Rebirth of America, this is my era

Chapter 199 I’m coming
When MGM pulls out a work like Tom and Jerry from its crotch, saying that it will not affect the landscape of the video game industry? That's just bullshit!

Even in an emerging market that is constantly developing and has no upper limit on its total value, the emergence of an excellent work will definitely have an impact on other works.

Like Pac-Man and Star Wars.

Before the launch of "Star Wars", even though the crazy purchases by major North American merchants allowed "Pac-Man" to occupy the North American market at an extremely fast speed, allowing it to reach the peak of sales in a short period of time, there was no possibility of a major breakthrough, but after that, its sales would still slowly climb.

This meticulous work not only reflects the excellent production of the game and the public's love for it, but also shows that there is no rival in the market that can compare with it.

But after Star Wars was officially released, the Pac-Man arcade machine really couldn't be sold. Buying new instead of old is one reason, but more importantly, the existing arcade machines in the market can already meet people's decreasing consumption demand after the emergence of new games.

Before, Ethan didn't care about these things. Because no matter whether it was Pac-Man or Star Wars, they were his own games. Whether he sold more or less was his own money, so whether he should squeeze out all the potential of the product was actually based on the company's strategic planning.

He wanted to squeeze it dry, so he didn't release any products after Pac-Man came out.

In order to maintain its position as the industry leader and hit the console products of Atari and Nikola, it used "Star Wars" to destroy the entire game market, even if this behavior would affect "Pac-Man".

This kind of thing is very flexible, right?

But now?

It’s MGM that launched the new game!

The game of fate might be affected!
When the subsequent sales of Snake 2, Skyfall, Taken, and Need for Speed ​​are likely to be affected by MGM games...

'Fuck you!'

This is the most sincere greeting that the highly qualified human male Ethan Jones would like to send to MGM.

And just as Ethan thought, when MGM convened some arcade buyers to hold a new product launch conference, with the emergence of "Tom and Jerry" and "James Bond", the number of new orders for the Destiny game immediately dropped to a certain extent.

Previously, they could sell more than 200 machines a day.

Now...

On July 4, 1978, three days after MGM's new product launch, the total number of orders received for the Destiny Game was only 150 units.

On the fourth day, the number still exceeded 100, but it was only over 130.

On the fifth day, the sales volume remained at 100 units, with a total sales volume of 108 units.

On the sixth day, when MGM's first batch of video arcades spread across California...

The total number of orders received for the Destiny Game is only ninety-one!
Among them, "Need for Speed", which has received poor market feedback, has no one to order anymore;
The sales of the arcade version of Taken were only in the single digits;

The best-selling game was not Snake 2. Of the 2 orders received by Destiny, only were for Snake .

The only film that actually sold more than 50 units was "A Fortune 500".

This distribution made Ethan throw away the report in his hand and call for his chief secretary Ballmer.

"I have a list here. Please purchase according to the instructions on it."

"Get ready in the morning, and go out with me for a walk in the afternoon."

Since the emergence of commodity trade, market research has always been one of the important means for a company to gain in-depth understanding of a specific industry, and on-site research is the only channel to obtain first-hand information.

In the business world, this type of on-site research allows the researcher to quickly understand a product's market popularity and market spending power, and also to get a glimpse into the competitor's actual sales.

So, when MGM's game really had a certain impact on the product of Destiny Game, seeing the scene with his own eyes was what Ethan wanted to do most.

When Ethan arrived in San Jose, near Palo Alto, on the afternoon of July 7, 1978, the first thing that caught his eye was a clearly defined pattern.

The entrances of bowling alleys, bars, dance halls, and shops along the street are all filled with electronic arcade machines for the game of destiny. The most eye-catching are the two little snakes named Jack and Rousi by Ethan, and the second best position is occupied by large gold coins shining with golden light.

At the entrance of the cinema and the audio-visual store, there are all MGM products on display. The "dang dang dang~" soundtrack of "Tom and Jerry" can be heard even on the street.

