Recaps

Sega and GAMENOVA reacted to Metal Slug’s extraordinary preorders as Lin Lixin explained why it could succeed as Contra’s true spiritual successor. He warned Hayao Nakayama that Sega needed to strengthen the Genesis NEO and recruit third-party developers to compete with Nintendo.

• Satoshi Tajiri dismissed Masahiro Sakurai’s résumé, while a Sega section chief recognized Sakurai’s GAME SYSTEM Grand Prize award and arranged a first interview.
• Satoru Iwata shuddered while coding at HAL Laboratory, sensing that someone formidable had been poached.
• Hayao Nakayama told Lin Lixin that Metal Slug’s popularity had exceeded expectations, with preorders surpassing those of the Genesis NEO.
• Lin Lixin described Metal Slug as a remake of Contra’s strengths and contrasted its potential with Contra’s later missteps.
• Lin Lixin urged Hayao Nakayama to keep improving the Genesis NEO and said GAMENOVA would poach third-party developers from Nintendo.

Lin Lixin planned to exploit the coming end of Namco’s favorable royalty agreement with Nintendo while preparing GAMENOVA’s Christmas release. He assigned Carmack to develop a browser scripting language and began planning an analog-controlled artillery game with Christopher.

• Lin Lixin told Hayao Nakayama that Namco’s privileged agreement with Nintendo would expire, and planned to approach third-party developers in January.
• Lin Lixin sent Hayao Nakayama back to Japan to stabilize Sega and reminded him to prepare GAMENOVA’s Christmas release.
• Lin Lixin assigned Christopher to replace Carmack on the new project and told Carmack to develop a lightweight browser scripting language using JIT.
• Lin Lixin began planning Angry Bird as the last game in the NovaSwift Physics Trilogy, using analog controls to simulate projectile force and angle.
• Lin Lixin showed Christopher the artillery game Super Artillery and explained that War 3, released in 1972, was an early example of the genre.

Lin Lixin explained why a slingshot-based artillery game suited NovaSwift, while Gerald proposed adding a touchscreen to GAMENOVA’s future handheld. Lin Lixin agreed to begin touchscreen development for the next generation, though he rejected the current resistive panel as too dim and cumbersome.

• Lin Lixin gave Sam a slingshot and described how simple, instinctive controls and dynamic challenges could make an artillery game engaging for NovaSwift players.
• Will questioned why Lin Lixin chose a slingshot instead of tanks or warships, and Lin Lixin said NovaSwift’s hardware was not ready for a warship game.
• Lin Lixin and Gerald tested the project’s required technology and confirmed that it worked.
• Gerald showed Lin Lixin a resistive touchscreen sample and suggested developing a touchscreen for the Nintendo Switch.
• Lin Lixin acknowledged that he had designed Cut the Rope with touchscreen controls in mind, but explained that the current panels were too dim and required too much pressure.
• Lin Lixin decided touchscreen development should begin for GAMENOVA’s next-generation handheld, even though Angry Birds did not require one.

Lin Lixin visited Point Reyes to photograph a bald eagle as inspiration for Angry Birds’ Mighty Eagle, then met Ruth Handler to discuss producing toys for a new IP. He showed her a 3D-printed Mew prototype, but Ruth realized the figure had a barcode engraved on its base.

• Lin Lixin joined Kojima and Carmack at Point Reyes, where Kojima photographed a hunting bald eagle with his Nikon.
• Lin Lixin sketched Mighty Eagle and considered how to design its powerful finishing move without relying on paid in-app purchases.
• Lin Lixin met Ruth Handler and brought out a 3D-printed Mew figure, prompting her to assume he was offering Mattel a Pokémon license.
• Lin Lixin clarified that he had other plans for Pokémon and explained that he had intended to bring a Mighty Eagle model instead.
• Ruth noticed a barcode laser-engraved on the underside of Mew’s base.

Lin Lixin pitched Ruth a barcode-scanning system that turned real-world barcodes into game characters, and Mattel quickly moved ahead with a partnership. After GAMENOVA kept its Christmas game secret, it announced a new Angry Birds game and related toys alongside a barcode scanner.

• Lin Lixin explained the Barcode Battler concept to Ruth, who recognized its potential for collecting, trading, and expanding GAMENOVA's partnerships with Mattel.
• Lin Lixin and Mattel finalized their cooperation, and Mattel began preparing production lines and molds for GAMENOVA's models.
• Players searching for GAMENOVA's Christmas releases gathered outside the Electronic Games office, where Steve struggled to convince them he had no inside information.
• Sam told Steve that Lin Lixin had invited him and other magazine editors to a playtest of GAMENOVA's new game, which was already in beta.
• Nickelodeon aired Angry Birds Toons, and GAMENOVA announced its new Christmas game, plush toys, resin figurines, and an optical barcode scanner for its handheld.

