RoleplayNovel Chapter 1 The Year of the Video Game Burial
Chapter 1 The Year of the Video Game Burial
Los Angeles, May 1984.
"The impact of the Atari shock on the gaming market continues to expand, and experts predict that the domestic gaming market will need at least twenty years to recover..."
The CRT television, with its bulky back, played today's programs intermittently, while the low-resolution speakers, unique to this era, emitted a sound full of background noise.
Lin Lixin stared blankly at the flashing screen in front of him, his expression quite interesting.
Just moments before, he was carrying the newly arrived NS2 package, happily preparing to go home and have a blast.
How did I end up in this godforsaken place in the blink of an eye?
He turned his gaze to the window; the California sun was as generous as ever, already quite scorching even in the early morning.
With beige exterior walls and red tiled roofs, several apartments with nearly identical styles line the street.
There were few pedestrians on the street, a few young people who looked like students were riding bicycles, and occasionally a boxy car would drive by.
Lin Lixin's gaze lingered on the arcade on the street corner, which had long been closed and whose windows had been smashed.
This wasn't his own neighborhood, or even any place he was familiar with.
This is Los Angeles in the last century.
【Ding! 】
Thank you for choosing this time travel service. This service is completely free.
[Binding...]
Please read and determine whether you agree to this system's user agreement.
[□ I have read and agree]
"¿"
A transparent light screen suddenly unfolded in front of Lin Lixin.
"Wait a minute, what's going on here? Did I activate my cheat so carelessly?"
If a golden opportunity is offered to you, there's no reason not to accept it.
Although Lin Lixin hadn't figured out the current situation, he still put a checkmark on the box.
【Ding! 】
[Thank you for using the Game Godfather System!]
[User]: Lin Lixin (Jesse)
【property】:
[Program Development]: 15
[Scriptwriting]: 2
[Graphic Design]: 2
[Music Composition]: 1
[Assignable attribute points]: 0
Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.
[Skill]: Empty
[Item]: New Player Gift Pack x1
"The Godfather of Games? This means I'm supposed to develop games? In this ancient era, what games even existed…?"
Lin Lixin's words caught in his throat as he stared wide-eyed at the television.
The news coverage of the Atari crash has just ended.
Just a year ago, Atari, the absolute hegemon of the North American gaming industry, made a catastrophic mistake.
Under the genius strategy of "quantity over quality", nearly 10,000 games appeared on the North American market in just one year.
The proliferation of homogenous games caused North American gamers to completely lose faith, and in the Christmas season of 1982, they were utterly devastated by E.T., one of the most infamous flops in gaming history.
The game market, which was originally worth 32 billion, has plummeted by more than 97%, completely burying the future of the domestic game industry.
Lin Lixin stared at the television and swallowed hard.
I feel like I'm standing at what is perhaps the most important crossroads in the entire history of gaming.
That year, Nintendo was still dominating the domestic market with its Famicom (FC), while the other two of the future Big Three were nowhere to be seen.
The old overlord has fallen, and the new king has yet to arrive.
This is the only vacuum period in the history of the North American gaming market.
"A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!" Lin Lixin's heart rate suddenly spiked, and he couldn't help but exclaim.
'Bang bang bang'
Just as he was about to continue studying the cheat code, there was a sudden, urgent knocking on the door.
Lin Lixin was startled and put the panel away before coming to the door.
Pushing open the door, I was greeted by a young white man with brown hair and blue eyes, still with sleep in the corners of his eyes, yawning incessantly.
"Jesse, you promised to wake me up! I'm going to be late for class today!"
As the other person spoke in English with a slight French accent, a strange memory surged into Lin Lixin's mind.
The person in front of him seemed to be his roommate, Sam, a college student majoring in computer science like Lin Lixin.
The two shared an apartment in a residential area not far from USC.
"Sorry, Sam, I was watching the news." Lin Lixin put on a slightly relaxed smile. "The Atari thing is really big, isn't it?"
Upon hearing Lin Lixin talk about games, Sam forgot about being late and spat angrily.
"F**K! Jesse, I heard that these bastards took the unsold copies of 'E.T.' to New Mexico and buried them. I even got up early to grab a few copies."
Sam felt a surge of anger rising in his chest when he thought about all the money he had wasted.
Damn it, how did the gaming industry become like this!
When I first entered the computer science field, wasn't it precisely to follow in the footsteps of the great video game industry?
Unexpectedly, before he even graduated, the gaming industry collapsed.
Lin Lixin chuckled, patted him on the shoulder, and struck a "strong" pose.
"Let's go, I don't want to be late for class today. Oh right, you're not wearing pants."
……
Today's class was early, but it wasn't long.
The morning passed in the blink of an eye. Although BASIC language seems like a foreign language compared to the elegant C# of the future, it is already easy to understand compared to the even more obscure 6502 compilation.
With no classes in the afternoon, the two grabbed a quick bite in the cafeteria and hurried home.
The two slowed their pace in front of the closed arcade on the street corner.
"Jesse, do you think video games are really dead?"
"Of course not." Lin Lixin shook his head decisively. No one knew better than him what a terrifying behemoth the future video game industry would become.
Even at the lowest point for the North American gaming industry, Nintendo remains strong in East Asia. The Famicom and the plumber game that is about to become a global phenomenon are ready to take over the throne.
"Atari does not represent the gaming industry," Lin Lixin said, continuing his steps toward the apartment. "They treat games as products on an assembly line, thinking they can win by sheer volume like a factory, and have lost respect for players, technology, and developers."
Sam quickly caught up, listening thoughtfully to Lin Lixin's unusually philosophical speech today.
"Jesse, when do you think the gaming industry will recover?"
Lin Lixin glanced at him, a smile playing on his lips.
"Things will get better this year."
He is ready to embrace this perfect stage.
"Sam, you've played games from the late Atari era, so I don't need to say more. As long as a new game that can truly be called a game appears, the gaming industry will naturally recover."
Video games are not just a novel and ingenious skill; they are art, the ninth art form in the world.
"Sam," Lin Lixin stopped in front of the door, looking at Sam who was still shaking his head and thinking about what he had just said, and slowly said, "I plan to develop a game."