Rebirth of America, this is my time

Chapter 191 New Game Press Conference

Saturday, May 20, 1978, California, sunny.

In the lounge next to the Stanford Auditorium, Ethan was standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling mirror and letting Evelin fiddle with the tie around his neck. Ballmer, who had a shiny head, stood aside and reported his work to the two of them with a palm-sized notepad.

Chairman Johnson, President Jones, our company has invited 187 guests for today's new product launch. As of 8 o'clock last night, 176 guests were confirmed to be present.

Among them, the number of buyers we invited was 150, and the actual number of attendees was 141. There were 37 special guests, and the actual number of attendees was 35.

According to our communication and understanding, the nine buyers who did not arrive were all tied up by their own personal matters. From the current point of view, there are no particularly obvious external factors; and the special guest who did not arrive was Mr. Spielberg. and Mr. Lucas, who were unable to make the trip from London because of new film projects, but they also sent representatives to attend.”

In addition, the Arkansas Attorney General and his wife, who President Jones specially requested, arrived in San Francisco yesterday accompanied by Professor Barbara Babcock. We have sent a vehicle there at six o'clock this morning. We are waiting for contact, and some congressmen and the former governor of California invited by Chairman Johnson’s father also arrived in San Jose yesterday. We wanted to contact him in person, but the other party said no, they will come with your father today.”

Ethan nodded slightly at this news.

Okay, you go out and keep an eye on it first, and we'll come back when we're done.

Ballmer didn't hesitate and left.

In fact, when Evelin said that there was a clear way of playing in the ecological circle of American politicians and funders, Ethan felt like ten thousand bees poured into his head, buzzing there.

First of all, he had never experienced these things in his previous life and had no experience to refer to;

Secondly, the rumors he heard were that they should be well maintained on a daily basis and only used in critical situations;

After these thoughts came to mind, Ethan became distant and distant from those guys.

But who would have known...

Is this wrong?

Isn't it right, at least in America?

In the land of North America, politicians and funders need to establish an exclusive tacit understanding that they have been together in school together, carried guns together, visited prostitutes together, and shared their dirty laundry together?

When these things were placed in front of Ethan, a lot of names suddenly emerged in his mind, such as Weinstein, Epstein, and Barabara. At that moment, he even wanted to refute, saying that a gentler contact than making money together would be ahem...

It's just that he didn't want his tombstone to be engraved with the words died in 1978 at the age of twenty-three, so he swallowed the words that came to his lips.

After leaving Evelyn's office, he asked his personal secretary Ballmer to check the information in Arkansas to see if there was any gold that could be captured in Arkansas.

When Ballmer compiled the collected information into a book and gave it to Ethan to read, Ethan discovered that Arkansas had not helped his business, but it was almost zero.

Because this is a small southern state with primary and secondary industries as its main source of income.

The production of rice, cotton and soybeans here ranks among the top in the country, and the output value of meat and poultry is also very prominent in America. Not only that, among the mined minerals, the production of bauxite ranks first in the country. It is also the country of the United States. One of the few states that produces diamonds.

When these facts were placed in front of Ethan, his instinctive reaction was to mine bauxite and gallium metal, but the next second he put this silly behavior out of his mind. The act of buying land to grow rice for cooking is okay if you talk about it as a joke, but what if you really do it? What's the difference between that and a story told from the beginning of Pangu? Even if he didn't have a smart coral brain, he wouldn't be able to do this.

However, after putting aside the industrial distribution of Arkansas, Ethan still found some business opportunities here. For example, because of its strategic location and low wages, the manufacturing industry here is relatively developed. Many food companies, electrical companies, furniture, plastics, and clothing companies have built production plants here to facilitate better trade. Ships from Florida, New York, Texas.

This situation gave Ethan the idea of building a factory there.

When they officially sell home consoles in the future, they will not be able to produce them in California and then sell them to the East Coast. They will directly ask Michael Blanco Manufacturing Company to build a factory in Arkansas, a central state with a relatively developed transportation industry. It will definitely help them distribute their goods better.

This discovery made Ethan relieved, and when he told Evelyn what he wanted, Evelyn also revealed their needs to Barbara and asked her if it would work, and when Barba After La learned about their ideas, this mage who specializes in law but plays with laws and regulations was immediately happy, because if their needs were expressed in another way, it would be that the Arkansas gubernatorial candidate could attract outside investment and help the local area. People solve their employment problems.

If this kind of thing happened in normal times, it wouldn't even make it into their resume, but in an election year, this is something to write home about! This intention is even more precious than the 200,000 donation, because now no one knows the game of fate! No one knows that they make a net profit of 100 million a year!

