Recaps

Marc and John waited in a long line to see GAMENOVA’s renovated Pokémon Center, where Marc explored the new Pal Park. After transferring a Pidgey into its care and seeing it appear on a screen, Marc realized Pal Park could preserve Pokémon for use across different game versions.

• Marc and John passed the time battling while they waited in line, and John lost his Charizard to Marc.
• Marc and John reached the renovated Pokémon Center and learned that the second floor held Pal Park and the GTS, while the third floor offered battles.
• A bodyguard required visitors to show at least one Gym Badge to enter the second floor, and Marc’s physical badges earned him an exaggerated welcome.
• Marc and John split up upstairs, with Marc entering Pal Park and John heading toward the GTS.
• Marc used a GAMENOVA All-in-One Card to leave a Pidgey at Pal Park, where it appeared on a screen and could later be retrieved in any Pokémon version.

Marc and John explored the Pokémon Center’s Pal Park and GTS, where Marc learned about storage plans and completed a trade across the network. The new system connected trainers regardless of distance, and its map recorded their exchanges as points of light.

• Marc asked whether his Pokémon would remain in Pal Park permanently, and the attendant assured him they were safely stored as long as he kept his membership card.
• The attendant explained that basic-plan users could store thirty Pokémon while advanced-plan users could store six thousand, and Marc left without upgrading.
• Marc found John staring at the GTS and tried its Pokémon search, discovering options for species, level, and a locked gender setting.
• The GTS found a nearby trainer offering a Clefairy for a Sandshrew, and Marc accepted the trade.
• The trade moved Marc’s Sandshrew to server storage, gave him the Clefairy, and left a commemorative light on the GTS world map.

GTS drew heavy traffic as trainers used it to trade asynchronously, while Sam and Gerald discussed Lin Lixin’s plans for individual Pokémon data and future breeding mechanics. Marc and John spent the day at the Pokémon Center, bought an advanced plan for extra GTS slots, and realized at closing time that they had missed the third floor’s battles.

• Gerald checked GTS server demand while Sam recorded data and described Lin Lixin’s plans for Pokémon traits, breeding, and inherited attributes.
• Gerald explained that Lin Lixin had insisted on assigning a unique ID to every individual Pokémon stored in Pokémon HOME, despite the high storage costs.
• Marc discovered that GTS allowed only one listed Pokémon without an advanced plan, and John offered to pay for the upgrade that expanded their slots.
• Marc and John explored the Pokémon Center until closing, with Marc showing John Pal Park after they had enjoyed GTS.
• Marc and John realized they had forgotten the third floor’s random and multiplayer battles and worried that the crowds would be even larger the next day.

Tom’s faith in Atari collapsed when the Lynx proved heavy, short-lived, and short on games, so he returned it and bought a NovaPocket with Pokémon Red. Atari’s sales fell amid mass refunds, and after Dave Needle and R. J. Mical resigned, the engineers received an invitation from Trip Hawkins’s 3D0 Company.

• Tom bought an Atari Lynx, expecting it to give Atari a chance to challenge GAMENOVA and Nintendo.
• After the Lynx ran out of batteries in just over two hours and left his wrists aching, Tom angrily returned it for a refund.
• Tom saw a NovaPocket discount poster, bought a NovaPocket and Pokémon Red, and decided to give them a try.
• Atari’s sales report showed that mass refunds had made Lynx sales fall despite earlier numbers nearing 800,000 units.
• Dave Needle and R. J. Mical resigned from Atari and received an invitation from Trip Hawkins’s 3D0 Company.

Trip Hawkins recruited Dave Needle and R. J. Mical to help build 3DO, a powerful multimedia platform that he intended to establish as an open hardware standard rather than a conventional game console. He outlined a plan to license the standard to major manufacturers and attract game developers with lower fees.

• Trip welcomed Dave and Robert to 3DO and explained that he envisioned a multimedia entertainment platform combining games, music, movies, and other functions.
• Dave recognized the platform's potential, while Robert warned that GAMENOVA's technology made it a formidable competitor.
• Trip argued that Atari had failed because it entered too late with weak hardware, and said 3DO would move ahead with a licensed 32-bit RISC processor.
• Trip proposed specifications including two 32-bit RISC chips, at least 2 MB of memory, 1 MB of video memory, and stereo sound.
• Trip revealed that 3DO would establish a standard for partner companies such as Panasonic, Sanyo, AT&T, Universal Group, and Time Group to manufacture under license.
• Trip said 3DO would charge hardware makers licensing fees while lowering fees for game developers, hoping to draw developers to the platform.

