Takayuki's decision to include Little Anthony as an Easter egg in a video ga ca from a place of pure sincerity.
In his previous life, he had encountered many stories like this.
Adding Easter eggs like these had beco a unique kind of romance that only video gas could offer.
Because video gas were large enough in scale, slipping in such content wasn't a big issue.
It was sothing impossible to do in film and television, where every second and every fra had to be ticulously calculated.
In the past, many of Takayuki's actions had clear, strategic goals.
But this ti, there was no hidden agenda — he simply wanted to do it.
He had thought about the potential benefits, sure, but they weren't the point.
...
Even Matsuhashi Shi was surprised — but she understood.
Regardless of the intention, Gastar Electronic Entertainnt had earned a great deal of goodwill from this, and the loudmouth critics were finally quieting down. It gave them breathing room to focus on polishing and releasing their gas, free from external pressure for the ti being.
Not long after, Monster Hunter was nearly complete, and the year 2007 was drawing to a close.
The ga would likely launch in 2008, but there was still one more notable event in 2007: the annual Ga of the Year Awards, now a well-established tradition.
As ti passed, while the video ga industry hadn't yet caught up to the older film industry in longevity, it had grown comparable in terms of societal status.
In fact, when it ca to reach and virality, video gas had a significant advantage.
This advantage would only grow stronger over ti — until short-form video platforms eventually rose to power and helped balance the scales once more. But short videos were arguably an entirely new category of entertainnt altogether.
Leading up to Christmas 2007, Kazuo Murakami, now the director of the Ga of the Year Awards, chose to hold the event in none other than New York City — the heart of Arica's glamour.
He boldly rented a massive theater for the occasion.
The venue was no less grand than those used for Hollywood's own award ceremonies.
Thanks to the strong viewership from the previous year — a combination of online and broadcast numbers that reached an impressive global total — Murakami had the confidence (and budget) to go all out this ti.
Of course, he wasn't paying for all of it out of pocket. Sponsors had helped, including Gastar Electronic Entertainnt, which provided most of the funding and technical support.
Really, they were all part of the sa family — no need to be too formal.
Takayuki didn't cast his vote for any of the nominated gas this ti.
He simply hadn't had the ti to play much that year, so he chose to participate as a guest rather than a judge.
In the end, Murakami didn't use Takayuki's special "golden vote" either. What ga he chose as the winner — whether it was one of the "socially correct" titles or a genuinely fun, compelling experience — was up to him.
As a guest of honor, Takayuki was, of course, given the most prestigious seat in the house — front row, center.
With his current standing in the ga industry, there was no debate about where he belonged. If he hadn't attended, that seat would've remained empty in his honor.
He was joined by many of Gastar's creative leads — over a dozen heads of different developnt teams — as well as so of Takayuki's friends from outside the ga industry.
These included people he'd t in film, such as Job, the actor known for playing Snake in tal Gear.
To be honest, Job had never taken video gas very seriously.
But after gas had exploded in popularity — and with it, his own fa — he found himself surprisingly grateful to the dium.
Still, he hadn't fully embraced it.
It wasn't out of arrogance — it was just his subconscious resistance.
But after accepting Takayuki's invitation and witnessing the scale of this awards ceremony, he realized it was ti to reevaluate.
Maybe... it was worth devoting himself more seriously to this industry.
Becoming a well-known figure in the ga world sounded pretty great.
After all, acting was acting — whether on film or in gas.
As he stood under the flood of cara flashes, looking around the packed theater filled with influential figures from across the industry, Job made up his mind: from now on, he would lean harder into gas.
He'd speak to his agent as soon as he got ho.
anwhile, Tukharev — the film producer with strong ties to Gastar — had also been invited.
Unfortunately, he had several key film projects underway and couldn't get away. These were passion projects, and he had to prioritize them.
Still, he sent an assistant to attend on his behalf.
His studio had grown rapidly thanks to its partnership with the ga industry.
With such close ties to gaming, he always had first dibs on ga-to-film adaptation rights. Most third-party studios working with Gastar would approach him first for film deals.
Many in the film world looked on with envy.
So even kicked themselves for not paying attention to gaming earlier — it was clearly a goldmine of valuable IP.
In film, there were two keys to success: great directors and strong IP.
Video gas, with their built-in fanbases, had IP strength on par with top novels or manga — giving adapted films an imdiate advantage at the box office.
As long as the adaptation wasn't awful, ga fans would show up. It was a profitable business.
Among Takayuki's other guests was manga artist Sansuke Tsuchiya.
As the character designer for Dragon Quest, he had beco a role model to many.
Nowadays, more and more lesser-known manga artists were transitioning into ga design and enjoying great success.
They were carving out their own empires in an exciting, rapidly expanding frontier.
Others in attendance included prominent figures from the music industry — people Takayuki had befriended over ti.
There was even a U.S. senator among them, forrly the governor of California.
This politician had always supported Gastar Electronic Entertainnt. During his ti as governor, the company had contributed a huge amount to the state's tax revenue, and he had always looked out for Takayuki.
So when Takayuki invited him, he happily accepted, even though he had a busy schedule.
It was, after all, a public show of allegiance.
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