As it turns out, the path of interactive fiction is far from reaching its limits.
Galgame is just the most cost-effective form, but it is by no means the entirety of AVG text Adventure.
Of course, even though it received top marks from various media outlets.
However, this work did not perform particularly well in terms of sales.
Sales on the first day barely exceeded 20,000 units.
There's probably a lot of hype in it because of the GAMENOVA name.
This is not a commercial work.
This result is definitely a complete flop.
At least for a behemoth like Gamenova, this result is not particularly outstanding.
There are many contributing factors to this.
The excessive length of text discourages most players; the lack of combat, overly literary style, and numerous political metaphors make the game difficult to interpret and tiring to play.
And of course, there's the most important point.
Want to play Disco Elysium? You'll first need to buy a new disc drive.
Logically speaking, promoting optical disc players shouldn't have been a difficult task.
As times have changed, modern users have long since adapted to the increasing presence of CDs in every household.
But this time, the CD player is different.
Because it is a completely new specification.
Apart from a few hard-to-circumvent patent barriers, most of the remaining technologies were developed independently by GAMENOVA and its Industry Alliance.
This is completely different from the previous situation where Sony and Philips ' patent pool were used in conjunction with Gamenova's own disc format.
This leads to a very awkward problem.
Extremely poor compatibility.
It can only be used to play CDs released by GAMENOVA.
Traditional CDs containing songs cannot be played, videos cannot be played, and there are serious compatibility issues with various other devices.
In other words, if you buy this new disc drive now, you can only use it to play Disco Elysium and other games released by Gamenova in the past that are based on their own disc format.
This alone is enough to deter many potential buyers.
After all, game discs are already quite expensive.
In just one day, they managed to sell a full 20,000 sets – a surprisingly impressive achievement.
but----
To be honest, neither Lucas nor Lin Lixin really cares about this.
Lin Lixin's purpose was simple: to prove to the world the feasibility of the new CD-ROM approach.
This is not just about giving the market a shot in the arm, but also about GAMENOVA taking a significant step on the road to breaking free from technological dependence.
As for Lucas?
He was truly having a blast.
Do you need to know who Lucas is?
The big boss, producer, director, and screenwriter of Lucasfilm.
For a billionaire director who has long been Fortune independent, commercial films don't have much value.
What he needs is—honor.
Disco Elysium has already achieved this.
[Nominated for Best Cosplay of the Year]
[Nominated for Best Adventure Game of the Year]
[Nominated for Best Narrative of the Year]
[Most Innovative Game Nomination]
[Best Production Design Nomination]
[Best Music Nomination]
[Best Sound Design]
[Best Character Design]--
With a plethora of award nominations, it practically achieved a grand slam, sweeping nominations for almost every award in the entertainment industry that allows games to participate.
Keep in mind, it's only the beginning of the year!
Although GAMENOVA headquarters is very likely to put in a strong performance this year and sweep up more than half of the awards.
But these nominations alone are enough to secure this game a place in history.
Loyal Nova-affiliated media outlets like Electronic Games need no further explanation.
Naturally, it received unanimous perfect scores, praising it to the skies.
Even those critics who usually pride themselves on being demanding and nitpicky gave at least 95% approval this time.
The vast majority of the deductions were related to gameplay.
After all, this is not a game suitable for everyone, and it cannot be compared with casual games.
It's too extreme.
Some people think it's incomprehensible, obscure, and completely lacks any of the excellent qualities a game should have.
However, some people have elevated it to a divine status, treating it as a deity.
The love can be so intense that it's almost unbearable, and even long after the experience is over, the lingering effects will still pull you back to savor the memory.
People who don't like it won't even make it past the initial riddle-solving segment and will quit the game immediately.
However, in terms of reviews, it received overwhelmingly positive feedback.
[The stunning visuals made all its competitors appear old and feeble.]
We thought that after Myst, GAMENOVA's attempts at Adventure games had come to an end.
But Disco Elysium proved to everyone that Adventure games still have endless possibilities.
It's like an iceberg; no matter how hard you try, you can never fully appreciate it.
The visually stunning scenes deserve special mention; to me, they are even more amazing than the soundtrack produced by Hans Zimmer.
[All future games must reach the standard of this work of art.]
[It's perfect!]
Video games will become the ninth art form, surpassing all other art forms!
"Click, click"
Amidst the rapid clicking of camera shutters, Lin Lixin, along with Lucas, Tim, and other project participants, sat on the stage, listening to questions from reporters.
