From Gamer to Model Kit Fan

An eerie silence fell over the room as they watched the conversation.

A-Watari looked down at his half-assembled S Gundam model, then at the handheld console screen, his expression strange. "What is this? A battlefield romance story? What on earth are those Sunrise writers thinking?"

"This wasn't written by Sunrise at all." Ishikawa Kenji adjusted his black-rimmed glasses and pointed to the scriptwriters' list at the bottom of the screen. "Takahashi Masaya. He wrote the original concept for Sentinel. Ten years ago, he wrote a serialized story for a magazine, and the ending where Alice self-destructed the core chip to protect Lorraine Lutz brought tears to the eyes of countless hardcore readers. Now, Sega gave them a huge budget, and these guys turn around and put a human-machine romance plot in a game."

The fat man leaned close to Kenta's ear and said sourly, "You've hit the jackpot. With one more person providing energy, you won't even need to pay for repairs when fighting bosses. Lorraine will handle the hot-blooded attacks, Alice will handle the dodge and speed boosts, and when you encounter a tough opponent, Alice will activate 'Love,' turning the place into a mobile fortress."

Kenta pressed the D-pad, looking at the preview for the next level in the story list.

Against the backdrop of space, next to the thumbnail of Deep Striker, is a striking image of a collaboration between Lloyd Lutz and Alice.

"Ishikawa," Kenta looked up, "You just said that there are only a handful of people in all of Japan who have obtained this hidden element?"

Ishikawa Kenji gave a cold laugh.

"It's not just a few people; I bet all the veteran moderators who are serializing strategy guides on the forums now think 0083 is a fraud."

That stage required the Bask to deploy their Solar System, weakening the colony's health and most of the Delaz Fleet, and then, following the traditional route, to fire it again while Luvi Jeru and GP03D were locked in combat. Nobody even considered having to do it seven times earlier.

"Join forces and break through the defenses with all their might, capture the control room, and change the track."

Ishikawa extended two fingers and tapped them heavily twice on the low table.

"If you post the acquisition conditions for Deep Striker and screenshots of Alice's two-seater on the BBS right now, those Super Robot Wars fanatics in Akihabara will have to delete all their save files tonight and start over from the first level."

A-Watari silently put down his penknife, reached out and took the GP2 from Kenta's hand, and carefully examined the deep red monster machine three times.

"I originally only planned to do a basic assembly and panel lining of this MG model." A-Watari flipped to the last page of the instruction manual, which listed additional accessories, and let out a sigh of relief. "No, I have to go to the Shizuoka factory again tomorrow to order the bonus accessories. If I get all of these and put them on the shelf, all the model kit collectors in Akihabara will come over and call me 'Big Brother'."

Ishikawa strode to the desk, opened the leather shockproof bag, and carefully took out a large black camera.

The metal casing bears a prominent white logo: Canon E0S D2000.

"Ishikawa, you even got your hands on this?" The fat man took two steps closer, looking down at the small color LCD playback screen. "A professional digital SLR camera with two million pixels. I heard that not many newspapers in the entire Tokyo have one. It must cost several hundred thousand Japanese yen, right?"

"I had my uncle, who works in import/export trade in the United States, bring this back last month." Ishikawa turned on the camera, which emitted a soft beep. "No need to develop the film; it transfers directly to the computer via IEEE 1394 FireWire. It's very convenient."

Ishikawa Kenta placed the GP2 flat on the low pine table and turned the screen brightness to the maximum.

"Click, click."

Two crisp, clean shutter clicks rang out.

The full-body illustration of Deep Striker, the super-long main gun panel with a range of eleven squares, and the dual mental lists of Liao Lutz and AI ALICE are clearly saved on the camera's PCMCIA memory card.

Ishikawa removed the card, inserted it into the card reader, opened the browser on his computer desktop, and skillfully connected to the Silicon Valley Online forum's game section.

The cursor is flashing wildly when creating a new post.

Ishikawa's hands began to furiously tap away on the Mechanical Keyboard:

[Breaking News! GP2 Super Robot Wars Outpost Hidden Branch Routes Fully Explained! Deep Striker Acquisition Conditions and Double-Seat Spirit In-Game Screenshots]

The attachment has been uploaded and the progress bar has reached the end.

Click send.

"All set." Ishikawa grabbed the keychain from the table and stuffed it into his pocket. "Let's go, accompany A-Watari to buy additional accessories, and while we're at it, let's check out the stock at that old shop on the corner."

