, Part 2, Section 3.

Chapter 87, Part 2, Section 3.

Although Ethan had played many video games in his previous life, and could come up with inspiration with just a little thought, there were actually only a few related to minimalist pixel art. This was because in the era when he played games, arcade machines had already improved, and the popular games on the market were things like Street Fighter, The King of Fighters, and Mortal Kombat.

However, even though the original black screen romance was gone when Ethan played games, the pixel games that survived to that time were true classics. Games like "Northern Blocks," "Space Invaders," and "Pac-Man," which he wrote on paper, were all super IPs that tapped into a market worth hundreds of billions! Any one of them could have bought up all the development funds that Silicon Valley companies needed at that time!

Make two?

That would make countless people worship him!

What if all three were copied?

In other words, this is the god of games!

There's nothing we can do about it; after all, in Ethan's previous life, someone had already achieved the feat of creating three epic blockbuster products in a single lifetime.

Donkey Kong, Mario, and Zelda propelled Shigeru Miyamoto to the pinnacle of video games.

The most terrifying thing is that Pokémon was also created under his influence. Ash represents the game's creator, Satoshi Tajiri, and Gary, in Tajiri's words, was created to pay tribute to his mentor, Shigeru Miyamoto.

Of course, this kind of game explosion on home consoles has nothing to do with Ethan for the time being, because hardware costs are high in this era. When he sets his sights on the most basic charm of pixels, what he, as an ordinary person, wants most is - I want them all!

He has already given up financial speculation and started his own business. If he doesn't make a name for himself, all his hard work will have been for nothing!

So, when he rolled up his sleeves and got to work, he unleashed all the trump cards in his head at once.

But he was stumped about which one to blow up first.

Should we make "Northern Blocks" first?

Ethan circled the name of the game.

After much deliberation, he decided to black it out.

Although Ethan didn't understand the technology, he knew that Northland Blocks was the most difficult of the three games to make.

First, there are many types of blocks that players can control, and the design of their display and the pseudo-random formulas require a lot of thought and effort to write.

This kind of project cannot be completed in a short period of time.

Secondly, the elimination mechanics of this game are very difficult to write. When players eliminate blocks, the game must be able to identify the height of the highest-filling grid block and constantly calculate the maximum number of blocks that can be placed on the screen, leaving players a chance to survive, so that subsequent pseudo-random calculations do not affect the player's gaming experience.

This completely transcends the realm of circuit board arcade games; no matter how advanced the basic physics are, it's impossible to make one.

In addition to these two points, there are a series of other issues, such as the increasing game speed under the score detection mechanism.

When these demands arose, Ethan decided it was best not to cause Evelyn any trouble.

He didn't know if Evelyn could write "Northern Squares," but he knew he couldn't waste his time on it.

In the era of arcade games, speed, accuracy, and ruthlessness are all that matter. If you spend even a second more developing when your technology is insufficient, it's like drawing a knife and committing suicide.

Furthermore, the game *Northern Blocks* is actually not suitable for release on arcade machines because—

"This game is only suitable for individual purchase; if it were released in arcades, the owners would go crazy."

Ethan chuckled and shook his head, because he was already picturing an arcade owner being driven to the brink of smashing his machine by a pro player.

After strategically placing "Northern Blocks" on the market, Ethan then turned his attention to "Space Invaders".

To be honest, Ethan had never actually played the real Space Invaders. What he played was a copycat version of Space Invaders, which, if I remember correctly, was Namco's Galaga.

But that doesn't matter, right?

Because the content of all games is the same!

Both *Galaga* and *Space Invaders* are stationary shooters where players can only move their planes or turrets horizontally at the bottom of the screen, press the fire button to shoot bullets, and clear out alien enemies falling from above. The only difference is that in *Space Invaders*, enemies move as a group, while in *Galaga*, enemies can attack individually, diving down to ram into the player.

Although this game also departs from simple physics-based gameplay, it should be simpler than "Northern Blocks" from a technical standpoint.

Ethan wasn't sure, so he circled the game's name.

What made him even more hesitant was another memory in his mind.

Because that memory told him—

"This game seems to have really become a hit because of Star Wars?" Ethan muttered to himself, scratching his head.

Yes, in Ethan's memory, the release of Space Invaders was actually a bit of a lucky break, riding on the coattails of Star Wars.

After Star Wars captivated countless viewers with its breathtaking visual spectacle, Space Invaders was officially released and became an overnight sensation, sweeping across North America with overwhelming force.

