The Industrial Giant Reborn

"When a whale falls, everything grows. There should be many people who start their own businesses here, right?" Chen Zhiwen asked.

"Yes, our people have contacted almost all the R\u0026D engineers of Atari. At least 6 small groups have formed a game company, and several of them are very capable. They were very good at Atari. results." Lei Shengli said.

"Well, then contact them. Our previous third-party open platform also needs a strong team like them." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.

In this world, many capable people go through a process from being a part-time job to being a boss. When Atari was still there, these people may have gotten used to their previous life, which is fine, but once they lose their jobs, they have an idea in their hearts , Those are those who will not die until the Yellow River, and they will not be able to pull back nine cows.

There are a lot of such people. Even if he finds a way to recruit these people today, there will be more tomorrow. Garage entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley is a trend of people with ideals.

Among these people, there may be someone who can create a game comparable to Mario. Although this is not a threat to Midea, it must have a lot of influence, especially if there are more games of this type, it will A new market will be cultivated: new game home consoles.

This is the threat to Midea's foundation in the game industry. Therefore, before they become big, they can be tied to their own boats, even if most of the profits from the game cards are given to the original authors.

And as long as the platform is stable and famous, other game creators will also take the initiative to apply to join, so the first few years are the most important.

For these entrepreneurs, they now have nothing but creativity, and by cooperating with Midea, they can directly use Midea's powerful channels to issue their own game cards, and the operation can achieve light weight.

"I have already arranged people to talk to them, and they also said that they will think about it after the game is formed." Lei Shengli said.

"Okay, if this is the case, we need to increase the advertising investment in the United States. NBC TV is now our ally. Ask them for more advertising time, and then invite the most famous people in the United States to speak. In a shorter period of time, let more families become our users." Chen Zhiwen thought for a while and then said.

Today, Midea’s profits in the United States are very high, but the market has not yet reached a monopoly position. After all, there are at least tens of millions of households in the United States. With the current sales speed, it will take a few years to reach 1/3, and this The number is basically the limit of the game market, and this is also the total market for American game consoles in the previous life. After all, not all families like to play games, and there are also many families who play less, so it is enough for several families to gather one.

However, the number of game cards is theoretically unlimited, and new games can be added one after another. In the next few years, game cards will become another major source of income for Midea, and the introduction of third-party game companies is for this purpose.

"Okay, what is the budget?" Lei Shengli asked.

"Half a year, 20 million US dollars." Chen Zhiwen thought for a while and said, with Midea's current profit, this amount is not small but not too much. Besides, advertising will always attract more people to buy. And if you buy a game console, the card market will be even bigger.

"Okay, Henry Morgan is probably going to die of joy." Lei Shengli said with a smile.

For a TV station, 20 million US dollars is not a small amount of advertising expenses. Although NBC may have a discount, the profit of this order of magnitude is definitely not bad.

Of course, this money may not all be given to NBC. At most, other TV stations, other newspapers, shopping malls, etc., will also have a certain amount of investment.

"He must at least have a good discount, otherwise I wouldn't choose them." Chen Zhiwen smiled, and said: "There is nothing wrong with this game. If it goes well, release the arcade machine as soon as possible. The market for arcade machines is not as good as it is now." In the past, when the arcade machine market is almost developed, you need to go to the red and white machine.”

Although Midea still insists on releasing high-quality games on the arcade first and then on the red and white machines, so as to ensure the maximum benefit, but when a large number of red and white machines appear in ordinary families, even the previous [Tank Battle] is far less playable. Play [Mario], but the game cards are purchased with a one-time payment. After buying, you can play whatever you want. After playing for a thousand hours, there will be a little more electricity bills, and [Mario] is fun, but you have to spend a lot of money every time. money.

Even if you're a true gaming fan and you're going to keep playing arcades, you'll at least be saving money at the arcade when you have other less entertaining but free games at home.

So no matter what, the arcade market will be affected. This is inevitable. You can’t give up the Famicom market just because arcades are highly profitable. Isn’t that similar to Kodak’s desire to hide the discovery of digital cameras and keep its film profits?

"Okay, I'm going to start airlifting to the United States at the end of the month for small-batch testing. We should be able to stock up in late June. According to market forecasts, by the middle of next year, Mario will be available on the Famicom." Lei Shengli analyzed.

"Okay, let's do it according to this plan." Chen Zhiwen paused and said, "I'm going to go to the mainland soon, and when I come back, I'm going to develop another game."

