Chapter 51: Bizarre Marketing
"Yuki-san, what do you think of this concept?"
"Yes? What...?"
As Yuki showed interest, I took out a notebook from my briefcase.
Although it was somewhat rough and messy compared to Yuki's neatly organized diary, I always carried a notebook to jot down ideas that occasionally popped into my head. (Mainly for helping Chandra and Gunpei-san understand, but also for sketching.)
"Wow... It looks quite complex. Is this like Junhyuk's idea notebook?"
"I may not organize it as neatly as you, Yuki-san, but I write down ideas from time to time. I have a tendency to forget things quickly if I don't."
"That's true. Writing down your thoughts when they come to mind is the best approach."
"First, the concept I thought of is like this."
I roughly sketched a well-dressed office worker on the blank page of the notebook. Yuki, who was looking at my drawing, spoke up in a small voice.
"It's a simple drawing, but you've captured the point well. Is this the salaryman you're talking about?"
"Yes, this person is always hungry. Let's give him the name 'Onaka Sui-ta-san' (Mr. Hungry)."
"Heh..."
Yuki burst into laughter at my creative naming sense.
"It's quite a fitting name for a casual naming, isn't it? Hehe."
"The name can be left for the writers to decide later. The actor who plays this character will actually visit restaurants and order food."
"Ah, so not only introducing the restaurant but also having the actor eat there."
"If we approach it with a bit of a drama format, it should work well. The protagonist, who is a salesperson, will be traveling around Tokyo for work and suddenly gets hungry."
"So, they'll go to the restaurant to order and eat food?"
"Exactly. Viewers of the late-night TV show may also visit and try the food themselves, which can be great marketing for the restaurant owners."
"Rather than a straightforward restaurant introduction, this approach seems more natural to engage with the viewers! It could also have a marketing effect for the shooting locations, killing two birds with one stone!"
Yuki nodded in agreement, thoroughly grasping the concept I had described.
In 1987, in Japan, the spread of color TVs was almost complete, leading to the emergence of various TV programs.
Among them, cooking programs became popular among housewives in the morning, thanks to the ability to display the colors of food, which was impossible on black and white TVs.
However, there were no programs that specialized in introducing the art of savoring food, making my concept appealing to Yuki.
"It's a very fresh and unique concept. We don't know if it will succeed, but I'll write up a proposal."
"See, it's better to think together than alone, isn't it?"
Yuki smiled brightly at my words and nodded in agreement.
After a brief conversation, we left the coffee shop and headed towards Shibuya Station, where we were greeted by the chilly breeze of late autumn.
It was already past 9 PM, and there seemed to be few options for trains to Kyoto at this hour. Since I was in Tokyo anyway, I thought about staying at a nearby hotel and visiting the Pentagon office tomorrow.
Kawaguchi-san's creation, "Final Frontier 1," had become a massive hit, selling over 200,000 copies since its release. It was originally released with the title "Final" to indicate that Kawaguchi-san would quit the game directing if it failed. However, the title had turned out to be a huge success, leading to the production of the second installment. A few days ago, when we spoke, Kawaguchi-san mentioned that Final Frontier 2 was aimed at a more mature audience. I hoped it wouldn't venture into the realm of psychic battles.
Lost in various thoughts, Yuki, who was walking beside me, asked, "So, what should we do now?"
"Huh? Oh... weren't you going back home?"
"It's not even 9 PM yet. Are you planning to return to Kyoto, Junhyuk-san?"
"No, I have some business in Tokyo tomorrow, so I thought I'd stay at a nearby hotel and visit the Pentagon office."
"Well, there's still plenty of time."
"Yeah, but is there anywhere you'd like to go?"
Yuki, looking at me with a sly smile, asked, "Is there a place suitable for a late-night rendezvous between a man and a woman?"
"What...?"
Did I just see her in a different light? She seemed more outgoing than her innocent image. In the end, I found myself following Yuki back to the entertainment district.
And then, a little while later, we stood in front of a building filled with various neon signs and blaring music.
"Here... Oh, man."
"Junhyuk-san, what were you thinking? Did you have any naughty ideas?"
"No, not at all..."
She's the one who's planting those ideas, and it's definitely not like that.
I lowered my head in embarrassment, and Yuki chuckled as she opened the door to the "game center."
As I entered the game center, all sorts of game BGMs filled the air. I looked around, hoping to find a motel on the upper floors, but there was no such establishment in sight.