Lin Lixin showed Michael Jackson around GAMENOVA, where Michael was inspired by the company’s games and music setup. Michael asked GAMENOVA to make a console game starring him, but Lin proposed an arcade game instead: NovaArcade’s first title, "Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker."

• Lin Lixin replayed Michael Jackson’s "Smooth Criminal" while working on a game proposal, and Sam complained about hearing it on repeat.
• Michael Jackson visited GAMENOVA headquarters and praised its blend of music and video games.
• Lin Lixin showed Michael the company’s relaxed development floor and introduced him to its unconventional creative atmosphere.
• Michael told Lin Lixin he wanted GAMENOVA to develop a console game starring him.
• Lin Lixin rejected the console idea and proposed an arcade game, "Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker," as NovaArcade’s first title.

Lin Lixin and Michael Jackson planned an arcade game based on “Smooth Criminal,” with Michael rescuing abducted children through music and dance. Lin then went to Micro-Nova to request powerful hardware for the game, leaving Vivian to assess the demanding specifications.

• Lin Lixin proposed a game in which Michael Jackson rescued abducted children from a drug lord, and Michael asked that the protagonist avoid hurting people whenever possible.
• Lin Lixin and Michael decided that dance would purify enemies, Bubbles would guide Michael to the boss, and each stage would be built around one of Michael’s songs.
• Lin Lixin gave Michael a GAMENOVA premium membership card and promised to send new releases to Neverland Ranch before Michael returned home.
• Lin Lixin went to Micro-Nova the next morning and told Vivian he wanted to use two ATHENAs, including one for audio processing.
• Lin Lixin requested 24-bit Hi-Fi audio, a higher sampling rate, and about 2 MB of video memory and RAM so the arcade game could combine the strengths of its arcade and MD inspirations.

Lin Lixin demonstrated GAMENOVA’s new digital sound card to Michael, showing how it could process audio dynamically in response to a player’s position. He then invited Michael to voice and model the game’s protagonist, leaving their plans for capturing Michael’s dance moves to be put into practice.

• A week after Lin Lixin’s invitation, Michael visited GAMENOVA and examined its new sound card and recording equipment.
• Lin Lixin played “Smooth Criminal” and demonstrated the sound card’s real-time spatial audio processing and other programmable features.
• Michael praised the device, and Lin Lixin explained that he wanted Michael to voice the protagonist and provide its move sounds.
• Lin Lixin showed Michael a concept sketch of the protagonist in the white suit and fedora from “Smooth Criminal” and proposed basing the character’s moves on Michael’s famous dances.
• Lin Lixin explained that hand-drawn animation could not capture Michael’s performance and began considering a new technique prompted by an earlier request from Lucas.

Lin Lixin and Lucas unveiled a jointly developed optical motion-capture lab at Lucasfilm, using Michael Jackson to test the system. The capture worked smoothly, but rendering the footage remained extremely slow, while Lucas saw potential for more realistic CGI lightsabers.

• Lin Lixin arrived with Michael Jackson at Lucasfilm, where Lucas and his team had prepared a motion-capture lab with eighteen cameras and advanced Micro-Nova workstations.
• Lin Lixin explained that he had chosen optical motion capture over mechanical, acoustic, and electromagnetic systems, then showed Michael the lightweight suit fitted with reflective markers.
• Michael wore the suit and performed his signature moonwalk as the cameras captured his movements from multiple angles.
• Lin Lixin estimated that processing just over a dozen seconds of footage would take about sixty-eight hours, even with the new workstations.
• Lucas said the captured data could help Industrial Light & Magic create CGI lightsabers, while Lin Lixin noted that rendering speed was still a major limitation.

After Michael Jackson and Lin Lixin revealed their collaboration, GameNova unveiled Moonwalker, an arcade game starring Michael and featuring his music and dance moves. The promotional video sparked enormous demand, including from people who wanted to buy arcade machines for their homes.

• Michael Jackson told an interviewer that he was working with Lin Lixin and GameNova to develop a game starring him.
• Michael and GameNova worked with Lucasfilm and Industrial Light & Magic on the game's music, movements, and motion data.
• GameNova released a promotional video showing Michael fighting enemies through dance moves in Moonwalker, including the 45-degree lean.
• The Moonwalker trailer thrilled gamers and Michael's fans, prompting arcade owners and distributors to flood Silicon Oasis with calls.
• A caller insisted on buying an arcade machine to play Moonwalker at home.

