Rebirth of America, this is my time

I am very happy to attend the new product launch of Destiny Game today. In fact, I have been paying close attention to this emerging industry since 1972. At that time, I was the governor of California and witnessed the electronics industry with my own eyes. How gaming set the world on fire from California...

“To be honest, I was wary of video games at first because they were like a black hole, attracting the attention of our young people, devouring their time, and making them ignore everything around them, especially last year’s Star Wars When it was launched, countless young people were peeping at the virtual world in front of the electronic arcade screen. They seemed to think that space exploration was just a game. But I want to say that this idea is wrong. Space is not a game field. Then It is full of endless opportunities and challenges, and video games seem to be misleading young people in their own way...

But after communicating with Ethan Jones, the founder of Destiny Game, today, I realized that I had some misunderstandings about this industry. Ethan told me that the original inspiration for the Star Wars game came from Spielberg's Star Wars. Third Kinds of Contact, when he saw the friendly cooperation between aliens and us humans in the ending of the script, he felt that this ideal friendship seemed a bit dangerous. When unknown creatures appear in front of us, it may be better to stay alert. After he saw Star Wars, he felt that the space confrontation described by director Lucas was consistent with the concept he wanted to express, so he created a game for Star Wars and hoped to play it. While game players will always remain curious about the future, they should also protect themselves as much as possible...

“I admit that after hearing these words, I did have some fluctuations in my heart, and when I saw their new game, I really felt that Ethan and his Destiny Game really wanted to contribute to society. The progress brings some sincere emotions...

“They have launched a shooting game this time, but it is different from all shooting games that have appeared before. The concept they convey to the outside world is to use firearms to protect the lives of the public and to save innocent people in danger, rather than being like other games. , promote violence...

They have launched a racing game this time, but it is different from all previous racing games. The driving method of avoiding roadblocks prevents violent driving...

They also launched a wealth game, which depicts the richness of America very clearly. Of course, they also made a sequel to Snake. The confrontation shown in the game made me feel the cold interface. There is a power called persistence...

I am very lucky to attend the new product launch conference of Destiny Game today. It makes me feel many years younger and also allows me to understand the lifestyle and inner world of young people today. I am very grateful to Ethan and Destiny Game for their contribution to society. He has made a huge contribution, because he not only brought us countless happiness, but also told us about the integrity of life in his own way...

That night, PBS broadcast the former California governor's media address in San Jose.

As a broadcasting company founded in 1969, the PBS radio and television network may not have as long a history as ABC, CBS, and NBC, but its non-commercial nature and status as a public broadcaster allow it to have coverage that the other three are difficult to match. and dissemination.

As the only broadcaster in America that can deliver news to all fifty states at the same time, this feature allowed the media speeches of the former governor of California to appear in every corner of America. When the news of a new game of Destiny Game came out Finally, people who have been playing Star Wars for a year and are a little tired of the game no matter how fun it is are instantly excited!

The strong lineup of three new games plus the sequel to Snake makes those who like games catapult from the sofa like a rocket into the sky. They can't wait to rush out of the house as if it's the New Year and rush into the place where they often relax. Entertainment venues, want to taste the delicious food of your new trip as soon as possible!

But unfortunately, no matter how they searched, they could not see the new machine.

This situation made them frown and asked loudly and unhappily——

Boss! Where are the new games from Destiny Games? Didn't you buy their machine?

Such questioning caused the managers in various venues to lean out from behind the bar.

Perhaps because they have answered similar questions countless times today, these people's faces are full of helplessness, The new game was just released today and it hasn't been shipped yet!

As if wanting to retain customers, they explained: But don't worry, our boss flew to California a few days ago to purchase the goods. We will have new games in two or three days at most.

Before that, you can play their old games first. We have three classic games here: Star Wars, Pac-Man, and Snake...

While speaking, the administrators also began to raise their hands to guide.

Following their guidance, the game corner with rows of arcade machines also appeared.

Regardless of whether it is the dark green Snake, the yellow whirlwind Pac-Man, or the Star Wars with the Millennium Falcon painted on it, these classic machines all have traces of time.

