Rebirth of America, this is my era

Chapter 234 Party
"Retreat, retreat, retreat!"

"Muzzle up, muzzle up, the facehugger is coming!"

"Ah! Hide! This alien is going to teleport!"

"Oh - No - Stephen! You have died eight hundred times in this level. Don't you remember the alien's moves clearly? When it stops and a white light appears in front of it, its next move will definitely be a sprint! You can avoid it by just staying away from the white light!"

"Oh Sxxt! It's so tiring to watch you play games! Let me do it, let me do it, I must show you what a real gamer is!"

Amidst a burst of ghostly howling, Steven Spielberg rudely snatched Steve Wozniak's controller, stared at the TV screen with gritted teeth, and vowed to complete the game in front of him with his own life.

Wozniacki was stunned by the sudden situation, then he raised his hand to grab it, and said angrily, "Steven! We agreed that it's one person per game? I haven't played all my life yet! Get out of my way!"

“I’m teaching you how to play!”

"I don't need you to teach me!"

"you want!"

"I do not want!"

Seeing the two men about to fight, the crowd that was watching the fun immediately reached out to stop the farce. Jobs hugged his friend and pulled him back while comforting him, "Stephen, calm down. It's just a game. There's no need to do this."

"Steven thinks he's awesome, so just let him show it off~"

"If he fails, won't we be able to laugh at him?"

Lucas also grabbed Spielberg and tried to take the controller from him and give it back to Wozniak.

Of course, he didn't stop talking.

"Steven! What's the most important thing in life? Credit!"

"We agreed to play one game per person, why did you take Stephen's controller?"

"Come on, give me the handle."

"Yes, and then go hug Stephen and apologize..."

To be honest, when Ethan saw Lucas and Jobs trying to bring Spielberg and Wozniak back together like they were coaxing a child, he almost laughed out loud while sitting next to them.

The pressure from the top of the food chain surprised the people around them, and made Evelin smile and raise her hand, poking Ethan, complaining, "Can't you bring out a few more machines?"

“Do we have to squeeze so many people together?”

“It’s not like we don’t have money!”

Evelin really felt that Ethan's brain circuits were different from those of normal people. When other people held a party, they would generously prepare a lot of things that the guests might need, fearing that they would not have enough, but what about Ethan?

Searching and searching!
But Ethan shook his head, poured himself a glass of orange juice, and replied with a smile, "Eh - you don't understand this. The most taboo thing about games is to taste them alone."

"Because this thing is most fun when you play it with friends."

“It’s noisy, but I’m happy~”

After putting aside the cooperation project with McDonald's, Ethan finished all the work on hand.

So, after returning from Chicago, he thought about throwing a party at home to celebrate the huge sales of the arcade game Ms. Pac-Man and to celebrate his hard-earned success.

This idea received a lot of praise from people around him, because when they saw the "Starry Sky" game through the Quanmi live broadcast, the excellent graphics, legendary gameplay, and shocking gameplay made them want to rush to Ethan's house immediately to enjoy it in advance.

While calling Ethan and sending his blessings, the one who was the most crazy was Spielberg.

Even though there was an Atlantic Ocean between us, this guy still sent his congratulations immediately.

"Ethan, do you know? When I saw Starry Sky, I instantly felt my body tremble. I felt like countless ants were crawling madly on my body! My soul even let out a roar that had been dry for many days! It told me that it wanted to play!"

"Oh, your essay is well written."

'but--'

"Oh, so it's not you who wants to play?" Ethan pretended to know. "Then just let your soul think about it. Anyway, he has no entity, so he can't play..."

"MFxxk!!!" A curse suddenly came from the other end of the phone.

Although "Starry Sky" will not be released until next year, who would think that what Cook has in his pocket must be the iPhone 15 Pro Max?
For all consumer products that require iteration, there is a certain time lag between their release and production. In this case, knowing about it in advance and getting started in advance is the privilege of some people.

Ethan didn't know how many people could get the iPhone 15 in advance, but he knew that only a few could play Starfield in advance.

For example, Steve Wozniak, who had sat back in front of the TV, and Steve Jobs, who stood by and watched greedily;

For example, Bill Gates, Paul Allen, and Steve Ballmer leaning forward to capture more details;

For example, Bill Mensch, who was invited to witness the miracle of the chip;
Of course, there’s also Steven Spielberg who keeps watching with a sour face;
These guys are the privileged ones.

ah no...

