Virtua Fighter Launches

Just as Minoru Arakawa was racking his brains over the "Collector's Edition" offensive for Final Fantasy IV, only to watch helplessly as SNES consoles slowly piled up in warehouses, Nakayama Takuya's third heavy blow had already silently crossed the Pacific Ocean and arrived in North America.

Night falls over the docks of Port of San Francisco.

Ten thousand brand-new arcade cabinets, along with their core— Sega's first-generation 3D arcade board, Model 1—and the game named Virtua Fighter, were being quietly unloaded from a cargo ship.

To deliver this powerful blow, Nakayama Takuya specifically arranged for the establishment of a separate production line, thus ensuring that the booming supply of Metal Slug in the Japan domestic market was not affected in the slightest.

Nintendo North America Division informants were all focused on the sales figures for game cartridges and home consoles, completely unaware that a storm capable of upending the entire arcade industry was quietly brewing right under their noses.

Sega's North America headquarters in Redwood City has been bustling with visitors lately.

A group of bloated arcade owners, their faces gleaming with the same oily sheen nourished by money, were gathered in twos and threes, puffing out cigars.

"Hey Frank, how's your Metal Slug going? Those kids have worn the coin slots on my machines down to the bone!" The portly shop owner patted his belly smugly.

"Don't even mention it," the man called Frank complained with a pained expression, "I have to hire a temporary worker every day just to count coins. Damn Sega, can't they give my arms a break for a couple of days?"

A burst of laughter erupted from the crowd, filling the air with a joyful atmosphere.

For them, Metal Slug wasn't a game, but a money-printing machine.

After the laughter subsided, someone changed the subject. "But I heard Sega has come up with something new this time? What's it called—3D fighting game?"

"3D? What's that?"

"That sounds expensive! I don't want to go through all that trouble again. Metal Slug can still be popular for another year!"

Just as they were discussing this, a Sega sales manager walked over with a beaming smile.

"Gentlemen, it's a pleasure to see how satisfied you all are with Metal Slug." He clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention. "However, if Metal Slug was the finest appetizer of our time, then what we're about to present is an unprecedented feast."

Behind him, two staff members pushed open a door, revealing a brand-new machine with a futuristic design and a deep-set screen.

Virtua Fighter.

The business owners' curiosity was piqued, and they all crowded around.

"This is 3D?" Frank squinted, examining the machine, which was even larger than the one in Metal Slug. "It doesn't look like anything special."

The sales manager smiled, offered no further explanation, and simply pressed the start button.

When the demonstration footage appeared, the previously noisy crowd instantly fell silent.

On the screen, two angular characters, whose forms are entirely "human," move, punch, kick, and dodge on a three-dimensional arena. The sense of spatial depth and the fluid movements are something they have never seen in any 2D game before.

"My God—" someone muttered unconsciously, "They—they managed to dodge to the side?"

"However, the design is still a bit rough. Will players accept these blocky characters?"

Frank's cigar, which he had been holding in his mouth, fell to the ground without him noticing. He stared intently at the screen, his mouth slightly agape.

He finally understood what "3D" meant.

"What about the price?" After a brief moment of shock, the most practical question was raised.

When the sales manager announced a price that was significantly higher than that of Metal Slug, a collective gasp rippled through the crowd.

It is indeed very expensive.

However, after witnessing that groundbreaking visual, the price doesn't seem so unacceptable anymore; the only concern remains how well players will accept it.

However, given Sega's consistent dominance in the arcade market and its unparalleled leading position in the fighting game field, after a brief hesitation, orders began to pour in.

"Sega is really releasing one game after another this winter—" Frank muttered to himself, shaking his head as he signed the order for twenty units.

Despite his verbal complaints, he wrote with considerable force, as if afraid of ordering less than others.

He was already imagining the wild screams the kids would erupt when the machine appeared in his arcade.

Trucks loaded with Virtua Fighter departed from Redwood City, heading to every corner of the North America continent.

Frank's initial order was placed with such ease, but now he's filled with apprehension.

Twenty Virtua Fighter —that's no small sum.

He watched as the workers placed these brand-new behemoths in the most prominent spot in the arcade, his heart pounding. Could those angular "blocky" figures really attract the kids whose tastes had been spoiled by Metal Slug?

The first group of players gathered around, their faces showing curiosity as well as scrutiny.

"Hey, is this 3D? It looks like building blocks."

"There seem to be too few characters, just like in the first generation of <Fatal Fury>. How long can a fight last with only a few people?"

The doubts weren't loud, but they reached Frank's ears clearly, making his heart sink even further.

However, everything changed when the first player tossed in a coin and gripped the joystick.

There are no flashy Hadoken, and no exaggerated special moves.

The "blocky guy" threw a simple punch, but his opponent dodged to the side and followed up with a clean elbow strike, making him stagger.

"Wow!" A gasp rippled through the crowd.

This completely ignited everyone's interest.

This is no longer the static, point-and-shoot exchanges of 2D fighting games, but true "fighting."

Dodge, block, sidestep—three-dimensional space brings endless possibilities.

The game is very easy to pick up; the three buttons for punch, kick, and defense are very self-explanatory.

But soon, people discovered the terrifying aspects of it.

Simple command combinations can generate countless combos and tactics.

A novice might be able to get by by randomly pressing buttons, but a master can use precise judgment and operation to manipulate their opponent at will.

Hardcore, authentic, yet incredibly easy to pick up and play.

"Again! Damn it, I should have blocked first!" The first boy to lose, his face flushed, pulled another twenty-five-cent coin from his pocket without thinking and shoved it into the coin slot.