https://github.com/usbong... ; last accessed: 20260124 ENJPESCH

Stories from Game Producer Yoshiki Okamoto: The Cost of Producing a Video Game for Video Game Consoles

Writer: Michael B. Syson

Publication Date: 2026-01-24

Dear friends,

Today let me share with you the continuation of Mr. Yoshiki Okamoto's YouTube LIVE stream video.

ゲームプロデューサー岡本吉起のYouTubeライブ（26年1月22日）

This time, Okamoto-san answers questions from his viewers.

For example, there was one about whether Okamoto-san will launch a game for video game consoles.

Okamoto-san answers with a "No," and explains that to do so, which will include Steam as well, would cost him 60 million yen with the goal of earning 70 million yen. However, what he's willing to spend is only 10 to 15 million yen at the moment, so the size of the project is smaller, an indie game.

This is all. Of course, Okamoto-san shared with us much more, but I'll already need to stop here.

Thank you, and until next time!

Regards,

Mike

https://github.com/usbong... ; last accessed: 20260123 EN

Prof. Joi Ito and Team's General Meeting (2026-01-23): Secured Finance AG's "perpetual futures," compensating for differences in time and foreign exchange rates

Writer: Michael B. Syson

Publication Date: 2026-01-23

Dear friends,

Today let me share with you Prof. Joi Ito and team's general meeting this morning about the recent developments in Web3 technology and the people behind them.

【最新web3情報LIVE】今注目の"Hyperliquid(ハイパーリキッド)"と"永久先物"とは？専門家が解説｜weekly gm｜2026年1月23日

Comugi-san began with his usual news reports, where we learn that the value of "digital gold" Bitcoin has plummeted yesterday, Jan. 22, almost to the point of clearing out the increase it had gained at the start of the new year.

Nikkei News reports that the sale of Bitcoin, which is linked to the stock market, proliferated during the time when US President Trump increased US tariffs against European countries due to concerns over Greenland's territorial rights.

With respect to today's presentation, two key people from Secured Finance AG provided their explanations on "perpetual futures (preps):" Mr. Kenji Mitsusada, a former foreign exchange (FOREX) and gold trader at Goldman Sachs for 14 years and who is now the Head of Markets at Secured Finance AG, and Mr. Masakazu "Masa" Kikuchi, the CEO of Secured Finance AG.

While perps was given much more emphasis than "Hyperliquid," we learn from Comugi-san's introduction that Hyperliquid recently garnered over 1 billion USD in annual revenues, becoming a huge on-chain derivative business.

Moreover, with perps transactions having no time limits nor payment settlement days, perps, a financial crypto product that links to the price of actual products upon procurement, have become an easy-to-use instrument for traders.

Furthermore, along with the transfer of high-frequency "leverage" transactions to on-chain derivatives, and the increase in transparency during the liquidation process as well as the convenience of 24-hour trading, attention toward issues like risk management and regulations have also increased.

At this point, let me now highlight two key points in Mitsusada-san and Masa-san's presentation on perps.

The first is about Mitsusada-san's explanation on foreign exchange, where he says that there needs to be a system to compensate for the difference in the amount of money at hand and the amount that is promised after a year.

He further explains that the same amount of money would have varying yields depending on the country where it's stored and the currency used in that location, for example, the Japanese Yen in Japan and the US Dollar in the US.

He adds that the value of money promised in one year could change markedly, so if the yield in Japan is only 1%, while it's 4% in the US, the total yield is adjusted to 3% in order to compensate for the difference in their yields after a given span of time.

Second, given that the yield also varies depending on this time span, those who are willing to wait long-term share their yield with those who can only wait short-term. In this way, more money can be obtained from even more people, most of whom can only wait short-term.

Their system, therefore, finds the balance in this dichotomy by allowing those who are waiting long-term to still make money.

Mitsusada-san admits that this balancing act creates a type of high-frequency volatility that is difficult to predict.

In fact, when asked by Comugi-san on the kind of people who make investments in perps, Mitsusada-san reveals that they are Japanese traders who can make 100 million yen from 1 million yen. The system is akin to a public form of gambling that attracts even neophytes.

Finally, Masa-san explains that given that there have been people who've lost a lot of money in the past, they are working on providing safety measures that follow the same line of thought as putting guardrails in highways due to knowing that accidents might occur.

This is all.

Thank you.

Regards,

Mike