"GAMENOVA is releasing a new game?"
Judging solely by the promotional video, this game called "Street Fighter" was clearly a martial arts fighting game similar to their "Kung-Fu Master."
This was hardly good news.
The vice president knitted his brows, his eyes unconsciously flicking several times toward the inventory list he had just set down.
Running into a competing release in the same genre right before launch would affect sales somewhat, even if the polish of "Kung-Fu Master" meant they had nothing to fear from the other game.
The arcade market was a fight to the death.
Every machine someone bought from a competitor meant one fewer machine bought from them.
"Boss, just where did this GAMENOVA come from? Could it be a Namco subsidiary?"
The subordinate who had brought the news was rather puzzled.
This unfamiliar company had, just like its name, suddenly burst into dazzling brilliance, even eclipsing established manufacturers like them.
Only Sega, Namco, or Nintendo could possibly have that kind of strength.
The vice president shook his head, equally uncertain.
"If the information is correct, they're just a small studio made up of a bunch of independents."
"A little workshop??"
The subordinate froze for a moment, then breathed a sigh of relief.
"That's a relief. It looks like they just happened to stumble onto good concepts for their previous games."
If it was just a little workshop, there was no reason a giant with years of experience like Konami couldn't compete.
"Let's hope so..."
Looking at the production figures on the report, the vice president felt his temples throb as a bad premonition slowly crept up on him.
But developments went far beyond his expectations-in a good direction, of course.
On the first day of sales for "Kung-Fu Master," their inventory plunged by over thirty percent.
Even Konami headquarters hadn't expected results like these.
Everyone said the North American video game industry had entered an ice age, and headquarters hadn't been optimistic about this porting project.
With such astonishing results, headquarters had already begun holding meetings to discuss developing spin-offs and sequels to "Kung-Fu Master."
"So it really was just a false alarm..."
Only after reading the first day's sales report did the vice president's tightly clenched heart finally relax.
Aside from notably poor sales in California, GAMENOVA's home base, sales were booming throughout North America.
He believed it wouldn't be long before these arcade operators, brainwashed by GAMENOVA, came to their senses, realized what a finely crafted game "Kung-Fu Master" was, and came over to Konami's side.
As for his original concerns about excess inventory, those were even more absurd.
Now he even had to arrange for the factory to speed up production and hurry to build up more stock.
Otherwise, once the buzz around "Kung-Fu Master" built up, their little stockpile would fall far short.
Inside Silicon Oasis's office, several landline phones were in almost constant use, and the entire company was bustling with activity.
"You've already bought 'Kung-Fu Master'? Who did you get it from? Konami's official channels? All right, sir, sorry for disturbing you..."
Meyer hung up, rubbed his brow, and felt a headache coming on.
He had run into big trouble.
Strictly speaking, "Street Fighter" had actually gone on sale a few days before "Kung-Fu Master."
Meyer had already tried the new game, and he had no doubt that even ten or twenty years later, a game like this would still be hugely popular in arcades.
This was the bright path to the future of arcades!
Just think of those players who kept feeding in coins because they refused to accept defeat; think of that one-minute countdown.
It was simply the destined game that arcades had been waiting for all along.
Naturally, Meyer had done as he always did, paying extra to sign an exclusive supply agreement and even taking the entire first preproduction batch of machines with a grand wave of his hand.
Now came the problem: he actually couldn't sell them!
Aside from a few local California arcades with particularly close ties to them, almost every arcade had decisively chosen the rival "Kung-Fu Master" machines upon hearing Konami's name.
"Hello, Mr. Lin, today's sales aren't looking too good..."
On the other end of the phone, there was no hint of anxiety in Lin Lixin's voice.
"Relax, Mr. Meyer. I believe someone with your eye can naturally see Street Fighter's potential. Let the bullets fly a while."
Meyer didn't understand Lin Lixin's metaphor, but he agreed wholeheartedly with what he said.
There was no reason "Street Fighter" should lose; in fact, it couldn't possibly lose to any other arcade game currently on the market.
At noon the next day, Meyer received a call from a large arcade in Arizona.
"Mr. Meyer, I was wondering... do you still have any 'Street Fighter' machines in stock?"
"Of course!" Meyer hurriedly replied, though some confusion arose in his heart.
He had approached this arcade before, but they had turned him down on the grounds that they had "already ordered 'Kung-Fu Master.'"
Why were they reaching out to him now?
Had they opened another branch?
Or...
"That's great. Please send me ten-no, fourteen. Hey, you, return those last two 'Kung-Fu Master' machines too. Quickly!"
"You returned 'Kung-Fu Master'? Why?"
Hearing this, Meyer was immediately startled.
"Because there isn't room, of course. I cleared out an area today."
The man answered casually, then hurriedly asked another question, as though something had suddenly occurred to him.
"Right, has anyone else in Arizona ordered yet? Someone in Phoenix has?! Damn it, that old fox! I'm still a step too late."
When Meyer said that someone in Phoenix had placed an order earlier, the man immediately grew agitated.
"I told you to buy at least a few 'Street Fighter' machines instead of buying nothing but 'Kung-Fu Master'! F**K!"
"Uh? Sir?"
"Sorry, I was talking to my employees. Thank you for arranging shipment as soon as you can, Mr. Meyer. I'll transfer the money to you right away."
That day, all of California was filled with talk of "Street Fighter."
Streets and alleys, campuses, restaurants...
Everywhere, it seemed, you could hear little groups of young people arguing over whether Bruce Lee or Chun-Li was stronger.
What if your friends asked you about "Street Fighter" and you knew absolutely nothing about it?
Come on, you'd be hopelessly behind the times.
Business was blazing at ArcadeArea, Henry's little arcade.
It was even livelier today than before.
Because the shop had two more new machines.
"Ah-da!"
"Shooting!"
Brandon Lee's and Schwarzenegger's voice lines rang out constantly from the speakers, spurring the watching players to shout along.
"Henry's won nine in a row! Can anyone beat him?!"
Surrounded by players, Henry rapidly worked the joystick and unleashed a True Dragon Eight Destructions, defeating his opponent's Guile.
As a clear "K.O." rang out from the speakers, Henry cheered amid the crowd gathered around him.
"Ten-time champion! Ten-time champion! Ten-time champion!..."