At the end of August, Pokeni announced the final release date for the princess mononoke game: September 13, 1996.
This release information was undoubtedly a bombshell.
As the game's release date was set, Pokeni's operations department also began to act, all promotional resources were fully deployed, and the entire channel was filled with promotional information for the princess mononoke game.
On Pokeni's official website, the princess mononoke section exploded.
"Great, I finally waited for this day. I originally thought princess mononoke would be postponed until next year."
"Yes, I also thought it would be next year before I could play this princess mononoke game. I didn't expect Pokeni to be so efficient this Time."
"I'm so relieved, I'm almost moved. Now I'm just wholeheartedly waiting for the game to be released."
"A few days ago, I already took my girlfriend to watch the princess mononoke movie. Master Miyazaki Hayao's work is truly beyond words. The quality of the animation is really super high, and it's very touching. That last scene even made me cry.
Now I'm very much looking forward to what the game will be like."
"I'm actually quite worried about Pokeni's game right now, mainly because the princess mononoke movie is just too good, so good you can't even describe it.
Just from the box office performance, you can see that princess mononoke, released as an animated film, directly broke the Japan box office record, becoming the highest-grossing champion of all Time, which is enough to explain the problem.
The movie itself has already set the bar so high, so to what extent does the game need to be made to satisfy movie fans? I really can't imagine."
"Indeed, I think the visual performance of princess mononoke is excellent, especially in depicting forests and animals. Director Hayao Miyazaki used delicate brushstrokes to show the beauty and mystery of nature, making people feel as if they are in a dreamlike world.
However, this movie is made too well. If the game can't reach this level, it might backfire."
"There shouldn't be much to worry about in terms of visuals. I went to the Tokyo Game Show before, and during the actual game demo, it really felt like watching a Hayao Miyazaki animated film.
Perhaps it's not perfectly restored in terms of delicacy and some color usage, and it can't reach Hayao Miyazaki's standard, but if you play it, you'll know that it's actually quite impressive.
But my only concern is—
Since the movie has already told the story to this point, how should the game be made to avoid simply retelling the story to players and viewers, but instead create something new, allowing players to gain new enjoyment? This is what will truly test Pokeni."
"Mm-hmm, that makes a lot of sense. I'm also very worried about this issue now.
Given Studio Ghibli's influence, they probably won't allow Pokeni to make too many changes to the plot.
Then the only thing Pokeni can do is game-play.
In fact, if the plot can be restored and the game-play is made good enough, it can already be considered a success."
"I hope so. After watching the demonstration, I'm not really sure what areas Pokeni's game can focus on, but if you haven't seen the movie, playing this game will definitely give you an extraordinary sense of amazement."
"Right, right, so if you can't have your cake and eat it too, then players who want to play the game might not really need to watch the movie first, or they can watch the movie after playing the game."
"That's what I thought, so I didn't watch the movie. But I'm also afraid that when the game is released, the princess mononoke movie will be taken offline, and then I'll miss a very excellent animation. How regrettable would that be?"
"Hmm, that's a problem, so let's think about it seriously."
"I haven't seen the movie, I just want to play the game. I'm afraid that watching the movie might have a negative impact on the game experience. I feel like I'm really too smart."
...
On the internet, there were many worried voices, but no one said that princess mononoke was bad.
The main reason for the worry was that the animation was simply too good.
More than that, there was anticipation.
Most importantly, this game has been anticipated by everyone since June, and it has even spanned until now, with the movie's release interspersed in between. It can be said to be seamless, firmly occupying the players' attention for over 3 months.
Even rival companies couldn't help but sigh.
"Pokeni is truly terrifying. Being able to make a game like princess mononoke is terrifying, and what's even more terrifying is that Ghibli is even cooperating with them for chain promotion..."
It's even more terrifying.
In short, it's very terrifying.
This battle directly shattered the courage of countless game manufacturers. Before, some people might have thought about suppressing Pokeni or trying to overtake them on a curve.
Looking at it now, they were still too young.
There was no curve at all.
Pokeni was racing ahead on the path of game development, almost breaking through the sky.
If this development speed continues, Pokeni might come up with some kind of black technology.
Perhaps in a few more years, Pokeni's game will have evolved to the brain virtual machine stage.
"Do you know what learned helplessness is? When you fail at something, you might still have the urge to try again, after all, failure is the mother of success.
But if you try countless Times and still fail, you will believe that it is impossible.
I now have such a deep sense of powerlessness. Pokeni has surpassed us too much, and trying to catch up with it seems like an impossible task."
"Let's see if Nintendo can suppress Pokeni, after all, Nintendo is still the game overlord. Sometimes, game doesn't necessarily depend on technology and visual performance; game-play is also very important.
Some pixel-style games actually still have a vast market; it just depends on how you make them."
"But, at least this year, princess mononoke will definitely be dominant."
"Now the only thing that can break the Pokeni myth is probably Pokeni itself. How great would it be if their princess mononoke game flopped."
"What are you thinking? I feel like even if the whole Earth flipped, Pokeni would hardly flip."
"I already experienced it firsthand at the Tokyo Game Show. Although it was only for a short half an hour, I'm willing to call it a masterpiece."
"Good heavens, Pokeni isn't leaving anyone any room to breathe."
"Making such a terrifying game is one thing, but they also did such terrifying things in terms of promotion and distribution, directly building up from the Tokyo Game Show in June until now. It's estimated that other games will only be able to rise after the hype for princess mononoke dies down."
"In front of this game, all other games will pale in comparison."
