November 29.
In Los Angeles, the cold wind of early winter carried a trace of bleakness.
David pushed open the glass door of the game retailer on the corner he often visited.
Warm air rushed over him from inside the store, and two or three people stood sparsely in line in front of the register.
He walked straight to the action-shooter shelves, his gaze sweeping over row after row of brand-new plastic cases, then reached out and picked up a PlayStation disc of Contra: Legacy of War.
He actually had Sega's Jupiter console at home too, but today he had deliberately chosen the Sony platform version. He simply wanted to see what kind of mess this 3D blockbuster, on which Konami had placed such high hopes and which was said to be reviving past glory in the 32-bit era, could turn into on different machines.
After paying, David casually shoved the disc into his backpack and strode out into the cold wind.
When he got home, he threw off his coat and sank heavily into the living room sofa.
He turned on the TV and powered up the PlayStation.
As the lid clicked shut, the low hum of the disc spinning at high speed echoed through the quiet living room, like a mechanical beast panting for breath.
The screen lit up, and the logos of Konami and the outsourcing studio Appaloosa flashed past.
Immediately afterward, the 3D-modeled Contra protagonist Bill appeared in the center of the screen.
David gripped the controller, his brows knitting slightly. "The modeling detail is a tiny bit better than the demo version at E3, but only to the point where you can tell it's shaped like a person." He muttered to himself and pushed the directional stick with his thumb.
The character began running forward,