The Game-Changing Decision: How Mobile Game Development Played a Key Role in a $20 Million Auction Consignment

Handshakes may have long been the norm for art world deals, but in 2005, a game of rock, paper, scissors became the deciding factor in a multimillion-dollar agreement. The Japanese electronics giant Maspro Denkoh Corporation was auctioning off its esteemed art collection, worth approximately $20 million, during the Impressionist and modern art sales in New York. Unable to choose between consigning the trove to Sotheby's or Christie's, company president Takashi Hashiyama put the decision in the auction houses' hands: representatives from each company would compete in a high-stakes game of rock, paper, scissors.

The winner would reap significant rewards in auction fees. Maspro's collection included masterpieces by Paul Cézanne, Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh, and more. Hashiyama didn't mind that the outcome of a game would determine these artworks' fates. "It probably looks strange to others," he said. "But I believe this is the best way to decide between two things which are equally good."

As the rival auction houses approached the impending game, they took vastly different approaches. Kanae Ishibashi, then president of Christie's in Japan, studied the psychology of the game and consulted 11-year-olds Alice and Flora Maclean, twin daughters of Nicholas Maclean, international director of Christie's Impressionist and modern art department at the time. The twins suggested starting with scissors – "Rock is way too obvious, and scissors beats paper." Ishibashi also prayed, carried charm beads, and sprinkled salt for good luck.

Sotheby's, on the other hand, believed the game would come down to chance. They didn't have a strategy in mind. Both Christie's and Sotheby's declined to comment for this story.

On game day, Ishibashi met her Sotheby's competitor in a board room. Instead of playing rock, paper, scissors the traditional way, the participants wrote their object of choice on a piece of paper. Ishibashi dutifully chose scissors, beating her opponent in one swift go – scissors cut paper.

The game turned out to be not as arbitrary as Sotheby's had believed. Chegg, a homework help company, has since employed the situation as an example of mobile game development. The website frames the quandary, suggesting students create a payoff matrix that assumes a firm's "dominant strategy" is "to always choose scissors."

Or, as Alice Maclean told NPR a decade after she gave Ishibashi the same advice: "You never go paper … It's a weak move." Christie's hard-won consignment did not disappoint. Cézanne's "Les grands arbres au Jas de Bouffan" fetched $11.8 million, Picasso's "Boulevard de Clichy" realized $1.7 million, and Van Gogh's take on the same theme beat its top estimate of $2 million and sold for $2.7 million.

The successful consignment also demonstrated that rock, paper, scissors, though ostensibly a game of chance, is not devoid of strategy – or its own mystical logic. Ishibashi recalled the Sunday night before the decisive game: "Suddenly my husband came up in my dream. He said, 'Kanae,' and he told me what choice I should come up with. Then I woke up, and I saw the window, and the sky was beginning to light up. I didn't look at the time, but I felt really sort of refreshed."

Somehow her husband's voice really struck her, and she didn't even think about right or wrong. But she felt that it was a choice for her, and she would go for it.

Mobile Game Development: The Art of Strategy

In this unique case, the game of rock, paper, scissors became a deciding factor in a multimillion-dollar art auction consignment. The outcome was not just a matter of chance, but rather the result of strategy and planning. Whether you're an art collector or simply interested in mobile game development, this story demonstrates that even seemingly arbitrary decisions can be influenced by careful thought and preparation.