of success, he would probably lean toward the negative side.
“I like this one.”
The character Tiffany chose was a slender female fighter with blonde hair. As the character suggested, she was a speed-type fighter, and it was obvious Tiffany had picked her simply because she resembled herself. In response, Yoo Jae-won selected a large, muscular character wielding a massive sword. As expected, it had an extremely unfavorable matchup against the female character. Just from his character choice, it was clear he had no intention of winning and was playing a hospitality game. Tiffany had gone out of her way to bring him food packed with care, so he felt bad about crushing her in a game and deliberately chose poorly. However, Tiffany absolutely hated it when people went easy on her. Of course, she hated losing even more, so Yoo Jae-won had naturally developed the know-how for playing hospitality games.
Sitting side by side playing the game turned out to be far more enjoyable than expected. It was completely different from gathering in cyberspace over the internet to play. Sitting next to someone whose body heat you could feel, talking and reacting together, created a different kind of fun than computer gaming. In Yoo Jae-won’s heart, the probability of console success rose significantly.
Monday arrived, and everything returned to normal. Tiffany went home, and Yoo Jae-won headed to his office at ID Technology headquarters. The distance from his hotel residence was only ten minutes, and even riding in the prepared car that took him there automatically, it still felt exhausting.
“Is this… Monday blues?”
It was the aftermath of an intense weekend. For a moment, he even considered whether it would be possible to delay Monday’s start time by an hour. But when the practical difficulties that would arise simultaneously came to mind, he simply let the thought pass.
“Let’s make some money with full force today too!”
Moreover, once he finished commuting and sat down at his desk, any desire to slack off completely disappeared.
“Then, should I take care of the urgent matters first?”
Monday was always a day with many things to handle, so he didn’t dive straight into programming. Instead, he dealt with newly updated matters from the weekend. These concerned Tiffany Phone production and data center issues. Since the pilot service was scheduled to begin on July 15, he needed to prepare the components and send them to TG Computer so the products could be manufactured before then. The collaboration and related promotions with Tiffany & Co. also had to be aligned with that timing.
“I wonder if people will actually like phones with diamonds embedded in them.”
The collaboration product was simple. The back of the Tiffany Phone used a single piece of Gorilla Glass supplied exclusively by Corning. The inside was coated with a luxurious metallic paint, which already looked sufficiently stylish. There was a CCD camera at the top, and below it, the ID logo was simply laser-etched. The only differences in the collaboration product with Tiffany & Co. were a 2-carat (0.4g) diamond pressed into the letter “I” and the tiny text at the bottom stating it was a collaboration between Tiffany & Co. and ID Technology. Functionally, it was identical to the regular model. The price, however, was on a completely different level. The collaboration product was priced at 5 million won—ten times the regular model. Remington and the other executives had been shocked by how expensive it was, but the product had never been intended for mass market sales in the first place. Only about 200 units of the Tiffany collaboration model were planned. While some would be released to the market, the remaining 100 would be used for company promotions, and a few would be given as gifts to acquaintances, so price wasn’t a major concern. Even if sold at 5 million won, the diamond cost alone meant there was no profit. Since diamonds were the most expensive gem per unit weight, the raw material cost of even a 2-carat stone smaller than half a bean exceeded several million won. Furthermore, Tiffany, America’s premier high jewelry brand, had performed a brilliant cut, adding a premium to the price. They had used a slightly lower-grade diamond and benefited from lower living costs to hit the 5 million won mark; in 21st-century prices, it would easily have exceeded 10 million won.
Although Yoo Jae-won personally disliked adorning IT devices with gold, silver, or gemstones, other people would clearly love it.
“Tiffany & Co. said they’d use it as a prop for their runway show, so the advertising should work out well too.”
The collaboration with Tiffany wasn’t limited to simply borrowing the name and releasing a product with a diamond embedded in it. If that had been the case, they wouldn’t have even written a collaboration contract. When Tiffany unveiled new products for the new season, they had agreed to feature the Tiffany Phone as an important prop. He hadn’t expected the discussion to go so smoothly, but Tiffany’s side had welcomed the collaboration with ID Technology because it aligned with their desire to give the aging Tiffany brand a fresh, modern sensibility. They could have started whenever they wanted, but they had been waiting for the right timing. Now that the pilot service launch date had been set, it was time to move forward in earnest.
Yoo Jae-won instructed Allen to send an official email to Tiffany & Co. to discuss the collaboration event schedule. Since this was business between companies, an official document was necessary, and official documents couldn’t be written carelessly, so calling Allen was only natural.
“Next is… the data center matter?”
Conveniently, just as they were preparing to expand the data center, major computer component manufacturers were releasing new CPUs, hard drives, and other key parts. It would be perfect to equip the Seoul and European data centers with these latest components. Although the new products would be expensive, it wasn’t a major concern for Yoo Jae-won, who still had substantial proceeds from stock sales remaining.
“Let’s install 25,600 units each this time!”
The pace of internet development had exceeded Yoo Jae-won’s expectations. Network games using the internet were pouring out, and fully online games that maintained constant connections were also in preparation. It was better to prepare in advance from the beginning. He instructed the Seoul and Europe teams to find suitable sites for the data centers and to request quotes from computer component manufacturers.
After handling the urgent schedule matters, Yoo Jae-won returned to his main task of programming. He connected to the source code management server and logged into ID Talk, where a flood of tasks and conversation requests from Alpha Team developers poured in, all waiting for him. Even though he was busy, everything was proceeding smoothly.
“If we keep going like this, we might even be able to release within the year!”
After processing the source code reviews and conversation requests one by one and picking up speed, Yoo Jae-won felt satisfied as he looked at the development team, which was now running perfectly. At this point, it wouldn’t be bad to tighten the development schedule a bit more. However, there was one thing Yoo Jae-won hadn’t fully accounted for: Korea.
At the end of June, a horrific parricidal crime had been committed by a man named Park Sang-han. The aftermath of that incident was now, strangely enough, beginning to catch fire in the direction of ID Group.