After driving around San Jose for a few times, Ethan was relieved to see that the player distribution was about 40% to 60%. 40% of the people stayed at the arcade machine of the Destiny game, and 60% were looking for new products. This was actually in line with the curiosity and pursuit of new games when they were launched. After discovering that his game was not ruined by MGM, Ethan signaled the driver to stop in front of a movie theater.

Buttoning up his long-sleeved shirt, wearing a baseball cap with the MGM logo on it, and carrying an A4-sized paper bag, he went out with Steve Ballmer.

The bodyguards in the three cars following behind him also got out of the car, but they did not go forward. Instead, they watched from a distance how their boss acted.

Under their gaze, Ethan stepped onto the entrance steps of the cinema. When he approached the arcade machines placed at the door, a cry of "Wow--" suddenly appeared in his ears.

Looking closely, it turned out to be a player playing Tom in the game of "Tom and Jerry". He had successfully caught Jerry just after the countdown of thirty seconds.

This fact made Ethan's eyes light up, and he smiled and walked over quickly.

"Hello everybody——"

He loudly greeted the group of children who looked like high school students.

"You've already caught Jerry in thirty seconds? Wow! You guys are awesome!"

When the group of boys turned around in confusion, Ethan had already reached into the paper bag, pulled out a picture album as thick as an index finger, and displayed it in front of them.

"Let me see which hero accomplished in thirty seconds what Tom hadn't accomplished in decades? Oh - was it you? This is a commemorative album from our MGM, and now it's yours because you helped Tom realize his dream."

Ethan handed a picture book that Ballmer had bought that morning to a tall blond and blue-eyed man.

This behavior attracted surprised looks from everyone at the scene, and the white boy standing in front of the video arcade machine was surprised and asked shyly, "Give it to me?"

"Yeah~ It's yours now."

Seeing that the boy didn't believe him, Ethan lowered his head slightly and showed them the logo hat on his head.

After they had seen everything clearly, he looked up and said, "Everyone, we are the staff of MGM. Due to the company's requirements, we will go all over the country to find out whether you like our game."

"According to the normal procedure, we will ask you some questions, and after you answer, we will give you some gifts prepared in advance, but your cheers just now have shown me that you like the game "Tom and Jerry", so - there is no need to ask, right?"

Ethan winked at everyone.

This explanation made everyone present suddenly realize.

Someone even asked, "You want to give us a survey, right?"

Questionnaire surveys are very common in the United States. Brands like Hershey's chocolate and Wrigley's gum will conduct questionnaires after launching new products to ask for customers' opinions.

Therefore, after hearing this question, Ethan immediately smiled and nodded, saying, "Yes."

"Oh, thank you--" This answer made the tall man take the album with confidence.

When he took a closer look, he exclaimed in surprise.

"The 40th anniversary commemorative album of Tom and Jerry?"

"Yeah~" Ethan nodded with a smile.

"You're giving this as a gift?" People around him became interested.

"If you want something else, we have..."

Ethan waved at Ballmer.

This guy was dressed like Ethan, except he had a giant Jerry backpack on him.

After opening the schoolbag, nine versions of Tom Cat's dolls from the past forty years suddenly appeared. Not only that, there were also matching Jerry Mouse dolls. Of course, those toys were only palm-sized.

But even so, the guys present were very excited. "Okay, okay." They said repeatedly, "Ask now? We have time!"

The cooperative response made Ethan smile and take out a notebook from his pocket, and then asked the questions he had prepared long ago, "First of all, I want to know whether you like the game "Tom and Jerry" or "James Bond"? "

"Tom and Jerry." The seven or eight people at the scene answered in unison.

"Why don't you like James Bond?" Ethan continued.

"Because James Bond is not as fun as Star Wars." A thin guy said, "I don't think James Bond is as good as Star Wars. In Star Wars, the Empire's spaceships have many styles and they have different attack methods, but in James Bond, all the enemies are very rigid."

"Yeah, your James Bond is so stupid," another person responded. "The enemies don't even attack Bond, it's not interesting at all."

“Not challenging!”

These comments were faithfully recorded by Ethan.