Kevin, an overworked NovaSwift fan, traded his wages for Angry Birds and a Mighty Eagle BarcodeBuddy, then played the new game at home. After his first shot demolished a pig’s fort, he felt his pent-up frustrations begin to spill out.

• Kevin worked a Christmas Eve shift while his manager scolded him and withheld part of his pay.
• Kevin traded his wages for a copy of Angry Birds and a Mighty Eagle BarcodeBuddy.
• Kevin returned to his rented room, heated a frozen pizza, and started Angry Birds on his NovaSwift.
• Kevin used the slingshot to knock down the first level’s wooden fort and crush the green pig.
• Kevin felt the game’s destruction release his accumulated anger and imagined blasting away everything he had endured.

Kevin discovered that Mighty Eagle could destroy an entire Angry Birds level but required a single-use tin, then found that scanning product barcodes earned points toward another one. As Angry Birds surged in sales, Lin Lixin explained its appeal, and GAMENOVA received an unexpected guest on December 31.

• Kevin scanned the Mighty Eagle barcode and used its fish tin to clear a level instantly, then learned the powerful item was single-use.
• Kevin scanned barcodes around his home and found that GAMENOVA products earned more Mighty Eagle Points than ordinary products.
• Sam reviewed Angry Birds' five million first-week sales and was surprised that corporate workers made up its largest audience.
• Lin Lixin explained that Angry Birds offered quick, low-effort stress relief, unlike the more demanding Hill Climb Racing and Cut the Rope.
• GAMENOVA welcomed an unexpected guest on the last day of December.

Bill Honig asked Lin Lixin to adapt Angry Birds for classroom use, and Lin quickly supplied a level editor and test devices. After Honig left, Lin tested a touchscreen for the NovaSwift and realized a toothpick worked because the screen was capacitive rather than resistive.

• Bill Honig visited Lin Lixin and explained that California wanted to use Angry Birds to teach students about physics.
• Honig asked GAMENOVA for a way for teachers and students to create levels, and Lin agreed to provide one immediately.
• Sam brought Honig a demo disk, and Lin offered the project as a charitable donation along with test devices.
• Lin returned to work on the NovaSwift touchscreen and struggled to make the resistive screen respond to his finger.
• Sam tossed Lin a toothpick, and Lin discovered that it worked on the screen and concluded it was capacitive.

Sam asked Corning to develop 0.3 mm 7059 glass for GAMENOVA’s planned touchscreens, and James Houghton agreed to have engineers assess the challenge while favoring GAMENOVA over Bell Labs. In Japan, Nintendo imposed harsher royalty terms on third-party publishers, leaving Masaya Nakamura furious and trapped as his office phone rang.

• Sam told James Houghton that Lin Lixin wanted Corning to produce 7059 glass at least 0.35 mm thick, ideally 0.3 mm, with GAMENOVA ready to buy millions of sheets.
• James warned that glass that thin might shatter during processing, but Sam trusted Lin to find a solution, and James agreed to consult Corning’s engineers.
• After Sam left, James identified GAMENOVA’s plans as a move into touchscreens and directed his secretary to turn Bell Labs away from him.
• Nintendo mailed Namco a notice repealing its unlimited annual game-production allowance and raising the royalty for additional cartridges from 100 yen to 2,000 yen.
• Masaya Nakamura and Hayao Nakayama condemned Nintendo’s new terms, but they saw no viable way to abandon the Famicom and SFC markets.
• As Masaya Nakamura stared angrily at Nintendo’s notice, the telephone beside him rang.

Masaya Nakamura approached Hayao Nakayama about Namco’s royalty problems, and Hayao brought him to meet Lin Lixin. Lin agreed to help Namco with a suitable game, but first he planned to discuss a separate project with Hayao for Sega.

• Masaya Nakamura reflected on Sega’s revival through GAMENOVA’s Metal Slug and decided Namco could not keep following Nintendo’s demands.
• Masaya Nakamura visited Sega’s AM10 studio, recognized Irem’s core team, and asked Hayao Nakayama whether he had acquired Irem.
• Hayao Nakayama welcomed Masaya Nakamura into his camp after hearing that Namco was also struggling with Nintendo’s royalty provisions.
• At Game Freak, Lin Lixin and Satoshi Tajiri discussed Toru Muranishi’s risqué arcade games and agreed to keep Ilusion away from the NX platform and red lines.
• Hayao Nakayama brought Masaya Nakamura to meet Lin Lixin, who agreed to provide Namco with a fitting game after first discussing another project with Hayao.