When a non-heavy polluting, highly profitable company wants to set up a factory in Arkansas?

Even if they are being anti-intellectual, they cannot vote against it!

Therefore, after confirming that Destiny Games indeed had investment intentions and was preparing to hold this year’s new product launch conference at the end of May, the Arkansas couple wanted to participate.

For such a desire, Ethan naturally agreed. As the link of this relationship, the Archmage also took time off to accompany him. According to the description of the staff who went to pick him up, they even invited the Arkansas media to accompany the report, using staff In other words, these two people have the idea of destroying their opponents with thunder, because if they can win this time, then he will be the youngest governor in the United States.

Since these things can be made public, well-informed guys can know directly. When someone from the Donkey Party came to attend the new product launch conference, the relationship with Thomas also became tense. After some communication, the man who claimed that he liked Video games, the former governor of California who likes Star Wars also decided to come and have a look. After a brief thought, Ethan agreed.

Snapped!

Okay! Done!

With a snap of Evelin's fingers, Ethan retracted his thoughts.

Looking at himself in the mirror, he was a little helpless in his black suit, black trousers and black tie.

No, do you have to make me dress like a waiter in a restaurant?

“This outfit makes me feel like a dollar-an-hour waiter!”

If Ethan remembered correctly, this suit was bought when he went to Los Angeles to attend a concert on the 100th anniversary. It was the bottom of a box, and he didn't even know where Evelin found it.

Today is a new product launch. Of course you have to dress appropriately for such a formal occasion.

Evelin actually thought it was perfect, Don't worry, he's very handsome——

Of course, if I stand with you, others will still look at me.

Because of me, Meion?

Today she wore a white skirt with princess sleeves that made her look very dignified.

After turning around in front of the floor-length mirror to confirm that there were no flaws on her body, Evelin pushed the embarrassed-looking Ethan out, Let's go, let's go out.

It's almost ten o'clock, someone should be here.

Since Evelin was happy, Ethan didn't say anything. Under the push of the girl, the two of them came to the entrance of the auditorium, with a standard smile, ready to say hello to the guests.

So far, Ethan has participated in a total of three new product launches.

The feeling is different every time.

The first press conference was held for Snake. The conference location was still at Atari, and the host was Steve Jobs. He was sitting underneath, very relaxed;

The second time he introduced Pac-Man, because the guests attending the meeting were all his own people, and what they wanted to know about was the application of artificial intelligence, so he spoke very casually at the time;

The third product launch conference was held at Fox, in order to promote Star Wars to the bosses of North American theaters. Because he had confidence in both movies and games, he showed his strength;

And this time...

He was actually a little uneasy.

Because none of the four games launched this time were produced by him.

Not only that, four competitors from Hollywood are also eyeing it.

With the fog ahead and the fierce tiger behind, it would be a lie to say that you are not worried.

Perhaps because he was unsure, this time he specially added an on-site welcome link to himself, trying to use his sincerity performance to fool the merchants into crazy purchases. And as the press conference time approached, one figure after another appeared in front of him.

Ballmer, who had already obtained the participant information and had even met with more than 100 people in the past three days, kept introducing the identities of the guests to Ethan.

Whenever the big bald man used his strong memory to tell the origins of those people, Ethan would smile and stretch out his right hand, shake his hand in a friendly way, and say -

Wow, Mr. or Ms. XX, thank you for your continued support of our destiny game. I am very happy that you can come to the new product launch conference of our destiny game.

To Ethan, it might have been a simple sentence.

But after the guests heard this, they immediately laughed and hugged him.

Many people even showed their joy.

Mr. Jones! You are really too polite!

We all make money under your leadership! Of course we will come to your new product launch conference!

What new products are there this time? Can you tell us in advance? Really! After receiving your invitation call, I was immediately excited! Because I have been looking forward to it for a year!

The reason why these bosses are happy is actually very simple.

When a guy who earns 100 million a year personally greets his partners at the door, his soft figure will make everyone feel a great honor.

This is just like Ethan's previous life, when Bill Gates personally brought products to Microsoft in the 1990s.

No matter how rich you are, as long as you still want to make money, you shouldn't keep looking up at the sky.

Keep smiling.

This allows you to earn more.

Since Ethan had paid for all the guests' food and accommodation and asked the staff to contact them directly, all the guests who came to attend the conference were already in the venue ten minutes before the press conference.

Among them, there are not only the Arkansas Attorney General and his wife who are accompanied by the Archmage, but also the former governor of California brought by Thomas, the former president of Stanford, and the good old man Ralph Bell, and Roy Disney, who may A non-partner of a partner.

