Don't worry, don't panic. Even if there's a TV drama adaptation with the same name, it doesn't mean the other party will succeed.
And even if they do succeed, as long as the influence isn't exaggerated to a certain extent, it will be difficult to determine the outcome of the bet, so we can still stand undefeated.
These writers comforted themselves quietly.
But at this point, it was clear that they were losing some confidence.
Just by looking at the small portion of the new TV drama scripts they were working on, it was evident that their minds were a bit scattered.
And so, a year passed quickly.
In 2001, the first true year of the new millennium always gave people a somewhat special feeling.
By now, the video game industry had flourished completely.
However, GameStar Entertainment, as the leader, had never seen a decrease in its influence because it had never produced any poorly received works, which was quite rare.
The quality of works in other cultural circles often fluctuated, but GameStar Entertainment, even if the quality didn't improve, always maintained a very high standard, which made it almost impossible for the company to experience any fluctuations in influence.
In this situation, even some institutions in the United States would find it difficult to deal with GameStar Entertainment if they wanted to.
Because their games had become the coolest thing in the hearts of many young people.
They now regretted not controlling the development of video games from the beginning.
However, the institutions in the United States could console themselves a little.
After all, video games at least stimulated consumption.
Although the United States was still the most powerful country, recently it had unavoidably fallen into a state of declining consumption desires. Video games could still stimulate consumption, which was at least beneficial.
It was just a pity that the bulk of the consumption benefited Japan, not their own country.
Soon, April arrived.
The two games personally produced by Takayuki were also set to be released this month.
Players had long been eagerly anticipating them.
Besides these players, there were also some onlookers.
Because this was the day those old-timers in the TV drama circle had bet against Takayuki.
They all wanted to see what exactly made this game worth having a social impact.
So even people who didn't play games subconsciously bought a copy of Ace Attorney to see who would win or lose in this bet.
The TV dramas of those writers were scheduled for a Friday evening in April, which was considered prime time for Japanese TV stations.
NHK also seemed to be holding its breath; they didn't want to lose easily either.
After all, these writers were their own people, so they had to show some support.
As for "Ace Attorney: Victory is Justice," it was scheduled for a Monday slot.
Both sides didn't directly clash in the same time slot.
After all, Tokyo TV's position couldn't be compared to other commercial TV stations, so they subconsciously wanted to avoid direct competition.
But with the topic hype, it was evident that there were quite a few people waiting to watch "Victory is Justice" on Monday.
On the same Monday morning, Ace Attorney was officially released.
Like many previous game releases, there was no worry about sales as long as it was a game produced by Takayuki.
Players had long been queuing up in front of major stores.
Actually, there was no need to wait in line anymore.
If you had visited a store with a GBA before, you could get a preloaded digital version of Ace Attorney.
Then, when the unlocking time arrived, these players could play the latest game without waiting in line.
However, the downside was that there would be no physical cartridge; the game could only be stored in the console's internal memory or in an external storage card.
But for players who were truly passionate about games, this was nothing.
If they liked physical copies, they could just buy one a few days later. As long as they could play the game first, it was fine.
Promoting digital games was also one of Takayuki's future plans.
The biggest advantage of digital games was saving more costs and making more money.
And it was more convenient to lower the price over time.
Physical games, because of their physical limitations, could only be lowered to the cost of the cartridge at most.
Lowering it further was difficult.
Sometimes, giving away digital copies for free was feasible.
So, at the scene of the queue, you could see something like this.
Some players who genuinely preferred physical copies would still line up to buy the game.
But at the same time, they had also preloaded the digital version.
When the time came on Monday morning at eight o'clock, their game consoles would play the iconic Ace Attorney background music, reminding players that they could officially start playing Ace Attorney.
These players would immediately take out their GBAs excitedly to start playing.
In the queue, the players in front and behind would crane their necks to watch these players play.
"Excuse me, can you make some room for me? I also want to see the latest gaming experience. Thank you!"
"Huh? Is this a text-based game? That's somewhat disappointing."
"Hey, hey, have you been completely ignoring the promotion of this game? It was stated from the beginning of the promotion that this is a text adventure game. But even if it's a text adventure game, this is personally supervised by the gaming god Takayuki. It's definitely different from other text adventure games."
"Is that so? But it does seem quite impressive. Well, at least it should be worth playing."
These people in the queue were discussing the game animatedly.
And the players who could play the game firsthand became the objects of everyone's admiration.
They excitedly started playing the game on their GBAs.
The first thing that appeared on the screen was a sculpture dripping with blood.
With a black background and a sculpture dripping with blood, the atmosphere was immediately tense.
"Damn it, why did this happen?"
In the game, a dialogue popped up.
A guy with a somewhat ugly appearance had a ferocious expression as he looked shocked at a woman lying in a pool of blood.
In his hand, he held a contemplative sculpture dripping with blood.
The first thing that appeared on the screen was a sculpture dripping with blood.
Although this was a text-based game, through careful arrangement of visuals and scenes, it felt like watching a dynamic comic.
In Japan, where the manga industry was extremely popular, this form of presentation was quickly accepted.
And now, the people who were previously discussing enthusiastically gradually quieted down, focusing intently on watching the next part of the story with the player holding the GBA.