The sales curve of Pokémon was incomprehensible not only to the editors of Famitsu but also to other competitors in the industry.
Miyamoto Masafumi, the Producer of Square's final fantasy series and a veteran RPG game development expert, gained many insights after experiencing Pokémon, but his ultimate feelings were similar to those of Famitsu's editors.
Pokémon was not particularly outstanding among turn-based game, and aside from its unique online battles and trades, other aspects were quite confusing.
"It has no plot, the battles lack depth and strategy, and its growth dimension is relatively singular."
The growth of Pokémon's pets mainly involved level growth and evolution.
Relatively speaking, in other game, there was not only level growth but also job changes and various equipment… those turn-based game were already quite mature in this regard.
Not only was there individual growth, but also team growth and team member coordination.
In some game, there would even be durability for weapons and equipment, requiring players to be meticulous in their calculations, cultivation, and combination. Although not as cute as Pokémon, they also had depth and breadth in cultivation.
In comparison, Pokémon was overly simple in these aspects.
"But… how could such a game achieve such terrifying sales results?"
And it was a double jump, like hopping up steps.
Such a curve was truly unheard of.
However, this could also be considered a new change. Although Pokémon was unconventional, it had a great impact.
Miyamoto Masafumi thought that perhaps in the future, making the world larger, like Pokeni's onmyoji, to give players more freedom and add more cultivation elements, would be a good idea.
It might even be a Time trend.
Tsujimoto Kenzo of Capcom also sighed with emotion. Although he didn't quite understand it, he still vaguely felt that Pokémon had infinite potential.
"Pokeni, this company, is truly divine."
Two years ago, no, even one year ago, this company was not well-known at all and couldn't even enter the sight of major game manufacturers.
After all, Japan was a game paradise, and it was currently the era of a game boom in Japan.
In such an era, hundreds and thousands of new game companies were established every year, somewhat like China around 2010, where everyone knew that game were particularly profitable and could withstand risks.
Especially after the economic bubble burst, game was one of the few industries that could go against the trend and achieve rapid growth despite the terrible overall environment.
So everyone wanted a piece of the game industry, and the number of companies created each year was simply countless.
Of course, the number of game companies that went bankrupt each year was also countless.
Some companies you hadn't even heard of their names before they went bankrupt.
In such circumstances, few people would notice small companies unless the game produced by that company was very distinctive.
Pokeni was such a company.
Tsujimoto Kenzo only noticed this company after Diablo came out.
And now, Pokémon made him focus his attention on Pokeni while also generating many ideas.
A terrifying premonition, one he had never had before, like a terrifying claw, firmly gripped Tsujimoto Kenzo's heart.
"If Pokémon can jump out with such results, it might become a terrifying weapon capable of shaking Nintendo in the future."
Once this idea emerged, it was completely irrepressible.
Tsujimoto Kenzo instinctively smelled the future.
Before Pokémon, major game manufacturers tried every possible method to launch all-ages, phenomenon-level game products to counter Nintendo.
For example, Sega's sonic the hedgehog.
It was created by the company entirely to counter Nintendo's super mario.
However, a truly very popular, all-ages game that could shake Nintendo has yet to be found.
Instead, Nintendo has always been surpassing itself and innovating itself.
From super mario to zelda, and then to the new work Kirby of the Stars released in April this year, people realized that Nintendo had absolute authority in creating happiness for children.
So much so that many game developers had already given up on the idea of fighting Nintendo.
It seemed that an all-ages, child-oriented game that could rival Nintendo could not exist.
Even if it did exist, it must come from Nintendo.
Tsujimoto Kenzo almost forgot such a thing—
Any game is created by humans. The guys at Nintendo are also humans, not gods.
Until now, seeing Pokeni's Pokémon,
Tsujimoto Kenzo felt that even gods would eventually fall.
The game Pokémon is all-ages, covering everyone from elementary school students to adults, and the variety of Pokémon designs is diverse and exceptionally rich, making it suitable for all ages.
Coupled with the deeply ingrained anime, this game truly seems to have the potential to shake Nintendo.
As soon as he thought of this, Tsujimoto Kenzo couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion.
This feeling was very subtle, like seeing a future dragon slayer about to engage in a great battle with a wicked dragon.
...
By the end of the first month, Pokémon's sales had already surpassed 500,000 units.
A terrifying achievement, so terrifying that countless peers almost had to lie on the ground to look at it.
Closely following, in the second month, it broke the 1 million mark, becoming Pokeni's second million-level game.
