Dizzy Eyes and a Secondhand Arcade Machine

"So mysterious..."

Sam curled his lip, increasingly convinced that Lin Lixin was deliberately making a mystery out of nothing.

Looking at the words "Press any key to start" on the screen, Sam pressed a key at random.

As a gaming enthusiast, Sam had sampled plenty of the world's offerings and developed his own understanding of the logic and conventions behind video game controls.

Although the Commodore 64's keyboard had no arrow keys, a little experimentation was all it took to find the corresponding controls.

At first, Sam was a little rusty, clumsily maneuvering a Z-shaped block and piling it against the edge of the playfield.

Sam did not know why, but although Jesse had told him nothing, instinct made him want to try filling the bottom with these blocks.

Before long, he worked out how to rotate and drop them himself, getting more and more comfortable with the controls.

When he saw a long cyan bar finally appear at the top, he cheered in relief and dropped it squarely into the gap he had left beforehand.

"Beep-boop."

The buzzer gave an 8-bit chime.

The four completely filled rows on the screen flashed a few times, then suddenly vanished, replaced by the blocks previously piled high above them dropping several rows together.

"So that's how it works..."

That thoroughly hooked Sam. His hands, which he had been about to withdraw, returned to the keyboard, and he threw himself completely into the game.

Lin Lixin sat cheerfully beside the table, sipping soda as he slid the videotape into the player.

It looked like his pizza for the month was taken care of.

As Vader delivered that classic line, "I am your father," in the movie, Lin Lixin heard Sam let out several exclamations behind him.

"No, that's not true! That's impossible!"

Lin Lixin turned toward the sound. Sam looked crazed, clutching his head as he stared in disbelief at the blocks that had once again piled all the way to the top of the screen.

The score display on the side told him that this attempt was still a long way short of his personal best.

Sam did not know why, but as he played more rounds, his skill had not steadily improved. Instead, he seemed to be getting worse the more he played.

Yet every time he saw the high score on the display, he could not resist starting another round, trying to challenge it again at his very best.

Every round, he felt he could do better next time.

Simply put, he was addicted.

Only after ejecting the videotape did Lin Lixin return to Sam's side.

"All right, all right, your free trial has expired. Please purchase pizza promptly to renew your subscription."

Sam snapped out of his dreamlike state and sprang from the chair, his face full of alarm.

"What? Huh? Who am I? Where am I?"

His head felt like a mess. Wherever he looked, blocks seemed to be falling, and even his hands were unconsciously reaching out to slap nonexistent keys.

It was a very peculiar sensation. Lin Lixin understood it completely; in fact, every player who had ever been hooked on Tetris had probably experienced the same thing.

Even after turning off the game console, its images kept playing before their eyes.

"Holy..." Sam opened his mouth, forcibly swallowed the swear, then said, "A masterpiece! Fuck E.T.! This is a real video game! Lin, you're a genius!"

Sam was also a computer science student, as well as a veteran gamer, so naturally he knew just how extraordinarily impressive the game before him was.

"Made in BASIC?"

"6502 assembly."

"...Badass." The corner of Sam's mouth twitched. He could hardly imagine how Lin Lixin had managed it. "You should sell it. You'll make a fortune!"

Even something like E.T. had sold 1.5 million copies. How staggering would sales be for this game called Tetris...?

Sam did not even dare think any further. He had a feeling he had just witnessed history.

"I'm planning to port it to an arcade machine, but there are still a few problems to solve. I should have it done this week."

"Great! Great!" Sam kept voicing his approval, muttering nonstop.

Only then did he remember why he had come over, and he slapped his forehead.

"Oh, right, I came to watch a videotape with you. I borrowed Star Wars. Let's watch it together!"

"I've already finished it."

"?" Sam stood rooted to the spot. His gaze shifted to the window, and he suddenly realized it was already completely dark outside.

The last time he had been this obsessed with a game was Space Invaders, which had set off a worldwide arcade craze.

Once he calmed down and took a closer look, what advanced technology was there in Tetris? Everything it used had already been employed by pioneers in the past.

The moving blocks used the C64's hardware sprites, and the high-score feature was copied straight from Space Invaders.

This game had no film or television IP backing it and no new technology.

Yet it was so much fun, so addictive.

Why?

Sam searched his heart and was surprised to discover that the answer to the riddle was right there in the question.

Because it was fun.

Nothing else. It was simply fun.

Perhaps this was what video games were supposed to be like.

A few days later, on Sunday.

Lin Lixin was in his bedroom, concentrating on further optimization work for Tetris, when he heard a clattering commotion outside the door.

It was accompanied by the sound of something landing heavily on the floor and Sam's scream.

Puzzled, Lin Lixin opened the door, only to discover a wall behind it.

More precisely, it was a wooden board blocking the entire doorway.

Yowling, Sam poked his head out from behind the board and bared his teeth at Lin Lixin in a grimace of a smile that looked worse than crying.

"Look what I got you!"

Only then did Lin Lixin realize that the thing in front of him was not a board at all, but an arcade machine.

It was a complete cabinet covered in dust, with Pac-Man artwork painted on its exterior.

It was clearly a discarded Pac-Man arcade machine.

"My God, Sam, where did you get this thing?"

There was so much dust on it that the moment Lin Lixin opened his mouth, he got a mouthful of dirt and dust and nearly choked outright.

Sam smiled happily, as though he had accomplished something truly great.

"The arcade on the corner. I found the owner and got this machine cheap."

He reached out and patted the top of the cabinet, instantly sending dust flying everywhere and making Lin Lixin cough repeatedly.

"Didn't you say you wanted to port Tetris to an arcade machine? I thought I'd see if I could get you a ready-made machine. Secondhand clearance stock. Dirt cheap."

"Good grief, I'd believe you if you said you dug this thing out of the ground. Hurry up and get a rag."

Covering his mouth and nose, Lin Lixin carefully examined the arcade machine before him.

He had to admit, Sam really had brought him a huge surprise.