November 29th.
The early winter wind swept through Los Angeles, carrying a desolate chill.
David pushed open the glass door of his usual video game store on the corner.
Warm air greeted him as he stepped inside, where a few customers were scattered in a loose line at the checkout counter.
He walked straight to the action-shooter section. His eyes scanned the rows of pristine plastic-wrapped cases before he reached out and grabbed a copy of Contra: Legacy of War for the PlayStation.
He actually had a Sega Jupiter console at home, but today he had deliberately chosen the Sony version. He just wanted to see what kind of a mess this 3D-remake—Konami's highly anticipated attempt to revive its glory in the 32-bit era—would be on a different platform.
After paying, David stuffed the disc into his backpack and stepped back out into the cold wind.
When he got home, he threw off his jacket and sank into the living room sofa.
He turned on the TV and powered up the PlayStation.
As the disc tray slid shut, the low hum of the spinning optical disc filled the quiet living room, sounding like a mechanical beast panting in the dark.
The screen flickered to life, flashing the logos of Konami and their outsource partner, Appaloosa.
Next, a 3D-modeled Bill, the protagonist of Contra, appeared in the center of the screen.
David gripped the controller, his brow furrowing slightly. "The model's detail is a tiny bit better than the E3 demo," he muttered to himself, pushing the analog stick forward. "But only just enough to tell it's actually a person."
The character began to run forward, but David quickly noticed a suffocating problem.
Though the scene ahead was a wide base corridor, the field of vision at the edges of the screen was harshly cut off. The entire game's camera was locked rigidly at a forty-five-degree angle above the character's head, completely immobile.
"Are you fucking kidding me? I can't even see the enemies ahead!" David jammed the analog stick, trying to rotate the camera, but the screen remained dead still.
Just as he was complaining, a stream of red pixelated bullets suddenly flew in from the blind spot at the bottom of the screen.
David didn't even have time to react, let alone see the enemy. On-screen, Bill let out a scream and collapsed, riddled with bullets.
"Shooting from off-screen? From behind? No radar warning, no sound cues, nothing?!" David took a deep breath, fighting the urge to smash his controller, and pressed the respawn button.
Back on his feet, he decided to change tactics.
He tried pressing the jump and crouch buttons to test the evasion mechanics.
As his character stiffly crouched on the floor, the enemy ahead fired. The bullet zipped past the character's head.
Just as David breathed a sigh of relief and made his character stand up, another bullet came hurtling straight at him.
He instinctively tried to jump, but the bizarre, oblique 3D perspective completely threw off his judgment of the Z-axis distance.
The character traced a weightless, unnatural arc in the air like a marionette, then slammed its chest directly into the bullet.
The words GAME OVER slammed onto the center of the screen in a merciless, blood-red font.
"Fuck!" David roared, slamming his controller onto the coffee table.
He grabbed the phone and dialed the Electronic Gaming Monthly office, his fingers striking the keys with startling force.
The line picked up after two rings.
"Editor-in-Chief, it's me. David."
"Judging by your breathing, you've already 'sampled' that piece of Hungarian electronic trash, haven't you?" the Editor-in-Chief's voice crackled through the line, tinged with a hint of schadenfreude.
"I played for half an hour, and it felt like an eternity," David snarled, glaring at the results screen. "I knew something was off during the E3 demo! Konami has no idea how to make a 3D game. Those idiots just took the core logic of a 2D side-scroller and shoved it into a 3D environment! The field of vision is so narrow it's like looking through a straw. You take two steps and get shot in the back. You can't even get past the first level without memorizing the patterns or throwing your life away!"
"How's the feedback from the retail side?" the Editor-in-Chief pressed.
"I saw a few people buy it when I walked past the store earlier, but guess what? No one's even talking about it!" David sneered. "Everyone's excitedly chatting about Silicon Valley Online's Dungeons & Dragons Online. Nobody wants to mention this game. For veteran players, it's too embarrassing—a complete desecration of their childhood memories."
"Good. The emotion is raw. Write a review and have it on my desk by the end of the day," the Editor-in-Chief said, hanging up the phone decisively.
Meanwhile, at the Sega Headquarters Building in Tokyo.
Oguchi Hisao, holding a thick sales report and a compilation of global media reviews, knocked softly on the door of Takuya Nakayama's office.
"Managing Director, Konami's Contra: Legacy of War has officially launched," Oguchi Hisao said, walking to the desk and respectfully handing over the documents. "The first wave of media scores from North America has been lifted. The only way to describe it is 'a complete disaster.'"
Takuya Nakayama leaned back in his executive chair, took the documents, and flipped through them with feigned indifference.
"Just as I expected." A faint, mocking smile touched Takuya Nakayama's lips. "What do you expect when you outsource your flagship IP to some low-cost Eastern European sweatshop? They can't even handle polygons properly."
"It's not just a lack of technical skill," Oguchi Hisao added, pointing to a review from a major North American outlet. "The review says they have zero experience developing a 3D game perspective. The draw distance is abysmal, and the Z-axis bullet trajectory is a complete mess. Players are reporting that it feels awkward to play—like walking through a hail of bullets while blindfolded."
Takuya tossed the files back onto the desk and took a sip of his coffee.
"They were too conservative, and too greedy," Takuya remarked sharply. "They wanted the new 3D era's profits without letting go of their old 2D control schemes. The result is this Frankenstein's monster of a game. When the tide of a new era comes crashing in, you either evolve completely or you drown."
Oguchi Hisao looked at the young Managing Director before him, a wave of awe and respect washing over him.
He recalled this time last year, when Takuya Nakayama had defied all opposition, insisting on providing Tecmo with the most advanced Model 2 board. He had also shown immense sincerity in bringing Dead or Alive into Sega's arcade lineup.
At the time, some within the company still felt the game was too risqué, unfit for a more mainstream audience.
But look at it now.
While the game's character designs were certainly eye-catching, its underlying physics and 3D camera work were exceptionally solid.
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