Recaps

Lin Lixin secured Meyer’s order for Contra, then considered how to address the game’s length for arcade players. He showed Sam a code-based save system from Survival Island and explained that players stored their progress in their own minds.

• Meyer inspected the Contra prototype and recognized Arnold Schwarzenegger on its concept art, learning that Lin Lixin had signed him for an endorsement.
• After playing Contra, Meyer offered a fifty-percent deposit for an exclusive supply agreement.
• Meyer warned that Contra’s eight stages and final boss made the game too long for arcade players, prompting Lin Lixin to consider a save system.
• Lin Lixin showed Sam Survival Island’s twelve-digit save code and explained that players memorized it to save their progress.

Lin Lixin devised a password-save system for Contra, while the game’s ad in New Mexico sparked intense demand that local arcades could not meet. John and Mike went to see the game, but the arcade had no Contra machines in stock.

• Sam understood Lin Lixin’s password-save design, and Lin Lixin began preparing to add it to Contra.
• Mike switched off John’s fifth viewing of Conan the Barbarian and saw a television ad featuring Schwarzenegger endorsing Contra.
• John and Mike decided to visit a nearby arcade after seeing the ad.
• John and Mike found the arcade packed with players demanding Contra machines, but the owner said he was waiting for stock.
• The arcade owner urged the crowd to play Tetris and 1942 while he tried to secure Contra machines.

John and Mike played Contra after the arcade machines arrived, and John became absorbed in the chance to experience an action hero’s adventure firsthand. When work forced him to consider stopping before finishing, a player behind them suggested saving the game.

• A delivery truck brought two Contra arcade cabinets to the arcade, where a huge crowd gathered to play.
• John and Mike started a game together, but Mike lost his lives while John fought on.
• John pulled off a dangerous move to destroy a turret and felt exhilarated as he took on the role of a hero.
• Mike noticed how late it had become and reminded John that they had to get to work.
• John hesitated to leave his unfinished game, and a waiting player told him to save it and give someone else a turn.

After Contra helped Schwarzenegger land the lead in Commando, Lin Lixin considered how to grow GAMENOVA beyond its arcade successes despite its limited staff and resources. Searching for another proven arcade idea, he remembered Hideo Kojima and Metal Gear, leaving his next project in view.

• John learned to save his progress in Contra by recording a one-use code, though continuing would require another coin.
• Dave told Schwarzenegger that Fox had cast him as the lead in Commando, and Schwarzenegger credited Contra with helping him get the role.
• Schwarzenegger invited Lin Lixin to attend The Terminator’s October release, and Lin Lixin agreed.
• Lin Lixin handed Sam more financial records while considering GAMENOVA’s next game and recognizing that the team lacked the resources to build a home console.
• Lin Lixin thought of Hideo Kojima and Metal Gear as a potential next arcade project.

Lin Lixin planned Metal Gear as a low-cost stealth game to address the market imbalance caused by Contra’s expensive arcade machines. He then proposed interchangeable arcade boards to Gerald Lawson and asked whether the same low-end specifications could support an affordable home console.

• Sam warned Lin Lixin that Contra’s high price meant only large arcades could afford it, hurting the lower-tier market.
• Lin Lixin revealed that Metal Gear was designed to address the problem with stealth gameplay that required less powerful hardware.
• Sam doubted the appeal of avoiding combat, but Lin Lixin dismissed his concerns and refused to reskin 1942 instead.
• Lin Lixin gave Gerald Lawson a hand-soldered arcade board and a specification for interchangeable arcade boards.
• Gerald Lawson understood that the design could reduce production costs by separating arcade board and cabinet production.
• Lin Lixin asked Gerald Lawson whether the 8-bit specifications could also work for a home console, noting that 16-bit processors were still too expensive.

Lin Lixin received a skill that let him understand assembly and machine code, reviewed Gerald’s modular circuit-board plans, and recruited Vivian to lead GAMENOVA’s new graphics-chip subsidiary. He then called Ho Kwok Yuen in Toronto, leaving the conversation just as Ho answered.

• Lin Lixin gained The Art of Language, which helped him read assembly and machine code.
• Vivian delivered Gerald’s circuit-board specifications, and Lin Lixin had Sam arrange for the contract manufacturer to adopt modular production.
• Lin Lixin offered Vivian the chance to head GAMENOVA’s graphics-chip subsidiary, and she accepted despite being its only current employee.
• Ho Kwok Yuen reflected on his unsatisfying work in Toronto and considered investing his savings in Metallurgical Heaven ATI.
• Ho Kwok Yuen answered a call from Lin Lixin, who greeted him in Mandarin with an affected Greater Bay Area accent.

