Request: quote and reference from the "Console Wars" book

[Glowsquid]

Currently the "development" section of the Donkey Kong Country page start with this sentence:

The leadup to Donkey Kong Country's creation started in the summer of 1993. While visiting Rare as a part of a globe-travelling journey to find potential quality games in development, Tony Harman of Nintendo of America

Well, apparently there's a deeper story behind this. Tony Harman was interviewed for the recent-ish book Console Wars and the book briefly talks about how he had an argument with NCL, who asserted that western developers cannot make a truly good video game. Donkey Kong Country was his gamble to prove them wrong. Here's a direct quote from this portion, from a press release of the book:

“Tony Harman was prepared to leave with his tail between his legs (smiling, though, as his thesis that western cultures can make great games too had made it all the way to the top), but he decided to try one more approach. “Let me just ask one more question,” he said, taking a step toward [Nintendo President] Yamauchi. “How many bad television commercials do we make each year?” Yamauchi burst out in laughter. “The answer: many.” Harman nodded. “And how much does each one of these commercials cost you?” Yamauchi quickly discussed this with the experts on his couches and then came back with an answer. “They say around $3 million.” Harman nodded once again. “Then why don’t you give me $3 million and one year to make a great game? Maybe I’m wrong and won’t succeed with this, but the worst-case scenario is that you’ll just make one less bad commercial.” At this, Yamauchi smiled, the finest and most silvery smile Harman had ever seen, and then the legendary president of Nintendo stood up and accepted the deal.” The game Harman went on to make: Donkey Kong Country, a record-selling and console war shifting “reminder that there were always breakthroughs to be made with what existed already.”

I don't have the book and the one online copy I could find obmit this portion. I'd liek to have the full portion and the references before adding it to the page, so if someone could provide it, that would be cool.

 

[Mister Wu]

I actually have the book in ebook format, so I could add the part if I find it. Do we have other sources beside the book, though? I'm asking because in the autor's note, the author states
[quote author=Blake J. Harris]
In certain situations, details of settings and description have been altered, reconstructed, or imagined. Additionally, most of the dialogue in this book has been re-created based on source recollections of content, premise, and tone. Some of the conversations recounted in this book took place over extended periods of time or in multiple locations, but have been condensed, or reorganized in a slightly different manner, while remaining true to the integrity and spirit of all original discussions.[/quote]

 

[Shoko]

I believe the "recollections", "conversations" and "recount" parts of that disclaimer, as well as the bit on sourcing the "discussions" over a long period from multiple locations, suggests to me that the author was interviewing and directly collecting anecdotes from those who contributed the book's infomation. So I don't think there was a published or public fore-source, based on what I gather from the disclaimer.

 

[Mister Wu]

Well, anyway here should be the part that you were interested in, from chapter 44, "Crazy Like a Fox".


this is an excerpt to clarify the beginning of said part



[quote author=Blake J. Harris]Harman had high hopes for his baseball game, and so did Nintendo of America (who was negotiating with Seattle Mariners superstar Ken Griffey Jr. to make him the face of this game), but as great a sports game as he believed that this would be, that’s all it would ever be—a great sports game. Hopefully it would make a lot of money and provide countless hours of fun, but it would never be a classic like Super Mario Bros. or The Legend of Zelda. The even more secret dream behind Harman’s secret dream was to make a game starring one of Nintendo’s iconic characters. It was an understandable desire, but Nintendo was so protective of those franchises and wouldn’t let somebody outside Japan touch them. There was something admirable about this stance, but there was something almost racist about it as well. Nintendo didn’t believe that anybody outside Japan could achieve greatness. Not only did Harman believe that this could be done, but he also believed that by not taking this chance, Nintendo risked missing out on some of these breakthroughs. And seeing the Aladdin game at CES served as proof to him of this fact. So he decided to write a paper, a manifesto of sorts, that discussed the criteria of what makes a great game, and use this to prove that one could be made outside Japan.[/quote]


