Chapter Summaries

Satoshi Tajiri bailed Toru Muranishi out of jail and recruited him to launch Illusion, a company making video games, with “Mahjong Academy” as its first project. The game drew devoted players to arcades, where Yamazaki pursued a winning streak against the headmistress.

• Toru Muranishi learned that a foreign-funded talent agency had posted his bail and went to meet Satoshi Tajiri.
• Satoshi Tajiri offered to fund Muranishi's departure from Crystal-Eizou and help him start a video-game company called Illusion.
• After seeing the “Mahjong Academy” design, Muranishi agreed to become a game director and began working with Satoshi Tajiri.
• Players flocked to arcades to play “Mahjong Academy,” whose headmistress was portrayed by Kaoru Kuroki.
• Yamazaki bought tokens and vowed to defeat the headmistress, while the arcade owner promised him a secret trick after closing.

Mike proposed that Blizzard develop a real-time strategy game for NovaXeno, and Lin Lixin approved the idea and brought in Westwood Associates to help. Lin Lixin then secured the Star Wars IP from Lucas, leaving the new RTS concept poised to move into development.

• Mike asked Lin Lixin to support Blizzard in making a major NovaXeno exclusive, and proposed a game combining real-time building with combat.
• Lin Lixin recognized the idea as an early form of RTS and offered to introduce Blizzard to a small, technically capable team.
• Brett and Louis rejected an offer to do contract work for EA, then accepted Lin Lixin's invitation to join Blizzard, bringing Westwood Associates into the studio.
• Lin Lixin met with Lucas and proposed a Star Wars RTS built around gathering resources, building bases, and fighting over Kyber crystals.
• Lucas understood the proposed gameplay and agreed to let GAMENOVA develop a game using the Star Wars IP.

Lin Lixin proposed using live-action cutscenes for Command & Conquer: Dawn of the Kyber Crystal, then searched for a way to support real-time multiplayer despite modem limitations. After considering local networks and spotting a MIDI adapter, he realized GAMENOVA could use its Rocksmith sound card as a modem.

• Lin Lixin proposed replacing text and pixel-animation cutscenes with live-action footage for Command & Conquer: Dawn of the Kyber Crystal.
• Blizzard began developing the game from scratch in N Language after integrating with Westwood Studios.
• Gerald explained that current modems lacked the bandwidth and low latency needed for real-time RTS multiplayer.
• Lin Lixin suggested local-network play, but Gerald said RTS matches required transmitting too much data for their existing cable options.
• Lin Lixin spotted a 6.35 mm-to-MIDI adapter and recalled that MIDI Maze used MIDI cables to transmit multiplayer data.
• Lin Lixin proposed using the sound card as a modem.

Lin Lixin rejected Alan’s A* implementation for Command & Conquer and introduced a shared Flow Field Pathfinding Algorithm designed to handle large numbers of units efficiently. Alan realized the approach could improve pathfinding performance by thousands or even tens of thousands of times.

• Gerald lamented that age and convention made it harder to pursue Lin Lixin’s ambitious ideas, but Lin Lixin urged him to finish the NX sound card and handed him the Swift Project document.
• Mike showed Lin Lixin the Blizzard team’s new 2D map grid implementation, and Alan presented his pathfinding code.
• Lin Lixin told Alan to scrap the implementation after seeing it could not handle pathfinding for many units at once.
• Lin Lixin explained that Command & Conquer needed a method better suited to RTS games and proposed Flow Field Pathfinding, which calculated a route once for thousands of units to share.

Lin Lixin explained a flow field pathfinding algorithm that led Alan and Blizzard Studio to scrap and rebuild their game’s pathfinding, controls, and map systems. Meanwhile, Rocksmith launched on consoles with a sound card, letting players practice at home and helping its sales soar.

• Lin Lixin explained how precomputed flow fields let thousands of units find routes with a single calculation, and Alan realized his existing pathfinding approach needed to be abandoned.
• Lin Lixin told Blizzard Studio to redesign its units for troop-scale battles and rebuild its controller scheme around box selection, radial menus, and D-pad control groups.
• Lin Lixin also identified shortcomings in the grid-based map system, prompting Blizzard Studio to scrap that work and start over.
• GAMENOVA launched the console version of Rocksmith alongside a standalone 16-bit sound card that enabled CD-quality audio and connections for guitars and basses.
• Rocksmith’s console release let beginners practice at home without an arcade audience, while sales passed 500,000 copies and continued rising.

