At the Company.
Kitagawa Take sat stiffly at his drafting table, staring intently as if he were deeply absorbed in work.
In truth, he wasn't doing company work at all.
He was secretly drawing the cover art for a new game cartridge.
In the age of physical cartridges, cover art was everything.
A less-than-eye-catching cover could directly affect a player's first impression of a game.
Kobayashi Tetsu had said:
"Once the cover is done, I'll pay you 100,000 yen for the illustration rights. A full buyout of all subsequent usage."
Kitagawa didn't think the artwork would have much future monetization anyway—but 100,000 yen was absolutely real.
How could he not take this over his "proper" job?
As he quietly freeloaded on company time and company resources to do his side gig, a voice suddenly boomed behind him—his supervisor, Kinoshita Hayato.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Heads up—big business!"
Kinoshita put on his signature exaggerated expression, both hands dramatically raised.
"This time our collaborator is none other than the famous Tokuma Shoten!"
"One of their subsidiary publishers is launching a new magazine. They want us to provide layout and illustration work. This is a rare opportunity!"
Kitagawa glanced around.
His coworkers were clapping on cue.
Well, what else could they do? Might as well cooperate in the performance.
After hesitating for a moment, Kitagawa reluctantly clapped along.
Kinoshita made a silencing gesture.
"This publication is related to electronic games, so the illustrations should reflect that style. I heard something about a tank game being popular recently. Just follow that general vibe!"
Kitagawa clicked his tongue.
Very obviously, the man had never played Battle City. He just wanted a famous game on the cover.
From behind, another employee raised a cautious question.
"So… what will the magazine be called?"
"Something like Fami-Maga!"
Kitagawa clicked his tongue again.
Sounds like one of those companies trying to ride a trend.
Probably doomed to shut down right after the first issue.
He had just thought that when a twisted smile suddenly filled his entire field of vision.
Startled, Kitagawa hastily covered his half-finished Duck Hunt cover.
"Kitagawa-kun," Kinoshita said, "you know I've always valued you the most. Everyone knows that. You are the one I trust the most. So you must give this project your best effort. If you embarrass the company… well, you'd be the sinner of the entire department."
Kitagawa's heart thumped.
After a moment, he asked quietly:
"Kinoshita-san… will there be any extra compensation for this job?"
Instantly, Kinoshita's expression turned cold.
"Helping the company is your duty, Kitagawa-kun. Talking about money hurts feelings."
Kitagawa opened his mouth… but the words sank back down.
He lowered his head with a long sigh.
Fine.
Talking about money hurts feelings; talking about feelings hurts your wallet.
When he raised his head again, his expression had returned to calm neutrality.
"Understood. I'll do my best."
"Good." Kinoshita nodded with satisfaction and walked away.
The moment he disappeared, Kitagawa stretched his arms and legs.
Forget it! I'm done!
From today onward, he would slack off nonstop—right up until he quit.
---
Setagaya District — The Startup Garage
Kobayashi Tetsu was on the phone with Tanaka Minoru from Sega's publishing department.
Naka Yuji was coding nearby, though he kept glancing over.
"Yes, yes, I understand. Right now? No, no, I don't have time. I won't be accepting interviews. Even if you gave me two kilos of pork-cutlet rice, I still wouldn't accept a magazine interview."
He hung up.
Naka immediately asked, blunt as ever:
"Kobayashi-kun, is it a new commission?"
"Something like that."
Kobayashi smirked.
"A new magazine wants to feature the recent FC recall incident and mention Sega's role. They're asking if Atlas would accept an interview. I refused."
Naka inhaled sharply—almost like Sonic doing a spin dash.
A magazine.
An interview.
It sounded so prestigious.
"Kobayashi-kun!" Naka jumped to his feet. "How can you refuse?! What a huge opportunity!"
"Opportunity my foot." Kobayashi waved him off. "What if I told you this magazine is actually backed by Nintendo? Our games are doing so well I'm afraid they'll send someone to stab me."
This magazine was called Fami-Maga.
Not Famitsu.
The history was complicated, but put simply:
In Japan, major publishing groups included Tokuma Shoten and Kadokawa.
Tokuma Shoten had a good relationship with Nintendo.
So they produced a Nintendo-aligned magazine—Fami-Maga.
With access to first-hand info, it became quite popular.
But Fami-Maga was not the later, far more famous Famitsu.
Famitsu originally launched in 1986 under a different name: LOGIN.
Its chief editor, under the pen name Tōfuya Fami-bō, led a tiny team of about ten writers under ASCII Publishing.
Most articles were written internally or by guest contributors.
After the 2000s, ASCII was acquired by Kadokawa, making Famitsu part of the Kadokawa empire.
LOGIN's early success gave the company enough confidence to rename it FAMI-tsū in 1986.
And over the years, Famitsu evolved into Japan's most "authoritative" gaming publication—
At least, the one that looked the most authoritative.
Famitsu's signature was its 40-point scale: four reviewers, each giving up to 10 points.
Anything above 35 became a "Hall of Fame" title—roughly equivalent to a 9/10 on Western review sites.
Of course, Hall of Fame didn't necessarily mean fun. Fun didn't necessarily mean Hall of Fame.
But high scores did guarantee strong first-week sales.
Players always wanted to know what a "masterpiece" tasted like.
—And once a cartridge was opened, refunds were nearly impossible.
Only in cases like Nintendo's recent full recall would refunds ever be allowed.
Now, this Nintendo-aligned magazine wanted to interview him.
Naturally, Kobayashi Tetsu refused.
After all…
It was he who had leaked the FC defect to Sega…
And quietly steered the entire situation from behind the scenes.
If he actually faced Nintendo people now?
He was afraid of getting punched.
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