The early 1990s was pretty grim for Apple. Employees did not feel good about the practical leadership of the then CEO, John Sculley, and much of the company’s cash – perhaps too much – was tied up in R&D for projects that either did not connect with the market or could not do not see. the light of day. The competitiveness of the company declined rapidly and something had to change.
Meanwhile, 5,000 km away, one of Japan’s biggest toy makers is struggling with its own change. For Bandai’s CEO, Makoto Yamashina, his business – not just less – was from his father to be a ‘servant of children’, and those children wanted to play video games.
This is the story of how two strikingly different companies decided to work towards a common goal: building a home video game. A multimedia machine. You can also find it on the internet. It wouldn ‘t be hard to get all this stuff right in the 90’s, would it? History ultimately shows us that things worked out very badly for everyone involved, but as Apple continues in our lounges, it’s worth looking back on the last time it tried.