Chapter 52
Even though the shop wasn’t open yet, there was a gaggle of children who found the shop through a magazine and were peering inside the store .
A mischievous thought popped into my head; as I picked up a Gamboy and waved it around with a ridiculous face, an eruption of laughter sounded out from outside the shop . Watching this scene, Elise spoke to me with a grin .
“Director Kang, I didn’t know you could make that sort of a face!”
“Hahaha . Aren’t these kids waiting for our shop to open just delightful?”
“I think there are reporters from the media here as well . Director, you’re going to be on the news if you act like that… Hehe”
Mr . Wilson also peered out the window and wrinkled an eyebrow before chiming in .
“Mmm… It looks like there are a few people from Toy World too . ”
As I turned my head, a few individuals who looked to be from Toy World stood out . They averted their gaze as soon as they made eye contact with me . Since we refused to supply Toy World with our products from three years ago, we’ve had a sour relationship ever since .
As the shop entrance finally opened, the crowd waiting outside all stormed inside and crowded around the experimental trial station . I handed a Gamboy to one boy and carefully explained the instructions .
Mr . Wilson was swamped with interviews from reporters, and Mr . Gunpei was busy taking pictures of the kids on the experimental trial station to write a report for HQ .
At that moment, a young man snatched the Gamboy from the little boy and examined the device with a friend beside him before speaking .
“Oof… the display is hurting my eyes!!! The CPU seems to be slow on top of that; playing action games will be impossible on this device . I can just feel my eyesight worsening when I'm staring at it . ”
“Is that all? My wrists are starting to hurt from holding it for a few seconds; there are probably four batteries in here . ”
“A device that kids will be playing with shouldn’t strain the wrists . I feel like the device would shatter if it’s dropped by accident due to its heavy weight . ”
What? What in the world is this rehearsed soulless skit? It’d be hard for me to express the Gamboy’s advantage in three seconds like that .
However, the expressions of the parents who were accompanying their child began to harden in response to the conversation of the two men .
“That makes sense . Staring at this tiny screen for a long time could worsen your eyesight . ”
“An expensive device like this costing over 150 dollars shouldn’t be able to break easily… My son likes to rough-handle his toys…”
The effects of their little skit sure was great . But as they were valid concerns, the reporters who were interviewing Mr . Wilson started to give out furtive glances,
“Phew… I didn’t want to go this far…”
With a long sigh, I approached the men who were holding the Gamboy and stretched my hand out .
“Can I see the device for a moment?”
As I, a Mintendo employee, politely asked for the device from the duo, the man handed the Gamboy to me with a half-dazed expression .
“Is this heavy? This mobile Gamboy is 300 grams with four batteries inside . If you feel the pressure from a mere 300 grams, I think you should work out regularly . This device definitely is not light, but it can’t be called wrist-breaking either . And…”
As I repeteadky dropped the Gamboy up-and-down into the floor, the heads of the crowd followed my movements . Once enough people were focused, I threw the device upwards almost touching the store ceiling and took a step back .
“Don’t be surprised . ”
“Uh… Oh, OH!?”
Kroom~!!
The Gamboy fell to the ground with a heavy thud . The impact was strong enough to eject the cartridge and the batteries that were inside .
In the middle of a stunned crowd, Mr . Gunpei alone was faintly smiling .
“The cartridge… where did it go?”
I picked up the cartridges and batteries that flew off the device and inserted them back into the Gamboy . And I handed it back to the man while speaking .
“Please check . ”
“No way~ I clearly heard a shattering sound, how can it still function?”
As the man turned the power back on with a disbelieving expression, a clear background music sounded out .
“It’s… fine?”
I ignored the flustered man and borrowed a Gamboy from a nearby kid for a brief moment to talk about the front dials .
“As you can see, there are two dials here . One controls the volume, and the other controls something called a ‘brightness contrast . ’ With this, you can adjust the brightness of the screen . You’d be able to enjoy the Gamboy on a brighter display in exchange for a shorter battery life . But, what these men said isn’t necessarily wrong; your eyes will become strained after extended usage . However, it’s the same when you read a school textbook for a long time as well . The human eye is bound to deteriorate after focusing on an object for a long period . It’ll be up to the parents to control the device usage of their children . ”
I went down on my knees to hand the Gamboy back and spoke .
“A good boy should only play 1 hour a day . ”
“Okay, thank you sir~”
I patted the kid on the head before standing up to look at the two men .
“A while ago, I saw you snatching a Gamboy from another kid . Aren’t you embarrassed to call yourselves grown men?”
“Are you looking down on us!?”
In response, a boy’s mom pointed at the men and shouted .
“These men were the ones who cut the line back when we were waiting in front of the entrance . They were swearing at this store while there were kids around too; my face turned beet-red . ”
As soon as she spoke, the atmosphere turned sour in an instant . After realizing that their plan to disrupt our business was exposed, the two men slowly started backing away towards the entrance before hurriedly sprinting out the door .
