America: The Godfather of Game Development

Chapter 319 The Highest Mountain in a Side-Scrolling Clearance Game! (3k)

"this----"

Hayao Nakayama's eyes were instantly drawn to the unbelievably beautiful chip, and he couldn't look away for a second. "What is this?!"

"A CPU, and the best gaming CPU in the world."

97

Lin Lixin's lips curled up in a smile.

He was confident enough to say that.

Even the most advanced lab-grade CPUs currently on the market might not outperform it in video games.

Its dedicated architecture, positioned between RISC and CISC, allows it to achieve frequencies far exceeding those of CISC while maintaining high performance.

80MHz, what does that mean?

Perhaps for future processors that will run at several GHz, this frequency is nothing at all.

However, with current 8-bit processors generally operating at a few MHz and 16-bit processors typically at around ten or twenty MHz, 80 MHz would be utterly devastating.

According to laboratory data, DOOM, GAMENOVA's most representative open-source 3D project, can run smoothly at least 24 frames per second using only a 25MHz 32-bit processor.

In comparison, the Intel fifth-generation microprocessor, which was not released until the end of 92, was the legendary Pentium in the CPU world.

Its clock speed is only 66MHz.

It's no exaggeration to say that this tiny gadget, no bigger than the palm of your hand, already boasts performance that even the most advanced arcade machines on the market can't match.

Of course, such terrifying performance is not absolutely perfect.

Its drawbacks are equally obvious.

The biggest problem is that because some of the instruction sets have been simplified, this thing cannot even be used as a regular CPU.

Aside from running games, it can't do much else.

At the same time, due to the transistor density and the latest 0.5-micron-level process, its cost is naturally not the same as before.

It cannot compare to a 16-bit processor.

It has many shortcomings, but fortunately, its strengths are extremely strong.

"The world's best processor —"

Hayao Nakayama stared in shock at the tiny object in the box, only then realizing just how high-level something he was looking at really was.

This is a top-of-the-line product at the forefront of global semiconductor technology!

Recalling Lin Lixin's words, Nakayama Hayao's gaze turned serious.

"President Lin means—to modify the Genesis into—a fifth-generation machine?!"

The fifth generation, naturally, is the legendary 32-bit machine.

16-bit systems are only just becoming common now; this is something we wouldn't even dare to dream of.

"No, no, no————"

Lin Lixin waved his hand, "That's impossible, President Zhongshan."

Genesis lost to SFC not only because of its game lineup, but also because of an even more fatal problem.

High cost!

Because it uses SDRAM and Nova Radeon graphics chips, this thing is extremely expensive to manufacture, and if there were no tariffs, it would be comparable to the Nova Xeno.

In contrast, the SFC completely abandoned the idea of ​​a large hardware system and simply made a standard 16-bit machine with only two graphics coprocessors of average quality.

In terms of cost control, SFC has indeed won by a large margin.

This is the opposite of what happened in history.

"If you upgrade to the more expensive ATHENA processor, you can expect Genesis to sell for arcade prices."

They cost a few hundred or even a thousand yuan each; that price could get you several Pac-Man or Space Invaders consoles on the secondhand market.

The.

People must be crazy to buy something like this.

"So, what does President Lin mean—?"

Hayao Nakayama frowned slightly.

If it wasn't 32-bit, then why was Lin Lixin showing this to himself?

Arcade?

However, Sega is undoubtedly the dominant player in the arcade market, so there is no need for such an aggressive war.

"Does President Nakayama still remember this thing?"

Lin Lixin pulled out a white game console that was less than two spans long from the cabinet.

This is PC-Engine, also known as the legendary FC killer.

"PC-E? What happened to it again? Oh————"

Nakayama Hayao suddenly raised an eyebrow, already having a guess about Lin Lixin's plan.

The PC-E is a very peculiar machine.

It is neither a fourth-generation 16-bit machine nor a third-generation 8-bit machine.

Instead, it's a machine somewhere in between—a near-16-bit machine.

Except for the graphics chip, which is 16-bit, the rest of the components are designed according to the 8-bit specification.

"It seems President Hayao Nakayama doesn't really grasp the significance of our 'world's strongest'?"

Lin Lixin laughed heartily.

That's understandable; the parameters of this thing are just too astonishing. It's really hard for anyone who isn't a professional in this field to imagine them.

"Let me put it this way: even if we remove all the graphics chip, audio chip, coprocessor, and keep only an ATHENA chip and a little bit of memory, it can still crush all the game consoles of this era."

Okay, that might be a bit too absolute. Without Nova Radeon, at least in terms of 3D performance, it is still quite weak.

After all, Nova Radeon's real strength lies in using the OpenGL graphics library to achieve hardware acceleration and ultra-efficient 3D rendering.

This is an advantage that ATHENA does not possess, not even with its bit width that is a generation ahead.

