At first, Otachigiri actually refused to play Pokémon, even though he bought the game right away.
But as a review on a male gaming website said, this game isn't very exciting.
Players nowadays prefer games that are more thrilling.
Even a role-playing game like Dragon Quest, which initially follows a storyline of saving a princess, allows you to immerse yourself in the game at first.
But Pokémon itself isn't very compelling from the start, leaving people without much anticipation to explore further.
However, sometimes it seems that a little patience is needed.
When you have the patience to persist to a certain extent, you slowly begin to feel that this game isn't so bad after all?
It's not just an hour or two; it takes over ten hours of gameplay.
Even though Murakami Ichiro got the game in advance, because no one except him exchanged Pokémon with him, it was like missing out on one of the greatest joys.
Collecting, training, trading, battling.
Murakami Ichiro's personal enjoyment is more focused on collecting and battling; training and trading are not his thing. This also prevents him from fully describing the greatest charm of these games.
In the past, Pokémon also faced similar treatment.
The initial game reviews only gave it a passing grade.
Because no matter how you look at it, this game didn't fit in with popular games; the difference was too big.
At first, Otachigiri wasn't particularly interested in this game.
But his change of heart towards this game came from another companion who also had a GB handheld and Pokémon game.
That was his childhood friend, not the guy who asked him for Pokémon earlier.
His friend's favorite thing in life was going on adventures everywhere, just like an adventurer in a video game. Whether it was in the jungle, hills, caves, or other areas, he always loved to explore.
Almost every year during the holidays, he would disappear, and then when school started again, he would excitedly pull out a bunch of random stuff.
There were huge specimens of stag beetles, as well as beautiful-looking stone collections; he would happily share them with Otachigiri.
During the school term, this friend naturally didn't have the opportunity to go out adventuring.
But just then, Pokémon came out.
The moment it appeared, his friend was unstoppable.
The regret of not being able to adventure during school terms was compensated for in this game. He was almost addicted to Pokémon on the GB every day, discovering something new every day, and excitedly sharing the joy he found in Pokémon with Otachigiri during school.
And under this influence, Otachigiri felt that he should give it a try too.
And when he patiently started playing, the instinct of exploration, collection, and development of a child was unleashed.
This seems to be something every child particularly enjoys doing.
Gradually, he became addicted too. The two of them adventured together in the Pokémon world, and they also traded their Pokémon, an unprecedented experience that was completely different from any other video game before.
The first-generation Pokémon produced by GameStar, like the past, had dual versions, Red and Green. Just right, Otachigiri and his friend's cartridges were different, which increased their desire to interact and trade.
In the early days, these dual cartridge versions weren't made to make money but to encourage players to interact and trade with strangers or friends, which could inadvertently enhance their relationships.
Not long after, Otachigiri began to act as a little fanboy, vigorously recommending Pokémon among the children, hoping they would also play it so they could have more opportunities to trade Pokémon.
At the same time, among the children, there were also planted spies arranged by GameStar.
They received benefits from GameStar Electronic Entertainment. They just needed to patiently play Pokémon, recommend it to their friends, and they would qualify for a free new game.
This was a great temptation for the children, and under such attraction, the children's recommendation had a better effect than that of adults.
Then, it spread like cell division.
One person tells two, two tell four, four tell eight...
Slowly, among the children who had a GB, if you hadn't played Pokémon, it seemed like a symbol of being out of touch. This kind of promotional effect had truly been achieved.
And the charm of the game itself was truly unleashed.
"President, it's really effective. The daily customer flow in the three restaurants we opened is almost at full capacity. Every player in the Pokémon restaurant is happy to exchange with each other, and game sales are increasing!"
Kou Takashi, in charge of marketing, was quite excited.
He knew that GameStar Electronic Entertainment had also had a successful marketing campaign before, which was to make Dragon Quest popular through manga collaboration. But after all, he hadn't experienced it firsthand. This time, he participated personally, experiencing a game that wasn't well-received suddenly making a comeback through promotion.
"Spread this good news on the internet. It's like boosting morale, letting everyone know about it, and then we can announce our plan to expand overseas."
"Okay, I'll do it right away!"