I gathered my hands to my mouth and shouted to their retreating back .
“Tell President Tom that Junhyuk Kang sends his regards~!! He’ll know who I am!!”
&
After this slight mishap, the Gamboy’s opening day proceeded without a hitch .
Mr . Wilson had just finished an interview and wiped his sweat away before opening his mouth .
“What were you thinking when you dropped the Gamboy to the ground?”
“It was to clear away any misconceptions of course . ”
“What if it really shattered!!”
Mr . Gunpei, who had approached us, answered Mr . Wilson’s question .
“It will never shatter . Right after the first prototype Gamboy was developed, he took the device and slammed it on the ground . ”
“What?”
“We have carpets here, but he threw it on a rock-solid ground . The prototype shattered of course, and this is what he said afterwards . ”
-This is something kids will play with . It must be able to withstand a fall . –
“Phew…”
Mr . Wilson exhibited a shocked expression in response to Mr . Gunpei’s words . Indeed, I had been startled back then as well . Yamauchi had thrown the device on the ground without any warning… I let out a smirk after remembering Mr . Gunpei’s frozen face back then .
&
A few days later .
After Mr . Gunpei and I concluded our business in America, we boarded the plane heading back to Japan . Mr . Yamashita, Mr . Wilson and Elise had stayed at the airport to see us off until takeoff with a bright smile .
“I thought staying here for a month would be more than enough time, but it feels too short now . ”
“Yeah… On the bright side, the initial reception to our Gamboy was great! We can expect it to be a huge hit when we start the official marketing . ”
“Your Psychic Battle didn’t lose in terms of popularity either . It’ll definitely be a sweeping sensation if it is released on the right date . ”
“Oh? Haven’t I told you about its release date already, Mr . Gunpei? Psychic Battle’s release date been set . ”
“What? When?”
“February 10th . ”
“What!? That’s 3 days after we land in Japan . No, that’s beside the point . On…”
“Yes . Dragon Warrior 3 will also be released on the same day . ”
The prequels of Dragon Warrior 3, Dragon Warriors 1 & 2, were hailed as legendary titles due to their staggering cartridge sales .
“Even if it was promoted extensively, I think competing with the Dragon Warriors series will be difficult as Psychic Battle is brand new series . Releasing both titles on the same day will have an impact on the sales without a doubt . ”
“That’s fine; selling Psychic Battle on a mass scale was impossible in the first place because of the incorporated specialty chip . But there are several benefits to this . ”
“That we’d be unable to satisfy their demand?”
“A better way to put it would be: we are building a yearning to buy something that can’t be bought?”
“ . . . ”
Yes… A type of marketing strategy where customers won’t be able to buy not because they lack the funds, but because there is no more stock . For example, there was the ‘Honey Butter Chip’ fad which shook the entire nation before my time slip .
&
Wednesday, February 10th, 1988 . Inside the train headed to Akihabara, Tokyo…
It was the start of another day to ordinary citizens . But to gamers, especially Dragon Warrior fans, today was a very special day .
Seeing a corporate employee who had kept glancing at his wristwatch and the route map from a while ago, it seemed that there was something on his mind .
‘Should… I stop by Akihabara to buy Dragon Warrior 3?’
‘What if it’s sold out by the time I get off work?’
‘No, the stock should be enough . ’
‘But Dragon Warrior 2 was sold out on its release day!?’
‘They should’ve adequately prepared for Dragon Warrior 3’s release then . ’
‘Should I just stop by Akihabara to buy the game before work?’
‘Would I be able to make it in time?’
I swallowed my laughter seeing the concerned expressions of the people on the train and leaned my body on the wall . Subsequently, Mr . Shigeru who was sitting besides me opened his mouth .
“Hey, aren’t you nervous at all?”
“What do you mean?”
“Your Psychic Battle is also going to be released today . ”
“Ah… right . ”
“ ‘Ah… right?’ What’s with your lackluster response? Have you given up because of the competition from Dragon Warrior 3?”
“No way . My marketing strategy for Psychic Battle was a bit unique, so I’m not expecting much on the first day . ”
Kumamoto Shigeru’s Super Marigee 3 was postponed to the fall of 1988 .
(TL Note: Reminder that Shigeru didn’t develop the Dragon Warrior series)
He had declared war on my Psychic Battle with his Super Marigee, but with him being a perfectionist, it seemed there were quite a few things that he had to touch up on .
I wasn’t that interested in Mr . Shige’s bet in the first place, but I felt a bit disappointed at Super Marigee’s late release date . That was one of the reasons why I decided to hasten the release for Psychic Battle to match Dragon Warrior 3 .
Of course, there were dissenting opinions from the board at first, but the thought of competing against Japan’s number one RPG game had roused my competitive spirit .
A while later . As our train approached the Akihabara station, a strange event unfolded .