325 Gameboy Advance

Around the mid of April, the Tora also released their own handheld video game console.

The handheld video game console of Suzuki was just released in Japan for a week, and it didn't really bring a boost in sales.

Then Tora was the same, although the sales were decent, it was not crazily selling.

In fact, the products that were selling crazily for them was their CD music player.

Then after a month of the release of the handheld video game console of Tora and Suzuki, KiShin just surprised Tokyo by releasing a handheld video game console.

The two companies' competitors were taken by surprise, as the handheld video game console, the Gameboy Advance, was the handheld that became quickly popular the moment the Japanese saw it in the advertisement.

The sleek design of Gameboy Advance, and also the flippable design of the top shell, and can be flipped to the bottom shell, the Japanese gamers immediately became extremely captivated...

The advertisement of Gameboy Advance started with elementary boys and girls showing off their handheld video game console with each other, and the handheld video game console that seemed to be in the hands of each of the competing kids seemed to come from Tora and Suzuki.

And then suddenly, a boy that's been looked down upon by the class suddenly took out something, and that is the Gameboy Advance. The moment the class saw the Gameboy Advance and its sleek design, and flippable design, they went from disdain for the boy to be captivated by the boy's handheld, and those that looked down on the boy were further embarrassed in the class.

After seeing the Gameboy Advance, the boys and girls that were competing for who's the best handheld video game console became quite silent and immediately hid it in embarrassment.

The advertisement of the Gameboy Advance was shown around on television, and many kids immediately wanted their parents to buy the Gameboy Advance for them.

Upon the release of the Gameboy Advance in stores and malls around Tokyo, it quickly became a hit.

The Gameboy Advance even almost caught up with the sales of the CD music player in its first week, despite the fact that its price was actually $199. That's right, the Gameboy Advance was more expensive than the handhelds from Tora or Suzuki, but many Japanese gamers still bought it.

KiShin set this price due to the high-quality electrical components in the Gameboy Advance at this time of year 1996. Despite the cost, KiShin was making a substantial profit per sale. KiShin had invested heavily in research for the handheld, and to justify the high price, they highlighted the thin, flippable design, and most importantly, the impressive performance.

The early games that accompanied the Gameboy Advance included "Golden Sun," "Super Mario Bros. 3 (Remastered game of KES)," and "Fire Emblem."

Gamers didn't hesitate to buy the two latest games, "Fire Emblem" and "Golden Sun." Although there were essentially only two new video games, according to KiShin's manual, the Gameboy Advance could also play game cartridges from the old Gameboy. Of course, not all were compatible, but the new Pokémon game released recently in March was actually compatible with the Gameboy Advance, making it convenient for many gamers who already owned Gameboy cartridges.

And within just two weeks since the release of the Gameboy Advance, the overall estimated sales reached 170,000 units.

This amounted to at least an estimated $33,830,000 in sales, approximately 4 billion yen, and that doesn't even include the recent sales of Gameboy game cartridges.

It was a significant success for KiShin, while the handhelds from Tora and Suzuki were once again being ignored.

-In Pokémon Cafe in Tokyo-

A young man named Raito was engrossed in playing "Golden Sun" on his newly bought Gameboy Advance, with his friends watching him play in envy.

One of Raito's friends exclaimed, "Damn, man. I also wanted a Gameboy Advance, but my parents said they couldn't afford it." It was another young man named Tsubasa.

"That's true... If I had one, I'd freaking love to show off such a handheld. I can flip it in style, you know..." Another young man with dyed blonde hair remarked.

Raito, upon hearing that, smiled. Some of the young people who had a Gameboy Advance were showing off by flipping their devices in front of friends or classmates. Gradually, the act of flipping the Gameboy seemed to become another kind of fashion among the youth.

Then Raito said, "You guys shouldn't force your parents to buy you a Gameboy Advance, you know. I can just lend you mine once in a while. It actually took a while for it to run low on battery, about four or so hours before the battery became low..."

After Tsubasa and the other two young men heard that, they felt Raito was bragging.

Tsubasa ignored Raito's faint bragging as he said, "My father just bought a Suzuki DiskMan, you know! And it's priced at about 30,200 yen! (30,200 Yen = 250 dollars)"

The dyed young man also sighed and said, "Yeah, my mom just bought the latest Louis Vuitton bag, and she refused to spend her money on the Gameboy Advance!"

The other young man with spiky hair nodded, saying, "That's true. I don't understand why women would be so obsessed with meaningless bags. It's much more expensive, yet it can't do as many functions as a Gameboy Advance."

Tsubasa and the other two sighed in depression.

When Raito saw this, he let them play on his Gameboy Advance for half an hour each, with the game "Golden Sun" where they could make "Yes or No" decisions. With the RPG gameplay, the dissatisfied young men cheered up a little while playing the game, but they still wished they had one of their own.