Chapter 0
The Origins
It all started when one Terence Alexander Byte, age 18, found a strange medalion that looked like a pixelated video game controller. He took it home and cleaned it off and realized that there was something strange about it. It seemed to glow a bit when it was near Terence's video game consoles, of which there were several from many points in history. From the vintage 1972 Magnavox Odyssey, the first and oldest game system in existence, to the first game system that used cartridge based games, the Fairchild Channel F, to the most popular consoles of the late 70s and early 80s, the Atari 2600, the Mattel Intellivision and the Colecovision, to the dominant game system of the mid to late 1980s, the Nintendo Entertainment System, to the most popular and competitive consoles of the early to mid 1990s, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and the Sega Genesis (including the various add-ons for the Genesis), to the most popular handheld systems, mainly the Gameboy, Gameboy Color, Gameboy Advance, the DS line of systems (3DS included), and the PSP and PS Vita, to the consoles of the mid to late 1990s, including the original Sony Playstation, the Nintendo 64 and the Sega Dreamcast, to the consoles of the 2000s, including the original Xbox, the Nintendo Gamecube, the PS2, the Nintendo Wii, the Xbox 360 and the PS3, to the more modern crop of systems, including the Nintendo Wii U, the Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X, and PS5.
"I wonder who could've left this lying around outside" he wondered. "And why is it glowing around my game systems?"
Terence thought it might've been just the sun glinting off of the medalion, but it wasn't, because he noticed that it didn't glow when he took the medalion away from the game systems. Terence wasn't sure what to think, when suddenly, it happened. The medalion created a pixelated character on Terence's TV screen. He wasn't sure what to think of this, other than make sure he wasn't imagining things. But before he could, the figure spoke.
"Greetings, human." said the pixel being. "My name is Pixel. Called so because of my appearance, which is completely pixels. It is an honor to meet you, for I have waited for someone to find this medallion you wear around your neck for decades."
"Decades?" Terence asked. "Just how many?"
"Well, I believe that it has been at least forty years since someone last wore that medallion." Pixel explained. "Four decades since I was last let out of that thing. But before you ask, no, I'm not a genie, I am a historian and an adventurer. See, my primary duty is to record knowledge of everything that goes down in the pixelverse, or as you humans call it, the video game industry."
Terence was puzzled. How could this little guy be a historian on the video game industry? And how could such a place called "the pixelverse" exist? These were questions that were going through Terence's mind, but if it had anything to do with video games, he was all ears, because as a boy, he loved playing video games. Ever since his father gave him some of the old systems that were given to him as a kid. He fondly remembered playing Super Mario 64 for the first time, and fell in love with the concept of video games right then and there.
"So, you call yourself a historian of the video game industry. But my question is, how were events in the pixelverse shown in the real world?" Terence asked, curiously.
"Well, I think you should reverse that question asn ask how were events in the real world reflected in the pixelverse. Well, I can show you." Pixel said with a smile as he projected an image of the entire history of the pixelverse. "In the beginning, as some historians say, there was order. The pixelverse was created, unknowingly, by humans with the advancement of computer technology at their disposal. But the real story begins in the year 1972. In your world, the Magnaox Odyssey, the first video game console was released, but in the pixelverse, the very first king was crowned. King Odyssius. King Odyssius ruled over the land for 3 years, until the Magnavox company discontinued the Odyssey console in your world in the year 1975. While in our world, King Odyssius fell ill and died. But during those three years, many warriors rallied under King Odyssius as protectors of his highness, until the great Pong War began. What was the great Pong War? Well, in your time, up until the year 1977, many companies released dedicated systems that played just one game, Pong, which originally came out in arcades in 1972 by the company you know as Atari. Between the years 1975 and 1977, the great Pong War raged across the pixelverse, many battles were fought, with the kingdom, or company in your world, of Atari being the most dominant faction. But battles were raged across different planes in the pixelverse as well."
"What do you mean, different planes?" Terence asked.
