Rebirth of America, this is my era

Chapter 121 Friendship

Chapter 121 Friendship
"Ethan, is what you just said true?"

After leaving Fox, on the way back to Universal, Spielberg asked cautiously: "Do you really want to make a video game under the name of Star Wars?"

Although Spielberg just acted extremely arrogant in front of Fox executives, he actually knew that there were many problems with the movie "Star Wars".

For example, the visual effects were not finalized;
For example, the editing and narrative effects are extremely confusing;
With these minor issues unresolved, Ethan is willing to make games in the name of "Star Wars", which is no different from doing charity.

Because this is equivalent to using one's own reputation to protect others. When "Snake" and "Pac-Man" caused a sensation in North America and even the world, the name Ethan Jones actually represented money. Before Ethan officially failed, merchants would buy the games he invented without thinking, and users would flock to spend real money to appreciate his works.

As for the reason?

This can actually be considered a kind of celebrity effect.

"Of course." Ethan smiled and said, "Steven, you don't think I'm joking, do you? If so, I would be very sad."

"No, No, No, I don't mean that..." Spielberg waved his hands quickly.

His panicked look also made Ethan give up the idea of playing around -

"Brother, don't be nervous. I'm just kidding. I do want to make a game about aliens. I already have a specific idea. But after seeing "Star Wars", I perfected the overall concept of this game. If George doesn't mind, I will name this game "Star Wars", but if he minds..."

"He won't mind!" Spielberg said immediately before Ethan finished speaking.

Ethan was a little surprised by the decisive words, "Oh Steven, can you help him make the decision?"

"I guess so..." Spielberg nodded.

Perhaps it was because the argument just now had exhausted all his energy.

But it was also possible that Ethan's response gave him confidence.

After giving an affirmative answer, he also relaxed and leaned back on the car seat, saying: "Ethan, let me tell you this, we have known each other for ten years, and we can already make some decisions for each other..."

Spielberg and Lucas met in 1138-4. At that time, they were still elementary school students in the film industry. Spielberg was rejected by his dream university, while Lucas had made many short films at a young age. The one that shocked Spielberg the most was a short film called "Electronic Labyrinth: THX EB".

The short film is about:
In the dystopian future underground city, humans do not have their own names, but only mechanical code names. A human named THX 1138 4EB does not want to live like this and decides to escape from here. As a result, the government who discovered his prison break used computers and cameras to track him and tried to stop him, but they ultimately failed.

Following 4EB's successful jailbreak, the Mechanized Government, in order to preserve its rule, offered condolences to his partner, claiming that 4EB destroyed himself in the process of escaping.

If this kind of story were set in the 21st century, it would definitely be a fantasy at the mass level, because when the Internet age arrives, the above things may really exist. But in the 1960s, when computers were not yet popular and the Internet did not exist at all, George Lucas's vision of the future was an incredible genius inspiration that could amaze people. That's why...

"I started to get in touch with him and we got to know each other," Spielberg said. "George is the most imaginative person I have ever met. In the process of getting along with him, he brought me a lot of inspiration. Most importantly, he taught me how to make a real movie!"

"This sentence may sound strange, but it is actually very simple, because he is friends with Francis Ford Coppola, so under his guidance, I can freely enter and exit the crew of "Rain Man" and watch the filming of "The Godfather" at will..."

"Ethan, you've never made a movie, so you may not know that observing the filming of a movie up close on the set is what a novice should do most. Most of the problems that exist on the set cannot be explained through verbal communication. Only when you witness it with your own eyes can you know how to solve it."

"Without George's help, I might never have been able to make Jaws in my lifetime..."

"So, when he needs me, I will help him unconditionally."

"He needs to succeed now! The movie Star Wars must also be successful! He has bet everything on this movie! There is no way he can accept the failure of this movie!"

"so……"

At this point, Spielberg turned his head and looked at Ethan seriously: "If you are really willing to make a game for Star Wars, I will be very happy. At the same time, no matter what George's reaction is, I will convince him to accept it..."