Lin Lixin recruited AM8 to develop a fast-paced platformer for Sega and demonstrated a high-speed scrolling prototype that stunned Yuji Naka. The chapter left Naka realizing Lin Lixin had deliberately concealed his programming ability and fearing Hayao Nakayama’s anger.

• Lin Lixin met AM8 head Yuji Naka, who reluctantly refused his invitation to take on a Sega project.
• Lin Lixin borrowed AM8’s office and explained to Hayao Nakayama that Sega should use its arcade strengths and fast pacing to pursue a new kind of platformer.
• Lin Lixin began coding a high-speed scrolling demo himself, leaving Hayao Nakayama and Yuji Naka astonished.
• Lin Lixin loaded the prototype onto the Genesis NEO and showed a blue block racing over slopes at extreme speed.
• Yuji Naka recognized Lin Lixin’s extraordinary programming skill and feared Hayao Nakayama would punish him for his earlier refusal.

Lin Lixin demonstrated a fast-scrolling game prototype to Yuji Naka and explained how its movement, layered backgrounds, and level streaming worked. Impressed by Lin Lixin’s ingenuity, Naka decided he wanted to make games with him.

• Lin Lixin showed Yuji Naka and Hayao Nakayama a demo featuring high-speed movement that followed slopes and loops.
• Lin Lixin revealed that the character snapped to a precomputed array of map points rather than using real-time physics.
• Lin Lixin explained how multiple dynamically scrolling background layers created depth while conserving processing power.
• Lin Lixin began explaining his streaming technique for loading long levels, and Yuji Naka finally said he wanted to make games.

Lin Lixin assigned AM8 to create a memorable blue mascot named Sonic, intended to challenge Nintendo’s characters. After AM8 considered several ideas, Naoto Ohshima proposed a hedgehog, and his sketch immediately conveyed speed to the team.

• Lin Lixin kept the mascot project with AM8 and told Yuji Naka to gather the team to discuss character design.
• Lin Lixin explained that Sega needed a simple, recognizable mascot, chose Sega blue as its main color, and named the character Sonic.
• Lin Lixin asked AM8 to design a character that conveyed speed and said Ken Sugimori would later help refine the image.
• Yuji Naka suggested a fast-running dog, but Lin Lixin found the idea unconvincing.
• Naoto Ohshima proposed a hedgehog inspired by a fast American pilot and drew a design that made AM8 fall silent with its sense of speed.

Lin Lixin helped Sega choose a blue hedgehog named Sonic and launched the Sonic the Hedgehog project, then sent Sam to Lucasfilm to pursue control of DC Comics. Lucas agreed to arrange urgent talks with Warner, while suspecting the move might relate to its upcoming Batman film.

• Lin Lixin oversaw a vote that chose a hedgehog over Yuji Naka's blue dog, and the character was named Sonic as the Sega project officially began.
• Lin Lixin left Yuji Naka in charge of Sonic and told Hayao Nakayama that he would help Sega with publicity and promotion.
• Lin Lixin sent Sam to Lucasfilm, where Sam told Lucas that Lin wanted to acquire DC Comics rather than merely its The Flash IP.
• Sam explained that DC's sales were weak and that Lin wanted to gain control before Time Group's impending merger with Warner.
• Lucas agreed to arrange urgent talks with Warner and wondered whether Lin's plan was connected to Warner's upcoming Batman film.

Lin Lixin planned to expand GAMENOVA’s arcade business by pursuing Atari Games and considered Warner’s DC Comics for future cooperation. At AM8, he found Yuji Naka struggling through assembly code and urged him to use GAMENOVA’s N Language, while allowing him to keep using assembly if he preferred.

• Lin Lixin asked Hayao Nakayama to find out whether Masaya Nakamura would sell Namco’s Atari Games shares so GAMENOVA could build an arcade division.
• Lin Lixin told Hayao Nakayama he had an idea for promoting the Genesis NE0 and introduced him to the name Toru Muranishi.
• Sega publicly denounced the circulation of unauthorized works, but did little beyond announcing closer oversight of its distributors as scrapped cartridges entered the market.
• Lin Lixin went to AM8 and found Yuji Naka struggling to understand the project by reading its assembly code.
• Lin Lixin explained that N Language’s compiler was designed for game development and urged Yuji Naka to use it, though he did not forbid him from continuing with assembly.

Lin Lixin oversaw AM8's progress on Sonic the Hedgehog, helped its team adopt the N Language development environment, and coordinated the character design before returning to California. There, Sam reported that their negotiations had secured a controlling stake in DC, including rights to its valuable IP.

