Update VI
September-December 1987
Game Releases and Ratings
City Simulation 2- Zabriskie Entertainment- 8
Ferret Adventure- Mann Entertainment- 7.5
First to Fight- Mann Entertainment- 6
Sales:
Console Sales To Date
1.) The Box 1,625,000 Units
2.) HiGrax 1,530,000 Units
Game Sales:
City Simulation 2 195,000 Copies (+1 Income)
Ferret Adventure 130,000 Copies (+1 Income)
First to Fight 95,000 Copies
From Up to Down 2 60,000 Copies
Shot From Above 70,000 Copies (+1 Income)
Silent Service 2 75,000 Copies
Xanea 90,000 Copies
News For Each Region
North America
As the Christmas holidays started to roll in, sales of both consoles and games soared in North America. The HiGrax sales picked up quite a bit leading up to December, and supply of it began to wear thin. However, the Box's sales jumped even more than the HiGrax's had, and by the end of the holidays, the Box was almost completely sold out. Many kids across North America had the delight of opening up a present to reveal a Box or a HiGrax on Christmas day.
In late November that was another leak in the mystery that was Project Wanju. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that they received the following note from an insider at TIRC Inc. regarding Project Wanju:
Destroy When Finished
-"Atlas" CPU
-"Prometheus" RAM
This pretty much confirmed that TIRC was working on a new console, but further details were as of yet unknown.
Zabriskie Entertainment released City Simulation 2 to great reviews, and this was reflected in the sales as well. It quickly became the fastest selling stand-alone game of the current generation. The game was also heavily advertised in various game magazines and on posters. Many fans of the original decided to pick up the sequel, and a majority of especially liked the updated graphics.
While Mann Entertainment didn't release the best selling game, that did have the most overall sales. First to Fight was only reviewed as mediocre, and it had decent sales, but Ferret Adventure was well-reviewed and it had great sales too. Silent Service 2 also continued to sell well, benefitting from the boost of holiday shopping. Mann Entertainment also began to advertise their upcoming game Crystal Chronicles 2, and many people are already hyped up for it.
A new game company named Big Time Entertainment formed in Oregon, USA. They have already announced that they have begun work on their first game, Homicide Cop. The game has already been noted for its interesting premise.
Overall Inc greatly invested into training their employees to be better programmers and so far their effort has paid off. (+1 Employee Skill)
Europe
Both the HiGrax and the Box had a surge of sales in Europe. In some areas of the continent, sales of the consoles nearly doubled. They were at a virtual tie in sales by the end of quarter, though; it has yet to be decided as to which console will dominate Europe.
After seeing the huge profits that they made with Xanea, Avalon Games decided to already begin developing the sequel. To make sure that the story of Xanea II: Parasite was up to par with the first, Avalon hired the team of storywriters that had written the story for the first game. Speaking of the first game, it continued to sell very well throughout the holidays. They also released Xanea: Gold Edition with a few extras in it in an attempt to increase the size of their fan base, and it worked. (+1 Fan Base)
TeaTime Inc continued to develop their Camelot system, and reportedly they are over halfway done. They are beginning to reach the final specs of the system, though they haven't quite gotten there yet.
Spire Entertainment invested into being able to better supply the North American market. (+ North American Market)
Japan
TIRC spent on having Japan as more of a market, and it somewhat worked, as it saw sales of the Box double in Japan. However, Japan continued to be dominated by the HiGrax. The HiGrax was hard to find throughout the whole 4 months, and near the end of the year, it began pretty much impossible to find. (+TIRC Japan Market)
Kingdom Inc. announced the next game that they were developing to be Ouson. Many people were already excited for it as their previous game, Astronimas, had been amazing. Also, Ouson along with the HiGrax was advertised throughout Japan, adding even more hype to the game.
GawShang held some tournaments of their From Up to Down games, and these somewhat increased the popularity of the games. (+ Fan Base)
Massive Entertainment finished developing their game Akio the Ninja but they decided not to release it yet.