When the first two parties arrived, Ethan even shook hands, hugged and took photos with them.

If nothing else goes wrong, those group photos will appear in newspapers within a few days, and he will put the developed photos in his office.

After asking the company's administrative staff and security to guard the door, Ethan and his sister entered the auditorium. After waving to everyone present, they sat down in the center of the left side of the first row.

Yes, unlike in the past, he will no longer be the host of this press conference.

This job was given to Ballmer's bald head.

Gentlemen and ladies! I'm so glad you can come to Destiny Game's 1978 summer new product launch conference! I am Steve Ballmer, the host of this conference.

When the time approached eleven o'clock, the bald man stepped onto the stage to a brisk tune.

As a newcomer who has only been in the company for less than a year, when I received this job, I was completely terrified because I didn't know why the boss would give me such an important task.

But when our boss said that the newcomer and the new product were a good match, I immediately understood that the boss might think that I was not good at my job and wanted to sell me together.

So, all the guests here, if you like me, you can directly make a quotation to me. I will sell myself to you, so that there will be no middlemen to make money from my price difference.

As he spoke, Ballmer winked at the crowd below.

Then there was a big circle in place, as if to show off itself.

Ha ha ha ha--

The humorous words coupled with the funny actions made the people below burst into laughter.

“This guy is really full of energy.”

While Evelin clapped along with the crowd, she tilted her head and whispered in Ethan's ear.

Yes, he is a good at creating atmosphere.

Ethan responded while laughing.

Although Ballmer has only been in Destiny Game for eight months, everyone already knows about his amazing work status. Many times, when Ethan encounters trouble, he will feel the same as normal people. It's tiring, but this bald man can always remain enthusiastic and full of enthusiasm when encountering problems.

That kind of passion is indeed worthy of the title of the most passionate boss in the NBA.

Under his exaggeration, the atmosphere at the scene became very warm. At this time, Ballmer also naturally moved past the opening link and entered the introduction of new products.

The first game introduced is the shooting game Hurricane Rescue.

When the confirmation button was pressed, the game interface instantly enlarged and the crosshair appeared immediately. The smooth simulation of sniper rifle scope made the buyers below widened their eyes.

When you tap the adjustment button, the bullet shoots out instantly, and a cracked circuit effect appears on the arcade screen. The sound is like a gunshot during a race, which made the guests talk.

Wow, the design of this shooting game is so original!

Yes! I have never seen the gameplay of shooting enemies with a sniper rifle before!

Yes! This kind of gameplay seems to have a strong sense of immersion, because previous shooting games used a light point to represent the bullet, and the person who was hit flickered and disappeared. There is no such thing as direct sniping like now!

This game reminds me of the shooting games that Atari made before. Compared with the current Hurricane Rescue, the shooting feeling of Atari's shooting games is simply too weak!

The sudden discussion made Ethan, who was sitting in the front, sigh in relief.

The joy of buyers is his greatest honor.

As for the Atari shooting game that those people mentioned, he actually had an impression, because the shooting game was proposed by Ralph Bell decades ago, and Nolan Bushnell copied Ralph Bell's game. After inspiration, he copied all the latter concepts.

As early as 1974, there were shooting games on the market that were popular, but those games were actually like Contra where you just hold things and shoot them. Not only that, the production of those games is still very rough. An aperture can represent a firearm, and a beam of light can represent a bullet. When the bullet flies out, the game has sound effects, but after the bullet kills, the performance is not obvious.

Although this kind of game performance is still used by manufacturers decades later, with the development of the times, most shooting games have introduced the concept of magnification, with a zoomed-in crosshair setting on the opening screen, such as VR SWAT, and this damn sense of reality is the reason why shooting games are so popular. Ethan really didn't think of all this before, but...

The result is good, right?

Because this thing is in their house now.

After Ballmer followed the previous press conference process and asked the staff to launch twenty arcade machines for the guests to experience for half an hour, the cheers that appeared from time to time and the regrets that emerged one after another also reminded Ethan of what they were doing. As for Atari, as a subsidiary of Warner, there has been no news from them for a long time.

The sudden disappearance made Ethan even wonder if these guys were holding back some big moves.

Of course, their silence may also be related to the excitement of other Hollywood companies.

Because in Hollywood, after two months of disputes, the war between Columbia Pictures and MGM Pictures has finally entered a fierce stage. The boss of MGM has attracted enough shareholder support and is about to hold a temporary shareholder meeting. Congress, calling for a reshuffle of Columbia Pictures' board of directors.