Well, it's crazy to think there would be a motel upstairs in a place that has an arcade on the first floor.
Amidst the familiar Tetris BGM coming from inside the building, Yuki called me.
"Junhyuk-san, there's a game I've been wanting to play together. Will you help me?"
"Oh, sure. Haha... I'd be happy to."
I forced a smile in response to Yuki's playful request and entered the game center. Yuki continued to smile as she found my reaction amusing.
At first, I fell for it, but there's no way it will happen again. I sighed inwardly, took a quick look around the center's interior.
"It's huge. It's not something you see commonly in Kyoto... Especially with all the devices from NEGA."
The Japanese gaming industry was on a tremendous rise at this time. Families had Nintendo's Famicom at home, and busy shopping districts had these large-scale game centers. Gamers could access gaming media from almost anywhere.
At that time, if you wanted to enjoy action games with flashy graphics, you had to go to a game center. The consoles you played at home couldn't match the graphics of the dedicated arcade boards used in the game centers.
Of course, as we entered the 2000s, home consoles began to surpass the graphics of the game centers, and the decline began. Still, the console's gameplay was shifting towards a more niche market, focusing on RPGs and adventure genres with longer playtimes.
Nevertheless, the dream of gamers at the time was to play arcade games at home on a console, with dazzling visual effects being the main attraction. I had felt this before, but Yuki had a genuine love for games.
We found an empty "Hang-On" motorbike simulation game, and Yuki quickly removed her cardigan and tied it around her waist before hopping onto the bike.
"Are you going to play this?" I asked.
"Yes, Junhyuk-san, would you like to join me?" she replied.
"No, I'll just watch."
Yuki placed her bag in the nearby basket and inserted a 100-yen coin into the coin slot. The sensory game machines were a bit more expensive to play than regular ones. NEGA had a good coin turnover rate, I must admit.
As she twisted the throttle, designed to resemble a real motorbike, the game started. I stood beside her, pumping my fist in encouragement, observing Yuki's gameplay. Well, it's clear that NEGA is doing well in the arcade business with these sensory games.
In fact, despite the failure of the NEGA Disc distribution rate, NEGA hadn't fallen because of the dominant arcade game market they held. They were the first company to design and manufacture machines that allowed players to sit on a bike or a motorbike to play games. Also, the UFO catcher machines, mainly used for claw crane games, were machines created by NEGA, which reportedly brought in an enormous number of coins every month.
"Is this a market that President Kamauichi finds attractive? However, the manufacturing cost of these machines is too high, and according to the advice of President Gunpei and Shige, there may come a time when home consoles will grow rapidly, leading to a market crash. It's fortunate that they didn't invest recklessly."
"Ahh, it's so close... I was almost at the checkpoint."
Sensory racing games like this were designed to reach checkpoints within a set time to progress to the next track, making the coin turnover rate quite fast. I handed my bag to Yuki, who was looking disappointed, and asked, "Are you good at this game? Being in the top 8th place is quite impressive."
"I'm not bad. Ah, the seat is empty."
This time, Yuki ran excitedly toward the regular lever-operated game machines and called me.
"How about trying this one together?"
"Hmm?"
Ding-ding-ding-ding, pa-pa-pa-pa-pa, pa-pa-pa-bam-pa, pa-pa-pa-pa-pa...
Lately, there was a background music everyone would hum as they walked along the streets. The catchy BGM filled the air from the entrance of the local game center, and once you heard it, you'd never forget the unique rhythm.
The main character of this addictive BGM was the Bubble Bobble game developed by Taito in Japan. But why was it called "Boggle Boggle" in Korea? It's even written as "Bubble Bobble" on the title screen. Though I don't know why bubbles come out of the mouth of a little dinosaur, what's for sure is that in this game, you had to trap the enemies with those bubbles and then pop them to defeat the enemies completely.
If you took too long, a whale-shaped ghost would appear, ready to catch the player. Simultaneously, the increasingly tense BGM made your palms sweaty.
The game had items like shoes and candy that players could eat to enhance their characters. There were many elements that encouraged players to destroy the friendship between Player 1 and Player 2.
Yuki pulled her skirt down over her cardigan and brought a chair over to sit. With no other choice, I sat on the Player 2 side. Yuki smiled mischievously and said, "Shall we make it interesting? How about a bet? The winner gets a wish granted."
Huh? This was an unexpected challenge. Well, in that case, why not join in and reminisce about my childhood?
We cheerfully inserted 50-yen coins each and started the game.
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