Chapter 10

"Xian Shao, you're here!"

As Li Xuan stepped into the game room, a lackey sitting behind the cash register immediately stood up and greeted him with a smile.

Li Xuan took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, pulled one out, and tossed it to the lackey: "Is Mr. Cao not here?"

In Cantonese, "Mr." is often abbreviated as "Sheng," and Mr. Cao is the owner of this electronic game room, whose name is Cao Mingfa. When Li Xuan first came to this game room, he happened to encounter a game machine with a stuck board. A stuck board means the game suddenly froze on a certain screen and wouldn't move.

The repairman couldn't come for a while, so Li Xuan suggested to Cao Mingfa, who was present, that he be allowed to open the arcade machine's motherboard to take a look. Li Xuan used an oscilloscope he found in the warehouse to first test the CPU, and it turned out to be a CPU issue.

Li Xuan found the problem in less than two minutes, and at the time, the owner Cao Mingfa didn't quite believe it. Later, the repairman specifically hired by the game room reportedly spent half an hour to confirm that it was indeed a CPU issue.

Thus, when Li Xuan came to this game room for the second time, he was promoted from "Xian Zai" to "Xian Shao." The owner specifically instructed the cashiers that he should play for free. Of course, Li Xuan wasn't there just to play games.

In 1978, Taito Corporation released an arcade game called "Space Invaders," which caused a huge sensation worldwide. It was around this time that Hong Kong began importing such large electronic game machines from Japan, leading to the establishment of the first few game arcades.

"Space Invaders" is a shooting game where the player controls a plane to move left and right, firing bullets to eliminate the slowly descending rows of alien monsters on the screen. The graphics are simple and crude, and compared to the popular Street Fighter, King of Fighters, and Romance of the Three Kingdoms games that swept China a decade later, it is far inferior.

However, this game, which Li Xuan found extremely rudimentary, attracted the attention of countless teenagers around the world, from Europe to North America and Asia. Crowds would gather in front of convenience stores and grocery shops.

Compared to the American arcade market, which was mainly concentrated in community convenience stores, grocery shops, gas stations, and movie theaters, Hong Kong's market was concentrated in specialized game arcades.

The main reason for this was the high price of arcade machines. Importing a Space Invaders machine from Namco in Japan cost $2,400, equivalent to over 12,000 Hong Kong dollars. Ordinary toast shop owners were unwilling to spend so much money to import them.

On the contrary, a small number of forward-thinking and risk-taking bosses bought a dozen or more machines at once to open specialized game rooms. These rooms were always packed with customers, and the profits were substantial. Li Xuan believed that with these pioneers, many more would soon follow, driven by envy.

"Hehe, every time Xian Shao comes, there's a free Marlboro!" The cashier, named Ah Liang, said, "Mr. Cao came in the afternoon but has already left!"

"Oh, it doesn't matter if he's not here! Are there any broken computer boards in the warehouse?" Li Xuan asked.

"Yes, two more broke this week. Pugai Wen only fixed one, and the other has a problem with the computer board and needs to be sent back to the factory for repair!"

Pugai Wen is the repairman hired by the game room, who can only fix some simpler circuit issues.

"Alright, I'll go check the warehouse first! Later, Brother Qiang from the Qishui Hall will come to talk to me. When he arrives, call me!" Li Xuan informed Ah Liang about his meeting with Daba Qiang.

Li Xuan and his brother had just discussed the plan, and Li Ke personally went to invite the boss, while he came to this game room first. As for why he chose to discuss business in such a noisy game room, Li Xuan had his reasons. Being young, he was easily underestimated, and he needed to demonstrate his professional skills. Dismantling an arcade machine in front of the boss Daba Qiang to explain the issues would be more convincing than just talking.

"Um, which Brother Qiang? Daba Qiang?" Ah Liang was also a member of the Qishui Hall. Cao Mingfa's game room was managed by a Four-Niner from the Hean Hall, nicknamed "Mad Dog," and Ah Liang was one of Mad Dog's subordinates.

