Rebirth of America, this is my time

Thursday, April 1, 1976.

On this day, Steve Wozniak was pulled away by Steve Jobs. As for the reason, Ethan also knew that it was to start Apple.

Ethan didn't care about this kind of thing for the time being, because after half a year, he went online again and visited his loyal company.

To be honest, Ethan feels that his company is making a huge loss. It has been in business for half a year, and there is not a single piece of business that has not been dealt with. Two administrative staff and one financial staff have to be paid full-time wages. This kind of non-work is for nothing. How come he couldn't come across the good thing about money in his previous life?

In a daze, he even thought he was Boss Jia.

The person disappears, but the wages are still paid, which perfectly explains why a company needs to fire the boss the most...

Because it’s the same with or without him!

But this thought didn't last long before disappearing.

Because when he showed up at the company in Thomas's Ford pickup truck, carrying a freshly baked Pac-Man arcade machine, the male executive Damio Dean, who got the news, greeted Finance Aaron Massey very discerningly. , moved the machinery from the car and sent it to the company.

This kind of behavior where the leader shits me and hands me the paper makes Ethan feel very comfortable.

What made him even more comfortable was the tea report delivered by another administrator, Julis Noble, after entering the office.

Although Ethan has not arranged any work for them in the past six months, the girl in professional attire is holding a stack of documents and reporting to Ethan the results of their recent work - Mr. Jones, although in the past six months, Our company has not conducted any business, but at the same time we have not been idle. We have been collecting relevant news in the industry.

'Um? ’

This topic interested Ethan very much and asked: What's the news in the industry? What are they?

Being in seclusion for half a year in the non-Internet era is no different from being isolated from the world. Ethan really doesn't know what is happening in the outside world.

Faced with his inquiry, Julis Noble immediately opened the document in her hand and said: Mr. Jones, after sorting and identifying, we feel that there are three pieces of information that you should be very interested in.

The first news is last year's video game sales rankings released by the Wall Street Journal.

In this list, our company's Snake Game ranks first in North America with 12,000 installed units.

‘Yo… ok! ’

Ethan is very satisfied with this result.

Although the game Snake brought him a lot of trouble, at the same time, it also gained him countless money and praise.

When he originally chose it, Ethan's starting point was that it was simple to make and easy to make money. However, after going through all the twists and turns, he hoped that Snake could get some positive reviews.

This is not because he is seeking profit or fame, but because he wants to let those who covet Snake know...

You read that right!

Snake is an awesome game!

It won the US sales championship for 75 years!

Eh!

The point is that I still have the copyright!

Are you angry?

Ha ha ha ha……

Ethan smiled secretly in his heart, with a little pride on his face. At the same time, he also became interested in the entire content of the list.

So, who are the people behind? he asked.

Julis Noble immediately answered: The second place is a game invented by Taidong of Liben Game Company. Its name is Speed ​​Race. It is distributed by Midway Games. The total number of first and second editions is Sales were eight thousand units.”

Ethan has heard of this game. It is a racing game with two different versions: single player and two player. Although it cannot be compared with later racing games, in this era, the quality of the game is still very good. Not bad.

The third place is Tank released by Kee Games, with sales of 5,000 units.

Ethan also knows about this game. It is a two-player game. Two players control different tanks to attack the opponent in order to defeat the opponent. Sounds familiar, right? Because it is the true predecessor of the FC classic game Tank Battle.

The fourth place is a table tennis game released by Meadows Games, with sales of 3,000 units. The fifth place is a game released by Atari before reaching the settlement agreement with Mirowa, called Gran Trak 10, with sales of two Thousand units.”

The sales volume of the games ranked six to ten are all estimated by the Wall Street Journal at 500 units, which has no reference value...

Following Julis Noble's report, Ethan also gained a brief understanding of the North American game industry in 1975.

Although it seems that the current game industry is a hundred flowers blooming and a hundred schools of thought contend, because the games on the sales rankings are from different companies, but in a few years, these companies will disappear. This is not only because they are not in Ethan's memory of his previous life, but also because Because these companies cannot pay high patent fees to Mi Luohua while making big strides to move their products from the circuit board era into the CPU era.