On Easter Sunday, Tom joined the enormous crowd at an arcade to play GameNova’s new Moonwalker and witnessed fans fainting and resisting attempts to pull them away from the cabinet. After hours of waiting, Tom finally started the game and heard Michael Jackson’s voice announce its title.

• Tom saw an unconscious woman wake on a stretcher, shout “Michael,” and struggle to get back into the arcade before security removed her.
• After two hours in line, Tom entered the arcade and read notices warning against disturbances and entry by people with heart conditions or high blood pressure.
• While Tom waited for Moonwalker, more fans became overwhelmed, and the manager pleaded with people in poor health to leave.
• Tom put a dollar into the Moonwalker cabinet and watched its opening sequence reveal the GameNova and Michael Jackson credits.
• Michael Jackson’s recorded voice announced the game’s name as Tom began to play.

Tom played Michael Jackson's Moonwalker and was impressed by its immersive 32-bit sound, interactive stages, and rhythm-based combat. The chapter ended by revealing that Lin Lixin had given Nova Arcade’s field representatives the new task of auditing machine coin totals and tamper seals to enforce revenue sharing.

• Tom started Michael Jackson's Moonwalker and discovered its proprietary 32-bit audio chip produced immersive, high-fidelity sound.
• Tom used his arcade experience to fight through the first stage, exploring interactive scenery and rescuing kidnapped children.
• Tom activated Michael's spotlight dance move, making enemies dance before they fell during the anti-gravity lean.
• Tom advanced to the second stage, where the music changed to "Beat It" and the enemies' movements shifted with the rhythm.
• Lin Lixin assigned Nova Arcade's field representatives to check coin counters and tamper-resistant seals under revenue-sharing contracts.

Lin Lixin visited Nova Arcade to review the coin revenue-sharing system and proposed replacing its mechanical lead seals with electronic seals. The chapter ended as he explained how software and tamper-resistant cards could track each arcade cabinet’s status.

• Lin Lixin explained how arcade revenue sharing split coin income between manufacturers and operators.
• Lin Lixin visited Nova Arcade and heard Gary report that Michael Jackson's Moonwalker had sold at least 130,000 units in its first week, with production unable to keep up.
• Lin Lixin examined the mechanical counter and lead seal used to deter arcade operators from underreporting coin revenue.
• Lin Lixin sketched a plan to replace the lead seal with an electronic seal based on GameNova’s tamper-resistant membership card.
• Lin Lixin proposed moving revenue counting from hardware to software built into the arcade game.

Lin Lixin became involved in Lockheed’s fight against James Simmons’s hostile takeover after CEO Daniel Michael Tellep sought his help. Nova Arcade ultimately acquired a controlling stake as a white knight, securing Lin Lixin access to Lockheed’s technology and leaving him ready to put it to use.

• Lin Lixin discussed the costs and rollout of electronic seals, then arranged a meeting with Lockheed CEO Daniel Michael Tellep.
• Tellep explained that falling defense demand and project losses had plunged Lockheed into crisis, while Gary praised the company’s work with GameNova.
• Lin Lixin identified James Simmons’s hostile takeover bid and initially refused to take over Lockheed, though he offered help with workstations, chips, and games.
• Gary proposed a white knight provision that would let Lin Lixin intervene to block Simmons.
• Nova Arcade acquired a 12% controlling stake in Lockheed, and Simmons sold his shares to Lin Lixin and withdrew from the contest.
• Lin Lixin reflected on the lengthy takeover struggle and prepared to begin work with Lockheed’s technology.

Lin Lixin launched Ace Combat, a 3D motion-controlled air-combat arcade game, and assembled GameNova’s team around making it both exciting and technically convincing. He secured official Lockheed aircraft licenses and planned optional high-fidelity controls alongside an action-focused setup.

• Lin Lixin named the project Ace Combat and told Will and Carmack to join a brainstorming session while Sam got Industrial Light & Magic started.
• Lin Lixin explained that Ace Combat would be a 3D, motion-controlled air-combat game built around Will’s interest in realistic simulation.
• Gary showed Lin Lixin an Atari ST flight-simulation setup, and he agreed that Nova Arcade could build its own machine.
• Lin Lixin decided to offer both action-oriented and high-precision flight-control configurations, and planned to discuss the commercial opportunity with Tailaipu.
• Lucas was astonished when Lin Lixin sent him Lockheed’s official F-16 license and drawings, along with a license for the F-117A.

