GG VS Demo
Now, the day of the true decisive battle had arrived.
Square's Final Fantasy VII was set for December 14.
Nintendo's Mario Kart 64 refused to yield an inch, stubbornly choosing to release on the very same day.
Outside an old video game shop in Chiyoda Ward, a long line formed in the cold wind.
Most of the people in line were high school students in black stand-collar uniforms, along with university students wrapped in thick down jackets, stamping their feet from the cold.
They had not come to buy games today.
The shop manager wore a jacket printed with the Zelda logo and stood at the entrance, clutching four N64 controllers in his hand like he was grabbing crabs, looking out at the dark, surging crowd.
"Have you got four people or not? If you don't have four, move back!" The shop manager cleared his throat and shouted at the crowd, "Nintendo's sales rep made it clear—if there aren't four people, the machine absolutely cannot be turned on! This demo cartridge only has same-screen battle mode. You can't play it alone!"
Four boys immediately raised their hands high and squeezed out of the crowd like refugees lining up for relief grain, then slipped into the heated shop.
The shop manager handed the controllers to them and pressed the power button on the N64 console.
With the classic startup sound, the CRT television screen was instantly divided evenly into four small windows, and the roar of kart engines filled the entire shop in an instant.
At the back of the line, two boys hunched their necks and talked with their hands jammed deep in their pockets.
"This is already the third time this week we've come to mooch off the demo. Didn't you see the way the manager