Live streaming?
This seemed to be an entirely new domain.
For many people, it felt rather unfamiliar.
Before this, online live streaming hadn't really become mainstream. While there were occasional attempts by some people to stream, most of them were on the fringes and hadn't truly entered the mainstream view.
At this moment, there were already a few streamers broadcasting live on the internet.
One of them was Takayuki.
However, Takayuki didn't use his real name directly. He wasn't interested in gaining fame from live streaming, and he felt that he didn't need to promote himself through live streams at this point.
After entering the main live streaming interface, Takayuki briefly glanced around and saw that the most noticeable streams were those broadcasting Titanfall.
...
...
He quickly selected a live stream featuring a girl who looked very cute from the cover. Takayuki simply ignored his own live stream page.
The person streaming was a very cute girl, and she was currently playing through the training level of Titanfall with a serious expression.
Live streaming was also quite unfamiliar to this girl.
But this was a task assigned to her by Facebook's Japan division.
Compared to streaming games, the girl preferred to enjoy games on her own.
She had a great passion for hardcore games, a rarity among female gamers.
Her initial interest in video games came from her father.
Since childhood, her father had nurtured her love for video games. She still clearly remembered her fifteenth birthday gift—a Super Famicom console from her father.
That was technically a gift for her father, but it unexpectedly opened a new world for her, and from then on, she fell in love with video games.
This time, there was a new task from Facebook headquarters. If she completed the live streaming task, she wouldn't have to go to work, and her salary would still be paid.
She was fortunate enough to be chosen for the task, and she decided to stream the newly released Titanfall.
Ding dong.
At this moment, she suddenly heard a prompt pop up from her live streaming software.
The prompt indicated that someone had entered her live stream to watch.
This made her nervous, and her movements began to become a little clumsy.
"Hmm? The latest release, Titanfall? I didn't expect to see it on a live stream. I can't get the new game, but this will do."
"What is this? Is it a movie?" Some viewers who were unfamiliar with the situation were drawn in by Facebook's official ad, which promised special Facebook-themed rewards for watching the stream. They had nothing else to do, so they decided to spend some time here.
Then they saw a cute girl who seemed to be playing a movie?
This movie looked really good?
"Idiot, this is the latest video game, Titanfall. You're so out of touch."
"A video game? When did video games become this realistic?"
"Huh? You must have just returned from the prehistoric era. Video games have been incredibly realistic for quite a while now."
"But the video games I remember are Super Mario and Tetris…"
"Looks like you're really an ancient relic. Just sit back and watch, and see what the new era of video games looks like!"
Several confused viewers gradually entered the girl's live stream.
Takayuki was one of them.
At first, he was attracted by the girl's image, but soon he was fully focused on the live stream, eager to see actual gameplay footage of the newly released Titanfall.
"Thank you all for coming to my live stream. I'm playing the latest video game from Gamestar Electronics, Titanfall, which I've been looking forward to. Please watch quietly as I play seriously!"
The girl said this with a serious expression, then started playing the game with a controller.
Once she became focused, the game's pace started to return to normal.
Not long after, Takayuki watched as the girl successfully completed the training level.
Takayuki had played this training level countless times in the demo version.
A few times, he even managed to get into the top 100 fastest completion times in his local region, but those spots were quickly taken by faster players after only a few minutes.
But even just playing the demo's training level was an amazing experience.
That's why he was so excited for the full game content.
Since he couldn't get his hands on the full game yet, watching the live stream to get a taste of it was a good alternative.
A game live stream?
It seemed like a pretty good way to go.
He hadn't really had much chance to interact with the outside world recently. He wasn't exactly a shut-in, but due to life circumstances and psychological pressure, he hadn't been willing to face society.
However, he still had social needs deep down.
Now, watching so many people interacting in the live stream's chat, and discussing the game, made him feel that this kind of environment was quite enjoyable.
Perhaps… he could consider starting his own live stream?
Earlier, he had noticed that starting a live stream wasn't that hard—just register, download some software, and you could start streaming.
But if he wanted to stream console games, he'd need to buy some special equipment, which he didn't have the money for right now.
Maybe, in the future, if he had money, he could consider it.
For now, though, he'd just focus on watching the live stream.
The girl completed the first training level, and Takayuki was seeing the story of the game for the first time beyond the demo's training levels.
A person piloting a Titan seemed very supportive of the main character, promising that once the battle was over, the main character would become a full-fledged Iron Pilot.
Iron Pilot.
What a cool name.
Takayuki immediately liked the title the moment he heard it.
Then, the story continued, and the girl's character was seen making an emergency re-entry from space, preparing to fight enemies.
The enemies launched a surprise attack on the resistance faction, causing heavy losses. The main character had to struggle to survive in the hail of gunfire.
The girl streaming appeared to be a genuine gamer. She wasn't clumsy at all and was quite skilled with the game's controls.
As the girl focused, suddenly the screen shook, and the image became blurry. The deafening sound of an explosion rang out as a huge object fell from the sky, knocking the main character unconscious.