Rebirth of America, this is my time

It’s still the same office, still the same three people.

But at this moment, the old man was not only not angry, but crossed his legs and leaned on his seat.

The fat subordinate in front of him was holding a document and reading it——

Judging from the patent licensing fees we have received in the past two months, game companies in North America are almost wiped out.

“After Pac-Man exploded onto the market, people in North America were very enthusiastic about this game.”

“They love that yellow figure running wildly through the maze, eating beans.”

I also like those ghosts who are chasing after each other, each with their own characteristics.

“With the continuous rollout of Pac-Man arcade machines, other companies simply don’t dare to launch new products.”

Because they are afraid that those boring games will rot in the warehouse after they are produced.

Such words made the old man smile and nod.

The group is destroyed?

Oh - this is really outrageous -

He said with emotion:

“If someone had told me a few years ago that someone would be able to dominate North America with one game in the future, I would not have believed it.”

Because there is no difference between video games and movies and novels. They are both man-made works. Since they are man-made, they cannot satisfy everyone because everyone has different interests and hobbies.

but……

The Pac-Man game is really different.

When I first saw it, or when I heard the professors' exclamations at the press conference, I realized that this game is actually a combination of inspiration and technology. Its selling point is both inspiration and It’s also technology that ordinary people have never seen before.”

When the two appear at the same time, the current market feedback is normal.

Although people living in different places have different interests and hobbies, as long as they are individuals, they will always have curiosity.

When the media exaggerates a miracle to the world, people who hear the news will go and take a look.

So, when Pac-Man has this convenience, its success is inevitable, and of course, it cannot be copied.

The boss's words surprised the fat and thin subordinates.

Look at each other quietly.

Both of them saw surprise in each other's eyes.

Although they tried their best to cover up their actions, how could he not notice it when the old man leaned on his seat?

After seeing his subordinate's little attempt to conceal it, he was in a good mood and immediately smiled and said, What's wrong?

What's your reaction?

Can't I, as a human being, have the emotions of joy and admiration?

yes!

Ethan Jones has ignored us several times before, but this time it's different from before, right?

The previous Snake made us questionable.

Later on, Ralph Bell, that kept us from receiving royalties from him.

But does Pac-Man have anything to do with us this time?

“Isn’t this a slap in the face for the entire industry?”

Since everyone has been beaten, doesn't it mean that no one has been beaten?

The old man spread his hands and looked at the two of them with a smile.

Such nonsense made the fat and thin subordinates dumbfounded!

However, after only a second of hesitation, the fat man reacted and smiled and said: Boss, I think you are right.

The people who were most affected by the game Pac-Man were those who made arcade machines.

Those of us who make home game consoles are not affected at all.

‘? ? ? ’

As soon as these words came out, the expression on the thin man's face became very wonderful.

Not only that, he also instinctively moved a step to the side.

Because he always felt that his boss was sick, and he had a kind of crazy disease. His colleagues around him were also infected, and their IQs plummeted. He was the only normal person in the huge office.

And his incongruous movements were also caught by the old man.

After noticing that his two subordinates had different expressions, he stopped joking. Instead, he picked up the documents on the table and shook them out of thin air.

Look at this.

This is a document the chairman sent me a few days ago. It comes from the work arrangements of the parent company Philips.

When I saw this document, I understood why they were holding us accountable for our work.

Or...

Why do they keep paying attention to our work, especially our home console products.

These words made the fat man stop teasing and made the thin man become serious.

The two men stepped forward and took the documents.

When they opened it and took a look, their brows furrowed into the character Sichuan.

Because it says so——

[Accepting the latest work arrangements from parent company Philips, starting from today, you must focus on real-time changes in the North American game market and try to acquire those game companies that have encountered operating difficulties due to the emergence of Pac-Man, including but not limited to last year. Kee Games, which published Tanks, and Midway Games, which published Asteroids. 】

Boss, what does this mean?

The fat and thin subordinates did not understand, and they cast doubtful looks at the old man.

The old man had no intention of explaining, but smiled and said: Turn the page.

Following his instructions, the two bowed their heads again.

The content on the second page of the document made their pupils shrink suddenly!

[According to the latest work arrangement of parent company Philips, we strategically gave up the Odyssey 300 product. You can continue to sell it, but at the same time, you must also step up the research and development of the next generation of products. In the general research and development direction, they have not defined the content. You You can continue to use ROM tape cartridges as storage media, but at the same time, they also hope that you can create a LaserDisc interface for Odyssey. 】

When the word LaserDisc was captured by the fat and thin duo, they both raised their heads almost at the same time!

