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Chapter 30 : Feels Worse Than Arcade Machines… in Performance
“Lin, we’ve run into a bit of a problem.”
After finishing the reports in his hands, Sam frowned slightly.
“What is it?”
Lin Lixin pulled his attention away from the screen and looked at him in confusion.
Contra’s phenomenal success was undeniable.
Ẁ ěb̂nо̂v̈ е l̄ Е̌ nūm̄ а
It was selling like wildfire right now.
What could possibly go wrong?
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“Not the bad kind of problem.” Sam scratched his head while organizing his thoughts. “It’s more like… we’re selling too well. Almost too well.”
“And what’s wrong with that?”
“Tetris and 1942 aren’t the issue. The problem is Contra.”
Sam spread several order forms and reports out in front of Lin Lixin.
Е̌ n̆ŭṁа̄ . і d̂
“It’s too… expensive. So expensive that only medium and large arcades in each region can afford it.”
Every single recent order came from sizable establishments.
Small arcades like theirs or convenience stores and similar small businesses simply couldn’t afford the machines.
“Monopoly…”
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Lin Lixin muttered softly, immediately understanding what Sam was worried about.
Contra’s explosive popularity had indeed revitalized the gaming industry to a certain extent, but at the same time, it was invisibly crushing the lower-end market.
W̃ е b nоv̇ẽl̆ Е̇ṅ ù m̃ă
Ironically, the better it sold, the bigger the problem became.
“That’s exactly it.” Sam nodded before glancing at the new project displayed on Lin Lixin’s screen. “If your next game keeps piling on expensive hardware like this high-end setup… it might backfire.”
Arcades were different from home consoles.
Each district only needed a handful of machines.
If the lower-end market collapsed, the entire arcade ecosystem could suffer catastrophic damage.
But after understanding Sam’s concerns, Lin Lixin instead relaxed.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
“Look at how nervous you are. I thought something serious happened.”
He laughed lightly before returning his gaze to the monitor and typing the title:
METAL GEAR.
“Don’t worry. The next project is specifically meant to solve this problem.”
…
The Metal Gear IP was actually divided into two eras: Metal Gear (MG) and Metal Gear Solid (MGS).
W ёb nо v е̌ l Е̇n u m̀ ă
Strictly speaking, when people in later generations referred to “the beginning of the legend,” they usually meant the latter.
MGS was Hideo Kojima’s personal reboot of the series.
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Released on Sony’s PlayStation in 1998, during the very dawn of 3D gaming, it rightfully became a classic.
No matter how one looked at it, recreating that true legend under current hardware limitations was impossible.
But that didn’t mean the original Metal Gear was some ordinary game.
The first MG was released in 1987 on the MSX2 platform and was Kojima’s very first game after joining Konami out of college.
En ü m̌ а.і̊ d̂
The MSX was not an arcade system.
It was a type of home computer, similar to the C64 sitting in front of Lin Lixin now.
Its pitiful hardware made flashy, high-end visuals impossible.
Creating large-scale combat scenes like Contra was entirely out of the question.
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So Hideo Kojima came up with a solution so brilliant it made people slam the table in admiration.
“A stealth game where you infiltrate and avoid combat? And getting spotted means failure??”
E̊ ǹ ü ṁ_ǎ
After hearing Lin Lixin’s explanation, Sam looked utterly dazed.
“That’s right. A stealth espionage game. Or if you prefer…” Lin Lixin smiled. “You can think of it as hide-and-seek.”
“This is… absolutely insane…”
Sam tried imagining the gameplay Lin Lixin described but simply couldn’t comprehend where the fun was supposed to come from.
Who wouldn’t rather charge through a hail of bullets with powerful weapons blasting enemies apart?
Sneaking around like some coward terrified of dying sounded unbelievably frustrating.
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Lin Lixin’s idea practically felt like it was deliberately opposing mainstream trends.
“Lin, this is way too risky. If you just want to lower hardware requirements, why not reuse the 1942 system and make another game with a different theme?”
Sam’s thinking was straightforward.
Even if it was reheated leftovers, he would still happily buy another 1942-style game.
Swap the planes out for tanks or battleships and it would still be fun, wouldn’t it?
“We’ll consider recycling old ideas once we’re truly desperate.”
Е̂ ńúṁ а .і̂d
Lin Lixin burst into laughter, unconcerned by Sam’s confusion.
Before he himself had first encountered that legendary cardboard-box-hiding Snake, he also never understood the appeal of stealth games.
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After all, he was the kind of guy who dual-wielded greatswords in new Assassin’s Creed games.
…
Santa Clara County, Mountain View.
Gerald Lawson accepted the hand-soldered arcade board Lin Lixin passed to him, his eyes widening dramatically.
Е́n um а̌
Though handmade, the board looked clean and elegant.
There wasn’t a single wasted component.
Every wire sat perfectly in place.
This craftsmanship was completely different from the chaotic “Indian-style flying wires” Lin Lixin had shown previously.
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In only a month, he had improved this much?
“Well… I suppose I should get used to how unpredictable you are.”
En ǔmа . id́
Gerald quickly adjusted his emotions and carefully examined the board in his hands.
“What’s this for? It only uses a single 8-bit Z80 processor.”
He had originally assumed Lin Lixin wanted yet another high-end hardware configuration.
Instead, this was an extremely low-end board.
Lin Lixin pulled a document from his bag and placed it seriously in front of Gerald.
The title on the cover page immediately told him what it was.
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Universal Swappable Arcade Board Standard
Gerald’s expression sharpened instantly.
He immediately understood what Lin Lixin intended to do.
“Mr. Lawson, I’m sure you’ve already guessed it. I want to create a more flexible arcade standard, something where boards can be swapped as freely as changing cartridges on a home console.”
The reason Lin Lixin had specifically come to Gerald was simple:
Gerald Lawson was the creator of the world’s first interchangeable-cartridge game console.
È ṅ u̇ m а̃
There was no one more suitable for this project.
“This is to… reduce manufacturing costs?”
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“Exactly.” Lin Lixin nodded openly. “All current GAMENOVA games. Tetris, 1942, and Contra use the exact same cabinet structure and button layout. The only differences are the internal hardware.”
“If production can be separated into arcade board manufacturing and cabinet manufacturing,” Gerald immediately continued his sentence, perfectly in sync with him, “then both flexibility and production costs can be controlled far more effectively.”
“Exactly.”
Just as Lin Lixin prepared to leave, he suddenly remembered another important matter and pointed toward the board.
Ĕń_u̇m а. id̃
“By the way, if we developed a home console using this level of hardware, do you think it would work?”
Despite being only an 8-bit system, both the massively successful Famicom and Sega’s upcoming Master System were still fundamentally 8-bit hardware.
True 16-bit processors wouldn’t become mainstream until Sega’s Mega Drive in 1988 and Nintendo’s Super Famicom in 1990.
Lin Lixin desperately wanted stronger hardware so he could realize more ambitious game ideas.
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But at this stage, 16-bit processors were still absurdly expensive.
Even Contra wouldn’t convince ordinary consumers to spend four or five hundred dollars on a home console.
Е.n̊ úm ӓ. і̌ d̃.
(End of Chapter)
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