I don't know if it's just my imagination.
Mike had a feeling that the tower was flickering strangely.
He didn't know what it was like here during the day, but if there really was a problem, it's impossible that others hadn't mentioned it during their previous conversations.
"According to them, there's a chance to encounter wild Rattata while walking around the tower. Aside from that, the only other thing you'll encounter is the monks' Bellsprout, which isn't a big deal, although the Bellsprout ' poisonous attribute made him suffer a reverse attribute attack."
Fortunately, they have a significant level advantage, so they're not necessarily outmatched.
However, the slightly eerie background music, coupled with the pitch-black night all around, made the situation even more unsettling.
For a moment, Mike was genuinely a little intimidated.
The last time I had this feeling was in Lavender Town in Pokémon Red and Green, which is the legendary Pokémon graveyard.
"It's a pity the Time Capsule hasn't been unlocked yet, otherwise if they sent my Gengar and Alakazam over, they'd be slaughtered!"
Despite being groundbreaking masterpieces in the gaming world and enjoying numerous accolades, Pokémon Red and Green are still highly regarded.
But players like Mike who have actually completed the game know clearly that it's not perfect.
There are many issues with the mechanisms and numerical values, which were caused by limitations in the size of the game and other reasons in earlier versions.
Take, for example, the design of attribute counters.
To be honest, this system is really interesting. When building a team, you have to rack your brains to think about the strength of the attributes and create the most reasonable team. This is one of the most fun things on the trainer's journey.
However, the design of the attributes has many potential flaws.
The overwhelming strength of Psychic and Ice types makes Fire and Fighting types rarely seen in PVP matches.
There are also Pokémon like Gengar that specialize in special types, being completely immune to Fighting and Normal types, plus Hypnosis, the undisputed strongest control move in Generation I.
This has made Gengar's first move, using Hypnosis, a popular strategy that's nauseating to watch.
What's even more insane is that this thing can even learn moves like Thunderbolt and Ice Punch using a TM.
With its exaggerated 130cm frame, very few tactics can defeat it.
The only problem might be that you'd need to evolve Gengar through trade.
Back before GTS was even released, Gengar was truly a high-end Pokémon exclusive to Elves.
After all, not everyone has the courage to bring a communication cable to the Pokémon Center to find other enthusiasts.
Now that we have GTS, this problem is much easier to solve.
"Accelerate the process and bring all my men over, even if they're just sitting on the computer and never used."
Mike brought his thoughts back to the game.
Since things have come to this, let's climb the tower!
Mike breathed a sigh of relief as soon as he stepped inside the tower.
It seems I was overthinking it.
There were quite a few people here; it wasn't at all the eerie place I had imagined.
Several monks guarded the only way through the road; to proceed, one must defeat them one by one.
A black shadow flashed by, and the screen lit up with specks of snowflakes.
Mike just happened to blink and only caught a glimpse of it.
But he was certain that it was not an illusion.
This place is haunted!
As he moved, as if to confirm his guess, the flashing continued to appear from time to time.
Now he was absolutely certain.
"It's Gastly!"
It makes perfect sense that ghost-type creatures appear in haunted places.
If I can catch Gastly, even if I don't retrieve my Pokémon from Pal Park, I can still train a new Gengar.
only----
Mike frowned slightly.
Why is Gastly appearing?
It's worth noting that Gastly is a popular Pokémon because of Gengar's strength.
If Gastly really were here, his trainer friends would definitely tell him.
However, they insisted that only Rattata and monks' Bellsprout were being farmed here.
Excluding all variables, and aside from the fact that I bought a pirated copy, the only possibility is probably----
Mike slightly raised his eyelids and looked at the time card inserted in the cassette tape.
It's already past eight o'clock.
The only difference might be that I broke in at night, while the others did it during the day.
This is... that's interesting.
In the world of "Red/Green", there is no concept of time, let alone day and night.
The introduction of such a mechanism is clearly not just for enhancing the sense of immersion.
It should have some kind of mechanism that is closely integrated with the game itself.
Just like it's getting dark now.
" Pokémon's only available at night—?"
That was the only guess Mike could make.
If that's really the case, then the value of this new work is far greater than what people currently perceive superficially.
This means that it has a complete diurnal cycle and an ecosystem at different times of the day.
This is a truly living world.
Yes, different Pokémon should have different habits, just like in the real world, where some are nocturnal and some are diurnal, right?
Mike suddenly felt a surge of excitement at the thought that he might be the first among his friends to discover this.
Hey, we missed the daytime clearing period, so even though we're behind schedule, it's not like we gained nothing.
Recalling the conversation he had with his friends earlier that day, Mike didn't waste any more time.
I'll get a Gastly, train it a bit, and then challenge the Flying-type Gym later.
I heard that after you defeat the monster, there will be more events related to that Mystery Egg.
