Tokyo Video Game Tycoon.

This immediately aroused the curiosity of many Japanese citizens, who all wanted to hear about Yusei Electronics Entertainment's achievements firsthand.

I feel that Zhu Youxing is like a legendary figure.

He seems to possess many legendary secrets.

Now, besides those players, many people also consider Takeyusei to be one of the Japanese deities.

The Japanese have a penchant for deifying ordinary people, and in some places, even Buddhist shrines have been erected to enshrine Takeyuki (the star of the bamboo grove).

Such outrageous things could only happen in Japan.

Zhu Youxing was both amused and exasperated upon hearing this. He hadn't even kicked the bucket yet, and he was already being worshipped. It was simply outrageous.

The viewership ratings for the interview program featuring executives of Yuxing Electronic Entertainment also immediately increased, breaking the viewership record for news interview programs.

Even those who weren't particularly interested in video games before have become interested. They want to learn more about video games, or at least keep up with the trend, otherwise they won't have anything to talk about with the people around them.

Chapter 265 The Opportunity to Compete for Glory

Besides the Japanese people's worship of the Bamboo Star, this time of year also marks the time for Japanese esports teams to compete against American esports teams.

Last year, Zhuyouxing launched a new project, a multi-party collaborative e-sports project.

After several local conglomerates unanimously confirmed that the business was profitable, esports officially began operations.

The first thing to do is to recruit qualified game players.

This process lasted for more than half a year, during which each player was carefully selected and then given professional training.

Although esports didn't even exist in its early stages, some agents and coaches from ball sports clubs still understood some basic management methods.

Set training times for the athletes and supervise them daily to ensure their continuous improvement.

Then, in Japan, players with decent skills were selected from various games such as Mario Kart, Street Fighter, and Street Basketball. Next, they traveled across the ocean to the United States to compete against players selected there.

The final winners of each category will each receive a prize of $100,000.

The prize money was equally attractive to the American competitors, so there were quite a few participants initially.

The big battle between Japan and the United States is something that Americans don't care about at all, because esports itself isn't particularly mainstream.

But for the Japanese people, it was an opportunity to compete for glory.

Living in a small country, they have always lacked a sense of security, so their sense of national pride is exceptionally strong. If there were any place where they could defeat these great powers, they would be extremely excited.

TV Tokyo immediately realized this, so it led a film crew to the United States along with the selected team members.

On the chartered plane, these contestants, who could be described as an advanced version of internet addicts, excitedly leaned against the plane window, looking at the scenery outside.

Even though the scenery over the Pacific Ocean remains unchanged, they still can't help but exclaim in amazement from time to time.

Most of them have never had the opportunity to go abroad, or even to take a plane.

So I longed to be able to fly to the United States.

They never dared to imagine that they would one day actually be able to travel to a big country like the United States.

Generally speaking, only elite individuals are qualified to go to places like the United States.

But since they are going this time, does that mean they will also become elites?

It turns out that being good at video games can also bring some benefits.

They participated in the competition solely for the prize money and didn't really consider anything else.

The chartered flight, as well as all the food and accommodation during the trip to the United States, will be jointly funded by their respective clubs.

Moreover, due to the influence of these local tycoons, they have also attracted sponsorships from many brands.

TV Tokyo will include special thank-you advertisements for these sponsors in its programs.

However, these sponsors were mostly doing so out of respect for the local tycoons; they didn't take it too seriously.

This money is more than enough to cover the daily travel and living expenses of these young people in the United States.

As they gradually landed and saw the land stretching out before them, with its towering skyscrapers and the boundless continent, their hearts were filled with anticipation.

They were like a group of people who had just come from a mountain village, full of curiosity about everything.

After the plane landed smoothly, the agents and managers of their respective clubs stood up from their seats, clapped their hands, and said, "Okay, everyone, get ready to disembark."

Upon hearing the sound, the players, who had been somewhat excited just moments before, immediately responded, quickly packing their belongings and disembarking from the plane in an orderly fashion.

They had undergone very strict management and training beforehand.

It's hard to say whether their individual game challenges improved during this period, but the rigorous management and training made them all look more energetic and spirited.

After disembarking from the plane, they immediately boarded a bus and headed to the several temporary villas that had been reserved.

There, they will once again undergo intensive closed training, and in early February, the e-sports battle between Japan and the United States will officially take place.

It's mid-January now, and they can't afford to slack off for the next two weeks.

Meanwhile, the American contestants didn't seem very organized; everyone appeared somewhat lazy.

In reality, they don't have any plans to form a club yet; each participant is still competing individually.

Under such circumstances, the outcome of the match is essentially predetermined.

Local Japanese zaibatsu, Takeyusei, and people from TV Tokyo were all well aware of this, and they themselves weren't particularly concerned about the outcome; they cared more about the process.

TV Tokyo began to deliberately exaggerate the strength of the American contestants, making them appear as strong as possible in their program performances.

This gives the audience the illusion that Japanese athletes, through continuous effort, eventually reach the top.

They were already very familiar with this filming method, so there was no need to explain it further.

"The American athletes are incredibly strong. To defeat such a behemoth as the United States, our Japanese athletes train almost day and night, striving to overcome this formidable opponent through their individual efforts."

