Rebirth of America, this is my era

Chapter 184 I'm so tired——

"Today, we at Philips are very happy to meet with the executives of Disney, Paramount, and MGM in New York... They are all top dreamers in Hollywood. They have created classic screen images that have been deeply rooted in people's hearts one after another, and have made many movies that can bring laughter, thinking, warmth, and strength to people... Here, on behalf of Philips, I announce that we at Philips will reach a cooperation with them in the field of electronic games. We at Philips will provide experience, technology, and patents in electronic game production to help Disney, Paramount, and MGM turn excellent inspirations into games and bring happiness to more American people... Next, we will invite them one by one to come up and announce their company's vision for the future. Please welcome them——"

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I am Frank Rosenberg, CEO of MGM... MGM is a Hollywood film company with a long history. We have produced The Wizard of Oz, Doctor Geneva, and 2001: A Space Odyssey... We are collaborating with Philips to bring our successful dream-making experience into the field of electronic games. The specific project will be developed based on Tom and Jerry and is expected to be available to you this summer..."

"Hello everyone, I'm Michael Eisner, the president of Paramount... I came to New York today because we at Paramount have decided to make classic screen characters into video games... We at Paramount are currently producing two games, one inspired by Jack the Ripper and the other inspired by Star Trek... You can look forward to it, because these games will be available to you this fall..."

"Good afternoon, friends. I am Don Tatum, CEO of Disney... Mr. Disney once said that the purpose of founding Disney was to bring a happy childhood to children... Before, happiness was all on the screen, in the park, with dolls and books, but now, happiness will be created by you... We are developing three games at Disney. The protagonist of one game is Mickey, the protagonist of one game is Donald, and the protagonist of the other game will be kept secret for the time being, but what I want to say is that it is a game similar to Pac-Man. The character you play will be chased by some guys, and you need to use your intelligence to help them get out of the crisis..."

"pat-"

The crisp sound is the remote control kissing the table.

"Squeak-"

A tooth-aching groan was the announcement that the seat was overwhelmed.

Ethan leaned heavily on the chair in his study room, staring blankly at the black and white TV in front of him. The smile in the frozen picture looked extremely creepy.

This afternoon, when Steve Ballmer knocked on the door of his office and told him that something was wrong, Ethan let him in and turned on the TV as he said. Then he saw that NBC was broadcasting the news about the cooperation between Philips, Disney, Paramount and MGM.

The alliance formed by these four companies made him open his mouth wide!
The fact that Philips provided his patent to others made his pupils shrink!

After Disney CEO Don Tatum said that they would make a game similar to Pac-Man, Ethan felt as if an invisible hand had firmly grasped his heart, making it hard for him to breathe and his hands and feet were cold.

Because the worst has already happened!

After Ethan came to this world and decided to make video games, he knew that this industry was a highly competitive red ocean market. He could indeed gain a leading market position by copying the excellent games from his previous life, but others could also make huge profits by copying the games he copied.

There is no way around it, since it is impossible to copyright the gameplay of video games.
Protecting the gameplay is actually helping monopoly, which is expressly prohibited by the laws of all countries. Therefore, the content that can enjoy copyright protection in video games is limited to trademarks, images, sounds, text, codes, characters, plots and other subjective things.

It is precisely because of this that Ethan was very moved by Roy Disney's proposal for cooperation in intellectual property operations. Expanding the influence of game characters is the best way to ensure that the game in hand can last for a long time when the gameplay is not protected.

But when he was working hard towards this goal, the trend of borrowing ideas had already started to emerge in the market?

Even though Philips doesn't know how to make games at all, the only help they can provide to MGM, Paramount, and Disney is to relax patent restrictions. But just this alone will be enough to deliver a thundering blow to the current electronic game market!

Because electronic games are not very technical! Reproduction is easier!
And when novel models + traditional IP appear together...

"What the hell!"

"This Philip is Murong Fu, right?"

"I just beat him last year with Star Wars."

"After half a year, this guy actually made such a big move?"

"This is special!"

"what--"

Ethan leaned back, almost annoyed!
At this moment, he just feels so unlucky, since he started his business, he hasn't had a single day in peace!

At first, the Atari duo wanted to steal Snake, and Magnova's group passed the buck, so he was inexplicably cheated by both sides; he finally won back with Pac-Man, but Atari and Magnova launched the next-generation consoles; after the wave of Star Wars overshadowed them, the parent companies of both sides intervened, and Warner blocked the film industry he wanted to enter from all sides. What about Philips? The original patent maniac actually formed a clique to open up the license in order to stop him?

This is crazy!

Co-authoring yourself would rather not earn patent fees, and you will kill me if you are special!
More importantly, every time a problem occurs, it is not caused by him, right?

