November 9.

  The premiere of the Lux Party was something that could have happened much earlier. Still, the result only be described as expected—a multipyer bame where various characters pete to win cups or s if they’re lucky. It might go unnoticed by some, but not by others who see the game's brand beginning to expand. Usually, when the es are made, people start to realize Billy’s characters are, at the very least, magnifit, and in other cases, uable. The way he exploits franchises makes the test games simply outstanding.

  -Three great games in one package, making it one of the most profitable game panies i years, - ented Shigeru Miyamoto.

  In the offices of Nintendo of America, the expoial growth and use of retionships had people closely monit these developments. Nintendo was among the pahat had initially ied in Pixar Studios, first as a researvestment, and sed, as a source for recreating their video game designs.

  They were paying close attention to the pany, which, in addition, seemed to be in the sights of many other panies, such as those in the video game or animation industries—markets that, although underexploited in the 1990s, would reach their peak in 2010.

  -Young Carson has tentative alliances with Sony, - remarked Minoru Arakawa, who observed the market occupation by the PyStation 1 sole, which mao sustain and position itself without owing anyone a favor.

  -Nothing we do, - said Shigeru Miyamoto, weighing his words carefully. -He follows a model very simir to ours. We po expand the Mario brand across several games with different styles, but I see we've beeen to it. -

  The produ of Lux Party was simply phenomenal—from its cartoonish aspect to the multiple characters. It was a brilliant move t in characters from Pixar, LuxToons, and now ID Software, with familiar maps from movies and series… the clichés and the love for the game were evident.

  -We have no more time to waste, - ented Minoru, as he began formuting pns to expand in the Ameri market.

  But it was impossible. Sony was not open to iations—they could not five Nintendo for breaking off their partnership. What they didn’t expect was that Lux Animation, along with ID Software, would develop a strategy that would pletely outshine Nintendo, with titles like Super Smash Lux, Lux Tennis, Lux Karts, and Lux RPG, which is a story for children. It left no room frowth.

  -I don’t uand the moves, and I don’t mean to sound offensive, but it’s a disgrace that the pany makes so little money from the cartridges, - ented Minoru.

  -It’s a choice we’ve already made, - responded Shigeru.

  -You got the part, - Jim Waiit said, genuinely surprised by the turn of events.

  -Which part? I've been to at least five interviews i two months, - Billy replied from his studio, trag the progress of his series. Bleabsp;was the show he had worked on the most, and now he could say it had tied with Hunter x Hunter in terms of episodes. The streak of releasing one episode per week was taken seriously, making it the only series published weekly.

  Following that, there were three Hunter x Hunter episodes in a month, two for One Piece, one for Real, and one for Hellsing. Meanwhile, Yu-Gi-Oh! and Digimon would be released with twenty episodes every two to three months. The first batch had already been delivered, but the release schedule wasn’t set in stone and would depend on faions. Even without apparent success, new episodes would likely still be released every three months.

  -The part in L.A. fidential. They were impressed with your performance; I think we're on the right track... it's incredible, - Jim Waiit said, now viewing their position in the industry favorably. From C.A., along with the directors who had worked with Billy, they could sider themselves an important part of the project.

  -That’s a very good idea… you mao impress Rond Emmerich. I think my distribution pany have a signifit impa his film Independence Day, - Billy ented. If he only gets 15%, and another 35% is split with the exhibitors and emas, it’s still a success. Distribution isn’t an issue, but if he wins the bid for DVD distributihts, the pany would make much more than with the high fees Fox is proposing.

  -They’re still weighing the options. On one hand, Fox promises an iional release; oher, you promise a North Ameri release with lower fees, - Jim Waiit added. The situation was at a standstill; produ hadn’t even finished, and the overuse of the green s wasn’t pleasing anyone.

  But Billy already had a sense of the oute, and that 15% could bring in at least 60 million just by distributing the film. His focus on buildiionships was starting to make his success tangible with the many movies in the uping dar. He o stay calm. But Jim Gianopulos was smart—he kly how tanize all the scheduled releases. For now, the pany could distribute 10 films a year, with slots reserved for the wo animated films, three movies Billy was involved in, and a few others Jim had earmarked to streamlihe budget. For the moment, only six films were set for the following year.

  -When do they start shooting L.A.? - Billy asked again, needing to adjust his schedule once more.

  -Early December. You should be aware that you'll o attend some gas in December 1996. No issues there—I’ve got everything lined up. I’ve already talked to the brand; you’ll o attend a few ceremonies with BMW, - Jim Waiit said.

  The pns tiress, step by step.

  ***

  One day in November, Richard Carson slipped dowairs. In a moment, without warning, he nearly fell, and though it was only a few steps, the fall was fatal due to his age aal state. The will to fight is also the will to fall above all else.

  Helen Carson’s scream was enough to ignite panic.

  -We o call an ambunce, - the caregiver said.

  Two mier, she called Anne, who then immediately called Billy. His father didn’t take long to reach him. The end was near.

  Life is full of disasters.

  Billy’s furious gaze said it all… - He should have…. -

  ...