Tokyo Video Game Tycoon.

The promotional material featured a large Pikachu.

The Pokémon Restaurant is about to open! Welcome to visit us.

It turned out to be a restaurant, and one that was related to these small animals, which immediately made the girls chatter excitedly.

"What does this Pokémon mean? What is its connection to Pikachu?"

“I heard from my junior high school classmate that Pokémon is a video game they are playing.”

"Huh? Boys are actually interested in Pikachu and other small animals? Do they play Tamagotchi too?"

"No, it seems a bit different, but anyway, we can come and take a look after it opens in a few days. What do you think?"

"Okay, okay, this dish looks delicious."

A girl pointed to a yellow cake dessert on the front of the advertisement, which looked very tempting.

Then the girl flipped the poster over, and the back was printed with various Pokémon-related desserts and drinks. They were colorful and looked very appealing, and many girls' eyes were already sparkling.

In particular, they noticed that the average price of these desserts and drinks was quite low.

A cup of "Lightning Pikachu" yellow juice drink costs only 300 yen.

A small, yellow, shimmering cake costs only 500 yen, which is quite inexpensive in Japan's high-cost environment.

Wow, what a cheap price! Looks like we definitely have to come!

"Wait a minute, look at the instructions below."

At this moment, a girl noticed a small, inconspicuous explanatory text below it.

"The above prices are only available to customers who own a Game Boy console and a Pokémon cartridge. Each customer enjoying the discount can bring one companion to enjoy the discount together."

"Huh? To enjoy this discounted price, I have to buy that GB thing, but that's something only boys have."

"Um... I actually have a Game Boy and Pokémon games."

At that moment, one of the girls in the center raised her hand.

"Huh? You have a GB? Why do you have a GB? Isn't that something only boys play with?"

The girl who raised her hand looked puzzled: "Why would you say that? I think it's really funny."

"Never mind, honey, how about we meet up for some food and drinks in five days?"

A group of girls immediately adopted a fawning demeanor, trying to please the girl who owned GB. Then, they quickly disappeared into the end of the street, laughing and joking as they ran and jumped.

"Ah, youth is truly wonderful," the foreman sighed, then went back to supervising the renovation progress.

In addition to the Pokémon restaurant that is about to open in Akihabara, similar restaurants have also opened in two other areas of Tokyo with a large young population.

The restaurants' advertisements are almost all the same: as long as you have a Game Boy console and a Pokémon cartridge, you can enjoy a discount and bring one other person with you.

Furthermore, the promotional poster details occasional Pokémon-related events within the restaurant, with additional rewards for completing them.

This promotion of rewards for players quickly achieved good results.

After selling over 200,000 units in the first week, sales immediately dropped to less than 50,000 units in the second week, but quickly returned to 100,000 units in the third week.

After all, few people would refuse the temptation to eat cheap food at designated restaurants simply by buying a Pokémon game.

In addition to this, there is also a prize-winning contest related to Pokémon.

If you catch a certain Pokémon within a limited time, you can go to a designated location to receive an exclusive gift.

Finally, there's a super grand prize.

A gift from dreams.

If a player manages to capture the Dream within the limited time, they will receive a year's worth of free in-game rewards from GameStar Entertainment, which will be mailed to the winners every month.

The promotional effect was quite immediate.

Players who were initially not interested in Pokémon gritted their teeth and bought a Pokémon game.

Even if you can't catch the best Mew, you can still get a prize by catching other designated Pokémon.

Compared to spending too much money on advertisers, this kind of promotion that directly rewards players seems to be more effective.

Recently, Oda Oki noticed that all his friends who own Game Boys have started playing Pokémon.

They clearly weren't interested before.

This kind of game actually requires a bit of patience; Pokémon games have never been very appealing from the start.

But once the brief period of boredom passes, the fun slowly begins to emerge.

"Tianchong-chan, do you have any Dratini? I'll trade with you!"

"No! I wanted to use it to redeem gifts!"

"Oh, Tianchong-chan, you're the best! A girl I like really wants a Dratini plushie, but it's not for sale. You can only exchange Dratini Pokémon for gifts. Please! Help me this once! I'll trade you ten Pokémon!"

Tian Chong looked disgusted: "Last time you said you'd trade ten Pokémon for my hard-earned Flareon, and then you gave me ten what? Ten pieces of trash! I'm not trading with you again!"

I initially refused to participate in Chapter 167.

At first, Oda was actually reluctant to play the Pokémon game, even though he bought it right away.

But as the review on YiNan Games Network said, this game is not exciting.

Modern gamers prefer games that are more exciting.

Even role-playing games like Dragon Quest will initially present a plot of rescuing a princess to immerse you in the story.

