Building a Gaming Empire In 1984

"So, aren't we supposed to be meeting with an animation company to discuss a partnership?"

Sam stared at the humble little building in front of him. It looked nothing like the corporate headquarters he had imagined. This was just a group that published gaming magazines.

"Oh… I get it now."

Before Ethan could even think of an excuse to fool him, Sam clapped his hands together and convinced himself.

"Our handheld's resolution isn't that high, and it can't really render flashy animation anyway."

The planned NovaPocket would use a 2.6-inch reflective dot-matrix LCD screen with a maximum resolution of just 160×144. Compared to the 640×350 EGA standard commonly used by the NovaBox, it was undeniably blurry.

The more Sam thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed. He couldn't help admiring Ethan's foresight.

A handheld wasn't a home console. It didn't have a huge television screen, so sacrificing some resolution was perfectly acceptable.

The drawbacks of lowering the resolution were manageable.

But the advantages were obvious. Lower power consumption, lower manufacturing costs, and lower art production costs.

"Instead of spending a fortune hiring a top-tier animation studio to make animations we can't even use, we're taking a different approach by finding a group of illustrators instead."

"Not only are they a better fit, but they're cheaper too, and probably easier to negotiate with."

The more he talked, the brighter Sam's eyes became. He nodded repeatedly in admiration.

"Not bad. You are really a genius."

When it came to talking himself into something, Sam had always been in a league of his own.

Ethan smiled and simply went along with his train of thought.

"You know, I've realized you're incredibly good at cheering yourself up."

"?"

...

Twenty years old was the age to struggle and chase one's dreams.

Satoshi Tajiri listened blankly as the two introduced themselves, then exchanged bewildered glances with the nineteen year old Ken Sugimori.

The name GAMENOVA was already legendary within the gaming industry. Even in Japan, where they had no official distribution, all sorts of urban legends about the company had spread.

"The world's first true 3D game."

"The world's first true open-world RPG."

One prestigious title after another had been attached to the mysterious company.

As for the legendary NovaBox, the only way to get one in Japan was to buy an imported American console from backpackers at an outrageous price, and it didn't even support Japanese.

"Um... Mr. Hayes," Satoshi said, licking his dry lips, "are you really the founder of GAMENOVA?"

The man didn't look much older than he was. How could he possibly be GAMENOVA's boss? Sure, he had a partner with him, but no matter how he looked at it, the whole thing felt suspicious.

Besides, even if it were true, why would GAMENOVA come looking for them? They weren't Namco, Sega, or Nintendo. They weren't even a newly established game company like SNK. They were just a small fan magazine publisher.

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At best, their Game Freak had become briefly famous a couple of years ago after publishing How to Score Ten Million Points in Xevious. But other than that, he couldn't think of anything in their magazine that would interest Ethan.

Except money.

Damn it!

The moment he figured that out, enlightenment dawned upon Tajiri.

So, they were scammers!

Seeing the distrust on their faces, Ethan didn't bother explaining further. He simply gestured for Sam to bring over their suitcase.

"Sam, bring out the gear."

After a chorus of clattering sounds, a brand-new NovaBox and several floppy disks appeared before Satoshi.

After making a few simple adjustments for display standards and voltage compatibility, they borrowed the monitor in the office. For the first time in his life, Satoshi laid eyes on NovaBox.

"I remember your company did quite a bit of research on Xevious, didn't it?"

Ethan selected the console version of 1942 from the menu and inserted it into the system.

"This is a shoot-'em-up I developed in homage to the veterans at Namco. Would the two of you be interested in giving it a try?"

Satoshi and Ken exchanged another glance. Both of them could see the temptation in each other's eyes.

Sure, they might be scammers, but if they were only trying the game, nothing bad should happen, right?

The NovaBox was an incredibly rare sight in Japan. With one controller each, the multiplayer co-op mode in 1942 was perfect for the two of them to enjoy together.

...

Although neither of them had actually written that famous Xevious strategy article, they were no strangers to the shoot-'em-up genre.

Whether it was Namco or any of the other companies, they had all released major arcade and console shooters. But 1942, this was unlike anything Satoshi had ever seen.

Something was wrong. The random upgrade drops from defeated enemies and the dynamically changing enemy formations alone gave 1942 far more replay value than other games.

Add in the gorgeous visual effects, buttery-smooth scrolling, and synthesized radio communication effects. It felt like something from an entirely different era than Xevious.

Satoshi slowly set down his controller, completely lost. Then the two of them were shown Wolfenstein 3D.

"?"

"??"

What the hell… How had the gaming industry in America evolved into this??

Knock knock knock.

Suddenly, someone tapped on the glass storefront. Only then did Satoshi snap back to reality and look up.

At some point, a small delivery truck had pulled up outside. A man dressed like a delivery worker stood there, with a large stack of brand-new magazines piled beside him.

They weren't Game Freak's own publications. They were overseas gaming magazines that Satoshi had ordered.

As a gaming media outlet, he had never been content to shut himself off from the outside world. Every so often, he would order batches of foreign gaming magazines to study and learn from.

Unlike Famitsu, however, popular overseas publications such as Electronic Games weren't easy to obtain. So, they were usually accumulated and delivered in large batches.

The moment Satoshi spotted Electronic Games among the stack, his eyes lit up. Well, wasn't this perfect timing?

He had been wondering how to deal with these two, and now the answer had arrived at his doorstep.

If he remembered correctly, one of the recent issues of Electronic Games had featured an exclusive one on one interview with GAMENOVA's founder.

"Excuse me for a moment."

Ken volunteered to carry the magazines inside.

Heh… Just imagining exposing these fraudsters to their faces felt satisfying.

But barely a minute later, Satoshi's hand froze in midair. There was no need to flip through the pages looking for the interview anymore.

Ethan's face was printed boldly right on the cover of one of the issues. Beside him sat the editor in chief of Electronic Games.

Game Freak was officially closed to visitors today!

...

"S-So... Ethan... what brings you here today?"

"I noticed that Game Freak's illustrations and programs are quite interesting. As it happens, I've recently found myself needing talent in that area."

Ethan pulled a sketch out of his bag.

It depicted a pink... kitten? Or rather, instead of a kitten, it looked more like a fantasy creature that didn't exist anywhere in the real world.

It had a pair of bright blue eyes full of mischief, and its entire body possessed a subtle balance that made it irresistibly adorable.

"I call it Mew. It's one of the creatures that will appear in the new game I'm currently developing."

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