Takahashi Kazumasa was looking for a job.
Finding a job sounded simple enough, but Takahashi Kazumasa had already been drifting in a slump for a year or two.
After all, he had never received any formal education. He was the textbook definition of self-taught, a wild-route background, and landing a suitable job was no easy task.
Sometimes, when he looked in the mirror, Takahashi Kazumasa couldn't help but sigh.
Look at you—how miserable you've become. You don't look anything like a Shogakukan Newcomer Award winner or a top-tier swimmer anymore!
"Takahashi Kazumasa, how can you be this degenerate? Who would've thought games and anime would hurt you so badly that you'd waste away like this. From today onward, I'm quitting games and anime!"
Five minutes later, Takahashi Kazumasa had already changed clothes and was heading out to the electronics district to browse for anything new worth picking up.
As for what he had just sworn? He forgot it all in five minutes.
Central Avenue was packed with people, and standing there, Takahashi Kazumasa felt distinctly out of place.
Today was the release day of Sega's third revised SG console—the SG-3000.
Based on convention, or rather on experience from the past year or so, Takahashi Kazumasa knew that Atlus Studio usually released games in sync with the SG. Sometimes, Atlus titles were even bundled directly with the console itself, like the earlier Duck Hunt-style shooting game.
As a light-gun title, it had been sold together with the SG light gun and the SG-2000 model, with a bundled price of 19,800 yen.
Just two hundred yen short of twenty thousand—classic Japanese pricing, much like a "nineteen ninety-nine" trick. Sometimes, those missing two hundred yen made all the difference.
At Shimayose Game Shop, Takahashi Kazumasa greeted the owner and prepared to buy a game, only to hear some unexpected news from Shimayose Yosuke.
Atlus hadn't released any new games recently. The last one had been Ice Breaker, two months ago.
"None?! Why not?!"
Takahashi Kazumasa couldn't believe it, but Shimayose Yosuke only shrugged.
"I don't know either. The SG-3000 lineup doesn't include any Atlus titles. Seems like Atlus Studio didn't release anything alongside the SG-3000. Rumor has it, it's related to those newspaper reports from before."
Takahashi Kazumasa slumped down in defeat.
So because they were acquired, they didn't have time to make new games?
As the third revised model, the SG-3000 had basically pushed the hardware to its limits. It came with a controller, and additional peripherals—including the light gun—could be purchased separately. At this point, there was really no reason to buy the older 1200 or 2000 models.
Having failed to buy a game, Takahashi Kazumasa left dejectedly.
Passing through Central Avenue, he looked up while waiting for traffic and saw workers setting up massive GG billboards on scaffolding overhead.
The already-mounted sections showed vivid images and bold text: a blue exterior, an exaggerated animal figure, speed lines trailing behind it. The GG used a three-dimensional effect, as if it were bursting out of the sign itself, racing across the sky above Central Avenue.
Takahashi Kazumasa read the slogan beneath the GG sign word by word.
"Your passion deserves the attention of the entire world! This summer, push the limits with Sonic!"
Designer: Kitagawa Tsuyoshi.
Takahashi Kazumasa sucked in a sharp breath.
Such an extravagant GG display—this was absurdly over-the-top! Even Nintendo never went this far selling games!
Rubbing his eyes, Takahashi Kazumasa became absolutely certain.
It wasn't that Atlus hadn't made a game. They had made one—they just hadn't released it alongside the SG-3000.
Looking back at Atlus's past titles, their scale had always been modest. Even their largest-looking games, like Jörmungandr and Ice Breaker, were still medium-sized productions.
But this time, Takahashi Kazumasa was sure of one thing.
For its era, Sonic would be a large-scale game.
With a strange sense of anticipation, Takahashi Kazumasa returned home. He hadn't really watched Sonic's animation before—it wasn't his preferred style—but now he felt he had to give it a look.
After the episode ended, the TV program didn't cut off. Just as Takahashi Kazumasa was wondering why, a young man with an utterly ordinary face—someone who clearly didn't look like a gamer at all—appeared on the screen, sitting for an interview.
"What is a AAA game? First, you need to understand a word in English—'a lot,'" he said. "Games that consume a lot of time, a lot of resources, and a lot of money are AAA games. They are the largest in scale, offer the highest playability, and are worth players exploring again and again."
"This concept was first proposed by Atari. Now, Atlus will be the one to put it into practice and promote it. We will invest the most time and money, expend massive resources, and with the hottest passion, present a work destined to become an eternal classic."
"This summer, Sega will release its newest tier of console—higher, faster, stronger—a machine that fears no head-on competition with any console on the market: the Sega Master System. Sonic the Hedgehog will be released simultaneously with the console."
"I am Kobayashi Tetsu, president of Atlus—a nobody of a young man who loves games, loves music, and loves animation. I speak for Atlus."
With a sharp motion, Kobayashi Tetsu extended his hand toward the camera, striking a signature pose—somewhere between Uncle Sam and a certain iconic action star.
"Atlus looks forward to every dreamer joining us!"
Text appeared on the screen: Contact address—Atlus Studio, 24th floor, Shinjuku Mitsui Building.
Takahashi Kazumasa couldn't help scratching his head, a hidden flame in his chest suddenly boiling over.
So that was the president of Atlus—he was unbelievably young!
But youth wasn't a problem. In this era, few people in the game industry were old. Even Miyamoto Shigeru, a legendary game designer, was only in his thirties, already considered a veteran.
Most people were around twenty.
On television, Sega's massive promotional push—from the upcoming MS console to Atlus's specially prepared first-party title—was a perfect mutual escort. Add in the enormous banners over Central Avenue, and it was overwhelming.
They were only missing a literal blimp.
Of course, given that Sega and Atlus were both respectable companies, even if they did deploy a blimp, it wouldn't be a hydrogen balloon tied to a random transformer box.
Takahashi Kazumasa turned the thought over and over, then suddenly made up his mind.
"I'm going to Atlus tomorrow! What if I can get hired?!"
And if not, that was fine too—he'd treat it as sightseeing.
Anything was better than wasting every day at home playing games.
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