After that, Takayuki didn't pay much more attention to Resident Evil.
Right now, he was more like a relentless game-making machine, determined to bring more of the amazing games from his previous life into this world. He had no time to bask in the glow of a small, temporary success.
Soon after, Monster Hunter 3 was officially released — once again delivering the standard Gamestar quality, second to none. By now, players had come to expect it.
Compared to Monster Hunter 1, the third installment featured smoother character animations and a slight improvement in visual fidelity.
However, limited by the current console's hardware capabilities, there was no way to push the graphics much further. Trying to do so would lead to unstable frame rates — something Takayuki strongly disliked.
At that point, many other game companies had already begun sacrificing performance in pursuit of prettier graphics, only to suffer disastrous sales. It was their own fault — no one else to blame.
Monster Hunter 3 sold 500,000 units in its first week — a solid result. With the foundation laid by the first game, development costs were significantly lower, and yet sales were even better. That, in Takayuki's eyes, was already a win.
It also seemed players were gradually building up their tolerance for high-difficulty games.
...
...
Takayuki was thrilled to see that shift — because the more players embraced challenging games, the more room he had to introduce titles like the notoriously difficult Souls-like games.
That dream was no longer far off.
In truth, when players enjoy a well-made game, they're happy. And when Takayuki sees players happy, he's happy too. To him, players are just like his games — something he's nurturing.
He carefully trains players' taste in game design, increases their tolerance for difficulty — like tweaking stat values inside a game.
That, too, was a deeply satisfying kind of achievement.
After Resident Evil came the releases of Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest.
As classic series, both franchises had a solid player base. As long as they didn't screw up, sales were guaranteed.
Gamestar Electronic Entertainment now operated like a well-oiled machine, producing game after game according to Takayuki's meticulously laid out roadmap.
Over at Surei Electronics, it was starting to feel hopeless. Gamestar seemed to have an endless supply of creativity, and their dominance was simply unshakable. Surei's current market share sat just above 20%. As for the rest? Not even worth mentioning. In most regions, Gamestar held over 70% of the console market.
After the launches of Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, Gamestar appeared to enter another quiet phase.
Of course, as a company with a wide information network, Surei quickly learned what Takayuki was up to — developing a new console.
Upon hearing this, Ueto Hayakawa could only grit his teeth and follow suit.
Thanks to insider channels, Surei had a rough idea of what Gamestar's next console's performance would be like.
Previously, Gamestar had dominated even with weaker hardware. If their next console was superior in both performance and software, Surei's market share might not survive.
That said, Gamestar didn't seem to be going overboard — at least on the surface, their dominance wasn't outright tyrannical.
Still, Gamestar's current standing had already drawn frequent antitrust investigations from various governments. But since their success was entirely based on merit, there was little anyone could do.
And it wasn't even the result of a massive team. No — it was the result of one man's effort.
Everyone else was just support.
You could take anyone out of the company… except Takayuki. Without him, Gamestar would collapse instantly.
The man single-handedly created a company that now owned over 70% of the market — it was absurd.
So even if some countries wanted to break up Gamestar by force, it wouldn't make a real difference. The company would still maintain its advantage.
Just look at YOO. They spent untold millions and still barely managed to snatch a few crumbs from Gamestar's table. The cost-to-return ratio was horrendous.
Fortunately, Ueto Hayakawa, as president of Surei, still had the ability to unify internal forces and push forward with a new console.
This time, however, his strategy changed.
He decided to release a performance-upgraded version of their current console.
And at last, he realized how powerful Gamestar's hardware backward compatibility truly was.
By supporting older games, a new console launched with an instant user base. Then, over time, developers would start releasing higher-quality games that the old hardware couldn't handle — encouraging players to upgrade naturally. A smooth and consumer-friendly transition.
So this time, Surei didn't even change the exterior of their new console. Most of the internal motherboard design remained untouched. They simply upgraded the CPU and GPU.
That alone saved them a significant amount in material and mold costs.
At this point, Hayakawa finally understood — he couldn't just throw money around recklessly anymore. He needed to learn discipline.
And so, the console war between the two companies entered a brief ceasefire. Both sides quietly stopped pushing big first-party releases, and instead began rolling out secondary titles and sequels.
It was the calm before the storm — a new round of bloody competition loomed on the horizon.
But just as the industry settled into this quiet phase, a mysterious news report surfaced online — from somewhere in the United States.
It came from one of the country's most reputable newspapers.
The article itself was tiny — barely the size of a sidebar — but the combination of headline and image was immediately eye-catching.
"Suspected Zombie Virus in [REDACTED] State?Is Resident Evil Becoming Reality?Could a Game's Joke Actually Come True?"
Beneath the headline was a blurry photo.
In it, a feral-looking figure lunged out of the shadows, snarling at the camera. The expression, the posture — everything resembled a classic zombie attack.
The article went on to explain the story in more detail:
A reporter had been sent to [REDACTED] state to cover a local story. One night, their car broke down on the highway. While waiting for help, the journalist was suddenly attacked by a strange individual.
In the shock of the moment, the reporter managed to snap the blurry photo.
Apparently, the journalist escaped with only minor injuries — a few scrapes on the arm — and after medical treatment, showed no serious symptoms.