"For a company that hasn't even released its first console, it sure is hyping its portable alternatives," Adrien Harris mumbled as he watched the commercial again. It's like a throwback to the commercials of the 80s, mainly those from the Big Two, Nintendo and SEGA, due to how over the top this was. But the prototypes and demonstrations of the mysterious OmniDrive System did show it to be quite high-quality, so... Adrien ultimately did take the risk of pre-ordering it. Worst case scenario, the ad-revenue from reviewing this and potentially bashing it would give him back all of the money.
The GameGo website shared the same strange nostalgia bait the commercial had. With a large dark border on the sides of the screen, basic text and all kinds of cover artwork that felt ripped from all kinds of eras. From platformers with gridded backgrounds and off model characters, to arcade-style shooters featuring stuff that isn't even included, to puzzle games with psychedelic and nonsensical shapes and colors, to fantasy epics with pictures of costumed actors and paintings of warriors and knights...
However, Adrien soon went to move his cursor to the menu and search for the actual console he was looking for. And there it was in the middle of the screen, the OmniBoy, ready for pre-ordering with the selection of one free game as part of the offer. An entire video game, albeit from OmniDrive itself.
After picking for a nice cool silver scheme, Adrien went to search through the catalogue. Plenty of titles flew past his eyes, from dozens of BeastMon games hopefully homaging Pokémon, to Tetris, then an odd selection of sequels and spin-offs to... Their original console titles, with games like MII: Return of Ellen, to The Last Stories Adventure, and Linked Legends: Historic Awakenings. But as he scrolled down further, more skeptical than before, his eyes suddenly registered a few new titles. From some about a wyrm and coyote encountering each other from what also seemed to be two OmniDrive 'original' titles, to some that felt like they were tie-ins for toys and books that were made up solely for the OmniDrive and OmniBoy's libraries, to a few more titles with greater graphics, more advanced technology such as touchscreens, until suddenly he paused.
Cybeast Fighting Web
The cover wasn't too remarkable, it was of a child wearing a jacket, vest and bandana smiling in front of some kind of beastial robot; partially covered in armor and with flickering horns and textured latex. The background was of a weird techno-texture, wires and circuits all around.
He immediately went to read the description and check out some screenshots.
"...This isn't just a Battle Network rip-off, this seems to be a genuine- Homage! Making Viruses into something more akin to Pokémon is an amazing switch-up of the basic concept, and them damaging the smartdevice is a perfect way of limiting their use- And they're like Cyberelves too- That can enhance the Cybeast! And there's different forms too for your Cybeast, a sliding scale between being an uptight Cybernetic Defender of the Web or a Hacker that only hacks into criminal's computers- Feared by all and presumably seen as just one step away from becoming the ultimate virus... Although, why does it imply there will be Starforce-like aliens at the end?" Adrien soon went to select this title to be bundled with the OmniBoy, and without a second thought, he bought it.
-
Weeks Later...
-
He had checked the calendar as the days counted down until launch, having spent most of his time at work, writing and recording some videos. But with hype, he managed to take a vacation day to stay home for the entirety of this day, ready to begin recording his first experience of turning this thing on and seeing what Cybeast really had in store. And soon enough, in the afternoon, he heard the delivery arrive with a decent, tough 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘬.
While it was a bit weird for there to be no one out there in the apartment, he didn't pay too much mind to it as he picked up the package. Soon putting it down on the recording table and after making sure both cameras were on, he began to get to work.
"Hello there viewers! I am Adrien of Pause-Ain't-Retro, and we are unboxing the brand new OmniBoy! I've purchased this directly from GameGo's website, never having gotten my hands on the OmniDrive or OmniBoy systems before now! So- Let's get to checking out the boxes here." Soon he took out the OmniBoy's box, and paused momentarily at the lack of a Cybeast box. Probably nothing to worry about though. "As you can see here, while the colors are inverted, the OmniBoy's box has a similar appearance to the Gameboy's cover in Japan, with a white outline of the device. Although looking in from it, the actual machine, judging from the cover, is more akin to a DS or a Steam Deck that folds, instead of a Gameboy or something from Tiger Electronics." With extreme caution, he brought a knife over to the box and began to cautiously slice open the tape sealing it, "And now to see the actual device in action." He said before pulling out the console... And then finding the game slip out.
"And it seems like Cybeast was included within the console's packaging, how nifty is that?" Adrien remarked, before going to observe the casing. It was the same as it on the website, with a shape more akin to how a DS's cartridge was held, but as he removed the tape and cracked it open, it contained an odd accessory. It was vaguely akin to a USB, of all things, but somehow felt... Different.
"...I guess we plug this in, right under... Here!" And with a surprising beep, the stick lit up and appeared to be connected. "And now to turn this on..."
Taking a breath, he closed his eyes and went to focus on searching for the On button. Soon clicking it and gritting his teeth as the screen began to light up. Brightening into a harsh pale light, and even as the console began to shake, Adrien simply focused on when the logo of the device would appear.
And right after the outline began to be just barely visible...
Everything went black with a horrible explosion.