New Mexico.
On the way to the arcade, a bicycle carrying two young men sped wildly down the road.
"Faster, Mike! Faster!"
"This is already fast enough! SHIT!"
Mike spat to the side and glanced at John's plaster cast leg sticking out from the back seat.
As a die-hard fan of both Arnold and GAMENOVA, John had naturally learned about GAMENOVA's new game the moment it was announced.
Unfortunately, he had fractured his leg while working a part-time job earlier, making it difficult for him to get around. That was why he had begged Mike to pedal him there.
Well, Mike had to admit that part of the reason he agreed was because he also wanted to try the new game.
Contra had already completely won him over.
As for the name Wolfenstein, Mike actually had some vague recollection of it.
It had been a game released on the Apple II by Muse Software in the early 1980s. The graphics were simple, rendered entirely with character art, but it was considered a fairly decent PC game.
Now GAMENOVA had borrowed that title and added "3D" to the end of it. That genuinely made Mike curious.
"I'm serious, John. I don't think GAMENOVA has the ability to create real 3D effects on an 8-bit machine."
Mike panted heavily as he spoke to John behind him.
The moment he got home, John had dragged him out onto the road.
He hadn't even seen the commercial that John had been praising to the moon.
"Didn't Atari claim they made a 3D game almost ten years ago? What was it called... Night Driver?"
The reason Mike remembered the game so clearly was simple. It had been the very first game his father ever took him to play at an arcade.
Back then, Mike had been a little kid dreaming of becoming a race car driver. Naturally, he had been immediately drawn in by the beautiful artwork painted on the arcade cabinet.
A race car driver in a racing suit speeding down a road at night and the advertisement proudly claimed it was the world's first 3D game.
Come on, that sounded awesome!
But what he actually saw was just a bunch of primitive graphics and a little trick using perspective effects. Granted, it was an ingenious technique.
For players at the time who already understood what video games were, it was indeed very interesting.
But Mike had only been a child. What did he know about game design or clever visual techniques? So, he had been disappointed.
Now that GAMENOVA was advertising a 3D game, it had awakened that long-buried memory.
His PTSD was practically acting up.
"That's because you haven't seen the commercial! Pedal faster! You won't regret it!"
If John weren't crippled right now, he would have jumped off and run there himself.
….
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"How much?! Two hundred and fifty dollars for the console? And two hundred ninety with a copy of Contra? Are you guys robbing us?"
Supporting himself with crutches, John followed Mike as they squeezed past the crowd gathered around a Street Fighter arcade cabinet and arrived at the display shelves.
Several beautiful machines sat on display.
They somewhat resembled the NES with their rectangular shape, but their design was flatter and sleeker.
There were black and white standard editions, along with several launch models themed after major games.
Mike's attention immediately landed on the Contra limited edition.
The console itself, a copy of Wolfenstein 3D, and a Contra cartridge. Just that much cost nearly three hundred dollars.
"Mike, let's buy this one!"
John shouted and dragged him over to the Street Fighter-themed edition.
Because Street Fighter included an enhanced audio chip built directly into its cartridge, it cost ten dollars more than Contra.
It was absurd. An Atari console only cost around $140. Even the supposedly amazing Nintendo NES sold for under $200.
"This is too expensive, John..."
Neither John nor Mike came from wealthy families. Otherwise, they wouldn't have needed extra part-time jobs in the first place.
The price had already exceeded Mike's psychological limit.
"I can pay for the console and the Street Fighter cartridge."
Without hesitation, John pulled out his wallet and put down three one hundred dollar bills. This was the compensation he had received from his employer for his workplace injury.
"John, you..."
Mike knew how hard John had fought to get that money, so he never expected him to spend it so readily. Sitting on the bicycle's back seat with the brand-new NovaBox package in his arms, John smiled foolishly, forgetting all the troubles and worries cluttering his mind.
In the end, Mike contributed one hundred dollars of his own and covered the cost of the Street Fighter and Contra cartridges.
...
The moment they got home, John hobbled to the television on his crutches, practically crawling the last few steps.
He unplugged the VCR and replaced it with the NovaBox.
The brand-new Street Fighter limited-edition NovaBox sat atop the small TV cabinet. Its spotless exterior formed a stark contrast against everything old and worn around it.
After setting everything up at lightning speed, the two of them stared at the three equally pristine game cartridges. Without even discussing it, their eyes settled on the lone golden cartridge.
"The casing is pretty well-made..."
"Mike, trust me. Even if it were made from real gold, it still wouldn't be worthy of what's inside."
"Is it really that exaggera…"
Mike's voice cut off.
A rugged American action hero appeared on the screen, grinning while holding a pistol. Mike's heart immediately sank.
Oh no… John got scammed! So, it was just another shameless cash grab using Schwarzenegger's image to milk fans.
"Forget it. The money's already spent."
Mike shook his head.
He only hoped John would learn a lesson this time and become a little less obsessed with his idol.
Standing up, he said, "You play first. I'll go get some snacks and drinks. We can play Street Fighter later."
When Mike returned to the television carrying potato chips and soda, he swore that the sight before him was something he might never forget for the rest of his life.
There was no visible player character on the screen. Instead, the game used a first person perspective.
All he could see was the protagonist holding a pistol. The brick walls standing before him, the flickering lights and the bodies of enemy soldiers collapsing to the ground.
In that instant, Mike was pulled back to an afternoon ten years earlier. Back to those carefree days when he could waste entire afternoons in an arcade without a single worry in the world.
This was exactly what he had imagined a 3D game should look like. Hearing movement behind him, John turned around. When he saw the stunned expression on Mike's face, he froze for a moment as well.
"Want to play?"
"Can I?"
"Of course."
...
With a single cartridge, the NovaBox transformed from a product that earned praise but poor sales into "the last hope of American video games."
Go ahead and ask around.
Which company in the entire world could create 3D graphics at this level right now?
GAMENOVA was far ahead of the competition.