Game Market 1983

“The down payment is 50,000 won. Do you want to book?”

“That's enough.”

“It's the same for everyone else. We only take out one or two things as a service to our customers. Actually, we don't have anything left. ”

Ha-ha! You have to hit some gau to take the bait.If you change 9200 yen to the current won, it will be around 73,000 won. But 180,000 won, does it make sense that there's nothing left to eat after receiving 2.5 times more?

I looked at the super family price tag in front of the store and said, "I'm exhausted.

“A game costs the same as a console? ”

“Oh, this was cheaper because it was officially issued in the country by my future boss. Last year it was ₩ 380,000. ”

I'm proud of you, asshole.

I blew the curse into my heart and took a step. Then Soyeon followed me closely.

“How unfriendly is the gaming store? ”

“That's just the tip of the iceberg. ”

I next went to a fairly large store in a tunnel shop.

Then the rich man gasped up slowly in the shop.

“Welcome. You've come to buy a lover's game. It's rare here. You like games, miss? ”

“Oh, yes. I like it.”

The shopkeeper smiled at Soyeon's answer and squirmed the debt he had in his hand.

Lowering your awareness of yourself through these day-to-day conversations makes it easier to sell, so it was one of the most frequently used methods for people with some sales experience.

The owner turned to me next and asked.

“What are you looking for, young man? It's quicker to ask. Hey, ask him. ”

“I'm here to buy some Raon. ”

“Looking for a new one? Looking for second-hand?”

“How much is the new one and what is the used one? ”

“How much did you figure out? ”

“ · · · · · ·. ”

These people are really...

I felt blue at the moment, but I replied with the quietest expression possible.

“It says $300 in front of the store, right? ”

“That's right, 1900 won. ”

The owner rummages inside the cramped counter, pulling out Raon's package box and placing it on the shelf. And I lost my word on that part again.

The box in front of me was scratched and crumpled because it was not properly stored.

“I meant the new one. ”

“That's new. Open it and see.”

The owner was sweating in a narrow counter and rubbing his elongated debt.

Finally, I sighed a little and looked at the opening before opening the package box. Naturally, the 'seal’ was damaged.

If I could've ripped the seal out of my mind in such a hurry, I would've used it.

It wasn't cut with a knife, but I looked at the owner for a trace of cautious removal of the sticker, and he frowned in embarrassment.

“We are supposed to check with our retailers to see if the original product is well contained when it is delivered. In case they sold it, if the customer insists it's not contained, we don't have a choice. ”

I can't believe that a merchant would suspect a customer before a defective item...

Soyeon asked the owner if she could do better than then.

“Then you can open it when you sell it and check with the customer. ”

“Ahhhh! I don't know what she doesn't know because she's young, but at that moment, this product becomes second-hand. If you change your mind, you won't be able to sell. ”

This man, armed with a typical old-fashioned mind, did not seem to be able to speak a word. So I decided to use what he said.

“So you've opened this product once? ”

“That's right. We need to make sure there's nothing wrong with the contents. ”

“I don't need a product that you've confirmed. because I had already opened and taken out a new product at that point. ”

“Ugh... Young people don't understand. ”

I don't know who you're talking to. Don't you know the difference between a new and a second hand?

At that time, the host bowed again with an unpleasant expression and pulled out a new Raon from under the shelf. Then, this time, an intact one appeared.

“220,000 won.”

“What? That new one was $300...”

“It was new yesterday. The seals are completely intact, which is ₩ 220,000. ”

What's the point of entering the store if it's the same device anyway? After talking to this guy constantly, I felt very confused.

Since then, I've been asking about gaming software, but the game is also selling a little bit more than the regular price for such nonsense reasons.

I wanted to give up the purchase and go outside, but I heard his voice as if to listen behind my back.

“It's hot in here, and these crazy bitches are bothering me. Oh, this sucks. ”

I looked around a few more stores since then, but other places had similar unit prices.

Sometimes I felt like the shopkeeper exchanged his eyes with the owner of the store across from us and exchanged signatures.

Eventually, I returned to the entrance of the first tunnel shop, circling around in the deep heat and finding a fast food spot far away.

“Let's stop by there and get a little thirsty. ”

“Yes...”

Soyeon was quite shocked by the retail scene she had never felt before.

And it was the same for me.

As the next generation of media enters the CD, Yongsan will be home to the replicated CD.

