Over the course of that month, aside from keeping an eye on the overall direction of the console's development, Ethan devoted all of his remaining time to drafting the design document for The Legend of Zelda.
Who would have thought that one of the earliest open-world RPGs would be released on a machine as underpowered as the Famicom?
Ethan considered himself to have been working at maximum efficiency during this period, running nonstop day and night. Yet someone else moved even faster than he did.
Early morning.
Sam was awakened by a series of impatient knocks on the door. Still groggy, he stumbled over and opened the apartment door.
"Hey, you. I'm looking for Ethan."
The speaker was a brat Sam had never seen before, looking no older than a high school student. He was carrying a medium-sized suitcase and spoke with the arrogant attitude of someone ordering Sam around.
"Where'd this little punk come from? Running around playing pranks this early in the morning? Go bother someone else."
Sam had already been pulling all-nighters and working overtime every day lately. He was severely sleep-deprived. Today was finally supposed to be a day off, and now some brat had interrupted his precious sleep.
As they spoke, the sound of Ethan yawning came from behind him. When he saw that the visitor was John Carmack, even he froze in surprise for a moment.
What the hell is going on? Did this kid secretly run away from home and come all the way here?
Ethan had absolutely no doubt that Carmack was capable of doing something like that.
"Ethan, I made the thing you asked for."
Carmack paid no attention to either of their attitudes. He pulled a storage chip out of his bag.
Ethan scratched his head helplessly and invited him inside first.
"Didn't I tell you to focus on your studies? Did you sneak out? From Kansas all the way to California?"
Carmack rolled his eyes at him, reached into his bag again, and pulled out an opened mailing envelope. Ethan took the envelope and pulled out its contents. The moment he saw it, his vision went black.
University of Kansas acceptance letter.
"You got your high school diploma and got admitted to the University of Kansas in a single month?"
"Wait, he's the person you said you went to Kansas to find?"
Sam jolted upright, instantly wide awake. Everything about their conversation suggested that Ethan's previous business trip to Kansas had been specifically to recruit this brat.
...
Santa Clara.
Every current member of GAMENOVA stared at each other in bewilderment before looking at the unbearably arrogant kid standing beside Ethan.
"Ahem... Anyway, that's basically the situation. Carmack will be staying with me for the time being."
"No, Ethan, are you serious?"
Vivian looked Carmack up and down. His stubborn, cocky attitude was anything but likable.
"Come on, Carmack. Show them what you've got."
Without further explanation, Ethan patted Carmack on the shoulder and gestured for him to demonstrate the program he had written.
A few minutes later.
Even top-tier engineers like Gerald and Kwok had changed expressions.
Stolen story; please report.
Displayed on the screen was clearly the image of a small room. Not the usual side-scrolling 2D view or top-down perspective.
It was 3D.
3D!!!
Blue brick walls, an earth-gray floor, and a concrete-colored ceiling.
Although there were no shadows, highlights, or other visual details, it was already unmistakably a three-dimensional room to the naked eye.
As Carmack pushed the joystick, the viewpoint even moved around inside the room. Forward and backward movement, turning left and right, it had everything it needed.
The only flaw was that it couldn't look up or down. The camera remained fixed on a horizontal plane. Carmack crossed his arms and raised his chin so high it was practically pointing at the ceiling.
"This is a pseudo-3D technology I achieved using a ray-casting algorithm."
There could be no more convincing proof than this program.
Even Ethan, who had expected it, felt pleasantly surprised. The quality of the 3D rendering had completely met his expectations.
Change of plans.
Prepare to develop Wolfenstein 3D!
Guns were one of America's three great staples and an evergreen theme in video games.
...
New Jersey.
Nintendo American Headquarter, Engineering Department.
Minoru Arakawa, the American branch president who had been invited by his father in law, Hiroshi Yamauchi, to establish Nintendo in America back in 1980, stood before a flat, box-shaped machine.
"President, the NES prototype has been completed."
NES, short for Nintendo Entertainment System.
The name had been chosen by Minoru Arakawa. In reality, the NES was merely an American version of the Famicom with a different shell, the hardware specifications were almost identical.
The reason was naturally to adapt to the American home console market, which Atari had nearly ruined beyond repair.
Both players and parents now had severe PTSD when it came to the term "video game console."
A more neutral name would help reactivate this market with its enormous commercial potential.
"Atari has already destroyed its own reputation. We don't need to worry about their new machine. The real issue is..."
His gaze fell upon an intelligence report.
[Report Regarding SEGA's Development of the New Master System Console]
If the report was accurate, then SEGA was the opponent they truly needed to fear. The SEGA Master System's specifications were almost a complete upgrade over the NES, yet it was priced at the same $199.99.
The machine had obviously been designed specifically to intercept Nintendo's American strategy.
"President, should we adjust our specifications as well?"
The engineering staff were aware of the Master System's capabilities and shared the concern.
Minoru Arakawa pondered for a moment before shaking his head.
"No. This is enough. Run the tests and arrange a trial launch in New York this week."
His business instincts were sharp. He immediately saw through the apparent sweetness of competing solely on hardware specifications, it was a trap.
They weren't Atari.
Nintendo's greatest strength wasn't the hardware. It was their outstanding game lineup.
To win this war that was destined to be bloody and ruthless, Arakawa had prepared an exceptionally vicious strategy.
Bundle Super Mario Bros with the system. Anyone who bought an NES would receive a Super Mario Bros cartridge for free.
That was a phenomenon level video game developed by Shigeru Miyamoto at Nintendo's headquarters in Japan.
No player could possibly resist its allure.
Arakawa simply didn't believe that any other game in the world could match Super Mario Bros, let alone surpass its influence.
It wasn't arrogance. But neither Atari nor SEGA could possibly achieve such a feat.
Unless a dark horse suddenly descended from nowhere and emerged out of America's decaying video game industry.
That was even less likely. Probably... impossible, right?
...
Click.
Ethan inserted the floppy disk into the NovaBox prototype.
After several seconds of loading, the CRT television connected to the console flickered and displayed the game's main menu.
Wolfenstein 3D.
Looking at the shirtless guy on the cover holding a rotary machine gun, Ethan smacked his lips.
"Is the problem with me? Why does it feel like I've made another game with such an 'Arnold Schwarzenegger' style?"
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