Due to the popularity of how the AeroSoft dream rocketed off
to stardom, I might as well tell you on how AeroSoft went to take on the larger
yet riskier global gaming market.
“it’s ready.” said Nitori Kawashiro.
“The new console?” said Trevor.
“Yes, it is, Mr. ‘PC Gaming Master Race!’” I said mockingly.
It was about five months before E3 2020, E3 being one of the
largest video game conventions to ever exist. The Eighth generation of video
game consoles were pretty much on the way out. Nintendo had released their
Ninth generation contender: The Fusion.
The kappa motioned us into the
hardware lab. There it was, in a stately manner, the final version of the Super
Mega Drive 2. “Here is it, the Super Mega Drive 2.” Nitori announced to the
group.
The Super Mega Drive 2 looked like an
original PlayStation with a CD drive (the kind you would find in a computer
tower) thrown on. But it used HVD’s (Holographic Versatile Discs), so it could
hold up to 2 Terabytes of data. The black console practically gleamed in front
of us.
Yukari was asleep in the recreation
room; I went in to wake her up. Just in time before some of the more immature
workers were about to draw something phallic on the side of her cheek.
“Hmmm..what?” she said, waking up.
“The SMD 2, it’s ready and I thought
you would want to see it.” I said.
“Maybe later.” Yukari said before gapping
herself away, presumably somewhere where she could sleep.
We’ve had our Headquarters in Natick
for a while now, the old one in Gensokyo had been demoted to a company branch,
and I’m still in charge of it. The Gensokyo branch has only one R&D
facility (The Natick HQ has four) and a new warehouse for keeping stock of
games and consoles.
Soon, it was E3. We were last, just
after Microsoft. There was a pungent feeling of unfeigned confusion within the
crowd upon hearing about us. Finally, it was my time to go on stage and tell
the world about AeroSoft.
The patrons enter the giant room
with the stage in front, it was dark. Then the lights came on, showing a
cardboard wall decorated with the names of companies that at one point in time,
made consoles. An instrumental of ‘Wrecking Ball’ came on. Then I said the
phrase “I came like a Wrecking Ball!”
I rode a large ball and chain with AeroSoft’s logo printed on
it. The large black ball destroyed the cardboard. After the little stunt, I
noticed that Remillia was there. “How’s the show so far?” I asked.
“I can’t think of anything to describe it.” Remillia
responded.
“Well, this is just the beginning!” I proclaimed to the
vampire aristocrat.
I came back on stage, after the
boxes were cleaned up. I had the odds in my favor. Sony’s PlayStation 5 is
clinging onto its’ aging Blu-Ray format and Microsoft’s Xbox Next is using just
digital downloads.
“Thank you for coming here today!” I
greeted the audience.
“Here at AeroSoft, we think that
video game business is not about how much detail you can put into your UHD
graphics or how big they are, its’ about overall quality and good gameplay.” I
added, to a crowd that was growing concerned.
“Don’t think of our new console as
new way to play Call of Duty, think of it as device that can achieve the
highest of your fantasies. We don’t have a specific demographic to sell to.” I
said to the crowd, who was disappointed at this point.
“We aim to provide the best of
gaming, either if your nerd or a jock. White or Black, Hispanic, Asian or
Native American, if you’re gay or heterosexual, if you’re a male or female.” I
raved.
“Our console is for the hard
workers, the hobbyist, the husband, the wife, the otaku fanatic, the Super Mega
Drive 2 IS the people’s console!” I finished.
The audience started clapping
wildly. The rest of the show was spent showing off the technical prowess and
the games.
“Our console will be on store shelves
internationally this coming year!” I finished.
I was in the convention center’s back room with Remillia when
some ardent investors came to us. They wanted to invest in my company, but they
weren’t sure if I was going to release a video game console or an electronic UN
diplomat that you’d plug into a TV. I reassured them by saying it was a
marketing campaign that would probably blow over in a couple months.
Back in Gensokyo, I announced the
console. It was held at AeroCon 135 (Gensokyo Lunar Calendar year). It was held
at the Scarlet Devil Mansion, or at least on the ground of the building. I said
that support for the Super Mega Drive would continue but first party support
for games will dwindle. However, I’d promised everybody that I’ll release an
add-on that would play all the SMD games on the Super Mega Drive 2.
I handed over Reisen the development
kits. “Why do we need this?!” she exclaimed, “The SMD was fine enough!”
“Ah Ms. Inaba, the Super Mega Drive
2 has more features and is a much more powerful device.” I explained.
Reisen just glared at me as she left
AeroCon with the dev kits in hand. I felt that once the SMD 2 comes out, I’d
prove my point with the moon rabbit in question.
