Chapter 47: Bizarre Marketing
"Kang Junhyuk..."
As I heard my name being called, I lifted my head to see Shige-san walking towards me from the opposite end of the corridor.
Shige-san also had some approval documents in his hand, presumably for a report to President Kamauji.
He glanced at the approval file in my hand and asked, "Is the report done?"
"Yes, just finished. How's the progress on Super Marriage 3?"
"It's going smoothly enough that you don't need to worry. I heard you're working on a psych battle exclusive cartridge?"
"Yes, Shige-san, but as you mentioned, it's currently impossible with the cartridge system we have."
"That stubborn guy! Don't surrender yet! Just wait and see. We're going to unveil the world's best Super Marriage. Since it's our last Super Marriage in the family, we're preparing the external marketing thoroughly!"
"I'm looking forward to it. I believe that with you, Shige-san, it's going to be an amazing game."
"Hmph, compliments won't help. Let's talk about everything through the results!"
"Of course, then I'll see you at the final announcement."
I smiled and slightly bowed my head before leaving the corridor to the president's office.
A few days later, I carried several promotional illustrations for Psychic Battle and visited a gaming magazine office.
Just two years ago, there was only one game-specialized magazine, but now there were four.
"Well, let's start by visiting them one by one."
Holding a hefty document bag, I first went to Game Champ, which had the lowest recognition.
As I opened the office door and entered, the pungent cigarette smoke made it uncomfortable to even breathe.
Smoking in the office used to be commonplace in this era, so the smell of cigarettes was common in most buildings, but this place was a bit excessive. How much do they even smoke here?
"My clothes are going to smell. I should finish this quickly."
As I entered the office and looked around, a well-built man with his shirt half-untucked approached me and asked, "Where are you from?"
"Ah, hello. I'm Kang Junhyuk, an employee of MinTendo. I came here to promote a game that's going to be released soon."
"MinTendo, all the way to our magazine? I'm the editor-in-chief of Game Champ, Murasaki. Please, come in."
It seems that having the name MinTendo gives me easy access. But Murasaki (a violet color, quite an unusual surname) led me to a reception room.
"I'm also a fan of MinTendo games. Which game have you come to promote? Is it Super Marriage 3, which Shige-san is secretly working on?"
"Ah, Super Marriage 3 is not the one. I'm here to promote a game called Psychic Battle."
"Psychic Battle... I've heard of it before. It's a new IP from MinTendo, first revealed in Famitsu, right?"
"Yes, that's correct. I'm Kang Junhyuk, the main director of Psychic Battle."
"I've heard of you before. There's a capable Korean employee at MinTendo..."
It's quite clear that these days, mentioning my name at any company leads to such reactions. It seems my reputation has definitely gone up.
"Oh, it's nothing," I replied.
Anyway, it's time to wrap up the greetings and get out of here. Breathing is getting unbearable.
I hurriedly took out a document envelope with promotional illustrations from my document bag and handed it to Mr. Murasaki. Besides the illustrations, there was something else in the brown envelope, and it seemed Mr. Murasaki was curious as he reached for the envelope and asked, "Can I open it?"
"Yes, please do."
As I smiled and nodded, he took out two promotional illustrations from the envelope. The first illustration featured Morita, and it particularly highlighted Psychic Battle, with the third character, the psychic with blue hair, Aoi Tsubasa.
"Wow... the quality of this is amazing. The character is incredibly attractive."
Murasaki wore a very satisfied expression as he examined the illustrations one by one. However, when he turned to the second illustration...
"Whoa~!"
In the second illustration, Aoi Tsubasa was depicted looking at the protagonist, who was wounded and fallen, with a determined expression. Her body, which was previously protected by armor-like parts, was now shattered, and her clothes were torn, giving the illustration a thrilling touch.
"This, this is..."
"Please keep in mind that this is just a promotional illustration. Haha. Is it all right?"
Psychic Battle primarily targeted adults, as the special chips inside the cartridge made it a bit expensive, priced at 7480 yen, which was quite high for MinTendo standards.
Murasaki continued to alternate between the two illustrations with a mysterious smile.
Well, if the editor-in-chief has this kind of reaction, getting the game featured in the magazine should be a piece of cake.
"It will be a groundbreaking promotion like nothing seen before. Let's feature it on the next cover page!"
"Sure, I'd appreciate that. And if possible, arrange to show the wounded Aoi Tsubasa as soon as the readers turn to the first page."