This kind of thing was nothing new to either Lin Lixin or Lucas.
Those in the film industry especially love holding press conferences.
"Mr. Lin, could you tell us what the stick insect in the game is actually symbolic of? I believe this is a question everyone wants to know."
One of them was called on and quickly took the microphone to speak.
Upon hearing his words, many people around him nodded in agreement.
It's not just the Insulindian Phasmid; there are so many literary imagery in this game.
If we were to analyze each point in detail, it would probably take a large group of forestry experts many years to fully understand it.
Of course, the most representative element is undoubtedly the stick insect that appears throughout the entire game.
"Who knows? A thousand readers will have a thousand Hamlet; whatever you think it is, that's what it is."
Lin Lixin explained with a smile.
What exactly is a stick insect?
It can be communism, it can be hope, and it can be an ideal.
It can be any fantasy that one desires but cannot obtain.
That's why players were so shocked when they finally encountered the Insulindian Phasmid in the reed marshes after overcoming all the absurdities and difficulties.
That's why I'm moved by that seemingly simple statement, "I exist" and "I also exist."
"It's noticeable that the game's visual style is very unique. The art team seems to have deliberately adopted a distinctive oil painting style, which has received high praise from both the art world and the entertainment industry. Mr. Lin, do you have anything to share about this?"
When discussing interviews about this game, its exaggerated artistry is inevitably a key point.
"All of this is thanks to our artistic director, Mr. Francis Bacon, a great artist."
Lin Lixin said.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Disco Elysium may well be Bacon's last work for the world.
In the last year of his life, this artist, who had suffered his entire life, finally found his own Insulindian Phasmid.
"Mr. Bacon was unable to attend in person due to health reasons, but he asked me to demonstrate this for everyone."
As he spoke, he took out a pre-mounted oil painting from under the stage.
"This painting will be on display at the GAMENOVA Game Museum soon."
"Museum?!"
"Yes, museums, museums of video games, the ninth art, and museums of GAMENOVA."
Bacon's posthumous work will be one of the most powerful assets in GAMENOVA's commercial promotion.
Now, Disco Elysium is truly complete.
East Asia, somewhere.
Jiang Wanmeng stared at a VHS player, remaining motionless for a long time.
He originally planned to fix the problems with the television and VHS player.
I've done this countless times.
I have long been thoroughly familiar with television technology and electrical engineering.
But today he suddenly had some different thoughts.
Perhaps it's related to GAMENOVA's recent moves.
He looked at the old NX mainframe sitting on the table.
This is a unique item that our company brought back from overseas.
Let alone their company, you probably couldn't find many of them in the whole city.
However, Jiang Wanmeng was not interested in the beauty of the machine itself.
It's its CD player.
VHS videotapes are currently the most mainstream and widely used home video recording device.
However, VHS has many drawbacks.
High replication costs, large size, and complex mechanical structure.
A VHS videotape is often not cheap.
This is also why most people prefer to rent rather than buy.
"CDs can cram a lot of information onto a single, inexpensive disc, if only it could be used to play video—"
He thought of it.
Of course, this can only be wishful thinking, because the amount of data in a video is simply too enormous.
650MB is barely enough to store any music, let alone videos.
How exactly did Nova Games manage to cram such a massive amount of data into such a small Badass Machine?
This problem has been bothering him for a long time.
If this can be resolved.
Perhaps in the future, people will indeed be able to play videos using CDs.
When that time comes, thanks to the ease of copying and low cost of CDs, they will surely be able to quickly replace VHS's niche and become the darling of the new era.
"A CD that can play videos----Video CD----"
He muttered to himself, and a word gradually formed in his mind.
[VCD]
Alas, the road ahead is long and arduous.
Jiang Wanmeng suddenly sighed.
This road is not easy to travel.
The technological black box of Gamenova, the patent barriers of Sony and Philips, the immaturity of the industry chain, and market acceptance----
Each one of them is enough to kill this beautiful fantasy.
Jiang Wanmeng's abilities are absolutely extraordinary.
In just a few years, he went from an unknown ordinary engineer to the general manager of a television technology research institute.
Whether it's vision, skills, or other abilities, they are all top-notch.
"We must go out and see the world; we must not close ourselves off and reinvent the wheel!"
Jiang Wanmeng made a firm decision in his heart.
"Gentlemen."
He approached a group of engineers and said, " United States International Broadcasting Technology Exhibition is coming to Las Vegas soon; we need to go and learn something."