Record-breaking first-day sales

A commotion arose at the back of the line.

Two shop assistants wearing red work vests pushed a flatbed cart full of plastic bags out of the side door and began checking pre-sale vouchers along the queue.

"Those with pre-order receipts and driver's licenses, hold both items in your hands!" the lead clerk shouted. "Those who haven't paid in full, prepare cash or credit cards! The express lane doesn't accept change, so please speed things up!"

Mike quickly slung his canvas backpack over his chest and pulled a crumpled receipt from a hidden compartment.

"There are more and more people behind us in line." Mike glanced back.

The entire line had already passed the corner of the Best Buy building and stretched to the front of the auto parts repair shop next door.

The pickup truck that had just driven into the parking lot couldn't find an empty space, so it simply turned off the engine and parked in the middle of the lane. As soon as the door opened, several young men in plaid shirts came running over, clutching their wallets.

7:00 AM sharp.

Best Buy's double glass doors slide open to the sides.

Warm air seeped out from under the door, accompanied by the hissing sound of the cash register printing paper.

David and Mike followed the flow of people into the store.

The promotional area in the main hall, which originally displayed large CRT televisions, has been emptied and replaced with a four-story blue and white display rack.

The Sharp- customized GP2 packaging boxes were neatly stacked, their dark blue cardboard shells gleaming faintly under the bright metal halide lamp.

Next to it are display cases for soft-play items on both sides, Pokémon Ruby, Pokémon Sapphire, Metal Slug GP2, and Plants vs. Zombies.

"Mike Evans?" The blonde clerk behind the counter took the receipt and checked the barcode on the computer screen.

"It's me. A GP2, a box of Ruby, and a box of Sapphire." Mike pushed two hundred- US dollar bills over.

The female clerk grabbed the barcode scanner and deftly scanned the packaging of two cassette cartridges and a computer three times.

"Drip, drip, drip."

"Here's your change of twenty-six US dollar. It includes a Four-Player Link Cable and a Blizzard Battle.net gift card." The saleswoman stuffed the machine into a sturdy, thick plastic bag and pushed it across the counter. "Next!"

David strode forward and placed his order.

Three minutes later, the two carried their bags through the jostling crowd and retreated to a wooden chair in the corner of the store's listening area.

Mike sat down in the chair and reached out to tear off the transparent round sticker on the outer packaging.

He carefully removed the blue and white fuselage from the white foam lining.

The outer shell has a fine frosted finish and feels substantial in the hand.

Mike pushed the ruby cartridge into the slot on the back and turned on the power.

The screen lit up, and even under the strong sunlight of the store, Sharp's reflective screen showed no glare, with clear and sharp pixel icons.

David also tore open his machine's packaging, took the Torchic Pokéwalker from his waist, and removed the communication protection cap from the bottom.

"Hurry up and connect and try it. There's been a week-long debate on the forums saying the North America firmware might have feature-locked transfers," David urged.

Mike handed over his Mudkip Pokéwalker as well. "Plug yours in first."

David aimed at the expansion slot above the cartridge and pushed it in forcefully.

The latch made a slight clicking sound.

The screen shook slightly.

The little turkey that was hopping around on the monochrome LCD screen of the Pokéwalker suddenly turned into a string of white dots, flowing into the big screen along the data cable.

Accompanied by a crisp electronic notification sound, an English pop-up window appeared on the screen:

[External access detected! Torchic has successfully migrated!]

Individual values have been inherited! Trait: Speed Boost, activated!

"It's done!" David clenched his fist, wiping sweat from his trousers. "No lock! The firmware from the Tijuana assembly plant is exactly the same as the one from Japan!"

Several United States high school students who had just received the machines immediately gathered around upon hearing the commotion.

"Hey buddy, the transfer went smoothly?" A teenager wearing a San Francisco 49ers baseball cap bent down, staring at David's screen. "The feature really worked?"

"Look at the attribute panel yourself." David turned the handheld console half a turn around. "Next to the speed attribute is the characteristic icon."

"Damn it, when I was queuing for the Pokéwalker at Toys "R" Us" R" Us last week, the salesperson told me it was just a regular electronic toy." The boy turned to his friend and yelled, "Tom! Get your wallet out! We have to buy two more cartridges! The transfer mechanism is real!"

Several young people immediately turned around and squeezed towards the cashier.

In the store manager's office, Clark, the regional manager of Best Buy, held the landline receiver in one hand while his other hand rapidly scribbled in a notebook.

