Chapter 181: Identifying a motherboard by its factory serial number? That's beyond mere fanaticism...
This Rich Guy Plus was exactly the type Cheng Tian imagined, one who would buy multiple copies of the same collectible.
Although he wasn't sure if it counted as an expansion of the "for viewing, for collecting, for proselytizing" attributes, his warehouse clearly held other original Cadillacs and Dinosaurs motherboards.
It wasn't just collectibles; it also involved some completely damaged items, and some repairable damaged items. He bought all of these without hesitation, then selected the ones that were functional and in good condition to collect or put into arcades, while the rest were locked directly in the warehouse.
Sometimes, when business wasn't going well, or there were small family squabbles that put him in a bad mood, the Rich Guy Boss would go into his warehouse alone and look at the various original arcade machines, motherboard parts, and interchangeable cartridges that he occasionally hired people to clean the dust off of, neatly stacked together. He'd touch here and there, and his restless, unhappy mood would gradually calm down.
This hobby was absolutely the most peculiar in his circle of rich friends, bar none. Those rich guys who were more inclined to buy cars, luxury goods, and chase women could never understand his hobby.
And he never expected his fair-weather friends in those circles to understand his hobby.
Compared to those who got involved in all sorts of messy things and ended up in a public institution, working a sewing machine, the Rich Guy Boss believed his hobby was ten thousand times better!
There was no hobby safer, healthier, or more environmentally friendly than his!
Under normal circumstances, the Rich Guy Boss would never part with his collection, after all, the last thing he lacked was money. Sometimes, the time and effort spent searching for these machines far exceeded their original value.
But Cheng Tian's situation, in his view, was a special case.
Cheng Mouren's love for games was very pure; he just loved to play. He even rented a place nearby just to play, and he didn't have the slightest hint of a shrewd merchant who liked to hoard for profit. This successfully triggered the "proselytizing" attribute in the boss.
After confirming that Cheng Tian truly only wanted an original motherboard for "Cadillacs and Dinosaurs" or "Dino Crisis" and had no additional requirements for its condition, as long as it could run normally, the boss slapped his thigh and declared directly:
"Alright, brother, you'll come with me in a bit. We'll go to the warehouse together to look. If we find one, you can just take it. Consider it us becoming friends.
If we can't find one, I definitely can't give you mine, but I can try to help you get one. If we can't find anyone willing to sell in the country, we'll look next door. However, this will definitely inconvenience friends, and you, brother, will have to bear all the costs over there. How does that sound?"
"Perfectly OK!"
Cheng Tian immediately made an OK gesture.
He never imagined that after already deciding to give up his obsession and just enjoy playing arcade machines for half a month or a month here, he would still have such a turn of events and directly meet the right person!
Even a second of hesitation would be disrespectful to the rich guy's sudden generosity, so Cheng Tian immediately followed the Rich Guy Boss, who came with his own car and driver, to his warehouse.
Cheng Mouren, upon arriving at the warehouse, was no longer a mouse in a rice jar; he was a mouse in a large bowl of Dongpo pork, with rich, fragrant gravy pouring down Cheng Tian's throat, looking almost suffocated with happiness!
More arcade machines than those responsible for earning money and recovering costs in an arcade were quietly arranged in the warehouse, from original LCDs to original CRTs, and then to those uniquely shaped cabinets with electric guitars, drum kits, light guns, and everything in between.
And the original Cadillacs and Dinosaurs motherboard that Cheng Tian longed for should, logically, be placed near the already overflowing motherboard storage racks, indicating that this old guy definitely had a habit of buying multiple copies of the same game.
"Then, I won't be polite, will I?"
Cheng Tian rolled up his sleeves.
"Please."
The rich guy didn't even utter warnings like "be careful," because he could tell that a hardcore enthusiast like Cheng Tian needed no reminders regarding the handling and attitude towards collectibles; his love for these items themselves would make him extremely careful and cautious.
Because motherboards are difficult to stack neatly like console cartridges with their own cases, to be admired like a collection of books, and are generally not light, after selecting the ones in good condition and with more collection value and placing them in his villa specifically for storing games, these extra motherboards did not receive the same level of treatment.
This was quite normal; card players also frame high-value cards, while low-value and numerous duplicates are basically treated as storage.
However, it was fortunate that the rich guy had labeled each motherboard with tape indicating its name; otherwise, Cheng Tian might have faced the extremely difficult task of identifying games based on motherboard serial numbers and manufacturers.
The Rich Guy Boss initially stood by, watching Cheng Tian work, but as he waited, he also got antsy. He wasn't entirely sure if all the stacked motherboards were duplicates, or if there were some rare ones he had inadvertently overlooked before. So, he joined in the search.
As the search deepened, Cheng Tian successfully discovered many motherboards that absolutely could not be displayed in domestic arcades; displaying them would definitely lead to a business suspension.
"Ribbon no Kishi (Ribbon's Eye)!? You have this too!"
Looking at the motherboard with the large "namco" written on it, as well as "MADE IN JAPAN," "GP-13," and other factory serial numbers, Cheng Tian couldn't help but exclaim.
"...Damn, dude, how did you identify the game corresponding to the motherboard just by the factory serial number?"
This time, it was the rich guy's turn to look at Cheng Tian with a strange expression; this clearly exceeded the level of an ordinary fanatic.
"Ribbon no Kishi" (Ribbon's Eye), a Qix-like game released in 1996.
Qix was mentioned before, a game that unsealed hidden bonus images in the background by drawing lines to claim territory. "Ribbon no Kishi" transitioned from 2D to 3D, replacing the unlockable background images with girls rendered in 3D models. The areas players drew lines on became the girls' clothes, and each time an area was framed off, the corresponding fabric would explode, revealing angular skin and body curves like those in the original "Virtua Fighter."
Moreover, this game had an extreme playstyle: if you could capture all areas by drawing only one line, all the fabric on the girl's body would explode at once, leaving only the shy girl in either bold or simple underwear!
...And at the end of each small stage, you could enter a brief browsing mode where players could adjust the camera for a 360-degree, no-dead-angle view of every body detail of the girl whose clothes had been blown off!
But soon, the rich guy's own expression changed from looking at a weirdo to surprise, because this was an unstickered motherboard, meaning it was a rare item that hadn't been added to the collection.
If he hadn't brought Cheng Tian to look for motherboards, this unique "Ribbon no Kishi" would probably have been semi-permanently buried under the mountain of motherboards.
The appearance of "Ribbon no Kishi" seemed to signify a burst of luck; after searching just three more motherboards, Cheng Tian found a battle-damaged motherboard with the large "CAPCOM" logo printed on it.
At the same time, the entry for "Original CPS1 Cadillacs and Dinosaurs Motherboard" on the unsealing conditions for the soul equipment "Mosasaur Dragon Scale Armor," which was placed in Cheng Tian's inventory and followed Cheng Tian from space to the real world, directly changed to 1/1.
Original CPS1 Dino Crisis operational Japanese version battle-damaged motherboard! GET☆DAZE!