Even if it is well maintained, the paint on the surface of the machine will fade;

Even if it is well-made, the joysticks and buttons of the machine have been replaced again and again;

Many machine accessories no longer even look like their original counterparts.

This dilapidated scene made the guys who came to inquire look regretful. Some people left and wanted to try their luck at other merchants to find new machines. Some people touched their pockets and approached the machines to try again. Some people cursed and criticized the boss for his inaction. With a cry of 'MFxxk', they walked out of the store dissatisfied and merged into the darkness.

No matter what choices those players made, the merchants who provided arcade services did not mean to stop them from persuading them. Instead, they apologized while respecting their decisions, and after waiting for the customers to leave——

MFxxk!

I can't do this shitty job anymore!

If the new machine doesn't come, I will be scolded to death!

Dong——

Not daring to curse customers, they vented their dissatisfaction behind the bar.

Situations like this are happening in various places in America, and while players are running around and store owners are constantly explaining, pairs of eyes hidden in the darkness are also faithfully capturing these scenes.

Each number was recorded on a palm-sized notepad using a pen.

When some shops closed and the time gradually moved towards the early morning, they stayed in the shops for a long time before they walked out of various entertainment venues and rushed towards the nearest public phone box.

They closed the glass door, took out a handful of coins, stuffed a few into the coin slot, and then started pressing the metal numbers on the panel. When the bell rang, they leaned against the glass panel and waited for the answer. With a Hello When they show up, these people immediately report their family status, and then...

A steady stream of information flows from major cities in America to Los Angeles.

The person who answered the phone diligently wrote down the records. After hanging up the phone, he tore off the paper with a snap. It wasn't until the phone in the office stopped ringing that they tallied up all the information.

Perhaps it was because of the complicated data, or perhaps because of the inefficiency of staying up late at night. By the time they delivered a stack of stapled documents to their supervisor, the sky outside was already turning white.

After carefully reading it and encouraging the employees, the supervisor asked his subordinates to go back to rest. After staying overnight, he went directly to the floor of the chairman's office and took a nap in the lounge with his eyes closed.

He didn't know how much time had passed. When the sound of steady footsteps came from far to near, he, who was already nervous, immediately stood up and jumped out of the lounge. He looked towards the direction of the sound and after confirming that it was correct, he immediately went up. In front of him, he handed over the fresh report in his hand.

Boss, this is our latest research on the Destiny game.

Yes. Steve Ross, chairman of Warner Communications, reached out and took it without looking through it. He said with a smile: You have been busy all night, right? You have to work overtime on your rest day. It's really hard on you.

It's not hard work for Warner. The supervisor shook his head quickly.

After this period of work, you have one month's paid leave. Find a place to take a vacation and relax. Being nervous all the time is not only bad for your health, but also affects your work.

Boss, thank you.

You're welcome, let's go in and talk.

Okay.

The supervisor stepped forward to open the door in two steps.

Steve Ross nodded towards his eager subordinates, then got into the office, sat in his chair and read through his subordinates' latest reports.

As he read, the smile on his still gentle face gradually disappeared.

Is this number real?

After the PBS news was broadcast, a large number of people from New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, San Antonio and other places went to major streets and airports to inquire about new travel?

In New York, which has the densest crowds, within six hours after the news was broadcast, nearly 6,000 people went to the entertainment venue housing the arcade, and 70% of them were asking about the new games of Destiny Games. , 50% of people are so eager to play that they leave the entertainment venue directly after getting a negative answer and go to other stores to continue asking?

Even in Dallas, which has the worst statistics, more than a thousand people took to the streets to search after the news was broadcast, and more than 40% of them regretted leaving?

What the fuck!

Are these people that desperate to play Ethan Jones' game?

Steve Ross shook the papers in his hands.

This data made the supervisor who came to report solemnly nod his head.

Yes, Boss, we calculated this data ourselves.

Even if there is a discrepancy, it won't be too big.

Because they are professionals.

