Chapter 5
Chapter 2 part 1: Toy Company
While I was intimidated by the pixel bricks flying towards me and crouched my body resembling a tight ball, I heard a familiar signal sound.
-Ding ding ding ding
[A train headed to Ueno is expected to arrive soon]
“Ah?”
When I looked around at my surroundings, I was standing in a subway station. People around me were giving me strange glances because of my shout that came out of nowhere.
“Haha… Did I really just come like this? To the year 1983…?”
The train coming in from quite a distance away felt as if it were the mirror images of those shabby trains from old Korean movies. The train, that was designed without any style and was made solely for the purpose of transportation, stopped in front of me and opened its doors.
Although there was previously a moment of awkwardness before, the Japanese people in my surroundings quickly ignored me and started boarding the train. Their clothes and hairstyles emanated a bumpkin-like feeling and were vastly different from the 2015 year style so it was quite difficult to come into reality, but I hurriedly boarded the train along with them.
Narita International Airport… There was a Narita International Airport even in 1983. As I looked around the place in wonder, the stares of the Japanese people that looked at me suspiciously from before grew even more suspicious.
“Hmm… Hmm…”
I should try not to stand out too much. I sat down in an empty seat as nonchalantly as I could. Now that I have sat down, I noticed that I was wearing a backpack. I opened the zippers to the backpack that was on my back, in hope that I could find something useful.
There was a stamped Japanese passport along with a JBC Tokyo bank book. Yes, money is important. I opened the bank book to verify how much wealth I have. After seeing the signified amount, I flashed a bright grin. The entire 20 billion that I had from 2015 was seamlessly transferred to this period.
“I’m loaded from the start? I could start a company with this much.”
However, I quickly changed my train of thought. It was because rashly setting up a company in this time period could be catastrophic. First, I must stack up some experience; enough so no one would be able to question me in the future…
I put my passport and the bank book back into my backpack and looked further inside. As I felt around, I grabbed onto a heavy-feeling plastic device. That was exactly the Game & Watch that traveled through time with me.
“At least I feel reassured with you.”
I slipped a slight smile and took the Game & Watch out of my backpack. At that moment, the gazes of people who were focused on me was turned to the little device in my hands and diverted their attention away from me. In reality, there were several people inside the train holding similar devices like me.
They were playing the newly released game from 1980 called the Game & Watch BALL. BALL was also a game that had an extremely self explanatory game play that simply used the left and right hands to move a designated ball across the screen. However, for the people who were living in this period, this was already an incredible game.
Of course the Employee’s Game that I carried utilized a much more sophisticated system but on the outside, it didn’t seem that their Game & Watch was much different than mine so they quickly lost attention on me.
(TL: So each Game & Watch device can only play one game that came with it -_-)
-Click
First, I had to check the exact year I was in so I opened up the Game & Watch. Like the name of the device implied, it obviously had a watch function.
-June 15th, 1983-
It was exactly one month before the Family became released in Japan… This was the perfect opportThe Family launched with a total of 3 games; including Popeye and two series of Donkey Kom. Even in this period, many companies, like NEGA or CAMCO that made games, existed. However, they were focused on creating games for gaming arcades so they weren’t paying attention to making games for the first ever Family console.
“How many units have been sold so far?”
“Ah. That’s, we haven’t sold even 1 model yet…”
‘Huh~ It’s nearing 1 pm and they’re saying they haven’t sold a single model yet?’
“How much is this?”
“Yes. It’s 14,800 Yen.”
That was expensive. 14,800 Yen in 1983… it was pretty ridiculous to buy a brand new model for that much, especially one that hasn’t been verified yet.
First, I sat down in front of the Television that displayed an outdoor beach on the screen. As I sat down, the people that were passing by took hidden glances at me.
“Can you turn on Donkey Kom for me?”
“Yes, I will.”
The employee put the Donkey Kom cartridge into the cartridge spot and turned on the power button.
-Pupupupu~ Pupu~ Piko Piko
On the bottom of the screen, an Italian Marigi wearing a red hat was climbing up a hill with a metal bat. The game play was that you had to dodge or break the logs that KingKong threw at you and arrive at the top to defeat KingKong.
I flashed a smile and maneuvered Marigi left and right and tried jumping. Every time I passed a log, the people that crowded around me cheered.
“Woaahh…”
-Pew Pew. Piong~ Piong~
The jumping sound effects put a bright smile on my face.
“Wooaahhh~!!”
As I cleared the first stage of the game without a hitch, the employee tilted his head and asked me.
“Your skills are extremely good?”
“I played a lot at arcades so I must have adjusted easily. I would like to purchase a Family unit along with Popeye and Donkey Kom.”
“Our Mintendo Family’s first customer. Thank you very much~!!”
To think that I’m the first customer of this legendary console… My mood is extremely unusual. Soon after, an employee came over with a camera and asked me.
“Is it okay if we take a picture of you?”
A historical commemoration photo~ Not bad? At that moment, I heard the voice of a little kid.
“Mommy~!! Buy me that too~!!”
“No way. Takashi, you promised mommy you would only look around?”
“But… I can do better than that guy~!!”
Huh? This little kid sure is spirited. I flashed an amused grin and ask the kid.
“Little kid, what’s your name?”