Before, when Atari and MILOVA launched the next-generation console, Ethan slapped himself twice. At that time, he thought that if he had not given himself a short vacation after the great success of Pac-Man, which caused the company's R&D progress to lag behind the market, he might not have been successfully sniped by Atari and MILOVA. But later, facts have proved that the Nintendo that disrupted his R&D progress was personally sent by MILOVA!
When his competitors were able to come up with a bunch of neurological operations that were unimaginable to ordinary people, no, no! Even mentally ill people couldn't figure out in order to slow down his progress...

Even if he wanted to defend himself, he couldn't.
And when he didn't even have time to breathe...

Philips called again?

"What the hell!"

"Did I eat your rice or dig your ancestral grave?"

"Can't you just find a place to die?"

“Is it so difficult to give up a market?”

"what?"

The more Ethan thought about it, the angrier he became, and his chest heaved.

Just as he was about to smash something in annoyance, the sound of footsteps coming from far away came into his ears. A moment later, someone knocked on the study door from outside.

"May I come in?"

This question made Ethan sit back down, press the standby button of the TV, rub his cheeks vigorously with both hands, and then smiled: "Of course -"

As the words fell, the long handle of the study instantly went down, and Evelyn, who was holding a tray, opened the door with her elbow, pushed it gently with her back, and turned around to squeeze into the room. When the girl pushed the tray in front of Ethan, an alluring aroma immediately penetrated his nostrils, stimulating his taste buds.

"Wow—this is for my dinner?"

“Yes—”

Evelyn sat down with a smile and said, "This jelly-like thing is called bone marrow pudding, which is made with beef bone marrow, mushrooms and onions. I saw them introducing this new dish when I was having dinner at the Research Park restaurant tonight, so I ordered one and it was delicious. I thought you might have nowhere to eat in the evening if you were in a hurry, so I asked them to pack one, and then I also ordered a Wagyu steak."

There is a restaurant in the Stanford Research Park, so when the company moved into the park, Ethan, who already provided three meals a day for his employees, designated it as his company's exclusive cafeteria.

Three meals a day are provided there. On weekdays, when people go to work in the morning, they can go there to have breakfast before going to the company. In the afternoon, they can also have dinner before going home. As for lunch? They take a one-hour break at noon. After eating in the restaurant, it is the most convenient way to go back to the company lounge to rest.

Since the park restaurant mostly serves big names with a lot of reputations, and the meal expenses are paid from grants from Fortune 500 companies, the food there tastes and looks very good.

At least that's what Ethan and Evelyn, who are used to eating it, think.

Therefore, after hearing that the food came from his favorite cafeteria, Ethan did not hesitate and picked up the spoon to eat. As the pudding entered his mouth, the sweet but not greasy cream taste and the smooth jelly texture made him nod his head and praise: "Delicious--"

Evelin chuckled and shook her head at the sight of him wolfing down his food. She glanced at the remote control that was thrown aside, tilted her head to look at the TV in the corner that was still lit, and asked, "Are you a little anxious?"

Ethan paused at the incoherent words. He picked up the paper cup under the pudding with one hand and frantically touched the pudding with the other hand. He pretended to be calm and said, "No, why do you ask?"

"You left early this afternoon."

"That's because I have some things to take care of."

"Really? But you usually tell me when you encounter problems."

Evelyn leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table, holding her chin with one hand, and looked at Ethan, "Whether it was Milowa's lawsuit, Nintendo's betrayal, Philips's CD, or Rockefeller's robbery, you told me everything, but today..."

"You ran away."

"I didn't know until the evening that Philips and Disney had formed an alliance."

The light words made Ethan freeze there.

After a moment, he smiled and put down the food and spoon in his hand.

"Oh, I just—" he tried to find an excuse.

“A little tired?” Evelin opened her red lips slightly and went straight to the core.

"? --How do you know?"

"I recalled it and felt that you were under a lot of pressure during this period."

"Hahaha……"

His sister's words made Ethan laugh helplessly, rubbing his brows and shaking his head.

This afternoon, after seeing the cooperation news between Philips and the other three companies, Ethan stayed in the office for a while, and then left the company. He wanted to find a quiet place, soothe his mood, and clear his mind so as not to be out of breath.

In fact, he had already felt that when he succeeded again and again, the troubles around him were like flies that could not be driven away or killed, and they were increasing. After the release of "Star Wars", he was truly happy only for a few days.

After that, whether it was Nintendo taking off its coat, or the unscrupulous ban by Steve Ross, chairman of Warner Communications, or the sudden communication by the great wizard Barbara Babcock, or the unethical sudden attack by Wenlock, and now the muddy water of Columbia, and the open declaration of war by Philips... these things made him very annoyed.