What about George Lucas?

Just when Ethan was curious about where the father of Star Wars who could appease Spielberg had gone, a black shadow suddenly appeared in front of him.

Lucas, who had a beard and a pompadour, held a glass of wine and laughed at Ethan and Evelyn, shouting, "Oh Ethan - Evelyn - Starfield is the best game I've ever seen! You two are geniuses!"

"Thank you."

Evelyn turned sideways and raised her glass, then simply gestured to Lucas, "Although I think I'm smart, the inspiration for the game came from Ethan. I just made the game according to his idea."

"Oh—this is an act of genius!"

Lucas raised his eyebrows and flattered, "Evelyn, I know what you mean. It's like making a movie. Ethan provides the script, and you are the director of the movie."

“Excellent inspiration comes every day, but the people who can turn it into reality…”

"That's what's really amazing!"

"Goose, goose, goose..." Flattery based on facts is more refreshing than wild and imaginative nonsense. Lucas made Evelin laugh with just a few words.

After laughing, the girl also stood up with her glass in hand and said goodbye, saying that she was going to say hello to Ethan's other friends and introduce their home to them so that they wouldn't have to stand there in line stupidly.

As the girl left, Ethan put away his smile and said sinisterly, "Oh George, in your heart, I am just a screenwriter?"

"The bottom of the food chain?"

"Can you be bullied by others?"

Lucas couldn't stop laughing at the sarcastic words. As a top director in Hollywood, he certainly knew what Ethan was talking about. He shook his head quickly and said, "Oh - Ethan -"

"You really misunderstood me!"

"Although screenwriters seem to be at the bottom of the Hollywood food chain, that's a misunderstanding, because truly great screenwriters can control everything!"

"For example, Stephen King, who became famous with you in 1975. All the producers in Hollywood wanted to make his film The Shining, but he refused any offer and specifically asked Stanley Kubrick to direct it."

"Oh - now even if God comes, he can't say he knows more about games than you!"

"Hehehe——" Ethan couldn't hold back any longer after hearing the dog-licking remark.

He was very happy and waved his hand, motioning Lucas to sit down and talk.

"Just say what you want to say, don't beat around the bush with me."

Although there were some disputes between the two parties before, those things are in the past, right?
Like Spielberg, Lucas had previously apologized to Ethan.

He said that all the concealment he did was to protect himself.

He didn't want to lose his hard-earned success, nor did he want to fall from heaven into the abyss.

He originally thought that those things would be successfully hidden by various forces, but he didn't expect that... Steve Ross would do anything for the sake of profit.

Since these things did not involve betrayal, and someone was indeed behind it, Ethan accepted his apology, and now that everything was out of the question...

Then we are still friends.

Therefore, when Ethan said that Lucas could speak out boldly, this guy who had already become famous and wanted to be a boss and have capital did not hesitate any longer.

Looking around and seeing that no one was paying attention to him, he began to persuade, "Ethan, let's continue our cooperation. The sequel to Star Wars will start filming next spring. How about you make a game for it? Just like Star Wars! And just like Starfield!"

"We went public together in 1980 and continued to sweep the world!"

That’s right, the reason why Lucas left Spielberg and went to Ethan’s side was because he was extremely shocked by the game performance of "Starfield"!

Although he doesn't like video games as much as Spielberg, and is not a fanatic believer of video games at all, but... he likes money! He can see the value of "Starfield", and that's enough!

In his opinion, if the sequel to "Star Wars", "The Empire Strikes Back", can be made into a game like "Starfield", and then arcade machines are set up all over the streets at the same time as the movie is released, then this model of film and game linkage will definitely make the sequel to the movie achieve greater success, and it is even likely to break records again!

This will make the copyright value of "Star Wars" even higher!
It can also allow him to earn more!

Feeling Lucas's eager gaze and savoring the sudden desire, Ethan nodded with a smile and said, "Okay." Of course, he also wanted to be firmly associated with the name of "Star Wars", but at the same time he also understood that this kind of business was not easy to do. "So...how do we divide the money?"

Ethan's words were very straightforward. He said, "George, I actually hope that the cooperation can continue, but I have to admit that our cooperation is very troublesome."

