It was late January.
The cold wind in Akihabara, Tokyo, was still biting, slicing across faces like a knife.
Inside the Video Game Sun retail store, the manager was humming a tune as he sliced open a newly arrived box of games with a utility knife. He deftly stacked them on the most prominent shelf—the prime C-spot.
This time, the game taking center stage wasn't the wildly popular Final Fantasy VII, nor was it Nintendo's Mario Kart 64, which had been brought in to save the day.
The cover featured a stunning woman with a high ponytail, wearing a tight teal tank top and brown shorts, wielding a large-caliber pistol in each hand.
Tomb Raider.
In truth, the game had been released back in late November of the previous year.
At the time, major game companies were flooding the market with titles for the year-end sales battle, and the air was filled with thunderous marketing campaigns for various blockbusters.
And while Tomb Raider boasted exceptional quality, its publisher, Eidos, was short on funds and couldn't afford a massive marketing push.
The result was predictable: initial sales were lukewarm, and word-of-mouth spread through small circles at a snail's pace.
By mid-December, Square's Final Fantasy VII had detonated like a nuclear bomb, completely drowning out all other voices in the industry.
Then came Nintendo's Mario Kart 64, dominating the screens at every New Year's party.
The poor Tomb Raider was shoved to the bottom shelf, left to gather dust in a forgotten corner.
But now, the tide had turned.
Suzuki pushed open the shop door and stepped inside, vigorously rubbing his frozen hands together and exhaling a cloud of white mist.
"Manager, got any new stock?" Suzuki walked up to the counter and tapped the glass with boredom.
Just two weeks ago, he'd gritted his teeth and bought the Jupiter console and Final Fantasy VII right here. After pulling all-nighters for an entire week to beat the game, he felt like Cloud and Sephiroth had sucked his soul dry. For several days straight, the mere sight of a controller made him nauseous.
Now, that lethal "Burnout Syndrome" had finally subsided.
The craving for a high-quality 3D blockbuster had once again seized his mind.
"No RPGs, okay? Whatever you do, don't recommend an RPG!" Suzuki added quickly as the manager was about to speak, rubbing his temples. "My brain can't handle any more grand world-building, tragic destinies, or complex Materia skill trees. Got any action games? Something with tight controls, no fluff, just pure immersion?"
The manager smiled and pulled a copy of Tomb Raider from the freshly stocked shelf, sliding it across the smooth glass counter toward Suzuki.
"Give this a try. It's been selling like crazy these past two days—as if it's possessed. I've already had to restock it twice."
Suzuki picked up the box, his gaze falling on the cover art of a woman with a somewhat rugged art style.
"A Western game?" Suzuki frowned, an instinctive resistance stirring within him.
At this time, Japanese players held a deeply ingrained stereotype about Western games: clunky controls, wild character designs, and nothing but mindless shooting.
"Hey man, don't just judge it by the cover. Look at the gameplay screenshots on the back," a college student nearby, clutching a few secondhand game discs, leaned in, his eyes gleaming. "I just beat it last weekend. This game is absolutely insane—the ultimate stress reliever!"
The student pointed to the small images on the back of the box, his words tumbling out in a rapid-fire blur.
"Full 3D tomb exploration! No clunky, turn-based combat that cuts the screen every two steps, and no tedious NPC dialogue boxes that make you want to fall asleep. All you have to do is control this badass named Lara, running, jumping, climbing, and solving puzzles in all sorts of ancient ruins!"
The college student grew more animated as he spoke, gesturing wildly with his hands.
"The controls are incredibly smooth! You can draw your guns and fire on the run, and even perform rolls in mid-air to dodge attacks. That sense of isolation and immersion—exploring a massive, empty, danger-filled ancient tomb all by yourself—no other game on the market can match it! Playing it is just one word: exhilarating!"
After this passionate pitch, a skeptical Suzuki pulled out his wallet and paid for the game.
That evening, Suzuki took a hot bath, then slid the disc into his console.
Three hours later, he had completely lost track of time, not even noticing that the tea beside him had gone stone cold.
On the screen, Lara was deep in a subterranean cavern in Peru. She took a precise running leap, her hands gripping the cliff's edge as she deftly pulled herself up.
Immediately after, with a few low growls, several wolves lunged from the shadows.
Lara instantly drew her dual pistols, unleashing a hail of bullets as she performed a backflip, gunning down the wolves.
There was no loud background music—only the echoing sounds of footsteps, dripping water, and the crisp cracks of gunfire in the vast, empty cavern.
This purely refined 3D action-adventure experience was the polar opposite of Final Fantasy VII's bombastic cinematic storytelling, yet it was equally irresistible.
It was like a glass of iced lemonade, perfectly cutting through the heaviness players felt after a dense RPG.
In late January, similar scenes unfolded across game stores throughout Japan and North America.
Players were emerging from the steel jungle of Midgar and plunging headfirst into Lara's mysterious and perilous tombs.
Nearly two months after its release, Tomb Raider's sales curve traced a bizarre yet unstoppable upward trajectory.
Foster City, California, USA.
Sony Computer Entertainment North America.
Ken Kutaragi sat at the head of the conference table, tugging irritably at his tie as he scanned the sales reports in his hand.
Nobuyuki Idei had granted him the privilege of an "unlimited budget," and for the past few days, he and his team had been working like a fire brigade, visiting over a dozen renowned North American studios.
But the results had been a crushing disappointment, leaving him feeling utterly powerless.
The major studios with real clout had already aligned themselves with Sega or Nintendo. They met Sony's checkbooks with nothing more than a polite smile. As for the rest who were willing to talk, they were either so technically inept they couldn't even figure out how to assemble polygons, or they were making outrageous demands, asking for absurdly high prices.
"Mr. Kutaragi, please take a look at this latest market data." The head of the North American branch cautiously handed over a separate report.
Ken Kutaragi took it, his brow furrowed as he scanned the pages.
"Tomb Raider?" Ken Kutaragi read the name aloud, a flicker of confusion crossing his eyes. "Over a hundred thousand copies sold in North America in the third week of January? I thought this game came out last November. Why is it suddenly resurfacing?"
"Yes," the head of the North American division explained with a nod. "The developer is Core Design from Britain, and the publisher is Eidos. Sales were lackluster for the first two months, never really gaining traction. But in the past week, word-of-mouth has exploded among players. Retailers everywhere are frantically requesting restocks, saying the game is now a hot commodity."
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