On April 1st, Akihabara, Tokyo, was particularly lively.

In front of the anime shops and electrical appliance stores on both sides of the street, almost all of them are crowded with people.

Although there were many people in the past, it is rare to see the whole street difficult to walk like now.

However, even though people were crowded, the unexpected crowd was faintly divided into two factions.

Although there is no obvious distinction between clothes, everyone tacitly formed two piles in front of each store.

and the occasional glance at the other side, all of which declare to outsiders that they are not in the same group.

Not only are they not in a group, but even the two sides have a faint hint of hostility.

And the reason for such a clear situation is, of course, also very related to the fact that everyone is gathered here today.

Just look at the magazines they have in their hands, or newspapers.

"Shirakawa Electric VS Nintendo! REDAY GO！ ”

"The curtain opens, and the game is due!"

"Red and blue duel! Let's go! ”

Look, the atmosphere is all set here. As die-hard fans of the two families, it would be hellish to get along.

Since more than half a month ago, the media has been hyping up the showdown between the two heroes in the game console industry.

What you should know, what you shouldn't know, you know that something big is happening in the gaming world today.

And Akihabara, where a large number of anime, arcade shops, and electronics stores gather, is of course the first choice for young people.

Although the spring break is coming to an end, it does not prevent everyone from welcoming this grand event in the game console industry on the last day of the holiday.

Just after 10 a.m., the shops on both sides of the street opened their doors as if they had made an appointment.

"It's coming! Here it comes! ”

As soon as the door opened, the distinct red and blue colors greeted you.

Nintendo's red FC poster, Shirakawa Electric's blue FES poster.

They are hung in the most conspicuous position at the door, one on the left and one on the right, and they are very meaningful.

And the fans who were in high mood outside the door couldn't help but chant when they saw this scene.

Then, as if they had received an order at the same time, the two groups rushed to the store in unison.

They went in the same direction, but the destination was that after entering the door, they were automatically diverted from left to right.

If you want to make trouble, the shops in Akihabara can play better than the media.

These perennial merchants who have been immersed in product promotion know that different fan groups despise each other and have prejudices against each other.

It just so happens that the red-blue war hyped by the media has caused considerable discussion, so wouldn't it be too much of a loss not to make good use of this?

So the shops changed their tricks to guide the confrontation between fans, and the-for-tat confrontation of the poster at the door was simply pediatric.

There are also big smarts, and two big billboards are placed directly at the door.

The daily sales of Shirakawa Electric and Nintendo's game consoles will be recorded above.

Whoever wins the day will have a small flag behind their board.

Look, the game consoles you support are lagging behind in sales today, why don't you hurry up and ask your friends to support them?

But no matter who wins or loses between Shirakawa Electric and Nintendo, the store will definitely not lose.

“FC！ FC！ ”，“FES！ Give me a FES! ”

The sound of greetings rang out in the store from time to time, and the cashiers were so busy sweating that they didn't even have time for the occasional conversation.

The crowd of people crowded in front of the counter waiting to check out, red, red, blue and blue in their hands.

As a rough estimate, the number of the two seems to be about the same.

The reason for this evenly matched scene is that the fan base of the two is about the same.

This can be seen from the market share of the two handhelds, although Shirakawa Electric has an advantage, but it has not reached an overwhelming point.

Nintendo, on the other hand, is an old player in the gaming industry, and the accumulated number of fans can slightly make up for the lack of market share.

Another reason why there is not much difference between the two is that Shirakawa Electric's FES and Nintendo's FC are priced at the same price, both at 14,800 yen.

Look, isn't that a coincidence?

In fact, it is not a coincidence, the marketing departments of both have analyzed it.

If you want to make the majority of students, the price of game consoles affordable, then the price must follow the principle of low pricing.

After Shirakawa Electric revealed its own price, Nintendo did not hesitate to set the same price.

Sega's SG-1000 was initially priced at 19,800 yen, but after comparing the other two, it quietly lowered the price to 15,000 yen.

"Store manager! Store manager! Why don't you have a console? The loud sound silenced the crowd.

The busy clerk looked up at the red and blue boxes on the shelves, and looked at the questioner strangely.

"Uh, I'm talking about Sega's SG-1000 console."

"Cut~" The crowd let out a burst of boos.

The questioner was red-faced and red-eared, holding his head and running away.

This small episode did not affect everyone's enthusiasm for shopping, and many people stopped on the shelves in the other row after getting the game console.

Why? Because it's full of dense game cartridges.

Similarly, the cassettes of Shirakawa Electric and Nintendo have also made a distinction between left and right.

In fact, in the box in their hands, along with the host, there was also a box of cassettes from the two clubs.

Nintendo sent "Donkey Kong", and Shirakawa Electric sent "Thunderbolt".

Both of them have taken out the most popular games under their names, and if you want the console to sell well, the starting game lineup is very important.

What is a game for children?

So the shelves full of game cartridges were quickly crowded.