Then he asked, "So, what do you like about Tom and Jerry?"

This question made the players at the scene eager to speak up -

“I like the gameplay in Tom and Jerry! The design of Tom catching Jerry is so interesting!”

"This hunt you guys do is so much fun! It's like the real thing!"

"Yes, yes, yes! Tom and Jerry look very much like those in cartoons, and what I like most is actually the confrontation. When I play with my friends, the one hiding will try to escape, and the one catching will try to chase. It's like playing hide-and-seek! Very exciting!"

Ethan smiled and nodded at the players' words.

After writing down the important information in the notebook, he said, "One last question. I want to know, which one do you think is more fun, our MGM game or the Destiny game?"

Perhaps it was because the question was too difficult, or perhaps it was because the game types were different and it was difficult to make an analogy, so when those people heard Ethan's question, they all fell silent.

After thinking for a while, someone said, "Although you are from MGM, I still want to say that I like Snake very much. I spent about fifty dollars on this game, and about ten dollars on the recently released Snake 2. The idea of ​​challenging yourself with an infinite game is great!"

"What about now?" Ethan pointed to Tom and Jerry behind the speaker.

"Are you deeply attracted by our game?" Ethan asked with a smile.

The child has brown hair and a face covered with freckles.

After seeing what Ethan was pointing at, he shook his head and said, "I think there are probably few people in America who haven't seen Tom and Jerry, right? So when it comes out, we'll play it."

This statement won unanimous approval from the people around.

As he spoke, the children also spoke up:

“Your Tom and Jerry game is fun, but the time limit is too great!”

"Yes! The games before Destiny, such as Snake, Pac-Man, and Star Wars, are all games without time limits. The same is true for the current games such as Fortune and Snake 2. As long as the skills are good enough, you can play them indefinitely. But your Tom and Jerry games are not like that."

"And more! There are huge problems with the battle mode and single-player mode of your Tom and Jerry game. Tom and Jerry in the battle mode don't have the rest that they do in the single-player mode, so we always run into a situation where no one can catch up with anyone else after the ninety seconds are up!"

"Yeah, yeah - your mode can only let experts beat newbies! If two people's skills are similar, whoever plays Jerry will win! But Snake 2 is different. Whoever has better skills will win! That's what we want to play!"

The inquiry lasted for more than five minutes. When Ethan distributed the gifts in his hand, he received two full pages of player feedback.

After waving goodbye to the children, Ethan nodded to Ballmer who witnessed the whole process, and then the bald man took his bodyguards and Ethan to act separately.

One by one, one by one, soon, the residents of San Jose could see MGM researchers running around the streets of their city.

then……

A similar phenomenon has emerged in San Francisco.

From 2pm to 2am when all the major cinemas and video stores closed, Ethan, along with his 12 bodyguards, 4 drivers and a bald head, collected more than 700 pieces of player feedback.

He asked everyone to go back and rest, while he and Ballmer went into the office to sort things out. When the sky was getting light, Ethan, after reading all the feedback, leaned back on the soft back of the boss's chair.

Among more than 700 player questionnaires, 30% felt that games produced by MGM were more fun than Destiny games, and among these 30%, the vast majority were fans of "Tom and Jerry". From their on-site feedback, Ethan could feel that they had an indescribable joy for Tom and Jerry.

Ethan could understand this kind of thing. After all, "Tom and Jerry" is an IP that has been popular for forty years. Their popularity may not be as high as Mickey, but it is also an absolute top-tier in the United States. If normal games made based on them are not popular under this circumstance, then the IP industry and IP operation would not have been born, and Disney would have fallen into the dust long ago.

Therefore, the 70% to 30% result was acceptable to Ethan. This meant that after three years of operation, the Destiny Game had left a deep impression on the players. When the impact of forty years was successfully resisted by three years of time, this result proved that their defense was successful.

In addition, through questionnaires, they also collected a lot of players' evaluations of the game.

For example, some people think that fixed games that last 90 seconds are too expensive. Even if every game can be played until the last second, it will still cost ten dollars an hour.

