Rebirth of America, this is my era

Chapter 127: Poke your lungs!
After hanging up the phone with Spielberg, Ethan accepted the other party's proposal and dialed the number of the Fox contact in his hand, who was the project manager of "Star Wars".

That’s the fat guy who questioned whether the movie could be released in the screening room.

When he learned that Ethan came to seek help, a surprised voice came from the other end of the phone, "Oh Ethan! We always thought that responding in silence was your plan..."

Although the Star Wars game is a soft advertisement for the movie, when the contract was signed, neither Ethan nor Fox drafted other sovereign clauses for the production and promotion of the game. This is because Ethan did not want to hand over his game to Fox for promotion, as he felt it was his own project, and Fox did not want to interfere with the promotion of the game without authorization.

The reason is also very simple.

Firstly, they feel that there is really no possibility of saving the movie "Star Wars" and that they are the ones trying to take advantage of the popularity. Since they are themselves at a disadvantage, they should not make comments.

Secondly, there is actually an unspoken rule in Hollywood, which is superstition about the strong. If there is someone who can achieve continuous success, they will blindly support the other person.

Although Ethan has only been around for two years, its two best-selling games have already reached the standard of superstition. So when Ethan said that he would make his own games, Fox really didn't say a word.

Therefore, no matter how loud the rumors outside were, no matter how strange Ethan's behavior was, they could sit back and wait calmly. In their opinion, Ethan already had a plan.

But when they found out that it was not that Ethan was not anxious, but that he had never been exposed to the Hollywood offensive, they were surprised. Of course, the so-called surprise only lasted for a moment, and then they returned to their professionalism as Spielberg said.

"Ethan, we fully agree with your idea of ​​responding to games with games."

"Because Milova and Atari have already spread the news, if you announce now that your Destiny game has completed the design of new products and will launch them to the market in the near future, I believe that the North American public will pay much more attention to you than normal publicity."

"Of course, I also admit that your response at this time is also beneficial to us. When people know that your new game is called Star Wars and the inspiration comes from Lucas' movie, then we at Fox can also use this cooperation to negotiate with North American theaters and ask them to schedule more screenings for Star Wars."

"However, these are ideal situations. Before you officially respond, we want to know what stage your game has reached in production? We want to know the specific situation, because for us in Hollywood, all products are special and we have to handle them specially when promoting them."

"Take Atari and Magnus machines for example. Why would they attack you in public opinion? This is because they know that no matter how good their machines are, they can't produce a game that can compete with Pac-Man. So only by stepping on you in public opinion can they gain people's real attention and gain real support from people who want to buy their machines with their dollars."

Ethan raised the corner of his mouth when he heard the fat supervisor's words.

Although this guy's judgment on movies is not as sharp as that of world-famous directors, his response in Hollywood publicity still makes Ethan very satisfied.

Since Milova and Atari were determined to drag him into this, why didn't he just follow their wishes and take advantage of the popularity they had already created?
Oh--

Ethan loves this idea!
So he answered the question that the fat supervisor wanted to know.

When the guys at Fox learned that Star Wars was making steady progress, with only one small feature missing to make it official, and that the beta version of the game was already playable...

Far away in Los Angeles, he immediately showed surprise, then drove all the way and arrived in Palo Alto in just five hours, wanting to test the quality of the game.

And when he witnessed the highly completed initial test game without the collision algorithm, the endless confrontation and the sense of oppression that could not be relieved for a moment made him pick up the joystick and put it in front of the APPLE 2 to play with it for a while!
And when he sat down...

Three hours more!

If it wasn't time for dinner and Ethan asked him to get up and eat, this guy would probably sit in front of the APPLE 2 for a few more hours and play until the end of time!
"Oh Ethan—this game is so damn fun!"

"Although the gameplay is simpler than Pac-Man, which is to control the Millennium Falcon to hit the spaceship, and the spaceship's route is also fixed, with only two differences: fast or slow, but it has a kind of magic that keeps me on edge and playing!"