And the first thing everyone buys is, of course, the transplanted games that have long been famous, such as Nintendo's "Donkey Kong JR", "Popeye" and so on.

They are both very well-known arcade games, and there are countless people who have played both.

Shirakawa Electric also has arcade hits like "Pac-Man", so there is no need to worry about sales.

However, in general, it is still in front of Shirakawa Electric's game cartridge, and the number of people standing is significantly larger.

This is because Shirakawa Electric has many more FES debut game cartridges than Nintendo.

In addition to "Thunderbolt" and "Pac-Man", HAL also came up with two games, "Tank Wars" and "Double Dragon".

And third-party game developers, Namco's "Little Bees" and Enix's "Door" are also on the shelves.

And depending on the content of the game, Shirakawa Electric's game cartridge is also designed in different colors.

For example, the blue of "Thunderbolt", the yellow of "Pac-Man", the army green of "Tank Wars", etc., the game stickers are also very beautiful.

It's like Nintendo's game cartridges, there are only three on the shelves, and they are all gray and white.

In the eyes of children, of course, the colorful colors are more attractive.

Looking at the chattering discussion on the other side, the students holding the Nintendo game console couldn't help but feel a little lost.

At the same time, the exquisite game posters on the side of Shirakawa Feng Electric Appliances hooked their eyes from time to time.

It's really greedy, and it's like being scratched by a kitten in my heart, and it's itchy and unbearable.

In Nishikawa City, Hyogo Prefecture, in the dormitory of an ordinary university, a classmate with black-rimmed glasses was lying on the bed boringly flipping through a book.

The motionless eyeballs, as well as a page turned over in the middle of the day, all showed his absent-mindedness at the moment.

"Si Guoyi! Si Guoyi~"

A series of cries came from far and near the door, and with a "bang" of the door, a short-haired boy in a vest rushed into the dormitory.

The loud sound made the glasses classmate who was bored flipping through the book on the bed frown subconsciously.

He propped up his upper body and looked at his roommate, wondering what the other party was excited about.

"Eh" his action, so that the short-haired boy turned his eyes here.

"Kojima, quick! There are good things! ”

Seeing that it was the stuffy gourd of the same company, the short-haired boy couldn't help but raise the blue packaging box in his hand to greet him because he was excited.

"Eh", a classmate named Kojima, was attracted by his roommate's actions and couldn't help but get up and walk over.

However, by this time, the short-haired boy had already begun to fiddle with the old TV in the dormitory.

Soon the TV was turned on, and the blue and white game console inside the box was plugged in.

"What is this, Da Yong-kun?" The curious island on the side couldn't help but ask.

"Game console, FES game console from Shirakawa Electric!" The big swimmer replied without replying.

Waiting for the picture to be debugged, soon the logo of Shirakawa Electric appeared on the TV.

Da Yong rubbed his hands excitedly, and then inserted a game cassette called "Double Dragon" into the game console lightly.

The island standing next to him has been watching all this intently, and this is the first time he has seen this new game machine.

Soon a burst of music interrupted his reverie, and the huge Chinese characters for "double dragon" on the old TV were particularly eye-catching.

"Here we go! Here we go! Da Yong gave a high-five with excitement, making a crisp sound of "pop".

"Ah~hit~" Da Yong gestured with both hands in a kung fu pose.

It's a pity that because of his big fat, he didn't imitate Li Xiaolong's charm.

Soon he wiped his hands and threw a blue and white handle to Kojima.

"Give, take!"

"Eh" Kojima hurriedly caught the handle, and then he didn't know what to do.

"Sit down, stupid! The games are all started~" With the big swimmer's random press, soon the game passed the opening animation.

Then two villains, one red and one blue, appear on the street with the city as the background, and just when Kojima is especially suspicious of what to do next, Daiei gives him a good demonstration.

"Yah~! Yikes~! Hit~" The handle in Da Yong's hand was crackled by him, and he even felt that it was not enjoyable and dubbed the villain intimately.

Infected by him, Kojima cautiously pressed the button on the handle a few times.

"Brush brush brush", punch and kick action, quite smooth.

Hey? Kung Fu~

Kojima was a little excited in his heart, and before he knew it, the movements of his hands were getting faster and faster.

Soon, the crackling of keys sounded in the dormitory.

"Yaga, dead again!" The big swimmer is playful again, and the red dots that represent the blood bar disappear after a while.

However, because of his obscene play, Kojima still had a trace of blood left, and he was still breathing.

"Onboard! Kojima, hurry! Get him! "Oops, dead again! ”

The sound of shouting and screaming came and went in the dormitory, and Kojima's expression gradually became richer.

He looked down at the HAL logo on the game cartridge and the name of the game designer/supervisor: Satoshi Iwata, and not only secretly fantasized in his heart.

Is this what a console is? It's really interesting.

It would be great if my name "Hideo Kojima" could appear on it in the future.

(End of chapter)