Black Friday.
For the America flag, it's like the start of Spring Festival break for many Chinese people.
From this day forward, the festive Christmas shopping season officially begins.
On this day, convenience stores will offer discounts that are stronger than ever before... by a little bit.
This is to welcome housewives who are ready to go on a shopping spree.
It's quite a unique sight in United States to see someone bring their own pickup truck specifically for shopping.
" The 82nd Airborne Division arrived in Saudi Arabia today, and the President will hold a press conference later..."
"I'll be right back after this!"
"Black Friday Sale! Renew your Columbia Pay Television Network subscription now and get a free month of membership..."
The programs on the television were all mixed up.
Amid the wave of consumerism, news about the Gulf War was drowned out by a deluge of online content.
The troop deployment, which has been ongoing for several months, continues. Hundreds of thousands of troops are being rapidly deployed to the Middle East through America's much-vaunted global deployment capabilities.
Lin Lixin listened silently to the news broadcast by the TV presenter.
I switched channels several times, but the content was always pretty much the same.
The global deployment strategy has enabled the United States to build a powerful military.
It was late 1990, the final days of the Cold War, and the peak of the United States' lives.
"How come you have time to read the news?"
Vivian approached, holding a coffee cup, and casually handed him one of them.
"I didn't know you had this kind of interest."
"Hey, what are you saying? I'm a proper man, and I do have some interest in current affairs."
Lin Lixin smiled, a serious look flashing in his eyes.
The timing is... very ambiguous.
If my appearance doesn't cause too much disruption to the timeline, then according to the timeline... next year that red giant will fall, completely and utterly.
The collapse of Big Brother and the Gulf War occurred almost simultaneously.
The Berlin Wall fell this year, and in the first half of next year, dramatic changes will occur throughout Eastern Europe.
The Gulf War will officially break out again in January.
In less than three months, the war will end in a complete United States victory.
This was the first truly modern information-based war in human history, and it also heralded the end of the Cold War.
In just five months, the United States deployed hundreds of thousands of American troops and countless pieces of military equipment across the ocean to Saudi Arabia.
Then, in a month and a half, they completely disarmed their opponent.
It only took another 100 hours to completely end the battle.
This battle made global capital realize the true value of the US dollar, ushering in a true golden age for the United States economy.
High-tech, semiconductors, engineering machinery, finance, consumer electronics, military industry, culture and entertainment, national self-confidence...
A comprehensive and thorough expansion is underway. Everything will reach its peak next year.
The eldest brother, who was already terminally ill, was forced to completely expose his vulnerable side.
The Big Brother, already on the verge of collapse due to the "graveyard of empires," was dealt another heavy blow by the oil price crash, and the upheavals in Eastern Europe poured sulfuric acid on its already bleeding wounds.
In March 1991, the referendum once again made a laughing stock of the world.
In June, Russia launched its democratic elections.
In August, conservatives planned to return to a hardline stance.
In December, the Belovezh Accords were signed.
That evening, Gorbachev delivered a televised address.
That night, the flags over the Kremlin were slowly lowered.
A dream of 69 years, shattered overnight.
"It's so lively..."
Lin Lixin murmured softly. 1991 was a crucial year from any perspective.
The entirety of 1990 was more like laying the foundation for the real 90s; the true golden age is only just beginning.
"Yes, I really don't know how many more troops we'll have to send over; Christmas is almost here."
Vivian didn't have any of those shady thoughts; she simply assumed Lin Lixin was referring to the Gulf War.
With so many soldiers, it was indeed incredibly lively.
"I'm actually quite surprised that Black Friday wasn't affected at all."
Lin Lixin chuckled and gave a soft hum.
Don't be fooled by the commotion outside, which makes it seem like we're about to start a third playthrough.
But within the United States, the atmosphere remained one of deafening gongs, drums, and firecrackers, followed by music and dancing.
Consumerism has long since become ingrained in United States.
He picked up the phone that was on the table beside him.
" Sam, how's it going?" Sam didn't get a day off today. As the "chief steward," he not only couldn't take a day off on Black Friday, but he also had to work overtime.
He's currently with Nexus.
Due to the unique sales model of "Quake 2", physical sales have fluctuated significantly compared to usual.
"Owning Quake 1 grants you a free upgrade to Quake 2."
This slogan alone caused a sensation among fans across the country.
This means that this Christmas, they won't need to spend a single penny to play Gamenova's year-end masterpiece!
Whether you use the money you save to buy snacks or to prepare for next year's new projects, it's a good choice.
However, as everyone knows, things that are "free" are often the most expensive.
