Henry had never felt so strange before.
He couldn't even find the right words to describe this peculiar feel.
He paused for a moment, then carefully and gently rubbed the trackball.
"Gurgle..."
In the game, Pikachu kicks its legs twice and pushes the ball forward a few steps.
Okay, that's normal. At most, you could say the picture quality is much better than before.
What truly struck him as peculiar was the feel of the trackball.
Ignoring how much time was left on the countdown, Henry tried turning around to face the downhill road he had come from and began rubbing against it.
"Hiss... Huh?"
Now he was completely certain of what that strange feeling he had just experienced was all about.
"Why do I feel tired when going uphill?"
My goodness! Because it was downhill, the smoothness for a moment made Henry think that was how the game was designed, that the trackball had very little friction for easy control, or something like that.
It now seems that it's not that simple at all.
Now he intends to climb up in the opposite direction, and the trackball suddenly feels like it's actually climbing a hill, requiring much more effort to push it, with a very strong sense of resistance.
Pikachu struggled to run uphill and finally reached the top of the hill again.
The stiffness in Henry's hands vanished in an instant, replaced by the familiar slight damping sensation.
This significant discovery immediately piqued Henry's interest, reminding him of the recently released book, " Clefairy's Universal Gravitation."
Recently, Gamenova seems to be keen on making interesting attempts to break down the boundaries between reality and virtuality.
It must be said that the immersive experience is exceptionally strong.
It was as if he himself was actually trying to roll the ball on such a track.
What if I go downhill again?
Henry quickly made Pikachu turn around and charge straight down.
Sure enough, the friction decreased instantly, and the ball rolled much more smoothly. Even with just a forceful rub, the ball would roll several more times due to inertia without slowing down. This type of omnidirectional ball has no mechanical structure or base for fixing it; it relies on sensors to determine the rolling status.
It is now rolling freely. Apart from the movable friction plate, the rest of the base is specially made and very smooth, ensuring that its rolling will not have too much resistance.
"What if... I want it to just jump off the cliff?"
Henry got more and more excited as he played, and simply pulled Pikachu towards the abyss.
Sorry, you're cute, but I just really want to play with you, buddy.
"Call out--"
As Pikachu bursts off the unobstructed platform and heads towards the dark, bottomless unknown, the chip connected to the friction plate receives information from the game.
With a barely perceptible click, the friction plate and the trackball completely separated.
At that moment, Henry finally understood what silky smoothness meant.
The ball seemed to have come off its own; no matter how he rubbed it, it just kept rolling.
Only a slight friction causes it to slow down gradually, but the process is very slow.
Freedom like flying. The only downside is that there's not much point in manipulating the ball right now.
Because the mouse has already died.
Okay, at least you can be resurrected, but some of your remaining time will be deducted.
Although it's an arcade game, Hamsterball is surprisingly simple in design, or rather, it's simple and doesn't try to kill the player right from the start.
Even with all that trouble, the first hurdle was successfully overcome.
As for the second level, it's basically an extended version of the first level. The only new thing is a few bouncing mechanisms in the corners.
Touching it will bounce the mouse away and give the trackball a strong vibration effect.
Apart from the first five levels, almost every subsequent level has its own unique theme, and you can even see many homages to other Gamenova titles.
For example, there's the mouse accelerator that mimics the 360-degree loop from Sonic the Hedgehog.
Each level offers a completely different feel with the trackball, making the gameplay feel truly fresh.
Just like in one of the earlier levels where a tar pool was designed.
The pool sprays scattered black tar on the ground. Once it sticks to the mouse's ball, it rolls around like it's on a sticky mouse trap, all sticky and gooey.
In particular, the trackball in your hand becomes very sluggish, and combined with the hard rubber material of the ball itself, it actually has a slightly sticky and disgusting feel.
Besides the friction pads that have been used in countless creative ways, the initially inconspicuous vibration motor also becomes increasingly prominent in later levels.
Henry had initially thought this thing was just for simulating the texture of rolling on a rough surface.
But with the clever combination of a series of mechanisms, such as the vibration of the vacuum cleaner sucking up the mouse and the vibration of the mouse accelerator, this thing finally showed its charm.
"They're both trackball games, so why is there such a big difference?"
Henry shook his head helplessly.
Look at what Gamenova has made, and look at what those copycats are doing!
That's what you call a gap.
That's why I said they were capable of achieving great things.
Gamenova seems to enjoy doing this: delving into a field that everyone thought was doomed, and then creating some amazing products to prove everyone wrong.
That's really quite a twisted sense of humor...
The further you progress in the game, the more fully the advantages of true 3D become apparent.
The complex spatial structure and bizarre level mechanisms make this game quite challenging to play.
