319 Nostalgia
Time passed in 1996, and it was finally March.
Quite so far, the video games industry in the video game capital, Japan, has been doing quite well.
KS1 reached 9.4 million in sales in Japan after its release in the country for more than a year.
And the estimation of about 20-30 million units of KS1 being sold worldwide. Well, except in China, where KiShin couldn't sell its products, KiShin has been doing quite well. Even though KiShin has lost its direct presence in South Korea, SamStar is distributing their products in the market.
From Shin's perspective, it was already quite satisfying results; after all, the PS1 in his previous life didn't achieve such a result.
Shin contributed it to the fact that the people of this world didn't really experience much video games for decades after KiShin developed a video game in an 8-bit console, KES...
And then Tora and Suzuki also helped in introducing the video games for 16-bit consoles in the foreign market. As a result, the new era of video games reached a wider audience worldwide...
And also, with the new console of Tora-Suzuki, the TSX Fusion, after its release in the USA, Europe, and some parts of Asia, after months of its release in Japan, also reached a more potential audience. With another console other than KiShin, it gave the market more options, making the video game industry expand even more...
While the KS1 achieved a good result in sales worldwide, the TSX Fusion sales worldwide weren't so bad too. In fact, the sales of TSX Fusion after its several months of its release were much better than PS1 in Shin's previous life.
Maybe because of its lower price of the console compared to KS1, it had decent sales...
In the meantime, KiShin developed various entertainment in the arcade section, experiencing a genre explosion, including fighting games other than Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. KiShin, not content with the existing fighting games, released another arcade game named "Tekken." Although not yet available for KS1, the arcade machine hardware could handle better graphics and gameplay than KS1. The genre explosion also featured rhythm games like Dance Dance Revolution, newly available in arcade sections across several stores and malls, especially in Tokyo. The popularity of racing games also surged.
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In Toshima Ward, Tokyo, Japan.
Shin visited the Ikeburo Center in Toshima Ward with Mira.
They kept a low profile, with Shin donning a casual jacket from KiShin Merchandise, sunglasses, and a baseball cap.
Despite Shin's considerable fame in Japan, particularly within the gaming community, it didn't guarantee casual recognition everywhere in Japan. His casual style, with sunglasses and a baseball cap, made him recognizable only to those familiar with him.
Mira wore a pink KiShin jacket and the same baseball cap as Shin. While she didn't wear sunglasses like Shin, their clothes seemed to be a couple's edition, especially since Shin's jacket was blue.
"So many things have changed after just a few years..." Mira said to Shin after they visited the Ikeburo Entertainment Center. The place appeared more bustling, with posters related to video games prominently grabbing people's attention.
The posters also advertised the latest arcade machines from KiShin and Tora-Suzuki.
Shin nodded and replied, "Indeed. I'm sure the arcade here must have changed a lot too..."
"Yeah, unlike before when the arcade only offered entertainment like gashapon and claw crane games, now there are video games serving as entertainment in arcades..." Mira nodded thoughtfully.
Shin agreed with a nod, and they headed to the arcade. As expected, the arcade section in Ikeburo was lively, filled with various people engaging in conversations and enjoying different games.
The place was contrary to the typical quiet Japanese atmosphere; instead, it was quite loud, yet the people there didn't seem to mind.
"Woah, the place is quite lively..." Shin adjusted his glasses and said with a smile.
"The youth in the country really have changed, huh..." Mira couldn't help but sigh a little.
Indeed, the youth who frequented arcades in Japan mostly had different fashion and behavior compared to the 80s. A style that gained popularity these days was the so-called Harajuku style, infamous in Japan. Alongside this style, there was also the Gyaru style. These two fashion trends, as well as many subgroups in Japanese fashion, were born out of the youth's desire to break away from tradition and monotony.
After hearing Mira's sigh and words, Shin just laughed and said, "It's not really a bad thing. We can see that the country is gradually moving away from the idea of being a nation built on tradition and monotony. With these kinds of styles, our country will be much more colorful and vibrant."
Upon hearing Shin's words, Mira nodded, albeit reluctantly, silently worrying for her Shinichi...
While Mira was lost in thought, she felt Shin's hand holding hers. She turned her eyes to Shin, who held her hand, and he led her to play in the arcade—after all, that was the reason they came here. This was Shin and Mira's date, and Mira felt like she was back in high school, her blood rushing with excitement.
Some young people in the arcade glanced at Shin and Mira, and a few felt envious. They used to go to arcades to avoid couples in parks or schools, but now they noticed that couples were also starting to frequent arcades.
This shift was partly due to the popularity of Dance Dance Revolution among young couples...
Indeed, Shin and Mira played Dance Dance Revolution together, intimately learning the steps together and attracting some attention from other gamers in the arcade.
Whether they were boys or girls, they felt envy, but they silently ignored it, completely unaware that the couple playing Dance Dance Revolution were the people they admired in the gaming community...
