I Just Want Players to Save Money, They Insist on Giving Me!
Chapter 499 - 167: Maximum Pressure! Sweating Buckets! How come I can’t catch any of your exclusive games?_1

Chapter 499: Chapter 167: Maximum Pressure! Sweating Buckets! How come I can’t catch any of your exclusive games?_1

After the Switch handheld’s public announcement phase concluded.

The top player even considerately granted the audience a digestion period.

It was as if they guessed that the audience would be shocked, dumbfounded, and unable to resist exchanging whispers or flooding the internet with comments.

They allowed everyone about 5 minutes of intermission to settle their emotions.

During this period, staff members pushed carts around the venue, freely distributing milk tea or other beverages, and bottled water to the audience.

There were also some complimentary snacks.

And even though these were freebies, they were anything but perfunctory.

Every beverage or snack that the audience members received was served in open-topped cups, large and small, each emblazoned with the character illustrations from various game IPs under the top player’s brand.

There was the little Knight from "Hollow", Elizabeth from "Infinite", the mighty Chess heroes from "Cloud Top", the character illustrations from "Arknights", and many more.

Even for those with a collecting hobby, being able to wash and collect these cups represented immense joy.

This scene elicited envious exclamations from the live audience.

There was also a lot of regrets expressed in the comments.

"Damn, I’m right here in Jianglin. I thought the top player’s conference wouldn’t be better than SE’s, so why suffer for over an hour there when I could be comfortable at home? Now... sigh, I regret it, I really do!"

"I have a friend in media. The top player sent out invites, but he went to the SE conference and thought he didn’t need to attend this one. Now he’s practically crying on WeChat, regretting not getting first-hand info from the event."

"Hahaha, I’m different, I’m right here at the venue / heehee"

With the gaps in the comments and whispers among the audience on-site.

The few minutes of intermission quickly passed.

The lights, which had brightened slightly, were now completely turned off.

Everyone’s expressions became stern as they turned their gazes toward the big screen at the front.

Everyone was well aware.

No matter how incredible the Switch’s functionality was, to draw in new players, what really mattered were quality exclusive titles to back it up.

After all, the situation of ’having played a game on PC and buying a handheld console to play it again’ was a rarity.

New games held the real clout.

Following the appearance of the Switch’s bright red logo on the big screen, and after the two joy-cons clicked together emitting a ’click~’ sound, all discussions ceased on site.

Immediately after, what appeared on the screen was a soaring, cloud-piercing spire.

Gazing up, its peak was not visible, as if puncturing the vault of heaven, enveloped in light that dominated the skies.

At the base of the tower, by a bonfire.

A warrior dressed in armor sat alongside a green-cloaked hunter wearing a sheep-skull mask, both staring at the tall tower.

A moment later, they exchanged a glance, stood up, and extinguished the bonfire.

The warrior drew the greatsword from his back while the hunter produced a dagger from his sleeve.

Silent, their steps firm and steady, they moved toward the pitch-black gateway, with the screen gradually fading to darkness.

Just when all the viewers thought this might be an action game.

The next moment, the image that reappeared on the screen caught everyone off guard.

"A card game?" Zhang Heng, a game reviewer blogger who was also watching the conference.

He was live streaming the event with official authorization from Thunderbolt.

When the scene shifted inside the tower, a fan-shaped spread of cards appeared at the bottom of the UI interface.

On the left side of the screen was the warrior from the earlier short CG, and on the right was the tower monster that the player needed to defeat.

Quickly, after a combination of cards was played, showcasing dazzling card effects, the warrior swiftly killed the monster.

When choosing which way to advance, a scroll map slowly unfolded.

But that familiar style made Zhang Heng exclaim in surprise.

"Isn’t that Gotham’s map style?"

Seeing this scene, the comments in Zhang Heng’s live stream whirled around like a storm.

"What the heck? The long-lost pigeon? Hasn’t it been almost three years since the last pigeon game, ’Gotham’, came out from the top player?"

"Oh no, I’ve been so sick of pigeon games lately. You’re showing me this at the conference..."

"And it suggests that this is... a card pigeon game?"

"No way, how can you play a pigeon game with cards? How does that work?"

"I’ve been one of the top player’s fans for ten years, but I’m still wondering... can this type of game be fun? I can’t even imagine how cards would combine with a pigeon game..."

It wasn’t just the comments that were full of doubts.

Zhang Heng also began to ponder.

On Blue Star, card games were fixed trading card games.

A deck was completely pre-determined, and the combination of cards was up to the player to decide.

The main gameplay revolved around the disassembly and confrontation between each player’s hand.

Pigeon gameplay, on the other hand, emphasized randomness.

In other words, combining the two.

Players wouldn’t know what cards they would draw, the strength of the cards was uncertain, and what they would draw was unknown beforehand.

Wouldn’t that introduce a significant element of luck? If a run of bad draws led to a quick demise, the frustration would be immense.

"Let’s not doubt it for now, the CG was a bit short. Let’s wait and see if there are any live demos later. I still have quite a faith in the top player, and I trust Baby Ke." Though he had his thoughts, Zhang Heng still held firm belief in the top player’s longstanding standard of ’releasing only quality products.’