Chapter Summaries

Lin Lixin arrived in Los Angeles in 1984, at the height of the video game crash, and received the Game Godfather System. After convincing his roommate Sam that video games would recover, Lin Lixin decided to develop a game.

• Lin Lixin discovered he had been transported to 1984 Los Angeles and activated the Game Godfather System, which identified him as Jesse and gave him a beginner gift pack.
• Lin Lixin realized he had arrived during the Atari crash, when the North American gaming market had collapsed and Nintendo had yet to enter it.
• Sam arrived to remind Lin Lixin about class and complained that he had wasted money buying copies of E.T.
• After class, Lin Lixin told Sam that Atari did not represent the gaming industry and predicted that games would recover that year.
• Lin Lixin told Sam he was planning to develop a game.

Lin Lixin used his system’s beginner rewards to quickly create Tetris on his Commodore 64. He challenged Sam to try it and bet that Sam would like the game.

• Lin Lixin claimed five unallocated attribute points and two skills that improved his computer-language and graphics-programming learning.
• Lin Lixin put all five attribute points into programming and built an early version of Tetris in less than three hours.
• Sam returned with rented videotapes and found Lin Lixin playing the colorful block game on his C64.
• Lin Lixin told Sam he had made the game and challenged him to bet a month of cheese pizzas on whether Sam would like it.
• Sam set aside his tapes, took Lin Lixin’s seat, and asked how to play.

Sam became hooked on Lin Lixin’s Tetris game and urged him to sell it, while Lin Lixin planned an arcade-machine port. A few days later, Sam surprised Lin Lixin with a dusty secondhand Pac-Man cabinet for the project.

• Sam learned to play Tetris and became absorbed in trying to beat the high score.
• Lin Lixin stopped Sam’s free trial, and Sam praised Tetris and urged Lin Lixin to sell it.
• Lin Lixin told Sam he was working on an arcade-machine port of Tetris.
• Sam realized Lin Lixin had already finished watching Star Wars while he played.
• A few days later, Sam brought Lin Lixin a dusty secondhand Pac-Man arcade machine for the port.

Lin Lixin discovered that observing Sam repair electronics could earn him hardware experience and acquired basic hardware knowledge while they tried to fix an arcade cabinet. He quickly revived the machine by cleaning the contacts on its chips, leaving Sam amazed at how fast he had solved the problem.

• Sam and Lin Lixin hauled an old arcade cabinet into the living room, but it failed to turn on.
• Sam opened the cabinet and began repairing loose connections while Lin Lixin watched and gained hardware experience from the system.
• Lin Lixin acquired the skill [The Mystery of 101], which granted basic hardware knowledge and improved his ability to learn hardware technology.
• After Sam’s soldering failed to restore the picture, Lin Lixin pressed the removable chips into place and cleaned oxidation from their contacts.
• Sam powered on the cabinet, saw an image on the screen, and wondered how Lin Lixin had fixed it so quickly.

Lin Lixin finished converting the Pac-Man cabinet into the world’s first Tetris arcade machine and tried to take it outside to attract players. Sam clung to the machine until Vivian intervened, mistaking Lin Lixin’s efforts to pull him away for a beating.

• Lin Lixin played Pac-Man with Sam, then asked him to buy parts for a major arcade-machine modification.
• Lin Lixin worked through the week and completed the Tetris port in an all-night session.
• Sam woke to the finished machine and eagerly rushed to play, but Lin Lixin told him to help carry it outside for potential customers.
• Sam clung to the cabinet and wailed as Lin Lixin tried to move it, while Vivian spotted them during her morning run.
• Vivian hurried over to defend Sam, who shouted that there was no super-fun new arcade game there.

Lin Lixin’s modified two-player Tetris cabinet drew its first customers after Vivian tried a free game against Sam. He woke at midday to find a long queue gathered outside his home to play.

• Lin Lixin persuaded Vivian to try the arcade game by offering her a free coin.
• Vivian and Sam started a two-player Tetris match, each determined to beat the other.
• Lin Lixin told Sam to share the machine with anyone who wanted to play, then went to sleep.
• The system awarded Lin Lixin attribute points and a skill for player reviews, game rounds, return visits, and working through the night.
• Lin Lixin woke at midday and saw a crowd queuing beneath the sun to play his Tetris arcade cabinet.

Lin Lixin watched Tetris draw a long line of eager players and arranged to register its copyrights while refusing to sell the arcade machine to Meyer. He took over supervising the crowd and began planning another game based on scrolling technology.

• Lin Lixin broke up a quarrel between two players who had hogged the Tetris machine, and watched them rejoin the queue with Vivian.
• Lin Lixin found Sam sprawled in a lounge chair, then asked him to prepare and mail Tetris copyright registration materials.
• Meyer introduced himself as an arcade owner and asked to buy the machine, but Lin Lixin declined and took his contact information for a possible future deal.
• Lin Lixin took over watching the arcade machine and considered making his next game using the scrolling technology from Super Mario.

Lin Lixin gained an arcade-repair skill and learned that Sam would fund a new game if it matched Tetris. With a seven-day quest to earn the investor’s recognition, Lin Lixin chose to develop Salamander, though Xevious had already pioneered vertical scrolling.