Both Pokémon Fire Red and Leaf Green versions had astonishing sales. Fire Red sold 544,000 units, and Leaf Green sold 512,000 units.
And they were still continuously growing.
Pokémon sales were so good that it even sold out at one point.
Many people even predicted that Pokémon might become Pokeni's first ten-million-level product.
The huge success of Pokémon also boosted the sales of Sega's new handheld console, and it could even be said without exaggeration—
The rapid growth in sega gp sales was entirely driven by Pokémon.
This game is definitely the biggest dark horse of the year, and with the continuous popularity of the Pokémon anime and advertisements, it can basically secure its position as the sales champion this year.
Due to the production speed of game consoles not being as fast as cartridges.
The situation that resulted later was—
This year, Pokémon cartridges sold more units than sega gp consoles.
game consoles, cartridges, and various peripheral products were directly revitalized by Pokémon.
As a result, Pokeni's revenue also surged.
In less than two months, the profit alone had already exceeded 10 billion.
...
The magazine Famitsu published a new special feature in its first weekly issue in October—
[Sega gp Teams Up with Pokémon, Launching an Assault on the Throne]
In this special feature, Famitsu explained a series of butterfly effects that occurred in the handheld market since the release of sega gp.
Firstly, the release of Pokémon, although its initial performance didn't seem particularly ideal, ultimately achieved a qualitative leap, directly reaching a million-level sales volume.
At the same Time, Pokémon was also pushing sega gp forward.
Sega handheld consoles have now sold over 1 million units, and the momentum is very strong.
The color screen game console, with its lightness, portability, rechargeable battery, and Pokémon exclusivity… this series of factors made it a favorite among players.
Even when encountering a player with a handheld console on the street, they would feel that future handheld consoles would inevitably be color screen game consoles.
Although sega gp's market share is still very low, this game console has infinite potential.
At the same Time, many game manufacturers also seemed to see opportunities from the new handheld console and were eager to enter the market.
For example, Konami is already rushing to port previously developed game to the sega gp.
Capcom has also entered the game…
It seems that after Pokémon achieved a splendid victory, it was like a domino effect, triggering a series of follow-up reactions.
As long as Sega can team up with Pokémon, it seems there's nothing they can't do.
They will surely be able to challenge the handheld console throne.
According to Famitsu's data research and evaluation analysis, sega gp's sales volume is very likely to become the world's number one handheld console in two years.
Although it didn't explicitly name who held the throne, it was basically no different from reporting Nintendo's ID number.
"Damn it! What kind of report is this! How can they be so arrogant?!" Over at Nintendo, Hiroshi Yamauchi couldn't help but fly into a rage when he saw the latest issue of Famitsu.
Gunpei Yokoi, the head of the R&D department, didn't dare to utter a sound.
Because this Time, it was equivalent to being slapped in the face, and resoundingly so.
"Didn't you assert before that color screen game consoles couldn't become mainstream?!" Hiroshi Yamauchi turned around furiously, pointing the finger at Gunpei Yokoi.
After this guy attended the Chicago Electronic Consumer Exhibition in June, he came back brazenly saying—
Sega's new GP handheld console must have problems.
Ordinary batteries simply couldn't power it, and as for lithium batteries, who could guarantee that Sony's newly developed product wouldn't have problems?
In fact, Gunpei Yokoi saw very clearly at that exhibition that the first GP demonstrated by Sega had already encountered problems, but Tom Kalinske cleverly covered it up.
Gunpei Yokoi felt that if that were really the case, then they should just release it.
When problems arose, they would only lose more terribly.
But now, it was completely different.
Although the sega gp's battery life was only about 4 hours, no match for Nintendo GB's 15-hour battery life, it could be charged.
Moreover, color screen game consoles truly had an advantage that black and white screens couldn't resist.
All of these allowed Sega's GP to successfully stand at the forefront of the Time.
Coupled with the recent media sensationalism, and the excellent sales of sega gp, what was even more infuriating was that with Pokémon as a divine assist, the situation was completely different.
If Pokémon's game before were suitable for older children and adults.
Then this Time, it directly attacked Nintendo's base.
"Well?!" Hiroshi Yamauchi's eyes narrowed.
Gunpei Yokoi was so scared that his fingers trembled slightly.
"President Yamauchi, this is all my fault, I failed to accurately judge the situation."
"Of course it's your fault!" Hiroshi Yamauchi roared loudly.
He only felt a rush of blood to his head, and his mind couldn't help but feel dizzy.
