First Heart Association Makes Its Move

Players who originally could not play the game because they only had a PlayStation and not a Jupiter console began looking forward to the PS

version's release.

In Sony's home-appliance stores, the PlayStation demo areas were replaced with posters for Resident Evil.

Columbia Pictures' European channels began to move, carrying out preliminary warm-up promotion for the game's European release as well.

In late April, the weather began to warm.

Nishimura Electric, located on Chuo-dori in Tokyo's Akihabara Electric Town, was one of the oldest video game retailers on the street.

At half past eight in the morning, store manager Nishimura Masakazu stood on the sidewalk, holding a roll of wide tape as he directed two young clerks in dark-blue uniforms.

The two clerks stood on aluminum stepladders, straining to tear a huge Sega Sakura Wars poster down from the wall.

The glue on the back of the poster had not completely dried, and it made an ear-piercing sound as they ripped it away, drawing repeated glances from passing office workers.

The new GG sign going up had a pure white background, without any extra decorative patterns.

Printed in the very center was a black, square console. Beside it was a strangely shaped blue controller that looked a little like Sega's Jupiter controller, but the joystick design was not symmetrical like Sega's.

In the lower right corner, the plumber in a red-and-blue vest was raising his hand in greeting.

At the very bottom of the advertising sign, there was only one line in bold black type.

June 23, Nintendo64.

There was no long-winded introduction of hardware specs, no listing of launch titles.

Nintendo had not even bothered to write any extra promotional copy.

The name Mario, in Japan's game market, was itself the best pass.

Nishimura Masakazu directed the clerks to