The order was placed in the afternoon, and the goods arrived early the next morning.
Henry rolled up his sleeves and personally helped the delivery workers unload the four new Metal Gear machines from the truck.
"Huff..."
He let out a long breath and finally got all the cabinets lined up neatly against the wall.
But after plugging them in, the arcade machines showed no response at all.
"Mr. Henry, here are the Metal Gear boards. Please confirm the receipt."
The delivery worker handed over a well-packaged cardboard box with the words METAL GEAR printed on it.
"Huh? So after all that, I have to assemble them myself?"
Henry accepted the box and opened it. Inside were four beautifully made arcade boards arranged neatly in rows.
There was also an itemized receipt.
[Invoice]
[Universal Arcade Cabinet (Small) ×4]: □ Included
[Metal Gear ×4]: □ Included
[Price]
[Arcade Cabinets] $4,800
[Shipping Fee] $100
[Additional Service Fee] $100
[Promotional Discount] -$500
[Total]: $4,500 (Paid)
His gaze stopped on the words arcade cabinet and board, especially the word universal.
Normally, whenever he ordered arcade machines, he paid for complete units.
"Hey, what does 'universal cabinet' mean here? Didn't I buy four complete machines?"
Henry stopped the delivery worker, pointing at the invoice.
"GAMENOVA improved the manufacturing process. There won't be complete machines anymore. Everything's plug and play now."
The delivery worker was in a hurry to make the next delivery and answered impatiently.
Without offering any further explanation, he shut the truck doors and climbed back into the driver's seat.
Watching the Silicon Oasis delivery truck speed away, Henry stood there frozen for quite a while.
He turned around and went back inside, trying to remove one of the cabinet panels.
Where the arcade board would normally be installed had been replaced by a dedicated mounting slot.
Judging from the arrangement of the clips, it seemed capable of supporting several different board formats.
The power connector extended up from below, while the video cable hung down from above. It was simple and intuitive. Anyone could understand it at a glance.
A thought stirred in Henry's mind. He installed one of the boards into the slot and powered the machine on again.
Bzzzz...
As the electrical hum sounded, the screen finally lit up.
The title screen of METAL GEAR appeared.
The entire image was composed of a close-up of the protagonist Snake's face, holding a silenced pistol.
"Morning, Henry."
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"Bought a new machine?"
Two young voices sounded from behind him, carrying obvious surprise.
The only reason they hadn't gone to the arcade on 14th Street was because they preferred Henry's friendlier atmosphere.
"That's right. METAL GEAR. Want to give it a try? Fifty cents per game."
Henry smiled politely and quickly headed into the storage room, bringing out several new chairs and carefully wiping them clean.
"Of course, Mr. Henry."
Hearing it was a new game, both of them eagerly rubbed their hands together and headed toward the machines.
Coin inserted…
Game started…
Snake descended into a forest under a parachute.
Henry brought over some snacks and drinks and pulled up a chair for himself to watch.
...
"Use a grenade, Henry! Use a grenade!"
The streetlights outside had already turned on.
At some point, the sun had set.
Arcade Area was packed wall to wall with people, all gathered around the four new machines. Waves of cheers and shouting erupted continuously.
Henry had rolled up his sleeves and was completely focused on the machine in front of him.
On the screen stood a futuristic combat mech known as METAL GEAR. Controlling Snake, he darted across the battlefield, constantly weaving between cover.
BOOM!
Another rocket launcher shot.
Snake emerged from behind a cargo container and landed a direct hit on the massive Metal Gear.
"WOOO!"
When Henry actually defeated Metal Gear, the entire arcade erupted into cheers. His face flushed red with excitement as he stood up and turned toward the equally thrilled crowd.
To his surprise, he had become the first person to clear all thirteen chapters of the main story.
"Everyone! Arcade Area will be open twenty four hours today! Drinks and snacks are all free!"
"YEAHHHH!"
Henry burst into laughter and gave up his seat to the next player who had been waiting eagerly.
Walking over to the phone, he immediately dialed Silicon Oasis.
"Hello, this is Arcade Area. Do you still have Metal Gear in stock? You do?! Then I'll order four more!"
...
"Ethan, do you really think investing a huge amount of money into home console development right now is a good idea?"
Gerald put down the Nova Language specification manual. Concern was visible in his eyes.
Although Metal Gear's tremendous success had brought GAMENOVA a substantial stream of revenue, most of that money was only enough to cover their previous development costs.
If they continued investing in the development of a complete home gaming console, their recently recovered cash flow would once again become strained.
His eyes drifted toward the final pages of the N documentation.
With his experience, he could clearly tell that this language had been created specifically for their future self-developed console.
"Of course it is."
Ethan nodded.
A home console had always been inevitable.
Now, with Gerald, Vivian, and Kwok helping him, the project could finally begin in earnest.
"Gerald, you've played the games we've made. I'm sure you understand that if people could play them at home, they'd be even more enjoyable!"
The earlier games hadn't made it entirely clear.
But after seeing the full two hundred stages Ethan had created for Metal Gear, Gerald had finally realized what kind of monster Ethan truly was.
At the same time, he could see that Ethan's ambitions had never been centered on arcades. No matter how one looked at it, Metal Gear was a game better suited for a home console.
Its save system and gameplay, which rewarded patience and careful planning, were far better suited to a platform that the industry had already declared obsolete.
"Ethan, I understand that. What I'm worried about is the economic side of things. Mr. Kwok, what do you think?"
Gerald looked towards Kwok, hoping to find support. In his eyes, arcades were still the undisputed king of gaming.
After being burned so badly by Atari, he absolutely despised the Atari 2600, the machine he viewed as having brought an end to America's video game industry.
Kwok pondered for a moment, meeting Ethan's gaze.
Unlike Gerald, he was not only an engineer but also a businessman with sharp commercial instincts.
"You want to challenge Nintendo's Famicom?"
A smile appeared at the corner of Ethan's lips as he nodded.
In 1985, the American version of the FC, the gray NES, would enter the American market and go on to sell over 33 million units.
Whoever controlled players' living rooms and bedrooms would control the future.
And after gaining experience and building their reputation through several blockbuster arcade hits, Ethan was confident they were finally ready.
Both technologically and financially, they now had a genuine opportunity.
He pulled out a document he had prepared long ago.
[NovaBox]