• Yuji Naka and the AM8 programmers switched to the N Language development environment, and Yuji Naka was dazzled by the clean, readable code.
• Lin Lixin praised Yuji Naka's team, discussed their possible experience at Sega North America, and visited Naoto Ohshima and Ken Sugimori to review Sonic's design.
• Lin Lixin asked Naoto Ohshima to complete Sonic's design bible for publicity and told Ken Sugimori to return to Game Freak after helping with the art.
• Hayao Nakayama sent developers from other teams to learn from Lin Lixin at AM8 until Lin Lixin stopped the overcrowded visits.
• Lin Lixin left Japan with the Sonic design bible, and Satoshi drove him to the airport while Yuji Naka regretted that Lin Lixin was leaving.
• Sam told Lin Lixin that negotiations had secured a 60% stake in DC for $73.6 million, with Lucasfilm and Micro-Nova's shares bringing their combined stake to nearly 71%.

Lin Lixin arranged a DC Comics side story for Sega’s new Sonic character and secured Michael Jackson music licenses for GAMENOVA. On the eve of Presidents’ Day, Sega and GAMENOVA launched the Genesis NEO in North America and announced Sonic the Hedgehog as a worldwide launch title, alongside several promotions.

• Lin Lixin proposed a standalone crossover between Sonic and The Flash to DC president Jenette Kahn, who agreed to prepare a side story.
• Lin Lixin visited Michael Jackson at Neverland Ranch and secured licenses for Mijac Music Publishing albums for Rocksmith, along with an opportunity to license more music later.
• GAMENOVA and Sega of North America launched the Genesis NEO in North America, with Metal Slug debuting alongside it.
• DC Comics announced a new publication called The Flash Sonic, and Michael Jackson announced that an unreleased Dangerous track would debut as a GAMENOVA Easter egg.
• GAMENOVA announced that Sonic the Hedgehog would launch worldwide alongside the Genesis NEO.

Trip Hawkins considered new partners for EA as GAMENOVA’s dominance grew, then learned that Atari Games had been acquired by GAMENOVA and that Atari had launched the color-screen Atari Lynx. Lin Lixin recognized the Lynx as a direct challenge to the NovaPocket, whose 103 million sales made it especially important to GAMENOVA.

• Trip Hawkins dismissed Nintendo as an unreliable partner and wondered who EA could turn to instead.
• GAMENOVA announced that it had acquired Namco’s Atari Games shares and would reorganize Atari Games as NovaArcade.
• A purported insider claimed Nintendo had changed Namco’s royalty terms, prompting Namco to break with Nintendo.
• Atari launched the Lynx, advertising its color LCD screen, multiplayer support, and powerful specifications.
• Lin Lixin, Gerald, and Vivian watched the Lynx advertisement, and Lin identified the machine as a threat to the NovaPocket.

Lin Lixin decided GAMENOVA would let the Atari Lynx struggle on its own while developing a more efficient successor to the NovaPocket, the NPC. Meanwhile, EA chairman Trip began assembling powerful partners for a larger challenge against GAMENOVA.

• Lin Lixin and Vivian assessed the Atari Lynx’s powerful specifications and concluded that its size, battery life, and lack of games would prevent it from displacing the NovaPocket.
• Lin Lixin ordered Gerald to analyze the Genesis NE0 and proposed using ATHENA’s low-power technology to develop an improved 8-bit handheld.
• Vivian recommended using the available 0.5 μm production equipment, and Lin Lixin named the planned NovaPocket successor the NPC, or NovaPocketCompact.
• Trip recognized that the Atari Lynx’s architecture appeared to draw on Amiga-compatible engineering and considered recruiting its engineers for EA.
• Trip decided EA needed major allies and ordered his deputy to contact AT&T, Time Group, Universal Pictures, and Panasonic Electric.

Masahiro Sakurai began playing Sega’s new Sonic the Hedgehog and discovered that its streamlined controls and sweeping, speed-focused level design made it feel unlike a conventional platformer. The chapter left him stunned as Sonic raced down the opening straightaway, making the game feel more like a racing game than a platformer.

• Masahiro Sakurai celebrated receiving an invitation to interview with Sega’s new AM10 and bought Sonic the Hedgehog with its accompanying comic.
• Two passersby mocked Sega for making a platformer, but Masahiro Sakurai defended the game and hurried home to play it.
• Masahiro Sakurai saw Sonic’s confident image and began the game, which started without menus or elaborate setup.
• Masahiro Sakurai noticed the game’s broad slopes, curves, rings, and simple controls as Sonic began accelerating.
• Masahiro Sakurai watched Sonic’s feet blur into a spinning circle and marveled at the exhilarating speed of the opening straightaway.

