Chapter 8
It was May 1, 1995.
Everyone had gathered in the small office of Nova Tech. The atmosphere was full of excitement because today they were finally testing the Nova Handheld, the device they had been working on for many months.
Employees were discussing in low voices about the device and what they should do next.
At that moment the door opened.
Ryan entered the room with his friends Rachel, Chandler, and Raj. Behind them was Ryan's father Rajesh Giri, who was acting as the company's legal adviser.
When Ryan entered the room everyone became quiet.
The meeting officially started.
Ryan sat at the front of the table and looked at the team.
"First," he said, "tell me about the testing results. Did anyone find any bugs?"
One of the programmers raised his hand.
"There are some software issues," he said.
He explained that sometimes the game might crash and occasionally the player character could disappear from the screen because of a coding problem.
Another programmer said the bugs were small and could easily be fixed.
Ryan nodded and wrote down the notes.
"Anything else?"
One of the hardware engineers spoke next.
"There are no major problems with the handheld device."
"But there is another issue."
Ryan looked at him.
"What is it?"
The engineer said,
"Right now the Nova Handheld only has one game — Pokémon."
"If we want people to buy the device, we need more games."
Everyone in the room nodded.
At that moment Raj suddenly spoke.
"Well… I have an idea."
Everyone looked at him.
"In the Pokémon manga," Raj said, "trainers can trade Pokémon with each other."
"What if players could exchange Pokémon between two handheld devices?"
Ryan's eyes lit up.
That was actually a great idea.
"We can use a connection cable," Ryan said.
"Two Nova Handhelds can connect with a wire and players can trade or battle Pokémon."
The engineers quickly began discussing how to implement it.
Ryan then stood up and wrote several game ideas on the board.
"If we want the console to succeed, we need more games."
The games he suggested were simple but fun.
• Block Puzzle – a puzzle game where players arrange falling blocks
• Space Fighter – a simple space shooting game
• Adventure Jump – a platform jumping game
• Farm Valley – a small farming simulation game
• Snake Run – a survival game where the snake grows longer
These games were simple enough to run on the Nova Handheld hardware.
The programmers began discussing how to develop them.
As for the hardware, there was only one change needed.
They would add a link port so two devices could connect with a cable.
But the biggest problem they faced was production.
Nova Tech did not have a factory to manufacture thousands of handheld devices or game cartridges.
Ryan turned to his father.
"Dad, can we outsource the production?"
Rajesh nodded.
"That shouldn't be a problem."
Because of his work as a lawyer for investment firms, he had many business connections.
"I'll find a company that can manufacture the Nova Handheld and the cartridges."
Ryan smiled.
"Then let's do that."
With that decision made, the meeting finally ended.
After the employees left, Ryan invited his friends to try the Pokémon game.
Rachel, Chandler, and Raj had helped with ideas but had never actually played the game.
Raj was the first to try it.
"This is really fun," he said while controlling the character.
Chandler laughed.
"If this becomes famous, remember who gave you the trading idea."
Rachel sat beside Ryan watching the screen.
For a moment neither of them said anything.
They were both reluctant to leave.
But soon evening arrived and everyone had to go home.
Ryan watched as Rachel walked away with the others.
The day slowly came to an end.
But Ryan knew something important.
The Nova Handheld might soon become the most important product Nova Tech had ever created.
And this was only the beginning.