Chapter Summaries

GAMENOVA’s Double Dribble outsold EA’s One on One by a wide margin, and Lin Lixin moved the company into a new San Francisco office. He planned to keep pressuring EA by pursuing its valuable game franchises, especially the studio behind the Sim series.

• Harvey doubted Miles and Ethan’s claims about Double Dribble until they dragged him to the demo area to see it for himself.
• Miles and Ethan mocked a fraternity member at school and announced their Double Dribble tournament, using the game’s popularity to taunt him.
• Lin Lixin learned that EA’s One on One had sold over a million copies while GAMENOVA’s Double Dribble had sold five million, and he ordered official EVO rules prepared.
• Lin Lixin surveyed GAMENOVA’s new office as its operations moved into the building and considered how the move brought the company closer to EA’s Bay Area base.
• Lin Lixin decided that defeating EA would require pursuing more than sports games, including Madden Football and the studio behind the Sim series.

Lin Lixin studied Raid on Bungeling Bay and recognized the city-simulation ideas in Will Wright’s game, deciding that Wright might be worth recruiting. The chapter then shifted to Wright’s home, where Jones interrupted his work to bring up the landlord’s call.

• Lin Lixin noticed that Mais was missing from Sam’s list of California game studios and considered recruiting its founder, Will Wright, directly.
• Lin Lixin asked Sam to buy NES and C64 copies of Raid on Bungeling Bay, and Sam brought the games to the new office.
• Sam mistook the game for a copy of 1942 and suggested suing, but Lin Lixin showed him how its changing enemy defenses and city systems worked.
• Lin Lixin connected the game’s traffic and growth models to urban planning and described the appeal of letting players build cities in a virtual world.
• Jones watched Will Wright work on his C64, then interrupted him to say that the landlord had called again.

Will Wright’s SimCity had been rejected by publishers, leaving him and Jones arguing over their financial troubles. Lin Lixin arrived with an offer from GAMENOVA and revealed plans for a city-building simulation, giving Will a chance to develop the game he had been unable to sell.

• Jones told Will that another publisher had rejected his game, and Will angrily complained that publishers only wanted games with clear wins and levels.
• Jones confronted Will about spending a year on SimCity while they needed money, and Will stopped arguing when he saw her tears.
• Will opened the door to find Lin Lixin waiting outside and recognized him as the founder of GAMENOVA.
• Lin offered Will a position at GAMENOVA or startup funding in exchange for developing exclusively for the NovaBo platform, and Will enthusiastically accepted.
• Lin told Will that GAMENOVA was planning a city-building simulation and said he was sure Will would like the proposal.

Lin Lixin recognized Will’s SimCity demo as a promising project and quickly moved to recruit him for GAMENOVA. After noticing a Logitech mouse connected to the computer, Lin considered whether NovaBo should develop its own mouse peripheral.

• Will showed Lin Lixin his SimCity demo and described how his father and his interests had shaped his outlook.
• Lin Lixin praised the game, recalled how EA had mishandled later SimCity releases, and decided to keep Will from joining EA.
• Lin Lixin called Sam to prepare a contract and began taking Will back to GAMENOVA.
• Lin noticed the Logitech mouse connected to the C64 and considered developing NovaBo peripherals or arranging manufacturing through Logitech.

Will Wright joined GAMENOVA and toured its newly finished headquarters, where Lin Lixin introduced him to Vivian. Vivian showed Lin Lixin a prototype graphics card, and he suggested changing its connector to fifteen pins.

• Lin Lixin brought Will Wright to GAMENOVA’s new headquarters, impressing Will with its modern design and open-plan offices.
• Lin Lixin introduced Will to Vivian as a promising new recruit for the development team.
• Lin Lixin noticed Vivian’s graphics card prototype and sent Will to find Sam.
• Vivian explained that the card was a proof of concept built by SGI’s technical team and demonstrated it in an IBM PC/AT.
• Lin Lixin examined the card’s thirteen-pin video connector and told Vivian to expand it to fifteen pins for future inputs.