And this... is a good thing for Ethan!

As a player, he naturally hopes that the more games on the market, the better.

As a businessman, what he wants to do most is to strangle his business friends to death!

What about the other two news? Ethan asked: Isn't it also a ranking list?

Rankings are something that changes the soup without changing the medicine. Just listen to it once.

After he asked, Julis Noble shook her head decisively and said:

No, Mr. Jones, the other two messages have nothing to do with the rankings.

The first news comes from Mirowa. At the end of November last year, Mirowa officially announced that the first-generation Odyssey home machine will be officially discontinued at the beginning of this year. At the same time, they will release new products this year.

A month ago, they announced that the new machine Milova Odyssey 300 will be released to the public this summer. According to them, this game console will have three built-in games, namely Tennis and Hockey and Squash. At the same time, they also designed three different difficulties for the game, namely novice, intermediate and expert. In their words, their design is a revolution in the game industry, because before this No game can be divided into difficulty levels.

Not only that, they also said that this difficulty division is more friendly than our Snake because it allows players to have real choices and returns the game to the essence of fun rather than the pain of abuse.

‘WTF? ’

This news stunned Ethan for a moment.

Mi Luohua is going to release a new machine?

And also regard the adjustment of game difficulty as the focus of publicity?

And stepped on him at the same time?

this……

Ethan didn't know what to say.

The third news made Ethan even more surprised...

The third news is related to Atari. Atari's founder Nolan Bushnell announced that they will launch their new game Arkanoid in two months, that is, in June. Nolan ·Bushnell said that this game is the best work of Atari since its birth. It is a truly unlimited streaming game and much more fun than our Snake...

Speaking of this, Julis Noble glanced at Ethan anxiously.

Because she felt that Ethan would be angry after hearing Nolan Bushnell's annoying words.

But when she cast her eyes on Ethan, what she saw was the boss who suddenly laughed.

That's right!

After hearing that Milowa was about to release a new machine and Atari was about to release Arkanoid, the thing Ethan wanted to do most was laugh!

Are the three families who share their grievances crowded together again?

Ethan admitted that Arkanoid is an excellent game, and the difficulty adjustment of Milova Odyssey 300 is a landmark idea in the history of games, but no matter how awesome they are, they can't have Pac-Man. 》Anthropomorphic AI is awesome!

He had just finished making Pac-Man and found out that his two rivals were going to release a new product?

hiss……

This situation...

Doesn’t that force him to be a good person?

Okay, I know.

Thinking of this, Ethan nodded with a smile and said, Julis, you have done a good job. I will give you a bonus at the end of this year.

Then, I came back to the company to tell you that the company's new product has been developed. Next, our company needs to apply for a provisional patent for the new product, and then hold a press conference.

As for the patent application, you let Damio Dean handle it.

Regarding the location of the press conference, please help me contact Stanford to see if there is a large lecture hall or auditorium in the school that can be borrowed. If there is, then we will discuss the time of use. If not, then we will set up one directly downstairs. A platform.

The new company has limited resources, so you can understand the rough edges, right?

As for the guests attending the meeting...

Ethan took out a list from the briefcase he carried and handed it to the other party, I have drawn up a list here. After you confirm the venue of the press conference, you can send invitations to them according to the time of the press conference.

Then……

Add Nolan Bushnell and Milo Wah to the mix!

Yes!

Regarding the release of Pac-Man, Ethan originally did not want to invite Atari and Milowa to participate.

He's not a devil. Once he gets his revenge, forget it.

But now, since these friends and businessmen still want to win over him, then he should be a good person and help his friends and businessmen save operating costs!

He has already demonstrated Pac-Man in front of these two companies. If they still release new products under such circumstances, it will be their own problem, right?

Hehehe~

Of course, Julis Noble didn't know what her boss was thinking.

At this moment, she only knew that the company, which had been idle for half a year, was about to get busy.

She nodded in agreement and went out to get busy. However, after a while, she came back again.