The profession that Warner's supervisor refers to actually refers to the information collection teams under the names of major Hollywood giants. These people have only one job every day, and that is to collect relevant intelligence in their own place based on the tasks assigned by their superiors. .

The place they often hang out is movie theaters. They check whether those in North American theaters have screened their own movies as agreed. If the screening times are inconsistent with the contract, or if they find out that the movie theater is suspected of concealing the box office, they will report it immediately. .

Not only that, they also do some data collection work. For example, after the release of Star Wars, the survey team under Fox will conduct questionnaire surveys in movie theaters across the country to directly ask movie fans whether they like Star Wars Battle movie, they also asked them what characters they like and what actors they like. After the audience answers the questionnaire, they will also give positive feedback to those who participated in the questionnaire by giving small gifts.

Since the first-line feedback I gave was basically true and reliable, these things became bargaining chips for Hollywood studios and actors and directors. When these people all started, the intelligence they collected was generally It can be believed.

And it's because they're believable that Steve Ross is shocked!

Because the document in his hand showed that last night, at least 50,000 people in the huge America were inquiring about Destiny Game’s new products in various airports and airports!

Although there must be people who are double-counted, because the documents have shown that more than half of the people will leave directly and continue searching after asking to no avail.

But at the same time, there must be people who have not been counted!

Because not everyone has a TV in their home!

Not everyone was able to see the PBS news broadcast yesterday evening!

Not everyone can watch the boring TV speech of the former governor of California!

If all these factors are taken into account, then the impact of repeated calculations in the file on the real data will be very, very small, or in other words -

This number of 50,000 people may not reflect the influence of Destiny Games in America!

According to their film industry’s common algorithm for sequels to hit movies, the fact that 50,000 people were searching for it in the first time means that there are at least 500,000 core fans of this movie!

The number of moviegoers leveraged through word of mouth can reach 10 million!

Although this data is not very impressive in the film industry, because based on the average ticket price, 10 million moviegoers are actually equivalent to a box office of less than 20 million.

But if this data is applied to the game of destiny...

Ten million potential customers willing to pay for Ethan Jones' new game?

MFxxk!

This special code will make their arcade machines sell out!

Steve Ross slammed the document onto his desk!

In his opinion, no matter how calculated these data are, they can leverage hundreds of millions in revenue!

Keep an eye on their factories! I want to see how much goods they can produce!

“Then stare at MGM, Disney and Paramount!”

I want to know what these idiots are doing!

Why haven't they released a new game yet?

Steve Ross's rant caused Warner executives to quit.

And when he summoned his subordinates and issued boss tasks, the heads of MGM, Disney and Paramount had already gathered together and were enjoying breakfast.

In fact, as early as a few months ago, when Destiny Games began to contact various purchasers of arcade machines in America, they already knew that Ethan Jones was going to make a move.

They are a little worried about this kind of thing, but they are even more hopeful, because they are new players in the field of video games. With a small investment of their own, no matter how well Ethan Jones's new game sells, it will not be good for them. It won't have much of an impact.

Not only that, the better the sales of Ethan Jones' new game, the more it proves that the video game industry has great potential, and the more it proves that there is no problem with their intervention.

When this fact is placed in front of them, even if they and Ethan Jones compete with each other, at this moment, the pressure they are under is far less exaggerated than Warner Communications.

Therefore, when they learned that many players took to the streets last night to find new games, the three people who were drinking coffee immediately laughed.

Wow, Ethan Jones' Destiny game actually has 10 million potential customers? Then the video game market may be worth 1 billion. Disney CEO Tatum said.

If it continues to develop at this rate, the video game market will soon surpass our movie industry. Michael Eisner, the president of Paramount, said with emotion, More importantly, the craziness of gamers and movies Loyal fans can actually be equated.

An equal sign? No! No! No!

His words drew a rebuttal from MGM CEO Frank Rosenberg.