Lin Lixin recruited Ho Kwok Yuen with an impressive salary offer, but Ho thought GAMENOVA was a scam when he arrived at its run-down office. He was about to leave until he recognized Gerald Lawson, who confirmed that the company genuinely wanted him to join.

• Lin Lixin called Ho Kwok Yuen and offered him a $100,000 salary and profit sharing to join GAMENOVA’s graphics chip division.
• Lin Lixin described the company’s Silicon Valley plans and told Ho Kwok Yuen that Gerald Lawson had joined Micro-NOVA.
• Ho Kwok Yuen flew from Toronto to California and cursed when he found GAMENOVA operating out of a shabby, shuttered VideoSoft office.
• Ho Kwok Yuen rejected Lin Lixin’s invitation and turned to leave.
• Gerald Lawson greeted Ho Kwok Yuen and urged him to join, leaving Ho stunned that Gerald was helping Lin.

Ho Kwok Yuen joined Lin Lixin’s new company, Micro-NOVA, after learning about its graphics-card ambitions. Lin Lixin shifted his game design toward a fluid, low-resolution Metal Gear demo, which Sam tested as Vivian monitored the graphics chips.

• Ho Kwok Yuen realized Lin Lixin had misled him about the company’s appearance, but the graphics-card concept excited him enough to accept a job at Micro-NOVA.
• Lin Lixin abandoned his realistic tank design and began adapting Metal Gear: Ghost Babel for the arcade machine’s dual graphics coprocessors.
• After a month, Lin Lixin completed a test demo, and Sam began playing while Vivian recorded the coprocessors’ status.
• Sam questioned the low resolution and stealth-focused gameplay, then experienced how smoothly the character responded to movement.
• Sam continued through Mei Ling’s mission instructions as the game introduced its radar, an early form of a minimap.

Sam discovered that the demo’s stealth gameplay turned each area into a puzzle with multiple solutions, while Vivian examined how Lin Lixin had achieved its graphics on limited hardware. Lin Lixin revealed plans for thirteen main-story levels and two hundred levels in total, then introduced a tile map system and editor to make that scale possible.

• Sam used a cardboard box to distract a guard, slipped through a blind spot, and reached the demo’s ending.
• Sam and Vivian recognized that the game rewarded stealth and offered many ways to solve each area.
• Vivian inspected the board and confirmed that the game ran on a single eight-bit Z80 with two graphics coprocessors.
• Lin Lixin said he planned thirteen main-story levels and two hundred levels including Virtual Training Mode.
• Lin Lixin demonstrated a tile map system and its accompanying map editor on the C64.

Lin Lixin showed Vivian and Sam a tile-map editor and N Language that made game development far easier, then unveiled an ASIC graphics chip that sharply reduced arcade-machine costs. Meyer tried the Metal Gear prototype and offered to pay upfront for a hundred machines.

• Lin Lixin showed Vivian how the tile-map editor stored levels as compact numerical grids and explained that he was developing the easy-to-read N Language.
• Sam used the documentation to design a cross-shaped corridor and successfully loaded it into the game, demonstrating how quickly others could create levels.
• Ho Kwok Yuen submitted a report confirming that GAMENOVA had produced a new ASIC graphics card, and Lin Lixin told Sam the graphics chip could cost as little as three dollars in large-scale production.
• Lin Lixin showed Sam a Metal Gear arcade-machine quotation estimating production costs at about five hundred dollars per machine and a selling price of about one thousand dollars.
• Meyer played the Metal Gear prototype and offered to pay upfront for a hundred units.

Henry struggled to keep his Riverside arcade afloat after players flocked to Contra and the game’s machines became prohibitively expensive and scarce. After using a loan secured against his car, he ordered four affordable Metal Gear machines and one Contra, hoping the new games would revive his shop.

• Henry recalled how Tetris and 1942 had drawn crowds to his arcade before Contra became a nationwide hit.
• A regular player visited Henry’s quiet shop and chose to play Tetris rather than travel to wait in line for Contra.
• Henry secured a $10,000 loan by putting up his car and planned to buy two Contra machines.
• Henry learned that Contra was out of stock, but Silicon Oasis offered him GAMENOVA’s new Metal Gear machines for $1,200 each.
• Henry ordered four Metal Gear machines and one Contra machine.