"Yes, if princess mononoke isn't released, no manufacturers will dare to move. Even if they release games, they can only choose different types and different tracks. Most importantly, no matter what kind of game you release, it won't have the same hype as princess mononoke.
Players are most looking forward to princess mononoke. Before it, they won't even give you a second glance."
"Perhaps only Nintendo's new game can make a splash. Who knows, Square's final fantasy 7 might not even be able to surpass the hype for princess mononoke."
"What do you mean 'who knows'? It's simply no match at all! I estimate Miyamoto Masafumi is also having a huge headache right now, cursing and complaining. He was originally planning to release final fantasy 7 at the end of the year, but princess mononoke unexpectedly interfered, putting him in a difficult position where he doesn't even know how to formulate his distribution strategy."
In fact, these people were very right. Miyamoto Masafumi was experiencing an unusual headache at the moment.
His head was buzzing, he didn't know how many strands of hair had turned white, and how many more he had scratched off.
In short, after confirming the release date of Pokeni's princess mononoke, Miyamoto Masafumi was both sad and happy.
The sadness was that the quality of this game was simply too high. Others might not be clear, but Miyamoto Masafumi was a witness at the Time. When he saw this game at the Tokyo Game Show, he was amazed.
After the press conference, Miyamoto Masafumi couldn't help but try it out.
He was even more surprised.
The game-play was even more incredible. Whether it was the visual quality or the game-play, it was already several years ahead of its Time.
In front of it, final fantasy 7 paled in comparison.
Miyamoto Masafumi even had an urge to remake it, at least to further improve the visuals.
If he had to say something.
It would probably take a work from the next Era to rival it.
Under such circumstances, you simply couldn't determine the release date of final fantasy 7.
What if it clashed with princess mononoke?
Especially upon hearing that the princess mononoke movie was released in August, Miyamoto Masafumi quickly convened a discussion meeting, and finally decided to hold off on releasing it, indefinitely postponing the original September release plan.
Think about it, when a movie is released, the screening Time is at least one or two months, and the hype will probably only slowly die down by October.
During this period, the movie would constantly remind players that there was still a princess mononoke waiting for them.
The joy was that Pokeni's schedule was finally confirmed. The princess mononoke game would be released in mid-September, which made Miyamoto Masafumi breathe a sigh of relief.
Knowing the opponent's release Time actually made it easier to formulate a strategy.
Under normal circumstances, after a game is released, the first month is a strong growth period, and the hype will slowly decrease after more than 2 months.
Therefore, releasing final fantasy 7 after November would be a wiser choice.
"Ah, how annoying!"
This feeling of being deeply suppressed and having to act only after the other party was truly unbearable.
...
The princess mononoke game was a pre-release hit, which was a first in Pokeni's entire history.
Previous hits were the kind that people found interesting, but generally had a tiny bit of doubt, or even negative hype, thinking that this game would definitely be a letdown again, only supporting it verbally but hesitating whether to buy it when it was actually released.
But this Time, it was a solid hit, with a very strong foundation.
Even though the game hadn't been released, the combined information from Pokeni, Ghibli, Sony, and the Tokyo Game Show solidified its success from all angles.
Even a cautious distributor like Hattori Hiroyuki immediately took 500,000 copies. Just think, how much confidence must he have in the game?
The whole world couldn't believe it would fail.
Pokeni's game hadn't even been officially released, but the pre-order volume from distributors alone had already reached an astonishing 3 million copies.
In other words, regardless of princess mononoke's actual sales volume now, Pokeni had already received its money.
Just 3 million copies, at a price of 4,000 Japanese Yen per copy for distributors, amounts to over 12 billion.
What kind of terrifying thing is this?
No one understood.
It was incomprehensible.
Pokeni taught the whole world a very important lesson:
What is a dream linkage? This is a dream linkage.
What is a preheating effect? This is a preheating effect, and the preheating period is super long.
As for whether it can be replicated?
Unknown.
First, you need a globally renowned animation partner like Studio Ghibli to support you, and at the same Time, the movie schedule and game production Time must be arranged very tightly.
Then, you also need the endorsement of the Tokyo Game Show.
Most importantly, you not only need a game that perfectly matches the animated movie, but this game must also have super strong and excellent quality, preferably groundbreaking, leading the entire game industry by 3 to 5 years.
Then, you need a particularly capable operations team, as well as media channels, extensive connections...
Only after a comprehensive rollout can such astonishing results be achieved.
Just thinking about it makes you realize that this is probably a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence.
...
On September 13, 1996, princess mononoke was officially released.
On the day of release, long queues formed outside every game store, and the scene was incredibly lively.
The line stretched directly from the storefront to the street corner, and then around a bend.
Yamada Masaharu rushed to the nearest game store with his briefcase as soon as he got off work.
As soon as he stepped out of the company gate, he saw several figures in suits running quickly.
"Damn it!"
Do they have to be so competitive?!
Yamada Masaharu didn't say a word and quickly started running too.
Good heavens, I never ran this hard even when I was training for short-distance races in school.
The most frustrating thing was that Yamada was not just rushing to get a princess mononoke game disc for himself.
He had also been entrusted by his colleagues to help them get one.
Thinking about this, Yamada Masaharu became exceptionally angry.
Especially towards Furukawa Hirozawa, his resentment was deep.
Ever since that guy reunited with his childhood sweetheart, he had become quite negligent about games. A while ago, the two of them even went to watch the princess mononoke movie together, completely abandoning the masses.
Now, even on the game release day, he had become passive.
"Damn it! Women only hinder your game-play! What's so good about them?!"
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