Building a Gaming Empire In 1984

GAMENOVA (Nova Games)

The two of them struggled to hang several large, illuminated letters on the wall. Once everything was in place, they connected the power.

The sign lit up.

"Game Nova..."

Sam muttered the words under his breath, his eyes growing brighter and brighter.

"Ethan, no… Ethan! That's an amazing name!"

Even though he had personally helped purchase the entire sign set, seeing the store's name shining brightly on the wall still filled him with an excitement he could hardly contain.

In astronomy, Nova refers to a celestial phenomenon known as a "new star."

Born from a violent explosion, it suddenly blazes with overwhelming brilliance.

It emerges from the glorious death of an aging star, heralding the birth of something new.

That was exactly what Sam hoped Ethan would become.

Ethan patted Sam on the shoulder.

Though his tone remained calm, the joy on his face betrayed him.

"Alright, you've admired it long enough. Let's get inside and get to work. We've got a busy day ahead of us."

"Sir, yes sir!"

...

Saturday. Clear skies.

At dawn, the horizon had only just begun to brighten.

A sneaky figure darted through the silent streets and crept toward the Nova Games storefront.

Carrying a bag filled with bread and soda, Vivian arrived precisely on schedule.

But when she reached the entrance to Nova Games, she froze.

More than a dozen extremely familiar faces were already lined up outside, chatting and laughing together.

Their preparations were no less thorough than hers.

Some had even brought picnic mats, spreading them on the ground so groups of friends could sit together while they waited.

There were also several unfamiliar faces mixed among them.

Those were clearly friends dragged here by the hardcore fans who had become completely obsessed.

Someone in the line recognized Vivian and greeted her with a grin.

"Oh, Miss Vivian. If you're still planning to get first place, you'll need to arrive a few hours earlier than this."

"Hah! She thought we'd show up at noon like last week!"

Staring at the long queue, Vivian clenched her teeth.

"You people have absolutely no sense of chivalry. Haven't you ever heard of Ladies First?"

"Sorry. I believe in first come, first served."

"Oh, give me a break. Just last month I heard you shouting that gaming was dead."

"That was before. Their games are different. Seriously. You'll understand once you've played them."

As the group descended into another round of noisy arguing, Vivian finally gave up and silently took her place at the very end of the line.

An hour later, another long queue had formed behind her.

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Most of the people were familiar faces she recognized from the previous playtest event.

As for the strangers, Vivian could tell at a glance that they had been dragged here by their friends.

It was obvious from their expressions.

The veterans who had come willingly were glowing with excitement.

Even after standing outside for several hours, they showed no signs of boredom. If anything, their anticipation only grew stronger as time passed.

The friends who had been forcibly brought along, however, were in a completely different state.

It was the weekend.

Before sunrise, they'd been dragged out of bed and forced to stand in a long line outside an old arcade that looked like it was about to collapse.

Several of them couldn't take it anymore and had already sat down on the ground to doze off.

"I swear, Mike, if that so-called masterpiece you're talking about turns out to be more of your nonsense, I'm going to kill you. Damn it, it's only seven in the morning!"

"Trust me, Neil. Since when have I ever lied to you?"

"Every single time, Mike! Every single time! Remember when you dragged me out of bed before four in the morning to buy E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial?

In case you've forgotten, let me remind you, I bought three copies! Three!!"

...

By the time Ethan and Sam finished washing up, getting dressed, and walking out of their apartment, the line across the street had nearly reached their building.

Not daring to waste any time, the two hurried over amidst a chorus of cheers and opened the arcade doors.

It was the day Ethan gained the deepest possible understanding of the phrase "streaming in one after another."

The players who had been waiting all morning practically flooded into the arcade, packing the interior wall to wall.

Naturally, their primary targets were the three Tetris machines positioned in the center.

After all the preparations over the past several days, Ethan had increased the number of Tetris cabinets to three.

A growth rate of two hundred percent.

Yet even that wasn't enough to satisfy the players' enthusiasm.

After the initial scramble, they quickly divided into three separate lines, one for each machine.

As for the other arcade cabinets in the store, they couldn't have cared less.

Neil, who had been dragged here by his friend, got spun around repeatedly by the crowd before finally managing to break free.

"This is unbelievable. They're all completely insane!"

After being tricked into buying E.T. before, Neil had developed a deep hatred for anything that was currently popular.

Video games were dead.

After playing several titles Atari had released during that disastrous Christmas season, the idea had become permanently etched into his mind.

Even if arcades were gaming's final sanctuary, Neil wasn't willing to give video games another ounce of goodwill.

If Mike hadn't insisted on dragging him here, he never would have come to a place like this.

Looking at Mike enthusiastically standing in line, Neil couldn't bring himself to ruin his friend's mood.

He sighed quietly and began looking around the arcade.

"My God, were these machines salvaged from a junkyard?"

He casually glanced at a Pac-Man cabinet.

The condition of the screen alone was enough to reveal that most of the machines here were quite old.

Could a store that had to buy second-hand arcade cabinets just to save money really manage to obtain some amazing new game that even he had never heard of?

His gaze landed on an Xevious cabinet.

Among all the machines in the arcade, its monitor appeared to be in the best condition.

"Whatever. Since I'm already here, I might as well play something."

As the forerunner of scrolling shoot-'em-ups, Xevious was naturally familiar to Neil.

There had even been a period when he was obsessed with it.

But when he walked up to the machine, he discovered that the cabinet decorated with Xevious artwork wasn't actually running Xevious at all.

Instead, it was running a game he had never even heard of.

1942.

"Huh?"

Neil blinked.

Then he simply took out a coin and inserted it.

Before he could even figure out the controls, a hand suddenly landed on his shoulder.

"Friend, want to play co-op mode?"

Neil turned around.

There was something in Sam's eyes that he couldn't understand.

Those eyes resembled those of a soldier who had endured the fires of war and still remained steadfast in his beliefs.

"Uh... sure, why not? Though this is my first time playing."

...

Behind the counter, Ethan reclined comfortably in a lounge chair while leisurely reviewing the current situation.

The copyright protection application for Tetris had already received a response.

Within the next couple of days, he could begin preparing for production and sales.

The application for 1942 had also been submitted.

It would probably be approved within the next few days as well.

He closed his eyes and summoned the system interface.

Between yesterday and now, he had been so busy that he still hadn't opened the Skill Gift Pack he had received.

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