"Oh yeah! Every time the Millennium Falcon wipes out a group of enemies, the spaceship attacks from the Galactic Empire are also very interesting! Their shooting makes me feel like I'm not fighting against a machine! It's as if there is a real person on the other side of the screen! He wants to kill me!"

Ethan smiled widely after hearing these words.

After all, there are few people in this world who can refuse praise from their own kind.

However, just when he asked whether using games to respond to games' counterattacks could be put on the agenda, the fat manager of Fox shook his head and directly denied it.

"No, Ethan, I don't recommend you do this."

"Why?" Ethan was a little confused.

"Because there's a problem with your game." He smiled and said, "If I'm not mistaken, your game adopts the design concept of Spacewar?"

'? '

Ethan frowned and said, "You think Star Wars adopted the design concept of Spacewar? Oh - these two games are completely different!"

“Space Wars is a two-player game, where two players control different spaceships to fight each other in space. The game ends as long as one player defeats the other. Star Wars is a defensive game, where players face endless enemies!”

“The gameplay of these two games is obviously different!”

“How can this be considered a reference?”

Ethan didn't understand.

In his opinion, the fat executive at Fox had made a core mistake in his description of the game Star Wars!

Because no matter from which angle you look at it, the gameplay of "Spacewar" is of a PVP nature, while "Star Wars" or "Space Invaders" is of a PVE nature. When these two games are compared in essence, there are differences. If this can still be regarded as a reference, then Newton's coffin lid will really not be able to cover it!

It doesn’t make sense, right!
However, in response to Ethan's questioning, the fat supervisor smiled and said, "Ethan, you're angry, right? This is actually what happens when you use normal means to release the game to the public."

“You will definitely face such doubts.”

"We said before that we should respond to games with games. There is actually nothing wrong with this statement."

"But the real problem is that once you release the game publicly, your competitors will definitely seize on your problems and attack you crazily."

'? '

Ethan still didn't understand.

The fat Fox executive was not in a hurry and continued, "Ethan, please recall who is the founder of Atari, your competitor who wants to step on you to get to the top?"

"Nolan Bushnell," Ethan answered quickly.

"Did he copy the game Spacewar before he founded Atari?"

"Yes." Ethan nodded and said, "And he also suffered a Waterloo in this project..."

Before Ethan could finish his words, the fat Fox supervisor clapped his hands and said, "That's the problem!"

"When your competitor makes a space game, your similar product is considered plagiarism in his eyes, or in the eyes of Warner behind him!"

"They will definitely attack you like crazy, saying that you plagiarized their ideas, or the ideas of their predecessors!"

"Countless media outlets will surely declare that you have lost your source of inspiration! You can only plagiarize other people's works!"

"As for what the outcome of this kind of thing is?"

"It doesn't matter to them at all!"

"Because as long as it can discredit you, that's enough!"

"Don't think they can't do this. We at Fox have known them for so many years, and we've seen too many of these little tricks in publicity and promotion!"

"When the only way to gain market share is to kill your competitors——"

"Then they will stab you to death without hesitation!"

The fat supervisor of Fox looked at Ethan seriously.

The murderous aura in his words made Ethan's heart tremble.

Although he was not sure whether what this guy said was right or wrong, he personally felt that if he really responded, what the fat supervisor said might really become a reality.

After all, the endless slander made him realize the shamelessness of big companies.

As for the claim of directly suing for defamation?
Do not make jokes--

No matter what the matter is, as long as it enters the litigation stage, the party filing the lawsuit has actually lost.

Because a lawsuit takes a long time, even if the lawsuit is won, it will be past the best time to launch the product.

And the people are forgetful.

A person's vindication will only make them sigh for a second, and then...

It's gone.

"Fuck! These guys are such a rip-off!"

Ethan cursed in his heart.

At the same time, he humbly asked for advice, "So your opinion is..."

"My personal suggestion is... you should leave the promotion of the game to us at Fox."