Although their probability of success is not high, many shareholders of Columbia Pictures want to sell their shares because they do not want to fight a company defense battle with casino owners.

This is not a question of whether there is a chance of winning, but that the boss of MGM has a notorious reputation.

It would not be wise to compete with him for the company.

As for the controversial check fraud case?

This thing came suddenly and disappeared very strangely.

Okay, Okay, I know everyone loves Taken, but now please get back to your seats because we are releasing more than one game this time...

Amid Ballmer's call, Destiny Game's new product launch continued, and the release of two games in a row also surprised unprepared buyers.

What? There are games?

Wow - is that cool?

I always thought Destiny only released one game a year!

Yes, they have been doing this for the past three years, but they didn't expect to release multiple models this year? Oh, oh, it seems that the players' wallets may not be safe! Hahahaha——

For buyers, the more new games, the better.

After all, this is what they make money from.

But after they had been looking forward to it, the second game Need for Speed introduced by Ballmer did not receive the same applause as the previous Turmaniac.

This racing game doesn't seem to be doing well.

It's similar to most racing games.

Yes! If I remember correctly, Milohua has a racing game? The gameplay is similar to this game? If players can play such a game at home, then why would they come to our store? Playing games? This arcade machine shouldn’t make much money.”

Such a comment made Ethan, who was sitting in front, purse his lips and nod.

The racing game these people are talking about is actually the Death Race launched by Milowa when he released Apollo last year. The gameplay of that game is much more violent than Need for Speed because players control the car while running all the way. , there will not only be obstacles on the road, but also people.

After hitting an obstacle, the player will lose his life.

But if you bump into someone...

NPCs in the game will die.

Milohua's Apollo sold a lot of copies based on this violent game alone.

Yes, Mirova’s Apollo is still on the market.

In other words, Atari's new generation is also on sale.

Ethan only learned about these contents a few months ago.

After Philips blew the horn of attack, Ethan asked Ballmer to collect the latest situation of Milova and Atari. Then he discovered that although Milova Apollo and Atari New Generation were defeated by Das ·Vida is so shocked that even their mother doesn’t recognize them, but after a year of hard work, their shipments in North America still exceeded 100,000 units.

Although the sales volume is 100,000 units in 12 months, with an average of 8,000 units per month, the sales volume of only 2,000 units per week is not very impressive in a land as large as North America.

But this steady flow of sales has allowed the two companies to regain their confidence.

After a year of hard work, everyone can see that the previous failures of Milova and Atari were because Star Wars was too strong.

When the people of North America only have the Force in their eyes, no individual can beat the game of destiny.

But the problem is that even if Star Wars is going strong, there will be a day when its popularity fades.

As long as Destiny Games does not launch a home console before this and comes up with a big hit product, then Milowa and Atari still have the possibility of turning around.

Perhaps because of this, they worked hard to step down on Ethan.

The emergence of this reason also made Ethan feel helpless, because according to the plan, their console will not be released until May 20 next year at the earliest.

In this case, Philips and Warner Communications still have an advantage.

Although Ethan could speed up research and development, he gave up after thinking again and again.

The reason is the same as what Roy Disney said before. When the core developer of the Destiny game is Evelyn Johnson, it is impossible for God to poach her away.

When the most primitive business war involves the theft of trade secrets and the poaching of R\u0026D personnel, the risk is really too great to recruit people to improve the home console project.

Okay, here's our third game -

Windfall from Heaven!

Ballmer seemed to see that everyone was not optimistic about Need for Speed, so he directly accelerated the speed of his presentation and pushed the game Windfall to the guests.

When the name The Jackpot appeared, the guests who were still uninterested because of Need for Speed all pricked up their ears. After they saw the arcade machine that Ballmer pushed hard on the stage, they were filled with excitement. It was the gold graffiti that made their eyes widen.

The content of this game is very interesting!

That's a gold nugget falling from the sky! You have to reach out and catch it!

Players control a pocket in the game, and what they have to do is to continuously catch the gold falling from the sky while avoiding the threat of stones! The original intention of developing this game is to hope that America, a rich land, can provide more More people bring more wealth! And a better tomorrow!”

Following Ballmer's demonstration, the calm venue suddenly became agitated.

Can I try this out?

You should be able to try this out, right?

Quick, quick, quick! We need to play now!

Urgent words proclaimed their discovery.

They seemed to see a business opportunity in this game.

After the twenty trial machines appeared, more than a hundred people immediately surrounded them.

This scene surprised Ethan.

Because he didn't expect that Windfall could be so popular?