"Okay! But for us to write an article about the cover, we need to know more about the game. We'll have to play it to provide a proper review."
"Take a look inside the envelope, and you'll find the cartridge."
At my words, Murasaki hurriedly took out the item from the envelope. Inside the document envelope was the Psychic Battle cartridge. Unlike the typical MinTendo cartridges, this one had a more elongated shape, about 1.5 times taller.
"Oh, is the game already completed?"
"No, to put it simply, it's like a demo version, exclusively for review by magazine journalists. You can enjoy the game up to the second stage."
"Wow! This kind of service exists in the world!"
"It's entirely up to you whether you keep the cartridge here or give it as a gift to excellent readers. But please make sure to play it and feature a review of Psychic Battle in the next issue."
"Understood. We'll play it with our staff and write an article about it."
"Great, I'll leave it in your hands then."
I left a somewhat cryptic message and hastily got up from my seat, but then I remembered something and called out to Murasaki.
"Excuse me, Editor-in-chief. May I ask how many copies Game Champ sells in a month?"
"As a new magazine, we're selling around 2000 copies per month..."
"In the next month, you could probably double that."
"What?"
"If you play the game and believe in it, consider increasing the print run. I'm sure it'll sell like hotcakes."
"Huh?"
Leaving Mr. Murasaki with that intriguing statement, I quickly left the Game Champ magazine office.
"Phew~ I thought I was going to suffocate..."
It's possible that one of the best things I've done since coming to this era is reducing my smoking habit. Apart from conversations with Gunpei-san and work-related discussions, I barely lit a cigarette.
After a moment to get rid of the lingering smell of tobacco from my clothes, I headed to the subway station.
Even though I only visited one magazine office after avoiding breakfast and coming to Tokyo, suddenly... I'm feeling very, very hungry. My stomach is growling intensely.
Dun~ dun~ dun~
... Why on earth do I suddenly recall the TV drama I used to enjoy in 2015, "The Lonesome Gourmet"...?
Anyway, I'm starving. I should eat something and get moving.
&
Lunchtime had come and gone. I visited two different magazine offices, repeating the same routine as at Game Champ. By now, it was approaching 4 in the afternoon.
The place I stood was my last stop for the day, Fame Communication.
Since I had made arrangements with Junpei earlier, I casually opened the door to the magazine's office.
"Oh, Junhyuk~ You're here?"
"Give me some water... I'm dying of thirst."
"Why bother going through all the trouble when you can just send it by mail?"
"Even so, building relationships by making these personal visits is better than just sending mail. It's much more effective."
"Well, that's true, but... What's this?"
"Oh, it's a promotional illustration for Fame Communication."
"Promotional illustration is a promotional illustration, but what's it for Fame Communication?"
"Well, the thing is, the illustrations for each of the four magazines are all different."
"What!?"
"The ones we gave to other magazines feature Aoi Tsubasa with blue hair, and the blonde Helena, which Morita paid special attention to. But 'Azusa Ren' is prepared exclusively for Fame Communication."
"Huh?"
The illustration Junpei showed depicted the main character of Psychic Battle, 'Azusa Ren,' in a seductive pose, almost as if tempting the reader.
"Alright... Let me wipe this coffee stain..."
"Really? In that case, why not take a look at the next page and finish wiping it afterward?"
"Next... page? Ugh~! Hey!! Isn't this too risky?"
If the illustrations of Aoi Tsubasa with blue hair for other magazines and the blonde Helena for Morita required special attention, then 'Azusa Ren' was a masterpiece created with utmost care.
Of course, the current family of consoles couldn't achieve this level of quality, but it's all a matter of imagination. Since 8-bit games lacked graphic effects, everything had to be drawn in the player's mind.
During this time, there was no legal basis for regulating explicit content in video games, as long as it didn't depict explicit sexual acts or extreme nudity.
This led to a trend of pushing the boundaries to attract readers even in youth-oriented manga, like Dragon Ball or 3X3 Eyes. For example, the constant suggestive lines from Muten Roshi, or the idea that Bulma, who was willing to show her panties to obtain Dragon Balls, was actually not wearing any.
"Stop staring. You'll put holes in the paper. Come on!"
"Unbelievable... Wait, so, all the other magazines will put each character on their main covers?"
"Yeah, that's right. Next month, Psychic Battle will be on the main cover of every gaming magazine."
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