"Well, as you know, several arcade games were released in your world over the years, and many beings came forth from those games into the pixelverse. All were diverese, many were good and pure hearted, but just as many were evil. But during the great Pong War, many warriors of many kingdoms fought for the title of 'Master of the Pixelverse'. But the battles each landed in a stalemate until one being came and restored order, a warrior who weilded two energy swords from the kingdom of Fairchild. In your world, this was when the Fairchild Channel F was released in the year 1976, the first cartridge based video game system that was also known as the Fairchild Video Entertainment System, or VES. But this warrior would not last long on the throne, for he was toppled by another. He hailed from the kingdom of Atari, and was brought about by the release of the Atari Video Computer System, also known as the VCS, and later known as the Atari 2600."
Terence knew just what Pixel meant, because he had plenty of games for the Atari 2600, inlcuding the likes of Yar's Revenge, Space Invaders, Breakout and many more.
"But there's more to it." Pixel continued. "The great Pong War did indeed end when the Atari Warrior took the title of master of the pixelverse, but the great plague of 1977, also known as the Video Game Crash of 1977 in your world. It was when the store shelves of your world were flooded with game systems that could play Pong made by many different companies, meaning many kingdoms were infected by the plague, which in your world is known as consumer disinterest. But the plague didn't last forever, for when 1978 came around, the Space Invaders arrived."
Terence was familiar with the game known as Space Invaders, due to the fact that his dad owned an arcade that had a whole treasure trove of new and old arcade machines. Among them, classics such as Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Asteroids, Battle Zone, Lunar Lander, Breakout, and many more.
"During the time of the great plague and just a year after the Atari Warrior took the throne, another warrior from the Magnavox kingdom, represented by the Magnavox Odyssey 2 game console, came for the title, it was a battle that was intriguing, to say the least, but the Atari Warrior was the more poweful because of the popularity and sales of the Atari 2600. But more challengers came, including the Intelligent One, a warrior that was from the Kingdom of Mattel, represented by the Intellivision game system, and I'll admit, their battles were the most brutal." Pixel said, remembering the carnage of the battles between those two warriors. "The Atari Warrior soon faced off against a warrior from the kingdom of Coleco, a participating kingdom during the Great Pong War, who was represented by the Colecovision game system. As a result, the Atari Warrior had a greater, more powerful warrior constructed, represented by the Atari 5200 game system, but it had various problems when in battle."
"I know what you mean." Terence interrupted. "The Atari 5200 had issues with the controllers breaking and the RF cable box design. It was a hassle, or at least it was when my dad was my age."
"But over on the coin-op side of things, various characters entered the Pixelverse." Pixel continued. "The likes of Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Popeye, Mario and Luigi and Donkey Kong Jr. came to the Pixelverse and made their homes there. But things began to change, for come 1983, the last great plague befell the Pixelverse."
"Last great plague? 1983?" Terence asked. "You don't mean..."
"I do mean." Pixel said grimly. "The Great Video Game Crash of 1983. Too many warriors fighting for the title, terrible games being released, and the release of possibly the worst video games of all time, the Atari 2600 port of Pac-Man, and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. All of that combined brought a terrible pox upon my homeland. And from 1983 to 1984, we spent what felt like an eternity trying to get ourselves together. The great warriors who fought for the title, they each fell by the wayside because of the plague. Even the mighty Atari Warrior lost his strength. But this paved the way for one being to take the throne. A chuby fellow by the name of Mario."
"You mean Super Mario Brothers, don't you?" Terence asked, clearly knowing what Pixel was talking about.
"Yes." Pixel said with a smile. "When 1985 rolled around, Mario took the throne, represented by the Nintendo Entertainment System. And even though he faced challenges from another warrior from the Atari Kingdom, represented by the Atari 7800, and a young child with big hands named Alex Kidd from the kingdom known as Sega, represented by the Sega Master System, he stood tall with various allies. Pit the Angel, Samus Aran, a young warrior named Link, Mega Man and both Simon and Trevor Belmont among many others. Mario's reign lasted for a long time, but things began to change come near the end of the 1980s and the start of the 1990s. More warriors appeared to take the title and the throne. Among them a hard headed caveman named Bonk, represented by the Turbo Grafx-16, and a speedy blue hedgehog named Sonic, represented by the Sega Genesis. The latter of which managed to take the title. Throughout the 1990s, Mario and Sonic would do battle against each other, but Mario was never able to conquer him. Then, come 1994, someone did. Mario's old enemy from 1981, Donkey Kong."