He shook his head and said: I think gamers will be crazier than loyal movie fans, because movie fans are crazy. When they go into the theater, they also go to see the story told by the director. If the movie shot by the director does not meet their appetite, Then they will spurn it, but video games are different. Players are creating a world. When they can participate in the construction of the world, the madness brought by that sense of substitution is the real charm of video games, so last night There will be so many people wanting to play Ethan Jones' new game, and they're looking forward to a new world.

Such a high evaluation made the other two people look at each other and then laugh at the same time.

Okay, Frank, you're right.

Disney CEO Tatum had no intention of refuting.

Paramount President Michael Eisner raised his cup of coffee and asked MGM CEO Frank Rosenberg, When are MGM going to release the game?

If I remember correctly, we made an agreement at the beginning, one person for one season?

“Summer is already here, where are your products?”

Is it because Ethan Jones has released a new game, so you are afraid and decide to delay it? If that is the case, then we at Paramount will not agree!

We didn't want to get the autumn schedule. During this period, not only are there no statutory holidays, but the children also have to go to school. When I got this schedule, my boss already scolded me severely. If you If MGM wants to squeeze our space, my boss will definitely kill me.

So, don't make it difficult for me to do well?

uh-huh?

Disney CEO Tatum pursed his lips after hearing Michael Eisner's words of encouragement.

He put down the coffee cup in his hand, picked up the coffee spoon and stirred it gently.

As Ethan Jones said, alliances based on interests are not stable.

If it weren't for the fact that they wanted to get into video games and Philips wanted to get them all to fight Ethan Jones, they wouldn't actually be sitting at the same table having breakfast.

As early as when they first discussed the cooperation details, they had already done it——

Philips felt that Disney was the most sincere with Mickey Mouse, so he agreed with Disney to release the game in the winter, because Christmas is the most important time of the year;

The summer, the second best time of the year, was handed over by Philips to MGM, which owns Tom and Jerry, hoping that they can get off to a good start;

In this case, regardless of which industry is the most rubbish autumn schedule, it can only belong to Paramount without a higher-profile character.

This kind of allocation makes Disney and MGM very happy, but it is very embarrassing for Paramount.

But when all three companies agreed, they had no choice but to hold their noses and agree to get the patent authorization. When Michael Eisner signed the contract, his face was already longer than a shoehorn, so... when MGM now needs to deal with the head-on impact of Ethan Jones? He immediately burst into laughter without concealing it!

After all, no matter how great the market potential of an industry is, consumers' spending power cannot rise instantly. In this case, the less others earn, the more beneficial it is to them.

Michael Eisner's attack brought anger to the MGM CEO's face. But he had no intention of replying, because he knew that Michael Eisnut's code was a second generation!

When their boss at MGM used some tricks to acquire Columbia Pictures, if they dared to confront Michael Eisner, they would probably destroy their MGM acquisition in a fit of rage. , and this kind of thing is unacceptable to MGM.

Therefore, after staring at Michael Eisner twice, the CEO of MGM laughed directly and said: Don't worry, it will definitely be listed on July 1st.

Okay, I'll watch. Michael Eisner raised his eyebrows unceremoniously.

This gesture made the MGM CEO take a deep breath and then nodded.

The look of swallowing his anger made Disney's Tatum keep laughing, but just when he felt that today's trip was worth it, the CEO of MGM suddenly opened fire on him.

Twain, there's no problem on my end. I hope Disney doesn't make any mistakes either.

The CEO of MGM smiled at Disney CEO Twain Tatum, I heard that your Disney's Roy Disney appeared at the new product launch conference of Destiny yesterday? Wow wow wow Oh wow...you Disney guys are trying to be spies, right?

... The sudden words made Disney CEO Tatum froze.

At that moment, his smile froze on his face.

Don't worry, we have no problem at Disney. He replied firmly.

I have something else to do, I'm leaving first. He threw down the spoon and stood up to leave.

As he walked away in anger, he saw that the CEO of MGM felt physically and mentally comfortable. When he turned his eyes back to the dining table, he found that Michael Eisner, the president of Paramount, was looking at him with his arms folded.

That rich face was full of playfulness.