Masahiro Sakurai played Sonic the Hedgehog and was swept up in its fast, arcade-like gameplay, from homing attacks to a supersonic boost and a loop-the-loop. He finished the stage exhilarated and more certain than ever that he wanted to make games like it at Sega.

• Masahiro Sakurai jumped Sonic for the first time, then chained homing attacks to clear a line of enemies.
• Masahiro Sakurai realized Sega’s arcade-inspired design was about delivering fast, fluid gameplay, not merely showing off hardware.
• A piranha hit Sonic and scattered his gold rings, but the ring-based damage mechanic let him continue without dying.
• Masahiro Sakurai activated the X-Boost, sending Sonic supersonic through enemies and down a slope.
• Sonic raced through a full loop and crossed the finish, leaving Masahiro Sakurai thrilled by the experience and eager to make games like it.

Lin Lixin used Michael Jackson’s public endorsement and a crossover comic with The Flash to boost Sonic the Hedgehog’s reach in North America. As fan arguments fueled demand for more, Warner asked to launch a Sonic comic series, but Lin decided to make them wait.

• GAMENOVA distributed Sonic the Hedgehog in North America, giving the game strong sales prospects through its brand and Sega’s existing fans.
• Lin Lixin brought Michael Jackson to a televised interview, where Michael praised Lin’s support for children and said he was a Sonic fan.
• GAMENOVA released a Sonic crossover special under The Flash Volume 2, prompting readers to debate which character was faster and more powerful.
• The comic and game drew growing attention, and Warner repeatedly asked Lin to launch a first issue for Sonic.
• Sam told Lin that Warner had called again, and Lin said they should play with them a little longer.

Hayao Nakayama praised Yuji Naka and AM8 for completing Sonic, while Yuji urged Sega to adopt Lin Lixin’s N Language across its home console division. Lin then turned to expanding Sonic’s reach and planning a Pokémon HOME-style product that would support transfers between games and promote GAMENOVA’s internet and All-in-One Card.

• Hayao Nakayama told Yuji Naka that he had done well, and Yuji recommended rolling out the N Language across Sega, especially in the home console division.
• Yuji said developers would not want to return to assembly after using the N Language, and Hayao agreed to discuss it with Yu Suzuki.
• Lin Lixin instructed Sam to arrange Japanese and American Sonic animations alongside the comics, and learned that Satoshi had prepared fifty Pokémon for Gen 1’s second generation.
• Lin decided to develop a Pokémon HOME-style spin-off that would transfer Pokémon between games and help spread the internet and GAMENOVA All-in-One Card.

Lin Lixin planned Pokémon HOME, a cloud-based system for transferring Pokémon between generations and connecting future spin-offs, while preparing new hardware and a promotional campaign. The chapter ended with a teaser showing a grown Pokémon fan remembering his first game as Charmander evolved into Charmeleon, announcing Pokémon Generation II as coming soon.

• Lin Lixin told Gerald that Pokémon HOME would store Pokémon data in the cloud and connect games across generations, and Gerald agreed to prepare a test platform.
• Lin Lixin explained that Pokémon HOME could support future spin-offs and help revive the Pokémon Centers through membership-card services and exclusive Pokémon.
• Lin Lixin asked Sam to arrange a promotional video with Lucas and invite the Victory Road champion who had also placed first in Mew.
• The promotional video showed a boy playing Pokémon Red as Charmander evolved, then returning years later as a grown man still drawn to the game.
• The video ended with Charmander evolving into Charmeleon and announced Pokémon Generation II as coming soon.

Fans interpreted GAMENOVA’s promotional video as a teaser for a Pokémon sequel with improved graphics, while nationwide Pokémon Center renovations fueled speculation about a global trading feature. When the renovated centers reopened in California, Marc discovered the queue had already begun outside his doorstep.

• Fans analyzed Charmeleon’s improved appearance in GAMENOVA’s video and concluded the Pokémon sequel would use newer technology, though no release date was announced.
• Players noticed Pokémon Centers across the country renovating simultaneously, and leaked construction plans revealed a project called the Global Wonder Trade Center.
• Players speculated that the new centers would enable Pokémon trading over the internet, while Steve learned from Sam that sequel development was waiting for the hardware department’s new architecture.
• On March 7, renovated Pokémon Centers reopened in California, and Marc hurried to his local center.
• A man stopped Marc outside his home and told him the Pokémon Center queue started there.