Speaking of the nicknames given to Hong Kong triad members, they were quite vulgar, like "Mad Dog," "Puzai Li," "Da Fei," and "Koujiao Zai," with few being elegant.

"Besides Daba Qiang, has your Qishui Hall produced any other Brother Qiang recently?"

Daba Qiang was one of the most aggressive and prominent figures among the new generation of the Hean Hall in recent years. Two years ago, he was just a Four-Niner with a few subordinates. Later, to rise in the ranks, the triad gave him a chance to prove himself. He was assigned two nightclubs in Yau Ma Tei that had been encroached upon by other factions, but no additional manpower was provided. He had to fight for them on his own.

Daba Qiang led his few subordinates to fight off a group of troublemakers and reclaimed the management rights of the two nightclubs. Li Xuan's brother Li Ke was one of the subordinates who followed Daba Qiang that night. Li Ke received a deep cut on his right arm, requiring over twenty stitches and half a year of recovery.

Li Xuan's father, Li Haichuan, strongly opposed his eldest son's involvement in the triad and threatened to sever their relationship. Li Ke had no choice but to ask the boss to assign him to manage a video hall. Although the profits from a video hall were far less than those from a nightclub, the risk of major disturbances and the need for violence were also much lower.

Later, the Heluo Hall expanded into Tsim Sha Tsui, and Daba Qiang led the charge to establish a presence there. It was said that he was unbeatable in Tsim Sha Tsui, having learned Muay Thai. He established a formidable reputation in West Kowloon, securing a foothold for the Heluo Hall in the heart of Hong Kong's nightlife. After that, the Heluo Hall's boss personally promoted him to the rank of Double Flower Red Pole.

Despite his aggressive and prominent nature, Daba Qiang had a good reputation within the triad for being fair and righteous, and his subordinates were very loyal. It was because of his good reputation that Li Xuan dared to approach him through his brother to collaborate on arcade machines.

The warehouse was small, about seven or eight square meters. In the corner, three arcade machine cabinets were placed, with the screens removed from two of them. Under the incandescent light, there was a large rectangular workbench cluttered with switches, hand cranks, resistors, and other components.

Next to the workbench was a game machine with the cover removed. This was likely the one that Ah Liang mentioned Pugai Wen couldn't fix. Li Xuan pulled the motherboard out of the socket and began testing it with various instruments.

The main difference between an arcade machine motherboard and a regular computer motherboard is the rows of neatly arranged chips. Besides a few processor chips (CPUs), most are DRAM storage chips. The more sophisticated the game, the more storage chips are needed.

Li Xuan checked the chip numbers; these storage chips were mostly Intel 6116 and 6264 chips, with storage capacities of 2KB and 8KB, respectively. In 1979, Intel was primarily a semiconductor company focusing on DRAM, SRAM, and ROM, and CPUs were not its main business due to low market demand.

Later, with the intense competition from Japanese semiconductor companies, the profit margins on storage chips decreased. The introduction of IBM's PC, which used Intel's 8088 processor, sparked the personal computer revolution. Seizing this opportunity, Intel shifted its focus to the CPU market in 1983, leading to the development of the 286, 386, Pentium, Celeron, and Core series of CPUs.

In no time, Li Xuan had identified the problem with the machine. Two of the 6264 chips in the row had likely burned out due to insufficient cooling. These storage chips contained game data, and if one was faulty, it would affect the entire machine's operation.

Game companies strictly controlled the components to prevent piracy. In well-established markets like Japan and the United States, this work would be handled by distributors. However, since arcade machines were new in Hong Kong, most were directly imported from Japan, and repairs required a trip back to Japan, which was both troublesome and time-consuming.

Just as Li Xuan frowned slightly, the door to the small warehouse was pushed open. Li Xuan turned around and saw a man in a dark suit, with a crew cut and a square face, leading the way in, exuding a commanding presence.