The fat manager smiled and said, "If you are willing to let us be responsible for the promotion of this game, then we can handle these problems for you directly. Of course, you don't have to worry about the cost..."

“We don’t charge.”

"We only have one request. If the game is successful and the movie is a big hit, then we hope that when George has the idea of ​​making a sequel, you can stand on Fox's side and say a few words for us, and let him continue to hand over the distribution of the movie to us."

"I know you may find my suggestion a bit strange, because I cursed the movie crazily at the screening, but what I want to say is that before I saw the game, I still didn't believe that the movie "Star Wars" could be a big hit. But after I played your game, I began to doubt it. I wondered if I really didn't understand the movie?"

"Because I can clearly feel that even if your game is not named "Star Wars", it can still sell well. When you can name a game that is sure to sell well after George's movie, I think... you may not do those stupid things that are outrageous to both humans and gods..."

This answer surprised Ethan.

Because he had always believed that Fox was full of talented people.

Otherwise, how could they have been on the brink of bankruptcy again and again in their previous lives?
"Cleopatra", the biggest abyss in the history of film, was produced by them.

They lost so much money from this movie that they had to sell all the company’s land.

Although "Star Wars" has become a national IP in North America, George Lucas is the biggest winner under their suffocating manipulation.

"Titanic" did set a new box office record in film history, but Fox did not reap the profits alone. When they were almost dragged down by Cameron during the filming, they brought in Paramount to share the profits.

When these unbelievable incidents continued to occur one after another, people even began to wonder if this company had feng shui problems.

But now that Ethan heard the fat supervisor's request...

He thought that these people might just be unlucky.

Because when they find that things may exceed their expectations, they will also make amends.

Ethan gladly accepted the help from Fox, which came right to his door.

After all, when Atari and Milova both used magic attacks, using magic to fight magic was the best option at the moment.

When the fat executive at Fox learned that the game "Star Wars" would be officially released on April 15th at the latest, they decided to rush out a promotion and marketing plan overnight.

Before leaving, he also said, "Mr. Jones, please be sure to watch the news in various media tomorrow morning. I believe... they will say something unfavorable to you."

“Although you didn’t accept the interview, sometimes silence is the best response.”

Just as the fat manager said, the next morning, Ethan Jones became the headline of various media outlets.

A newspaper said that he remained silent during the interview because his company's strategy lagged behind others;
Some newspapers said that he pushed and ran away because the company could not launch a corresponding competitive product; some newspapers said that he resisted the interview because he knew that the era of video arcades had come to an end;
A newspaper said that Ethan Jones was like a bright comet, which suddenly appeared and brought a moment of beauty to people, then fell in an instant and disappeared in silence.

At this moment, Ethan Jones even had an illusion.

He felt like he had become the daddy of all media outlets.

If not...

Why are these guys crying so hard for him?

To be honest, even though he was mentally prepared, when Ethan really saw the overwhelming diss, he still felt a little unhappy.

However, that afternoon, he met Fox's fat supervisor again.

The other party came all the way from Los Angeles and pushed the newly-released promotional arrangements in front of Ethan.

Although the plan had more than two thousand words, Ethan's eyes became brighter and brighter as he read on.

After he finished reading it all, he asked directly: "Is this really possible?"

"Of course!" The fat supervisor smiled and nodded. "Mr. Jones, after reading those reports, we also know that you are very angry."

"so……"

"Don't suppress yourself..."

"When your competitors are openly pulling you down, the best thing you can do is to criticize them as much as you want!"

"Okay!" Ethan liked the decision, "Let's do it this way!"

Ethan's straightforward answer made the fat supervisor of Fox smile and nod.

Under their arrangement, the first step of counterattack took place on April 8.

On this day, Fox Film, Lucasfilm and Destiny held a joint press conference in Los Angeles. At the press conference, the three companies announced to the media that the new movie jointly produced by Fox Film and Lucasfilm will officially meet the audience this summer.

