Rows of identical test benches with screens and capture hardware
The test floorLEAD · PLATE 1

Forty identical test stations

Compliance testing is a floor of identical rigs running scripted passes, and it is the least visible part of shipping.

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THE SIGNATURE

The same box, understood better each year.

A specification is frozen for the life of a generation, so a studio shipping in year six is working the machine a launch title worked — with six more years of knowing how. Why late-generation titles look impossible.

Sheet 2 · Getting a yes Four pieces →
A meeting room with a long table and a projector, no branding
Plate 2
02

The rooms where it gets decided

Certification is a documented checklist a submission must pass, and it exists because an open cartridge market once flooded shelves with unsellable stock.

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Also in this section

What 1983 actually broke

The North American collapse was a distribution failure, and the platform-holder lock that followed was the direct answer to it.

Four more worth the time

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