Recaps

Lin Lixin launched NovaBox alongside Nintendo’s early NES test, but NovaBox’s first-week sales fell far behind. He countered by distributing Wolfenstein 3D as a bundled launch game, whose first-person 3D gameplay stunned viewers.

• Lin Lixin, Carmack, and Sam tested Wolfenstein 3D, a first-person shooter built for NovaBox.
• Lin Lixin asked Meyer to distribute NovaBox and chose to test-launch it in Los Angeles alongside Nintendo’s NES in New York.
• Nintendo’s NES outsold NovaBox, helped by its lower price, its presentation as an entertainment system, and its bundled Super Mario.
• Meyer told Lin Lixin that NovaBox’s test sales were poor and urged GAMENOVA to return its focus to arcade games.
• Lin Lixin unveiled gold-cased Wolfenstein 3D cartridges and began offering the game to NovaBox buyers at California arcades.
• GAMENOVA aired gameplay footage of Wolfenstein 3D, shocking viewers with its first-person 3D graphics.

Mike and John bought GAMENOVA’s expensive NovaBox and tried its new Wolfenstein 3D game, which proved far more impressive than Mike expected. Mike was left awestruck by the first-person 3D graphics, and the NovaBox became the last hope of American video games.

• Mike pedaled John, who had broken his foot, to the arcade to see GAMENOVA’s new games.
• Mike and John balked at the NovaBox’s high price, but John paid for the console and Street Fighter while Mike contributed toward the cartridges.
• At home, John connected the Street Fighter-themed NovaBox to the television and started Wolfenstein 3D.
• Mike returned with snacks and was stunned by the game’s first-person view, detailed walls, spotlights, and falling enemies.
• John offered Mike a turn, and Wolfenstein 3D’s graphics transformed the NovaBox’s prospects.

Lin Lixin showed Meyer a motion-sensing light-gun prototype and a floppy disk fax machine for uploading game scores, while NES sales continued to grow. He then explained that GAMENOVA’s next game would be a 2D open-world role-playing action-adventure game based on The Legend of Zelda.

• Atari launched its Atar7800 in Chicago at a lower price, but NES and NovaBox shipments quickly overshadowed it.
• Meyer visited Lin Lixin to praise Wolfenstein 3D’s success and saw Gerald and Sam working on a NovaBox peripheral prototype.
• Lin Lixin demonstrated a motion-sensing light gun that controlled the player’s facing direction in Wolfenstein 3D, and Meyer tried it.
• Lin Lixin showed Meyer a floppy disk fax machine that could upload players’ saved scores to GAMENOVA headquarters, and Meyer left with both prototypes.
• Despite the light gun’s impact, NES sales kept growing because families preferred games like Super Mario, so Lin Lixin began preparing The Legend of Zelda.
• When Sam questioned the return to 2D, Lin Lixin explained that hardware and floppy disk limits ruled out 3D and presented his plan for an open-world role-playing action-adventure game.

Lin Lixin showed Sam the enormous maps for The Legend of Zelda: The Hyrule Fantasy and demonstrated how pseudo-seamless scrolling could make them work on NovaBox. He also met with Zilog to discuss the RISC-based Z80S, whose performance had impressed the company’s engineers.

• Lin Lixin showed Sam the overworld and the many dungeon maps for both quests, revealing the game’s vast scale.
• Sam questioned whether NovaBox’s limited memory could support the maps, and Lin Lixin demonstrated pseudo-seamless scrolling on an IBM 5170.
• Carmack praised Lin Lixin’s game design and dismissed the technical implementation as a minor detail.
• At Zilog headquarters, Richard praised the Z80S’s performance despite its reduced instruction set.
• Lin Lixin explained that RISC shifted complexity onto programmers and said his N Language could help overcome that difficulty.

Lin Lixin explained that he was commissioning a low-power 8-bit CPU and showed Sam and Carmack how the large, interconnected world of The Legend of Zelda required floppy-disk saves. When Sam asked about Link’s missing stats, Lin Lixin revealed that the game’s progression came from gaining items that opened new routes, leaving Sam astonished by the design.

