"Huh? They actually completed two games at the same time this time?"
Upon receiving the new commission from Pokeni, Hattori Yuji, as the largest game distributor in the Tokyo area, was somewhat surprised.
Because the samples Aoki Haruhi brought to their dinner meeting today totaled two.
Moreover, it seemed that in order to accommodate Hattori Yuji, Aoki Haruhi had also included a Sega CD, a game console that could play discs.
After all, one of these two games was over 500MB in size.
The time required to develop a game is quite long. If it's not a shoddy, rushed job, the process from design to R&D to the final product usually takes a year or six months, or even three to five years.
In order to increase efficiency, many companies have no choice but to open multiple studios, aiming to release several games within a year by expanding their development staff.
However, as far as Hattori Yuji knew, Pokeni didn't seem to have a large staff; it was hard to say if they even had a hundred people now.
A company of this size certainly couldn't be considered large.
It wasn't unheard of for a [small] company to work on two games at once, but it was relatively rare.
Moreover, Aoki Haruhi's requirements were quite specific: he wanted these two games to be released one right after the other.
"Speaking of which, Pokeni has made quite a lot of money in recent years, hasn't it? Why not consider expanding and hiring more people?"
"Who says I haven't?" Aoki Haruhi pouted, looking a bit pained. "It's just that my requirements are quite high. It's relatively easy to hire developers, but it's hard to find good producers. Without excellent producers, it's really difficult to control the quality of the products."
"Hmm, that's true." Hattori Yuji nodded.
There wasn't much else to say; the two of them could understand each other just by locking eyes.
He raised his glass to clink with Aoki Haruhi's, and the two took a deep gulp of their drinks, both letting out a satisfied hiss at the same time.
"Ah~ this sake has quite a kick."
"It's fine, it's just sake," Hattori Yuji said with a smile, then raised the bottle to refill Aoki Haruhi's glass.
"By the way, how much time do you want between the releases of these two games?"
"Well, I've thought about that very carefully, and I've also detailed it quite thoroughly in the contract." Aoki Haruhi sat up straight, intending to take out the contract for Hattori Yuji to look over, but the latter waved his hand, indicating it wasn't necessary.
"What kind of relationship do we have? Can't I trust you?"
"Reading text is too tiring. I'll have my company's sales department handle it later; just give me a brief summary, Aoki-san, that'll be enough for me to get the gist."
"Alright," Aoki Haruhi nodded. "It's like this."
She placed the two samples from the gift box onto the table. One of them, with a brilliant, warm-toned theme, was CLANNAD.
"The main story of this game takes place in spring, so the background is filled with cherry blossoms. It's called CLANNAD, also known as Dango Daikazoku."
And then?
He pointed to another one, depicting a cold winter with snow and withered trees. "This one is called LIFE-LINE."
"The story takes place in winter, right?" Hattori Yuji said with a chuckle.
"Yes."
Aoki Haruhi continued, "The chronological order is easy to remember: when it's released, spring comes first, then winter. Since CLANNAD will be coordinated with our promotional activities, it might need a month of lead-up time, so let's set the release date for September."
"Mhm, mhm."
"LIFE-LINE can go on sale a month later."
"Eh? Releasing them so close together?" Hattori Yuji expressed some confusion.
This is mainly because games are quite similar to film and television works; if you want good results, there's usually a pre-release period, also known as a promotional period. This is the time to build up hype.
If the works are from the same company, it's best for the release dates of two major games to be several months apart. This way, when the first game has sold through and its hype has died down, launching the second one will have a better effect.
And people wouldn't ignore the latter because they were concerned with the former, nor would the former's popularity be washed away by the latter.
But this guy Aoki Haruhi just had to do it.
He released two games one right after the other.
And it really was one right after the other; Hattori Yuji had previously thought there would be a gap of at least a few months, not expecting them to be so close.
As a long-time partner of Pokeni, Hattori Yuji kindly reminded Aoki Haruhi.
"If you release them like this, won't they affect each other, leading to poor results for both games? It's mainly because the timing is too close."
"It doesn't matter," Aoki Haruhi shook his head, "this is exactly the effect I want."
"Huh?" Hattori Yuji didn't understand.
Aoki Haruhi smiled slightly and slowly said, "These two games are actually complementary. The main characters and plot of the two games have no relation to each other, but in terms of setting and narrative, they are mirror images.
In CL, the daughter is born at the very end of the game."
"As for LL, the male protagonist has a daughter right from the start.
So, it's equivalent to the male protagonists of the two games living through different stages of their lives.
Their time and experiences complement each other while also being inverted.
It is precisely because of this subtle relationship that releasing them close to each other will easily create a resonance effect.
It will be full of chemistry; once players have played one game, they will be full of curiosity and anticipation for the other.
And after experiencing both games, players will have gained a complete life experience."
"Huh? Really?" Hattori Yuji opened his mouth in surprise, even the wrinkles on his face stretching out.
Aoki Haruhi described it so mystically that it made him curious about the games themselves.
