America: The Godfather of Game Development

Chapter 69 Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A B A

After a conversation, Lin Lixin was surprised to find that his previous understanding of Steve seemed to be somewhat different.

He really is a gamer who has a passion for video games.

Steve could bring up many of the little Easter eggs he had hidden in the details and talk about them at length, and many of the points he made surprised Lin Lixin.

"Hmm, so that's what I was thinking. That's impressive."

Even Sam softened his stance after Steve demonstrated his professionalism.

Sam himself is an avid gamer, so he can naturally tell that Steve is definitely a player who has played a lot of games.

It's impossible to explain this so thoroughly just by hearing rumors.

Steve felt a noticeable sense of relief when he realized that Lin Lixin seemed to have genuinely improved his attitude towards him.

"Long live understanding."

"It's nothing, I'm just disappointed that they didn't live up to expectations. If my favorite game company released a terrible product, I would also criticize it."

Lin Lixin laughed heartily, then changed the subject, meeting Steve's gaze.

"But Mr. Steve, I suppose you have other business to discuss with me?"

"Yes... to be honest."

Steve simply nodded and admitted it. Now that things were out in the open, there was no need to hide anything.

"Mr. Lin, I hope to have a one-on-one interview with you published in the next issue of Electronic Games."

Electronic Games is a comprehensive gaming magazine that includes three main sections in each issue.

New game reviews, hardware evaluations, and developer interviews.

Due to recent negative reviews of Story of Seasons, Electronic Games is now under constant criticism from netizens, which has affected its normal operation.

For a professional gaming media outlet, reputational damage is a terrible thing.

It's fair to say that this time Steve has truly suffered a devastating blow, his very foundation has been damaged.

But he could only accept that he deserved it.

The only solution he could think of was to seek a settlement with Gamenova and invite the producer to an interview in order to reverse his reputation.

"certainly."

Lin Lixin agreed on the spot with almost no hesitation.

Ultimately, GAMENOVA and Electronic Games have never been adversaries.

On the contrary, Steve is a valuable connection to cultivate.

If we could get Electronic Games on board with GAMENOVA, that would be a wonderful thing.

Even if a true bond of mutual benefit cannot be formed, establishing a good relationship is still beneficial.

……

The interview was scheduled for the following afternoon at the GAMENOVA arcade.

The small store has been renovated by Sam several times and is now a well-known avant-garde store in the surrounding area.

With the extremely resounding brand name 【GAMENOVA】, even though their arcade machines have been sold all over the country, there are still long lines at the stores every day.

Aside from players who actually live nearby, many more come with a pilgrimage mentality.

Even though it's rare to have the chance to meet the legendary Lin Lixin, there are often opportunities to meet Sam, the creator of early GAMENOVA arcade games.

Although it was an interview, it wasn't a television program; it was just print media. Electronic Games only sent Steve to conduct the interview, along with a recorder and a photographer to take photos on site.

"F**K! That person couldn't be...?"

"That's him, Lin Lixin! A big shot!"

When the group appeared at the store entrance, many people recognized the young face surrounded in the middle.

The creator of many legendary masterpieces, and the big boss of the newly established gaming empire, GAMENOVA.

Unfortunately, it's clear he didn't come here to hold a meet-and-greet for them.

Soon, a section of the store was partitioned off and tables and chairs were set up.

Lin Lixin and Steve sat on either side.

"So...shall we begin?"

With Lin Lixin's approval, Steve took out his prepared notes and began the interview.

"Mr. Lin, we published an article about Easter eggs in The Legend of Zelda in a previous program."

"It's an honor to have you here today. Do you have any other hidden gems that players haven't discovered yet that you could share?"

The depth of design in The Legend of Zelda is astonishing.

The deeper you explore it, the more details you'll discover that you wouldn't notice when you had a shallow understanding of it.

Upon hearing the content of the interview, the players who were watching were secretly surprised.

So it's Electronic Games? They actually teamed up with Gamenova?

Moreover, why is it that even though the person responsible for interviewing Lin Lixin was wearing makeup, you could still vaguely see dark circles under his eyes, as if he had been hit hard by a cannon?

"Ah, I saw that episode. It talked about the secret to directly opening the inner world."

One of them was clearly a fan of these kinds of game magazines, and immediately ran to the magazine shelf next to him and picked one out.

"Yes, as mentioned in this episode, you can directly access the other world by entering the protagonist's name as 'ZELDA'."

This very hidden Easter egg was something Steve discovered by chance during his trial of the game.

After all, as someone who does game commentary, there are just too many games to play every day. Steve didn't have the mind to name each character individually, so he simply used the official names from the game's lore, which unexpectedly yielded some positive results.

"An Easter egg? Let me think..."

Lin Lixin raised an eyebrow; this was indeed a very interesting topic.

"If I had to pick my favorite Easter egg, it would definitely be Contra."

"Contra? It's that?"

Steve was slightly taken aback; he had expected to get a more next-generation masterpiece like Wolfenstein or Street Fighter.

I never expected it to be Contra, which GAMENOVA released in its early days.

The game's biggest features are its exhilarating combat and its theme design that perfectly aligns with the mainstream of the entertainment industry.

The addition of Schwarzenegger's powerful presence created an immortal classic.

But as for depth...

Steve blinked. To put it bluntly, there's not much to discuss in depth about this game.

It's just for fun.

Lin Lixin laughed heartily.

Game tips and tricks have always been a popular topic of conversation in the gaming community.

Leaving aside the well-known cheat codes like "Who's your daddy" and "panzer," even in the early 8-bit era, there were all sorts of creative designs.

The most famous one in later generations is naturally the classic "spell" from "Contra".

This secret manual has become a famous meme in later generations, widely popular, and a unique symbol of memory belonging to this era.

Even the famous Minotaur card "Enemy Controller" in Yu-Gi-Oh! has dialogue related to this Easter egg.

Seeing Steve's puzzled expression as he awaited an explanation, Lin Lixin slowly opened his mouth and uttered a sentence that sounded completely nonsensical:

"Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, B, oh right, this is limited to the home console version."

Upon hearing this, the players in the store all turned their attention to a demo area where two NovaBox consoles were placed against the wall.

The two people who were playing the game at that moment obviously realized there was something going on, and quickly switched to the Contra cartridge.

They then entered the command they had just received in sequence.

The character's health bars suddenly increased from 3 to 30.

"What??"

Seeing the shocked crowd, Lin Lixin chuckled.

He's also prepared a super big project for Contra.

The fact that no one has discovered it yet is really making him incredibly eager to find out.