June.
The same month Arakawa Minoru was urgently summoned back to Japan by Hiroshi Yamauchi.
The MS began its trial launch in North America and its official release in Japan.
A total of 150,000 MS units were distributed across North America for the trial launch.
However, even before the trial launch, distributors held little hope for its success.
"This isn't a game console, it's a toy!"
No one believed that any home console could succeed in the American market after the Atari crash.
It seemed utterly impossible.
If not for Sega's full refund policy, distributors wouldn't have even bothered releasing the MS.
Even with this guarantee, only 150,000 units were distributed for the trial launch.
For a market as vast as the United States, 150,000 consoles was an unbelievably small number.
Yet this was the absolute limit that game store distributors across the country could be persuaded to accept, even with the relentless efforts of Sega's ground marketing teams.
San Francisco, USA.
Sega of America's headquarters were located here.
San Francisco, surprisingly, was a place blessed with exceptional talent and resources. For instance, Industrial Light & Magic, the renowned special effects company, was later founded in this very city.
As a major metropolis on the American West Coast, San Francisco boasted a remarkably diverse population.
Asians, Native Asians, Black people, Mexicans, and various South American immigrants who had crossed the border illegally all called this city home.
Lin Dengwan, a third-generation Asian American, had made quite a name for himself during his time as a field representative. He'd even gotten into a brawl with Nintendo's field staff, nearly getting his head cracked open.
Ironically, this incident had won him the heart of the beautiful woman by his side.
Today, Lin Dengwan was taking his girlfriend to buy an MS Game Console.
The MS Game Console bundle, which included a game and a light gun, retailed for $189 in North America.
This was no small sum—nearly 40,000 Japanese yen!
In Japan, the SG console bundled with a game cost only 19,800 yen.
Of course, considering the higher average income and consumer spending in the United States, $189 was still considered a reasonable price.
At Thomas's game store, Lin Dengwan looked around and noticed there were no lines. Anyone who wanted to buy something could simply walk in and get it.
*This is only natural,* Lin Dengwan thought to himself, *since no one dares to buy game consoles or play games these days.*
Despite his reservations, he pulled out $189 and bought an MS Game Console.
His girlfriend leaned in and kissed him. "Honey, why don't we go to my place to play? My parents are out tonight, and it'll just be my little brother Jerry. We can give him some money to hang out with his friends, and then—"
*Then, do you want to play games or something else?*
Lin Dengwan's head snapped up.
Both his big head and his little head perked up.
*Hehe!*
*Both of me want the same thing!*
The couple took the game console to his girlfriend's house. Lin Dengwan gave his future brother-in-law ten dollars to go out with his friends, then finally began setting up the game.
After unpacking the console, Lin Dengwan first read the instruction manual that came with the game cartridge.
Due to the limited storage capacity of games at the time, much of the plot was actually explained in the manual.
Since Lin Dengwan had never seen the Japanese *Sonic* anime, he needed the manual to understand the story.
The manual was concise and dismissive, but it did include character illustrations.
Sonic, the supersonic alien hedgehog, with his passionate, cheerful, and never-give-up spirit, befriended the John family after arriving on Earth. Gradually accepting himself, he began a life of heroic deeds on the planet.
Lin Dengwan flipped the page, which briefly introduced Sonic's friends and rivals.
Dr. Eggman, with his bald head and portly belly, stood there looking utterly harmless.
After familiarizing himself with the plot and controls, Lin Dengwan started the game.
The game booted up without the familiar SEGA jingle, a feature that wouldn't appear until the Mega Drive era. The MS era lacked Sega's startup sound.
Still, the blue SEGA logo with its white outline remained.
The cartridge, manufactured by a North American company, was larger than usual, too big to hold in one hand, reflecting American preferences.
Upon inserting the cartridge, the game's title screen appeared.
The game immediately transitioned to actual gameplay footage. The background showed crumbling ruins, atop which stood a two-headed Sonic, looking down at the small enemies scurrying below.
As soon as Lin Dengwan pressed start, Sonic instantly accelerated, hurtling off the rooftop in a blaze of sparks and lightning, smashing through all the enemies in his path. The game entered the stage, officially beginning.
The actual gameplay footage made Lin Dengwan gasp.
According to the game's plot, this first level took place within a collapsing skyscraper. Hence, the screen was filled with crumbling concrete and twisted steel rebar—not fully collapsed, but actively collapsing.
Sonic's incredible speed allowed him to navigate the obstacles before the structure completely crumbled.
"The Flash!" Lin Dengwan immediately thought of the iconic superhero.
With the mindset of experiencing The Flash in a game, Lin Dengwan officially started playing.
The path was mostly devoid of minor enemies, allowing him to continuously collect Energy Blocks and watch his energy and score steadily increase.
Occasionally, small enemies appeared. One such creature, perched on an obstacle ahead, hurled darts. Lin Dengwan had to leap over two mid-level barriers to reach it. Reacting swiftly, he narrowly dodged the darts and crushed the enemy with a single punch.
"This is intense!" Lin Dengwan exclaimed, initially surprised, but then quickly composed himself.
"Of course it's awesome! He's running at supersonic speed right now!"
The gameplay was exhilarating. He died countless times, but thankfully, he finally reached the Boss.
His girlfriend brought over a bowl of freshly popped popcorn and leaned against Lin Dengwan.
Lin Dengwan was too engrossed to even glance back.
"Finally reached the final Boss... *hiss!*"
Lin Dengwan was startled by the Frankenstein's Monster at the end.
*This thing doesn't even look human!*
Even though it was just a pixelated sprite, the grotesque appearance of the stitched-together monster made his girlfriend instinctively cling tighter to Lin Dengwan.
Especially for Americans who had seen horror films like *Frankenstein*, the association made the scene even more terrifying.
Feeling the pressure behind him, Lin Dengwan didn't even turn his head.
*I'm about to fight the Boss! Get lost, you smelly woman! Women are no match for the thrill of gaming!*
*Watch how I control Sonic to battle this Frankenstein's Monster!*
His girlfriend lightly punched Lin Dengwan, her voice filled with infinite resentment.
*I even tied my hair up, ate the pineapple, ran the bathwater, gave my little brother ten dollars to leave, and specially prepared two pairs of stockings.*
*You actually went to play with some alien hedgehog?!*
*We're done!*
It's hard to say whether the MS Game Console's sales in North America were a success.
But at least based on the first day's results, they were lukewarm.
Early that morning, Thomas, the game store owner, took inventory.
Of the fifty MS Game Consoles he had pre-ordered, only twenty-odd had sold, leaving nearly half unsold.
"Still, it's not bad! At least half are gone. I should be able to sell the rest in the remaining time," Thomas thought, breathing a small sigh of relief. At least he wouldn't lose money.
He walked to the store entrance and personally hung the OPEN sign, signaling the start of business for the day.
Outside the store, two seemingly idle young men instantly put Thomas on alert. He reached behind the counter for his double-barreled shotgun.
*America's getting dangerous! Gotta watch out for those zero-dollar shoppers!*
The two men immediately looked up at Thomas.
"It's open!"
"Hey, do you have any Sega toys here?"
Please Support me by becoming my patreon member and get 15+ chapters.
[email protected]/Ajal69
change @ with a
Thank You to Those who joined my Patreon