Playing Mario Kart 64 alone cut the fun by eighty percent right off the top.
Without a rotten friend beside you being such a bastard that you wanted to jump up and kick him, the game was basically unplayable.
Takashi let out a long sigh and pressed the console's power button. The screen went black in an instant.
He turned to look beside him.
On the floor sat an unopened plastic case, as heavy as a brick. It was Final Fantasy VII.
He had a Jupiter console and had gritted his teeth to buy the launch title too, but earlier he had forced himself to open Mario Kart 64 first, planning to save Final Fantasy VII for the New Year and play it slowly. After all, the sheer volume of four discs sounded like it would swallow countless days and nights.
By comparison, it was not as if no one bought Mario Kart 64. Plenty of players who owned an N64 bought a copy to keep the household settled.
However, for anyone who also had Final Fantasy VII in hand, Mario Kart 64 was basically left unopened, eating dust.
Only those players who did not have a Jupiter and had bought only an N64 would open it up and play a little, trying to find some fun in single-player mode.
Takashi now felt that his decision to open Kart first had been stupid beyond belief.
He picked up the receiver and dialed his friend Kenta's number.
"Beep—beep—"
It rang more than a dozen times before someone finally picked up.
"Hello? Who is it? Hurry up and talk!"
The voice on the other end was extremely impatient. In the background, intense orchestral music could be heard faintly, along with several boys' sharp gasps.
"Kenta, it's me, Takashi. Come out and play