Hattori Yuji frowned and thought for a couple of seconds. "Putting it that way, they really do have to be released one after the other."
"Yes," Aoki Haruhi nodded solemnly and pleaded, "Please don't mix them up, President Hattori. The final performance of the products depends a lot on their order."
"Rest assured, it definitely won't be wrong." Hattori Yuji patted his chest.
Looking at his demeanor, Aoki Haruhi was actually a bit uneasy.
But fortunately, Hattori Yuji was not the final person in charge; their company's sales manager would take over the specific matters later, and it was clearly written in the contract.
"It's not a big problem."
"By the way, was your wife satisfied with the gift I sent? Did it fit the baby?"
"Hahaha... speaking of which," Hattori Yuji laughed, "my wife was full of praise for you, saying you're really good at choosing and giving gifts. You can never have too many baby clothes. You have no idea how many outfits my precious daughter goes through in a day. She wets them, or gets them dirty while eating. It makes you love her and get frustrated at the same time just thinking about it."
Aoki Haruhi drank his sake with a smile, watching Hattori Yuji's expression, thinking to himself that this guy was really different after becoming a father. This kind of experience is rare; a father who hadn't personally gone through it wouldn't be able to describe such details. It was hard to imagine that Hattori Yuji, such a total scumbag and formerly a president obsessed with wine and women, had been so thoroughly tamed by his new wife that he was now taking the initiative to help look after the child. It was truly impressive.
Aoki Haruhi picked up his glass, took a silent sip, and smacked his lips. If you really thought about it, it must be because Miss Yamada, the daughter of that great conglomerate, was good at managing her husband. He had originally had doubts about whether the daughter was really Hattori Yuji's own, but now it seemed she definitely was.
***
This time, Hattori Yuji was only able to come out for drinks with Aoki Haruhi after getting his wife's permission, and his wife even instructed him to buy a few cans of baby formula at a 24-hour convenience store on his way back.
Hattori Yuji himself found it a bit laughable, "I'm sure you're amused, but life has really changed a lot since having a child."
"Not at all," Aoki Haruhi shook his head, "If anything, President Hattori, you've become even more charming since having a child."
This wasn't entirely a compliment.
Since having a daughter, Hattori Yuji had become much kinder and gentler.
Moreover, when he walked into the restaurant earlier, Aoki Haruhi could smell the scent of milk on President Hattori from across the table.
He certainly wouldn't think that someone of Hattori's age was still drinking milk; it could only have gotten on him when his daughter was feeding.
Little babies have a very strong, milky scent themselves.
The two of them stood at the intersection, and Aoki Haruhi opened the car door to help Hattori into the car.
"See you next time, Hattori-san."
"See you next time, Aoki-san."
"Tsk tsk, did you hear that? He called me Hattori-san," Hattori Yuji said after getting into the car, looking unusually happy, as if being addressed that way by Aoki Haruhi had suddenly brought them much closer.
The driver curled his lips in disdain.
Was this really something so worth being proud of?
"President Hattori, you have friends all over the world; who wouldn't want to give you face and be on good terms with you? Especially now that you've married the young lady of the Yamada family, the entire Yamada Conglomerate will be yours in the future. At that point, wouldn't anything you want be within easy reach?"
"Hmm, it's different, it's different." Hattori Yuji stroked his chin. "The bigger the business gets, the fewer friends I feel I have around me."
Although Aogi Haruhi was also a businessman, Hattori Yuji always felt he was different.
In the past, when Aogi Haruhi looked at him, there was always a hint of disdain in his eyes.
Back then, Hattori Yuji really hated him, thinking this guy was both arrogant and always putting on a sycophantic act.
Recently, especially today, Hattori Yuji had truly and deeply felt the change in how Aogi Haruhi looked at him.
He had become like a friend.
Such a guy is rare in the business world.
The car sped along the road. After driving for a while, the driver glanced at the president in the rearview mirror and spoke up:
"It is said that these two games have a lot of family sentiment in them; it seems the male protagonist has a daughter or something."
"President, are you really not considering giving them a try?" the driver asked thoughtfully.
He seemed to have noticed the changes in Hattori Yuji lately; the man had become much gentler ever since he had a daughter.
In the past, Hattori Yuji had looked particularly fierce, with a typical boss-like demeanor—strict, authoritative, and radiating an imposing aura just by sitting there.
But lately, Hattori Yuji had become much more benevolent.
"Eh? Is that so?"
Hattori Yuji hesitated a bit instead.
He understood what the driver meant—
Shouldn't I just keep these two games instead of throwing them away today?
But after hesitating for two seconds, Hattori Yuji's gaze firmed up.
"Pull over to the side."
The driver was stunned for a moment, then obediently pulled the car over.
Hattori Yuji picked up the two game cases in his hands and opened the car window.
He hesitated for only a second before tossing them steadily into the trash can.
Clang, clang.
A double hit.
Sigh.
It's not that I don't want to experience them, it's just—
I'm doing this for everyone's own good.
Aoki-san, do you understand my good intentions?!
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