"The situation? How do you expect it to be? It's completely overloaded! All the backup server rooms are in use, but it's still packed. We just pulled some bandwidth from 'screeps' as a temporary measure..."
Sam yelled, as if something had gone wrong again, and his voice rose several decibels.
" Connor! Take the lead and quickly set up a few new root servers, yes, file forwarding servers... no need, we just need the Quake 2 incremental pack, the rest can wait..."
"Sounds like things are going well over there?" "Fuck you, bro. Instead of making Kung-Fu Master remarks, why don't you come and help out?"
Upon hearing this, Lin Lixin laughed heartily.
"Sorry, I'm very busy here too. You'd better keep going."
"Fuc..."
"Beep--Beep--Beep--"
Lin Lixin casually put the mobile phone back where it was.
The newly upgraded "second-generation backbone network" was immediately overwhelmed by traffic.
The current prosperity is probably unmatched even when telephones were just becoming widespread.
"Free updates, but you can't download without upgrading your ADSL subscription, right?"
Vivian curled her lip, "Look at this ugly promotional tactic!"
The free upgrade to Quake 2 was the last straw that broke the camel's back.
Those users who already complained about slow internet speeds and their inability to properly enjoy games and World Wide Web will find it hard to resist this temptation. Even though the monthly fee has nearly doubled, the price of an 8Mbps dedicated line is only affordable for businesses.
Even so, the order book is still full long into the year after the New Year.
Unfortunately, its impact on graphics card sales is still limited.
Lin Lixin clicked his tongue.
Selling graphics cards is really tough!
Now he understands why Nvidia didn't develop a truly universal 3D accelerator card until the late 1990s.
It's not that people are unwilling to do it.
However, in a time when PC penetration was not ideal, developing this kind of thing was simply a thankless task.
The world's most popular PC game, Quake, has only managed to sell around ten million copies at most.
In addition, the player bases of Quake and Need for Speed already overlap significantly.
The actual number of shares held should be discounted further.
If even video game sales are this low, how many graphics cards can be sold? It turns out that securing funding from General Motors and Hollywood beforehand was an incredibly wise decision.
Otherwise, judging from the current sales figures, the entire graphics card production line is actually losing money.
This is truly a reversal of the natural order.
"At least the Internet Café Plan has been successful, hasn't it? We've recently received a lot of large orders from distributors."
Vivian offered a word of comfort.
As the CEO of Micronova, she has a much more detailed understanding of the graphics card situation than Sam.
Lin Lixin's Internet Café Plan, which he vigorously promoted, experienced explosive growth after the live television broadcast that day.
First, several large arcades in the area that were cooperating with the company were packed with enthusiastic players.
The queues stretched from the city center to the suburbs.
The shop owners, who were initially worried about losing money on their large investment in infrastructure, immediately changed their tune that very day.
Putting aside everything else, their expenses on food, drinks, and entertainment alone have already allowed them to recoup their initial costs.
This doesn't even include the computer usage time fee. As a result, restaurants near the store were overwhelmed with orders all night, and some that were originally scheduled to close on time suddenly started hanging up signs to be open 24 hours a day.
There's nothing we can do; every night, the number of orders mysteriously surges.
Various snacks and drinks, especially fries and fried chicken, will be in high demand.
It's like God dumped a whole basket of US dollars right in your face.
There's absolutely no reason not to do it.
Seeing this success, many other shops that hadn't kept up with the trend started to consider joining in.
Inquire about how to join Gamenova's internet cafe franchise, or simply go to Greenskin Technology and replicate Gamenova's model to create your own.
As a result, internet cafes began to spring up in commercial areas across the country.
This is especially true for the vast and resource-rich western regions, such as California, New Mexico, and Arizona.
Cheap land + internet cafe solution + the Fallout of the Gamenova culture = money falling from the sky!
The already thriving United States arcade culture has been given a huge boost this time.
Can PC games be served at the table? I say yes, they can.
Not only can it be served at the table, but it has to be at the level of being placed alongside arcade games.
For Gamenova, in addition to the franchise fees and revenue from selling materials, the large-scale graphics card purchase orders were an unexpected bonus.
After all, if you run an internet cafe, what are players supposed to play without graphics cards?
Distributors in various states and even cities smelled blood and rushed in, frantically buying up Novaradeon 9000.
"I guessed so. Gamers can't afford the graphics cards, and business owners won't let this opportunity pass them by."
In a sense, this is how I amortized the cost of playing the game.
Is this considered a form of... charity?
"Never mind, my heart and actions are as clear as a mirror."