However, Pokémon's initial purpose wasn't very strong, which didn't inspire any anticipation for further exploration.

However, sometimes it seems that a little patience is all that's needed.

Once you have enough patience to persevere to a certain extent, you'll slowly start to feel that this game isn't so bad after all?

This doesn't mean one or two hours, but rather more than ten hours of playtime.

Even if Kazuo Murakami gets the game early, he misses out on one of the biggest joys because there's no one else to trade Pokémon with.

Collect, raise, trade, and battle.

Kazuo Murakami's personal enjoyment is more focused on the process of collecting and battling; raising and trading are not his cup of tea, which makes it impossible for him to fully explain the greatest charm of this type of game.

In their past lives, Pokémon suffered the same treatment.

The initial game review also only gave it a passing grade.

This game is completely out of step with popular games in every aspect; the differences are simply too great.

At first, Oda wasn't particularly interested in the game.

His change of heart about the game came from another friend who also owned a Game Boy handheld and Pokémon games.

That was his childhood friend, not the guy who had just asked him for a Pokémon.

That friend's favorite thing to do in his life was to go on adventures everywhere, just like an adventurer in a video game. Whether it was jungles, hills, caves, or other areas, he always loved to explore.

He would disappear almost every year during the holidays, and then excitedly bring out a whole bunch of random things when we met again at the start of the semester.

He would happily share his huge rhinoceros beetle specimens and his beautiful collection of pebbles with Oda Oki.

During his school years, his friend naturally didn't have the opportunity to go on adventures and explorations in the countryside.

But just then, the game Pokémon appeared.

The moment he appeared, his friend became completely unstoppable.

The regret of not being able to go on adventures during his school years was made up for by this game. He was almost completely immersed in Pokémon on the GB every day, making new discoveries every day, and excitedly sharing the fun he found in Pokémon with Oda every day when he was at school.

And under this influence, he felt that he should give it a try.

Then, as he patiently began to play, the child's instinct to explore, collect, and nurture was unleashed.

This seems to be something that every child particularly enjoys doing.

Gradually, he also became addicted to it, and the two of them went on adventures together in the Pokémon world. They also exchanged the Pokémon they had, which was an unprecedented experience that video games had never had before.

Like its predecessor, the first generation of Pokémon created by Takeyusei had two versions: red and green. Coincidentally, Oda and his friend had different cartridges, which increased their desire to exchange them.

In the early days, this dual-card version wasn't meant to make money, but rather to encourage players to interact and exchange with strangers or friends, which could also enhance relationships in a subtle way.

Before long, Oda started acting as a little shill, enthusiastically recommending Pokémon to the children, hoping they could play together and have more opportunities to trade Pokémon.

Meanwhile, Zhu Youxing had also planted spies among the children.

They received a benefit from Yuxing Electronic Entertainment: all they had to do was patiently play Pokémon and recommend it to their friends to get a free chance to play a brand new game.

This is very appealing to children, and under such attraction, children's recommendations are more effective than those of adults.

Then, it's like cell proliferation.

One spreads to two, two spreads to four, four spreads to eight...

Gradually, among kids who owned Game Boys, not having played Pokémon seemed to be a symbol of being out of place, and the advertising effect was truly achieved.

And the game's inherent charm is truly unleashed.

"President, it's really working! Our three restaurants are almost always packed with customers every day. Every player in the Pokémon restaurants is happy to trade with each other, and game sales are also increasing!"

Natsume Yasutaka, who was in charge of marketing, was a little excited at this moment.

Themed restaurants, infiltrating children as undercover agents to recommend games, or encouraging players to play patiently through bounties and rewards—these are all brand-new promotional methods that have never been used before.

Bamboo Star dumped all of them at once, showing how much he's worried about Pokémon.

And this time, it truly lived up to Bamboostar's expectations; thanks to this series of promotions, Pokémon sales were very impressive.

It's been almost a month since the Pokémon sale began.

From initial sales of over 200,000 in the first week, to a sharp drop to 50,000 in the second week, then rebounding to 100,000, and returning to 200,000 in the fourth week, the game's total sales have reached 600,000, which is a very good overall result.

Meanwhile, sales of the Game Boy handheld console are also climbing steadily, with monthly sales exceeding one million units, making it the first game console to sell one million units in a single month.

Handheld consoles still sell faster. No matter the time, people are more welcoming of mobile gaming that can be played anytime, anywhere.

The GB's total sales are now approaching two million, the Famicom has just broken through five million, and the Super Famicom is hovering around two million. It can now be said that the Japanese market is now firmly established.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Yusei Electronics' position in Japan will remain unshakeable.

"How are the sales figures this week?" Zhu Youxing asked calmly.