For example, some people hope that some functional props can be added to the chasing map of "Tom and Jerry", just like the Power Pill in "Pac-Man", which can speed up the chasing Tom or make the fleeing Jerry invincible, simulating the effect in the cartoon.

For example, some people think that "Tom and Jerry" can add some visual changes. When Tom is resting, he can sweat a few drops like in the animation, and when Jerry is resting, he can depict some tension, making the game look richer and more interesting.

In addition to these, there are many other opinions about the game of fate.

The most noticeable thing is that many players feel that the Destiny game "Need for Speed" is similar to some products on the market, and that the aiming gameplay of "Taken" is difficult to operate on the joystick.

I think "Fat Man" and "Snake 2" are great, but they are not as amazing as when I first played "Pac-Man" and "Star Wars". I feel like I have run out of ideas.

Some people even said that if the battle mode of "Snake 2" was not restricted by the map frame, and two snakes fought for apples in one venue, while retaining the feature of death on collision, then even if "Tom and Jerry" was released, they would choose "Snake 2" because this battle is more exciting.

To be honest, when Ethan saw these contents, he really laughed out loud.

nice.

Because if "Need for Speed" were released in later generations, it would definitely be a copy!

Because the joystick for aiming and shooting shown in "Taken" is indeed difficult to operate, or in other words, before the appearance of the handle, shooting games had no future. After the appearance of keyboard and mouse, players discovered that shooting games can be much more fun to play!
Because "Fat Money" and "Snake 2" are indeed not as awesome as "Pac-Man" and "Star Wars". After all, the latter are games that have tapped into the tens of billions of market!
As for "Snake 2" removing the map restrictions?
Wouldn’t that make the special code the future online version of “Snake”?
However, since the public has this demand...

That still allows me to record one or two things.

For example, if a sequel to "Snake" is made in the future, a prop mode can be introduced in the stand-alone version. Two things, apples and boxes, will appear on the map. The snake will still get extra points after eating the apples, but there will be different random effects after eating the treasure chest. It may be an acceleration that increases the difficulty, it may be apples falling from the sky that increase the score, or it may be a halving of the length that brings vitality.

For example, the multiplayer version can remove frame restrictions while also introducing props to see if the situation allows for an invincible effect. The player who gains invincibility wins, just like the invincibility star in Mario, which allows a player to kill the opponent with one blow.

Of course, these things are just ideas and need to be considered based on actual conditions when making them.

After Ethan discovered that the market demand feedback for his own arcade machines was related to MGM but fell within the normal range of new product launches, although he was unhappy, he was still relieved.

As long as MGM doesn't do anything tricky, normal business competition is acceptable.

Moreover, from the very beginning, he has regarded the electronic arcade machine launched this time and "Ms. Pac-Man" to be launched in the second half of the year as stabilization products for Destiny Game during the transition period in the electronic game market.

When the game he really wanted to sell was Contra, and the game he really wanted to make was a Pac-Man version of Mario, fighting in the arcade field was actually a means of slowing down others.

"Thanks a lot."

After reading the questionnaire summary, Ethan said to Ballmer who had been busy all night: "I will triple your salary for staying up late last night, and then give you an extra day off. You can rest all day today, and tomorrow will be a holiday. See you the day after tomorrow, okay?"

Although Ballmer is one year younger than Eason, staying up late to do statistics is indeed very tiring.

After hearing Ethan's words, the big bald man with dark circles under his eyes nodded immediately, "Okay, boss, see you the day after tomorrow." After calmly accepting the vacation, he asked again, "Is the company okay?"

"What's wrong with normal competition?" Ethan shook the documents in his hand and said with a smile, "If we were selling non-creative products, we would definitely fight back against MGM's competition, but when we are selling content, we can't monopolize the entire market."

“That’s why there are several giants in Hollywood, and the same is true for the music market.”

“Because no one in this world dares to say that the content they create can be liked by everyone, so many times, we can only accept this imperfection that cannot be monopolized.”

Ballmer was a little dazed after hearing these words.

