AS NINTENDO'S FIRST PORTABLE GAME CONSOLE, BUT ALSO AS THE CREATIVE INVENTOR OF THE GAME WATCH.

GUNPEI YOKOI HAS HIGH HOPES FOR THE PERFORMANCE OF THE GAME WATCH, SO HE KEEPS AN EYE ON HANDHELD SALES EVERY WEEK.

As usual, it's time for the week's sales summary to come out.

And Yokoi Junhei is also sitting in his office, looking at the latest sales data.

80,000 units, another satisfactory number. Yokoi Junhei comfortably picked up the teacup and took a sip slowly.

Since the launch of G&W in early May, until the end of June. In two months, the total sales of G&W have exceeded 500,000 units.

This number not only shocked the group of colleagues who faced dead faces at the early development seminars.

Even Nintendo's big boss, Yamauchi Bo felt unexpected.

Because that time, when Yokoi Junhei told him in the car that he wanted to make a game console the size of a calculator that could be played by adults.

Yamauchi didn't take it seriously at all, he just didn't want to discourage Yokoi Junhei's enthusiasm.

Thinking of letting him give it a try, he casually introduced Sharp to him, and let the two work together to solve the problem of the LCD screen.

Unexpectedly, G&W's performance exceeded all expectations.

In the first month of its release, it sold 200,000 units, and Yamauchi looked at it, and he couldn't sit still.

Immediately ordered Gunhei Yokoi to start developing, the second game.

One game per handheld is priced at 5,800 yen for G&W.

Nintendo's profit per handheld is more than 1,000 yen, and it makes a lot of money.

SO EVERY TIME A GAME IS DEVELOPED, THERE IS A REASON TO LAUNCH A GAME WATCH.

Then there's no need to hesitate, the second game is about to be released.

AS THE COACH OF GAME WATCH'S VICTORY, GUNPEI YOKOI'S STATUS IN NINTENDO IS ALSO RISING.

Regarding the games to be carried on the follow-up handheld, he had some different ideas in his head.

The club's game arcades, which sell very well, can also be ported?

However, the guys in charge of game design in the arcade department were a bit brainless, and it wasn't easy to convince them.

No matter what, in short, with the current performance of GW, it is not difficult to do this.

Just convince President Yamauchi, after all, as long as it can make a profit, the president will definitely agree.

Thinking like this, Gunhei Yokoi put down the sales report and decided to go out for a walk.

Nintendo's headquarters in Higashiyama, Kyoto City, is surrounded by game arcades and karaoke.

As a game practitioner, these places are also frequented by Yokoi Junhei.

It's not that he likes to play games, but just to see what games are popular right now.

Maybe you can get some inspiration from this and give you some good ideas for future game design.

Moreover, in these game halls, there are Nintendo's arcade machines, and some of them even participated in the design of Yokoi Junhei.

A man of action, he came out of the Nintendo building in a short time, and walked in to buy a cup of iced coffee as he passed by the convenience store.

In June and July, Japan is in the heat of the year. Not long after he came out of the building, Gunhei Yokoi was already sweating profusely.

Grabbing an iced cup of coffee, I walked over to the bar facing the clear glass. Gunhei Yokoi was going to sit down first and rest for a while.

However, his eyes were attracted by the two chattering children in the bar area.

"Kenta, let me play a little longer. Please, can I use my console to trade with you? ”

Heng Tai took his handheld and handed it to his good friend Kenta, looking at him with blank eyes.

But unfortunately, Kenta's eyes are still fixed on his hands.

"No, Hengtai. Your game isn't fun at all, and you'll get tired of it in five minutes. ”

As he spoke, Kenta's fingers kept pressing the attack button on the handheld.

As he moved, there was a sound of "biubiubiu" that aroused curiosity.

"Haha, my anger is full again. Die, aliens! ”

Kenta suddenly exerted force with both hands, holding down the arrow keys and attack buttons at the same time.

A wave of light slowly spread upwards from the bottom to the top on the screen, and everywhere it went, the light spots that played the role of enemy planes disappeared one after another.

"Si Guoyi!" At this time, Hengtai didn't care about asking to play with his friends.

Simply threw his game console directly to the side of the bar, stretched his neck and squeezed his head with Kenta's head, and looked at the screen together and shouted excitedly.

However, the two little guys were so excited that they couldn't help themselves, and Yokoi Gunpei, who was sitting next to them, had a serious face.

IF HE'S NOT MISTAKEN, THE ONE THROWN ON THE BAR IS HIS OWN PROUD GAME WATCH.

The red-red border and silver interface are all designed by yourself.

Now it has been abandoned and thrown aside like mustard, which has to be said to have deeply irritated Yokoi Junhei.

It was the first time he'd seen a GAME WATCH customer treat it like this.

And this customer is also a group of children, who have the most direct feedback on the fun to some extent.

Fun is fun, and not fun is not fun.

If you can't force it, you can't fake it.

Gunhei Yokoi turned his gaze to the mysterious machine that attracted the attention of the two children.

AT FIRST GLANCE, IT LOOKS A LITTLE SIMILAR TO ITS OWN GAME WATCH, WHICH IS A PALM-SIZED RECTANGULAR HANDHELD.

