Chapter 412: A Year of Video Games I
Whatever happens... there's still the solace that 'Castle in the Sky' will most likely do better on this one.
Unlike how it should have been the last time around... arriving in America by plane.
Not just in the literal sense but also in the fact that it would have been introduced to Americans as some in-flight entertainment in some airlines.
Someone then must have figured it has 'sky' in it, so why not?
In any case, Alexander had done what he could, got an appreciative international call from Seasoned Hayao for it, and the rest should take care of itself.
With a bit of minimal marketing via rousing the already-roused nerdy Creed community... with posters and whatnot... momentum should either rise or fall from there.
Either way, it's an interesting phenomenon to keep a close watch on.
It's just that Alexander may have to put that side project aside and move on.
Of course, what he actually considered moving on is backtracking to old projects for a bit.
Right on cue to that, Miss Consigliere brought in some files, saying. "Miss Marker had just sent this over as you've requested, little boss."
Alexander simply nodded as thanks for as soon as they were set down, he needed to go through all of them.
Separated and foldered, each containing very pertinent data that should give him an idea of where things are at.
Especially with how long it's been and the subject matter in hand.
The more comprehensive, the better. For a detailed account of all that has happened.
Since it has already been a year.
A year of video games.
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What else could be the greatest indicator of that fact than Tetris itself?
The very first Creed Games introduced... via coin-op machines at the corner of almost every local comic book store, around this time of January.
If one were to have some leftover change from their comic book purchases, it was the perfect fit.
Just as how the game itself is finding the perfect fit for a row of squares that need to be filled.
Despite all other arcade selections, it remains to be one of the most played games ever. Doubly so when it was embedded into the most popular game system of 1986.
The sales graphs on this one were actually just a straightforward representation of the Chaos units but the compiled market reactions were still insightful to read through.
The Kremlin-esque building, Russian tune, and Soviet-theme-ing raised some eyebrows but it just raised its novelty somewhat.
However, Alexander wasn't discounting potential trouble, which was why he asked. "Has there been any letter from a Mr. Pajitnov as of late?"
The secretary slash personal assistant could only respond with what she knew. "Nothing on that front but should I initiate contact just in case?"
Alexander shook his head as a negative. "We'll just wait it out."
For all it's worth, it's probably nothing because there's nothing.
It's not like Pajitnov's scheduled to go waterboarding somewhere.
Interrogated for the baffling reports wherein something that should be from their proud USSR is being enjoyed by their enemies in the US of A and other parts of the world.
Maybe waterboarding isn't the worst of what's coming for the poor guy.
Regardless, it's out of sight so it should be out of mind.
As such, Alexander simply closed the Tetris folder without any further consideration.
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Heartless for sure but what can he do?
What can one even do when it came to a worst-case but also imaginary scenario?
What took priority is that he can go through the next few more video games from where he's at.
It's tangible even. Tangible that he can flip through them.
Yet it's not like all that he flipped through was worth it.
Take 'Cat vsv Dog' and 'Dino Jump' for example.
They're the same Creed Chaos System embeds as Tetris but the impact wasn't just up to par.
For whatever reason, Alexander envisioned that the cat-dog game will spur the pet lovers into a war of sorts.
Wishful thinking... but hey... he kind of wished. And it kind of worked. Emphasis on the "kind ofs".
Instead of being a rock-paper-scissors alternative, maybe an upgrade to true online play would up the ante...
Or maybe he should up the lore...
The whole cat versus dog dynamic did remind him of CatDog... and a possible answer to the parental mystery of that cartoon show can't hurt, right?
As for what truly hurt... it was taking the ubiquitous Google out of Dino Jump.
The former can live without the latter while the latter is obviously abysmal without the former.
A Lonely T-Rex traversing through semi-dynamic landscapes just isn't enough.
Which was why it was probably time for the T-Rex to not be so lonely... and for the landscapes to be more dynamic than it currently is.
At the very least, he's got those somewhat covered.
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Anyways, close enough to the premise of traversing through landscapes... there's Flappy Birds.
Unlike the somewhat unfulfilling running and jumping of Dino Jump, this bird-flapping game actually did fairly well for itself.
The extra selection of playable characters and playable environment did wonders for making a dull, repetitive game become addicting.
The decision to not depend on Flabby alone had shown to be quite fruitful.
Even without the status as a mobile game and the societal entrenchment of mobile phones... that inexplicable appeal still worked its way unto people of the 80s.
Granted, Alexander still found it to be lacking.
The parental worry of "addiction" was a growing sentiment. It's just that there was no news about someone killing another person out of flappy frustration.
Well... that's more of a positive than a negative, isn't it? No need for face-saving public relations and whatnot.
It also shows the better mental stability that people of this decade have compared to how sensitive and frail they will come to be.
Perhaps he'll give it another year or so... and that Flappy Bird animosity might be magnified by the multitude of Flappy Birds.
Another interesting phenomenon to keep track of, Alexander noted.
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This brings him to Top Gun... of the Flight and Fight variety.
Of course, when it came to that, the movie counterpart wasn't too far off.
Many can't deny that both complement each other. Some would argue from the very start that the game is the sequel that they needed.
Of the hundreds of millions that moviegoers spent for theater tickets... Alexander could only ponder on when will a considerable proportion of that will be invested into the interactive version of it.
But that's not all, was it?
He distinctly remembered that it was quite the military propaganda and Old Man Pierce really took the time to discuss it with him.
It was just a thought then... but wouldn't it be interesting if he himself would really take part in the computer-manned development of jets and drones?
With his uncontested flight data of inconclusive video game figures, he was really aspiring here... but stuff should be achievable if he really put his mind to it, right?
Just like how Arthur Scholl didn't have to die as an embellishment to the motion picture's status.
Alexander put some inkling of thought into that and look what happened...
The man's life was actually spared and as an act of balance... many in-game lives have to be burned through by Flight and Fight gamers all over the world.
It's a silly notion but it's rather musing as Alexander closed the file on it.
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Next on the list was, of course, the Blue Blur... Sonic the Hedgehog... but there's really nothing much to it.
All that these graphs and compiled market receptions were telling him was that it was greatly successful.
Not much of a surprise there.
Perhaps what's surprising is the fact that Sonic is actually giving the supposed Mario behemoth a run for its money.
With the speedy mascot overtaking the pudgy plumber in North American and European sales, the leading contender was obvious.
Regardless, it's a shocking upset in the mascot wars that would have boiled the video game community in quite a fervor.
Then again, with Alexander the only one that knew of what could have been, the current video game community pretty much didn't find anything out of the ordinary.
The trailing of Sonic in Japan was the thing that actually confounds those that knew it, however, that was also understandable given that those Nintendo fellows camped there.
All in all, that was just mostly half of the 11 video game line-up and Alexander still had a few more files to read through.