Rebirth of America, this is my era

Chapter 140 Something is wrong

"Ethan, what do you think is wrong with this matter?"

When he returned home that night, Ethan told Evelyn the latest developments.

And when he showed the machine sent by Spielberg, Evelyn, confused, asked doubtfully: "Oh Ethan, I don't think I understand what you mean."

“COLOR TV GAME is not a CPU game console. Isn’t this a good thing?”

"As a circuit board game console, what's wrong with it being like the MIRO Odyssey?"

"After all, the MILO Odyssey is the world's first commercial home game console. When people want to imitate it, subconscious plagiarism is inevitable."

To Evelin, Ethan’s alarm seemed a little strange.

When they learned that Nintendo had launched the COLOR TV GAME, what they were most worried about was actually the design concept of this machine. If this machine was similar to the New Generation and Apollo, then they would be in big trouble, because this meant that Nintendo became the third company after Atari and Magnavox that was a big step ahead of them in promoting projects in the game field.

But when they confirmed that COLOR TV GAME was just a circuit board arcade machine, this threat should have been eliminated naturally. Ethan shouldn't be so nervous. At least in Evelyn's opinion, this nervousness was unnecessary, "because our current progress should be the same as Nintendo's."

"If they want to develop CPU mainframes."

“No, No, No…” Ethan shook his head and said, “Evelyn, it is precisely because Nintendo does not produce a CPU console that this matter is problematic.”

"What?" Evelyn's forehead was raised like a river. She didn't understand what Ethan meant.

Ethan stared at the girl and said seriously, "Let me ask you, when we went to Honjo last year, did Nintendo's president Hiroshi Yamauchi clearly state that even if we rejected him, they would try their best to obtain the chip agency rights for MOS 6502 in Honjo?"

"Yeah~"

Evelin nodded and said, “For this reason, he even took us to see his…ancestral home?”

"Yes! He even took us to see his ancestral home!" Ethan said seriously: "When he desperately wants to get the chip, does this mean that he thinks that chips are the future? If he doesn't think that chips are the future, there is no reason for him to be crazy about getting a chip agent, right?"

The tongue-twister-like words made Evelin stunned for a few seconds.

After thinking for a moment, the girl narrowed her eyes.

"I understand what you mean." Evelyn said, "Ethan, what you mean is that when a person thinks that chips are the future, he will not pursue a machine like Odyssey, right?"

"Especially since the Odyssey product hasn't been selling well in North America."

"Bingo!" Ethan snapped his fingers. "That's what I wanted to say!"

Ethan thought Nintendo was acting strangely! Why would they make circuit board game consoles when they had already licensed MOS 6502 from him?
This makes no sense!
If the circuit board game console is the answer to the current version, and the Magnetic Odyssey has been a hit in North America and has set off a trend, then there is absolutely no problem for Nintendo to make a circuit board game console.

But the problem is that MILO spent three years on the Odyssey product before pushing its global shipments to 350,000 units.

Even if the gross profit margin of this product is 50%, with such low shipment volume and such long delivery time, this project is not worth it for Nintendo to do.

Not to mention, the gross profit of this project is less than 30%.

When the cost of making a multi-game circuit board is thirty dollars, if you have the spare time to make circuit board game consoles, you might as well make an arcade machine instead!

After all, Nintendo has its own venue, and they can get all the profits from the arcade to the greatest extent!
Therefore, when Ethan discovered that COLOR TV GAME was not a CPU game console but a circuit board game console, a strong sense of doubt surged in his heart.

"To be honest, I have a feeling now that Yamauchi Hiroshi and his team should have been working on the COLOR TV GAME home game console before they got the license for MOS 6502 last year. Or, in other words, when the COLOR TV GAME machine was so similar to the Odyssey..."

Ethan stretched out his voice.

Although he was reluctant to speak out his guess, after dragging his words for a while, he decided to reveal the worst-case scenario, "They may have obtained the authorization for Odyssey."