• Lin Lixin argued that reduced-instruction-set processors were the future and commissioned a low-power 8-bit CPU running at least 4.19 MHz.
• Sam finished drawing the dungeon room while Lin Lixin and Carmack implemented The Legend of Zelda’s underlying systems.
• Lin Lixin showed Sam and Carmack the game’s interface and explained that its many world and character variables required floppy-disk saves.
• Sam noticed that Link had no conventional level, attack, or defense stats and offered to design a stats panel.
• Lin Lixin pointed out that the map had few impassable routes, and Sam realized that items such as the raft and bombs unlocked new paths and defined progression.

Emma let Vincent buy a Zelda-themed NovaBox after trying the NES, while The Legend of Zelda's success drove console sales and profits at GAMENOVA. Lin Lixin planned to expand into another kind of home gaming system and began preparing Story of Seasons as the next part of his image-rehabilitation plan.

• Emma reluctantly gave up the controller, then took Vincent to buy a Zelda limited-edition NovaBox after he said he no longer wanted one.
• The Legend of Zelda became the hottest title of the quarter, selling more than a million copies in less than a month and outselling NovaBox shipments.
• Sam told Lin Lixin that console sales had risen and Zelda-themed NovaBox units had sold out in several areas.
• Lin Lixin explained that Zelda's slower pace and save feature let players explore its world over weeks or months, helping cartridge revenue cover console losses.
• Lin Lixin said GAMENOVA would not focus entirely on home consoles and planned to pursue another gaming system after Zilog finished his custom chip.
• Lin Lixin marked the countryside setting as the next step in his plan and chose Story of Seasons as his next game.

Emma let Vincent try the NES, then bought him a Zelda-themed NovaBox despite his newfound enthusiasm for its cartridges. Lin Lixin explained how The Legend of Zelda had driven console sales and outlined Story of Seasons as the next step in his image-rehabilitation plan.

• Emma played the NES for half an hour before Hunter persuaded her to give up the controller.
• Vincent told Emma that Super Mario and Battle City were fun, but Emma bought a Zelda limited-edition NovaBox and made him put the cartridges back.
• Sam reported that The Legend of Zelda had sold over a million copies, sold out themed consoles, and helped offset the NovaBox's losses.
• Lin Lixin explained that Zelda's slow-paced exploration and save feature set it apart and made it a major home-console game.
• Lin Lixin planned to develop Story of Seasons as the next part of his image-rehabilitation plan.

Lin Lixin explained his slow-paced farming game to Sam before traveling to recruit Howard Scott Warshaw as GAMENOVA’s first third-party developer. Howard, blamed for Atari’s collapse after making E.T., was stunned by the offer.

• Lin Lixin described a farming game inspired by Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town, and Sam doubted its appeal to arcade-minded players.
• Lin Lixin explained that the game targeted homebodies, women, and children, then asked Sam to take him to the airport.
• Howard Scott Warshaw reflected on his reputation as the developer of E.T. and typed about his contrasting reputations for E.T. and Yars' Revenge.
• Lin Lixin visited Howard and invited him to become GAMENOVA’s first third-party game developer.
• Howard froze in surprise at Lin Lixin’s offer.

Lin Lixin recruited Howard Warshaw as a GAMENOVA developer and persuaded the team to approve his farming simulation concept, Story of Seasons. The game, released as Harvest Moon, surprised the public with its gentle premise and left GAMENOVA at a disadvantage in public opinion.

• Lin Lixin offered Howard Warshaw a third-party development contract and argued that a better-resourced game could clear his name after E.T.
• Howard agreed to join GAMENOVA after Lin Lixin required him to use N Language as his primary development language.
• Vivian and Sam questioned whether players would enjoy a game centered on farmwork, but Gerald supported Lin Lixin's idea and recognized growth and harvest as its core appeal.
• Lin Lixin explained that rewarding player effort and adding NPC relationships would make the farming simulation engaging.
• GAMENOVA released the floppy disk Harvest Moon on the first day of the harvest moon, and its unexpected style put the company at a disadvantage in public opinion.

On his birthday, John received Harvest Moon instead of the Zelda cartridge he had hoped for, and he and Mike started the game despite its childish appearance and bad reviews. The game prompted John to enter a character name, leaving him curious about the immersion it might offer.

• John celebrated beating a Wolfenstein boss and wished he had a portable console.
• Mike arrived with a GAMENOVA birthday present, and John initially thought it was The Legend of Zelda.
• Mike revealed that the cartridge was Harvest Moon, and John hid his disappointment while Mike offered to exchange it.
• John stopped Mike from exchanging the gift and inserted Harvest Moon into the NovaBox.
• John and Mike watched the cheerful opening, then John saw the character-naming screen and anticipated that NPCs would use his name.