• Lin Lixin spent his 10 attribute points on software and hardware, then gained a skill that revealed hidden arcade-machine damage.
• Lin Lixin considered repairing discarded arcade machines for profit, but Sam urged him to take over the arcade instead.
• Sam offered to cover the first month’s rent if Lin Lixin made another game as good as Tetris, triggering a timed quest with a seven-day deadline.
• Lin Lixin began developing Salamander for the C64 and recognized that Xevious had already established vertical scrolling.

Lin Lixin used his scanning ability to expose the arcade owner’s damaged machines and stopped Sam from agreeing to an inflated package deal. They left with the owner calling after them, while Lin Lixin suggested renting an empty unit and buying new machines from Mr. Meyer.

• Lin Lixin realized he needed to study how to implement scrolling technology and put off that part of the game’s development.
• Sam told Lin Lixin that the arcade owner demanded a thousand dollars per machine and would only rent the shop as part of a package deal.
• Lin Lixin scanned the arcade machines and identified severe damage that the owner had concealed from Sam.
• Lin Lixin pointed out that the Xevious and Space Invaders cabinets were in better condition, then exposed more damage in other machines.
• When the owner refused to lower the price, Lin Lixin proposed renting an empty unit and ordering new machines from Mr. Meyer.
• Lin Lixin restrained Sam and pulled him toward the door as the owner called after them.

Lin Lixin and Sam ended the successful first-day trial of Tetris and began preparing to open an arcade, while Lin Lixin looked into computer graphics for a new game project. At the library, he ran into Vivian, who offered to tutor him.

• Lin Lixin sent the eager customers home so he and Sam could make adjustments to the arcade machine.
• Sam counted $125.50 in earnings, and Lin Lixin told him they could eventually sell games for home consoles.
• Sam went to the arcade to handle its paperwork and cleaning while Lin Lixin went to class.
• Lin Lixin went to the science and engineering library to study PPU books for his game project.
• Vivian recognized Lin Lixin, praised Tetris, and offered to tutor him in computer graphics.

Lin Lixin learned technical art from Vivian and designed a scrolling system, then finished a new arcade game called 1942. Sam tried it and initially saw it as little more than a reskinned Xevious, while Lin Lixin expected its fighter upgrade system to win him over.

• Vivian explained Sprite RAM and the PPU to Lin Lixin, who suddenly understood V-Blank and wrote out a scrolling implementation.
• Lin Lixin thanked Vivian, borrowed several books, and rushed home to study.
• By Friday, Sam had finished cleaning the arcade and repairing a Xevious cabinet for Lin Lixin.
• Lin Lixin installed his new EPROM, and the cabinet displayed the title 1942.
• Sam played the game and felt disappointed because it seemed like Xevious with an ocean map.
• Lin Lixin urged Sam to keep playing, expecting the fighter upgrade system to impress him.

Lin Lixin’s improved “1942” impressed Sam with its wingmen, weapon upgrades, and escalating difficulty, convincing him it was a next-generation shoot ’em up. After completing the investor-recognition mission, Lin Lixin received attribute boosts and a skill gift pack, then stopped Sam from starting another game so they could get back to work.

• Sam played Lin Lixin’s “1942,” defeated a minor elite, and collected an upgrade that summoned two wingmen to fly beside him.
• Sam’s wingmen sacrificed themselves to destroy a heavy bomber, and Sam collected a POW pickup that increased his fighter’s machine guns from two to four.
• After losing, Sam admitted he had been wrong and praised the game as a next-generation shoot ’em up.
• Lin Lixin received five points to all existing attributes and a skill gift pack for completing the investor-recognition mission on schedule.
• Lin Lixin reflected that his growing abilities were improving his coding and stopped Sam from inserting another coin.

Lin Lixin and Sam opened Nova Games to a crowd of eager players who rushed to play Tetris. As Lin Lixin checked on the arcade and his pending game copyright applications, Sam invited newcomer Neil to try 1942 with him.

• Lin Lixin and Sam hung the Nova Games sign and prepared the arcade for opening day.
• Vivian arrived early but found a long line of returning players and joined the back of it as more people gathered.
• Lin Lixin and Sam opened the doors, and the crowd packed the arcade and queued for its three Tetris machines.
• Neil, dragged along by Mike, wandered to a Xevious cabinet and discovered that it was running 1942 instead.
• Sam invited Neil to play 1942 co-op, while Lin Lixin checked his copyright applications and brought up the system panel to open an unopened skill gift pack.

Lin Lixin used his new ability to analyze people’s skills and discovered Vivian’s exceptional artistic potential. He invited her to try his newly developed game, and its fluid scrolling and cooperative gameplay left her astonished.

• Lin Lixin used Combat Power Detector to inspect Sam Weber’s stats and found that Vivian Pelley had S-ranked potential in technical art and graphic design.
• Lin Lixin offered Vivian free coins and invited her to try the new game he had developed.
• Sam Weber and Neil played the new 1942 machine together, praising its random weapon upgrades and cooperative play.
• Vivian joined Lin Lixin for a co-op round and was stunned by the game’s fluid scrolling, layered scenery, and visual effects.
• Vivian reflected that she had misunderstood video games for years and wished she had discovered them sooner.