Such words made Evelin close her eyes.

He leaned back and sank into the soft sofa.

The sudden package made her nerves tense instantly, but the connection that came naturally made her understand everything. "You mean, Nintendo learned about MOS 6502 from Mi Luohua?"

"Is it actually Mirohua's idea that we go to Benzi?"

"At that time, MILO was already developing a home console based on the CPU, but they were afraid that we would continue to launch new games, afraid that we could launch a sensational game like Pac-Man, so they wanted to keep us away from North America and distract us with some trivial matters so that they could have more time for development and release?"

"And the evidence is..."

At this point, Evelin opened her eyes and looked at Ethan sharply, "Last year, before we left North America, Milova was already buying up game companies?"

Although Evelyn communicated with Ethan in an inquiring tone, her words were full of affirmation.

"Yeah—"

Ethan was glad that his sister understood him.

He looked at his sister without hesitation and said, "If I remember correctly, we already felt that the acquisition behavior of Milova and Atari was very strange, right?"

"Because there is absolutely no need for them to vigorously promote the company's business before the bicentennial celebrations, when all sectors of society are relaxing for the celebrations."

"At the time, we thought they were taking advantage of the situation, but now it seems that they just wanted to complete some acquisitions while public opinion was ignoring them."

"And soon after we heard the news, Yamauchi Hiroshi showed up."

"We were not on guard at the time and thought it might be an accident, but now it seems..."

Ethan pursed his lips, his meaning was clear.

Evelyn took over the conversation, "It does seem premeditated."

"He said at the time that he was in Boston to see Ben's sailboat, but it seemed like he was saying this specifically for us because you were very interested in sailboats at the time."

"Then, he took the initiative to invite us to the book."

"And this time, we lost more than a month."

"When we came back, something happened at the factory again, and then you were busy with those trivial matters for a long time. If it were just these, it would be fine, but the most fatal thing is..."

"I remember you told me that the trafficker who instigated the whole incident has not been found yet?"

Evelyn stared at Ethan with a serious face.

And Ethan...

He smiled and nodded.

"Yes, my dear sister, the traffickers have not been found yet."

When their eyes met, doubts suddenly arose.

At this moment, they felt that everything they had experienced was totally wrong!

They felt that the occurrence of the above four events was beyond their expectations!

And when four events that can be called unexpected occur one after another...

This particular thing can’t actually be called a surprise!
It's just that they couldn't find a reasonable explanation at the time, and those things had to be dealt with, so they could only put the cause of the matter behind them. And now, after Nintendo has launched COLOR TV GAME, a product that is extremely similar to MILOVA Odyssey...

Ethan Jones felt that all accidents were man-made!

If Nintendo was found by Mirohua...

Then all these coincidences would make sense!

"They have been targeting us from the very beginning! They want to defeat us directly with the CPU host! They need a sure victory! That's why they will try every means to hold us back and prevent us from developing new products!" Ethan took a deep breath and expressed his guess in a heavy tone.

"As for whether Atari and Mirowa are in the same group?"

"I do not know about this."

"But now I believe that these things must have been caused by them!"

Although there was no evidence, the reasonable guess still made Evelin nod continuously.

After connecting the dots, she actually felt that what Ethan said made sense.

However, after a while, a smile appeared on her face again.

"Ethan, if all the accidents we experienced were caused by Milova and Atari, then our current success would be even more amazing, right?"

"Under their siege, we actually created Star Wars?"

"Wow……"

“This sounds so cool!”

The girl winked at Ethan happily.

Now she really feels that this younger brother who has been bullied by her for many years is very powerful.

How could they survive the elaborate encirclement of a large company? Not only that, they even fought back with lightning speed? This kind of thing is even more exciting than the heroic scripts in Hollywood!
But unfortunately, the girl's praise did not bring a smile to Ethan's face.

He still had a straight face and said, "Oh Evelyn, I don't think it's that simple." "Are Milova and Atari doing this just to smoothly launch their new products?"

