"Gamestar Entertainment May Be Headed for a Fall from Grace""One Wrong Move Could Reshape the Gaming Industry"
In media circles—particularly in financial and economic outlets—the rivalry between Surei Electronics and Gamestar Entertainment has become a hot topic. The two giants are locked in a close race, each with its own advantages:Gamestar boasts a powerhouse game lineup, while Surei has captured player goodwill with a cheaper console.
So… who's going to come out on top?
No one can say for sure. But many aren't too optimistic about Gamestar's chances this time.
"Gamestar Entertainment has dominated the industry for years, but now it's behaving like a prideful old dragon—ignoring the voice of its players and marching to the beat of its own drum," one article laments. "Especially as an independent, unlisted company, it lacks external oversight. The only way forward may be to go public and raise capital, using that money to lower hardware prices and regain the public's trust."
"According to the Fales Economic Model," another analysis claims, "Gamestar is about to hit a painful adjustment period before realizing its mistake. But by then, it will have lost a chunk of the market—a loss that won't come cheap."
The predictions of doom are everywhere—some even acting like Gamestar is on the brink of collapse.
At the root of this pessimism is the belief that Gamestar's business model is too singularly focused. It has always been about games—and nothing else. Even now, it refuses to go public. Takayuki still personally holds over 90% of the company's shares, wielding absolute control.
That kind of autocratic leadership, they argue, can work well if the ruler is wise. But if that leader becomes arrogant or blind to change, no one can rein them in.
And not all of these voices are impartial.
Some are paid shills, hired by rival companies to smear Gamestar's reputation. Others come from former giants of the industry—companies that had once tried and failed to enter the console market, crushed by Gamestar's dominance. Back then, many of them tried to cut corners or plagiarize. Gamestar's multi-million-dollar legal team went after them with a vengeance, defending the company's IP at all costs.
Now, with Gamestar finally showing a crack in the armor, these same bitter rivals see a window of opportunity. Some are even floating plans for their own "next-gen" consoles, pulling out dusty PowerPoint decks and making bold claims that their upcoming handhelds will define the next era.
Curiously, though, none of them are saying anything about actual game lineups.
While the outside world buzzed with rumors and criticism, inside Gamestar, there wasn't even a hint of panic.
Most employees didn't even have the time to care.
Workloads were insane. Their schedules packed tight from morning to night, with barely any wiggle room.
Sure, overtime was allowed—and fairly compensated—but over the years, they'd grown used to getting things done efficiently within work hours, keeping evenings free for relaxation or, ironically, playing games.
They weren't interested in news or headlines.
But even if they had read the smear campaigns, most of them wouldn't have cared. Gamestar hadn't made a wrong move in over a decade. Their trust in Takayuki was absolute.
Honestly, if Takayuki told them that dancing on poles would somehow lead to better game design, they might actually do it—without question.
At that very moment, Takayuki was conducting a round of job interviews.
Not for programmers or designers.
But for an entirely new category of talent the company had never hired before:
Voice actors.
In the past, Gamestar games hadn't needed top-tier voice talent. Most of the resources had gone into gameplay and graphics, and audio was more of an afterthought.Even something like Street Fighter was already considered dialogue-heavy.
But now, voice talent was becoming a must-have.
Not just that—Takayuki had plans to build a full-fledged cinematic storytelling team, combining voice work with motion capture.The upcoming Metroid: Other M was one such project—an early attempt at a film-style narrative game.
There would be more.
Games where performance, emotion, and voice acting were as important as graphics or mechanics.
"Good morning," said a composed voice. A woman seated in the audition hall sat upright, her tone clear and captivating. "My name is Debbie. I used to work as a radio host."
She wasn't conventionally beautiful, but her voice had a calming charm—especially appealing to male listeners. That voice had made her successful in the radio world.
But now?
Radio was a dying medium.
TV, the internet, and especially mobile entertainment were taking over completely, pushing radio further into obscurity.
Debbie was now just another casualty of a fading industry.
And this interview?
It might just be her second chance.