"It was a science fiction movie, created with the best of George Lucas."

"He will bring an epic fantasy story to the screen."

To be honest, this simple description cannot arouse the interest of the media at all.

After the invited reporters asked a few simple questions about the film itself, they all turned their attention to asking why Ethan Jones appeared at a film press conference.

In response to such a question, a Fox spokesperson smiled and said: "It's very simple, because we are very confident in the screen presentation of this science fiction movie, so we invited Ethan Jones, the hottest game producer at the moment, to make a game for this movie."

“And this game…”

“It will be released in North America on the same day as the movie!”

When this message appears...

The air at the scene seemed to be stagnant!
All the reporters looked at Ethan Jones with disbelief!

no way……

Who made Milova and Atari buy countless press releases to discredit him in order to elevate themselves?
When the recent entertainment focus shifted from various celebrities to Ethan Jones...

The guy who has always refused media interviews has actually already made the game?
Oh! My! God!

This is the most shocking news!

Almost at the same moment, the media who reacted raised their hands frantically!
Some people didn't even bother to follow the rules of the press conference and shouted:

"Mr. Jones! Is this the reason why you have refused interviews in the past few weeks? Because you signed a confidentiality agreement with Fox to keep the content of their film confidential?"

"Mr. Jones! Can you tell me about your new game?"

"Mr. Jones! We want to know what you think of the new products from MILO and Atari? Do the Apollo and New Generation products have any impact on you?"

"Mr. Jones! I want to know what you think about the development of the video game industry? Because now all media are saying that the era of video arcades is over, and the next is the era of home consoles. Video games will definitely move from the streets to everyone's home in the next few years! Also, I want to know, how do you view the outside world's criticism of you? Now many media experts are saying that you are just using video arcades as a tool to make money?"

As questions came one after another, Ethan, who was sitting at the press conference podium, laughed.

He first politely tilted his head and glanced at the Fox executives and George Lucas.

After they nodded slightly, Ethan picked up the microphone and said:
"First of all, thank you for your concern and attention to me."

“Your support has made me feel the enthusiasm of the media community.”

"Secondly, I would like to say that I declined the interview because I was busy with work."

"Last week, the new game developed by our company was in the final packaging stage. I had to focus on my work and had no time to accept media interviews, so I rejected all of them."

"As for the content of the new game... Just like the previous Pac-Man, we will hold a special new product launch conference later, so I won't introduce it here."

"Then I can answer the questions you want to know here."

"My thoughts on the future of the video game industry."

"On this issue, I just want to say——"

Ethan cleared his throat, a bright smile appeared on his face, and he said loudly:

"The electronic arcade is in its most vigorous growth period! It will never be replaced by home consoles! As for Milova and Atari... I think they are just spewing shit, trying to trick people into buying their home consoles by stealing the concept!"

"From what I understand, both of them are pricing their home consoles at $199.99?"

"In my opinion, this price is to increase the threshold for game enthusiasts to play!"

"They say arcade machines are a scam?"

"Oh - then I want to ask them, abandoning video arcades and selling home consoles instead won't that shut out a lot of players who want to play games?"

"Because once a person buys a home console, they can't just play the games!"

"He also needs a TV!"

“And a living room that’s perfect for a TV!”

“Perhaps in the eyes of capitalists like Atari and MILO, as long as you are a gamer, your home will have a living room and a TV, but what I want to say is - please go out and take a good look!”

“The economic crisis is not over yet!”

"There are still many families struggling to make ends meet!"

"Two hundred dollars, for Atari and MILO, that might just be a machine, but for those people, it's more like two weeks' worth of food!"

"Let them use the money they earned from eating to buy a home console?"

"Ah--"

"Do these two companies, MILO and Atari, still have any shame?"

Ethan raised his eyebrows, looked at the reporters who were already stunned, and stretched out his voice: "Or -"

"Do they think that video games are not mass entertainment?"