John and Mike began playing Stardew Valley and discovered that its farming, exploration, and daily routines were far more immersive than the game reviews had led them to expect. As they praised the game, Emma secretly hid Wolfenstein after noticing that GAMENOVA had released a new title.

• John and Mike endured the detailed character setup and opening cutscene, which showed John’s office-bound protagonist receiving a letter from his grandfather.
• John arrived at the farm, met Robin, planted seeds, and explored the town while Mike reacted to the characters’ relationships.
• After spending more than half a spring tending the farm and hiring Robin to build a coop, John and Mike agreed that Stardew Valley was deeply enjoyable and criticized the game review magazines.
• Emma pulled Wolfenstein out of the console and hid it before telling Vincent that GAMENOVA had released a new game.

Emma bought Vincent a copy of Story of Seasons, hoping its gentle gameplay would suit him, but decided to try it herself while he was out. Meanwhile, ElectronicGames faced growing backlash for its negative review of the game.

• Vincent asked Emma to take him to the game store for Story of Seasons, but she refused and told him to go on a picnic with his father.
• After Vincent left, Emma secretly went to the game store, where the children recognized her as Satan Mom, the top Wolfenstein 3D player.
• Emma uploaded her latest Wolfenstein 3D record, then bought Story of Seasons after hearing that its child-friendly gameplay might appeal to Vincent.
• Emma returned home, saw the game in her bag, and decided to test it herself instead of watching a soap opera.
• ElectronicGames' editor-in-chief worried as readers increasingly complained about the magazine's harsh review of Story of Seasons.

Minoru Arakawa sought a traditional RPG to help Nintendo answer GAMENOVA’s NovaBox as NES sales slowed. Hiroshi Yamauchi assigned the idea to Enix and Yuji Horii, while Lin Lixin arrived at NewWorldComputing with a third-party contract.

• ElectronicGames’ editor-in-chief ordered his staff to replay Story of Seasons after angry readers challenged their review.
• Minoru Arakawa saw slowing NES sales as a result of competition from GAMENOVA and considered how Nintendo could respond.
• Minoru Arakawa urged Hiroshi Yamauchi to develop a traditional RPG to compete with GAMENOVA’s games.
• Hiroshi Yamauchi said Shigeru Miyamoto was busy with another project and named Enix and Yuji Horii’s Dragon Quest as a possible answer.
• Lin Lixin brought a third-party contract to the creator of Might and Magic at NewWorldComputing.

Lin Lixin visited Jon Van Caneghem and discovered his ambitious Might and Magic project, then secured NWC as a third-party studio for GAMENOVA. He left for Texas to approach Ultima as well.

• Lin Lixin visited Jon Van Caneghem at his home and introduced himself as GAMENOVA's owner, prompting Caneghem to excitedly recognize him as a hero.
• Caneghem showed Lin Lixin the Might and Magic materials he had developed largely on his own, including design drafts, a map, and a turn-based combat demo.
• Lin Lixin asked whether Caneghem would consider developing games for a console, and Caneghem eagerly agreed to join GAMENOVA.
• Lin Lixin clarified that he meant a third-party contract, and Caneghem hurriedly signed the documents without checking the clauses.
• Caneghem asked why Lin Lixin had chosen him instead of Ultima, and Lin Lixin said he was heading to Texas to approach them too.

Lin Lixin recruited Origin Systems to develop for the NovaBox and then visited Sir-Tech, where Minoru Arakawa had just failed to secure a deal. Lin entered the meeting room with a cooperation agreement, while Arakawa left suspecting something was wrong.

• Lin Lixin met Richard Garriott and invited Origin Systems to become a NovaBox third-party developer rather than sign an exclusivity agreement.
• Richard agreed to bring Ultima IV to the NovaBox, making Origin Systems one of GAMENOVA's third-party studios.
• Lin Lixin considered approaching Sir-Tech, the independent company behind Wizardry, despite its fierce resistance to major companies and its location near Nintendo of America's home base.
• Lin arrived at Sir-Tech and heard angry voices from a meeting room after Minoru Arakawa had apparently argued with the company.
• Lin shook hands with the departing Arakawa, then entered Sir-Tech's meeting room carrying a briefcase, leaving Arakawa to wonder who he really was.