Especially as the road ahead becomes increasingly difficult, it feels like walking on a narrow bridge, requiring very careful control.
Actually, Henry had already sensed something was wrong when he first got to the expert level.
Pikachu was running along happily when suddenly a hammer appeared out of nowhere and started smashing it.
To successfully complete the level, you need to learn to move in a serpentine pattern, turning left and right to avoid all sorts of unpredictable traps.
Fortunately, Henry is the shopkeeper, so he doesn't need to worry about refilling coins. He can just restart without thinking and will eventually be able to complete the game.
"Beep beep beep--"
You win!
[You are: Hamster Emperor!]
[Record Broken!!!] The chubby Pikachu stands up excitedly in the background image, raising its hands like a cheerleader.
"Kara, Kara"
A few mechanical noises suddenly came from the fuselage, but they stopped quickly.
Instead, a message appeared on the screen.
[Insufficient gashapon capsules? Please contact arcade staff!]
"Oh, I was wondering what I forgot. They said they needed to restock the gashapon."
Henry slapped his forehead, realizing he'd forgotten about that.
There was also a batch of gashapon toys called "zhuzhupets" among the goods that arrived at the same time.
According to the official statement, installing this item into the game allows players to win corresponding gacha rewards.
Let's do a quick cost breakdown, if I hadn't enabled the free mode...
Guaranteed profit, no loss.
These toys aren't particularly expensive to produce, especially considering that the contents of each capsule toy are different. According to Mattel's data, the most valuable item is naturally the hamster itself.
A Zhuzhupets mouse costs about $10 and includes complete control logic developed in collaboration with Gamenova; it's said to be a very impressive electric toy.
Besides the mouse, there are also a whole bunch of additional accessories developed by Mattel.
For example, Hamsterball for hamsters to run and play with, a running track, an archway, etc.
If you can collect all the parts, you can build a zhuzhupets playground.
Zhuzhupets' hamsters have sensors on their bottoms that allow them to recognize different accessories and react accordingly.
In short, it's incredibly awesome.
The most outrageous thing is that Mattel hasn't officially released this thing yet, so the only way to play it is in the arcade.
"Crackling..."
After the gashapon capsule was installed, the machine worked normally this time. This arcade machine clearly had a complete gashapon machine system integrated inside. After rolling around randomly for a while, a gashapon capsule the size of a palm slowly rolled out from the exit next to the coin slot.
Just like the hamsters in the game " Hamsterball ".
Unfortunately, luck wasn't on his side this time; after turning the knob, there was only a short track inside. Once the mouse stepped on it, it would run in a straight line along the track.
"Um... Boss, are we... still open for business today?"
Hearing the familiar voice of the shop assistant beside him, Henry froze.
"Shit! I thought I had a day off today! I forgot, I forgot, I forgot! Quick, go get the other machines set up, where's everyone else? Get everyone in position, I'm going to open the door."
I was planning to test the machine and then quickly prepare to open the door, but I accidentally forgot again.
Henry turned around cautiously and looked out through the glass curtain wall.
Zombie siege!
Gamenova, third floor.
How are you feeling?
Lin Lixin sat in a chair and asked with a smile. To be honest, " Hamsterball " is not a complicated project; it's basically just selling hardware.
If you take any other company and they have the same hardware technology, they could probably put together something similar.
However, it couldn't be more fitting for Mark Cerny to use a game derived from " Marble Madness " as his first official project after entering the industry.
"Very good!"
Cerny's energy and spirits have clearly improved in the past two days, and he is gradually shedding the timid and hesitant feeling he had when he first came to the company.
"I still want to thank Mr. Gerald. I actually spoke with him several times on the phone to discuss the development process."
"Oh? He didn't mention this to me."
Lin Lixin raised an eyebrow and nodded.
Although Gerald has officially resigned, he's still family, so helping out is just a matter of course, and he's actually quite happy to do so.
Gerald is a rational person, but deep down he still has a strong sense of pride.
"His project experience is his most valuable Fortune; sometimes, knowledge alone is not enough without a clear strategy."
Lin Lixin himself was deeply troubled by this issue, so he naturally felt it the most. If we're talking about panel data alone, probably no one in the world could surpass him.
But he still needs to gather talents from all walks of life to work together.
It's not just about relieving them of their workload; it's also about brainstorming and generating more ideas.
Sometimes, a clever epiphany can save them from taking many detours.
It's like the ray-like pseudo-3D visuals that Carmack created back in the day.
In an era when hardware was still largely primitive, producing graphics of the caliber of Wolfenstein 3D was nothing short of phenomenal.
"I see."
Just then, Will suddenly pushed the door open and walked in.
"Lin, Activision got their hands on something interesting, do you want to take a look?"