Chapter 45
Game Market 1983 - Chapter 45
“Judging from the atmosphere of the last conference, the idea of an expensive device didn’t bode well . However, everything seems to be going well for now . Once the initial batch sells out from the 10 day promotional discount, we should be able to see the network effect through kids . ”
“Some students will bring the device to school, if one kid from every class bought one, it would be advertised to 50 others . ”
“Exactly, that’s one marketing benefit of a mobile device . Just like the Game & Watch, people would see our device on the subways as well, free advertisement here lads,”
I can relate . In elementary school, my classmate brought one in and showed it off . When asked to play on the device, he’d be haughty to an intolerable level . In the end, his device was stolen within 3 days causing a huge ruckus…
“Excuse me, is there any more coffee left? Our customers waiting in line are asking for it…”
A worker distributing the coffee came back with an empty mug and asked .
“Oh, there’s still ten more hours to go until the event starts . What are we going to do in this freezing cold?”
“We can’t just ask them to go back either . Our only option is to try and prepare for any disaster that might pop up . ”
Ensuingly, one marketing employee spoke while blowing steam unto his frozen hands .
“Should we buy hot packs from the convenience store and pass those around?”
“Hot packs?” That’s not a bad idea, but to supply a crowd this large we would need to make trips to several stores . ”
“We don’t have any other choice . News reporters should be swarming in soon; should our customers just catch frostbite?”
“You’re right, we should do everything in our power to help these freezing souls . ”
In the end, we scoured the nearby stores for products that could warm the body and loaded the items to our van and distributed them to the people in line . Even after that, the freezing chill showed no signs of withdrawing .
“Keugh… You all are incredible . I would’ve given up and gone home by now . ”
Mr . Gunpei rubbed his reddened nose and stepped into the van . Subsequently, Miss Mina who was trembling in the corner spoke to Mr . Gunpei with a wavering voice .
“Director Gunpei, couldn’t we request the event to open sooner?”
“I’m sorry, but the event grounds are too narrow to bring anymore people in rightnow . We can’t leave someone outside…”
“So that’s why we’re standing here being frozen to death . ”
In response to my last comment, Gunpei heartily laughed and patted my shoulders .
“But I feel reassured with you here, Kang-kun . This will be one hell of an experience to remember . Brace up guys, we can do this . ”
Aside from Gunpei and I, there were five others who were assigned to the Tokyo opening event today . We were barely able to stave off the cold inside the van, but how cold were the people outside?
I was not able to get a proper night’s sleep with the scream of the howling winds that seeped in through the slight openings of the ban .
“Uhh… it’s cold as dog shit . ”
“What?? Did you say anything Director Kang?”
“It’s nothing . It was a Korean phrase to express the freezing temperature . ”
I wanted to move my body a little as my entire body was shivering from doing nothing . As the van door opened, a sword-like gale that was wreaking havoc outside assaulted the interior .
“D . . Director, the door!!”
“Alright, I’ll quickly close it . ”
Slam~!! I felt as if I’d shrunk by at least 5 cm after crouching into a ball all night . I spun my arm in a circle and stretched my muscles as I yawned .
“The snow stopped, thankfully . ”
Crrushh . My ankles sunk into the snow piled road that showed no sign of human footsteps . The snowstorm last night was fierce, what happened to everyone standing in line? As I turned my head around…
“Gasp!!”
Stretching from the event grounds to the subway station were a neat line of snow piles . I saw a few people massaging one another to relax the muscles just like me . It’s a relief everyone survived in the sub zero temperature…
“Wow, this really…”
Realistically, ordinary people would’ve paid the extra 2000 Yen and bought the device at a later date, but the motley bunch gathered here weren’t concerned about saving the measly 2000 Yen .
They were human; they wouldn’t risk harming their bodies for that reason to buy the Gamboy . But their yearning to be the first to experience this new device enabled them to withstand the extreme chill .
Perhaps to them, the agony of waiting for the second batch after the initial had run out was greater than the pain of the bone-freezing cold .
These people would later be coined the title “Otakus” following the release of a particular animation about a boy who was apprehended by his father for vehemently resisting riding on a purple robot .
&
The mobile gamboy was a product that would’ve originally been released on the April of 1989 .
At that time, Mintendo was planning on releasing it on the summer of 19888, but the date was delayed due to internal conflicts .
But today’s date was December 21st, 1987 .
The first mobile gaming devices using the cartridge were placed onto the shelves .
“WoW~!!!!”
Following the release of Karin’s Legend, and Dragon Warrior 2, opening days for new titles weren’t a rare occurrence anymore . But with the unique point of being a mobile device, gathering a large crowd was successful . Even with the expensive price tag, the device had begun selling like hot cakes along with its release .
