Building a Gaming Empire In 1984

After a lengthy conversation, Ethan was surprised to discover that his previous impression of Steve had been somewhat mistaken. The man really was a gamer with a genuine passion for video games.

Many of the little Easter eggs Ethan had hidden in subtle details were things Steve could enthusiastically talk about at length. Some of the observations he made even caught Ethan by surprise.

"Mhm... so that's what I was thinking back then. Impressive."

Even Sam's attitude softened after Steve demonstrated his expertise.

Sam himself was a die-hard gaming enthusiast, so he could immediately tell that Steve was someone who had spent countless hours actually playing games.

You couldn't possibly explain things in such depth just by parroting what you'd heard online. Sensing that Ethan's attitude towards him had genuinely improved, Steve visibly relaxed.

"Mutual understanding is wonderful."

"It's nothing. It's just frustration because you care. If a game company I liked released a steaming pile of garbage, I'd criticize them too."

Ethan laughed heartily before changing the subject, meeting Steve's eyes.

"But Steve, I imagine that's not the only reason you've come here today?"

"That's right... To be honest with you."

Steve nodded without hesitation. Now that the misunderstanding had been cleared up, there was no point beating around the bush.

"Ethan, I'd like to publish a one on one interview with you in the next issue of Electronic Games."

Electronic Games was a comprehensive gaming magazine with three regular sections in every issue.

Reviews of new releases, hardware reviews, and developer interviews.

Because of the magazine's mistaken review of Harvest Moon, Electronic Games had recently been under relentless attack from angry readers to the point that its normal operations had been affected.

For a professional gaming publication, damage to its reputation was a terrifying thing. It could be said that Steve had truly suffered a devastating blow this time, one that struck at the very foundation of the magazine.

Still, he had no one to blame but himself. The only solution he could think of was to reconcile with GAMENOVA and invite the game's creator for an interview. Only then could they hope to reverse public opinion.

"Of course."

Ethan accepted almost immediately, without much hesitation. After all, GAMENOVA and Electronic Games had never truly been enemies. On the contrary, Steve was someone well worth having as a valuable connection.

If they could bring Electronic Games onto GAMENOVA's side, it would naturally be an excellent outcome. Even if they couldn't establish a true partnership of shared interests, building a good relationship would bring nothing but benefits.

...

The interview was scheduled for the following afternoon at the GAMENOVA arcade.

After several rounds of renovations by Sam, the modest storefront had now been transformed into one of the most advanced shops for miles around.

Coupled with the now-famous GAMENOVA name, even though their arcade cabinets had already been sold across the country, the store itself still had long lines every single day.

Besides players who genuinely lived nearby, even more people came with a pilgrim's mindset.

Although few were lucky enough to meet Ethan, there was often a chance to see Sam, the man who had built GAMENOVA's earliest arcade machines.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Although it was an interview, it wasn't a television program, it was for a print magazine. This time, Electronic Games had only sent Steve as the interviewer, along with a note taker and a photographer to document the event.

"Fuck! Isn't that guy..."

"It's him! Ethan Hayes! The legend himself!"

The moment the group appeared at the entrance, quite a few people immediately recognized the young face surrounded in the middle.

The creator behind numerous legendary masterpieces. The founder of GAMENOVA, the newly rising gaming company.

Unfortunately, he clearly hadn't come to hold a fan meeting. Before long, a section of the store was cordoned off and furnished with a table and chairs. Ethan and Steve took seats opposite each other.

"So... shall we begin?"

After receiving Ethan's confirmation, Steve pulled out the list of questions he had prepared in advance and officially started the interview.

"Ethan, in one of our previous issues, we published an article about the Easter eggs hidden in The Legend of Zelda."

"It's a great honor to have this opportunity to speak with you today. Are there any other Easter eggs that players still haven't discovered, which you might be willing to reveal?"

The depth of The Legend of Zelda's design was astonishing.

The more deeply one explored the game, the more hidden details emerged, things that were impossible to notice with only a surface-level understanding.

Hearing the topic of the interview, the players gathered around couldn't help but feel surprised. So, it was Electronic Games?

They had actually made peace with GAMENOVA?

And why did the man interviewing Ethan still have obvious bruises around his eyes despite clearly trying to cover them up with makeup? It looked as though someone had smashed him in the face with a club.

"Ah, I read that issue. It talked about the secret code to unlock the Second Quest directly."

One of the onlookers, clearly an avid reader of gaming magazines, immediately ran over to the magazine rack and pulled out a copy.

"Right, it's in this issue. If you name the protagonist 'ZELDA,' you can unlock the Second Quest immediately."

That incredibly well-hidden Easter egg had been something Steve had discovered purely by accident during his playtesting.

As someone who reviewed games for a living, he had far too many titles to play every day. Rather than think of a unique name for every character, he had simply used the official default name.

To his surprise, it had produced an unexpected reward.

"Easter eggs? Let me think..."

Ethan raised an eyebrow. It really was quite an interesting topic.

"If we're talking about my favorite Easter egg, then it has to be Contra."

"Contra? That one?"

Steve blinked in surprise. He had expected Ethan to choose something more famous, like Wolfenstein or Street Fighter.

Instead, he had picked Contra, one of GAMENOVA's earliest releases.

The game's greatest strengths were its exhilarating combat and its theme, which perfectly aligned with the mainstream spirit of the entertainment industry.

Combined with Arnold Schwarzenegger's powerful involvement, it had become an immortal classic.

But in terms of depth… Steve blinked. To put it bluntly, there really wasn't that much to analyze in the game. It was simply pure fun.

Ethan laughed.

Cheat codes had always been one of the gaming world's favorite topics of conversation.

Leaving aside famous future cheat codes like "WhosYourDaddy " and "Panzer," even back in the early 8-bit era there had already been countless imaginative secret commands.

Among them, the most famous in later generations was naturally the classic "spell" from Contra.

In the future, this cheat code would become an iconic meme, spreading everywhere and becoming a symbol unique to an entire generation's gaming memories.

Even the famous Yu-Gi-Oh! card Enemy Controller had flavor text referencing this Easter egg.

Seeing the puzzled expression on Steve's face as he waited for an explanation, Ethan slowly spoke, reciting a seemingly nonsensical sequence.

"Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start. Oh, right, this only works in the home console version."

The moment they heard that, every player in the shop turned toward the demo area by the wall, where two NovaBox consoles were set up.

The two people who had been trying out games immediately realized something exciting was happening and hurriedly swapped in the Contra cartridge.

Following Ethan's instructions, they entered the sequence exactly as he had said, and the character's lives suddenly jumped from three to thirty.

"What??"

Seeing the crowd's stunned expressions, Ethan grinned.

After all, he still had one absolutely massive surprise prepared for Contra. The fact that no one had discovered it yet was making him itch with anticipation.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!