GAMENOVA Headquarters.
Lin Lixin held a small device in his hand, examining it carefully.
It's small in comparison to its predecessor, the Motorola DynaTAC.
Compared to my own brick-like machine that I hardly ever use, this thing is indeed much lighter.
"MicroTAC—it is indeed worth the price."
Lin Lixin sighed helplessly.
The development of handheld smart terminals has been incredibly slow, like squeezing toothpaste.
It took Motorola a full six years to finally improve the mobile phone to its current state.
The world's first flip phone.
It weighs 12.3 ounces, or slightly over 348 grams.
For a handheld device, especially a communication device, this is already an extremely extravagant assembly.
The overall size has also shrunk from the brick-like shape of the old mobile phones to around 9 inches.
Of course, the most surprising feature is its contact list function.
Phone numbers can be easily stored using the Store and other function buttons located on the device.
It's hard to imagine that such an important feature has only just become available.
"Is this antenna purely decorative?"
Lin Lixin fiddled with the plastic telescopic antenna on top of the fuselage, looking puzzled.
It looks quite professional, but unfortunately, it doesn't contain any real antenna functionality; it's just a decorative item.
"Yes, Mr. Lin, our market research revealed that consumers believe mobile phones must have antennas, which is why we had no choice but to make this design."
The speaker was Fisher, the current president of Motorola, nominally second only to the president, but in reality the top executive.
He is also an engineer with a doctorate in electrical engineering, and he was the one who brought the MicroTAC mobile phone business to fruition.
It was most appropriate for him to represent Motorola this time.
Despite GAMENOVA frequently releasing products that challenge Motorola's market position, the two companies seem to have considerable conflict in the market.
But in reality, GAMENOVA has always been one of Motorola's best partners.
Communications, entertainment, chips, music, handheld devices----
The scope of cooperation between the two sides has long since expanded to all aspects.
Just like the now-dominant Gamenova, Motorola is also at the peak of its history.
The absolute hegemon of the telecommunications industry.
GAMENOVA, which has consistently advocated for the widespread adoption of home internet, cannot avoid the influence of Motorola.
"So, you've already figured out the microstrip patch antenna?"
Lin Lixin looked slightly surprised.
It seems that GAMENOVA isn't the only company making progress in technological breakthroughs.
"Yes, it already meets the requirements of AMPS mobile communication. The reason for adding this dummy antenna is actually to—"
"The placebo effect and the subject expectation effect, right?"
Lin Lixin answered proactively.
Who would have thought that its users would simply pull out the antenna every day to make calls, just going through the motions?
In fact, no matter how they manipulate the antenna, the signal will not change in the slightest.
However, because users firmly believe that opening the antenna will improve the signal, they will perceive the signal as actually improving due to the subject expectation effect.
"As expected of Mr. Lin, that's absolutely right. If we don't do this, when users encounter poor signal, they'll just push all the problems onto Motorola's product department."
Lin Lixin nodded knowingly.
Industrial design is truly a profound subject.
Simply accumulating knowledge is not enough to make such comprehensive considerations when designing a product.
No wonder Motorola became the telecommunications giant in the 1980s and 90s.
"The nocebo effect, we at GAMENOVA actually use these tactics quite often too."
He smiled.
A fake progress bar that's already loaded at 30%, Skinner's superstitious pigeons with pseudo-random algorithms—it seems that psychology, especially behavioral psychology, is indispensable in every field.
Lin Lixin turned his attention back to MicroTAC.
This tiny device is even more expensive than their Hermes laptop.
$2995----
Based on future exchange rates and inflation, it would be worth tens of thousands of RMB.
That's absolutely outrageous.
What's even more frightening is that the cost of this thing is indeed in this price range.
Although it's much smaller than a laptop and doesn't even have a proper display screen, displaying content only through red LEDs.
But the smaller the item, the more expensive it is.
This is one of the fundamental reasons why handheld consoles are difficult to develop.
Compared to handheld consoles, mobile phones require an additional chipset—a baseband chip.
Fisher's boldness in investing heavily in miniaturization when market sentiment was unclear is truly commendable.
Why did Motorola choose to use this LED dot matrix screen? Its cost isn't lower than our LCD screens, is it?
"----Because of power consumption."
Fisher slowly uttered an answer that was expected.
The hurdle that mobile devices can never overcome.
LCD screens are undoubtedly excellent, with high integration, achieving a thinness and lightness that CRT screens could never achieve, and they also perform very well in terms of weight.
But the biggest problem is still power consumption.
The high power consumption of the backlight panel makes its performance on mobile devices disastrous.
Even with numerous architectural optimizations, Gamenova was still unable to achieve truly revolutionary improvements.
I guessed so.
Lin Lixin nodded, then suddenly smiled slightly. "Coincidentally, we recently found a solution that might solve this problem. I wonder if Motorola would be interested?"