Half an hour later.
Under Hunter's relentless protests, Emma finally, and very reluctantly, let go of the controller. But still something was wrong. Why was she getting so addicted to this?
"Mam, please stop playing. I have to go home soon..."
Hunter looked like he was about to cry. At first, he'd simply thought this lady looked pitiful standing there watching, so letting her try it for a bit wouldn't hurt.
Who would've thought she'd play for a full thirty minutes and refuse to let go no matter how much they asked?
He'd never seen such a shameless adult.
"No, seriously. Are you sure this is a NovaBox game? You're not lying to me, are you?"
"..."
"Mommy... Mom, what are you doing?"
Just as everyone was rendered speechless, Vincent's voice came from afar. Holding cartridges of Super Mario Bros and Battle City, he ran over excitedly.
The moment he saw his mother confronting a group of kids around his own age, his heart skipped a beat.
Oh no... his mom wasn't sticking her nose into other people's business and annoying everyone again, was she?
"Mom, I've made my choice."
He hurried over and pulled his mother aside, speaking excitedly.
"You were right, Mom. The NES is really fun! I shouldn't have judged it before even trying it."
He had spent nearly half an hour in the demo area playing Super Mario Bros and Battle City. It had been unbelievably exciting.
If he'd known the NES was this good, he wouldn't have wasted time agonizing over whether to get a NovaBox. Looks like his mom had been right.
Those people must not have played the NES yet. Otherwise, they wouldn't be so certain.
"Ah? Uh... Vincent, about that... You don't want a NovaBox anymore?"
"???"
Vincent froze. He had no idea what crazy idea his mother had come up with this time.
"Yeah. I just tried it. The NES is really fun. We can go home and play Battle City or Super Mario Bros!"
"Mmm..."
Emma nodded thoughtfully. After pondering for a moment, she said, "How about this? Since you've been such a good boy lately, I'll make an exception and allow you to buy a NovaBox!"
"???"
"But there's a condition. You can't buy Wolfenstein 3D, and you can't buy the light gun. Come on, let's go pay. Hurry up and put those two cartridges back."
Emma grabbed Vincent and headed off to find a store employee and buy a NovaBox. Then she suddenly stopped and turned back towards Hunter and the others.
"Oh, right, kids. Is there a Legend of Zelda special edition NovaBox? This way? Oh, okay. Thank you!"
Under the stunned gazes of Hunter's group, Emma dragged Vincent over to the NovaBox shelf and immediately picked up a Zelda limited edition console.
"Having a mom who loves video games... must be nice..."
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Hunter muttered.
The hell. She obviously wanted to play it herself!
Vincent was practically staring longingly at the Super Mario Bros cartridge!
...
It had to be said that the first step of Ethan's plan was an enormous success. Even more successful than anyone had imagined.
Thanks to its groundbreaking gameplay and astonishing scale, The Legend of Zelda quickly became the hottest title of the quarter. Its discussion volume had even surpassed both Street Fighter and Super Mario Bros.
"This quarter's console sales have risen noticeably. Zelda-themed consoles are sold out in many regions."
Sam hung up on the distributor's call and shouted excitedly. Who would've thought that selling games could actually boost console sales?
Back in the Atari 2600 era, things had never worked that way. The maximum market size of any game was entirely determined by the console's install base.
If the Atari 2600 sold thirty million units, then even a blockbuster game would probably sell only a few million copies.
But that rule no longer seemed to apply to The Legend of Zelda.
Over the past few days, an extremely bizarre situation had emerged. Sales of Zelda cartridges had surpassed NovaBox's total lifetime console shipments.
What kind of situation was that supposed to be? Even the standard edition cartridges were selling out.
The deluxe editions, which included printed maps and merchandise, were even harder to find.
In less than a month, sales had already exceeded one million copies. This single game alone had recovered all the losses incurred from the console business.
That's right, NovaBox was being sold at a loss.
The more consoles they sold, the more money they lost.
A machine featuring a multi-chip, multi-processor architecture and a complete floppy disk drive simply couldn't be manufactured for under $250.
If not for the sales champions Wolfenstein 3D and Tetris propping it up, NovaBox might have become the biggest money-losing project in GAMENOVA's history. But now everything had changed.
As software sales continued growing, cartridge revenue had not only covered the console losses but had begun pouring an endless stream of cash into GAMENOVA.
"It's not just because it's fun, Sam. The Legend of Zelda has something the other games don't."
"What?"
"It's slow."
Sam froze before immediately understanding what Ethan meant.
It really was true.
Looking back at every GAMENOVA game released so far, none of them featured such a slow-paced style of gameplay.
Then again, unlike their previous titles, The Legend of Zelda had never been intended for arcades from the very beginning. It wasn't a game designed to encourage rapid player turnover and maximize coin insertion rates.
Instead, players leisurely explored an open world at their own pace. The true save system enabled by floppy disk write functionality allowed them to stop and resume whenever they wanted.
The game was no longer a one-time speedrun experience. It became an "alternate world" that players could live in for weeks or even months.
Such a grand gaming experience had never existed before. The profit potential of the arcade market had been sacrificed.
In return, they gained a far broader world.
"So you've really decided to shift your entire focus to home consoles?"
Sam was amazed by Ethan's strategy.
With Wolfenstein 3D and The Legend of Zelda as home console exclusives, NovaBox had transformed into an incredibly competitive high end platform.
"Not entirely."
Ethan smiled.
Besides those little computers connected to televisions, home gaming devices came in another form as well. Though that would have to wait until Zilog finished developing the custom chip he'd commissioned.
Before then, it was time to carry out the second phase of the rebranding plan. A universally acclaimed masterpiece rated suitable for all ages by organizations such as ESRB and CERO.
His gaze settled on the draft before him. The item labeled "A Young Hero's Adventure" had already been circled, signifying completion.
The next item.
A Warm Countryside Life.
Naturally, this referred to the spiritual predecessor of Stardew Valley, the eternal master of farming simulation games,
Harvest Moon.
Published by Marvelous Inc., this farm life simulation brought the charm of rural living into the world of video games.
Beyond its peaceful and relaxing atmosphere, its exceptional compatibility with handheld gaming was one of the major reasons Ethan had chosen it.