System 32's First Shot
At the Silicon Valley Online press conference, Frank Marshall was undoubtedly the star of the show.
Standing under the spotlight, impeccably dressed in a suit, he announced ICQ's next plan—to set up Europe servers in London and launch multilingual versions simultaneously—in a seductive tone characteristic of Wall Street elites.
"ICQ is not just a product, it's a bridge," Frank said, opening his arms to the camera.
A bridge connecting human emotions in the new era. Our first stop: London.
The stage lights flashed everywhere.
Representatives from Sequoia Capital and KPCB also had a chance to speak, and they spared no praise, hailing Silicon Valley Online as "a great company that will change the future of human communication" and describing its US dollar 100 million valuation as "a humble investment in the future."
However, Tom Kalinske, the president of Sega of America and the mastermind behind all of this, was absent from the event.
At this moment, he is in the warehouse of Sega of America Headquarters in Redwood City.
A batch of brand-new System 32 Board and game cartridges labeled "MetalSlug" were just brought over directly from Hong Kong.
"Quick! Install one! Let me see how powerful this thing is!"
Tom urged the engineers on while he eagerly tore open a box.
Soon, the first Metal Slug arcade machine was assembled and turned on.
The crisp "MetalSlug" electronic sound effect rang out, and a group of engineers instantly surrounded them.
On the screen, a chibi-style cartoon soldier carries a gun and runs forward with fluid movements.
As the player presses the attack button, a burst of pistol bullets fires out, hitting the enemy soldier opposite. The enemy soldier lets out an exaggerated scream and falls down with various realistic yet exaggerated movements.
"My God! Look at this image quality! The detail!" exclaimed an engineer with an art background. "Even the way each enemy soldier dies is different!"
"And without the slightest delay! We destroyed three tanks and a sentry tower simultaneously!" The engineer in charge of the program stared intently at the screen, his eyes filled with fanaticism. "This board's capabilities are simply monstrous!"
When one of the characters touched the square icon flashing the letter "H," a crisp cocking sound and the line "heavy machine gun" came clearly from the speaker, instantly elevating the atmosphere to another level.
The player-controlled character jumped onto a round little tank, and the tank could actually jump up with it, and even lie down to dodge bullets.
"Puff!"
The small tank fired a shot, blasting a wooden bridge in front of it to pieces, sending splinters flying everywhere.
The ways player characters can die are also quite varied.
Some fell into the river and were swallowed whole by giant piranhas, spitting out a string of bones; some were hit by incendiary bombs and turned into human torches, running around screaming in agony; and some had their throats slit by enemy soldiers jumping out from behind, collapsing while clutching their bleeding necks.
For this first installment of the Metal Slug, Nakayama Takuya didn't intend to cram in all the game's most successful elements right from the start, such as a wide variety of vehicles, diverse national and cultural backgrounds, and the absurd and satirical story of warlords being used by aliens.
Takuya instructed the development team to include only two vehicles: the classic small tank and a small submersible. The development team designed an entire level specifically for this submersible, which allows it to move simultaneously on the surface, underwater, and above water, and contains a variety of enemies, all in order to maximize the combat effectiveness of the submersible.
In terms of the story background, Takuya instructed the development team to focus the scene and story on a warlord entrenched in a tropical rainforest. However, what was even more cunning than the previous game was that he added a lot of foreshadowing for the story background of subsequent games throughout the game and the scene. The final level and the final boss were set in a snowy place, which can be seen as another dig at the Soviet Union.
Tom Kalinske watched the incredibly smooth and entertaining action sequences and couldn't help but let out a loud whistle.
He could almost hear the crisp sound of countless coins hitting the coin slots in arcades across America.
A new era of arcade games has arrived!
Two days later, arcade owners and distributors from all over the United States, like sharks smelling blood, gathered in Redwood City.
Tom Kalinske was cunning; he held the order meeting directly in a warehouse full of goods, stimulating the nerves of these businessmen in the most direct way.
The first batch of Metal Slug delivered to the United States consisted of exactly two thousand units, no more, no less.
The demo area was packed with people, and exclamations of praise filled the air.
"This game is definitely going to be a hit! The graphics are amazing!"
"The rhythm is exhilarating, it's explosive from beginning to end, absolutely stress-relieving!"
However, when Tom's assistant produced the order form and announced the price, a small commotion broke out in the room.
Many business owners hesitated to place an order after reviewing the game's quality.
"Tom, the game is good." A chain arcade owner from the Midwest frowned, "But the new circuit board is almost twice as expensive as the System 16. My old machines are still profitable; such a large investment is quite risky."
"Yeah, what if the players don't buy it?"
Discussions arose, and the atmosphere became somewhat awkward.
Tom just smiled and didn't say anything.
Just then, a man wearing a floral shirt and a thick gold chain pushed through the crowd, walked to the front of the stage, and shouted in a heavy East Coast accent, "Three hundred units, I want them now! My men are outside, they'll load them directly onto the truck!"
All eyes were on him; someone recognized him as one of the largest distributors on the East Coast.
The air in the warehouse seemed to freeze instantly.
Then, it was as if a switch for panic had been flipped.
Two thousand units! There were only two thousand units in the entire United States! He snapped up three hundred of them in one go!
Are there enough goods left to distribute?
Everyone knows that the first batch of goods is the most profitable!
The sooner the machine is set up, the sooner we can recoup our costs!
That small price difference is nothing compared to the booming revenue!
"I want a hundred! Give them to Texas!"
Fifty units! Deliver them to Florida!
"Damn it, don't push! Leave me twenty!"
The business owners who were just hesitating about the price are now rushing to the signing area like madmen, waving their checkbooks as if afraid of being a step too slow.
The situation spiraled out of control instantly.
In less than two hours, two thousand Metal Slug units were completely sold out.
In the chaos, a small arcade owner from Los Angeles, who hadn't managed to snag a unit, rushed up to Tom with red eyes and pointed to the only remaining demo unit in the corner.
"Mr. Kalinske! That one! Sell that one to me! I'll raise the price!"
"Sorry, that's our demo unit--"
Before he could finish speaking, the boss pulled a large wad of cash from his pocket, slammed it on the table, and yelled, "I'll take it away myself in my pickup truck!"
Seeing the man's almost murderous gaze, Tom Kalinske paused for a moment, then burst into laughter and patted the boss on the shoulder.
"Make a deal!"
He watched with great interest as the small business owner and his partner laboriously lifted the heavy arcade machine onto their dilapidated pickup truck, as if it were a rare treasure, and drove off in a cloud of dust.
Tom's smile slowly faded, and he turned to his assistant beside him.
"Make a call to the Tokyo headquarters."
The assistant quickly picked up the phone.
Tom looked at the long line of trucks waiting to load goods outside the warehouse, and a smile returned to his lips.
"Tell Special Secretary Nakayama to prepare another ten thousand units. No, twenty thousand!" The war has only just begun.