PFC Chapter 13 GAMENOVA is in operation
Chapter 13 GAMENOVA is in operation
GAMENOVA (New Star Games)
The two of them laboriously hung several large letter light signs on the wall and turned on the power.
"Game Nova..." Sam muttered the words above, his eyes growing brighter and brighter.
"Jesse, no, Lynn! That's a wonderful name!"
Although he helped purchase the entire set of light signs, the excitement in his heart was still hard to contain when he actually saw the entire store name light up on the wall.
In astronomy, "Nova" refers to a celestial body called a "nova".
It was born from a violent explosion, its brightness suddenly increasing and becoming dazzling.
It was born on the occasion of a glorious funeral for an old star, preparing for the birth of a new star.
That was exactly what Sam expected of Lin Lixin.
Lin Lixin patted Sam on the shoulder. Although his tone was calm, the undisguised joy on his face betrayed him.
"Alright, if you've seen enough, come inside and get to work. You're going to be busy today."
"Sir, yes sir!"
……
Saturday, sunny.
At dawn, a sliver of white had just appeared on the horizon.
A furtive figure darted quickly across the quiet street and crept towards the New Star Games store.
Vivian arrived at the scene right on time, carrying a bag of bread and soda.
But when she arrived at the entrance of New Star Games, she was dumbfounded.
A dozen or so very familiar-looking players lined up, chatting and laughing with each other.
Their setup was no less impressive than Vivian's; some even brought picnic mats, which they spread out on the ground to accommodate a few friends who got along well.
There were several unfamiliar faces among them that Vivian had never seen before; they were clearly friends invited by the players who had gotten carried away.
Someone in the group recognized Vivian and greeted her with a smile.
"Oh, Miss Vivian, if you still want to win first place, you'd better come a few hours earlier."
"Ha! This guy thought we'd come at noon like last week!"
Vivian stared at the long line, gritted her teeth, and said, "You bunch of uncivilized bastards, haven't you ever heard of 'Ladies First'?"
"Sorry, I follow the first-come, first-served rule."
"Come on, last month I heard you yelling 'The game is dead'."
"That was before. Their games were different, really. Oh, you'll see once you play them."
Seeing the group arguing and bickering again, Vivian completely lost her nerve and silently joined the end of the line.
An hour later, a long line also formed behind her.
Most of the people here were acquaintances; they were all familiar faces I had seen during the trial play that day.
Vivian could immediately guess that the remaining strangers were friends who had been forcibly brought over.
You can tell just by looking at their expressions.
The "veterans" who volunteered to queue up were all beaming. Even though they had been standing in the field for hours, they were not bored at all. In fact, as time went by, their excitement grew.
The friends who were forcibly brought along were in a completely different state from them.
On a rare weekend, I was dragged out of bed before dawn to stand in a long line in front of this old, dilapidated arcade!
Several people couldn't stay awake any longer and sat down on the ground to doze off, completely lacking energy.
"I guarantee you, Mike, if your 'masterpiece' is just more of your nonsense, I'll kill you. Damn it, it's only seven!"
"Trust me, Neil. When have I ever lied to you, buddy?"
"Every time! Mike, every single time! Do you remember last time you dragged me out of bed before four to rush to buy 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'? Just in case you don't remember, let me remind you, I bought three copies! Three!!"
……
When Lin Lixin and his companion finished washing up and getting dressed and walked out of the apartment, the line across the street was almost stretching all the way to their apartment door.
Without delay, the two opened the arcade door amidst cheers from the crowd.
This was the day Lin Lixin gained the deepest understanding of the idiom "entering in single file" in his entire life.
Players who had been waiting all morning practically flooded into the store, packing it to capacity.
Their primary target, naturally, is the three channels broadcasting "Tetris" in the center.
After such a long period of preparation, Lin Lixin and his team have increased the number of Tetris units to three, a year-on-year increase of 200%.
Even so, it was still not enough to quell the players' enthusiasm.
After the initial struggle ended, they quickly split into three groups, each setting up one of the platforms.
As for the other machines in the store, they didn't even bother to glance at them.
Neil, who had been dragged there by his friend, was jostled around in the crowd and barely managed to extricate himself.
"Unbelievable, what a bunch of lunatics!"
Having been tricked into buying "E.T." before, Neil hates these popular products more than anything in his life.
Video games are dead.
The idea was firmly imprinted in his mind after he played several games that Atari released that Christmas.
Even if arcades are the last bastion of freedom, NieR is no longer willing to give video games any more favorable treatment.
If Mike hadn't insisted on bringing him here, he would never have ended up in a place like this.
He looked at Mike, who was in high spirits in the queue, and couldn't bear to spoil his mood, so he sighed silently and glanced at the other machines in the arcade.
"My God, are these machines all salvaged from a junkyard?"
He glanced at any Pac-Man game console, and the status of the screen clearly told him that these machines were quite old.
Shops that sell arcade machines cheaply, even secondhand ones, must really have a way of getting fun new machines that even they don't know about?
His gaze fell on a "Iron Plate Array" TV, whose screen seemed to be in the best condition among them.
"Well, since we're already here, let's just have some fun."
Neil was naturally familiar with "Ironclad," the progenitor of scrolling shoot 'em up games, and even became quite addicted to it for a time.
But when he got to the machine, he saw that the machine painted with the "Iron Plate Formation" pattern was not playing the "Iron Plate Formation" game he wanted to play at all.
It was a game he had never even heard of.
1942
"Huh?"
Neil hesitated for a moment, then simply took out a coin and tossed it in.
Before he could even study the control buttons, a hand suddenly landed on his shoulder.
"Hey buddy, wanna play in co-op mode?"
Neil turned his head, and there was something in Sam's eyes that he couldn't understand.
Those eyes were like those of a warrior who, despite the baptism of war, remained steadfast in his beliefs.
"Uh... of course you can, but this is my first time playing."
……
Behind the bar, Lin Lixin leaned back in his recliner, leisurely pondering the current situation.
We have received a reply regarding the copyright protection for "Tetris", and we can start preparing for production and sales in the next couple of days.
The application for "1942" has also been submitted, and it should be released in the next few days.
He closed his eyes and brought up the system panel.
He's been busy since yesterday, and he still hasn't opened a skill pack.