"Mr. Hatano's office? This is Clark from the Sunnyvale store." Clark shouted, the noise outside pouring in through the blinds, "Yes, I mean now! The first batch of three thousand mainframes, open door forty-five..."

Two thousand one hundred units have already been taken!

A slightly tired voice replied in English from the other end of the line: "Manager Clark, the second batch of semi-finished products shipped from Port of Long Beach is clearing customs, and the three-shift production line at the Tijuana factory is not stopping."

"I don't care where they're tightening screws!" Clark interrupted. "Our four stores in South San Francisco are completely out of stock! Walmart is already scrambling to allocate more! If they don't get me 1,500 GP2s by 2 PM today..."

With at least three thousand Pokémon cartridges, those college students outside who didn't get their hands on any will tear my glass door down!

Clark hung up the phone and pushed open a corner of the blinds to look down.

The blue and white display stack in the middle of the shelf was collapsing at a visible speed, and all seven cash registers in front of the checkout counter were running, the clicking of printing receipts filling the air.

On the sidewalk outside, several young people who had bought the machines simply sat cross-legged on the concrete.

Four machines were connected by two black four-way cables, and four people were frantically pressing buttons and shouting.

"Throw a grenade! Mike, you stole my stuff again!"

"I don't have a shotgun! Tom just took that box!"

"Damn it, that blond-haired prisoner escaped again!"

The shouts caused passing vehicles to slow down, and several drivers leaned out of their windows to honk their horns and inquire about the sales situation.

Clark wiped the sweat from his brow and grabbed the walkie-talkie on the table. "Security, open side gate number two and guide the people who have finished picking up their goods to leave through the back alley. Don't let them completely block the main entrance!"

On the roadside in front of the main gate, the blue and white GP2 logo on the huge billboard erected two weeks ago stands quietly in the morning light.

Next to it was simply printed a line of English text, without any embellishment. "Put the whole world in your pocket. April 25th, it's here."

From the afternoon of April 25th, the fax machine at Tokyo's Sega Headquarters never stopped running.

The sound of thermal paper being cut, along with the incessant ringing of telephones, turned the entire Sales Department into a noisy stock exchange.

In 1998, data collection could not achieve the near-instantaneous online synchronization of later generations. Major chain stores and wholesalers could only send phased shipment estimates to Tokyo every two hours based on cash register transactions and warehouse shipping orders.

At 11 a. m. the day after the GP2 was released, Hisao Oguchi pushed open the door to the president's office.

He held a form that had just been marked with red and blue markers in his hand, then closed the door behind him, instantly shutting out the noise from outside.

Nakayama Takuya was sitting behind his desk, flipping through the morning briefing sent by Sega of America, with a half-cold glass of green tea beside him.

Tea.

Seeing Hisao Oguchi enter, he put down the papers in his hand.

"Is the summary complete?"

"Everything we could get is here."

Hisao Oguchi stepped forward, laid the form flat on the mahogany table, and pulled out a chair to sit down.

"Let's start with the overall picture. As of 10:00 AM Tokyo time today, based on the checkout data from various supermarkets in North America before closing time last night, and the redemption rate in Japan from this morning until now, the estimated global sales on the first day of release have surpassed the 500,000 mark."

Nakayama Takuya looked down.

The first row of the table is marked with bold black ink for the North America market.

280,000 units.

"The surge in North America is even more intense than expected." Hisao Oguchi tapped his knuckles next to the numbers. "Best Buy and Walmart have completely snapped up the initial stock. Yesterday, several large stores in San Francisco and Los Angeles even used their reserve inventory. David and Hatano just spoke on the phone; the goods from the Tijuana factory were diverted to large trucks at the distribution center as soon as they crossed the border, and they couldn't even get into the secondary warehouses."

"How effective is the Pokémon Electronic Pet machine?" Nakayama Takuya asked.

"They accurately grasped consumer psychology." Hisao Oguchi turned to an appendix page. "Almost 100% of the students who bought the Pokéwalker in advance became GP2 customers. Battle.net also sent supporting data, and Blizzard's joint announcement on the login screen also drove many core PC players to offline stores. The North America branch's assessment is that if the second batch of parts shipped by sea cannot be assembled and rolled off the production line on time next week, there will be a significant shortage across the United States by the end of next week."

Nakayama Takuya nodded, his gaze moving down the form.

The second line is of mainland Japan.

190,000 units.

