"This has to be fake, right? Gamestar Electronic Entertainment already moved into mobile gaming. Handheld consoles are basically obsolete now, aren't they?"
"Exactly. Portable game consoles are outdated. Why would they develop a new one? It must be a hoax."
"But the fact that Gamestar demanded the leak be deleted makes it seem like they've got something to hide…"
Hardcore players were naturally excited at the prospect of a new handheld, but many others thought Gamestar was making a mistake.
"Gamestar plans to return to handheld gaming? I think this will be their first major failure."
"Why do you think that?"
"It's obvious. Handheld consoles are too limited in functionality. They're mostly just for games or watching videos. But smartphones? A smartphone does everything a handheld can and way more. It's been dubbed the 'smartphone era'—how could handheld consoles possibly survive?"
"That… does make sense."
...
Major media outlets were practically unanimous in their skepticism of Gamestar's new handheld plans.
Sure, many of their past decisions had led to unexpected success—but that didn't mean they could win forever.
People love building up legends, but they love even more believing in the "rules" they've created.
Previously, handheld consoles had been decimated by the rise of smartphones.
Surry Electronics had spent years building its presence in gaming and had finally started gaining a foothold in the handheld market.
Just as they were about to double down and push forward, smartphones came in like a finishing blow. Aside from core gamers, everyone else started prioritizing smartphones.
It wasn't that owning a smartphone prevented someone from also buying a handheld. It was just that people could only carry so much.
A typical adult might carry a wallet, keys, and one or two phones at most.
Once your pockets are full, there's not much space left for a handheld console.
And it's not like smartphones can't run games.
Even Micfo's MK series, with its weak game lineup, still had a few decent 2–3 star titles.
Sure, hardcore gamers wouldn't touch them—but for the average person, they were fine for passing time.
Hardcore gamers weren't born with high standards; they developed them over time. For someone who's never gamed before, even a simple 2-star game can bring joy.
With all this in mind, more and more people believed that Gamestar's handheld effort would fail.
No one thought Gamestar could actually make a comeback in this space.
But they also believed one other thing: even if Gamestar failed, it probably wouldn't hurt them much.
After all, the company owns 30% of Facebook's shares. That alone gives them more than enough financial buffer to endure multiple failed projects.
If worst came to worst, they could sell off some Facebook shares and still walk away just fine.
Not to mention their current assets.
Some analysts estimated that Gamestar's headquarters alone was worth a fortune—and they reportedly paid for its construction in full, no debts. Clearly, the company had deep pockets.
The fact that they could simultaneously develop multiple big-budget titles without showing signs of strain was further proof.
It made people envious—especially startups that had to give away most of their equity just to survive.
Gamestar was an outlier. They broke into the market purely through the strength of their games. The company was one of a kind.
They barely relied on outside capital and still reached their current level—there might not be another company like them in the world.
After the leak about a new handheld, Gamestar returned to complete silence.
Journalists and leakers tried every angle to get more information. They reached out to anyone at Gamestar hoping for first-hand news.
But the answer was always the same: "No comment."
Ever since they took down the leak and issued a legal threat to the anonymous "uncle insider," it was as if the entire thing had never happened.
Gamestar simply resumed promoting their latest game: Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core.
Nobody doubted this title's success. It was widely expected to be one of the best-selling games of the year.
It was a prequel to Final Fantasy VII, a beloved classic. With Gamestar's track record, even if they delivered a 3 or 4-star game, it would still be a hit.
That's the power of a strong franchise.
And within Gamestar, Final Fantasy wasn't their only juggernaut.
There was also Mario, Dragon Quest, Zelda, and Pokémon.
Any one of those IPs was enough to keep a company thriving.
During this busy period, Takayuki even found time to use a side account to release two indie games—one of them being the low-budget To the Moon.
It was a story-driven game with minimal interaction. No flashy graphics, no voice acting—just heartfelt storytelling.
Despite its simplicity, the game touched players and sold surprisingly well, further cementing Takayuki's indie persona as a master of narrative games.
People started wondering: Who exactly is this mysterious "Nintendo's god-tier dominator of the world" indie dev?
The more mysterious he was, the more intrigued they became.
And Takayuki? He loved it.
With no pressure on his side account, he could make whatever game he wanted. Even if it flopped, only the alias took the hit—he remained untouched.
As long as he had fun, that was enough.