After finalizing matters related to Pokémon, the handheld console GB was finally publicly priced, the same as the SFC, 8000 yen. The price was much lower than many people's expectations.
In their imagination, GB would cost at least 10,000 yen, so 8000 yen indeed surprised them.
Soon after, Sui Rui Electronics quickly adjusted its strategy and announced the price of its own game console on the second day after GB's price was announced, also 8000 yen.
Sui Rui Electronics' game console would have a color screen and a backlight, allowing for gameplay even at night without lights, without any hindrance.
GB's release date was set for August, and preparations for Pokémon game-related promotional activities had already begun.
For example, in some places, limited edition Pokémon plush toys would be available.
This was well received by many girls, especially those featuring cute creatures like Pikachu and Charmander, which became the most popular gifts.
If boys were lucky enough to get these limited edition plush toys and give them to their crushes, it was said to increase the success rate of confession.
Of course, this was all nonsense, just a marketing attempt, but it was effective.
Sui Rui Electronics didn't have much vigilance about this because they only thought that Gamestar Electronic Entertainment was doing some routine publicity work. Just by looking at those Pokémon images, they didn't feel much threat.
Perhaps they really thought these creatures were cute and harmless, harmless to the point of being non-competitive.
And that's exactly what Takayuki wanted. He really didn't want Sui Rui Electronics to be alert too early.
On the day of GB's release, without any surprise, all GBs in all stores were sold out on the same day, not a single one left.
This was even more terrifying than when the SFC was sold. Originally, there were already 300,000 units in stock on the first day, but it still wasn't enough. Later, emergency stock adjustments were made, and the originally planned one million GBs to be sold within a week were all distributed to different retailers, and then they continued to sell like hotcakes.
After a week, GB's sales record broke all previous game console sales records, reaching over 700,000 units in the first week, basically selling 100,000 units per day, which was terrifying.
Some players were those who didn't have consoles like the Famicom, but they were willing to buy this handheld console for its portability. Most of them were not even children but the salarymen who commuted early and returned late every day.
During their daily commutes, they had almost nothing to do on the train except dozing off, reading newspapers, and checking timed news on their phones when they were bored.
The GB handheld console saved them, giving them a new option during their commute.
Sui Rui Electronics was a step behind after all, even though players knew that Sui Rui Electronics' handheld console would have better graphics and look more attractive.
But who made GB launch first?
As for the launch titles, the most popular were the handheld versions of Super Mario and Metroid: Samus Returns.
These two games were the most popular, with sales of 500,000 and 350,000 units respectively in the first week.
Players were just a bit regretful that there weren't games like Dragon Quest among the launch titles. If there were, they would definitely buy more. Dragon Quest was much more popular than Metroid.
There was another launch title, the handheld version of Super Baseball, which was basically a replica of the game on the Famicom, with some new gameplay added to make the game look more complete and attractive.
After the baseball incident last time, some players who initially believed the rumors and resisted Super Baseball were now feeling remorseful and were willing to spend money to buy the game cartridge of Super Baseball. As for whether they would actually play it or not, it no longer mattered.
GB's launch results were quite good, boosting the confidence of the Gamestar Electronic Entertainment project development team, and they immediately started working on new handheld and console developments without stopping.
Takayuki had given them quite heavy tasks, but with sufficient incentives, their enthusiasm was high, seemingly not feeling tired at all.
Everything was proceeding as planned, and then it was quickly approaching the time for Sui Rui Electronics to release their handheld console, which was in September.
The handheld console released by Sui Rui Electronics was named HM1.
The full English name was HAPPY MAN.
This name was somewhat similar to GB's GAME BOY.
A happy man, a gaming boy, it seemed that Sui Rui Electronics did intend to make a comparison.
As for the launch titles, there was a replica version of the Sun Knight game, similar to the Super Baseball replica, with some new gameplay and content added.
Then there was a handheld racing game and a scrolling shooter game linked with the well-known domestic IP Jiazichuan Superman. The gameplay was that Jiazichuan Superman flew in the sky and launched attack waves, defeating enemies ahead one by one. It was roughly equivalent to a side-scrolling version of Raiden, a small innovation.
This time, the games produced by Sui Rui Electronics indeed had some characteristics, and players were also willing to accept such games, so the first week sales performance was not bad.
Of course, it was only considered not bad in their eyes, with first-week sales of 50,000 units.
This was already much better than the previous PN game console sales, indicating that players seemed to finally accept the PN game console's performance.
Then, Gamestar Electronics released a brand-new role-playing game series on the SFC: Final Fantasy.
This was the game that Takayuki had always wanted to develop, and it finally entered the final stage of development.
Originally planned to be developed for a year, it was basically completed in a little over half a year.
Mainly because the current group of programmers and the creative ideas he gave were really powerful, so Takayuki couldn't find any major flaws in the end. So, it might as well be released directly, which could also suppress the arrogance of Sui Rui Electronics and make them realize their true capabilities again.
This time, Final Fantasy changed the previous single storyline of heroes saving princesses to a story with a hint of melancholy.
At the same time, it added the ability to change professions and promote. After promoting to a new profession, players would gain new strengthening attributes and skills, increasing their combat power on the battlefield.
Of course, the best part was still the story itself.
This time, the story was no longer all happy endings but a story with a slightly open ending style.
Warriors traveled back 2,000 years to save the world, and then enemies traveled 2,000 years into the future to destroy the world, trapping time in a 2,000-year cycle forever, so that evil would always exist.
Finally, four warriors of light worked together to destroy the timeline, allowing time to return to normal, but the future was filled with uncertainty, leaving people looking forward to it.