The four of them put on their sneakers and ran down the stairs to the apartment building.

Upon arriving in Akihabara, in front of the toy store where A-Watari placed his order, he saw a huge promotional poster jointly printed by Sega and Bandai Mode I hanging above the Hajime Katoki. The poster featured the redesigned Gaza-C, Gaza-E, Refined Barzam, and Jim III lined up in a neat battle formation.

The store was filled with the noisy chatter of people.

"Give me two boxes of the newly molded Gaza-C!"

"Are there any Refined Barzam? I never imagined Barzam could be this handsome!"

Several young film collectors in jackets crowded around the cashier, each holding two or three large boxes, arguing animatedly about the contents of the OVA.

Holding a reservation voucher stamped with a red seal, A-Watari quickly squeezed into the bonus redemption area.

"Boss, I paid the full deposit last week for the first batch of themed modification parts from the Shizuoka factory, the Deep Striker external propulsion component, and that extra-long Ganon plate."

The clerk behind the counter glanced at the receipt, checked the number, and then bent down to pull a flat, black cardboard box out from under the counter.

The cardboard box cover prominently displays a mechanical design line drawing signed by Hajime Katoki.

The group of model kit enthusiasts who were selecting decals nearby instantly stopped in their tracks.

"Hey buddy, what are you holding that for?"

A young man with a buzz cut, carrying Marasai, came over and stared at the black box in A-Watari's hand.

"Deep Striker Additional Armor Pack." A-Watari patted the edge of the cardboard box, gesturing with his chin. "It's for use with the newly released MG version of the S Gundam. Only one thousand sets were released for pre-order in the first batch across Japan."

A group of people immediately gathered around the counter.

"My God, is this the battleship-class cheat that was featured in the magazine?"

"Two super-large propulsion rockets, and that MEGA Ganon that can penetrate a cruiser! How many parts would that require?"

"That's outrageous! If you put this together in your home, how much of a facade would it take up? Who could stand that!"

The young man with the buzz cut reached out to touch the edge of the box, then pulled back, clicking his tongue in amazement. "It's so cool! It's a pity that this mecha was never actually built in the official specifications; it's all just a paper design. We can only look at it on the shelf and savor it."

Kenta, who was standing to the side chewing gum, reached into his pocket and pulled out his blue GP2 handheld console when he heard this.

"Who says you can only look at things on the shelf and satisfy your cravings?"

Kenta pressed the power button, held down the A button to skip the Sega intro logo, and directly loaded the save file.

A burst of energetic electronic music suddenly rang out in the noisy store.

The surrounding rubber dealers instinctively lowered their heads.

On the color LCD screen, the Deep Striker, painted in deep red and dark gray, silently floats above the grid map of the cosmic battlefield.

"Look here." Kenta pointed to the center of the screen, "Deep Striker, the hidden unit that was just captured during the battle to Pezun Fortress."

The young man with the buzz cut widened his eyes instantly, and almost dropped the model box in his hand.

"You can actually fly it in Super Robot Wars? Is this mecha really implemented?"

"Nonsense, 5800 attack power, eleven range, and built-in global target radar." Kenta moved the cursor to the weapon bar. "Moreover, the cockpit is equipped with the permanent ALICE System, a two-seater, and comes with the 'Love' command—an essential weapon for the late game."

Kenta pressed the directional pad, selected a cruiser in the distance, and pressed attack confirmation.

The small Sharp color screen burst forth with a dazzling white beam of light, accompanied by continuous popping sound effects, as the enemy warship transformed into a scattered fireball on the grid.

"Full screen penetration!"

"These damage numbers are insane! This is definitely a hidden mech!"

The group of model kit enthusiasts watching forgot all about the grunt models they had just chosen and swarmed around Kenta, exclaiming all at once, "Hey bro, how did you get this? I beat 0083 yesterday, and I clearly got a regular GP03S after defeating it!"

"Yeah, my S Gundam Pezun, so why did it get this red battleship thruster?"

Kenta scratched the back of his head and pointed at Ishikawa next to him. "I've already posted the acquisition requirements on the Silicon Valley Online Super Robot Wars forum. If you want to know the specific steps, go and check the post yourself."

"Which section of the Silicon Valley Online forum?"

"The console and handheld section, the one with the title 'Deep Striker' pinned at the top!" Ishikawa added.

Two young men dressed as high school students in the crowd exchanged a glance, then suddenly turned and rushed out of the store.

"Hurry back to the internet cafe, turn on the computer, and print out the post!"