"This reason sounds too outrageous."

"Because whether it's the Apollo or the New Generation, they are machines that transcend time. It's impossible for Atari and MILO to not know how powerful their products are."

"When the products they come up with can scare us, normal confidential research and development is enough. There is no need to use those despicable means to hold us back."

In Ethan's opinion, unless the leaders of Milova and Atari were all time travelers, they would not be as wary of him as they were of cuckolds. Even if they were afraid that he would continue to make games like Snake and Pac-Man, it would be ridiculous to distract him by using tricks like hiring outside help and using dirty tricks. Moreover, they were not time travelers. If they were time travelers, they would have copied a lot of things long ago if they had money and technology. How could they wait for him?
and so……

"I feel that... there must be something strange about things going wrong." Ethan folded his arms.

But the girl smiled and shook her head.

"Oh Ethan, I think you might be too tired and thinking too much."

"Isn't this what is often said in the military: strategy despises tactics?"

"Although we are rivals, I think Atari and MILO are doing a great job."

She felt that Ethan was suffering from paranoia.

When the top executives of MILO had been optimized by Philips and Atari's founder Nolan Bushnell had been kicked out by Warner, everything was over.

"Even if their behavior is disgusting, they have paid a corresponding price, right?"

"The one that's giving us the most headache right now is actually Nintendo, right?"

"If we had known that they were called by Mi Luohua..."

"Then I will definitely not vote in favor of your cooperation."

Evelyn's words made Ethan even more upset.

Special code!
He thought he was already wary enough of Nintendo!

But he still didn't expect that Nintendo was actually a ghost!

At the beginning, when Yamauchi Hiroshi met him, he openly stated that he had cooperation with Mi Luohua, and also publicly said that he was very sorry for the conflict between Mi Luohua and him, but for the development of the company, he had to come, and hoped that he could understand, blah blah blah...

At that time, Ethan thought this guy was easy to get along with.

At least put everything on the table instead of pretending to be stupid and ignorant, and wait until he has made everything clear before he can explain in shame.

In the subsequent trips to Benzi, whether it was project arrangement, accompanying explanations, or being full of eagerness, this guy had sincerity written all over his face.

Can……

Who would have thought that his cooperation with Mi Luohua was so deep!
Not only is there cooperation on light guns, there may even be cooperation on machines!

This kind of deep binding is like eating shit to Ethan!
so disgusting!
To be honest, Ethan now really doesn’t know what attitude he should have towards Nintendo.

He admitted that Nintendo was indeed a good partner because they were very proactive in paying him money. So far, the amount they paid him for the two projects, Snake and Pac-Man, has exceeded 10 million US dollars.

But if all the cooperation is based on deception, then he feels that their cooperation can no longer continue. He will take the initiative to tear up the contract. He will no longer let Nintendo make money by relying on him while secretly laughing at himself for being stupid.

"Nintendo will send us the cooperation report for the first half of this year this month."

"I have already spoken to Alan Massey, and I will meet with their people when the time comes."

“Some things have to have a conclusion.”

Ethan made a decision, and at the same time, he changed the subject.

"Let's not talk about these disgusting things. Did you look at the machine drawings I gave you that day?"

Although Ethan was disgusted by the possible cooperation between Nintendo and Milova, it did not mean that he would lose his mind and wait for news. While Spielberg was helping him with COLOR TV GAME, he also drew some home consoles according to the pictures in his memory.

As for his "design" of home consoles, Evelyn really has something to say.

"Oh Ethan - you're great at designing games, but machines..."

"I think you should just let me do it alone."

When talking about this matter, Evelin’s face was full of helplessness.

"Does the blueprint you gave me have any practical significance?"

"When you said you wanted to give me the blueprints, I thought you were going to give me some circuit boards!"

"But after taking a look at it, you really don't even know what a central processing unit, a graphics controller, a sound generator, or a BIOS chip is!"