In order to see in more detail, Yokoi Junhei couldn't help but stretch his head.

"Hey, uncle, what do you want to do?!"

Kenta, who suddenly noticed that there was an extra shadow in front of him, looked up and saw that a strange uncle had unknowingly come up in front of him.

The alert Kenta immediately put away his game console and made a move ready to retreat at any time.

He remembers his mother's explanation that when he encounters a strange uncle, it is best to stay away immediately.

"Uh" Gunpei Yokoi, who was regarded as a suspicious suspect, retracted his head in embarrassment.

"Don't get me wrong, kids, I'm attracted to it."

As he spoke, Junhei Yokoi pointed to the game console in Kenta's hand, which had been tightly covered by him.

"Huh?" Kenta and Hengta looked at each other in surprise.

Strange uncles also like to play games? Didn't his mom buy it for him?

"You also like Raiden?" Kenta looked at the suspicious uncle in front of him suspiciously.

Yokoi Junhei was stunned for a moment, and then quickly nodded. "Hay, I like thunder and lightning too."

"That's right," Kenta nodded as if he were a young adult, then turned and pointed to the shelves not far behind him.

"Now, there you are. But I can't help you, uncle, if you don't have money, you can only go home and ask your mother. ”

Yokoi Junhei subconsciously looked at Kenta and pointed to the shelf, where it seemed that there was indeed a similar handheld there.

He turned his head and was about to thank him, but there were still two little figures in front of him.

Glancing again, they were grimacing at themselves outside the glass window.

Yokoi Junhei smiled dumbly, he was really naughty.

But the business mattered, and after a little sigh, he got up with a serious face and went straight to the shelf.

Before he reached the shelf, a specially customized promotional billboard caught his eye.

"Really. Two games! It's not the kind of two ways to play!"

Yokoi's face was hot, but he reacted immediately.

What does my face do with hot and what does it have to do with me?

But when he saw the game console next to the billboard, he was furious again, and his face turned red.

Why?

BECAUSE RIGHT NEXT TO THAT STRANGE HANDHELD, THERE IS YOUR OWN GAME WATCH.

And coincidentally, there is a tilted thumb next to the second half of the sentence on the billboard pretending to be two games.

THE PLACE WHERE THE THUMB POINTS IS WHERE YOUR GAME WATCH IS LOCATED.

The thumb is upside down, which is quite ironic, and look at where it is pointing.

Yokoi Junhei, who was already a little weak-hearted, was of course annoyed and angry.

However, he is already the Minister of R&D, and he has his own bearing. Pressing down on the anger in his heart, Gunhei Yokoi walked in front of the mysterious colleague.

At the first glance, his face became serious.

This workmanship, this appearance, the fierce rival of GAME WATCH.

As a peer, even a pioneer, he is naturally very clear about handhelds. At a glance, you already have some judgments.

Yokoi Junhei took the handheld on the shelf and took a closer look, and I have to say that the feel is really not bad. Heavy, with a sense of reliability.

Looking carefully at the front, the larger printing screen made his face more serious.

There are also cool-shaped fighters printed on the side, which have opened Yokoi's eyes.

It turns out that the handheld can still be designed like this, and it seems that such a good idea can be borrowed and used.

What really caught his eye was the cross button on the left, and Junhei Yokoi couldn't wait to experience it a few times through the package.

The feel is much more flexible and comfortable than your own.

It's better to sigh to himself, he quietly reminded himself in his heart.

In terms of appearance and hardware, it is so good, and it also makes Yokoi Junhei look forward to this handheld game more and more.

But why does the logo on the screen look familiar, GAME BOY?

Why can't you change your name?

Yokoi felt offended.

And this KITA, he always felt like he had seen it somewhere.

But he couldn't think of it for the time being, so he simply put down his mind and walked to the front desk with this handheld machine.

Originally, he wanted to try it on the spot, but because of the outer packaging, it hindered his further experience.

"Sir, I'm 5,200 yen."

Even the price is cheaper than his own, Yokoi Junhei muttered again.

Junhei Yokoi, who had paid the money, just wanted to leave, and remembered the billboard on the shelf just now, so he opened his mouth to reason with the clerk.

"Why did you put Nintendo's console with this console?" Gunhei Yokoi pointed to the game console in his hand.

The clerk looked at him strangely, "Sir, because they are all game consoles." ”

Gunpei Yokoi was swallowed, okay.

"So, why are their billboards put like that? This can lead to misunderstandings among customers about Nintendo's consoles. ”

The clerk's face became more and more strange, "Sir, you have no right to interfere with the placement of the billboard in our store.

AND GAME BOY IS INDEED TWO GAMES. ”

This..., Lao Tie, the last sentence pierced my heart.

Gunpei Yokoi, who was a little angry and couldn't lose his temper, left the convenience store angrily with GAME BOY.

He didn't want to go to the game arcade before, and went straight back to the Nintendo headquarters building.

As for the clerk, he looked at the back of Junhei Yokoi as he left, and muttered quietly.

Why is it put like this?

Of course, it's the banknote ability, and the rebates given by people are high, and the store manager specially explained it.

(End of chapter)