Lin Lixin convinced Will that an arcade aerial-combat game should favor accessible, exciting dogfights over realistic flight physics and modern missile engagements. He then welcomed Tailaipu’s engineers, who brought a one-to-one simplified model of an F-16 control stick, leaving the team with a promising flight-control peripheral to develop.

• Lin Lixin explained that Ace Combat should simplify flight physics and controls so arcade players could quickly enjoy dogfights.
• He argued that realistic g-forces, difficult aircraft handling, and beyond-visual-range missile combat would frustrate most players.
• Will understood Lin Lixin’s reasoning but remained disappointed by the decision to abandon realism.
• Lin Lixin reassured Will that the project had another advantage: flight-control peripherals could make the arcade experience distinctive.
• Tailaipu arrived at Nova Arcade with engineers and a one-to-one simplified model of an F-16 control stick.
• Tailaipu explained that the F-16’s electronic, side-mounted stick let pilots control the aircraft under extreme g-forces.

Lin Lixin formed Thrustmaster with Lockheed and other major partners, then secured the rights to adapt Paramount’s Top Gun into a GameNova title. The chapter ends as GameNova’s promotional film begins with a radar warning and the Top Gun squadron being dispatched.

• Lin Lixin proposed a joint venture to Tailaipu, and Thrustmaster opened as a company developing gaming peripherals.
• Reporters discovered that Thrustmaster was a broad alliance involving GameNova’s companies, Lockheed, and several automakers.
• Lin Lixin traveled to Hollywood for talks arranged by Lucas about adapting Top Gun into a game and extending military cooperation into video games.
• GameNova announced that it had secured the Top Gun adaptation rights and that Tom Cruise would appear in a promotional film.
• GameNova released the promotional film, which opened with a radar alert reporting enemy forces near Kaluga and the Top Gun squadron being sent out.

Wolfgang Petersen returned to California after GameNova’s promotional video for Ace Aerial Combat stirred up widespread excitement, and he wondered how the company would adapt Top Gun into a game. Meanwhile, Lin Lixin considered the arcade hardware needed to bring the project to life.

• GameNova’s promotional video featuring Lin Lixin, Tom Cruise, and Michael Jackson attracted attention across entertainment and enthusiast circles.
• Wolfgang Petersen arrived in California, hoping to advance his filmmaking career in Hollywood.
• Wolfgang told his assistant he was curious how GameNova would turn Top Gun into a game and reflected on the limits of existing aerial-combat games.
• Wolfgang’s assistant expressed confidence that GameNova would find a way, and Wolfgang agreed to wait and see.
• Lin Lixin pondered the technical details of an arcade board for Ace Aerial Combat and considered the Namco System Super 22 that had powered Namco’s Ace Combat series.

Lin Lixin identified DSPs as the missing component in Athena’s 3D workload and had GameNova build a powerful arcade platform with Texas Instruments processors. At the May 9 demo, Michael Jackson and Tom Cruise enjoyed the game while Lockheed CEO Tailaipu spotted a flaw in its missile guidance and prepared to test whether he could evade every missile.

• Lin Lixin realized that DSPs could handle Athena’s 3D displacement calculations, then asked Vivian to contact Texas Instruments for hardware.
• GameNova built an arcade machine with Athena, two Texas Instruments DSPs, and a Nova Radeon, and the team began developing a 3D aerial-combat game.
• Lin Lixin invited Michael Jackson, Tom Cruise, and Tailaipu to test the gameplay demo on May 9.
• Tom Cruise enthusiastically played the F-16-inspired arcade machine while Tailaipu watched its free-flight 3D combat.
• Tailaipu noticed that the missiles used pursuit guidance and told Lin Lixin he believed he could evade them every time.

Tailaipu tested Lin Lixin’s Ace Combat simulator, impressed Lockheed with its realism, and asked to arrange a specialized pilot-training version. GameNova then revealed prices for its arcade cabinets that made them seem like luxury centerpieces rather than ordinary machines.

• Tailaipu tested the simulator against maximum enemy missile fire, evaded the missiles, and explained that real missiles used more advanced guidance than the game’s original algorithm.
• Lin Lixin modified the missile tracking so Tailaipu could no longer evade it, then heard Tailaipu praise the simulator and request an exclusive Lockheed supply agreement for a customized training version.
• Lin Lixin asked Michael Jackson and Tom Cruise whether they would provide voice work for the game.
• GameNova announced launch prices of $10,999 for the standard F-16 cabinet and $13,999 for the two-seat F-14 cabinet, astonishing arcade owners with their cost.