“What Philips means is that it wants to make our Odyssey a multifunctional home entertainment device???”

The thin man lost his voice.

The subordinate's reaction made the old man smile and nod, saying, Yes.

You are right.

Philips wants to make our Odyssey a comprehensive home entertainment system.

‘? ? ? ’

This idea shocked Fatty and Slim.

They frowned at their superiors, eager for more information.

The old man didn't mean to hide it. He stood up slowly while holding on to the armrest of the seat. While walking to the window and looking out at the outside world, he also said: Actually, when I was called by the board of directors a few days ago, I The reaction is the same as yours.

It was only then that I understood why Philips acquired our company. Because their core purpose was to use us to promote their video disc technology, LaserDisc, in the continent of America.

You should all have heard of LaserDisc technology. It was developed based on the optical video recording technology that appeared in 1963. As early as 1969, Philips had successfully developed it and in 1972, this standard was promoted To the market.”

You should know that there are countless difficulties in the emergence of a new standard before it enters people's homes. The first thing they need to face is the old standards that already exist in the industry, because before that, they have already understood the current market A monopoly has been established, and in order to break this monopoly, the only thing technology manufacturers can do is promote it themselves.”

So, after constant selection, they selected us...

As for the reason, it's very simple, because the use of LaserDisc technology involves the use of analog video signals, and until now, only Professor Ralph Bell's home game console in North America uses video signals.

This natural fit made Philips very satisfied, so they launched an acquisition of us in 1974.

According to Philips' original idea, it was to add a LaserDisc port to the Odyssey product to promote its video disc products to the North American people. In order to reach a broader market, the Odyssey product must have a certain degree of retention in the market. quantity.

At this point, the old man's words were like a meal.

He was still standing in front of the window looking at the world. He suddenly turned around, looked at his two subordinates with a smile, and said, So...

Do you know why they are angry about Ethan Jones?

When this question came up, the fat and thin subordinates immediately nodded instinctively!

If they don't understand the truth of the matter at this moment, then they are stupid!

Why did Philips suddenly pay attention to Ethan Jones?

Why would Philips doubt their ability to do their job?

Isn’t that because of the popularity of “Snake Game”?

If Snake Game is a game born in their Mi Luo Hua, then their Mi Luo Hua can completely use this game to make the Odyssey product soar to the sky!

When Odyssey's market sales surge, Philips will be able to promote their video disc standard to the North American public by installing a LaserDisc interface!

Whenever this step comes...

Philips can revolutionize the traditional video tape industry!

When every household buys an Odyssey with LaserDisc playback standard...

Philips can then vigorously lobby Hollywood entertainment companies to let them use their own video disks to copy film and television programs!

By then...

That would be a monopoly situation!

But it's a pity...

Ethan Jones does not belong to them.

The loss of the genius creativity of Snake Game made Philips very angry.

no way……

Who puts the publicity opportunity at your fingertips right in front of you!

So... Philips doesn't care if Ethan Jones signs a deal with Nolan Bushnell?

Thinking of this, the thin man swallowed, They don't care how much money our prosecution cost Ethan Jones?

Their previous questioning was just to vent their anger?

This question made the old man silent for a few seconds.

In the end, he shook his head and said: You are right, but you are also wrong.

Philips cares about Snake Game, so they will hold us accountable for losing it.

But at the same time, they found that the loss of Snake Game, or the rise of Ethan Jones, brought them, and us, a better opportunity.

‘? ? ? ’

Fat and thin didn't understand these words.

The old man smiled and continued: A few days ago, when the chairman called me over, he said that Philips is very happy now.

I'm glad that there is such a one-stop shop in the arcade market.

When Ethan Jones dominates the arcade game market alone, other companies on the market that also have excellent ideas will inevitably fall into a difficult situation due to lack of funds and lack of market.

Some people may choose to follow in the footsteps of Ethan Jones and continue to make CPU arcade machines.

But more companies will be afraid of the difficulty of developing CPU games and choose to stop there.

At this time, we can acquire those companies that are about to go bankrupt at very low prices, put those games that once caused huge waves in the game market into Odyssey, and bring a group of outstanding producers into Milohua... …”

“Now, we are the only one making home game consoles in the entire market!”

But at the same time, there are countless game companies in the entire market who dare not make electronic arcades!

We just need to get those ideas onto our home consoles and we can invade every home in North America in no time!

And this is the situation that Philips wants to see the most!

When this fact appeared, the fat and thin subordinates immediately laughed...

It's not just that they feel like their jobs are saved.

It’s even more because they are looking forward to the parent company’s ambitious goals.

Using North America as the basis to set rules for global video playback standards?

