Game Development: Starting with Recreating the Anime Game Style

Chapter 127 What is an "International Superstar"?

Domestic second-hand creators are not to be outdone.

Various videos also appeared on the internet immediately.

Interestingly, the choice of source material for derivative works also reveals the different preferences of different countries for the same work.

For example, Japanese players' fan art almost entirely focuses on M4, with various images of him waving with tears in his eyes, crying, hugging, and various music videos with background music, story-driven content, and analytical explanations.

Chinese players, on the other hand, clearly prefer fan-made versions of the opening PV of version 1.1.

First, someone used the background music from the TV series "Bright Sword" to create a meme called "The End of Bright Sword".

Don't say it, don't say it

"If our motherland is invaded, patriotic men should stand up for themselves."

"Cavalry company! Attack!"

"When two brave men meet on a narrow road, the bravest will prevail!"

"Fire! Fire! Fire!"

When these lines are combined with editing, the best parts of the animation from version 1.0 to 1.1 actually feel quite good.

Especially when the line "Second Battalion Commander, where the hell is your Italian cannon?" appears, and when the city defense cannon from version 1.0 appears, and when the gun girl based on the Italian firearm Beta M1935 appears...
In addition, there's a clip of a commander giving orders, saying, "Faced with a powerful opponent, even knowing we are no match, we must still resolutely draw our swords."

They're all pretty cool.

Many Chinese gamers have noticed that the song "Bright Sword" and the background setting of "Final Front" actually fit quite well.
Then came the most abstract part of the whole thing: the music video was shared on the Japanese internet by Japanese gamers and even received a lot of likes from them.
In short, after this video went viral, many people tried editing it with different background music.
Especially the moment when all the lights come on.

It's no exaggeration to say that Chinese players love this part as much as they did a few years ago when Fate/Zero first became popular, with the Yangtze Knight meme.

Of course, besides the opening PV.

Domestic players have also created fan art for the M4, but compared to the "sad" and "romantic" creations by Japanese players...

Chinese players are mostly looking for "fun," with the most common jokes being about the Type 95 and M4 being jealous of each other.

Ultimately, all this jubilation stems from the fact that the M4 in the game didn't actually die, which is why the players are so overjoyed.

~~~
Besides fan-made videos, by the third day, a video of European and American players playing games also climbed to third place in Bilibili's view count.

The background of this video.

In the 1.1 update of "Final Front," a European and American server was added.

This server is operated by the newly established Starry Sky America. Compared to Starry Sky Japan, Starry Sky America started from scratch.

Aside from hiring some YouTubers, there was virtually no activity through traditional marketing channels.
Therefore, the first day after the European and American servers went live was quite dismal, with a peak of less than 3 concurrent users.
However... that's the situation.

StarCraft America bet on YouTube and actually hit a real gem.

At this time, game bloggers on YouTube, like video bloggers in China, also lacked ways to monetize their content, even those with hundreds of thousands of followers.

Compared to later periods, the marketing and promotion fees were actually not high.

Starry Sky America primarily targeted these bloggers for its promotional campaigns.

Among them is a blogger named "LLMAX", a burly man who is 1.9 meters tall with a large head and a full beard.

He's known as "Fat Head Bro" on the Chinese internet.

This guy's main game used to be Call of Duty.

He only started playing *Final Front* a few days before version 1.1 was released.

Since they received payment, LLMAX did their best, and during the game, I did indeed find "Final Front" fun.

More importantly, LLMAX discovered that when he played "Final Frontier," he didn't experience the dramatic drop in viewership that occurs with other games.

Even the viewers in his livestream would ask him to try playing Final Frontline when he kept dying in Call of Duty.
Although the subtitles were meant to "mocker" his poor skills.

On the other hand, it also shows that players who enjoy watching his livestreams aren't opposed to him playing a game that anthropomorphizes gun-wielding girls. After all, American players are far more familiar with firearms than Chinese players, and the idea of ​​turning familiar things into cute girls isn't something only Asians enjoy.

anyway.

LLMAX gained widespread attention this time because of the live stream of "Final Front" 1.1.

Actually, the entire live stream started out quite ordinary.

It's pretty standard, the only interesting thing is the contrast between a burly man playing a video game with cute girls.

Until the very end, during the scene with the M4, in the part where the commander is about to fire, the people in his live stream kept lying to the streamer.

M4's death was attributed to the wrong choice he made earlier.

That's why it ultimately led to this death.

At first, LLMAX didn't believe it, but as more and more people said the same thing...

As the game's storyline unfolds, it truly begins to suggest that M4 is doomed. This 1.9-meter-tall strong man actually believes it, especially after being reminded by a "kind person" that there is no way to avert this death.

LLMAX was truly immersed in the game, and during the final cutscene, he couldn't hold back any longer, even though he was a nearly 1.9-meter-tall American tough guy.

A bearded, incredibly manly American bursts into tears while watching the cutscene, apologizing as he cries.

Good heavens, that screaming was heartbreaking.

Then the animation played until the sound of a gunshot.

"Um!?"

LLMAX, who had been crying his heart out just moments before, froze. Before he could even ask why, he buried his face in his hands.

"OMG!! She's not dead!!"

"Ah!! My M4!!!"

The burly man jumped up on the spot, making the floor shake. The headphones that were pulled up by his body almost sent the computer flying, but even so...

The first thing this burly man said after regaining his balance was...

"Whoa!!! Yes!! That's it!! We can't abandon any of our comrades!!!"

This video stands out because of the stark contrast between the beginning and the end, and because it's a genuine expression of emotion.

The video quickly became a minor hit on YouTube.

Subsequent analysis revealed that the video's popularity in the United States was largely due to the anthropomorphic M4 character in the animation, in addition to the "Fat Head Guy's" performance.

It's worth noting that the M4's fame in the United States is roughly equivalent to that of Coca-Cola.

In addition, the M4 is the absolute protagonist in many shooting games, so American players, even those who have never been exposed to anime, are drawn to it.

Players who only play FPS games might click to take a look when they see something like, "Oh, is this an anthropomorphic version of the M4?"

Don't assume that Americans don't like anthropomorphism. In fact, anthropomorphism is quite popular in Europe and America, and it's these Europeans and Americans who call their ships "SHI".

After the video went viral on YouTube, it was quickly, within an hour, that "re-uploaders" sliced ​​it up, translated it into Chinese, and uploaded it to China.

Empathy is always the greatest aid in communication.

In 2016, I saw a foreigner on Bilibili who was both crying and laughing in a Chinese game. It reminded me of my own experience playing games.

Many players not only found it fun, but also felt a strange sense of "pride".

The sense of satisfaction is especially strong when some malicious comments claiming that no one watches this video overseas are actually true, and these comments, which come from some obscure corner of the internet, are proven wrong by the newly reposted video.

LLMAX is a blogger with hundreds of thousands of followers, so he can hardly be considered an unknown figure.

Moreover, the video has nearly 80 views on YouTube and has many comments. This information, in turn, has made the video even more popular in China.

(End of this chapter)