I have something to do, so I'm leaving. The CEO of MGM also threw away the coffee in his hand.

The porcelain cup collided with the porcelain plate, making a crisp sound. Eisner, who was left in the restaurant, smashed it and opened his mouth, I have something to do too! He imitated the tone of the two of them and then said with his nose——

snort!

Two clowns!

He also left the restaurant.

Although the alliance meeting between Disney, MGM and Paramount broke up unhappy, even so, they still watched the game of destiny with a good attitude.

They really want to know what kind of answer the Destiny Game can give.

They also want to know where the ceiling of the video game industry lies.

However, the smiles on their faces didn't last long at all, because when they ordered people to stare at Destiny Games' Miapida factory... they discovered that there was something wrong with the special code of this factory!

The crazy shipments in the first three days are understandable.

The crazy shipments in the first week can also be explained.

But a week after the new product launch, when the game music was playing as far away as Boston, Destiny Game's factory was still shipping products with special codes. Something was wrong with these special codes!

Boss! Something's wrong! The Destiny game has been shipped for ten days in a row!

According to our calculations, their arcade machine shipments are at least 20,000 units!

This is not common sense at all!

It's not a matter of whether they have the goods, because they already informed those buyers in March that they would hold a new product launch conference this month. It takes three months for them to prepare enough goods. What's really unreasonable is that they Why can we sell so many machines?”

According to our people's understanding, one of their four games was not welcomed by buyers at all, which means that the remaining three games sold 20,000 units at a time!

Although there is no problem for this kind of thing to happen to Ethan, the only one that is really attractive is Snake 2, right? Assuming it sold 10,000 units? Then the remaining two games are not We should be able to sell 10,000 units in a short period of time! There must be something wrong with this!

When MGM, Paramount and Disney received reports from their subordinates, the strange shipping rhythm immediately made them frown! This is especially true for Warner Communications. Steve Ross even felt that his ears were broken after hearing the report from his subordinates!

Twenty thousand units in ten days?

What kind of international joke are you making!

The average daily shipment volume of two thousand units means that they ship more than fifty vehicles a day!

The guys on the front lines may be mentally ill. Are you mentally ill too?

You believe there are 20,000 units when they say there are 20,000 units? Then do you believe it when I say I am Jesus?

Won't!

You would rather believe that Ethan Jones sold 20,000 arcade machines in ten days than you would believe that Steve Ross' code is Jesus! MFxxk!

Check again! Check again!

Check this out for me! I want to see if Ethan Jones' special code is forgery!

According to Steve Ross, 20,000 units in ten days is impossible.

Because Destiny Games only invited 150 buyers to participate in the new product launch conference, and no matter how awesome these people are, they can't possibly eat 40 million worth of goods at once!

If Destiny Games really keeps shipping, there is only one possibility——

That means Ethan Jones’ goods can’t be sold!

He's bluffing!

As for the sales volume of the Destiny game this time, will it be as dazzling as the sun?

Ah--

When the sales of North American theaters were cut off by Disney and others, how could retail stores on the continent of America break out such terrifying point-in-time sales?

he! No! Mutually! letter!

Note: ① The former governor of California’s attitude towards video games is actually sitting on the fence. I am not bragging like what I wrote. If it is good for him, he will support it, and if it is not good for him, he will not support it. The same goes for Arkansas. When it's good for them, they openly play Northland Cubs with Game Boy there. When it's not good for them, they create game ratings. ②The Hollywood survey written in this chapter actually existed. In the past, that is, in the 1960s and 1970s, this survey was done by themselves. Many movie sequels were even based on audience satisfaction and favorite characters. Filmed, including Star Wars. When the third installment of Star Wars was released in the 1980s, movies were already being made to sell toys, so all the books you saw were made for money. And this was revealed by Gary Kurtz, the producer of Star Wars and the president of the film company under the name of the protagonist I wrote about in the article. There is no art, just money. Nowadays, Hollywood still uses on-site research to obtain the most accurate reputation, but they no longer do these things themselves, they all outsource them.