And this is the actual portion:


[quote author=Blake J. Harris]In the following weeks, while Van Buskirk was busy falling in love at first argument, Tony Harman finished writing his manifesto and came to the conclusion that a developer must have at least three things to make a great game. The first was a big budget, somewhere in the range of $3 million to $4 million, to ensure that corners were not cut. The second was coin-op experience, to truly understand the value of capturing a player’s interest immediately. And the last was an iconic character, ideally one that has already been established (like Mario) or one steeped in its own captivating mythology (like Star Fox). Of course it took much more than just these three things, but this was the basis behind why company’s like Capcom, Konami, and even Sega had a knack for making hits. Not long after Harman finished the paper, Arakawa approached him with some unexpected travel plans. “Tomorrow,” he said, “you will be going to Japan.” “Okay,” Harman said, making it a point to never appear caught off guard in front of his boss. “Any particular reason?” “I sent your paper to Mr. Yamauchi, and he would like to see you.” And so, after a silent gulp, Harman hopped on a flight with Arakawa and his wife, and twenty-four hours later the three of them wound up inside Yamauchi’s office. “He is pleased that you could fit in this visit on such short notice,” Yoko Arakawa explained to Harman, translating for her father. Although Yamauchi’s office was small, it was as intimidating as one would expect from Nintendo’s quietly ruthless leader. It was really warm in there, somewhere around eighty degrees, and Yamauchi sat there in a white undershirt, his lower half hidden behind a large wooden desk. In front of him was a pristine coffee table, a small television, and a pair of couches on either side of the room. Some of the employees at NCL referred to his office as the “realm of the Mother Brain,” making a reference to the giant, cranium-shaped, energy-sucking villain who appears at the end of Metroid. Yamauchi often had guests in and out of his office, and today was no different. In addition to hosting his daughter, his son-in-law, and Tony Harman, there as well, on either side of the desk, were Miyamoto, Yokoi, Takeda, and Sakamoto (each nobly standing upright and reluctantly sweating due to the room’s toasty temperature). “I have read your report and found it interesting enough to pass along to Nintendo’s greatest experts,” Yamauchi said, gesturing to the videogame legends surrounding Harman. “It is their opinion that you are wrong, and that only the Japanese can make a great game.” “With all due respect,” Harman countered, with a noticeable amount of gall in his voice, “your experts, these men here, account for most of the best developers in the world. Most, but not all, and I truly believe that with the right resources a great game could be made outside Japan.” After the words were translated, peals of laughter permeated the room. Harman continued to make his case, highlighting key points from his paper and trying to appeal to Mr. Y.’s love of innovation, but ultimately it appeared to be no use. “Face it,” Yoko Arakawa finally said, “you’re not going to win.” Harman was prepared to leave with his tail between his legs (smiling, though, as his idea had made it all the way to the top), but he decided to try one more approach. “Let me just ask one more question,” he said, taking a step toward Yamauchi. “How many bad television commercials do we make each year?” This was not a particularly tactful inquiry, but Harman knew that and thought he knew Yamauchi well enough to believe this might make a dent. Everyone in the office tried to extrapolate the meaning of this question, but before any further clarification was requested, Yamauchi burst out in laughter. “The answer: many.” Harman nodded. “And how much does each one of these commercials cost you?” Yamauchi quickly discussed this with the experts on his couches and then came back with an answer. “They say around $3 million.” Harman nodded once again. “Then why don’t you give me $3 million and one year to make a great game? Maybe I’m wrong and won’t succeed with this, but the worst-case scenario is that you’ll just make one less bad commercial.” At this, Yamauchi smiled, the finest and most silvery smile Harman had ever seen, and then the legendary president of NCL stood up and accepted the deal, provided that this young American kept Miyamoto apprised of his progress.[/quote]

 

[Glowsquid]

Jawsum, thank you.