"We were able to cooperate with each other before because we needed each other."

"No one except Steven and I was optimistic about Star Wars, so you needed a gimmick, a guarantee that it would attract audiences after it was released."

"As for me, I think your movie can cause a sensation, and I think I can make money by being associated with you."

"When we both get what we need, our cooperation can be discussed very smoothly, but now..."

"You know Star Wars is valuable, and I know my games are valuable, so..."

Ethan tapped his temple with his index finger and said, "I have a headache now."

"Because I don't want to give in."

"And you..."

"I don't think you want to give in either."

The naked distribution of benefits made the excitement on Lucas' face fade a lot.

He understood that what Ethan said was true, and this fact...

"Ethan, did you know that Steven and I made a bet before?"

Lucas turned his head and cast his gaze towards the group of people playing games.

Previously, Spielberg was still angry about not getting the game, but now, this guy is cheering for the wonderful operation of the bald Ballmer.

The jumping figure made Lucas sigh with emotion. He said, "Before, when I was filming Star Wars, Steven was also making Close Encounters of the Third Kind. After watching his filming, I felt that his work was much better than mine. I was a little sad and frustrated at the time, but when he saw my work, he felt that mine was a big step ahead of his."

"Since we both thought the other's stuff was good, we made a bet."

"Or maybe a deal was made."

"We will take 2.5 percent of each other's film's profits in exchange for 2.5 percent of the other's film's profits. In this way, after the film is released, the person whose film becomes a hit can enjoy the success, and the person with good vision can also get the rewards he deserves."

"In the end, he won because Star Wars did make more money than Close Encounters of the Third Kind, but I also won because Steven's support got me to where I am now."

Having said that, Lucas also withdrew his gaze.

He turned his head to look at Ethan and said, "So, let's make a bet too?"

"I'm betting you the copyright to all Star Wars video games, and I want 8% of the sales revenue of the video games."

"From now on, as long as my Lucasfilm continues to make Star Wars, your Destiny game will need to make games based on the movies, regardless of whether the previous projects were loss-making."

"As long as you do this, in the future, only you can make Star Wars video games, and you will have unlimited creative rights, and all content does not need my approval."

"I bet your game will last forever."

Lucas stretched out his right hand with confidence.

Ethan was stunned for a moment.

This refreshing feeling made him mistakenly think that he had seen the richest man in the world.

After a moment, he realized what was happening and started laughing.

Looking at the right hand waiting to be shaken, he said, "Bet? Sure, but I want to change the conditions."

"You said."

"I'll give you two more points, pushing it to 10 percent."

"But you have to give me the rights to all video games related to Star Wars."

"At the same time, I also want the rights to produce peripheral products related to the Star Wars video game."

Ethan stared at Lucas and said, “For example, in our plan for the Destiny game, we plan to combine multiple characters together to create a special video game. Among them are Pac-Man, Snake, and possibly Starfield.”

"Of course, if it's appropriate, I'd also like to incorporate characters from Star Wars, but I may not be able to discuss the copyright issues with you separately."

"Then, sometimes inspiration suddenly comes, and I might make a game for Star Wars alone. This game may have nothing to do with the movie, so the copyright will also be used at this time."

"After the video game is released, peripheral products related to the video game may also be sold. For example, I have always wanted to make clothes out of the pixel spaceships in Star Wars."

"When it comes to business, I also need to license the Star Wars name."

"So, if you really think my game can continue to be popular, then give me more copyrights."

"For this, I can give up two more points of profit."

"The 10% profit share will include peripheral products related to the Star Wars video game and the Star Wars series of games, but will not include the element insertion I mentioned at the beginning."

"how?"

Ethan also smiled and stretched out his right hand.

Instead of holding Lucas tightly, he was suspended in mid-air.

If someone turned their heads and looked at this moment, they would definitely think that the two people's behavior of not shaking hands was a bit strange, but for Lucas...

"Oh Ethan, do you think my movie can be a long-lasting hit?"

Lucas understood what Ethan meant.

"of course."

Ethan raised his eyebrows and nodded.

"Okay, I like this answer."

Lucas took the initiative to reach out his hand and shook it vigorously, "Ten points."

"From today on, the rights to make all video games related to Star Wars are yours."

"Deal!" Ethan shook his arms vigorously.

Both of them laughed happily.

(End of this chapter)