"The domestic figures are pretty much in line with our rough estimate," Hisao Oguchi continued. "In the core business districts of Akihabara, Shinjuku, and Shibuya, 85% of the initial allocations were already sold out before 11:00 AM. There are still queues in front of major authorized stores, mainly players waiting to pick up their pre-ordered machines and those buying a second Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire card to complete their collections. As for smaller retail stores, some have already started displaying 'sold out' signs."

Nakayama Takuya reached out, picked up his teacup, took a sip, and his gaze fell on the third line.

Europe, 30,000 units.

Compared to the two steep curves in North America and Japan, the data for Europe is rather flat and unattractive.

It even underperformed compared to the initial launch performance of the original Game Pocket in Europe.

"Ubisoft is slacking off." Hisao Oguchi said calmly, pointing to the details of each sub-region in Europe, "The United Kingdom and..."

France made some minor adjustments, but in Germany, most distributors didn't display the GP2 in prominent positions. As for Northern Europe and Southern Europe, their shipment reports were simply ridiculous; many distributors hadn't even put a demo unit in their showcases yet.

Nakayama Takuya put the cup back on the table, his expression unchanged.

"They're using this to increase their leverage in the contract negotiations in September. The exclusive distribution rights are about to be revoked, and the revenue sharing for the next-generation console hasn't been agreed upon. The Guillemot Brothers are planning to use the initial flop to prove that Sega can't do without their direct sales network in Europe."

"Should we send a letter to the Paris office to urge them to hurry up?" Hisao Oguchi asked.

"Rushing us won't help; it'll only make us look anxious." Nakayama Takuya leaned back in his chair and waved his hand. "Thirty thousand units it is. The Europe market isn't the core issue right now. As long as our GP2's global sales are high enough to attract enough third-party game developers, a slight delay in Europe's efforts isn't a big problem."

Nakayama Takuya picked up the red pen on the table and put an X on the number in the Europe section.

"Before September, the status quo will remain in Europe, letting Ubisoft do whatever it wants. Once the contract expires in September, the first phase of the Rotterdam warehouse will be completed and accepted, and the evaluation of the contract manufacturer that Hatano brought back from Hungary should also be finalized. At that time, Vivendi and Infogrames will enter the market, and the Pan-European Channel will be established. We can then settle this score later."

Hisao Oguchi made a note in his memo. "So, the current focus is entirely on both Japan and the United States?"

"Yes." Nakayama Takuya put down his pen. "Selling over 500,000 units on the first day—that's already surpassed the handheld console sales record set by the Game Boy. We don't need to wait for financial statements down to the single digit; that's for the tax bureau. What the market needs now is confidence and deterrence."

He looked at Hisao Oguchi: "Before 1 p. m., compile this summary into a press release and send it to all third-party manufacturers with cooperation agreements with Sega, stating that global sales on the first day exceeded 500,000 units."

Hisao Oguchi immediately understood the significance of this.

"The people at Namco, Konami, and Capcom have been observing the handheld console market for some time now. They have several handheld console project proposals on hand, but they're hesitant to launch them because they're unsure whether color screen handheld consoles can really take off."

"The data speaks for itself." Nakayama Takuya placed his hands on the edge of the table. "Half a million units installed means that as long as they make a decent manga adaptation or port, they can easily recoup their development costs. After the press release is sent out this afternoon, have the Third-Party Coordination Department proactively call and invite the executives of various companies for tea. In the second half of the year, Sega needs more third-party software to fill the GP2's release schedule and completely solidify our position in the handheld market."

"What about the media?" Hisao Oguchi pressed. "Famitsu and Dengeki magazine are waiting for our official statement, and Electronic Gaming Monthly in North America also sent a fax last night requesting data."

"Report it truthfully." Nakayama Takuya took a morning newspaper from his drawer and spread it out in front of Oguchi.

The front page of the newspaper prominently featured three giant Pokémon hanging in the streets of Akihabara, along with images of huge crowds queuing up.

"The TV news and newspapers have already ignited the fire, and the figure of 500,000 is just the gasoline poured into it. Have the propaganda department put up large images on all the game forums and homepages of Silicon Valley Online this afternoon, and also give it a push through Battle.net pop-ups. We need to make it clear to all investors and industry professionals that the next generation of handheld consoles is still in Sega's hands."

Hisao Oguchi stood up, carefully folded the report showing the first day's data, and stuffed it into the inside pocket of his suit jacket.

"I'll get on it right away. The press release will be on the desks of the executives at all the major game companies by 2 PM sharp."