Lucasfilm and Industrial Light & Magic revealed that GAMENOVA had helped create a fluid CG AT-AT promotional film, then GAMENOVA and Lucasfilm released a trailer for Command & Conquer: Dawn of the Kyber Crystal. The trailer introduced the game’s Rebel Alliance base-building and troop-command gameplay before cutting off just as the Rebels faced Imperial stormtroopers.

• Lucasfilm aired a short AT-AT film that revealed its animation was CG produced by Industrial Light & Magic with technical support from GAMENOVA.
• Lucasfilm assigned George Lucas to write Command & Conquer’s story, while Industrial Light & Magic, Will, Sid, and Lin Lixin helped drive development forward.
• Lucasfilm and GAMENOVA released a trailer showing a Rebel MCV deploying into a base, followed by the construction of a power plant and barracks.
• The trailer showed the player selecting Rebel militia and ordering them toward Imperial stormtroopers, then cut to the title, Command & Conquer: Dawn of the Kyber Crystal.

After GAMENOVA revealed its upcoming Star Wars strategy game, Lin Lixin learned that rising Japanese LCD prices threatened NovaPocket production. He decided to accelerate two projects and pursue Westinghouse Electric’s electronics division and patents.

• GAMENOVA’s trailer revealed a Star Wars strategy game developed with Lucasfilm, scheduled for release on July 4.
• Sam showed Lin Lixin that NovaBo had nearly reached profitability, but NovaPocket’s costs were rising because its Japanese TFT-LCD panels had increased in price by 120%.
• Lin Lixin connected the LCD price spike to the Semiconductor Agreement and decided GAMENOVA needed to build its own panel supply chain.
• Lin Lixin told Sam to bring forward the Swift Project and Sunday Project and ask Westinghouse Electric about buying its electronics division and patent pool.

Star Wars and GAMENOVA fans gathered in Los Angeles for the anniversary celebration and the launch of Command & Conquer. Hans spotted a network of linked NovaXeno consoles and suspected the game offered a kind of multiplayer strategy experience fans had not expected.

• Fans from around the world traveled to California and camped outside the venue before the celebration.
• Hans met a man from another country, and they played Tetris together on their NovaPockets until their batteries died.
• At six in the morning, Hans joined the crowd rushing into the exhibition hall, where he saw NovaXeno consoles linked together with cables.
• Hans attended the meet-and-greets, cosplay contests, and George Lucas's stage appearance, but remained distracted by the linked consoles.
• Hans suspected the setup enabled local network play and realized Command & Conquer might let players choose factions and battle through strategy and resource management.

At the Star Wars convention, Hans received his copy of Command & Conquer and joined a network battle against a British fan. As the Empire, he learned the game with help from his adjutant Sofia, then realized a fast enemy unit had slipped into his base after he lost vision.

• Lucas handled the signing after Lin Lixin left him in charge, while the convention drew far more fans than expected.
• Hans got his game and chose to stay at the venue to play against other fans over the network.
• Hans sat down opposite the British man he had met the previous night, and they began a versus match.
• Hans chose the Empire, put on headphones, and heard his adjutant Sofia guide him through the opening tutorial.
• Hans trained Imperial Army assault troops, then spotted a fast enemy unit approaching his base and realized he had lost vision.

Oliver and Hans competed in a Star Wars strategy game, where Oliver’s scouting and economic harassment gave way to Hans’s superior tactics and a decisive victory. Oliver accepted the loss and became convinced the game was an exceptional Star Wars experience, eager to try its campaign.

• Oliver used Pathfinders to scout Hans’s movements and repeatedly raided his mining ships, while Hans struggled to protect his economy.
• Hans sent his tanks west but found Oliver’s forces guarding a strong defensive line, so he studied the game’s controls and prepared another approach.
• Oliver reinforced his defenses as Hans attacked, then discovered Imperial AT-ST walkers had bypassed the line and were destroying his base.
• Hans controlled his forces in several precise groups, outmaneuvered Oliver’s units, and won after trading one AT-ST Scout Walker for three enemy tanks.
• Hans congratulated Oliver after the match, and Oliver praised the game’s quality and its ability to let players shape battles in a way films could not.

