Game Market 1983

Chapter 55: The Approaching 16-Bit Era

December 20, 1987. Five days before Christmas. Akihabara, Tokyo.

The streets, covered with a record-breaking amount of snow that had fallen since late afternoon, were lined with heaps of trash. Why were there so many garbage bags strewn in a row on the streets? Sorry, let me correct that. In reality, those were people.

"Excuse me. Hey!"

"Yes?"

"I'm a MinTendo employee. This is a hot coffee, please have some."

I handed him a steaming cup of coffee from my thermos. The young man, buried under his duck feather parka from head to toe, nodded at me, extending his hand.

"Th-thank you."

Thankful, huh? He didn't even seem to have the energy to speak properly in this freezing cold. I sighed deeply and looked out at the snowy street.

MinTendo employees were scattered throughout the street, distributing coffee to the customers.

Come to think of it, online shopping malls have truly revolutionized the game. You can sit in the warmth of your own home, click a few times, and have your items delivered to your doorstep.

Of course, popular items sometimes sell out in a matter of seconds, leaving you frustrated. But still, you don't have to endure this bone-chilling weather.

"Um, can I have some coffee too?"

People were reaching out from all sides like zombies, causing the coffee inside the thermos to run out quickly. I was about to run to the van we designated as the event's temporary headquarters to replenish the coffee, but all the prepared coffee was already gone.

"Ugh, Kang-buchim. It's so cold."

How can a 1980s van with a heater be so… heaterless? I tossed a pocket warmer to a shivering female colleague, who had put on her parka.

"At least hold onto this tightly in your hand. You'll get frostbite."

"Thank you, boss."

"Even though it's unexpectedly heavy snow, we were unprepared for it."

"But look at that. The line at the station is incredibly long. It seems like the limited-time discount effect is significant, just as you said, Boss."

"Darn it, I'm trying to save 2,000 yen, but I'll end up spending more on medicine. I feel bad for making our employees go through this. Sorry, Mina."

"Oh, no! It's okay. I volunteered to come here."

At that moment, I heard Gunpei's voice calling me from behind.

"Kang-Jun!! Do you have any coffee left!?"

I shouted back, crossing my arms in an 'X' shape toward Gunpei, who was far away.

"It's all gone!! That's the last one!!!"

Gunpei, who was in charge of coordinating this event, walked over with an empty thermos. Even though his clothes, and even his eyebrows, were buried under layers of snow, his expression was as bright as ever.

"During the management meeting, the expensive portable gaming device didn't get much positive feedback, but it looks like we're off to a good start. If we sell out the initial stock within ten days thanks to the discounted price promotion, we'll see the advertising effect through the kids."

"Probably because kids will bring it to school. If just one kid in each class buys it, it'll naturally spread to about fifty people."

"Right. That's the advantage of a portable gaming device. It will also be effective for people who play games during their commute, like on the subway, so we won't have to spend much on marketing. It'll spread by word of mouth."

I remembered that when I was in elementary school, a friend in the same class brought one and boasted about it. He practically became a salesman, trying to show off how much attention he was getting by just ordering a game. But within three days, someone stole it, and our classroom turned into chaos.

"Um, is there any more coffee? Waiting customers are asking for it..."

A member of the promotional team, who had been handing out coffee on the street, came over with an empty thermos and asked us.

"Oh, it's still ten hours before the event starts, and it's freezing in the early morning?"

"That's true, but we can't exactly tell everyone to go back. We need to handle this cold carefully to avoid any major incidents."

Then the member of the promotional team blew into his cold hands and said.

"Shall I go buy some hot packs from the convenience store?"

"Hot packs? Well, that's not a bad idea, but to distribute hot packs to this many people, you'd need to go to several convenience stores."

"Well, I guess there's no other option. At this rate, we might have news reporters swarming here tomorrow morning, and what if some of the customers get frostbite?"

"True. We'll need to take the maximum possible measures."

In the end, we used the van to visit every convenience store we could find and stocked up on hot packs. However, even with our efforts, the freezing cold of the early morning did not show any signs of relenting.

"Ugh, it's so cold."

"What did you say, Boss Kang?"

"Oh, it's not, it's a Korean expression that means I feel like I'm freezing to death."

I wanted to move my body a bit, even if just to warm up. When I opened the back door of the van, the icy wind that blew through the gap began to stir things up inside the van.

"Boss, please close the door!"

"Alright, I'll close it."

Thud! I had been sitting hunched up all night, and I felt like I had shrunk by at least 5 centimeters. I stretched my arms in different directions to loosen my muscles and yawned widely.