The remaining few model kit enthusiasts, each holding a toy soldier, turned to stare at the neatly stacked GP2 game consoles and Super Robot Wars cartridge boxes on the side of the cashier.

Who among model makers doesn't dream of their hand-assembled mechs wreaking havoc on the battlefield?

Looking at the cold plastic parts on the shelf, then at the ultimate killer in Kenta's hand, its screen blazing with fire...

The sheer power of the weaponry, the sheer oppressive force created by sheer mechanical engineering and firepower, instantly ignites a restless, irresistible allure.

"Boss!"

The young man with the buzz cut, who was originally planning to pay and leave, put his Marasai on the counter and took out his wallet, slapping it on the glass.

"Give me another GP2 handheld console! And pack that Super Robot Wars box of cards too!"

The sales clerk paused for a moment, then grinned and opened the drawer behind him. "Thank you for your patronage! We only have three GP2 mainframes left in stock. Would you like a connection cable?"

"Get them! Get them all!"

A crowd immediately formed in front of the cashier, and several young men at the back of the line shouted, "Me too! I want a mecha Super Robot Wars cartridge too!"

"Don't grab it! Leave one box for me!"

A-Watari, carrying the heavy black box of modification parts, retreated to the steps outside the store with Ishikawa and Kenta.

The fat guy, with a lollipop in his mouth, glanced at the chaotic scene of panic buying in the store and nudged Kenta's arm. "You've dragged all the model kit enthusiasts in Akihabara into this mess."

Ishikawa glanced down at the digital watch on his wrist, a smirk playing on his lips. "No need to wait until tomorrow morning, tonight the whole of Tokyo..."

"Any Super Robot Wars gamer with a computer has to stay up all night to restart their save file."

In late June, the editorial department of Famitsu magazine released the sales rankings for Japan software and hardware from the previous week.

While Akihabara was making headlines because of a hidden mecha, industry data analysts noticed another set of figures.

Following the release of the second batch of software, the hardware shipments of the Sega GP2 handheld console experienced another sharp increase.

But in the third-party manufacturer's conference room, the people were focused on more than just Super Robot Wars and Pokémon.

In the conference room of a mid-sized game development company in Shinjuku Ward, the whiteboard was covered with sales data reports that had just been torn from the fax machine.

President Suo threw the ballpoint pen he was holding onto the table and leaned back in his chair.

"Take a close look at this classification and statistics."

Several project team leaders and financial managers sat on either side of the table.

At the top of the report, two names were circled in red: "Plants vs. Zombies" and "Ace Attorney".

"Sega played four cards in the first batch of releases in April."

The deputy minister in charge of market research opened the folder and read out the categorized records directly.

Pokémon Ruby focuses on long-term collection, training, and offline online trading; Tetris emphasizes two-player and even four-player Wired battles; Metal Slug GP2 is a side-scrolling action game targeted at hardcore arcade players.

The remaining Plants vs. Zombies are purely single-player; no joystick controls are needed, just tap to plant and you're good to go.

The deputy minister looked up and glanced at the people opposite him.

"When the second batch came out in June, they released Super Robot Wars, which blew away mecha fans; Pokémon Quest, which added a light action-adventure element; and Ace Attorney, which was pure text-based reasoning, where you could hold the machine and move forward with one hand."

The two batches of games released do not overlap in genre.

A lead planner with stubble rubbed his temples. "Sega is defining its user base for this handheld console. Whether you want to kill time quietly by yourself, want to play online with friends, enjoy skillful gameplay, or just want to enjoy the story, you can walk into the store, and if you have money in your pocket, there's bound to be a cartridge that suits your taste."

That's not the key point.

President Suo tapped the table, interrupting the lead planner.

He pointed to another form in front of the finance director. "The key is in the long run."

The finance manager adjusted his glasses and pushed the separately bound questionnaire summary to the center of the long table.

"We conducted a week-long random sampling on the Yamanote Line and Chūō Line trains. We also conducted sampling at several large stores in Shibuya and Ginza."

Targeted observations were conducted at bookstores and cafes. The results showed that nearly 30% of GP2 users were not in the age group typically associated with core gamers.

"Office workers?" someone asked.

"It's not just office workers, but also a large number of young women." The finance manager pointed to a line of data, "Those female users who carry GP2 in their bags, the most frequently inserted game cartridges aren't Pokémon, but Plants vs. Zombies, which was released in April."

The meeting room fell silent for a few seconds.