Terence knew just what game Pixel was referring to, the one and only Donkey Kong Country, a game regarded as one of the best platformers of all time.
"As time went on, starting in 1993, more powerful warriors came in to take down both Mario, then represented by the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and Sonic. Including a warrior from the kingdom of Panasonic, represented by the 3DO. But come 1995, another warrior came forth from the kingdom of Atari, represented by the Atari Jaguar. But that same year saw a more powerful warrior show up, from the kingdom of Sony, represented by the original PlayStation. Mario refused to falter, however, even though Donkey Kong managed to topple Sonic, and he gained the strength to fight the Sony Warrior. But as for Sonic, he and the final Atari Warrior ultimatley lost power because of the lack of interest of both the Sega Saturn, which Sonic was representing, and the Atari Jaguar. It was a battle between Mario, then represented by the N64, and the many soldiers of the Sony Warrior, among them the likes of Cloud Strife, Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon. Sonic desperately tried again at the end of the 1990s to get back into the battle with the Sega Dreamcast, but it was too little too late and Sonic finally bowed out of fighting for the title of Master of the Pixelverse. And just in time, because aside from Mario and the Sony Warrior powering up every year, come the year 2001, another warrior came in to fight from the kingdom of Microsoft, known as Master Chief."
"Quite a bit of history, Pixel." Terence said. "And we're now in my time period."
"Correct." Pixel said. "The battle for the title of Master of the Pixelverse has been contested over and over, but that's become something that's expected whenever a new console is released. The Gamecube, Xbox and PS2 from back then were what Mario, Chief and the Sony Warrior represented, before things shifted to the Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3, and then again to the Wii U, the PS4 and the Xbox One and Series S, and then one time more to the Nintendo Switch, the PS5, and the Xbox Series X, which is a battle that continues today."
"Now that we're at the present, what should I do with this medalion?" Terence asked.
"Well, the only thing that you can do with it is enter video games. Any video games you want." Pixel explained. "Anyone can use this medalion, but its existance of such is a secret to most. Now, granted, no human can enter the Pixelverse, so there is little danger humans can pose to my world."
"But you still want this to be kept secret?" Terence asked.
"Yes." Pixel confirmed. "And if you want proof of the medalion's power, just insert a game into any game system or activate any arcade machine you come across. Your body will remain here, but your mind and attention will be digitized into the game until you actually find yourself in the world the game is based in."
Terence looked around at his MASSIVE game collection, trying to find a game that would be the best pick to test out his new power. He then finally found a game he thought was the PERFECT test for the medalion, X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
"This looks like it's the perfect game to test out." Terence said to himself. "After all, what better way to see if I can REALLY become the character you play as in a game then by playing a game where the main character is a feral beast with adamantium claws?"
Terence powered on the television that his Xbox 360 was connected to, turned on the system itself, opened the disc drive, put the game disc in, and within moment, the medalion began glowing.
"What's going on?" Terence asked.
"Don't worry." Pixel said, reassuringly. "All that's going to happen is your mind and attention are about to be digitized, meaning that you'll look through Wolverine's eyes, feel like you're in his adamantium reinforced body, and control his powers. Are you ready?"
Terence silently nods as part of his mind and attention are digitized. It was quite an experince for the young boy, and it was something he had dreamed about years before. But would the experience be painful? Would every blow he recieves in the game feel real? Would death be death in reality? Those were questions that were zooming through the mind of young Terence Alexander Byte as he entered the world of X-Men Origins: Wolverine. A new adventure was about to begin, a new game, was about to start.