Benjamin balanced the plate full of Donut on his stomach.
The hand holding the Donut hadn't moved for quite a while.
He had a Donut in his mouth that was already soaked in saliva, but his eyes were fixed on the television.
On the screen, a character named Athena Asamiya is fighting a back-and-forth battle with a black boxer named Heavy D!.
Both sides unleash dazzling combos from time to time, creating a highly engaging experience even in 2D pixel graphics.
This kind of high-speed fighting, filled with special effects and impossible magic, is something you would never see in a serious boxing match.
Even WWF, which sells itself on exaggeration, can't do that.
Benjamin had expected to see one of those low-brow, cheesy short films that Atari had made in the past.
I only watched it for a while out of curiosity.
But the more I look at it—the more addictive it seems!
The two Hollywood stars, Schwarzenegger and Brandon Lee, who had initially piqued his interest to continue watching, were now fading from his attention.
He was more interested in seeing what kind of flashy combos these characters in the game could pull off.
Athena's pure yet bold and captivating movements especially drew him in, making him want to stare intently.
McCoy looked at the freshly released ratings figures on KRBK-TV29 and breathed a sigh of relief.
0.8%
The figure is a pitiful 1%, so low that it's already at the point where the central station could mark it as dead.
But McCoy showed no concern whatsoever; instead, he relaxed, a rare occurrence for him.
Before this episode aired, Channel 29's average viewership had already dropped to around 0.2%.
Don't be fooled by the fact that it's prime time now, and it's also the important New Year's Day.
However, the combination of these factors is not necessarily a good thing for their Channel 29.
This is the time slot when major TV stations compete fiercely for viewership, and it's also usually the time when their ratings are at their lowest.
But now, their viewership ratings have not only not decreased compared to usual, but have instead soared to nearly 1%.
This is already a miracle of coming back from the dead.
McCoy couldn't be sure if this was a fleeting illusion born of curiosity, or if GAMENOVA had truly once again unleashed their invincible magic.
But one thing is certain.
We can hold onto the channel licenses for at least Channel 29 for a few more days.
The GAMENOVA name brings in real traffic.
Many gamers switched their TV signals from NovaBo to broadcast TV after a long hiatus just to watch this episode.
McCoy knew that the current ratings were inflated.
At least a large portion of these people are definitely not regular viewers of the TV show, but rather players who are just there to join in the fun.
Can they be converted into true retention?
After removing them, how many genuine casual viewers are actually attracted? These are the people who truly deserve their attention.
He glanced at Lin Lixin, the commentator in the corner of the screen, and nodded silently.
"Mr. Lin, my life is in your hands now."
"Wow! Brian's combo pressure is amazing! Athena has been dragged into the opponent's rhythm."
"Indeed, and we can see that Arnold has inherited the energy accumulated from the previous two characters, and now, with his energy bursting, it seems he intends to take down Athena directly!"
" Athena used her reflect shield, but alas! It missed! It looks like there's no way to turn the tide."
In another ridiculously fast-paced match, Schwarzenegger, leveraging the advantage of Hitbo and his specially trained combos, executed a perfect combo with the deliberate cooperation of Brandon Lee.
PERFECT!
The audience members who were able to come to the venue to watch this grand event were all seasoned gamers.
In just a few minutes, they had already discerned a great deal.
No wonder they needed to create a completely new IP address.
"This is completely different. I never knew fighting games could be like this?"
Having gotten used to the fighting style of Street Fighter, suddenly encountering such an extreme work is truly a subversive experience.
This game, which GAMENOVA calls " The King of Fighters," is completely different from the fighting games they were used to.
But one thing is absolutely certain.
It's great.
Super awesome!
"31 consecutive shots! 32 consecutive shots! 33------F**k, he's still going!"
The camera pans as Brandon Lee's hand rapidly taps on the Hitbo screen.
On screen, Brandon Lee's character Chin Gentsai, appears last, repeatedly standing in the center position Drunken Rolling Old Man, canceling the animation, and then dashing forward.
Meanwhile, Schwarzenegger, standing opposite him, had already removed his hands from Hitbo and gave a helpless, wry smile to the camera.
But he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Thankfully, Chin Gentsai is from the Psycho Soldier Team, so he doesn't need to operate the controls himself for today's exhibition match.
It took him quite a while to master just a few of Brian's moves.
If Brandon Lee hadn't had a martial arts background and possessed good reaction speed and precision, he wouldn't have been able to pull off such an exaggerated move.
According to Lin Lixin, this set of moves is called "Chin Gentsai Infinite Combo ".
Although extremely difficult, and very easy to make mistakes due to poor input accuracy.
But as long as he can successfully execute it, he can relax and watch the show.
Schwarzenegger had used up both his counterattack and support skills in the previous exchange, and now he truly had no chance to fight back.
Not to mention the fans present, even viewers in front of their televisions were completely focused on the game.
The start of this game wasn't actually that smooth.
At this moment, Chin Gentsai's health was critically low. If Brian could confirm it one more time, the battle would be decided.
But at this critical moment, the seemingly unreliable Chin Gentsai suddenly unleashed astonishing power after entering a drunken state.
"Round 5 - Round 6! Brian was knocked unconscious!"
Congratulations to Brandon Lee on winning the inaugural EVO Championship warm-up match!!!
The moment Brian's health bar was depleted, a flash of black light on the screen signaling the end, the entire audience erupted in a roar that could have lifted the roof off.
Even John, a staunch supporter of Schwarzenegger, shouted out after witnessing this amazing match.
That was fantastic!
The dazzling input speed of Brandon Lee and the terrifying combo that rendered Schwarzenegger unable to move were deeply imprinted in his mind and lingered there.
"Alright, let's congratulate Brandon Lee! Of course, those who support Mr. Arnold don't need to be disappointed. EVO uses a double-elimination system, and we've prepared a revival match for him later."
"That's right, all the players here today, I hope you're all ready, because tonight you might have the chance to go on stage and compete alongside Mr. Schwarzenegger or Mr. Brandon Lee!"
"Of course, before that, let's invite Ms. Yui Asaka to sing the theme song for Athena Asamiya, 'PsychoSoldier'!"
A series of explosive pieces of information silenced the already bewildered audience.
When the spotlight returned to the center of the ring.
Athena Asamiya appeared, dressed in a JK sailor uniform.