That kind of irritability comes from the tiredness deep in the soul, and even more so from the fatigue of tense nerves.

On the way home, he even remembered what Teacher Ma said -

"My happiest time was when I was a teacher earning 91 yuan a month."

Thinking back carefully, Ethan really felt that the happiest time was when he was working with Atari. At that time, he didn't have to worry about manufacturing or selling products, he just had to wait to collect the money.

At that time, he could buy a Ferrari himself, but now...

Tired!

"Do you want to take a break? Give yourself a holiday?" Evelyn suggested with concern, "You didn't rest at all during the Christmas holiday this year. Your mind was completely focused on Apple." "..." This suggestion made Ethan's eyes roll, and then he shook his head, "Just take a hot bath and take a nap. The enemy is coming so fiercely, how can I have time to rest?"

"Let's talk about vacation after we beat them."

"Besides -"

"Twist their heads off, that's the best rest!"

Ethan hated this mess.

But at the same time, he also knew that he could not stop when he was surrounded by wolves.

You have to crush all the guys that come rushing up! Then others will be afraid of you!

Always seeking cooperation like a sheep?
Ah--

Then to the outside world, you are just a piece of fat meat.

After finishing dinner, he went into the bathroom. When the warm water turned cold, Ethan, who was awakened by the cold, yawned and returned to the bedroom. As the sun rose, he returned to the company and called the employees of the R&D department together to hold a meeting...

"I'm sure everyone has seen yesterday's news. Philips, which originally only developed in the field of home consoles, has entered the field of electronic arcades. The creative ideas provided by them are from three Hollywood companies: Disney, Paramount, and MGM. Although they are coming with great momentum, to our Destiny game, their combination is nothing more than a chicken and a dog (all hat and no cattle, a cowboy has only a hat but no cattle, which means that they are just a show-off), and they cannot pose any threat to us."

"But even so, we can't completely relax. We must despise them strategically and take them seriously tactically. That's why I called you all here today. I believe you have prepared your works. Now it's your time."

When the Mifedi faction formed an alliance and attempted to invade the market by copying the classic IP and gameplay, the only way to educate them was to defeat them openly!
Let the products speak for themselves!
Ethan is already prepared for this. The research and development team formed since last year, and the assigned research and development tasks, are now finally ready to bear fruit.

The first game Ethan reviewed was a scrolling racing game. The gameplay of this game is actually very simple. The scene on the screen will continue to reverse, and there will be many obstacles such as trees, trash cans, and stones on the flat road. Every time the car controlled by the player hits an obstacle, a life will be lost. When all three lives are lost, the game will end. The player's only operation is to move the joystick left and right to move the vehicle in the game horizontally and avoid obstacles as much as possible to get higher scores.

This game actually tests the player's reaction ability. After playing for a while, Ethan found that the nature of this game is similar to "Snake", and in terms of operation, this one is definitely easier to get started.

"There's a problem with your game. The music isn't exciting enough."

"Change to some exciting music, music that can get the players' blood pumping."

"Also, your music is very repetitive. I hope the music in the game can be more diverse. At the beginning, when the speed is slow, the music can be relatively soothing, but then, as the speed gets faster, the music should also get faster and higher in pitch."

"And every variation should mean an increase in difficulty."

"The most important thing is that after the player dies, you can't stop the music immediately. You have to make a gradual transition so that the player can hear the feeling of regret, okay?"

"As for the name, Need for Speed?"

"Although it doesn't taste right, but... never mind, let's just call it this."

“There are no problems with other aspects, it’s very good.”

Ethan's praise made the production team smile, and his request for modification made them nod their heads repeatedly. As for saying that my work cannot be modified by others?
hehe--

Not to mention that Ethan is their boss, even if Ethan has nothing to do with them, they dare not turn a deaf ear to the opinions of the gaming god who can earn 100 million cash a year!

The second game Ethan reviewed was "Windfall", for which he had suggested revisions last time, and the guy who made this game is truly a genius.

When I discussed the concept with Ethan before, they said that the game has two modes. In the single-player mode, the player controls a pair of hands that hold open a bag and continuously collects items from top to bottom. As the speed increases, players who do not collect all the items will fail.

In multiplayer mode, they set a fixed level and let two players compete at the same time to see who collects more items and has a higher score, and whoever wins.

But during the production process, they simply modified the gameplay. The setting of gold nuggets falling from the top remains unchanged, but the failure judgment in the single-player mode is not incomplete collection, but collection errors. This setting is very simple. Not only gold coins, gold nuggets, gold bricks, but also stones, rocks and meteorites fall from the sky. When players collect gold coins, gold nuggets and gold bricks, they will add two points, six points and ten points, but after collecting stones, rocks and meteorites, they will be deducted one point, three points and death accordingly.