Lin Lixin developed plans for a more ergonomic NovaMouseDevice and summoned Jim to discuss a strategy against Sun and IBM. He then headed with Vivian to meet Steve Jobs, who was seeking funding for NeXT.

• Vivian showed Lin Lixin a prototype graphics card, and they discussed John Carmack leading the OpenGL project.
• Lin Lixin called Jim and asked him to come to headquarters to discuss a plan to strike at Sun and IBM.
• Lin Lixin proposed reshaping Logitech's C7 mouse into a rounded, palm-fitting design, and Gerald considered how to manufacture it.
• Vivian connected the mouse's potential to graphical operating systems, while Lin Lixin described a future in which PCs became accessible to ordinary users.
• Lin Lixin named the new mouse NMD, meaning NovaMouseDevice, then left with Vivian and Jim to meet Steve Jobs, who was seeking investors for NeXT.

Lin Lixin offered Steve Jobs an investment and technical support for NeXT in exchange for a stake and a board seat, securing his agreement. He then set out to meet Michael Dell, whom he hoped to recruit as a consumer-market partner.

• Jobs told Lin Lixin that he needed funding for NeXT but feared losing control as he had at Apple.
• Lin Lixin offered twenty million dollars for a sixteen-percent stake in NeXT and a board seat.
• Lin Lixin offered Micro-Nova and SGI technology contributions in exchange for two-percent stakes each.
• Jobs accepted the deal and agreed to have lawyers draft the documents.
• Lin Lixin told Vivian they needed a consumer-market partner and headed to meet Michael Dell.

Lin Lixin met with Michael Dell to recruit PC's Limited into an alliance that would bring their companies together across the PC market. Back at GAMENOVA, Lin gave Will two small games to practice developing in N Language.

• Lin Lixin visited Michael Dell at PC's Limited and saw how its direct-sales, build-to-order model kept prices low and avoided finished-goods inventory.
• Dell agreed to Lin Lixin's proposed alliance, which included SGI, NeXT, PC's Limited, Micro-Nova, and GAMENOVA.
• Lin showed Dell the Logitech C7 mouse and proposed standardizing it alongside Micro-Nova's graphics card, while Dell said they first needed to create demand.
• Lin returned to GAMENOVA and told Will not to rush into refactoring SimCity, giving him Minesweeper and Spider Solitaire as practice projects.

GAMENOVA developed Minesweeper as a simple PC game that also taught users to operate a mouse, and Dell began bundling mice and the game with business computers. After struggling to get his employees to use their new PCs, Robert considered trying Minesweeper as a training tool.

• Will reviewed the Minesweeper proposal and praised its simple design, while Lin Lixin suggested it could also be ported to NovaPocket.
• GAMENOVA ordered one million mice from Logitech to accompany the game.
• Dell offered Robert discounted mice and Minesweeper with his company’s PC order, explaining that the game would teach employees to use a mouse.
• Robert agreed to add the mice after Dell described their benefits, and Dell’s computer shipments began including the NMD mouse and Minesweeper.
• After the PCs arrived, Robert saw that his employees struggled with them and that office efficiency had fallen.
• Robert remembered Dell’s claim that Minesweeper was a training tool and decided to try it with his staff.

Robert encouraged employees to use Minesweeper as a learning tool, then saw it spread through the office while their work still got done. Meanwhile, Steve arrived at GAMENOVA’s headquarters, angry that Lin Lixin had released the game without telling him.

• Robert told the staff to set aside time each day to learn Minesweeper, and later found Sean playing it during his break.
• Robert asked Sean to demonstrate the game, recognized how it helped him learn mouse control, and told him to teach the others.
• Minesweeper spread through the office as employees played while continuing to submit neatly prepared work on time.
• As SGI and Dell shipped more computers, more people encountered Minesweeper and its unfamiliar mouse.
• Steve arrived at GAMENOVA carrying equipment and complained that Lin Lixin had secretly released Minesweeper without publicity or a public sale.