After staring at Ethan for a few seconds, a smile appeared on his round face.

"Boss, I thought you would be very angry."

"Of course I'm angry, but that's life isn't it?"

"Yes." Ballmer nodded, then got up and prepared to go home for bed.

However, shortly after he walked out of the office, he returned.

Lying on the door frame of Ethan's office, his big round eyes were full of curiosity.

"Boss, can I ask you one more thing?"

"You said."

"Why did you go to the questionnaire yesterday in person? You could have left it to us."

This question made Ethan, who was sorting documents, laugh.

Looking at the guy who was leaning slightly to the side, Ethan caught the curiosity on his face.

With a sigh, Ethan said, "The collapse of countless business empires is all because the people at the helm of the development plans are out of touch with the masses. When they are so high up that they don't even want to go to the scene, all they see when they look down are the smiling faces of the people below them."

"It's not that I don't trust you."

“I just want to hear what the consumers who are willing to spend money on me are saying.”

"!"

Ballmer's mouth dropped open.

After staring at Ethan for a while, he chuckled and said, "Thank you."

"Need not."

Ethan waved his hand.

"Get lost!"

"Go back to sleep!"

Since MGM did not use any tricks to promote the game, Ethan decided to quietly observe them and see how many pursuit games like "Tom and Jerry" could be sold.

However, his silence brought MGM a high-profile publicity. When July 15th came, MGM, which had already distributed its products all over the country, bought advertisements in three major newspapers:

【After many years, Tom and Jerry has swept America again! Tom and Jerry, who are about to celebrate their 40th birthday, once again bring happiness to the American people! And lying at their feet is Snake, which just turned three years old! Jack and Rousi are trembling! 】

[15 days! 10,000 units! Watch Tom and Jerry become the most popular video game of the moment! ]

[The heritage of a veteran entertainment company! MGM breaks the sales record of the Destiny game in its first foray into the electronic game field! Tom and Jerry is expected to become the sales champion this year! ]

[What went wrong with the game of fate? Why did Ethan Jones fall from grace? ]

When all the reports of slander appeared everywhere, countless black lines suddenly appeared on Ethan's forehead.

Good guy!
It took Tom and Jerry 2 days to sell units, but his Snake broke units in just days. How can you brag about the sales volume of this game that has been in operation for years but cannot match that of three days?
Ethan really overestimated the moral integrity of these people!

He was wondering how MGM, which has a relationship with Italy, could be so restrained. The shipping problem that Michael Blanco had envisioned had not occurred so far. Not only that, they also sold goods in a low-key manner. This kind of honest and honest behavior is a bit strange in the capitalist society.

But now——

Still can't help it!
You have to pull it down!

"Grass!"

"It's really fucking true that all crows are black!"

Looking at the newspaper in his hand, Ethan shook his head.

"Philips did it before, Time Warner did it, and now MGM is doing it! Are you guys named Bryant? Shaq did it too?"

Ethan was speechless.

And when he found out that the younger brothers in the industry wanted to step on him as the big brother to get to the top...

Then he will definitely not agree!

What he wants to do most is to give this little brother a slap in the face and give him a big slap in the ass!

And how to fan...

Looking at the game rankings in the office, Ethan pursed his lips.

Although the sales of games such as "Snake 2" and "Fat Man" in the current season allowed him to fight back, the small gap in results could not bring him the feeling of crushing the opponent.

He wanted to slap MGM into the ground!

And since this is the case...

Ethan set his eyes on "Star Wars" which ranked first and "Pac-Man" which ranked second. After staring at them for a while, he glanced at the calendar on his desk.

Then he picked up the phone on the desk and dialed a number.

After a series of transfers, he called Vancouver.

"Hello? Is this Minoru Arakawa? You guys from Nintendo should come over and pay the bill!"

That's right!

If you want to experience the thrill of crushing the opponent, you have to pull out Nintendo!
The fraction of my game’s overseas sales is more than your MGM’s total sales!

You guys are still showing off like this?

Show off your horse!
(End of this chapter)