The co-launching title, Super Marigee Rand, also became an item that people would buy nine times out of ten when buying the device, a successful business move .
The quality of the Super Marigee alone was enough to make a person who came to the event for curiosity, stand in line…
From the four co-launching titles, a baseball game was the second popular title next to Super Marigee . We thought we had prepared enough but almost one fifth of the initial stock was sold out by midday, which caused Mr . Gunpei to skip his meal and tirelessly run around the store .
“Take it easy, you’re not at the height of your youth anymore…”
“I’m still filled with energy after running around?”
“Really?”
Mr . Gunpei took the canned drink I handed him and placed his hands on the lid . But he was unable to open the can due to his trembling fingers .
Tick… Tick… He wouldn’t be able to exert strength into his fingertips by running around all day without having eaten anything…
I opened the drink for Mr . Gunpei and handed it to him . In response, Mr . Gunpei looked at me with a worried expression and spoke .
“President Yamauchi told me that you were a celibate, is that true?”
“Puhp~!! Ah~ This…”
After spraying roughly half the juice in my mouth, I wiped my mouth with a tissue before opening my mouth .
“It’s not like that at all . President Yamauchi was trying to set me up on a blind date with his niece; In haste, I misspoke while barely being able to hold myself back fainting . ”
“The president’s niece? Is she perhaps Miss Smire??”
“Oh? You know her too?”
“Of course I do, I’ve met her a few times in person as well…”
“So that was the case… I only saw her picture… But… She’s…”
“She’s miles away from beauty, isn’t she?”
I wasn’t even hoping for a beauty; I wouldn’t have come out like this if she was ordinary looking…
“Based on President Yamauchi’s tone, it seemed like he would’ve tried to arrange a marriage at any cost, so I had no choice but to…”
“Haha . Knowing our president, he would’ve tried to set up a meeting even if you were dating someone already . That’s how much affection he has for his niece… But the thing is…”
“There’s something else…?”
“As President Yamauchi had been catering to her wants and needs ever since she was a child, Miss Smire does not have the words “giving up” in her vocabulary . ”
After hearing Mr . Gunpei’s explanation, I felt a stream of chill run down my back .
“If you were going to lie, why didn’t you say something more believable? In my opinion, being a celibate is a weak argument… What are you going to do at the company new year’s party for bachelors?”
“Heh, I’ve already scheduled a business trip to America around that time . ”
“Haha, nice! As expected of Kang-kun! There’s an old saying that goes like this: One will get easily tired of a beauty after living together for 5 years…”
“Are you criticizing me for only caring about a person’s outer appearance?”
“No . ”
“Then?”
“If you’re together with an ugly girl, you won’t even last 5 years . Just don’t start the relationship . ”
… A wise saying indeed …
&
After Mr . Gunpei returned to the opening event from our brief break, we saw that the line was still endless .
Even for the model device that was put out for experimental use was swarmed with a group of people who were all too eager to touch it .
“Director, Please save me~”
Miss Mina, who was shivering inside the van at dawn, was sucked of her life force by the customers now .
“I’ll take your place; come back after some rest . ”
“Thank you very much . ”
Of course, her legs would be tired after walking around in high heels all day . After taking over for Mina, I looked around the event plaza .
One student who was holding the model Gamboy muttered with a surprised expression .
“It’s really light…”
Mmm… It shouldn’t be that light? Pragmatically speaking, the design was no different from a brick, and the official weight of the device was recorded as 220 grams barring the weight of the batteries . If the 4 batteries were added, it’s weight would approach almost 300 grams .
But compared SenSony’s latest device the Walkman, the mobile Gamboy could be considered compact . It looked silly in my eyes but to them, it was the newest innovation .
I steadily moved my footsteps towards to the ‘Psychic Battle’ plaza . As soon as Mr . Kashiwaba, who handed out coffee with me until dawn, spotted me, he came running over .
“The Gamboy is a huge hit, but the number of customers that came here to experience ‘Psychic Battle’ can’t be ignored either!”
“Of course it should do well . I’ve been told off by President Yamauchi for wasting needless amounts of money on advertising the game…”
The launching of the mobile Gamboy was imoportant, but the main reason I personally came to the event plaza was precisely for this reason .
And on this day, the demo cartridges for ‘Psychic Battle’ were exploding in popularity . Why? It was because of this text:
-Challenge the newest title, Psychic Battle!!-
The first player to clear the first stage will win a life-size poster of a character .
The first player to clear the second stage will be presented with the demo Psychic Battle cartridge .
The prizes were simple, but its effect was tremendous .
From producing an article with each of the four major game magazines last month, the anticipation for the game was at an all time high; Early beta testers had left great reviews on the articles .
Thanks to that, my game had surpassed Super Marigee 3 in the most anticipated title rankings…
However, I was not satisfied with that and took one step forward .