Henry installed Metal Gear boards in ArcadeArea’s new universal cabinets, and the game drew a crowd that celebrated his clearing all thirteen stages. Meanwhile, Lin Lixin pushed GAMENOVA to begin developing a home console and revealed its name, NovaBox.

• Henry discovered the delivered Metal Gear machines were universal cabinets and installed the boards himself.
• Henry introduced Metal Gear to customers at ArcadeArea, where the four machines attracted a packed crowd.
• Henry became the first player to clear all thirteen stages and ordered four more Metal Gear machines from Silicon Oasis.
• Gerald worried that developing a home console would strain GAMENOVA’s finances, while Lin Lixin argued that their games belonged at home.
• Ho Kwok Yuen recognized that Lin Lixin intended to compete with Nintendo’s Famicom, and Lin Lixin presented a document labeled NovaBox.

Lin Lixin persuaded Zilog to partner with GAMENOVA on a dedicated Z80-based processor and SoC for its NovaBox console, using a strict royalty system to avoid the failures of Atari’s open game market. Back at GAMENOVA’s office, he found that Sam had brought in a Famicom for the team to study.

• Lin Lixin presented Zilog’s Richard with an SoC design and proposed a modified Z80 for GAMENOVA’s NovaBox home console.
• Richard questioned whether a console using the more expensive Z80 could succeed after the Atari Shock, but Lin Lixin said GAMENOVA would sell its hardware at cost or at a loss.
• Lin Lixin explained GAMENOVA’s royalty system, requiring the company to control cartridge production and developers to pay royalties in advance based on estimated sales.
• GAMENOVA and Zilog reached an agreement to jointly develop a dedicated Z80 processor and a complete SoC for a home console.
• Sam showed Lin Lixin the Famicom he had brought from Japan for GAMENOVA to study.

After testing the Famicom, Lin Lixin planned a new fighting game for both arcades and home consoles. He recruited Brandon Lee to consult on martial arts and design the Chinese character Fei Long, leaving Brandon surprised by the offer.

• Lin Lixin, Sam, Gerald, and Vivian played Famicom games, and Gerald concluded that GAMENOVA had to make its own home console.
• Lin Lixin proposed developing the next game for both arcades and home consoles, then got the idea to make a fighting game after seeing a copy of Kung-Fu Master.
• Lin Lixin decided to create Street Fighter with moves such as fireballs and uppercuts, rather than imitate Konami's Kung-Fu Master.
• Lin Lixin called Schwarzenegger, who arranged for him to meet Brandon Lee.
• Lin Lixin invited Brandon Lee to serve as Street Fighter's martial arts consultant and design Fei Long's moves, leaving Brandon stunned by the request.

Lin Lixin developed a prototype for a head-to-head fighting game and won Sam over with its distinctive combat. Brandon Lee offered to seek his mother Linda’s approval for using Bruce Lee’s name if the finished game proved good enough, leaving Lin Lixin tasked with building the game and earning her support.

• Sam named Bruce Lee, Lin Lixin, and Ho Kwok Yuen as the Chinese people he knew, prompting Lin Lixin to reflect on Bruce Lee’s influence in North America.
• After reading Lin Lixin’s proposal, Brandon Lee offered to ask Linda for permission to use the name Bruce Lee instead of Fei Long if the game turned out well.
• Brandon Lee left after exchanging contact details, while Lin Lixin worried that Linda would be difficult to persuade.
• Lin Lixin quickly built a prototype fighting game, and Sam initially doubted that two pixel characters fighting each other would be fun.
• Lin Lixin demonstrated dodges, combos, and a special move, and Sam became excited about the game’s arcade potential.

Konami’s American branch decided to begin an arcade port of Kung-Fu Master, while Lin Lixin recorded fighting moves with Brandon Lee and brought Schwarzenegger in to model Guile. The chapter ended with Lin Lixin instructing Schwarzenegger to shout “SHOOTING!” while performing Guile’s Sonic Boom.

• Tanaka persuaded Konami’s American branch to start work on an arcade port of Kung-Fu Master for North America.
• Lin Lixin told Sam that Konami would seize the arcade opportunity, then watched Brandon Lee record moves for the game.
• Lin Lixin recognized footsies in Brandon Lee’s Jeet Kune Do footwork and joked with Sam about knowing kung fu.
• Schwarzenegger arrived at Lin Lixin’s studio and agreed to model the selectable soldier character Guile.
• Lin Lixin insisted Schwarzenegger wear Guile’s yellow wig and told him to shout “SHOOTING!” while recording the Sonic Boom.