If this is successful, wouldn't Milohua become a monopoly giant?

When the time comes, those with the special code will just lie down and make money!

And their treatment...

It will also improve infinitely!

So, it's a good thing for us that Ethan Jones is releasing Pac-Man?

He directly disrupted the entire industry and gave us a new life?

Fatty was a little surprised.

I'm going to collect information about those game companies to see which companies have the idea of ​​changing careers and which companies are likely to go bankrupt!

Such words made the thin man keep nodding, and said: I will contact the technical department and ask them to try to add a LaserDisc port to the next generation product, or to see if a LaserDisc player can be built into the Odyssey. possible.

The decisiveness of his subordinates made the old man very happy.

He nodded in agreement, then waved his hand and said, Go ahead.

However, just when the fat and thin subordinate was about to leave, the thin man suddenly stopped when he thought of something.

Then, he asked the question that just popped up in his mind, Boss, there are two more things.

What's the matter? Tell me. The old man was in a good mood.

Will our next-generation Odyssey use a CPU?

certainly.

Then... The thin man hesitated.

The old man understood what he wanted to say and said: Choose Intel.

Okay. The thin man nodded immediately.

What's the second thing? the old man asked.

The second thing is... what if Ethan Jones also makes a home game console? The thin man was a little embarrassed.

Although he didn't want to tell the worst case scenario, sometimes, someone must be the warrior.

If Ethan Jones made a home console, all of us combined might not be able to beat him alone.

Because his creativity is really...

too strong.

These words made the old man smile slightly and nodded: Do you think Ethan Jones can still have excellent creativity after creating Pac-Man and Snake Game?

oh--

Do you really believe what Steven Spielberg says?

Spielberg was obviously flattering him.

Ethan Jones is just a man, he is not a god!

I'm sure he won't have any more amazing ideas in his head!

Such absolute words made the thin man swallow a gulp of saliva.

His hesitant expression made the old man smile and shake his head: Okay, Okay, Philips is actually prepared for the worst.

They thought about what would happen if Ethan Jones came up with new ideas.

But after the assessment, they felt there was a threat, but not a significant threat.

Because Philips is developing a new technology with Sony that allows optical discs to store data.

If I had to describe it, it would be equivalent to a CD version of ROM.

Its storage capacity is expected to be several times or even ten times that of the magnetic cartridge version of ROM.

At that time, no matter how creative Ethan Jones is, the world will have to use our stuff.

So, we at Odyssey just need to hold on until this technology comes out.

And this shouldn't be difficult, right?

After all, Ethan Jones is having a great time playing in the electronic arcade field right now.

And even if North America is over, there is still a market waiting for Liben to open up.

If I remember correctly, the licensing agent for Snake Game was Nintendo?

Oh this is really God blessing us Mi Luohua!

You go and call our old friend Hiroshi Yamauchi and tell him that Ethan Jones's new idea Pac-Man has swept across North America and is expected to earn more than one billion, and the MOS 6502 under his name is The best CPU in the world for arcades and consoles, and then...

Believe me, Yamauchi will annoy him to death.

Having said this, a bright smile appeared on the old man's face.

The fat and thin subordinates had a look of joy on their faces.

Because they know themselves——

The future is promising!

Note: ① In reality, Philips acquired Mirova to promote its own video disc standard. They obtained the North American patent in 1978. Mi Luohua's machines were sold until the 1990s. ②CD-ROM technology was jointly developed by Philips and Sony. ③I don’t know if you have heard of this story about the console war in the 1990s. To put it simply, Sony initially pulled Nintendo to make game consoles and wanted to promote its own CD standard through the game consoles. However, because the contract was not good for Nintendo, Nintendo broke the contract and worked with Philips to study the game consoles. Sony could only study it alone. , then the PS came out, Nintendo suffered a huge loss, and Philips, who played the role of a sword in this story to win love, exploded on the spot. But in fact, before this story, Philips had done two standard-setting things in the 1970s. Specifically, as written in the article, it used Milowax (actually PolyGram) to promote the video disc standard and the compressed optical disc standard. The first person who wanted to use video games to gain the right to speak in the industry was not Sony, but Philips. But in reality, Philips failed for two reasons. The first was bad luck. The Odyssey machine could not sell to Atari no matter what. The second one was still bad. When they came out with CD-ROM in 1982, they wanted to make a second-generation Odyssey and released it in 1983. Then on Christmas of 1982, ET swallowed up the entire North American game market. Atari's collapse frightened Philips into canceling the second-generation Odyssey project. So when they partnered with Nintendo, it was Philips' third attempt at setting standards.