Lin Lixin examined the GAME&WATCH and discussed the threat of Nintendo’s next-generation handheld as GAMENOVA considered developing its own portable console. He identified cartridge capacity and saving as key obstacles, then proposed battery-backed saving technology.

• Lin Lixin returned to Santa Clara, handed Sam the signed contracts, and inspected the GAME&WATCH units Sam had obtained from Japan.
• Gerald explained the machines’ specifications, and Lin Lixin warned that Nintendo’s next-generation handheld could threaten GAMENOVA.
• Gerald reported progress on the NovaWonder graphics card and the first Z80Y trial chips, and Lin Lixin ordered development of the NovaPocket to begin.
• Lin Lixin and Gerald discussed the NovaPocket’s limited game storage and lack of floppy disks, and Lin Lixin wrote “Battery-backed saving technology” on the whiteboard as a solution.

Lin Lixin showed Gerald how a button battery could keep RAM powered, solving the NovaPocket’s save-data problem, and revealed Pokémon as its launch title. After handing Carmack reusable battle code, Lin Lixin struggled to draw Pokémon and asked the team whether anyone spoke Japanese.

• Lin Lixin explained to Gerald that a button battery could keep SRAM powered so it could preserve game saves.
• Gerald realized the battery-backed RAM approach could provide cheap, reliable storage for the NovaPocket.
• Lin Lixin announced Pokémon as the NovaPocket’s launch title and planned to compress it to fit the console’s limited cartridge capacity.
• Lin Lixin returned from Caneghem with a copy of Might and Magic’s combat code and gave it to Carmack to adapt.
• Lin Lixin tried drawing a yellow Pokémon, realized his hand-drawing skills were poor, and asked whether anyone on the team spoke Japanese.

Lin Lixin learned Japanese through the system while preparing for a trip to Japan, then confronted Steve, the founder of ElectronicGames, who came to apologize for his magazine’s negative review of Story of Seasons. Steve admitted he had judged the game after playing it for less than half an hour and said his team later played it for several days.

• Lin Lixin gained basic Japanese and fused his language skills into a comprehensive language-learning ability.
• Lin Lixin had Sam study Japanese for their upcoming business trip, though Sam gave up and suggested hiring an interpreter.
• Steve arrived at Lin Lixin’s home with wine and introduced himself as the founder of ElectronicGames.
• Lin Lixin and Sam mistook Steve’s visit for a challenge, and Sam accidentally punched him before Steve explained he had come to apologize.
• Steve admitted he had reviewed Story of Seasons after playing it for less than half an hour and said he regretted his mistaken assessment.

Lin Lixin agreed to an interview with ElectronicGames after Steve apologized for the magazine’s damaging review of Story of Seasons. During the interview, Lin revealed Contra’s hidden cheat code, leaving the arcade’s players stunned.

• Steve impressed Lin Lixin and Sam with his knowledge of video games, then asked Lin for an interview in the next issue of ElectronicGames.
• Lin agreed, and they scheduled the interview for the following afternoon at the GAMENOVA arcade.
• Steve asked Lin about undiscovered Easter eggs in The Legend of Zelda and mentioned the name-entry trick that unlocked its second quest.
• Lin shared Contra’s code, “Up up down down left right left right BABA,” and players entered it on NovaBox consoles to raise their characters’ lives from three to thirty.

Lin Lixin organized an Easter egg hunt for hidden content in several games, and ElectronicGames publicized the challenge alongside an interview and a revised Story of Seasons review. Players uncovered the Metal Gear secret and Contra’s eight additional stages, while the search for the remaining Easter eggs continued.

• Lin Lixin proposed a treasure hunt and gave Steve clues to Easter eggs in Contra, Metal Gear, and Wolfenstein 3D.
• ElectronicGames published an interview with Lin Lixin, a detailed Story of Seasons review, and a notice offering rewards to players who found the Easter eggs.
• Henry discovered a hidden room in stage 11 of Metal Gear and won a gold-and-precious-metals mech figurine.
• John recognized Contra’s hidden mutation stages, wrote to ElectronicGames, and news of the eight extra stages sparked a wave of discussion.
• Lin Lixin laughed at the response, having deliberately added Contra’s extra stages to turn a familiar rumor into real game content.

