In mid-June Tokyo, the damp air of the rainy season shrouded the streets of Akihabara.
In front of each game retailer, Sony PlayStation promotional posters had been placed in prominent positions.
The star of the poster was the major RPG title that had just gone on sale, Arc the Lad II.
The previous game in this series had built up quite a good reputation during the early days of the PlayStation's release.
The development team had poured more resources into the sequel, using the massive capacity of two CD-ROMs and adding a large amount of voice acting and complex cutscenes.
For players who had been struggling to find an orthodox Japanese RPG experience on next-generation consoles, this was a work not to be missed.
At ten in the morning, quite a few people had already gathered in the game sections of several large electronics chain stores.
In front of the cash register, players buying Arc the Lad II had formed a line that was neither too long nor too short.
The clerks skillfully slipped the disc cases printed with beautiful cover art into plastic bags and handed them to the customers.
Two young men carrying backpacks stopped in front of the shelves.
One of them was holding the Arc the Lad II he had just bought, studying the game screenshots on the back.
"Once I get home, I'm going to play for five hours straight," the young man holding the game said to his companion. "The previous game's save data can be carried over. The levels I grinded before are finally going to come in handy. Aren't you buying a copy?"
His companion shook his head, glanced at several PlayStation games displayed on the nearby shelves, and shoved both hands into his pockets.
"The money I brought is only enough