Lin Lixin solved the arcade game’s voice playback and storage problems by developing an audio compression algorithm, then tested Gerald’s prototype joystick for special-move inputs. The chapter ended with Lin satisfied that the joystick could handle circular motions.

• Lin Lixin and Sam realized their arcade machine could not play recorded voices without costly extra hardware and storage, but Lin insisted the character voice effects were essential.
• Lin Lixin studied digital audio at the University of Southern California and gained proficiency in the field.
• Gerald proposed using a YM2151 for synthesized audio and an MSM5205 to decode prerecorded samples, while Lin introduced his Vorbis Codec compression algorithm.
• Lin Lixin tested the compressed recording and decided to combine his algorithm with Gerald’s hardware plan, reserving samples for important special moves and victory lines.
• Gerald showed Lin Lixin a prototype joystick, and Lin tested its circular inputs and approved it for executing special moves.

Lin Lixin showed the unfinished Street Fighter to Brandon Lee and Schwarzenegger, who tested its joystick controls and characters. After Brandon Lee defeated Schwarzenegger, Sam demonstrated Guile’s projectile tactics, and Lin Lixin offered to take over against him.

• Sam impressed Lin Lixin by using the joystick and buttons to control his character precisely during an early playtest.
• Lin Lixin completed Street Fighter’s test build with a roster that included Ryu, Zangief, Cammy White, Chun-Li, Fei Long, and Guile.
• Brandon Lee chose Fei Long and Schwarzenegger chose Guile, then they began testing the game’s controls and moves.
• Brandon Lee used careful spacing, blocking, and attacks to defeat Schwarzenegger, who complained that Fei Long seemed too fast and Guile too slow.
• Sam took Schwarzenegger’s place and used Guile’s projectiles to pin Brandon Lee at the edge of the screen.
• Lin Lixin patted Brandon Lee’s shoulder and asked if he could take care of Sam.

Lin Lixin showed Brandon Lee and Schwarzenegger Street Fighter’s special moves and move list, winning Sam’s challenge and inspiring Brandon to acknowledge the game. Brandon then told his mother, Linda, about his work on it, but she reacted angrily until Shannon urged her to see the game for herself.

• Lin Lixin used Fei Long’s combos and Shinryu Hassai to defeat Sam’s projectile-spamming Guile.
• Lin Lixin gave Brandon Lee and Schwarzenegger a move list, and Schwarzenegger learned to perform Guile’s Sonic Boom.
• Brandon Lee and Schwarzenegger played a close match that Brandon won 2-1, while Lin Lixin received a system attribute boost.
• Brandon Lee told Linda about Street Fighter, but she condemned video games and criticized him for working on one.
• Brandon Lee insisted Mr. Lin was different and said he had played Bruce Lee in Street Fighter.
• Shannon Lee came out of her bedroom and told Linda to go see the game, saying she believed in her brother.

Linda Emery watched Brandon Lee and Lin Lixin test GAMENOVA’s Street Fighter prototype, then Shannon Lee showed unexpected skill against Brandon. Meanwhile, Konami finished its upgraded Kung-Fu Master arcade port, only for its North American vice president to discover Street Fighter’s release.

• Linda Emery refused to play Street Fighter, so Brandon Lee challenged Lin Lixin to a match, with Lin choosing Chun-Li and Brandon choosing Fei Long.
• Lin Lixin won the first round, but Brandon adapted to Chun-Li and defeated him in the second, prompting Linda to praise Fei Long’s resemblance to Bruce Lee while demanding that he be strengthened.
• Shannon Lee asked to try the game and quickly beat Brandon’s Fei Long with Chun-Li.
• Konami completed an upgraded arcade version of Kung-Fu Master, adding stages, bosses, improved graphics, and better sound.
• A Konami subordinate showed the vice president a television broadcast of Street Fighter featuring Brandon Lee and Schwarzenegger, revealing the competing game.

Konami expected its successful launch of "Kung-Fu Master" to outshine GAMENOVA’s "Street Fighter," but arcade operators soon began switching their orders after seeing Street Fighter’s appeal. In California, players flocked to the new game, and Henry celebrated a ten-win streak at ArcadeArea.