"Thankfully, the snow has stopped."

Crunch. The snow-covered street was untouched, and it was piled up almost to ankle height. It seemed like it had snowed heavily until morning. I wondered if people were okay in this weather. When I turned my head...

"Ugh!"

The round snowballs connected from the event venue to the station. Some people, like me, were seen massaging each other's shoulders to loosen their stiff muscles. Everyone was enduring the subzero cold, and it was a relief to see them alive.

"Amazing. Really..."

To be honest, most people would just pay an extra 2,000 yen and buy it later, but the people gathered here now hadn't come for that 2,000 yen.

They were also human beings, and they hadn't come to buy the portable Game Boy in this snowstorm, sacrificing their bodies for the sake of it. But, driven by the spirit of early adopters who wanted to experience the new machine before anyone else, they endured the freezing cold.

For them, the pain of waiting for the first batch to be replenished would be more profound than the bone-chilling cold that penetrated their bones.

They would earn a title in the mid-90s, one that would be ingrained in their very bones. They would become people who received the title of "otaku" while passionately watching an anime where the father of a son who didn't want to die in a purple robot mercilessly died.

&

The portable Game Boy was originally released in April 1989.

At that time, Nintendo had set its release target for the summer of 1988, but it was a game console that had been postponed once due to internal circumstances.

However, today is December 21, 1987.

The first portable game console with an interchangeable cartridge was displayed on the shelves of the event venue.

"Wow!!!"

After the release of "The Legend of Kairn" and "Dragon Warrior 2," the line for the launch day purchase was no longer a rare spectacle. However, as the first console to successfully induce a line for purchase, despite being an expensive device, it began to sell like hotcakes as soon as it opened.

The game title prepared for the launch of the Game Boy, "Super Mario Land," was also performing well, helping to boost sales of the device.

Even people who had come to the event out of curiosity were waiting in line to experience the quality of "Super Mario Land."

Among the four launch titles, the baseball game did well after "Super Mario Land." We thought we had prepared enough, but after experiencing a phenomenon where one-fifth of the initial supply disappeared in just half a day, Gunpei walked around the event venue, skipping meals and checking everywhere.

"Take a little break. You're not that young anymore."

"After running around on-site after a long time, I'm full of energy!"

"Is that so?"

Most people would probably pay an extra 2,000 yen and buy it later, but the people gathered here hadn't come for that 2,000 yen.

They were also human beings, and they hadn't come to buy the portable Game Boy in this snowstorm, sacrificing their bodies for the sake of it. But, driven by the spirit of early adopters who wanted to experience the new machine before anyone else, they endured the freezing cold.

For them, the pain of waiting for the first batch to be replenished would be more profound than the bone-chilling cold that penetrated their bones.

They would earn a title in the mid-90s, one that would be ingrained in their very bones. They would become people who received the title of "otaku" while passionately watching an anime where the father of a son who didn't want to die in a purple robot mercilessly died.

Gunpei took the canned drink I handed him, but his trembling hands struggled to open the lid.

Tick... Tick... He hadn't eaten all day, and he had been running around continuously, so his hands were lacking strength.

I opened the drink for him and handed it back. Gunpei looked at me with a worried expression and asked, "So, Kamauji, are you still a bachelor? Is that true?"

"Phew! No, not really..."

I had half-sprayed the drink in my mouth and quickly wiped around my mouth with a handkerchief before answering, "It's not like that. The boss suddenly wanted to introduce his niece. I wanted to refuse, but I just blurted out something."

"The boss's niece? Smire? Is that right?"

"Ah, Gunpei, you know her too?"

"I do. I've actually met her a few times."

"I see. I've only seen pictures... Well, she's..."

"She's not quite a beauty, huh?"

I didn't even expect her to be a beauty. I wouldn't be like this if she were just ordinary.

"Knowing our boss's personality, he probably wanted to set you up with her no matter what. He values Smire very much. But, you know..."

"But what else?"

"Smire, who has been pampered since she was a child, doesn't know how to give up easily."

Gunpei's words sent a shiver down my spine.

"I should have been a bit more resolute. To be honest, my excuse of being a bachelor doesn't seem sufficient. What should I do at the company party at the beginning of the year?"

"I've actually planned a business trip to the US for early next year."

"Typical Kang. It's like they say, even the most beautiful woman will become boring if you live together for five years..."

"Are you scolding me for only caring about people's external appearances?"

"No."

"Then?"

"If you meet an ugly woman, even five minutes would be too long. You'd get bored right from the start."

...Words of wisdom just came out of nowhere in life...

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