Chapter 137: Creative Counter

"Ethan, I'm worried it'll affect our sales in Japan."

Satoshi's concern wasn't unfounded. The Japanese market had always maintained a somewhat ambiguous attitude towards GAMENOVA.

If their games hadn't been exceptionally good, there was absolutely no way they could have competed against Nintendo.

More importantly, with GAMENOVA entering the scene as a true outsider, there was no telling whether the Japanese companies would band together against a common threat.

After all, no one is more hostile than direct competitors, as every NovaBox sold was one less Master System or Famicom sold.

No one wanted a dangerous newcomer disrupting an otherwise stable market. It was only natural that they'd try to crush it before it had a chance to take off.

Satoshi had already begun noticing the signs. Recently, both the Roppongi office and ComicNova's Japanese branch seemed to be facing invisible pressure from all directions.

The decline in available business resources had become obvious even to him.

The clearest example was the animated adaptation based on the Pokémon IP that Ethan had instructed them to produce. Whether it was Shueisha or other companies, everyone seemed strangely reluctant to cooperate.

"Ethan, our latest title, Double Dribble, hasn't been selling very well in Japan."

Although the sales were still respectable, they lagged noticeably behind baseball games on the Famicom.

"Hmm... that really is a problem."

Ethan murmured thoughtfully.

Players in the American market and those in Japan had vastly different tastes, so not every game could become a hit in both regions.

Games like Fire Emblem and The Legend of Zelda, for example, were clearly better suited to Japanese audiences.

"There's not enough time..."

Ethan calculated silently.

If they wanted to develop a large-scale game specifically targeting the Japanese market, the schedule simply wouldn't allow it.

Although they had several RPG development partners, they all specialized in traditional western CRPGs, which were fundamentally different from JRPGs.

Dragon Quest's success came from taking the rules of Dungeons & Dragons and simplifying them dramatically, combining accessible gameplay with Akira Toriyama's outstanding character designs.

"Dragon Quest becoming a massive hit is inevitable. Now that Nintendo is actively promoting it, its success will only come faster and sooner than it did originally."

"Hm?"

Suddenly, something clicked in Ethan's mind.

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Even if he managed to create another top-tier JRPG, he still wouldn't be able to suppress Dragon Quest's sales. At best, they'd simply split the audience.

But… perhaps they didn't need to compete in the RPG genre at all. All they needed was a game that the mainstream Japanese gaming audience would readily embrace.

After all, as incredible as the original Dragon Quest was, it ultimately sold only a little over 1.5 million copies.

It probably didn't even make it into the top fifty best-selling games. It was another title like SimCity, a game praised by critics but not a runaway commercial success.

Compared to games like Super Mario, which routinely sold tens of millions of copies, there was simply no comparison.

"I've got it."

"I just came up with a great idea."

"A new game?!"

Satoshi was startled.

Then, almost immediately, his face lit up with excitement.

"That's right. I've thought of a theme that's perfect for Japan."

"What is it?"

"Railways... and Japanese folklore."

"Huh?"

Satoshi blinked in confusion. Those two elements were certainly very Japanese, but they didn't seem to have anything to do with each other.

Recalling a game that could practically be described as tailor-made for Japanese players, Ethan slowly spoke.

"Let's call it... Momotaro Dentetsu."

"??"

Outside Japan, Momotaro Dentetsu might not leave much of an impression on most players, who would likely miss many of its cultural and geographical references. In Japan, however, the series was a massive hit.

"So... it's basically gameplay similar to Monopoly, right?"

After listening to Ethan's rough explanation, Satoshi finally understood a little.

"More or less. The core gameplay is similar, but it'll be improved to better suit the video game medium. Oh, right, help me gather some information."

"What kind of information?"

"A map of Japan's railway network."

....

Ethan and Sam sat across from one another at the table, staring at a Monopoly board.

"Monopoly... it really is a simple yet incredibly straightforward design."

After counting the tokens in his hand, Sam decisively bought a piece of property. For him, Monopoly was hardly anything new.

The Parker Brothers Company had released the board game back in the 1930s. By now, it had long become one of America's best-known and best-selling board games.

However, before this, only a handful of people had attempted to adapt it into a video game on DOS, and none of those attempts had been particularly successful.

Looking at the Parker Brothers logo on the game box, Ethan recalled a bit of the company's history. Hasbro's famous toy blaster brand, NERF, had originally been established by Parker Brothers.

Hasbro Interactive, the video game division Hasbro founded around 1995, had also been built upon Parker Brothers and several other companies Hasbro had acquired.

Originally, Ethan had planned to go directly to the rights holder of Monopoly and acquire the trademark. Unexpectedly, that turned out to be far more difficult than anticipated, and naturally, he had no intention of releasing Momotaro Dentetsu exclusively in Japan.

For America, the game would need a different theme that better suited local culture, and so, his thoughts naturally turned toward this classic board game.

Without the Monopoly name, they would be at a significant disadvantage in terms of brand recognition. That was precisely why Ethan had always been so determined to seize the right to define an entire genre.

Just like Fire Emblem.

Although KOEI's strategy games had been released much earlier, they had never established widespread recognition. That gave Ethan the perfect opportunity.

Now, whenever players thought of tactical RPGs, the first thing that came to mind was naturally Fire Emblem, GAMENOVA's legendary masterpiece.

That was an advantage with lasting value. If they couldn't solve this branding problem, then no matter how well the American version sold, they'd ultimately just be helping Hasbro strengthen the Monopoly brand.

"We need a new name, one that's memorable enough."

The word Monopoly literally referred to economic monopoly. It had originally been chosen by the game's designer, Lizzie Magie, as a satire of capitalism.

Yet in the end, Monopoly adopted monopolization as its central gameplay mechanic and even managed to monopolize the rights to that style of gameplay. The irony was almost too perfect.

One after another, different titles flashed through Ethan's mind.

Fortune Maker.

Investor's Game.

Game of Loans.

Wealth Wars.

Sovereign.

"Sovereign?"

His eyes suddenly lit up, as he had just found the perfect replacement.

"Let's call it Sovereign!"