"In your drawings, that's only the shell of the machine!"

"If you want me to draw the boards inside the machine shell you designed and design the wiring of each interface, then you should do this work yourself."

Evelyn glared at Ethan unhappily.

Ethan was a little embarrassed.

Earlier, when he was thinking about which machine from his previous life to copy, he realized that machines are different from games. The latter can let technicians get their point by describing the game content, but the former really cannot describe the hardware in the machine without understanding the technology.

So all he could copy was the outer shell of the machine.

When he handed the blueprint to Evelyn, he knew he might be scolded, but when he was really scolded, he felt he could still save himself.

So, he said stubbornly: "Didn't I also draw the game controller?"

"That thing should be able to be built in the opposite direction, right?"

“Humph…” Evelin didn’t bother to pay attention to him.

"If I didn't have those controllers, I would have beaten you up!"

Although Ethan is not the kind of person who likes to be in charge of things without being an expert, he still wants to inquire about the development of the host. After all, this is the company's most important strategic plan at present.

However, when he followed Evelyn into the study and took a few glances at the densely packed sketches, he couldn't understand them at all, so he strategically gave up and decisively handed the matter over to Evelyn.

And in this kind of thing, Evelin also showed great concern.

Since she started designing machines officially, she no longer went to school. Just like when she was developing "Pac-Man" and "Star Wars", she stayed at home every day.

Although this kind of long-term leave of absence seemed a bit wrong, Evelyn didn't care, because Principal Fred Terman had publicly stated that the school would not prevent her from graduating.

In the words of the old principal, the game "Pac-Man" is worth countless graduates' theses. When the market-oriented products have been unanimously recognized by the industry and the outside world, if Evelyn still cannot graduate, then there will be few people who can graduate in colleges and universities across America.

The old principal even asked Evelyn if she wanted to pursue a doctorate. Whether she liked the basic courses or not, the old principal had already thought of a research topic for her, which was called "When Artificial Intelligence Meets Video Games - A Study of AI Linearity Based on Pac-Man, the World's First Video Game Using Artificial Intelligence Logic Algorithms".

Hey ~
I copy myself.JDP
Since Evelyn was willing to focus all her attention on game development, Ethan felt relieved. After he arrived at the company, the people in the content research and development department were also working in an orderly manner.

Ethan did not assign them any specific tasks. He just asked them to write down their interesting ideas into plans according to their own preferences and inspirations and submit them to him. After he reviewed them, he would decide whether to put those plans into reality.

Ethan is not sure whether this will be the working model of future game companies, but he knows that allowing creators to express themselves may stimulate their desire to express themselves.

What he needs now is a group of artists, not engineers. He needs these people to help him build a huge game content library to ensure the smooth release of home consoles.

Ethan also paid them a high salary.

Each person's annual salary is $20,000, and they also enjoy a 5% project commission.

Of course, with the company's support, the copyright of the games they develop also belongs to the company.

After looking around and confirming that the entire company was running smoothly, Ethan finally returned to his office. When he leaned back in the soft boss chair, his divergent thoughts brought him countless unhappiness. The three names of Nintendo, Atari, and MILOVA were like ghosts, always circling around his head, making it impossible for him to calm down and think and work.

After being entangled in those negative emotions for a long time, Ethan couldn't help but call Julis.

"I'll give you a task."

"Go and help me collect all the news about Atari and MILOVA over the years."

"What?" Julis Noble didn't understand what her boss meant.

"All the news?" She was a little surprised.

"Yeah! All the news!" Ethan nodded seriously and said, "I need all the news about them since their birth. The more complete the better! Whether it's their own official release or some clueless tabloid reports, I want it all!"

Yes, Ethan Jones still thinks these companies are being a little too cautious.

He always felt that something was wrong, but he didn't know where.

Therefore, he had no choice but to use the skill he was best at in his previous life, which was also a basic skill for financial migrant workers... data analysis.

(End of this chapter)