There are not many classic games from his previous life in his memory. When these shakes are almost used up, Namei’s games can only rely on himself. Therefore, the best way now is to form a third-party platform, and the plan’s In the early days, it was also necessary to have enough classic games, so that it could attract other families to buy red and white machines by means of games, thus taking the first step towards monopolizing the market.

"Okay." Lei Shengli nodded and said.

...

Friday, May 20.

Chen Zhiwen boarded a chartered flight to Yanjing with a group of Hong Kong tycoons.

This time also at the invitation of Xinhua News Agency, some rich and famous Chinese in Hong Kong went to Yanjing together, including Li Ka-shing, Pao Yugang, Hu Yingxiang, Li Zhaoji, etc. The purpose is naturally to discuss how Hong Kong will develop in the future, and we may also discuss it by the way Various cooperation possibilities.

On the plane, Chen Zhiwen also met Jin Yong, a great martial arts writer. Although he knew his name for a long time, Chen Zhiwen had never met him after traveling to Hong Kong. Maybe it was because there was no need for it. After all, there was no commercial cooperation. In the early stage, if you are not famous, looking for others may be closed doors. Later, when you become famous, there is no need. The two also chatted for a while on the plane, but Chen Zhiwen didn't understand novels, so they could only talk about the Mainland.

More than three hours later, the plane arrived in Yanjing City.

This time it was not an open invitation, so there was no big reception. A director of the Ministry of Commerce came and politely sent everyone to a five-star hotel near the second ring road of Yanjing.

It has been more than four years since the opening, and Yanjing has undergone many changes. There seem to be more bicycles on the road, and the ability to receive foreign guests is much better. At least there are already a few five-star hotels, but these are not the same. They are all invested and built by Hong Kong capital or overseas Chinese.

That afternoon, several big leaders came to negotiate with the Hong Kong businessmen present, but the big leaders only spoke in official language, supporting Hong Kong investment in China, ensuring everyone's income, mutual benefit and win-win, etc. The real detail investment is naturally the follow-up professional docking.

Hong Kong businessmen who come here basically have their own projects. For example, Li Ka-shing announced early on that he would build a university in Shantou. This time he came here, and he was in contact with the Ministry of Education. Hu Yingxiang wanted to continue building the bridge across the river. , so it was connected by the Ministry of Communications, Bao Yugang, of course it is still a ship. Although global shipping is not good enough, it is even more difficult for the inland ones who are just preparing to do it. You can only find well-known shipping companies like Bao Yugang. In addition, because Bao Yugang controlled China Power, the Daya Bay nuclear power plant project also became Bao Yugang's. This time he came to Yanjing, he was the busiest.

As for Chen Zhiwen, there is nothing else, only the International Trade Center project, and other industrial investments have basically been completed, so he doesn't need to ask too much.

Chen Zhiwen was connected with Deputy Director General Wei of the State Administration of Foreign Trade. Although the project was located in Yanjing City, it was directly managed by the central government. After all, after the completion of the International Trade Center, it will not only serve Yanjing.

"Director Wei, please sit down." After President Liang finished his introduction and left, Chen Zhiwen said with a polite smile.

"Mr. Chen is polite." Director Wei did not dare to put on airs to the person in front of him. You must know that even if the other party met the big leader he led, it was not in vain. A person's assets exceeded all the people in Yanjing for a year. The sum of wealth, if he takes over the project of the International Trade Center this time, it will greatly ease the pressure on domestic finances.

"Here is some Pu'er tea, which is prepared in the hotel. Director Wei should try it." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.

"Okay, thank you." Director Wei took a sip and said, "Mr. Chen, I am here this time mainly to discuss with you about the matter of the Yanjing International Trade Center. The central government also pays more attention to this matter. We I also discussed it with Mr. Zhou from Hehuang, and I don’t know if you still have any questions?”

"I don't think there is any problem with the location. The location on the third ring road is very good, and the traffic is very convenient. But I compared the data in New York City, and I think our China World Trade Center seems a little too small?" Chen Zhiwen asked.

"Chen Sheng, according to our plan, 100,000 square meters is enough for the first phase of the building." Director Wei said: "Chen Sheng means to build the International Trade Center a little bigger."

"Yes, I think that since it is going to be built, it is necessary to build a super landmark and become an external phenomenon of the entire Yanjing City." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.