For Vincent, the NovaBox is an absolutely amazing game console.
In particular, his mother bought him the Legend of Zelda cartridge, making him one of the few players in school who got to play Zelda very early on, making him the envy of everyone.
With the addition of top-tier works like Tetris, Vincent had never felt his extracurricular life could be so fulfilling.
only...
Even the most fun game will get boring if you play it every day without changing things up.
Kids, after all, always like new and exciting things.
Honestly, if he had the chance, Vincent would really like to play Wolfenstein 3D, the game his friends rave about.
In terms of the number of games, NovaBox is not even in the same league as Atari and Nintendo.
"A new game? What game?"
Emma tried to hide her excitement at almost breaking her own record, gently smoothing her hair and adopting a gentle demeanor.
"I don't know," Vincent shook his head. "I heard it from a classmate; it's called ' Story of Seasons '."
Vincent nervously twisted the hem of his striped shirt, feeling that his request was a bit excessive, but he still timidly spoke up:
"Mommy, can you take me to the game store again this weekend?"
"No!"
But Emma refused so decisively, giving Vincent no chance to react.
"Your dad will take you out for a picnic this weekend, to get some fresh air. You can't stay cooped up inside all the time."
"But..."
"Alright, I'll go prepare dinner for you. Go ask your dad what he wants to eat tonight."
Seeing that Emma's attitude left no room for negotiation, Vincent was frustrated but had no choice but to give up.
If all else fails, I can just go to my friend's house and watch them have fun.
Emma pretended to be busy in the kitchen, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw Vincent leave before she breathed a sigh of relief.
Never take him to the game store, it will cause a huge problem!
The following day at noon.
Vincent was still yawning when his father drove him to the park early in the morning.
Emma furtively peeked through the blinds, and only after the car disappeared at the end of the neighborhood did she quickly change into casual clothes, get into another car, and speed off towards the game store.
The store was unusually lively on the weekend.
Adults and children were making a racket, and the place was packed with people.
But the commotion abruptly stopped when Emma, wearing sunglasses, appeared at the door, remaining silent for several seconds.
Hunter, the kid king, was standing on tiptoe to reach the floppy disks on the shelf when he noticed the change in the atmosphere in the store. He turned his head and saw that all-too-familiar, fierce man.
" Satan Mom is here!!!"
Upon hearing Hunter's voice, John, who was paying for the Legend of Zelda floppy disk, was startled and turned his gaze to the "Regional Rankings" displayed on the wall.
The ID name " Satan Mom " is prominently ranked first on the list of " Wolfenstein 3D ".
Even on the light gun rankings, it only came in third.
So it was her!
Every time that Legend woman came to the game store, she would bring an even more outrageous new achievement.
" Satan Mom! Please teach me how to play Wolfenstein! I've been stuck on the third mission on hard mode for ages!"
Hunter, accompanied by a bunch of kids, squeezed up to Emma and pleaded obsequiously.
"Get out of here, go play your the Legend of Zelda. Do you think you can even understand Wolfenstein?"
Emma pouted, struck a pose of expert, and strode towards the front desk with a flick of her sleeve.
Amidst the admiring gazes of many, she took out a floppy disk containing " Wolfenstein " from her bag and slammed it onto the table with a flourish.
"Boss, could you upload my scores?"
"Wow, Satan Mom, you've broken another record?"
The store manager, marveling at the achievement, took the floppy disk, inserted it into the fax machine, and synchronized the record to GAMENOVA headquarters.
"Call me Emma." Emma took off her sunglasses, her gaze sweeping across the shelf before settling on Story of Seasons. "Is that their new game?"
"You mean Story of Seasons? Yes, it's from Gamenova, but the reviews aren't very good."
"Bad reviews?"
Emma was slightly taken aback. As Wolfenstein's number one fan (at least in the local community), Emma knew very well just how powerful the GAMENOVA development team was.
Those blockbuster games all came from their studio.
She didn't believe that Gamenova could have any badly received works.
"That's right, look, it's written in this magazine."
The store manager shrugged, casually picked up a magazine from the shelf, opened it, and placed it on the table.
Emma glanced at it briefly and understood a little.
"In short, it's an electronic pretend game for kids? That's great, give me a copy."
This is exactly what I wanted to achieve! My son has such a sweet and gentle personality, he'd be perfect for this.
" Hunter, look at Satan Mom, she seems to have bought a copy of Story of Seasons."
"Don't make a fuss, she must have bought it for her son."
"Didn't your dad say you could buy one cassette tape today? Hunter, aren't you going to buy a Story of Seasons?"
"No way," Hunter pouted. "That's a childish game for little kids, it's not fun at all."
Why would he play such childish pretend games?
If word gets out among your friends, you'll completely ruin your reputation.
Emma returned home with the beautifully packaged Story of Seasons.
Vincent is still having a picnic outside and probably won't be back for a while.
"Ha..."
The abundant sunlight streamed through the window and fell on her, causing her to stretch lazily.
Usually at this time, she would be secretly playing Wolfenstein to improve her scores.
However, having just broken the record, Emma decided to take a break and do something else to change her mood.
"Speaking of which, it's been a long time since I've watched a soap opera."
Emma suddenly remembered that since the family bought the NovaBox, she had even reduced the amount of time she spent watching TV series.
Just as Emma was about to switch the TV signal to a wireless antenna, she suddenly caught a glimpse of " Story of Seasons " in the bag out of the corner of her eye.
Since we're just killing time anyway, how about... we let Vincent try it out first?
No other game in the world has ever experienced such a dramatic shift in reputation over time as Story of Seasons.
Inside the publishing house of the renowned gaming magazine Electronic Games, the editor-in-chief sat at his desk, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
The article titled "[GAMENOVA's talent has run dry]" was spearheaded by them.
Since they didn't pay any money, they naturally wrote whatever made it as exciting as possible.
But now the backlash is coming.
Since that article was published, they have been receiving complaints almost every day, criticizing their evaluation as not being objective enough.
Moreover, the situation is escalating.
Damn it, isn't that objective enough? That thing just isn't fun!
The opening is slow and leisurely, like an old woman's foot-binding cloth—long and tedious.
Where do all these loyal fans come from??