The AeroSoft HQ in Natick, MA was
booming! All four R&D departments were busy programing and designing our
launch titles. I had called a meeting with the board of directors. “I’d like to
mention that we are now allocating 90% of our resources to the SMD 2” I proudly
announced to room of humans and youkai.
“How better is the SMD 2 compared to
my gaming PC.” Trevor said, in a rather sophomoric way.
“Does your PC have HVD support and a
proprietary Wi-Fi network.” I answered his quarry.
“Is it upgradable for new graphics
cards AND water cooled!” Trevor abhorred me and my console.
“No, but my so called ‘peasant
potato’ isn’t about an egotistical stubborn power contest unlike your ‘PC
Gaming Master Race!’” I angrily retorted.
“SHUT UP!” Yukari yelled, and promptly stood up from her
chair.
The room went silent, Remillia looked at her in astonishment and Michael
Scotton just sat lowly in his chair, as if he were trying to hide under the
table. Yukari grabbed for a spell card and glared visiously at Trevor. Trevor
crossed his arms and looked to his side.
“Now c’mon, the Super Mega Drive 2
is going to be released in 17 months from now!” Michael spoke up.
“We have to work together if this
going to work out properly!”
“He was a point you know” added
Remillia.
“Okay, you two have a point.” I said,
giving into an Aesop you’d find in a cartoon.
“What do we have for multiplat’s?” I
started.
“We have Grand Theft Auto 7, and
Assassin’s Creed 12 and 13.” Trevor said.
“Anything else?”
“No, you pretty much pissed Activison
off and well, anybody who makes FPS games.”
“Damn, any other third party support?” I asked.
“Other than Eientei Studios?” Remillia butted in.
“Uhhhh…no, third party developers NOT from Gensokyo!” I
clarified.
“Ubisoft is interested in us, Blizzard enjoyed our E3
presentation, and then there’s SEGA, Bandai Namco Games, Bungie, Retro Studios,
Capcom, and Rockstar Games.” Michael read from his report.
“We’ll probably get more when this puppy comes out.” I
responded to the report.
“How are things on the Gensokyo side of things?” I asked.
“No one likes how your simply
replacing the Super Mega Drive and they’re questioning its power.” Yukari said.
The omnipotent youkai was right.
While no one elsewhere in the world has heard much of the SMD, Gensokyo is
holding on tight to the obsolete piece of machinery. I had to remind them, that
it’s only 90% focus on the SMD 2, and there still is 10% on the Super Mega
Drive.
The rest of the year flew by. The
Super Mega Drive 2’s release date was fast approaching, a select number of
shops in Gensokyo have been stocked with units, ready to sell at a moment’s
notice. My speech at E3 was poignant and I didn’t even have an inkling of how
meaningful my spontaneous words meant to people.
I was having an interview with
Forbes magazine (they still print those) and asked what if I had a nickname or
something from my uniqueness in the industry, I noticed Yukari talking to Ran
in the other room, my eyes drifted towards Ran. “Uhhh…The Kitsune on Overbrook
Terrace” I said, referencing the ‘Wolf on Wall Street’.
Soon the day came; the Super Mega
Drive had 13 launch titles and sold off the shelves during the holiday rush.
The same was said in Gensokyo, albeit with a feeling of being cheated. The
cheated feeling soon went away as soon as they loaded one of the games.
“Ah ha! We sold over 15 million
units!” Trevor exulted.
“But that’s just the Christmas rush,
we got to wait a couple months if people still want our products” I said,
doubtfully.
Ran told me to cheer up and gave me
a cup of sake. “To AeroSoft!” I toasted.
“To AeroSoft!” Everyone else said.
Glasses clinked and we drank. I had
to answer phone calls from major retail companies about shortages of SMD 2
units; I reassured them that new units would come in by next week.
The next year saw a jump in AeroSoft’s
international market share. We went up 40% and beat Nintendo as top company. We
stood at 57%. One day I had to address to two of my more deviant workers.
“You can’t be selling drugs on
company property!” I said bluntly.
“But the guys in R&D smoke grass
all the time!” one of them said.
“But they use what they bring in!
And you two are…FIRED!” I yelled.
“We’ll take our revenge on you!
You’ll see!” the other on said before spitting on my nameplate that was on the
desk.
I didn’t take them seriously until
that fateful summer party. It was summer of 2021, and I held a big party for
the top people of my company. The party was going along decently until everyone
noticed the bowl of Kool-Aid I made. Needless to say, pretty much all of us
drank it. But someone had laced it with something. I can’t remember much about
what happened after we all drank the tainted punch. I do remember what happened
AFTER the party.
