GAMENOVA All-in-One Card

Henry returned behind the counter and sat in a recliner, idly scrolling through his NovaPocket handheld game.

His peripheral vision swept across the arcade.

Thanks to his keen eye for selecting machines and his skillful management, his small shop has now become quite successful.

The area has more than tripled, and the entire room is covered with fluorescent lights, making it much brighter.

However, this newly added area has not yet been fully filled.

There is still an area inside the store that is vacant.

There's nothing we can do about it. There are only so many arcade machines worth buying. Apart from fighting games like Street Fighter with an incredibly high turnover rate, other machines are also popular, but they're not as wildly successful as they were during the golden age of arcades.

After thinking it over, the reason doesn't seem too hard to guess.

It's simply that game developers, led by Gamenova, have shifted their focus to console and PC games.

Arcade games haven't seen a phenomenal blockbuster in a long time.

The previous title was Sega's "OUTRUN".

Henry looked at another area in the store, which was mostly filled with Sega machines.

That expensive OUTRUN machine was right there.

"It's a pity GAMENOVA stopped making arcade games, otherwise I'd really like to see what new tricks they could come up with."

Henry sighed.

No matter how well Sega's new titles perform, there will always be a special place for Gamenova in his heart.

After all, it was GAMENOVA that saved his business when it was on the verge of bankruptcy.

The success we have achieved is inseparable from the arcade boom that GAMENOVA pioneered.

Henry shook his head and turned his attention back to the handheld console in his hands.

Well, at least GAMENOVA's online leaderboards and other value-added services still rely on arcades and other digital stores in various locations as a foundation.

In a sense, I can be considered a strategic partner of GAMENOVA.

"Ring ring ring----"

The telephone suddenly rang, interrupting his thoughts.

Henry held the handheld console in one hand and the receiver in the other, not delaying his gameplay at all.

Hello, this is "ArcadeArea{", how can I help you?

"Mr. Henry, this is the Silicon Oasis— "

After listening to the introduction on the other end of the phone, Henry was stunned for a moment, then sat up abruptly and threw the handheld console aside.

"A new Gamenova console? Are you sure?"

When this news reached his ears, it was just as shocking as seeing the phenomenal film "Quake".

Gamenova is back to making arcade games?

"Yes, sir, but the price will be a bit high, with an initial price of $3,000 per unit."

"Give me two!"

That's the advantage of having good relationships with distributors.

Henry can get firsthand information before others even see GG.

They can even order the earliest batch before others find out.

When the nation's audience saw Indiana Jones burst forth from a moss-covered, yellow-brick temple, Henry—

The ordered stock has been delivered to the back door of the store.

"My goodness, officially licensed by Raiders of the Lost Ark! What a powerful collaboration!"

Upon seeing Indiana Jones dressed as an Adventure cowboy on the frame, Henry couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

One is a leader in the gaming industry, and the other is a hot IP in the film industry.

With their combined fan bases, the sheer volume of traffic they generate is terrifying.

Because the cabinet, speakers, and monitor are all custom-made, the Temple Run arcade machine cannot be purchased separately like other Gamenova arcade machines.

Following a group of loaders, Henry watched as the two arcade machines were installed. He was about to crawl in and try them out when the leader stopped him.

"Sir, please wait a moment. There's a complimentary gift here."

"Ha?"

Henry stopped and looked at him with a puzzled expression.

He then gestured to another loader to unload another cardboard box from the truck.

Henry took the box and weighed it in his hand. It wasn't too heavy, and he could clearly feel something moving inside.

"What's this?"

"GAMENOVA-PASS, Nova Games Universal Card, we have about 200 here. If you need more, please contact us to order."

Henry paused for a moment, then opened the seal on the cardboard box.

Inside were several stacks of plastic cards, each with a completely different theme.

Indiana Jones characters, Pokémon characters, Street Fighter characters, the King of Fighters characters----

Almost all of GAMENOVA's IPs have appeared here.

"Um—can I ask what these cards are for?"

"Well—we're not entirely sure about that either. According to the official explanation, it's like a membership card that can be used in Temple Run."

"Huh?"

With a sense of doubt, Henry grabbed Snake's card and went into the Temple Run arcade game.

Two minutes later.

Henry now fully understood everything, stared at the settlement interface on the screen with shining eyes, his heart still pounding.

The experience I just had was even more amazing than going to the movie theater.

The tense chase and addictive gameplay instantly brought back that long-lost feeling for Henry.

Absolutely right, that's the level of quality GAMENOVA should have!

"Call----"

He let out a long breath and his gaze fell on the line of prompts at the bottom of the screen.

[Insert campus card to save progress]

Upon seeing these words, Henry snapped out of his reverie and remembered what he needed to do.

"Let me see, I'll insert it here, right?"

He reached out and pushed the card into the card reader.

The message on the screen disappeared immediately, replaced by a loading animation.

[For first-time users of the campus card, please fill in your personal information.]

[Game Nickname]:

[Birthday]: 0/0/0

[gender]:

The input uses the classic rotary design found on the host computer, making it very easy to use.

Welcome back, ArcadeArea - Henry!

Henry finally understood what the membership card was for.

Playing the game with or without a card is like playing two completely different games.

The most obvious change is the new option that appears on the title screen.

Before inserting a card, pressing any key would start the game immediately.

Now, however, there's a new step involved.

Indiana Jones stands in the center of the screen, with a whole host of different options listed beside him.

Hat, Jacket, trousers----

It allows you to customize your character's appearance!

This is clearly a small feature provided by texture mapping technology in the new 3D era.

Although the current functionality only allows changing different textures to achieve different colors and materials, and it doesn't allow modifying the model itself, it's sufficient for current players.

"This Boy Scout leader hat can be unlocked simply by surviving for more than 5 minutes in the game? This cowboy outfit requires collecting 1000 coins? Wow----"

Henry immediately realized just how terrifying this system was.

With so many things waiting to be unlocked, you could sit there all day!