GAMENOVA’s Command & Conquer and sound card multiplayer features astonished developers and college students, while Westinghouse Electric readily agreed to sell its consumer electronics division. Lin Lixin saw an opportunity in the acquisition and launched plans to recruit displaced engineers and train new talent, then prepared to intervene personally in the immediate challenge.

• Developers discovered that Command & Conquer handled pathfinding for many units with little slowdown, and that GAMENOVA’s sound card enabled local multiplayer through a MIDI cable across several games.
• Westinghouse Electric accepted GAMENOVA’s generous offer for its consumer electronics division as it cut back amid the decline of its business.
• Lin Lixin recognized the value of Westinghouse’s assets, including its LCD patents, and used his new skill for identifying liquid crystal display damage to spot an opportunity.
• Lin Lixin ordered Satoshi to launch the Sunday Project and recruit engineers, while Sam began arranging a restructuring of the Westinghouse Education Foundation.
• GAMENOVA planned a Roppongi research institute to recruit experienced engineers and a foundation award to train future talent at universities.
• With the long-term plans underway, Lin Lixin prepared to handle the immediate problem himself.

Lin Lixin studied TFT-LCD technology overnight and recruited Lam Research to help Micro-Nova build production lines. After assembling evidence that Westinghouse had developed TFT-LCD panels before Sharp, he led a coalition in filing patents and seeking sanctions on Japanese imports, leaving production lines beginning deployment.

• Lin Lixin studied TFT-LCD principles overnight, then met David K. Lam in Fremont to discuss equipment for Micro-Nova.
• Lin Lixin told Lam he planned to produce TFT-LCD screens and ordered Lam Research's Rainbow Etcher and latest PECVD equipment.
• Lin Lixin found Westinghouse Electric patents that could support a claim of prior invention and began drafting a legal complaint.
• A coalition led by GAMENOVA announced that Westinghouse had developed TFT-LCD panels before Sharp and filed TFT-related patents.
• Corning and other LCD manufacturers petitioned authorities to investigate Japanese companies and restrict Japanese LCD imports.
• Micro-Nova and Corning obtained Westinghouse's patent pool, and production lines supported by Lam Research began deployment with yields of up to seventeen percent.

Lin Lixin advanced the Swift Project by presenting a four-inch LCD panel and a plan to cut its power consumption, while setting performance goals for the NovaSwift. To fill the Christmas release window, he started a new NovaXeno project based on The Sims: Bustin' Out.

• Vivian gave Lin Lixin a four-inch LCD sample developed by the R&D department, and he told her to raise production yield for the next generation.
• Vivian warned that the panel consumed nearly 3.5 watts, and Lin Lixin handed her a ready-made design for reducing power use by more than half.
• Lin Lixin and Gerald agreed that the NovaSwift needed a 16-bit processor and graphics chip and should be ready for the following February's Presidents' Day sales window.
• When Gerald asked about the Christmas season, Lin Lixin said he had prepared another project and gathered Sid, Will, Kojima, and Carmack to begin it.
• Lin Lixin chose The Sims: Bustin' Out as a lighter, less hardware-intensive NovaXeno exclusive.

Lin Lixin outlined how Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs could shape the life-simulation game’s character mechanics, and Will realized how frightening unemployment had been before Lin hired him. The brainstorming ended with esteem and self-actualization set as the game’s ultimate goal: a nobody’s rise against the odds.

• Lin Lixin introduced Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and linked physiological needs to the characters’ hunger and energy meters.
• Lin Lixin asked what safety meant in modern society, and Will recognized job security and stable employment as essential needs.
• Will remembered his precarious life before Lin Lixin hired him and shuddered at the fear of losing everything.
• Lin Lixin described friendship, romance, and family affection as social needs, while noting that hardware limited how deeply the game could simulate relationships.
• Lin Lixin proposed combining esteem and self-actualization as the game’s ultimate goal: a nobody’s rise against the odds.

Lin Lixin planned a social simulation game with varied starting backgrounds, modular outfits, and in-game clothing design. As development began, he decided to add familiar real-world celebrities and called Schwarzenegger about appearing in the game.

• Lin Lixin proposed letting players choose different backgrounds and storylines, with NPCs using the Jazz decision-tree system.
• Lin Lixin and Carmack discussed a modular character system that separated clothing meshes and materials and used skeletal binding.
• Lin Lixin rejected a PC-focused modding tool and proposed making clothing design an easy-to-use gameplay module within the game.
• Lin Lixin began development and decided to include familiar faces, with potential paths involving musicians, athletes, and actors.
• Schwarzenegger received a phone call after finishing filming Red Heat.