What's wrong? Ethan was a little surprised.

Mr. Jones, there is a guest you need to invite personally. Julis Noble said.

What? Ethan didn't understand.

Who? He wanted to know who was so famous.

It's Mr. Steven Spielberg. Julis Noble said: He is very angry now and we can't send him a letter.

‘? ’

Ethan was confused by Julis Noble's words.

And when Julis Noble took out a copy of the Los Angeles Times, he was even more shocked by the bold headline on the front page.

Because it says on it——

[Hollywood upstart, Jaws director Steven Spielberg angrily complained that the Academy does not understand movies! 】

After taking it and taking a look, the news inside was even more exciting——

[At the just-concluded 48th Academy Awards ceremony, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest swept all opponents and won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay in one fell swoop Five awards. 】

[Regarding this result, Hollywood's new director Steven Spielberg is very dissatisfied. He said that the Academy of Oscars does not understand movies, and his Jaws is the most loved best film, regardless of whether it has already won the award. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon, Hot Afternoon starring Al Pacino, or Nashville directed by Robert Altman, none of them can compete with him. That set a record for the movie to compare to! 】

[At the same time, he also stated that he will never participate in the Oscars again in the future! 】

‘Fuck! So brave? ’

The Los Angeles Times report blinded Ethan's eyes.

Did he never expect that after not seeing each other for a few months, Spielberg would actually start to quarrel with Oscar?

When such a situation occurs, it is no wonder that Julis Noble dare not send a letter!

Because whoever it was would show cowardice!

Of course, Ethan would only be surprised, not scared.

After reading the report, he was full of curiosity and decisively dialed Spielberg's phone number.

Because Spielberg didn't know the number in the company, he didn't get through at first, but after Ethan called a few more times and asked Universal staff to help transfer, the breathless voice came through. In his ears——

Oh Ethan, I'm sorry, I didn't know it was you calling.

Oh, it's not your fault, because I forgot to give you my company phone number.

Did you call me for something? I'm quite busy now...

Is it because of the Los Angeles Times?

Upon hearing this name, Spielberg immediately raised his voice——

Yeah! These idiots misinterpreted my meaning perfectly!

I didn't even receive an Oscar nomination this year. Why should I complain that the Academy doesn't understand movies? Am I not sick?

I said this in an interview at the time. I said One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was great, but commercially it couldn't compare to my Jaws. There's absolutely nothing wrong with what I said, right? I made North America. The highest-grossing movie! Even the first movie in the world to have a box office of over 100 million! Can’t I still say that I am great?”

Then what……

Those bastard reporters said I said Oscar didn't understand movies...

Oh! Sxxt!

What a bunch of sons of bitches!

After hearing Spielberg's explanation, Ethan immediately laughed.

But there was no sympathy on his lips, and he continued to say: Ah? Is that so? I originally wanted to support you...

I'm ready to ask people from the company to contact the Los Angeles Times. I want to buy a front-page headline saying that you, Steven Spielberg, will be the greatest director in our country! Jaws is just the beginning! All of Hollywood will tremble under your rule in the future!”

Cough cough cough... Ethan's arrogant words made the guy on the other end of the phone cough non-stop.

Putting away his anger, Spielberg said: Oh Ethan, although I feel the same way, things like movies still have to be spoken for by movies. I will be shooting a new movie in May. Waiting for the new movie After I come out, I will tell them what a movie is!

This confidence made Ethan smile.

‘Sure enough, every successful person has a firm heart. ’

He sighed secretly in his heart, and then said: Really? Then you are really lucky.

What? Spielberg didn't understand what Ethan meant.

Ethan didn't show off, and said directly: It's very simple, the new game has been made, and I am planning to hold a new product launch conference.

Steven, may I have the honor to welcome you here?

After the words fell, there was silence on the other side.

Not long after, a roar came out——

Oh——Fxxk——

Have you finally finished the new game?

Do you know that I have been waiting for you for half a year!

Oh no...

I do!

When is the press conference? I'll bring someone with me to help you!