So he stood up and turned around, and then he heard——

Oh! Sxxt! This game's special code is made just for my bar!

MFxxk! My nightclub is also suitable for this thing!

Oh oh oh! I absolutely love this game! Oh no! Those bad gamblers will definitely fall in love with this game! There is nothing more satisfying than picking up money while drinking. !”

Ethan understood.

He returned to his seat with a smile.

The reason why these people like Windfall is because no one can resist getting rich overnight.

When arcades are accommodated at the entrances of various entertainment clubs on the streets, the meaning of the game Windfall is actually very consistent with the luxurious life that the clubs want to show.

Although Windfall cannot bring real wealth to people, using twenty-five cents to dream of an eternal dream...isn't it a very good deal?

If I had to describe it, the nature of this game and the future would be: 'You can make money by downloading the fast version of something', 'You can make money by cutting a knife', 'You can make money by walking', 'You can make money by breathing', 'As long as you give it to me' Traffic, you can make money' propaganda is very similar.

It's really...

This development was somewhat beyond Ethan's expectations.

The bustle at the scene also made the supposedly serious auditorium feel a little more like a wet market.

Such a situation made Ethan glance at the VIP seats on the right.

When he discovered that the reporter brought by Arkansas seemed to be taking a wide-angle shot of the former governor communicating with people there, the corners of his mouth instinctively raised into a smile.

What else did you think of? You smiled so happily?

Evelin, who caught the change in expression, came closer.

Ethan didn't hide anything. He leaned over and whispered softly, I'm thinking about what might happen in Arkansas in the next few days. News about 'The Attorney General is going to California and Destiny Games will build a factory in the future.' We may also see news in California in the next few days. If you read the news headline, 'Former governor cares about people and has fun with them at Stanford,' in those articles, they will probably say, 'Our young people are using video games to practice their reflexes and eye-hand coordination. These skills It will make them more competitive in various fields in the future. It is just a compliment, after all, these things are beneficial to them...

‘…’ This kind of teasing made Evelin’s face darken.

If you can't speak, then shut your mouth! She glared at Ethan.

Ethan, on the other hand, twisted around happily and made a face, A little bit...

Maybe it was Wind from the Sky that made buyers see the huge way to make money, or maybe it was the enthusiastic response from the scene that made Ballmer know that this game might become the company's best-selling product, so it was supposed to be half an hour The trial session was dragged out for forty-five minutes before it ended.

When the buyers returned to their seats with satisfaction, Ballmer on the podium also cleared his throat and said with a smile: Perhaps many people don't know why we at Destiny Games hold the new product launch conference in the morning. At eleven o'clock, I can now tell you responsibly that we just want to take advantage of the lunch break to finalize the contract with you quickly.

When you are enduring hunger while being dragged by us to sign a contract, you will most likely sign the contract with your eyes closed just for the sake of a meal. In this way, we will make a lot of money. What a dance hall in Arkansas? The bars in Florida, those are ours.

It's a pity that your perseverance is so strong that it can resist hunger. It is already two o'clock in the afternoon, but you have never noticed it.

This is really a shame!

I'm actually prepared to be wanted by the federation!

Hahaha... Ballmer's little joke made everyone laugh.

Some people even said directly, No, it's your game that's interesting!

Such words made Ballmer bow down and thank him.

The scene also became a sea of excitement.

Such a situation made Ballmer pause for a few seconds, then raised his right hand high.

Okay, Okay, thank you for your likes.

Your love is our greatest honor.

I know that maybe many people think that today's conference will end with the release of three games, but I want to say, no! We have one last game!

Next, I will invite my boss Ethan~~~Jones——

Because the fourth game will be introduced by him himself!

The cadence of his words made everyone at the scene widen their eyes!

As Ballmer said, no one thought they would release four games at once!

More importantly, the fourth game seems to be the real finale!

Under their gaze, Ethan, who was holding the microphone, also appeared with a smile. After waving downwards, Ballmer was ready and immediately pushed the fourth machine to the center of the stage.

Like the previous three machines, the outside of this arcade machine was also covered with black cloth. When the condescending Ethan noticed that the more than a hundred pairs of eyes below were full of curiosity, he immediately pressed his hand on the machine. on, then tightened his fingers and grabbed the curtain.

I know you're all curious about what this last game will be.

Normally, I should introduce it, but I feel like this game needs no introduction.

The next half hour will be your trial time.

And the name of the game you are playing is very simple, only three words.

It's called—

Snake!

Game!

Two!

Wow--

Ethan pulled down the curtain forcefully.

When he said the name of the last game with a smile——

Every word that came out made the guests' eyes light up!