I woke up in my bed, I don’t know
how I got there but I felt rested and that was okay. I went to stretch my arm
when I felt something or rather someone, especially when I heard a voice “Nē,
anata no ude o oriru! (Hey, get your arm off!)”.
I turned over and saw…Patchouli? We
both jumped when we saw each other. It was probably the most awkward moment I’ve
had for years. We must’ve looked at each other for five or ten minutes straight
before I went downstairs.
It was a total mess. Remillia
somehow got duct taped to the ceiling by her wings. Yukari was asleep so
nothing unusual there, except she was in the neighbor’s tree, luckily she was
well concealed so no one ever knew the Gap Youkai was sleeping in that tree.
Ran, had to leave early to deal with Chen but came back to help me deal with
damage control. Not to mention that Meling, the Scarlet Devil Mansion’s
gatekeeper was at the front door (Sakuya threw a coulpe kinves at her to
prevent Meling from entering the house, Sakuya was found in the room where all
my old games are, with the Atari 2600 left on.). Meiling claimed to have
noticed some strange activity going on across the street, with two men and a
small plastic bag.
“Was the job a success?” said a man
in the darkness.
An old basement with a wall covered
in news articles about AeroSoft and a folding table with maps and models of the
Metrowest area.
“Yes, the product was administered.”
Said one of two former AeroSoft employees.
“Soon, the drugs will send that
troublemaker into greed and addiction like the ‘Wolf on Wall Street!’” the
mysterious man said before letting out a small laugh.
The man threw a dart at the picture
of the company’s owner, Anatasios Frank Topham. “No one would ever take me
seriously after that recalcitrant debacle you’d call a court case!”
“But sir, remember the plan?” the
second former employee responded.
“Yes…We must act accordingly and all
above, fast”
The three men laughed at the fact
they’ll send the gaming entrepreneur packing or even better…his grave.
The Super Mega Drive 2 was the
bestselling console of its generation. Third party support was extremely strong
and still sold well when its competitors released their consoles. In Gensokyo,
everyone was impressed at the improvements the device had over its predecessor.
Even Reimu Hakurei gave in and owned one these puppies (it was a gift from her
friend, Marisa Kirisame).
Some say that when AeroSoft first
appeared in Gensokyo, it helped to create a long period of time without any
youkai incidents. Until two years later.
Two years had passed, it was
currently the year 2024. AeroSoft experienced major growth during that period
of time. To transport people and items between the HQ in Natick and the branch
in Gensokyo, Nitori had to invent a special machine an artificial gap if you
will. I was dating the librarian from the Scarlet Devil Mansion at the time this
happened.
Someone managed to reverse engineer
the proprietary Wi-Fi signal the SMD 2 used (it’s the only type of Wi-Fi
connection that can penetrate the Great Hakurei Barrier). That same person
managed to get the location of Yukari’s home through the Wi-Fi and broke into
the AeroSoft HQ building.
Luckily no one was home when that
man burned down the Yakumo household. The burning of Yukari’s home created
uproar among the other youkai. This would defiantly affect my business as a
good chunk of income came from Gensokyo (because there is a strong lack of a
centralized government, so there is no income tax unlike America). In the
morning I received a letter:
Dear, whom it may concern.
Your time is nigh. If you don’t give up your
Company and pay me five billion dollars, you’ll
Pay the ultimate price for you and your foreign
Buddies.
Not entirely Sincere,
Dr. Edward Cohen.
“I guess people can hold grudges for that long.” said Trevor.
“No, I didn’t know that?” I said, sarcastically.
“Oh c’mon! Besides, what is going to do to you and the guys
from Gensokyo anyway?” Trevor said.
I didn’t really take Dr. Cohen’s letter seriously, until a
week later. We had heightened security, not because we had a handheld device
being developed but rather the chance of someone breaking in and using the
artificial gap machine. The cameras
caught three men breaking in and using the machines, only to come back within
the next two hours. What they did was amazing.
Remiu Hakurei went to check on her donation box at her
shrine. It was always empty but I usually leave something along the lines of a
check in there. She opened the box and what looked like a tin can jumped out
and exploded in her face. Remiu was caught off guard and was sent flying
through the front door. The sound of splintered wood and ripped paper followed
the ear piercing bang. She was found unconscious by Marisa.
Meiling Hong was guarding the entryway to the Scarlet Devil
Mansion when she found a box. She opened to find a car battery hooked up to a
pressure cooker. Needless to say, she was found by Sakuya. Both she and Reimu
were quickly sent to Eientei to be seen by Eirin Yagokoro.
