nycdaug Chapter 27 What if I had never seen Contra?
Chapter 27 What if I had never seen Contra?
Under Lin Lixin's demonstration, Sam quickly understood what this so-called "password archive" really meant.
When saving the game, the game will give the player a string of numbers.
Simply enter this mysterious code the next time you play to return to your previous game state.
"Shit...this design is absolutely brilliant."
Having understood how this thing worked, Sam naturally knew what Lin Lixin was planning to do.
By simply adding an encoding function to the software, a save function can be added to the game without increasing any hardware costs.
Lin Lixin returned to his computer and sat down to begin preparations.
In this day and age, saving files is very difficult.
The first person to achieve this was actually Ren, who was preparing on the other side of the ocean.
They released a peripheral for the Famicom (FC) that could read floppy disks.
It wasn't until after that that storing data on the host machine became the norm.
The first game to use this system was The Legend of Zelda.
Thinking of this, Lin Lixin felt an even greater sense of urgency.
Faced with such an absurdly strong opponent, his current resources are far from sufficient to fight back.
Fortunately, Contra is not Zelda; it requires very little data to be saved, only the current level, number of lives, and weapon status.
This is also the key to its ability to use password archives.
……
July, New Mexico.
"I wish I could have muscles as nice as Mr. Schwarzenegger's..."
"John, you've watched Conan the Barbarian five times already! Five times!"
"I'll watch it one last time, Mike, I promise!"
Inside a small apartment, two young people were arguing fiercely.
In front of them was an old television set, which was playing the beginning of "Conan the Barbarian".
In their cramped, low-rent apartment, this secondhand television set is one of their few sources of entertainment.
But there were two of them, while there was only one television.
Thus, the dispute over the right to use the television continues every day.
Mike's forehead veins bulged, and his temples throbbed.
He glared at the television screen beside him, wishing he could pull out the "Conan the Barbarian" videotape and smash it to pieces.
Damn it! Mike admitted that the movie was indeed very interesting when he watched it for the first time.
but……
Five times!
John has watched it five times since this morning!
"Listen, John, I know you're a Schwarzenegger fan, but I need to watch my TV! Please, go ahead and keep fantasizing about his posters!"
Ignoring all attempts to stop him, Mike forcibly interrupted the playback, unplugged the VCR, and replaced it with a wireless TV.
He turned the knob a few times, trying to find a program that interested him.
Before I could even adjust it a few times, a burst of energetic synthesizer music suddenly came from the speakers.
The extremely fast music rhythm and strong beat instantly attracted his attention, making him stop changing the channel.
But when he saw clearly who the person in the picture was, he was filled with remorse.
Schwarzenegger, whom John idolizes, stands in the center of the picture, holding a machine gun and dressed as a special forces soldier, looking very imposing.
As the music grew increasingly rousing, the camera shifted, revealing a group of bizarre, alien monsters.
Schwarzenegger showed no fear whatsoever, displaying his tough-guy style, and started firing at the monster with a machine gun.
The scene suddenly shifted to a pixel art style, and the perspective changed to a horizontal 2D.
This is actual gameplay footage from Contra!
A large title appeared in the center of the screen, with the letter 'C' made of flames burning fiercely.
This was followed by a description of the game's release and the inscription "GAMENOVA ENTERTAINMENT".
The short promotional video ended quickly in this scene.
Mike's hand, which was about to change the channel, froze. He looked at John, and they stared at each other in shock.
"Video...video games? Mr. Schwarzenegger really endorses a video game?!"
John swallowed hard with a gulp.
Living in New Mexico, they witnessed Atari burying a large number of unsold cassette tapes in the Alamogordo landfill.
With the video game market shrinking by over 97% today, John can't understand why his idol, Arnold Schwarzenegger, would endorse a video game.
If he continues to act in movies, he will definitely become a new generation of action superstar with his solid skills.
John looked at his thin arms, and the image of Schwarzenegger's handsome physique flashed through his mind again.
If he could, he would love to have a figure like his idol's.
His busy studies and part-time jobs left him with no opportunity to work out, so he could only satisfy his fantasies by watching Schwarzenegger movies over and over again.
"Video games..."
He murmured, looking at Mike with a complicated expression.
"Shall we...go and take a look?"
He still wanted to believe in Mr. Schwarzenegger.
Perhaps this game is different from those buried plastic wastes?
……
There was indeed a fairly lively arcade near where they lived.
The two arrived at their destination in just over ten minutes.
But what they saw almost made their jaws drop.
people!
It was packed with people!
The arcade, which used to be deserted, was inexplicably packed with people today.
Upon closer listening, the noise from the doorway was deafening.
"Boss, where's the Contra arcade machine?! Haven't you bought it yet?!"
"Several stores in the next state have already implemented it, can yours even compare, boss?"
"We're all waiting to play! We can't even buy the machines, what's the point of opening an arcade!"
The store manager was covered in cold sweat and could only force a smile and try to smooth things over with everyone.
"Everyone, calm down! I've already paid the deposit, and the seller said it will definitely be in stock this month!"
He wanted Contra in stock, because with that kind of consumer spending power, he could break even in less than a week and make a fortune!
But it's not so easy to snag a stock that's readily available.
He turned around and looked at the long lines for Tetris and 1942 in the store, and helplessly wiped away his sweat.
"Everyone, play around with these two new devices first. I promise I'll get them as quickly as possible!"
These two items alone cost him a lot of money.
No matter what he said to that damned Jew, the other party insisted that there was no stock available.
Insufficient production capacity!
"F**K! If you don't have enough production capacity, go expand! What are you doing?!"
He spat angrily, then put on a smile again and continued to deal with the players who had completely gone mad.
The famous poet Emily Dickinson once wrote:
I could have endured the darkness if I had never seen the sun.
Now these lunatics have seen Contra.