Steve visited GAMENOVA’s headquarters and learned that Lin had developed Minesweeper and Spider Solitaire for Dell’s mouse promotion. After the bundle helped drive Dell’s PC sales, Trip saw GAMENOVA’s move as a threat to EA and planned to counter it through Interplay’s Wasteland.

• Steve visited GAMENOVA’s new headquarters and asked Lin about Minesweeper, learning that Dell had commissioned two games to promote its mouse.
• Dell began selling a Mouse Entertainment Bundle with Minesweeper and Spider Solitaire, and customers ordered it alongside the NMD mouse.
• The bundle boosted Dell’s sales by bringing games to people who had not previously played video games, alarming Trip and EA.
• Larry Probst suggested that GAMENOVA might lack experience in PC game development, and Trip agreed that DOS and console development differed.
• Trip decided to contact Interplay about investing in Wasteland and offer an improved graphics engine using 16-color EGA technology.

Will and Lin Lixin discussed SimCity’s open-ended city-building gameplay and proposed a God Mode to broaden its appeal. Meanwhile, Sid Meier bought GAMENOVA’s first PC game and began playing, unsure what to do next.

• Will showed Sam how zoning and demand worked in SimCity, but Sam found the gameplay bewildering and aimless.
• Lin Lixin explained that SimCity’s audience did not need to include everyone and suggested turning disasters into a toy with a God Mode.
• GAMENOVA’s partnership with Dell expanded its PC sales network, and shipments of floppy disks spread across North America.
• Sid Meier bought SimCity, thinking it might inspire his new game, and brought it back to MicroProse.
• Sid Meier named his city after himself, entered the map, and wondered what to do after receiving no further prompts.

Sid Meier struggled to understand the city-building game, and his first attempt at managing the city ended in bankruptcy and collapse. He restarted, studied the mechanics, and eventually built a thriving district, but the citizens’ demands left him furious.

• Sid Meier began building roads, power plants, and zones, expanding the city across a river as demand for housing, industry, and commerce grew.
• Sid Meier discovered that his funds were dwindling, cut public-service budgets, and raised taxes to try to stop the deficit.
• Sid Meier submitted his budget, and the city’s buildings collapsed after residents protested that taxes were too high.
• Sid Meier deleted the save, restarted with the game paused, and studied employment, pollution, and residents’ needs.
• After two hours, Sid Meier filled part of the map with buildings and high-rises, then cursed the citizens for complaining about an 11% tax rate.

Sid Meier became absorbed in SimCity, whose open-ended city management inspired ideas for a new game and led him and Bill to realize that a mouse suited its controls. Lin Lixin arrived at MicroProse asking to see Sid Meier, intending to recruit him.

• Sid Meier unleashed every disaster in SimCity, including a monster attack, then reloaded his save and showed Bill the city he had built.
• Sid Meier told Bill that SimCity had inspired ideas for an entirely new game, though he had not yet settled on what it would be.
• Bill complained that SimCity's controls were tiring, and Sid Meier realized that using a mouse made building and navigating much faster.
• Sid Meier and Bill speculated that GAMENOVA had released Minesweeper and Spider Solitaire to familiarize players with mice.
• Lin Lixin arrived at MicroProse, introduced himself to Bill, and asked to see Sid Meier.

Lin Lixin praised Sid Meier’s work and offered him a place at GAMENOVA, but Sid declined because he valued MicroProse’s independence. Lin Lixin argued that GAMENOVA could support games for their creativity rather than their sales, leaving Sid and Bill to consider his offer.

• Lin Lixin met Sid Meier and Bill as they played SimCity, and praised their city and the game’s design.
• Lin Lixin invited Sid Meier to join GAMENOVA, but Sid said MicroProse was his home and offered instead to develop games as a third-party studio.
• Lin Lixin noted that SimCity had earned a high score but sold only just over 500,000 copies in its first week.
• Lin Lixin told Sid Meier that sales did not matter to him as long as a game was fun, and said GAMENOVA could fund technical solutions and support games that sold fewer than 100,000 copies.

Lin Lixin recruited Sid Meier and Bill into GAMENOVA, then heard from Satoshi Tajiri that Nintendo was using Enix’s new game, “Dragon Quest,” to challenge NovaBo’s momentum. The chapter left Lin considering the threat posed by the influential Japanese RPG.

