Tokyo Video Game Tycoon.

This would likely require at least 100 million yen.

However, Hayakawa Ueto thought it was acceptable, but he didn't know if the people at head office would accept it.

Hopefully, they will agree to the budget allocation for their father's sake.

Zhu Youxing, you're a really impressive young man. You always manage to do something unexpected that catches me off guard. Why haven't you ever had any reputation before? That shouldn't be the case.

Is it because his father's brilliance overshadowed his child's potential?

Hayakawa Ueto is very efficient. After the task was assigned, the employees immediately sprang into action, each doing their own job.

Because of the generous reward, the employees worked very hard.

In addition to developing wired connectivity for handheld consoles, he also needs to get the team developing the new main console to add a network module. This time, they absolutely cannot fall behind again, and he has already started considering forming a dedicated creative team.

The creative team doesn't have to do any tedious or boring work every day. They just need to provide a constant stream of ideas, good or bad, and then review them themselves to determine whether they can truly become the future direction of development.

Apart from Surui Electronics, other companies that are also researching and developing game consoles are now in a state of utter chaos.

Yuxing Electronic Entertainment's unexpected advertisement caught many companies in the industry off guard.

If you don't keep up, then your game console will be an outdated product.

If you follow up, you'll have to redesign it again, and the cost of that is a bit painful.

Several owners of medium-sized entertainment companies are now cursing Zhu Youxing vehemently.

You damn bastard, why did you have to release this ad at this time of year? Our game console is almost finished, and you pull this stunt on us.

If it weren't for you, we might be able to make money more easily. Couldn't you have slowed down a bit? At least give us a chance to enjoy the fruits of our labor!

With industry leaders like Zhuyouxing developing at an extremely fast pace, other companies trying to follow suit can't afford to take their time.

This is an era that is fickle and easily bored. If you can't keep up with the leaders, you will be completely left behind and never be able to recover.

Many medium-sized companies have just spent huge sums of money to transform into the gaming industry, and now they have to reinvest money to develop game consoles, which is really a huge loss.

Many company owners at this moment weren't thinking about catching up quickly, but rather cursing in their hearts why Takeyusei wasn't killed by the car, so that the video game industry could develop more slowly and they could make money more comfortably.

Chapter 163 Pokémon! Pokémon!

In the history of Pokémon games and anime, there are approximately nine hundred Pokémon in total. Even if Yusei has a great memory, he cannot remember all of them.

Especially in later generations of Pokémon, many Pokémon are just filler, becoming less and less distinctive, making it difficult for people to remember them all.

Of course, I still remember the most important ones very clearly.

The rest is left to the people of this world to figure out and create themselves.

The world is not lacking in creative people.

When Zhu Youxing proposed the design to the company's full-time illustrators, they became very interested.

This ability to create based on one's own imagination, coupled with certain racial or genus-based restrictions, gives them a great deal of creative freedom.

Three or four artists can create two or three unique characters every day, which makes Zhuyouxing think that if there are such creative artists in the future, Pokémon can continue to be popular for decades to come.

In Bamboo Star's memory, there were a total of 151 Pokémon released on the Game Boy. Of course, there were only 150 officially registered Pokémon. The other one was a little special, which was essentially a hidden Pokémon.

If a player with obsessive-compulsive tendencies wants to collect something, they'll have to go to great lengths to do so.

Furthermore, due to a bug in the game itself, this last unregistered Pokémon only appears in a few cartridges, adding extra fun to the game.

Zhu Youxing didn't intend to ruin this special fun, even though it was somewhat coincidental, he planned to copy this coincidence as well.

Therefore, Yusei also assigned 150 official Pokémon to the artists, as well as a hidden Pokémon, Mew, which he drew himself. He also planned to replicate the trick of the original Pokémon, which could only be found in some cartridges.

However, to implement such functionality in mass-produced game cartridges, we can no longer rely on bugs.

Yusei Tecmo simply wrote a random code that allowed certain cartridges matching this code to activate the hidden Pokémon, namely the capture conditions for Mew.

If players really want to get this last Pokémon, they either need to buy more cartridges or try to trade it with other players who have also obtained Mew.

If a player possesses a cartridge that grants the ability to capture a Mew, there will be a cooldown period before a new Mew is discovered, which increases its rarity to some extent.

This is something Takeyusei learned from Capcom's Monster Hunter drop rate design: the easier something is to obtain, the less likely it is to be cherished, which actually reduces the playability of this kind of collection game.

After listening to Zhu Youxing's explanation, the programmers were all a bit confused.

I was thinking, "Wow, you can do it this way? Add rarity to the game so it can sell more copies?"

I've learned a lot.

Once the artists had finished creating about 150 of them, they moved on to the final stages of game development.

Meanwhile, promotional activities for the animated series of the same name are also underway.

Thanks to Tamagotchi's initial promotion, many girls became very interested in the Pokémon series.

According to previous polls, 30% of girls who own Tamagotchis would consider watching the Pokémon anime and also consider buying Pokémon games.