What does that mean?

Players can put gold coins, gold nuggets and gold bricks, stones and rocks into bags, but they must avoid meteorites because they can kill people.

When the revised gameplay appeared in front of Ethan, he became completely Spartan.

"No, why would you change the gameplay like this?" Ethan couldn't figure it out.

"Because it's more interesting this way," said David Crane, who designed the game. "If we don't change it, the game will become a simple game of testing players' reaction speed again."

"There's almost no difference between the original game and Need for Speed. Need for Speed ​​is about moving left and right to avoid obstacles, while ours can actually be seen as collecting obstacles."

"So we thought about it and decided to add some tests of players' judgment."

“This way, players won’t feel repetitive or monotonous when playing.”

This explanation made Ethan look at him twice.

He knew David Crane was one of the founders of Activision, and when a man like that uses analogies to explain the most important gameplay aspects of video games…

This keen sense of smell made him nod continuously.

"Very good." Ethan praised.

At the same time, he asked, "Have you noticed that there is another problem with the game?"

"?"

Such words made the people present stunned.

Ethan continued, "My point is very simple. Why do you think that gold nuggets and gold bricks can't kill people? Only meteorites can kill people."

This question made everyone laugh.

Someone even shouted: "Because David thinks that if a gold brick falls from the sky, he will definitely run away with it, but if a meteorite falls from the sky, he will definitely curse MFxxk!"

"..."

This answer left Ethan stunned.

Then he burst into laughter and gave them a thumbs up.

"Yes, great, that's a great explanation."

The third one is a shooting game, which is actually very similar to the later Whack-A-Mole. There are several game backgrounds, including a building occupied by robbers, a hill occupied by robbers, a street occupied by robbers, etc. The player plays the role of a sniper and needs to kill those bastards who cannot be persuaded to surrender.

The robbers appear on the screen at regular intervals, and the player has up to ten seconds to kill them. After pressing the button on the arcade machine, a crosshair will appear on the plane view. Move the joystick to aim the crosshair at the robbers, and then press the button to shoot.

Every time you hit a robber, you get one point. But if you miss, the robber will kill a hostage. The hostage is actually equivalent to the player's life. After three hostages die, the player will be dismissed by the boss. In order to make the game less monotonous, the game maps are progressive. The building is the first level, and you can pass the level by killing ten robbers. The hill is the second level, and you can pass the level by killing twenty robbers. The street is the third level... There are five levels in total.

This is also the only game that can be completed by the Destiny game development team. Like the previous "Need for Speed" and "Fortune Drop", they are all infinite flow games learned from Ethan.

"What's the name of this game?"

“Taken.”

"Okay, let's release it under this name."

Although Ethan could not see any revolutionary influence from these three games, the level of these games was actually not low. Regardless of whether it was a scrolling racing game, a game of catching objects, or a two-dimensional shooting game, these gameplays still had a huge market more than a decade later.

When these small games can help people kill time in the future with abundant entertainment, now, it must be very simple to launch a machine to the market and sell it.

But these alone are naturally not enough to compete with Mickey, Donald, Tom and Jerry, so after looking at the R&D department's self-developed products, Ethan reviewed the sequels of his own best-selling products.

"Snake 2: Double Player Edition" actually divides the TV screen into two parts, drawing two venues for players to compete. Since the previous game sold very well, these guys didn't think much when remaking it, and simply copied the arcade version of the game.

So during the test, Ethan discovered a problem. When the single-player quick game was put into the two-player version, the player experience would be very bad. The maximum battle time of one minute per round would really make players feel that this was a scam, so...

"Game speed has to be adjusted."

Ethan made his own decision. "Adjust the game speed according to the Apple 2 version. If you find it troublesome, you can directly refer to their code."

"You have to remember one thing. Battle games are different from single-player games. In single-player games, players enjoy the pleasure of conquering the game, while in battle games, players enjoy the pleasure of conquering their opponents. So we must ensure that even new players can tie with some experts in the early stages. Only by taking care of the gaming experience of novice players can experts have a good gaming experience, because the players who can't beat them are their gaming fun."

Such words made the developers in the company look solemn.

This novel perspective made them record it carefully.

'In a battle game, are ordinary players the source of fun for advanced players?'

'Wow, why does this word have a sense of conquering human nature?'

After making revision suggestions for Snake 2: Double Player Edition, Ethan turned his attention to Ms. Pac-Man. This game has not been completed yet, but the testing of the first few levels is already good enough.

And when Ethan focused his attention on this arcade game...

The first thing that catches your eye is a sea of ​​pink.

(End of this chapter)