America: The Godfather of Game Development

Chapter 214 I, the racing god, must try something salty today!

At the end of the month, the first batch of Rock Racer games officially went on sale.

Price: $6,500, shocking the world.

Even compared to Sega's OutRun, this thing is still shockingly expensive.

There's nothing we can do about it.

Such a complex and sophisticated hydraulic system and mechanical structure makes it difficult to effectively control costs.

Lockheed only made this price point because they were willing to work with MicroNova for a long time.

But no matter how outrageous its price is.

I still have to buy it.

The fact that its developer, Blizzard Entertainment, is a completely new company with no prior experience is somewhat unsettling.

But the backing of Gamenova is enough to endorse it.

The arcade machines produced by GAMENOVA were practically a money-printing machine.

Detroit, Michigan.

This largest city in Michigan, which faces Windsor, Canada, across the river, has long been known as the "Motor City".

Ford, GM, Chrysler, and other well-known American automobile manufacturers are all located here.

For the automotive industry, Detroit is like Silicon Valley for the semiconductor industry.

Such a unique economic structure has naturally given rise to a whole host of car-themed peripheral cultures.

Formula 1 racing is one of the must-see events here.

In just over a month, an F1 Grand Prix will be held here.

Sena gazed at the clouds in the sky.

"I really hope the weather will be better on the day of the game."

Located near the lakes, Detroit's weather is nothing like California's, which is sunny and cloudless all day long.

Weather is an extremely important factor for a professional race car driver.

He only won one championship in this year's regional competitions.

But Senna had a feeling that he could easily win the next game in Detroit as well.

Because the Lotus team has prepared a race car equipped with top-of-the-line active suspension.

If you run to the limit—

Sena blinked.

Achieving zero stops throughout the entire race is not impossible.

"Never mind, there's no chance to practice today anyway."

There are only so many tracks, and even their wealthy Lotus team couldn't possibly book the entire track for him to practice for such a long time.

Shaking his head, Sena decided to find a place to have dinner first.

However, as he passed by an arcade, he was drawn to the scene in front of it.

A large group of people are busy moving several oversized arcade machines.

It was a cockpit that looked like the driver's seat of a race car.

Steering wheel, pedals, seats, seat belts —

Aside from the lack of roll cages and similar features, the workmanship is actually quite convincing.

Directly in front of you is a huge screen.

"A new machine?"

Senna had seen previous racing simulation games, and Sega's "OUTRUN" was particularly interesting.

Being able to drive a red sports car recklessly on the road in a realistic way is quite a rare experience.

However, that arcade machine was clearly not the same as the "OUTRUN" game I was familiar with.

The license plate alone, which reads "Blizzard GAME NOVA," tells you that this thing definitely doesn't belong to Sega.

"GAMENOVA? They offer that service?"

Sena was a little puzzled. The last time he heard about this company was when they made some kind of record-selling game or something.

After thinking for a moment, he simply took a few quick steps and approached the man who looked like the store manager to strike up a conversation.

"Hey bro, is this a racing simulator?"

"That's right, you have no idea how much effort I put into snatching these four from those crazy lunatics who were fighting tooth and nail. How about it? Want them? — Pfft!"

The store manager was halfway through his sentence when he turned around and saw the person who had come in, and he was stunned.

A celebrity!

"Elton Senna?!"

A phenomenal new addition to the Lotus team! A rising star with exceptional skills!

Sena smiled and steered the conversation back to arcade games.

"Is this thing difficult to install? I was hoping to have a chance to play with it sometime, but looks like it's not meant to be today?"

"Wait! Soon, these are all all-in-one machines that have been tested and are ready to use as soon as they're powered on!"

The store manager quickly offered an explanation, fearing that Sena might just leave.

If we can seize this opportunity to let Senna play a game in our own store, the GG effect will be off the charts.

Let those F1 fans see what kind of masterpiece the video game their favorite drivers play must be.

"Mr. Senna, I would be honored if you could be the first to try it out, it's on me! Oh, by the way, here's a new racing-themed membership card for you."

"Thanks, I'll give it a try then. I'm actually quite curious."

This guy started driving go-karts at age 4 and even drove his dad's car at age 7.

As long as this thing is called a car, no matter if it's electronic or something else, you have to drive it and try it out, regardless of its height.

Once the machines were deployed, a large crowd had already gathered around, completely surrounding the store.

Some of them came to see Gamenova's new game.

The other group, of course, came for Ayrton Senna, the legendary driver.

Can the F1 racing legend continue his myth in the world of video games? That's something to look forward to!

With the manager's signal, Sena got into the cockpit and fastened his seatbelt.

He kicked his legs, his expression changing.

The cabin was surprisingly comfortable, without any of the stiff and cold feeling I had imagined.

The seatbelts and seats are made entirely according to automotive standards, and the distance to the pedals is...

Sena reached under the seat and groped around for a bit, then his eyes lit up.

Click

Ta-la-la-la————

This seat can even be adjusted forward and backward!

After adjusting to a comfortable distance, Sena inserted the membership card given to him by the store manager and followed the instructions to enter his account information.

"Hey, Mr. Sena, this game supports two-player battles, would you like to give it a try?"

"Of course it's fine."

The store manager beamed with delight; this was a great opportunity to build rapport.

He immediately called out to the crowd, "Who wants to be the first to try it out? You can even race against our racing legend, Mr. Ayrton!"

This time, the gunpowder was finally ignited.

In an instant, the entire arcade erupted in chaos.

The shouts and cheers almost drowned out the two of them.

"Mr. Sena, why don't you choose an opponent?"

Sena's gaze swept across the crowd and landed on a boy who looked to be just over ten years old and was being carried high on his father's shoulders.

He shrugged. "Playing games is all about having fun."

"Let this little one come."

The child who was chosen looked excited, but his father, who was carrying him, was clearly even more excited.

"Keep it up, Jimmy!"

Little Jimmy smiled and nodded, then quickly went to another empty cabin and sat down.

With a somewhat surprised look in Sena's eyes, he skillfully adjusted his cockpit, then looked at Sena and grinned foolishly.

Wow, judging by his appearance, he might actually be a veteran?

Detroit truly lives up to its reputation as a major center of the automotive industry.

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