This time, Zhuyouxing has maximized the pre-launch hype for the game.

Even before the game was released, it had already raised children's expectations to a very high level.

In the game, following the development trajectory of its previous life, BambooStar emphasizes Pokémon interaction via wired connection.

Collect, restock, adventure, and trade.

These are the main elements of the Pokémon series.

However, even with just this, Zhu Youxing doesn't believe that it will be 100% welcomed.

That's why he decided to maximize the promotional effect of Pokémon from the very beginning.

From subway posters to various large billboards and television advertisements.

The company has spent over a billion yen just to promote Pokémon, which is quite a huge investment.

'150 creatures, including insects, small animals, large creatures, and inorganic organisms, fully satisfy players' exploration and collection needs! Please stay tuned for the latest Pokémon news!'

One advertisement after another was slapped directly onto everyone's face.

The adults, however, were rather dismissive of this.

They prefer games that provide them with more direct stimulation; they haven't developed the enjoyment of collecting, so they have no interest in it.

Of course, Zhu Youxing was never made for the adults of this era; he wanted to reap the rewards of the future.

If we take good care of these kids now, they'll be our "leeks" for decades to come when they grow up.

Even if the games made by the company that created Pokémon are terrible in the future, millions of players will still buy them every year, and often buy two copies at a time.

Honestly, no other game series has mastered this aspect as well as the Pokémon series, and no other IP has reached Pokémon's status.

Even that rat from the US wouldn't work.

Furthermore, to highlight the professionalism of Pokémon, Bamboo Star even invited a zoologist and an entomologist to serve as consultants.

They provide assistance in specific areas, helping artists and programmers who create settings to make the world-building more complete.

This action puzzled the employees, who felt it was unnecessary. They thought that as long as they were having fun, why be so professional?

However, since Zhu Youxing is the boss, they can't say anything. Many employees thought that Zhu Youxing had been questioned by the public because of the last baseball incident and was starting to want to develop in a more professional direction.

In reality, this was just BambooStar's way of making the Pokémon world more believable by incorporating modern world settings, which also makes it easier for players to immerse themselves in the game. This is also the most important part of the game.

This is similar to Chinese online novels. Urban novels are always easier for readers to immerse themselves in, while other genres require you to first establish a world view and then find ways to keep readers engaged and interested.

This is very important to Zhu Youxing.

Bamboo Star was involved in almost the entire Pokémon production process, ensuring that every step was as perfect as possible so that the first generation could attract enough children and prepare for the future.

And before we knew it, the day arrived when the Pokémon games were officially released and the Pokémon anime began airing on TV Tokyo.

Interested children have already lined up with money to buy the game, while those who are still observing are planning to watch the anime first.

As for other companies, they are watching from the sidelines to see how this new type of game turns out.

If the results look good, some companies will plan to follow suit immediately.

Chapter 164 Three-star rating

Somewhat unexpectedly, Pokémon did not generate much of a buzz.

Of course, sales are also quite good.

With GB already having a million users, it sold over 200,000 units in its first week.

Interested players did not have to wait in line for long on the day of release and quickly bought the Pokémon game they wanted.

But many more children seem to have no interest.

Looking at the first week's sales figures, Zhu Youxing frowned and pondered in his office.

Meanwhile, the screen on his computer was showing the Pokémon website, where Kazuo Murakami, having already obtained the Pokémon game, posted his review of Pokémon.

"Pokémon: A very special game, but it doesn't seem to be particularly fun."

Recommended rating: 3 stars.

"First and foremost, I am a gamer; secondly, I am a game reviewer. My mission is to give the most objective evaluation of all the games I review, without any utilitarian factors."

"I was always very excited when I got to experience first-party games from Yuxing Electronic Entertainment in advance, but this time I wasn't as happy as I had imagined."

"The main elements of Pokémon are collecting and challenging, which is different from the heroes who fought against demon kings and warriors who fought against evil in the past. This game will give you a relaxed atmosphere."

"In this world, you can see many strange creatures, which you can capture and make your companions. Then you can use these companions to fight against your opponents and achieve victory. This is the special gameplay I'm talking about, which is different from the previous ones."

"But I have to say that I actually prefer more exciting games, and this game just feels a bit bland to me."

"That's why I gave this game three stars. Three stars is my passing grade. It means that the game is complete enough and the content is rich enough, but it's hard to attract me. But I believe that different people will like every game. So if you are a player with spending power, you can try to experience this game. If not, I think you can wait and see. Don't be too hasty."

This is the general assessment given by Kazuo Murakami.

This assessment is actually quite fair.

In the original Pokémon games, there were actually many bugs. In addition, the initial development team was somewhat lacking, the development was rushed, and the graphics were also somewhat poor, which resulted in the game not receiving high praise in its early stages. Like Kazuo Murakami, the game was only rated as passable.

However, the version made by Zhuyouxing has done its best. The game is more complete overall, with almost no serious bugs, and the graphics are much better than the original Pokémon.

However, it did not become the wildly popular phenomenon it had envisioned.

This left Zhu Youxing slightly scratching his head.