Lin Lixin saw Micro-Nova complete its first general-purpose graphics card, NovaWonder, and approved Vivian's plan for a more flexible Graphics Array standard. He then traveled to Tokyo with Sam, arriving at Game Freak ten years before it would create Pokémon.

• Vivian showed Lin Lixin and Ho Kwok Yuen the NovaWonder prototype, which matched or exceeded IBM's EGA performance.
• Vivian proposed the Graphics Array standard, with multiple palettes that could be switched rapidly, and Lin Lixin approved developing it within two years.
• Vivian reported that NovaWonder used up to thirty percent less power than comparable cards and could cost thirty dollars or less in mass production.
• Lin Lixin told Vivian to begin fabricating a trial batch of chips, then left for Japan with Sam after dropping Carmack at Gerald's house.
• Lin Lixin and Sam arrived at Game Freak's Tokyo office and met its president, Satoshi Tajiri, and illustrator Ken Sugimori.

Lin Lixin visited Game Freak to recruit Satoshi Tajiri and Ken Sugimori for illustrations for a new game. After seeing GAMENOVA’s games and recognizing Lin from an overseas magazine, Satoshi learned that Lin wanted them to help develop a game featuring a creature called Mew.

• Sam and Lin arrived at Game Freak, where Satoshi Tajiri and Ken Sugimori doubted Lin’s claim to own GAMENOVA.
• Lin showed Satoshi and Ken a NovaBox and introduced them to 1942, whose gameplay amazed them.
• Lin showed the pair Wolfenstein 3D, leaving them stunned by the advances in GAMENOVA’s games.
• Satoshi spotted Lin’s face on the cover of Electronic Games and realized Lin was genuine.
• Lin showed Satoshi and Ken a sketch of Mew and explained that he wanted illustrations for his new game.

Lin Lixin recruited Satoshi Tajiri and Ken Sugimori to create a monster encyclopedia for GAMENOVA and proposed making Game Freak its foothold in Japan. After Carmack demonstrated Tetris on the NovaPocket test platform, Lin required handheld communication for trading and ended by asking Gerald about a Pokémon Center.

• Lin Lixin hired Game Freak to create a monster encyclopedia and floated acquiring the studio, while Satoshi Tajiri and Ken Sugimori hesitated at the prospect of moving overseas.
• Sam proposed establishing Game Freak as GAMENOVA's Japanese office, and Lin Lixin approved the plan as Satoshi Tajiri agreed to join.
• Lin Lixin asked Satoshi Tajiri to introduce a music-minded friend, and Satoshi named Junichi Masuda.
• Lin Lixin returned to California and saw Carmack run Tetris on Gerald's NovaPocket test platform, where the game played smoothly on the small screen.
• Lin Lixin told Gerald that the NovaPocket needed cable or infrared communication for trading, then asked whether he had heard of a Pokémon Center.

Lin Lixin enlisted Meyer to help establish Pokémon Centers and unveiled plans for a Pokémon Trading Machine, while GAMENOVA began building eight themed Pokémon Gyms across America. The press speculated that the buildings were flagship stores, and Lin approved an advance copy of the coverage.

• Lin Lixin showed Meyer the plan for Pokémon Centers and introduced the Pokémon Trading Machine, an unfinished device intended for the console version of Pokémon.
• Meyer agreed to help persuade stores to set up Pokémon Centers, but Lin said the Eight Gyms would have to wait until later.
• Game stores and arcades began renovating areas, and GAMENOVA soon acquired eight buildings across America and started constructing themed Gyms.
• ElectronicGames published a commentary suggesting the buildings were GAMENOVA flagship stores and that their themes reflected their locations.
• Steve showed Lin Lixin a preprint sample of the commentary, and Lin approved it.

Lin Lixin introduced Schwarzenegger and Brandon Lee to NovaPocket, a sleek portable console that impressed them with its design and preinstalled Tetris. After Schwarzenegger became absorbed in playing, they began filming the console’s promotional video, which showed him gaming between action scenes.

• Lin Lixin brought Schwarzenegger and Brandon Lee to the set and showed them the red and blue NovaPocket units.
• Schwarzenegger and Brandon Lee admired NovaPocket’s design, and Schwarzenegger played its preinstalled Tetris for half an hour.
• Lin Lixin explained that the promotional video would include solo scenes for each actor and a scene with both of them.
• Schwarzenegger filmed a Guile-style rainforest action scene, then played Tetris during a break before returning to the set.