Chapter 161: Sega Panics (bonus)

Chapter 161: Sega Panics (bonus) 2

"With specs like these, it's practically a high-end PC." 

Mike's eyes widened slightly as he took in the specifications. No wonder it was selling for so much. 

"Wait, what's with this CD drive?" 

Mike noticed the information listed under storage and his eyes widened. 

"Didn't I tell you guys? Optical-disc storage, with hundreds of megabytes of capacity!" 

Frank waved his hands excitedly, unable to contain himself. Now that the full specifications had finally been revealed, the lingering doubts in his mind had completely vanished. 

It was a sure thing now, the NovaXeno was going to be a hit. 

"No, Frank. I'm talking about what it can actually do..." 

Mike interrupted Frank, who was enthusiastically preaching about the console, and pointed at the small text under the storage section. 

"What it can do? What's wrong with that?" 

Frank looked over in confusion and followed Mike's finger down the page. 

"Pfft, wait the NovaXeno can also be used as a CD player?" 

According to the specifications, the console's optical drive was compatible with any disc that followed the CD-N standard. 

CD-N was a proprietary optical-disc format developed by GAMENOVA specifically for storing games and audio content. Although the disc had been reduced to just ten centimeters in diameter, it still retained most of its original storage capacity. 1

The format supported GAMENOVA's own Vorbis Ogg audio standard, meaning developers could include music tracks on the discs that the NovaXeno could read directly. 

In other words, NovaXeno could double as a CD player. Sure, it only supported GAMENOVA's proprietary disc format, but that was still an impressive bonus for a game console. 

As Frank and Mike continued discussing the features, they suddenly noticed something strange about Aaron, so both turned toward him in confusion. 

Aaron's eyes were locked on a section farther down the page. He had been staring at it for several seconds without saying a word. 

Curious, Frank and Mike followed his gaze and looked back at the magazine. Then they saw it, whatever was written there had left Aaron completely stunned. 

[NovaModem] 7

[Supports RJ11 telephone-line connection] 

[Voice calls can be made through the NovaXeno using dial-up] 

[Online multiplayer supported for selected games] 1

"On... Online multiplayer?" 1

Judging solely from this description, this was definitely not the same kind of multiplayer connection mode as the communication cable used by the NovaPocket, nor was it LAN multiplayer. 

If it worked through a dial-up telephone connection, then that meant they could potentially play with friends all the way across the country. The idea that people separated by thousands of miles could share a game together was almost beyond imagination. 1

And as UCLA students, the three of them understood the implications better than most. Few people understood the potential of the Internet as well as college students did. 

With the development of TCP/IP, many of America's leading universities had begun connecting to the internet one after another. 

That made them some of the earliest people in the world fortunate enough to gain access to civilian networks. 

They could simply enter an address on a PC at college and easily access websites established by other institutions. 

There was one thing Mike and the others understood perfectly: the Internet would become one of the fundamental pillars of future computer technology. 

It wouldn't be long before a new wave swept across the world, bringing about yet another technological revolution. By then, players all over the world would be connected by a thin network cable, allowing them to play games together and even watch movies together. They had talked about that future countless times. 

But now, GAMENOVA was claiming that the NovaXeno could accomplish something similar without relying on the dedicated network connections available at universities. It only needed an ordinary household telephone line. 

"Calm down. Calm down. This probably isn't the kind of multiplayer we're thinking of." 1

Aaron could only say this to convince himself. 

"The bandwidth of a telephone line is so low. It already takes everything it has just to support a normal voice call. How could there possibly be any bandwidth left for a game?" 

The line in the magazine that said [Play games while talking on the phone] sounded like absolute fairy-tale nonsense to him. 

How much data would a video game need to transmit? 

Even Tetris, one of GAMENOVA's earliest titles, would require a constant exchange of data between players. And then there was Civilization, the new game confirmed to be coming on an optical disc. 

Could something like that really work? Was this even possible? 

Obviously, it wasn't. So, there had to be some kind of promotional trick behind the wording. 

"Maybe it's something like that score-upload feature we saw at the game store before. You know, uploading your scores and saved-game data to GAMENOVA's servers." 

"That's possible. Actually, that makes a lot more sense." 

Aaron's explanation convinced the other two. 

They understood how much bandwidth true multiplayer gaming would require. Even the Internet currently being used by universities would have a hard time accomplishing that. 

Unless it was a completely local LAN connection, which could be achieved through specially designed cables. 

"All right. Even if that's all it is, it's still pretty impressive." 

Frank, who had already paid for his console, didn't seem particularly bothered. 

He had bought the NovaXeno because of the incredible things he expected it to offer. Now, as more and more information was being revealed, the money he'd spent was only looking more and more worthwhile. 

After all, for just a little over three hundred dollars, he was getting an all-in-one entertainment system that could make phone calls and play CDs. 

Add its primary purpose, playing video games, and the machine was already an incredible bargain. 

Looking over the entire specification sheet, Frank couldn't help swallowing hard. This was absolutely a console from the future, and somehow, he'd already gotten himself a ticket to that future.  

As more and more information was released, however, the other manufacturers weren't nearly as happy. 

As the saying went, outsiders watched the spectacle while insiders understood the details, and when it came to GAMENOVA, a technological giant with its influence spread throughout the entire semiconductor industry, even Sega's hardware division could do little more than watch in disbelief. 

"This is fucking ridiculous." 

One of the engineers slammed the magazine onto the table, looking like he was about to break down. 

Great, back to working overtime again. 

"How's the situation?" 

Hideki Sato, head of the hardware department, approached the young engineer and picked up the magazine that had just arrived from overseas. 

They had managed to get the first batch of information from America even before Game Freak. 

This had been the decision Hideki Sato and President Hayao Nakayama had reached after discussing the matter. 

There couldn't be even a moment's delay in hardware development. They had to go all out and know both themselves and their enemy. 

The young engineer let out a miserable groan before finally answering. 

"Sir, the specifications completely outclass ours, even the sound hardware." 

"Is the situation really that bad?" 

Hideki frowned as he opened the magazine and quickly flipped through it. As the contents were revealed one after another before his eyes, Hideki's brows drew tightly together, and his expression grew increasingly grim. 

The engineer hadn't exaggerated. This was a machine that completely outclassed the next-generation console Sega was currently developing. 

"Fourth generation... this is going to be trouble." 

If there was any company in this world that Sega absolutely didn't want to go up against, GAMENOVA would undoubtedly be at the very top of the list. 

Its terrifying R&D capabilities were so far beyond them that even if they joined forces with Nintendo, they still wouldn't be able to catch up. 

GAMENOVA had gone so far as to transform itself into a Silicon Valley technology powerhouse spanning the semiconductor industry, all so it could develop games without being constrained by outside suppliers. 

More importantly, GAMENOVA had home-field advantage in America, which was also Sega's most important overseas market. That put the two companies on a direct collision course, and it was a nightmare for Sega. 

It's failure to defeat Nintendo in Japan had already dealt the company a serious blow. If they were driven out of the overseas market as well, Sega would truly be finished. 6

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