At this point, Ethan's smile grew wider, and even his tone was a little mocking, "I never understood what they were thinking."

"Isn't the real purpose of video games to bring more happiness to people in the world?"

"If they insist on putting countless prefixes in front of a happiness for the general public, then I want to know, do they think from the bottom of their hearts that people who can't afford two hundred dollars don't deserve to enjoy the relaxation brought by video games in their spare time?"

"If that's the case! Please publish my words exactly as they are!"

"I ask Atari to go back and ask their parent company Warner! Ask them if they don't want to serve those fans anymore? Does Warner feel from the bottom of their hearts that those fans who spend a dollar to watch a movie don't deserve to enjoy this kind of mass entertainment?"

"I'd like to ask MILOWA to ask their parent company Philips! Ask them if they don't want to serve those fans anymore? After all, a music cassette doesn't sell for much!"

"Bang!" At this point, Ethan slammed the table.

He raised his chin and said seriously: "I, Ethan Jones, put my words here!"

"Home consoles may be a good product, but arcade machines will never go out of style!"

"When Professor Ralph Bell developed the home console, his biggest dream was to spread laughter around the world! But why did he abandon Milova and support me? It's because he knows that only arcade special codes can serve more people!"

Ethan made the final decision.

Sitting at the press conference stage, he looked around and asked with a smile: "I've finished speaking. Is there anyone else who is dissatisfied? I don't know if any of you want to be separated from the public, but I, Ethan Jones, will not. As long as there are still people playing arcade games, we will definitely continue to make the Destiny game!"

"If even the simplest pleasures have to be forcibly stratified by Atari and MILOVA..."

"Isn't this world too dark?"

"hiss……"

Before Ethan finished speaking, there was a sound of people gasping for air at the scene!
All the reporters stared at Ethan in amazement. At this moment, they felt dazzled because they found that they saw light!

Ethan, on the other hand, was smiling and laughing non-stop.

The spontaneous sense of relief made him feel very comfortable.

In fact, a few months ago, when Nolan Bushnell said he was cheating people with arcade machines, he wanted to fight back! And now...

The wish finally came true!
MILOVA and Atari say home consoles are the future?

Correct!
He Ethan admitted that home consoles are indeed the future!

But this doesn’t mean that the arcade industry will suddenly die!
They can describe a bright future to players, but they cannot say that the existence of arcades is undesirable!

You can't blame Ethan Jones for being ruthless when they madly disparage arcade machines in order to promote their own products!
An industry that grew up from the masses wants to break away from the masses?
Aren't you looking for death?

This group of people dared to criticize the arcade machines for being expensive, and dared to criticize Ethan Jones for using the arcade machines to make money. Then Ethan Jones dared to say that they were out of touch with the masses!
After all, whether it is video games, Hollywood movies, entertainment music, or electronic consumer products, they all rely on the support of the public to make a living!
When these companies are accused of being out of touch with the masses...

They also make a Jier product!
Ethan believed that when such reports appeared, no matter whether it was Atari or MIRO, Warner or Philips, it would be as painful as having its lungs punctured!
And the more uncomfortable they were, the happier Ethan was!

no way!
Who made them opponents?

Seeing your opponent being scolded is even more enjoyable than being praised yourself!
Note: ① It should be recognized that Hollywood is superstitious. Vanity Fair even wrote an article about it. Hollywood is compared to the world's largest casino, because no one here really knows why a movie is successful. The so-called summary of success is hindsight, so when there is no experience to summarize, whoever has more success is right. ② The economic crisis described in the article is actually a series of events in the 76s. The collapse of the Bretton Woods system, the oil crisis, and inflation have reduced the consumer confidence of the American people and caused the unemployment rate to soar. Although the official said that the duration was short and it was completely resolved in , the feedback from the public is still not very good, and the article uses the statement of public sentiment.

PS, I can’t write anything by 12 o’clock tomorrow noon, I’ll update it in the evening. My time seems to be messed up after all this.

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(End of this chapter)