"Now is not the time to be willful."

Ethan nodded slightly after hearing these heartfelt words.

"Thank you for your trust," he said.

This response made Spielberg stunned, and the next second, he burst into laughter -

"Oh Ethan, I should be the one thanking you! If you hadn't just said that you got inspiration from Star Wars, I would have been so angry today!"

"Those administrators know nothing about movies!"

"A bunch of idiots—"

Ethan had no idea whether the people at Fox understood movies, but he knew that when he followed Spielberg back to Universal, this guy immediately contacted his own people at Warner to help him inquire about Atari's research and development situation. In just two hours, a document signed by the current Warner CEO Steve Ross was delivered to him.

This document contains detailed information about everything related to the Atari home console:

The CPU of Atari's new machine was the Intel 8080, which cost twenty-two dollars per chip;
The built-in storage is a 128-byte memory stick from Texas Instruments, but in order to accommodate more games, they also expanded it with two 1024-byte memory boards, the cost here is ninety-six dollars;
When the cost of the two main components was as high as $118, in order to ensure a profit, the selling price of the machine was set at $199.99.

It seems very expensive, but since the machine has built-in "Breakout" and "Pong", as well as games such as "Racing" and "Pinball" to play... this price is actually still acceptable.

Yes.

In the documents that Spielberg obtained, Atari did not launch a game inspired by Pac-Man, and this fact made Ethan breathe a sigh of relief.

Since Atari did not start to borrow, it proves that things have not yet reached the worst point.

Of course, he did not take it lightly.

Because there is no information from Milova at the moment.

Since he couldn't get any relevant information for the time being, Ethan could only judge based on Milova's acquisition behavior and the launch time of the console that the probability of their reference was relatively low.

Just as Ethan was praying that God would bless him no matter what, in the afternoon, George Lucas, who had temporarily finished his work, came to Universal. The bearded man first communicated with Steven Spielberg alone for a while, and then the two of them appeared in front of Ethan together.

George Lucas smiled and said, "Ethan, thank you very much for helping me. Steven and I have discussed it and decided to cooperate with you. We will invite Destiny Games to develop a game named "Star Wars" to help promote the movie better."

"Because our cooperation is different from other cooperation, other companies may sell copyrights and develop games, but our goal is to authorize naming and help with publicity and distribution. Therefore, I don't know what you think about the publicity fee? What is your psychological price? And what is the payment method?"

At this point, Lucas rubbed his hands embarrassedly and said, "Ethan, Steven should have told you that I don't have any money now, so... can you accept deferred payment?"

'? ? ? '

When Ethan heard what Lucas said, his whole face was full of WTF?

He suspected that he had heard it wrong!
He used the "Star Wars" name to make a game, and Lucas wanted to give him money?

Is there such a good thing in the world?
However, after only a moment of surprise, Ethan reacted.

Lucas and Spielberg seem to think that these two are taking advantage of their popularity!
Although this kind of thing sounds funny no matter how you look at it, Ethan doesn't take it seriously.

He smiled and shook his head, "Oh George, you don't have to mention things like publicity fees anymore."

"After all, the game was inspired by your and Steven's movie."

"You trust me and are willing to give me your name, that's enough."

"As for the other stuff?"

"Hey! When Steven helped me contact Rudolph, Professor Ralph Bell, he didn't ask me to pay any agency fees! Now he helped me get some information, and he didn't ask me for any money! So don't mention these messy things anymore!"

"I'll get mad if you mention it again!"

Ethan deliberately frowned.

Lucas's face lit up with excitement.

Spielberg bumped him and laughed:
"Oh George, I said Ethan really wants to help us, right?"

The teasing words made Lucas nod repeatedly, and he also opened his arms towards Ethan.

"Ethan! Thank you!"

"From today on you are my brother!"

"No matter what problems you have in the future, as long as I can help you, I will definitely help you!"

"Oh no—I'll help even if I can't!"

brother?

Ethan grinned at the name.

Being brothers with Lucas?
Oh--