"Ahem, at least in the realm of 2D games, there is nothing in this world that can defeat it."

mad!

That's outrageous!

But it is an indisputable fact.

Hayao Nakayama blinked, having fully realized what was happening. His expression turned slightly red, as if he could already foresee the scene of him ruthlessly stepping on his mortal enemy, Ren Yi.

But after the initial excitement, a lingering worry also arose.

"Remove all the coprocessors? Wouldn't that be a bit too extreme?"

Nakayama Hayao didn't know exactly how much this thing would cost, but according to Lin Lixin, even with import and export tariffs, it was still within an acceptable range.

Based on this, cost control doesn't necessarily have to be taken to extremes.

Retaining some coprocessors might even improve the game.

"No."

Lin Lixin shook his head, dismissing his idea without hesitation. "The simpler, the better. This will be a crucial step in our crushing of Nintendo."

"To defeat Nintendo, hardware alone is meaningless."

He grinned. "Anyway, once our near-32-bit machine," Genesis-NEO, is launched, you'll know everything."

Lin Lixin stood up, looking at the brand-new Super Famicom that Xiaozhi had recently acquired in the corner. "After getting used to head-on battles, it's not bad to fight in proxy battles once in a while."

Sega is an excellent vessel to accommodate GAMENOVA's overly advanced ideas that are difficult to bring to the buyer's market.

Genesis—NEO is such a product.

This would allow Gamenova to verify the feasibility of 32-bit architecture and test its performance in advance, while also putting continued pressure on Nintendo.

At the same time, Sega's extensive arcade technology could also be fed back into Gamenova.

"Now, please forgive my impoliteness, I cannot stay any longer, I need to prepare a launch title for Genesis-NEO."

Unfortunately, it simply couldn't be achieved in the 16-bit era.

Because its hardware requirements are quite different from other works.

It doesn't require strong rendering capabilities, but it has extremely high frequency requirements.

GAMENOVA, Development Department.

"Snapped!"

"Guys, war council!"

Lin Lixin snapped his fingers, drawing everyone's attention.

It's finally time for the whole army to launch an attack again.

"This time we're making a 2D side-scrolling game!"

Everyone entered the conference room and watched as Lin Lixin reached out and wrote a word on the whiteboard.

【METAL (alloy)】

Hideo Kojima's pupils contracted sharply, and his breath even stopped for a moment.

METAL? METAL what? Could it be—

Is there going to be a sequel to Metal Gear Solid?!

This is Hideo Kojima's favorite game nova project, and he has even written to Li-Hsin Lin multiple times hoping to start developing a sequel as soon as possible.

However, I've been quite busy with work lately, so this matter has been left unresolved.

Oh well, after all, he was really enjoying the Resident Evil project.

Although I personally prefer spy thrillers and stealth stories like Metal Gear Solid.

Seeing Lin Lixin write the word "METAL" on the whiteboard, he was naturally the most restless.

Heavens above!

My perseverance has paid off! Today has finally come!

Metal Gear is getting a sequel!!!

【SLUG】

"Why?"

Hideo Kojima's cheer, which was practically on the tip of his tongue, suddenly stopped, and he swallowed it back silently.

METALSLUG

Slug means slug or slug.

In certain contexts, it can also refer to a small number of bullets.

"Metal—Slug, alloy—bullet?"

"Yes, it's Metal Slug!"

Lin Lixin laughed heartily.

The highest mountain in a 2D side-scrolling beat 'em up action shooting game.

Even the original Metal Slug was a game based on SNK's arcade flagship arcade board.

Two 14MHz 16-bit Motorola CPUs, plus a Z80A coprocessor, and a full 7MB of RAM.

NovaXeno simply can't achieve this configuration.

Of course, graphics performance is a different matter.

Now that they have ATHENA, and even a supporting experimental platform, Lin Lixin's original plan to launch it on the arcade platform can be modified.

This thing is more than enough to be used as a support device for Genesis-NEO.

"Simply put, this is a high-speed 32-bit version of Contra."

Well, in a sense, this really is a sequel.

However, it is not the Metal Gear sequel that Hideo Kojima longed for, but a spiritual successor to Contra.

"We don't need 3D, or even high-resolution textures. We'll just go for a 2D pixel art style, cartoonish and exaggerated!"

Japanese people really like this kind of thing.

Forget about Japan, this thing could even be exported and then resold domestically, packaged by Sega as an arcade machine and shipped back to the North American market, making another fortune.

Lin Lixin was calculating the performance range of ATHENA.

They could even incorporate some of the best mechanics from the Metal Gear sequels.

This is a work that managed to survive in 96, an era when the 3D wave swept the world, by relying solely on 2D.

It remained popular even after the turn of the millennium, becoming a top-selling web-based game platform imbued with the mystical power of the East.