Once the report by "Gorotsu" was published, it directly pushed "The Mermaid's Heart" and Pokeni onto the pedestal of galgames.
Not only did it boost the magazine's own sales, but it also took advantage of the momentum to hype up Pokeni's reputation.
Countless players who had read the issue of Gorotsu expressed:
"Huh? Although I had similar feelings while playing the game, I didn't think about it in detail at the time. It turns out 'The Mermaid's Heart' also discusses profound social issues.
The editors at Gorotsu are pretty good; they're able to interpret it from different perspectives."
"I used to look at games only from a player's perspective, but after this analysis by Gorotsu, I finally understand the painstaking efforts of the creators of 'The Mermaid's Heart'."
"The Mermaid's Heart is truly a great game. As expected of a production by Kogahara Tsubakiaki, whom I adore, it's just different from the galgames on the market. Beyond beautiful romance, it also explores human nature and profound truths.
Ah! I'm falling more and more in love with Kogahara Tsubakiaki."
"Kogahara Tsubakiaki partnering with Gen Urobuchi is truly an unexpectedly magical combination. The script is indeed god-tier, and the story's depth is so profound. The only downside is—
These two guys always love to make players shed tears.
Waaah, just thinking about how not a single ending is a happy one, my heart aches so much right now."
"Pokeni is damn awful. They single-handedly changed the entire galgame market. We all used to like Blue Games, but Pokeni's games have made all galgames lose their original flavor."
"Now, if a galgame doesn't have a good plot, I don't even want to play it."
After the magazine was released, many female players also expressed their desire to try this galgame, which was being touted as something that even girls could enjoy.
Furthermore, Gorotsu also mentioned a piece of secret news.
And that is—
Pokeni is currently developing a Western fantasy-themed Action RPG. Whether or not it will be a galgame is still unknown, but based on the information released, this game is definitely worth anticipating.
The players were left baffled.
"Is this for real? Pokeni's new game is an ARPG? But can this sort of thing actually be made into a galgame?"
"Whether it's a galgame is still up for debate, but if it really can be made into one, I'll definitely buy it. An ARPG galgame—just thinking about it is exciting."
"Yeah, this is the Pokeni I know. Their ability to unearth the 'galgame' potential from different gaming fields and genres is truly remarkable."
"I hope the producer of this game is [Kogahara Tsubakiaki], and please, let it definitely not be that Aoki Haruhi guy. Compared to Kogahara Tsubakiaki, Aoki Haruhi is just trash."
"..."
Although players still couldn't imagine what a Western fantasy ARPG turned into a galgame would actually look like, it was true that they all held high expectations for it.
"Hmm, the report in Gorotsu is quite good." Aoyama Haruhi closed the magazine, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
Ayase Akane shot him a glance. The company president really wore his heart on his sleeve.
You could tell exactly what he was thinking just by looking at his face.
His expression completely betrayed him.
If the president were to play Texas Hold'em, he would definitely lose miserably.
Aoyama sat in his office chair, tapping his fingers on the desk, lost in thought.
Although Gorotsu had gained quite a few users, it was still far from enough. If it could grow even larger, it would be another promotional channel for Pokeni in the future.
Before a game is released, generating exposure through magazines or television—pre-hype—is a crucial process.
Take Diablo, for instance. Although it was still in development, thanks to the hype generated by Gorotsu, players' curiosity had already been piqued.
When it was eventually released, the buzz could be ramped up even further.
The same logic applied to Pokémon.
In fact, in Aoyama's view, they needed to put even more effort into promoting Pokémon. In his previous life, the anime played an indispensable role in Pokémon's success.
At the thought of Pokémon, Aoyama couldn't help but frown.
Several days had already passed, and there was still no word from Sega.
Either they weren't accepting the proposal, or they were still hesitating.
He needed to find a way to give Nakayama Hayao a nudge.
"President."
Just then, Ayase Akane called out.
"What is it?"
"It's a call from Sega," Ayase said.
"Eh?!"
Speak of the devil.
After several days of deliberation, Sega finally decided to cooperate with Pokeni.
In reality, this was primarily a partnership with Sony.
The proposal itself hit on Sega's weaknesses, while Aoki Haruhi's "Three Kingdoms" argument had resonated with Nakayama Hayao.
Sega had made many mistakes over the years, but their biggest problem was—
They always believed they had the ability to go toe-to-toe with Nintendo, fueled by a surge of overconfidence after the Mega Drive's sales success.
However, with the SFC's recent strong momentum, combined with Yamauchi Hiroshi's arrogant attitude and Nintendo's various "Challenge Accepted" proclamations, Nakayama Hayao felt incredibly frustrated.
Therefore, after weighing the pros and cons, Sega accepted Pokeni's proposal.
After signing the supplementary contract, Aoki Haruhi quickly brought the parties together for a discussion meeting.
Pokeni didn't have a conference room large enough, so the main venue was held at Sega.
Sega's Nakayama Hayao, Pokeni's President Aoki Haruhi, and DUN's President Tsuda Nao all attended the meeting. On Sony's side, because Morita Akio was in poor health, Ohga Norio attended on his behalf.
Hayao Nakayama of Sega, Pokeni president Aoki Haruhi, and DUN president Nao Tsuda all attended the meeting. On Sony's side, because Akio Morita was not in good health, Norio Ohga attended on his behalf.
Each company had several representatives in attendance; in addition to the main signatories, there were also R&D department heads, as well as operations staff and lawyers...
The conference room was packed with over a dozen people.
Business negotiations—the process of finalizing details is truly extremely troublesome and time-consuming.
Every inch is money, and every bit of ground is fought for, so everyone at the meeting tried their best to secure the greatest benefits for their respective parties.
After negotiating for about a month or so, it was finally settled.
In the consensus reached on the collaboration, in order to secure the leading role in R&D, Sega would bear the main costs of the handheld console's development.
(Sega was very insistent on maintaining the lead role, but Aoki Haruhi himself didn't intend to get involved in the so-called console war at this stage, and DUN didn't want to invest as much as 10 billion, so no one had any objections to Sega being the primary investor.)
Naturally, the tentative name for this generation of handhelds was [Sega Game Pocket], which translates to [Sega Pocket Game Machine], abbreviated as GP.
It sounds much better than GG.
In this way, the investment pressure on Pokeni and DUN was naturally reduced quite a bit.
The battery component of the handheld will be handled by Sony.
Pokeni's games will be exclusive to the handheld for a limited time.
Furthermore, the intellectual property rights for the handheld console will be shared among the four parties.
Although it is shared among the four parties, no one may use it to develop game consoles compatible with the GP.
Then, the intellectual property of the handheld console is to be shared among the four parties.
Although it is shared among the four, no party may use it to develop a game console compatible with the GP.
(This point was learned from the previous lessons of Nintendo, and it also prevents Sony or Sega from being able to ditch the others at any time.)
The sales revenue and royalties from the game console will be divided according to the investment ratio and technical contribution.
The authority for game review will be handed over entirely to Sega.
However, partner companies (Pokeni, DUN, and Sony) will enjoy preferential royalty rates for games they develop and sell on the GP in the future.
And so on and so forth...
There are many terms, nearly one hundred pages, stipulating the investment ratios and respective rights and interests of each party.
At the same time, the consensus also provides more convenient and favorable conditions for third-party game developers.
For games released on the Sega handheld, the royalties paid will be 10% less than the fees charged by Nintendo.
All in all, these measures and more...
In a word, after this contract is signed, it will be equivalent to the gathering of the eighteen feudal lords.
Just waiting to crusade against Dong Zhuo.
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