• Konami’s vice president worried that GAMENOVA’s "Street Fighter" would compete with "Kung-Fu Master," but first-day sales of Kung-Fu Master convinced him to expand production.
• Meyer told Lin Lixin that he was struggling to sell the Street Fighter machines he had bought exclusively, and Lin urged him to wait for the game’s potential to show.
• An Arizona arcade operator ordered fourteen Street Fighter machines and returned two Kung-Fu Master machines, while lamenting that a Phoenix rival had ordered Street Fighter first.
• Californians began talking about Street Fighter and debating whether Bruce Lee or Chun-Li was stronger.
• At Henry’s ArcadeArea, Henry defeated Guile with a True Dragon Eight Destructions and celebrated his tenth consecutive victory.

Lin Lixin saw Street Fighter overtake Kung-Fu Master, thanked Brandon Lee and Schwarzenegger for helping promote the game, and warned them to stay safe on film sets. He then went to a juvenile detention center in Kansas to find fifteen-year-old John Carmack, who had been jailed for stealing an Apple II.

• Konami's vice president saw engineers absorbed in Street Fighter and decided to stop Kung-Fu Master production and deal with the unsold machines.
• Street Fighter overtook Kung-Fu Master in arcades as players queued up, practiced combos, and argued over characters.
• Lin Lixin thanked Brandon Lee and Schwarzenegger for their roles in Street Fighter, and Brandon Lee said the game had earned him offers for two kung fu films.
• Lin Lixin warned Brandon Lee and Schwarzenegger about unsafe film-set practices and asked Schwarzenegger to look out for Brandon.
• Lin Lixin traveled to Kansas to meet John Carmack, whom the staff said had been sent to juvenile detention for stealing his school's Apple II computer.

Lin Lixin visited the juvenile detention center to recruit the gifted young John Carmack, offering him an IBM 5170 and early release if he built a 3D renderer. Carmack accepted the challenge and grew curious about Lin Lixin and his game company.

• Lin Lixin recognized fifteen-year-old Carmack, who was sleeping through class at the juvenile detention center.
• Lin Lixin showed Carmack his code in a PC magazine and praised his programming talent, while Carmack boasted about breaking into a school computer room to steal an Apple II.
• Lin Lixin offered to buy Carmack an IBM 5170 and secure his early release if he completed a programming challenge.
• Carmack dismissed 3D rendering as an easy task and asked for an Apple II, but Lin Lixin revealed the work had to run on an arcade board using the company’s N Language and assembly.
• Carmack accepted the challenge, asked who Lin Lixin was, and called out for him to wait as Lin Lixin left the development supplies behind.

Lin Lixin persuaded Carmack to join GAMENOVA by challenging him to build a project and return to school. Back in California, Lin pushed ahead with adding a costly floppy disk drive to the NovaBox and planned a score-upload system, aiming to capitalize on the technology before it became commonplace.

• Lin Lixin revealed to Carmack that he owned GAMENOVA and had developed Metal Gear and Street Fighter.
• Carmack asked to join GAMENOVA, but Lin criticized his attitude and explained the company would not hire him yet.
• Lin offered to arrange Carmack's early release, challenged him to build a project, and told him to return to school and aim for the University of Kansas.
• After Lin returned to California, Sam showed him the floppy disk drive he had obtained and warned that it would add over a hundred dollars to NovaBox's hardware costs.
• Lin insisted that the NovaBox needed floppy disks for their capacity and write capability, and proposed fax machines at game stores for uploading players' scores.

John Carmack arrived at GAMENOVA with a working 3D rendering program, prompting Lin Lixin to shift plans toward developing Wolfenstein 3D. Meanwhile, Minoru Arakawa prepared Nintendo’s NES for North American sales, relying on its game lineup and a bundled copy of Super Mario.

• John Carmack showed Lin Lixin his University of Kansas admission letter and said he had made what Lin wanted.
• John Carmack demonstrated a movable 3D room rendered with a ray-tracing algorithm, impressing GAMENOVA’s technical staff.
• Lin Lixin decided to change plans and develop Wolfenstein 3D.
• Minoru Arakawa approved the NES prototype and ordered trial sales in New York without changing its specifications.
• Minoru Arakawa planned to bundle Super Mario with every NES purchase to compete in North America.
• Lin Lixin loaded Wolfenstein 3D on the NovaBox prototype and remarked that its cover had a Schwarzenegger-like style.