Lin Lixin invited Vivian to join his planned game company, but she hesitated because the video game market had collapsed. He then discussed producing arcade machines with Sam and called Meyer to explore selling them.

• Lin Lixin and Vivian played a game while discussing her computer graphics work and their interest in video games.
• Lin Lixin invited Vivian to join his game company, but she declined because she did not trust the struggling market with her future.
• Lin Lixin decided to pursue selling arcade machines and asked Sam about production costs.
• Sam rejected in-house production as too expensive, then suggested using a contract manufacturer and taking deposits from buyers.
• Sam estimated each arcade machine would cost about $1,500, and Lin Lixin called Meyer.

Lin Lixin used a calculated phone call to draw Meyer into negotiating for Tetris arcade cabinets. Meyer realized Lin Lixin had developed the game himself, leaving him eager to secure a deal.

• Lin Lixin called Meyer and hinted that he had a batch of Tetris arcade cabinets to sell, then hung up after Meyer initially declined.
• Meyer recognized the name Tetris, panicked that a rival might get the cabinets, and rushed to Lin Lixin's apartment.
• Lin Lixin waited calmly outside while Meyer arrived and apologized for turning down the offer.
• Meyer spotted Lin Lixin's electronics equipment and EPROM programmer, then concluded that Lin Lixin had developed Tetris.
• Lin Lixin confirmed that he had created the game, and Meyer realized he had found a valuable business opportunity.

Lin Lixin negotiated a deal with Meyer of Silicon Oasis to sell Tetris machines for $2,500 each with a thirty-percent deposit, and Meyer discovered GAMENOVA was already packed with players. After GAMENOVA’s successful first day, Lin told Sam to prepare to contact a contract manufacturer.

• Lin Lixin persuaded Meyer to agree to a $2,500 price per machine and a thirty-percent upfront deposit.
• Meyer asked about the Tetris prototype, learned Lin had lent it to his friend’s new arcade, and visited GAMENOVA.
• Meyer saw long queues for Tetris and Xevious machines at GAMENOVA, then returned to Lin’s apartment.
• Sam finished counting the coins and cleaning after GAMENOVA’s first day, telling Lin the arcade had earned enough to recoup its machine investment within a month at that rate.
• Lin told Sam that Meyer had agreed to the deal and instructed him to contact a contract manufacturer.

Lin Lixin planned to develop Contra but found that current arcade hardware could not match the game's original system. Vivian gave him contact information for Gerald Lawson, a hardware expert who might help him overcome the bottleneck.

• Lin Lixin opened GAMENOVA to a larger crowd and worked on his development plans using his new C64.
• Lin Lixin chose Contra as a possible hit game but realized its graphics, processors, and storage needs exceeded current arcade hardware.
• Vivian told Lin Lixin that further software optimization would sacrifice visual quality and could not solve the hardware limitations.
• Vivian gave Lin Lixin the address and contact information for her boss, Gerald Lawson.
• Lin Lixin recognized Gerald Lawson as the engineer behind the Channel F and a pioneer of programmable game cartridges.

Lin Lixin visited Gerald Lawson at the failing VideoSoft after Vivian revealed where she worked, hoping to get help with hardware bottlenecks in his game. Gerald dismissed video games as dead, but Lin Lixin showed him EPROMs for Tetris and 1942, leaving their meeting poised to begin.

• Vivian told Lin Lixin that she worked at VideoSoft and explained that Atari’s collapse had affected the company.
• Lin Lixin realized that Gerald Lawson and VideoSoft were in trouble and went to find them in Mountain View.
• Lin Lixin saw that VideoSoft’s office was nearly empty and recognized Gerald Lawson, whose abilities were diminished by his frustrated ambitions.
• Gerald told Lin Lixin that video games were dead and compared Atari’s enormous sales with the Channel F’s modest success.
• Lin Lixin said he needed advice on hardware bottlenecks and placed the EPROMs for Tetris and 1942 before Gerald.

Gerald Lawson recognized the brilliance of Lin Lixin’s games and regained his faith in video games after Lin distinguished Atari’s collapse from the industry itself. Lin then showed Gerald an ambitious hardware specification for his next game, Contra, leaving Gerald baffled by its demands.

• Gerald praised the contrasting design strengths of Tetris and 1942, regretting that Atari’s collapse had prevented Tetris from reaching the Atari 2600 market.
• Lin argued that players had lost faith in Atari, not video games, and cited Nintendo’s Famicom as evidence that the industry was alive.
• Gerald recovered his resolve to make games across different platforms and asked Lin to explain the hardware bottleneck he had encountered.
• Lin showed Gerald a specification demanding a 16-bit main processor, an 8-bit auxiliary processor, advanced graphics, and more than 64KB of RAM and video RAM.
• Gerald questioned why Lin needed such powerful hardware, and Lin asked to borrow Gerald’s C64 before creating a test project named Contra.