Lin Lixin introduced a revenue-sharing plan and secure electronic coin counter to make GameNova’s expensive Ace Combat arcade machines easier to sell, and the first batch sold out. Wolfgang Petersen tried the game at his Hollywood soundstage and was stunned by its cockpit-like cabinet and fully 3D aircraft hangar.

• Lin Lixin showed Meyer how the electronic coin mechanism let operators change prices through a configuration interface and explained its security and convenience.
• GameNova’s revenue-sharing plan helped sell out more than a thousand machines in preorders, including orders from Hollywood and General Dynamics.
• Wolfgang Petersen paid extra to obtain single-seat and two-seat Ace Combat machines for his soundstage and eagerly tried the single-player game.
• Wolfgang sat in the reclined, motion-feedback cockpit and watched the live-action opening featuring Michael Jackson issuing combat orders.
• Wolfgang began the first mission and discovered a fully 3D hangar displaying fighter aircraft and their performance charts.

Wolfgang tried Ace Combat and was overwhelmed by its realistic 3D flight, motion effects, and aerial combat, deciding he wanted to ship the machine back to West Germany. The game sold out and attracted defense contracts, and Lin Lixin received the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service.

• Wolfgang selected a maxed-out F-16 and was stunned by the game's real-time 3D graphics and cockpit details.
• He shot down enemy aircraft and experienced the simulator's forceful sound and motion effects, then praised the game and asked his assistant to find a way to ship a machine to West Germany.
• Ace Combat sold out its first 1,000 machines and gained attention for its defense licenses and realistic aircraft models.
• The Department of Defense released a recruitment poster featuring Tom Cruise in an Ace Combat cockpit, while the Navy and Air Force sought high-fidelity machines through Lockheed.
• In early June, Lin Lixin received the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service and awkwardly thanked the attendees.

Lin Lixin considered giving Activision and Blizzard practical experience through a Hollywood film project, then learned EA was courting partners for the 3D0 console alliance. He decided to undermine 3D0 by targeting its third-party developers with GAMENOVA’s nearly ready NPC machine.

• Lin Lixin directed a Hollywood producer interested in a war film to discuss the project with Blizzard, which could gain experience from the work.
• The producer told Lin Lixin that EA CEO Trip was approaching Time Inc. and other companies about video games.
• Lin Lixin recognized the discussions as part of the 3D0 alliance, backed by media companies, AT&T, and Panasonic.
• Lin Lixin concluded that 3D0 depended on its independent developers and planned to weaken that support rather than compete with its hardware directly.
• Lin Lixin decided that GAMENOVA’s new 8-bit NPC machine could be used to take down 3D0.

Lin Lixin and Carmack completed NovaScript 1.0, a secure, cross-platform scripting language designed for webpages. Lin Lixin proposed using it for SCREEPS, a fun multiplayer real-time strategy game built around programming, which could promote NovaScript and develop GAMENOVA’s third-party lineup.

• Carmack finished NovaScript 1.0, and Lin Lixin tested the new web scripting language.
• Lin Lixin explained that the project would help promote NovaScript and recruit future independent developers to his publishing lineup.
• Lin Lixin described programming games to the meeting, exciting Carmack and Will while Kojima and others remained skeptical.
• Sam recalled Core War, a programming battle game he had played with Lin Lixin and their dormmates.
• Lin Lixin wrote SCREEPS on the whiteboard and revealed that it would be a multiplayer, real-time online strategy game.

Lin Lixin proposed Screeps: World, an MMO-RTS where players programmed their colonies and unit AI, designed for the internet’s small community of technically minded users. He planned to make the base game free and fund it through Tokens that increased players’ CPU allowance and could be traded for in-game currency.

• Lin Lixin explained that players would write scripts to manage colonies and create AI that responded to attacks and fought in real time.
• Sam questioned how programming could work in an RTS, and Lin Lixin clarified that battles would test the quality of players’ code rather than their typing speed.
• Will supported the concept, and Sam realized that the game’s niche design suited the internet’s mostly geeky early users.
• Lin Lixin told Gerald to arrange server mainframes and announced that the base game would be free, alarming Gerald about the costs.
• Lin Lixin introduced Tokens, which players could buy to raise their CPU allowance for a set time and freely trade for in-game currency.