The MOD chip attracts users who come to purchase the genuine item, and in the process, more evil owners change lenses or parts, and Yongsan crashes from the best electronics store in the country to a market where immoral merchants gather.

CD players, cameras and PC parts as well as silk games have been tampered with by consumers just a little bit of caution, so there's nothing wrong with being screwed...

But this is 1992.

At least until the early 2000s, when Internet shopping malls were active, there was no choice but to weep and mustard to find Yongsan in order to get the latest games or PC parts.

“I really don't understand. How can I get more money depending on when the product comes in? I mean, there are some sealed stickers that are ripped out of the retail store daily and check the contents in advance, and of course there are some products that are faulty by the misses when they're shipped out of the factory, but this is clearly against public trade. ”

I opened my mouth to calm Soyeon who was angry like fire.

“Perhaps the one with the broken seal was the return product. ”

“Returns?”

“If it's just a customer's transformation, or if it's something wrong with the device, or if it's not... it's on the shelf. ”

“How do you know that? ”

“First of all, the box is crumpled. You can see that the box has been emptied for quite some time. If there was content in it, it would never have crumpled that way. It's a common technique. because display is essential for consumers to see the real thing. ”

“Absolutely not. I'm sure our mantra offers a display demo for our guests...”

“Sell it anyway. And you take out a new product and you show it to your customers, and if it's too old, you clean it up and you put it back in the box. And then they sell it at the top, and then they display another new product. ”

I also remember buying an expensive MD player on display in a store in high school because I was fooled by this technique once. I asked her who was swallowing the drink with a depressed look.

“Were you surprised? ”

“I was very disappointed rather than surprised. If you come out of a retail store like this, no matter how hard we try, the consumers end up having to deal with the damage. ”

“Yes, that's why it's important to build the right distribution line. It's also important to market it. ”

“But we don't have that department yet. ”

Mantra had 70 employees, but it was a company that did a lot of work.

There was a division of editors who make console magazines and sales who publish games, so the marketing side was minimized to be featured in monthly magazines.

In the early '90s, even small businesses and large businesses were not so keen on promoting their products…

“It will be made soon. And Soyeon needs to play an important role there. ”

Soyeon tilted her head in my words and made a puzzled face. Instead of answering, I just smiled and drank soda on the table.

‘I was roughly anticipating, but I thought there'd be one or two conscientious shops, so how come they're all the same people? I'm sure there were a few good stores around the corner when I was a kid…’

Wait, a corner place?

Then again, why were they not well-mannered tunnel shops, and in deep alleys they never would have known if they didn't look for them on purpose?

Maybe they had a reason to be.

&

After taking a break for a while, Soyeon and I went to a remote place, not a tunnel store where the game stores were gathering this time.

I saw a game store or two even where the stores that were dealing with electrical wiring were still selling at relatively normal prices.

“Why are the prices different from here at the tunnel store? ”

The shop owner sighed and answered my question, looking like he was in his early 40s.

“The shops are all there once they come to buy the game, so they usually go there when they come to Yongsan. But it turns out it's quite different from the floating population. Everyone who shops there seems to have their own stores, but one person actually has several stores. You may look like a business owner, but in fact, you're mostly a paid trouser owner. ”

“Ah…”

“The owners who run the store go to Japan once or twice a month to buy the game, but if they pass customs well, they can make a huge profit. And when you bring in a game like that, you call it at the beginning. Employers offer their managing trouser owners double the selling price, and trousers take a half-percent gain and take their own salary. ”

Huh... They're not gangsters running a tavern.What a stupid distribution system.

Having heard the explanation, I couldn't be more than just an outrageous behavior.

So Raon is pushed backwards, and the superfamily games are pushed in...

That evening, I sat separately with the head of Mantra's Kim Han-seok from a fairy in Gangnam.

“As soon as you come to Korea, you have no time to breathe. I heard from Soyoung that you visited Yongsan Electronics Shop today. How was your day? ”

“It was a mess. ”

“Yes, I also ran a PC game retailer four years ago, but it wasn't that great. A conscientious business is a difficult business to succeed in. ”

“First of all, I'm busy with my appointment with the chairman of Somnori Soft tomorrow." I came to Korea to talk to Somnori in the first place. But in this market, even if it goes smoothly with Somnori, Laon's failure will continue. ”

“Phew... I really don't feel sorry for you. ”

“No, Jules. It's not too late to try. It's okay.”

“Do you have any good ideas? ”

“There's no better way. It just pays back the same way. ”