Lin Lixin and Sam confronted the communications bottleneck threatening GAMENOVA’s planned outfit-sharing feature. They decided to pursue a regional pilot for a commercial network, supported by an internet-exclusive online game, and first establish an ISP subsidiary.

• Lin Lixin calculated that outfit sharing would overwhelm GAMENOVA’s already strained telephone-line servers, despite its heavy spending on communications hardware.
• Sam suggested using short codes like Fire Emblem’s map codes, but Lin Lixin explained that outfits held too much varied data and the feature needed to be accessible to players without technical experience.
• Lin Lixin considered building a commercial network independent of NSFNET, but Sam warned that the enormous cost could drain the company’s reserves.
• Sam proposed testing the network in small regional pilots, using petitions and presales to gauge demand.
• Lin Lixin agreed to create an internet-exclusive online game to attract users and decided GAMENOVA would first establish an ISP subsidiary.

Lin Lixin launched NEXUS and chose Pixel War to promote its dial-up internet service with a low-bandwidth online game. In Sacramento, a NEXUS salesman offered Benjamin a seven-day free trial, and Benjamin considered trying Pixel War.

• Lin Lixin set up NEXUS to connect players worldwide and planned a small game to promote its commercial internet service.
• Lin Lixin chose Pixel War, a shared canvas game where players placed one pixel every five minutes and could overwrite one another's work.
• NEXUS began a California pilot using existing telephone lines and 56K modems, with help from Dell's distribution network and Silicon Oasis's contacts.
• A NEXUS salesman offered Benjamin a $45 monthly package with email, a splitter for his PC and NovaXeno, and a free copy of Pixel War.
• Benjamin objected to the price but became tempted by the seven-day free trial and considered trying the game.

Benjamin initially dismissed Lin Lixin’s minimalist game, Pixel War, as an empty white screen where he could place one pixel per minute, then turned his attention to an EVO match. When he looked back, other players had gathered around his pink pixel and drawn a chocolate-covered donut around his character, [Donut].

• Benjamin entered Pixel War as [Donut] and found himself alone in a white expanse with only a single pixel to move.
• He chose pink and discovered that he could leave one pixel behind each minute, then set the controller aside to watch the EVO championship.
• Player 00002333 approached Benjamin’s pixel, changed color, and began drawing an arc around it.
• Two more players joined in, and additional players gathered to help complete the drawing.
• After John won his match with a dramatic comeback, Benjamin looked at the game and saw a crowd of colorful pixels surrounding a finished chocolate-covered donut with [Donut] at its center.

Benjamin discovered that Pixel War had become a cooperative social space as players gathered around his donut and expanded it with a coffee cup. As the Donut Guild grew, Lin Lixin arranged to spark conflict with a Japanese flag, while Benjamin began organizing players by having them record phone numbers in colored pixels.

• Benjamin saw numerous real players gather around his donut and recognized that their shared presence gave Pixel War its purpose.
• Benjamin added a dark-brown cup beside the donut, and the players joined in to complete the drawing.
• Sam told Lin Lixin that the Donut Guild had become the server’s strongest faction, and Lin Lixin disabled Sam’s cooldown and directed him to draw a Japanese flag.
• Benjamin noticed two other groups of players and continued organizing his own group by having members record phone numbers with colored pixels.

Benjamin’s team was thrown into conflict when a Pixel War update introduced team play and hourly territory contests, splitting the Donut Team and drawing rival teams into a looming battle. Lin Lixin considered the turmoil a useful test of group strategy, though he noted that bandwidth limited how far Pixel War could grow.

• Benjamin told a teammate to rest and planned a major operation for the following day.
• A Pixel War update added team play and hourly territory contests that rewarded the team controlling the largest area.
• Benjamin mobilized most of the Donut Team to seize a capture zone, while player 00002333 led the dissenting doves away to form a new team in the east.
• A spy reported the split to the Los Angeles Team, which joined forces with the San Francisco Team and marched toward Benjamin’s group.
• Sam revealed that he had stirred up conflict as a spy, and Lin Lixin accepted the chaos as a test while reflecting on Pixel War’s bandwidth limits.