We saw Dr. Cohen in the security
footage but we couldn’t tell who the other two guys were. Until Trevor used the
company’s worker database to find out it was the two guys I fired for selling
drugs on AeroSoft property.
The news spread and I was called
upon by Remillia to discuss the matter. Yukari and Remiu where there (Remiu had
around 47% of body covered in banages). The mood of the room was ominous.
“We have talked it over and decided
that you might be the cause of these recent events.” Started Remillia.
“No thanks to you, I nearly got
killed by own donation box” said Reimu bitterly.
Yukari said nothing; she was the
only one who wasn’t putting the blame of two bombings on me. Then I went and
proved my point.
“If you take me and AeroSoft out and
away from Gensokyo…” I began.
“You’ll take away the distractions
the youkai use to prevent each other from killing each other or doing something
that would have a negative effect on everyone else…” I continued
“Also, AeroSoft is Gensokyo only corporation. Gensokyo would
experience its first economic recession and almost everything would go to hell!
Furthermore, if any of AeroSoft’s technology get into the hands of anyone in
this dystopian hellhole that is Gensokyo’s future. This war will turn global,
not even the military of my homeland could stand up to your spell cards.” I
said stunning Reimu.
I had proved my point, Gensokyo
would turn into a glorified hellhole. Youkai could escape through the
artificial gaps and kill off the outside human population.
“Besides, I have tabs on the
terrorists who dare tried to convert my
company and your home into a flaming
wreck!”
“All I ask is that at least one of
you would help me expunge these no-goodniks.” I suggested.
“Fine I’ll help you.” Said Reimu.
It was night when we approached the
dilapidated building. Me and Reimu hid in the series of bushes lining the
bleached, grass laden parking lot. Reimu went ahead, gohei in hand.
“Nobody’s here.” Remiu pointed out.
“Did you check the basement lights?”
I rebuted.
We sneaked to the bulkhead when we
heard voices.
“The bombs kill anyone?” said one
voice
“No sir.” Said another voice,
meekly.
“The drugs didn’t work and the bombs
didn’t work! Do we really need to extirpate both him and that foreign so called
‘fantasy land’ he gets his allies from!” boomed the previous voice.
Remiu summoned these two yin-yang
orbs and shot up the bulkhead door and we rushed into the musty basement.
“FREEZE!” I yelled.
“One wrong step and the miko next to
me will end you!”
“So you finally came to ruin my
plans for revenge” said Dr. Cohen.
“Why did you bomb the Hakurei Shrine
and the Scarlet Devil Mansion?” I asked.
“Remember that court session? Long
ago.” He started
“After your blonde friend bribed me,
everyone either ridiculed me for being cheap or distrusting me for being
corrupt. Everyone started treating me differently; even the towns slowly gave
my school less and less money. Fewer students came; the Resident Program became
largely redundant. All because of you, you ended my known life.”
“But there was no given verdict, the
judge was drunk and…” I rebutted.
“And I’m going to end yours!” Cohen
interrupted
“But it wasn’t my fault!” I said.
He took out a Desert Eagle and
started to shoot. Reimu jumped in front and used the orb beside her to shoot
back at him. The wooden beam above collapsed over us and the basement caved in
and we both escaped with minor scratches.
When the police came and the debris got cleaned up, they only found the
injured body of one of the two former employees. Meaning that the other one and
Dr. Cohen are in hiding.
At E3 2025, I announced the release
of the Pocket Drive, a Super Mega Drive reduced to the size of the original
Gameboy Advance. AeroCon as at Eientei in 2025 and Reisen was finally no longer
bent over having to develop for a system that she thought was “Too demanding”.
The Pocket Drive was released in
2026 with overly positive reception, even beating Nintendo’s dominance in the
handheld gaming sector. I proposed to Patchouli during a trade show when I
demonstrated a new game and I had intentionally modified the game to pop the
question as well as pushing the gameplay and technologic capabilities of the
SMD 2. Someone took a video of it and blew up on YouTube (since all the people
who did let’s play videos lost almost all their popularity during the
“Pewdiepie Crash of 2019”).
Of course I probably didn’t know
that the more violent events of the past couple years was foreshadowing things
to come. The integrity of AeroSoft and Gensokyo being threatened by forces that
don’t like us in the least, there’s the point that Reimu pointed out was that
the peace was too reliant on AeroSoft.
Of course, I’ll leave that for next
time. On behalf of me, Gensokyo, and the guys at AeroSoft, Keep your stick on the
ice. –A. Frank Topham Senior
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