• Lin Lixin offered Sid Meier a place at GAMENOVA, and Sid considered joining as the game industry began consolidating.
• Bill agreed to join GAMENOVA to help establish its own distribution network.
• Lin Lixin, Sid Meier, and Bill finalized a draft contract and headed to California.
• Lin Lixin introduced Sid Meier to Will Wright, who cheered up when Sid praised “SimCity.”
• Sam told Lin Lixin that Satoshi was on the phone, and Satoshi warned him that Nintendo was promoting Enix’s “Dragon Quest” against NovaBo.

Lin Lixin decided to create Momotaro Dentetsu, a Japan-focused railway and folklore game, after hearing GAMENOVA was struggling to sell games there. He also planned an American version based on Monopoly and settled on the name Tycoon, leaving the game’s development and licensing unresolved.

• Satoshi Tajiri told Lin Lixin that GAMENOVA faced commercial pressure in Japan, Pokémon animation plans were stalled, and Double Dribble was underperforming.
• Lin Lixin concluded that competing with DQ through another JRPG would be ineffective and proposed a game combining Japanese railways and folklore, naming it Momotaro Dentetsu.
• Lin Lixin described the game’s Monopoly-like rules to Satoshi Tajiri and asked him to gather information about Japan’s railway network.
• Lin Lixin discussed adapting the concept for North America, where acquiring Monopoly’s rights had proved difficult.
• After considering alternative names, Lin Lixin chose Tycoon for the American version.

Lin Lixin and the GAMENOVA team found that Richman’s otherwise promising mechanics were undermined by harsh random outcomes. Lin Lixin and Will decided to develop a pseudo-random distribution algorithm to make the game’s randomness feel fairer to players.

• Lin Lixin, Sam, Will, and Sid tested Richman’s demo and agreed that its complete rounds felt frustrating despite its appealing mechanics.
• Lin Lixin identified randomness as the source of the problem, and Sid noted that extreme results and the Matthew effect punished unlucky players.
• Will explained that objectively random results could feel unfair over a player’s experience, using a raffle example to show why outcomes did not match expectations.
• Lin Lixin connected the problem to Markov chains and asked Will to work with him on a PRD algorithm.
• Lin Lixin explained that pseudo-random distribution could make outcomes feel more natural and fair while keeping them under designers’ control.

University student Hideo Kojima bought Dragon Quest and Momotaro Dentetsu, then received a job offer from Konami assigning him to the MSX Game Division. Konami rejected his proposed war-themed game, but Kojima still hoped he could persuade them after joining.

• Kojima won a game of mahjong with a thirteen orphans hand, and his friends asked about his plans after graduation.
• Kojima bought Dragon Quest and Momotaro Dentetsu after spotting the latter's Game Freak and GAMENOVA logos.
• Kojima received an employment offer from Konami for a game designer position in its MSX Game Division.
• Kojima read that Konami had rejected his war-themed game proposal because the company was reluctant to develop a game about war.
• Kojima brought his games back to the dormitory and invited his friends to try Momotaro Dentetsu.

Kojima and his roommates discovered that GAMENOVA’s Momotetsu game paired Japanese legends with distinctive abilities and an accurate railway map. Kondō took an early lead before a wrong-train event sent him to Kojima’s heavily developed Hokkaido, and Kojima prepared to capitalize on his sudden bad luck.

• Kojima inserted the game, and the roommates were surprised that the Japanese-themed Momotetsu was a GAMENOVA product.
• Kojima noticed that characters such as Urashima Taro had abilities linked to their legends, while the group recognized the characters as representatives of different Japanese regions.
• The roommates began playing on a railway map modeled on Japan, and Kondō used his rail knowledge to build up Shikoku and Kyushu and gain an early lead.
• A random event sent Kondō from Kyushu to Sapporo, where Kojima had developed shops across Hokkaido.
• Kojima rolled toward Kondō, hoping to use his opportunity to bring the railfan’s lead crashing down.