"Although they are just ordinary people who only play games, they have demonstrated the indomitable spirit of the Japanese people. They are respectable athletes, just like any other athlete."

Under the lens of TV Tokyo, every Japanese player appeared extremely hardworking, training diligently as if they were facing a formidable group of opponents.

The viewers of these programs are not actually very aware of the competitive gap between video games.

They could only determine the relative strengths of the two sides based on the descriptions provided by TV Tokyo.

When they saw a group of young people working hard on television, they gradually developed an expression of admiration.

"Go for it, big brothers! I'll do my best to cheer you on!"

'Where can I find a fan club for the contestants? I'd like to join.'

'I'd like to know the answer to that too.'

Online, there is also a group of people who inspire players in their own way.

Chapter 266 A Win-Win Opportunity

Because of the hype surrounding a potential war between Japan and the United States, people who were originally uninterested became interested, which even created a short-term social impact in Japan.

People spontaneously formed various small support groups online and offline in communities to watch the games together. There were even some professional commentators who explained the game content to people who didn't understand it.

Huh? So this is using a TV to show various martial arts fighting styles? What about our karate? What about our kendo? What about our judo and sumo?

Wow, it really exists? That's interesting. Is this a game? I never knew games could be so close to reality. I always thought it was just a fantasy game for kids.

To demonstrate its professionalism, TV Tokyo even produced a special interview program on martial arts.

Using various connections, they invited the heads of seven different martial arts schools in the local Japanese region. All of them were quite famous figures in the Japanese martial arts field and seemed to have a high level of authority.

They gathered together to conduct a very detailed discussion on the realism of the fighting moves in Street Fighter, which is also a hot topic of great concern to many people at present.

It's not just about playing games; it's about realism. In short, we want to balance everything.

To generate buzz, TV Tokyo even ran a week-long program schedule, squeezing out a prime-time slot for the show.

The results of the broadcast were very encouraging.

Among these seven martial arts dojos are members of the martial arts advisory group that Zhu Youxing invited.

Previously, they didn't really like video games, thinking they were fake. They felt that the fighting moves shown in video games weren't real, and that players wouldn't improve their martial arts skills in any way.

However, as Street Fighter's popularity has grown recently, they have been pleasantly surprised to find that more and more students are learning about martial arts through Street Fighter and want to try it out in a real martial arts dojo.

As a result, the income of their martial arts gyms began to increase rapidly.

With the economy already struggling, martial arts, an activity that has become increasingly more of a recreational activity, has been gradually neglected, and the notion that modern society no longer needs martial arts has become quite prevalent.

But thanks to Street Fighter, everything took a turn for the better.

Then, the martial arts school directors on the advisory group also started to pay real attention to video games. Game consoles began to appear in their martial arts schools, allowing students to experience the fun of fighting through game consoles when they were tired from training, which was an extra source of income.

Then came this interview program. Several martial arts gym directors were very happy to be interviewed, as they had long wanted to make a public appeal.

Previously, they had almost no channels, and they didn't have much spare money, let alone the money to promote themselves.

Now that they can go on TV for free as a group, they naturally don't want to miss this rare opportunity.

A martial arts school owner said sincerely in front of the camera: "First of all, I want to say that Street Fighter is a really good game. It truly brings out the charm of fighting. From my professional point of view, this game is almost flawless. The company that made this game really put their heart into it."

Another martial arts school owner immediately chimed in. He was a member of the action consultant team at Yuxing Electronic Entertainment, and since the two parties already had a cooperative relationship, he naturally praised the man even more.

"Dear viewers, I sincerely recommend that you try it out. It's a game that's well worth playing. Moreover, I'm a member of the company's action consultant team. With us personally overseeing the process, we can be sure that the content you experience is the most realistic."

There were audience members in the interview program, most of whom were obviously planted to help create the atmosphere, but there were also some real audience members who also expressed their admiration.

Yuxing Electronic Entertainment is indeed a very responsible company. They are willing to put their heart into making products with professionalism and will not just fool players.

However, some people have raised questions, such as the fact that characters like Ryu in Street Fighter can unleash special moves, which is obviously a bit unrealistic.

The martial arts school director on stage immediately explained, "We had raised this question before, but the company president gave us an explanation that we think makes a lot of sense."

"According to the president's description, firstly, this is a game, and games naturally contain some fantasy elements, which is understandable. Secondly, the performance in the game is more like a kind of visualization. For example, the behavior of creating a shockwave with bare hands is of course unrealistic, but you can imagine it as a visualization of the potential energy of a martial arts master's attack."

"Powerful martial arts masters can create the sound of air being cut through, but people can usually only hear the sound and rarely see it. To give people a more obvious visual effect, special effects such as shockwaves are created."

This was obviously just empty boasting, but the audience seemed to buy it.

They don't really care about this kind of issue. Movies and TV shows are always trying to exaggerate various special effects and performances. Street Fighter isn't some historical drama that has to be based on historical research. There's really no need to look for 100% authenticity in it.

The question I asked earlier was just to shut up those nitpickers.

Halfway through the interview, the conversation naturally veered into the upcoming major war between the United States and Japan.