It was because this legend left a deep impression on Ethan that, when Steven Spielberg said that his friend wanted to create a big story, he took the initiative to ask if it was George Lucas or Star Wars.

If so...

Ethan actually wanted to freeload off outside too.

They're not going in anyway!

As for the reasons?

The inertia of history is the best lesson for success!

However, he wasn't sure if his memory was accurate, so he was a little worried.

Skip it for now and keep reading. The game Pac-Man immediately made him feel incredibly at ease.

Pac-Man is a maze chase game where players control a yellow ball in a closed maze. The goal is to eat all the dots in the maze while dodging four ghosts on the map, and then advance to the next level.

If you are caught by the ghost, you will lose one life. Once you have lost all three lives, the game will end.

Ethan felt that this game was actually the most suitable for him to make, because he had already made "Snake" before.

When the elements of a confined environment and eating all the food appear together, Pac-Man is practically a spiritual successor to Snake.

Or rather...

It's an upgraded version of the creative concept.

With such a gimmick, how could merchants not buy it crazily?

"It seems that Pac-Man is the most suitable game for the present moment."

Ethan thought about it for a moment, and finally put a checkmark after the name "Pac-Man".

Then, a sequel was written after Space Invaders.

As for the "Northern Square" that was painted black, it represents the third one in his mind.

When this sorting appeared, Ethan immediately felt relieved.

"First, we'll use Pac-Man to open up the real game, then Space Invaders to sweep the world, and finally, we'll unleash Northern Blocks to show these fools what a real pixel game is!"

As Ethan drew this, a strange smile appeared on his lips.

Because in his mind, the scene of three games being released in succession had already popped into his head.

That scene was like a mountain collapsing and a tsunami crashing...

The cheers were filled with anticipation...

He slightly raised his right hand, gesturing repeatedly towards the crowd...

Just thinking about it makes my heart race!

"Hehehehehe..."

Ethan couldn't hold it in any longer.

"Hahahaha..."

He was smiling happily.

Just as he erased all the contents, unfolded a new sheet of paper, and prepared to draw the Pac-Man concept in his mind...

The "thump thump thump" sound entered his ears, disturbing his peaceful dream.

"Please come in." Although he was annoyed, Ethan didn't show it.

The door opened, and the company's administrative clerk, blonde Julie Noble, walked in.

"Mr. Jones, a gentleman claiming to be the CEO of Sega has visited the company and wants to see you."

"? 』

These words surprised Ethan.

Sega?

Why did it come to me?

Ethan was a little confused and asked directly, "Did he say something?"

"I did say that they wanted to discuss cooperation with us," Yulis Noble replied.

"Discussing cooperation?"

These words surprised Ethan even more.

Because he doesn't have any projects he can collaborate on with Sega!

Patent licensing for video games?

That's absolutely impossible!

Not to mention that Ethan didn't actually authorize it and was just circumventing the patent by using Ralph Bell's name, even if he did, Sega wouldn't need it!

In April of this year, after reaching a settlement with Atari regarding "Pong", Mirova immediately sued Sega.

Subsequently, the two sides reached a consensus in a short period of time.

If nothing unexpected happens, Sega should now have obtained a patent license from Mirova, but the price may be quite high.

After thinking for a while, Ethan couldn't figure it out, so he stopped thinking about it.

He put on his pen and asked, "Is the reception room on the second floor ready to use?"

"Can."

"Then please ask him to come over."

Ethan threw the blackened paper into the shredder.

Since we don't know why the other person came, we might as well meet him.

Note: ① Although *Northern Blocks* was a Game Boy game, it was indeed the most difficult of the three to develop. The algorithm for detecting block capacity to match pseudo-randomness was even published in academic papers. Because the game's design philosophy was to prevent pseudo-randomness from ruining gameplay, we find that every failure is due to a lack of reaction time, not a calculation error on the part of the game itself. ② *Space Invaders* did indeed ride the wave of *Star Wars*' popularity, according to producer Tomohiro Nishikado. He stated that *Space Invaders* borrowed heavily from games and films, including *Star Wars*. To further enhance the game's success, the first promotional poster for *Space Invaders* in Japanese was based on the *Star Wars* opening sequence, and the word "Space Invaders" was a close-up of the *Star Wars* logo from a reverse angle (this image is available on the English Wikipedia). Moreover, the game wasn't officially released in large quantities until August, after the official release of *Star Wars* in Japanese (June 30, 1978). When it was sold in North America, it directly piggybacked on the Star Wars publicity.

(End of this chapter)