Seeing him uncomfortable, Gunpei Yokoi quickly stepped forward, wanting to support Hiroshi Yamauchi's hand.
But he slapped it away.
Hiroshi Yamauchi held his forehead, took a few deep breaths, and finally calmed down with great difficulty.
"So, Gunpei, what are you going to do next?" Hiroshi Yamauchi sat back in his seat, staring sharply at the head of the development department, the company's chief hardware engineer.
From this incident, Hiroshi Yamauchi had deeply realized a very serious problem—
Nintendo's hardware development capabilities were simply not as good as Sega's.
Now Sega also had Sony supporting them from behind.
"Before this, did you know there was something called a lithium-ion battery?"
Gunpei Yokoi's face was ashen, he nodded, then shook his head.
"I've heard of it, but I don't understand the specific manufacturing process."
Hiroshi Yamauchi almost laughed in anger when he heard this.
"Gunpei, do you know what a serious decision-making error means at Nintendo?"
Gunpei Yokoi felt his whole back drenched in cold sweat.
Hiroshi Yamauchi was known as the "Iron-Fisted Tyrant"; anyone he deemed incompetent would be kicked out of the company one by one.
Even an old-timer like Gunpei Yokoi, who had helped Nintendo establish half its empire and made significant contributions, had to resign from Nintendo in 1996 in his previous life due to a decision-making error.
That Time was due to the failure of VR BOY.
The situation was almost identical to this Time.
The difference was that VR BOY failed because its design concept was too advanced, and the console was developed before the market was ready, so it failed to gain player recognition, and the game on VR BOY were also pitifully few.
And this Time, GAME BOY was because its design was too outdated. The new market was clearly the color screen handheld console market. Although sega gp was still far from shaking the GB handheld console's position, it subtly showed such a trend.
As long as sega gp increased a bit more, Gunpei Yokoi could be fired.
"Those who are incapable do not deserve to be in this position," Hiroshi Yamauchi said.
"President Yamauchi…" Gunpei Yokoi's eyes were about to tear up.
"Then, tell me your plan for what to do next." After all, he was a founding elder of the company, so Hiroshi Yamauchi still intended to give him a chance.
Gunpei Yokoi had already prepared himself before coming to the President Yamauchi's office today.
Now, hearing Hiroshi Yamauchi's words, the stone in his heart finally fell.
At least President Yamauchi still needed him now.
Gunpei Yokoi took a deep breath, calmed himself down, and said seriously, "My suggestion is to win over other game manufacturers and prevent them from turning to Sega's new handheld console."
"Win over?" Hiroshi Yamauchi frowned.
When did Nintendo need to rely on third parties?
"The game console war, the most important thing is the game war," Gunpei Yokoi said, "sega gp's most profitable game right now is Pokémon, as long as… we can win over Pokémon…"
"Impossible!" Hiroshi Yamauchi interrupted his suggestion decisively.
Just thinking of that kid Aoki Haruhi made Hiroshi Yamauchi furious.
The one who should bow his head is Aoki Haruhi, right?
Such an impolite kid.
Are young people nowadays so arrogant?
"Then, it's about offering concessions to third-party developers. Sega handheld console's commission is 20%, ours is 30%…"
"No."
Before Gunpei Yokoi could finish, he was interrupted again by Hiroshi Yamauchi.
"GAME BOY still has the highest market share, there's no need to offer concessions to these guys.
Gunpei, do you know?
As a king, once you retreat, countless enemies will bully you.
Hiroshi Yamauchi shook his head, "The more this kind of situation, the more assertive we need to be. We need to show our determination, otherwise, others will think we are afraid.
Once doubt appears in people's hearts, it will quickly collapse."
Gunpei Yokoi stared at the old man in front of him for a long Time.
The expression on Hiroshi Yamauchi's face changed, becoming more and more like an ancient monarch.
It naturally instilled a sense of fear in people.
Although he instinctively had some doubts, Gunpei Yokoi ultimately trusted President Yamauchi's judgment.
"The future game console war will definitely still be primarily TV-based," Gunpei Yokoi said, stiffening his neck, "Although Sega's new GP handheld console has many advanced technical aspects, the final battle will still be on TV game consoles."
Currently, SFC has good momentum, having re-defeated Sega's MD in the Japan market and holding a dominant position.
"As for handheld consoles, I will try to discuss with Philips and others to see if we can develop lithium battery related technology ourselves, and color screen handheld consoles will also be put on the development schedule."
Upon hearing this, Hiroshi Yamauchi's expression softened slightly.
"Hmm. That's it."
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