Disclaimer: I don't own Wreck-It Ralph, or any of the characters presented in it
Hello. This is probably not how you expected to begin a tale in the world of Video Games, is it? I'm probably not the video game character you were expecting. I'm not even from a video game. I'm flesh and blood, not code and data. Don't worry though; this isn't a story about me. I'm just a minor character in this tale, Mr. Exposition if you will. I'll explain what I need to, and you might never hear from me again afterwards. You'll never even know my name.
But that isn't important. You see, I'm a member of a secret organisation called 'Nostalgia'. No, not the kind of organisation which plots to take over the world or the type that tries to save it. All you have to do to join is realise one important thing, really; video game characters are real. That might sound silly, but our whole organisation takes it very seriously. Sure, the organisation might not be hugely popular, but what we do is important. We try to save video game characters' lives. We help update and fix game consoles, disks, you name it. And one day, we were brought to the attention of a place you might be familiar with; Litwak's Family Fun Centre and Arcade. But first, a small detour to help explain why.
You see, over the years arcade gaming had changed. The most major change was the addition of the 'Arcade Card', a USB-like device which effectively acted as a save file for your arcade games, telling the Arcade Console where you were up to and what your high score was. This might not seem like much, but it caused some serious changes in arcades. Unlockables could be programmed in. Before you knew it, they began cramming in as much unlockable content as possible. Unlockable stages, unlockable characters, unlockable modes, unlockable skins, unlockable music tracks, unlockable action figures for your virtual bedroom, you name it. Due to the console's size and the fact storage devices were becoming smaller and smaller, arcade games could be packed with enough stuff for hundreds of hours' worth of addictive playing. Arcades boomed in popularity.
In the eyes of our organisation, this was not a good thing. Why? There was a simple reason; imagine what happened to the older consoles not compatible with the Arcade Card. In short, it was horrible. Most were unplugged and thrown out in exchange for the new, popular and Arcade Card compatible games. Very few 'Retro' games were saved. Not many people realised they were effectively killing people of code and data, you see. Some were greedy enough I don't think they would have cared even if they did know, and I bet some did. We had no chance to save them all, or even anything above a small fraction of the amount. It was a huge loss for Nostalgia.
That's where Litwak's came in. Bless the wonderful man. You see, he knew about the lives inside, maybe even if not consciously so. He refused to throw out his wonderful games. He refused to unplug them if he could help it. It was costing him business, a lot of business, but he didn't replace or remove one single 'Retro' Arcade Console. He had the best kind of stubborn compassion I have ever seen. He was a beacon of hope for Nostalgia, even if he had no idea what the organisation was at the time.
Even so, Litwak was getting old. He hadn't been on a vacation in who knows how long. Time was beginning to wear him thin, and at his age he probably was thinking about retiring. Who would he leave the Arcade to? He needed someone to understand his feelings, to understand it wasn't filled with machines but with memories and life. He couldn't trust a random buyer not to put greed before happiness.
That's where we came in. We offered to update the games while keeping the characters alive. We explained what our organisation was for, and we explained we could update the games while keeping the characters inside the consoles alive and with their memories. A harmless update that was better for everyone. I don't know if Litwak agreed that the characters were alive, I regret not asking him, but he agreed to our deal. Litwak went on his first vacation in many, many years, while we began to work.
Litwak was to be gone for a year, and even still it took us eleven months to update everything perfectly. Luckily most games had an updated version, though a few had to be manually updated. Not a fun process, I can tell you. Some games only had minor changes, like Pac-Man's removal of a kill screen, a small selection of unlockable characters and music and achievements. Every game got achievements.
Some, like Fix-It Felix Jr. had more major changes. It updated to include a mode where you played as Wreck-It Ralph, trying to knock Felix down and a two-player to four-player mode, where players could be Wreckers or Fixers. There was a large variety of unlockables. There was unlockable characters, like Fix-It Felix Senior and Q*bert, unlockable costumes, unlockable buildings and unlockable music. You could even change between 8 bit graphics and modern graphics!
Some, like Sugar Rush, got updated to a whole new game. 'Sugar Rush 2; World Prix' was its name. They doubled the characters, added hundreds of unlockable/buildable karts, maybe a hundred tracks, heaps of skins/costumes. The additions went on and on. I would have loved to see the characters' reactions to that new world. Unfortunately, I never got a chance to. We plugged the games in and, tired after so much work, went home. A true shame, but after the work, an idea we thought of with bliss.
What happened after we plugged the games in and set the characters free to explore their games for a month, now that is where a story starts. Farewell, dear reader, for this is where my narration ends. And this is also where this tale really begins.
((And now a word from the author; Hello! This is an idea I've had regarding a way to add some chaos into the Wreck-It Ralph universe. I'm currently not sure where this idea is exactly going, not a good thing for a story, or even if I'll continue it. If you think this idea is good or bad, please send a review to state your opinion. Also, if you have any ideas about what could happen, plot points or anything, feel free to suggest. In either case, thanks for reading a chapter that basically is a semi-thought out idea with no real direct mention of Ralph, Felix, Calhoun or Vanellope and remember to state your opinion if you could spare the time)