Chapter 192: Quake Launch (bonus)

February, Presidents' Day. 

As one of the statutory holidays of the United States, even Nasdaq, the largest and most powerful capital market in the world would close on this day to commemorate the various presidents who had served the nation. 

And on that very same day, GAMENOVA's newest title hit the shelves of major video game retailers across the country. 

QUAKE 3

A simple logo was set behind the game's title, with the overall design uniformly adopting a rusted brownish-red color. 

The uppercase serif lettering had been deliberately distressed with extensive wear and damage effects, further reinforcing the logo's ancient, timeworn aesthetic. 3

The overall design style was remarkably distinctive. At a glance, almost any player familiar with GAMENOVA would immediately be reminded of the title that had once taken the entire world by storm. 

Wolfenstein 3D 

It was the title that had allowed NovaBox to break through the encirclement and, in one fell swoop, rise from beneath the siege of companies like Nintendo, Sega, and Atari to become the undisputed overlord. 

Yet this time, alongside the usual information about the developer, publisher, and other credits, the cover also bore an entirely new symbol. 

... 

Emma hurriedly squeezed her way through the crowd, clutching the launch edition of Quake that she had managed to snatch after knocking over half a dozen people, and finally burst out through the crowded store entrance. 2

Only then did she have a moment to smooth her disheveled hair and clothes and take a closer look at what was different about the cartridge box. 

At first glance, she spotted an additional logo in the lower-left corner. 

Inside a rectangular frame was a large, bold letter: "M" 

The upper bar read: 

[MATURE (17+)] 

Beneath it were four letters whose meaning she did not recognize: 

[ESRB] 2

She quickly opened the latest issue of the game magazine she had picked up alongside it, hoping to find an explanation. And, just as she had expected, Electronic Games provided one. 

ESRB, short for the Entertainment Software Rating Board. 

It was a nonprofit industry self-regulatory organization jointly established by numerous game companies, including GAMENOVA, Activision, Bethesda, and Sega, under GAMENOVA's leadership. 1

The organization's purpose was simple: to rate video games according to established standards, helping consumers, especially parents buying games for their children understand whether a particular title was suitable for them. 

And according to the ESRB's rating standards, GAMENOVA's new title, Quake, was an adult-oriented game rated 17+. 

What the hell? That was way too exciting, wasn't it? 

For this new title, GAMENOVA had, unusually, conducted no large-scale publicity campaign at all. It had merely mentioned that the game was the spiritual successor to DOOM and Wolfenstein 3D. 

Yet that alone had been enough to get players excited. After all, who wouldn't want to see how the successor to a landmark title would perform? 

If GAMENOVA could maintain its usual standards while comprehensively optimizing the game around higher-capacity media, then naturally, that would be a wonderful thing. 

And if it went completely off the rails and ruined the reputation of the series, then the people who lived for the spectacle, and the haters who had been lying in wait all this time would have plenty to talk about. 

"Hmm how strange. Why isn't there a review section?" 

Emma quickly flipped through the Electronic Games magazine in her hands, yet she did not see a review of this title in the new releases section. 

After thinking about it, she squeezed over to a magazine stand with fewer people nearby and bought a copy of Mean Machines. But there was likewise no review of the new title in it. 

It was as though all these media outlets had received some message and were keeping silent. Instead, this further stimulated the players' curiosity. 

Emma stared at the [MATURE (17+)] label, which looked almost like a warning, and felt her heartbeat involuntarily quicken. 

But honestly, the sheer frequency with which new titles were being released had begun to make her somewhat uneasy. 

How long had it even been since DOOM was released? 

It had taken GAMENOVA nearly two years to transform the series from what it had been during the Wolfenstein era into what it became with DOOM. 6

And now, after such a short interval, they had already released another sequel? Honestly, that kind of production capacity was a little frightening. 

Compared with newcomers like Emma, who had only entered the scene during the NovaBox era, the implications were even more unsettling for those who had been in the gaming industry for years. 

It gave them a faint sense of PTSD. 

Acquire developers en masse, launch their own platform, and then rapidly iterate on new titles. 

Why did this path look so familiar? Had GAMENOVA finally stabilized their foundation and decided to follow the Atari model? 

In fact, looking at the games released by other companies that had adopted the pseudo-3D technology pioneered by Wolfenstein 3D, the answer was not difficult to see. 

If GAMENOVA really went all out, repeatedly reskinning the same framework and churning out large numbers of new titles, there was a good chance that every single one of them could become a blockbuster. 

The problem was that this would inevitably disappoint players who were eagerly anticipating something new. 

If GAMENOVA was no longer the company that could continually introduce new ideas, forever producing milestone-level, era-defining works, then would GAMENOVA still be GAMENOVA? 

Such thoughts did not even last for an hour before quickly dissipating. Just one hour after Quake officially went on sale, the entire gaming industry suddenly fell collectively silent. 

... 

Emma sat alone in front of the television. Her son, Vincent, had been taken by his grandfather to visit a museum, giving her the perfect opportunity to play a title that absolutely could not be allowed to fall into his hands. 

She quietly stared at the pool of lava on the screen, bubbles constantly gurgling beneath its surface, while demons hung nailed to the brick walls on either side. 

The scorching glow of the lava illuminated the walls, bathing the entire scene in a dazzling, flickering radiance. At the very bottom center of the screen, just as in its two predecessors, the dark muzzle of a gun protruded into view. 

Plop. 

A fireball suddenly shot out of the lava, tracing a graceful arc through the air before plunging back into the pool. Emma instinctively jumped along with it. 

'What a strange sensation.' It was the first time she had ever seen such a realistic jump in a video game. 

The entire motion, from rising to falling, was no longer the stiff, linear movement at a fixed speed that games had used in the past. Instead, it seemed to follow genuine acceleration and momentum. Just like the fireball tracing that perfect arc. 

Emma could feel it; this world seemed to be alive, it felt real. The realism of these physical effects had even surpassed what she had once seen in Double Dribble. 

"I'm really stupid." Emma lifted her head, her eyes unfocused after staring at the screen for so long. "I only knew that GAMENOVA had released DOOM not long ago, so I didn't realize that was merely their technological proof of concept." 

"I actually let my thinking get influenced by those idiots who didn't believe in GAMENOVA. I knew it... they would never disappoint me." Her voice faltered as, for a moment, she struggled to get the words out. 

Scenes like this were simultaneously unfolding all across the country at that very moment. Even the haters who had been racking their brains to find something to criticize had fallen completely silent after witnessing those genuine 3D visuals. 

This was not how you played a losing hand. Jumping out now to badmouth them would be no different from charging headfirst into a concrete wall. 

Even those who had been completely oblivious to what was happening now understood one thing. In that moment, gaming history changed forever. A new chapter had begun, and everyone watching knew they were witnessing something important. 

----------------------- 

Guys, don't forget to leave your comments and reviews, also more extra chapters if we reach 300 stones. 

And if you want some extra chapters, be sure to check out my Patron page, it's 30 chapters ahead of webnovel and the chapters are also long so you can check it out. 

p at reon . com / NovaScribe 

(Just remove all spaces and then search)