Rebirth of America, this is my era

Chapter 239 I can count to four!

Ethan was not sure when the word "collaboration" appeared in video games, because in his memory, there were so many collaborations related to games that they could even be divided into three types after being broken down.

The first is the linkage of the producer's own works. Nintendo is the most involved, such as "Super Smash Bros.", which mixes popular characters of its brands into a fighting game. Here you can not only see Princess Link beating up Zelda warriors, but also see Pikachu beating up Yoshi; there is also Capcom's "Capcom Fighting Evolution", which includes all the characters from its four games "Street Fighter", "Alpha", "Darkstalkers" and "Clay".

The second type is the collaboration between different companies in the same industry. For example, there is amiibo from "Monster Hunter" in "The Twigs", and there are customized costumes of "The Legend of Zelda", "Metroid" and "Super Mario" in "Bayonetta". Of course, these are all in the Switch version.

The third type is cross-border linkage, "Marvel vs. Capcom", "SNK vs. Capcom", "Tatsunoko vs. Capcom"... these are all classic games. As for why Capcom is always beaten? There is nothing we can do about it. They are known as the king of action games. The most wild one in this industry is not Capcom, but Epic, because their "Fortnite" can link everything.

For game manufacturers, collaboration is nothing more than stimulating player consumption, just like when "Naraka: Bladepoint" created a skin for Zhao Linger and it sold out directly.

But for players, things are not that simple.

Because where there are people there is the world, and where there is the world there is conflict. When bored people gather together, and when fans of each company discuss different works, it becomes a natural instinct to rank well-known characters from different worldviews.

Ethan admitted that he had done this kind of thing in his previous life.

He and his friends have argued about who is more powerful, Kyo Kusanagi or Takashi, whether Ichigo Kurosaki can cut off Naruto Uzumaki in half, and who is better, Anne Hathaway's Catwoman or Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow...

Ahem, that last one isn’t an argument.

It is human nature to compete with others, so when he started making games, the idea of ​​adding fuel to the fire became stronger and stronger. And integration, integration, and integration again? That is the boss's privilege!

Since Pac-Man's characteristic is that he can digest everything, and Snake's characteristic is that he can devour everything, then isn't the best way to combine the two of them to use super powers to fight?

On the surface, the mushrooms in Super Mario were changed into apples just to suit the food characteristics of the greedy snake. In the Super Pac-Man designed by Ethan, apples are both the food that the snake king Jack needs and the key for Pac-Man to go home. But if you think about it carefully...

Isn’t the apple that contains different powers the devil fruit in "One Piece"?

Eat an apple and gain a power!
It shouldn’t be too easy to use this feature for linkage!

They may not have many IPs now, but IP is something that can be made by yourself or purchased!

"Oh Ethan, this is really..."

The boy's act of wielding the lightsaber made Evelyn laugh until she burst into tears.

She kept slapping Ethan's arm and laughed, "What a crazy idea."

"but……"

“It’s really interesting!”

"Wow - to be honest, I can't wait now!"

"I really want to know what people's expressions would be if they found out that their favorite Pac-Man raised their favorite lightsaber?"

"Their fans will probably jump up in surprise, right?"

“Someone might even smash their TV!”

Although Evelyn was not as enthusiastic about video games as Ethan, no one could resist the public's love and admiration. So when the girl found out that Ethan was thinking of combining several things that people liked together, she became more and more happy.

Ethan was also somewhat happy about his sister's laughter. Wanting to know whether his dream could become reality, he couldn't wait to ask, "Are these things difficult to do?"

“Uh…” This question made Evelyn open her mouth.

However, just as she was about to answer, she clearly caught Ethan's eager gaze.

The next second, the girl changed the subject and said, "I don't know."

"What?" This answer made Ethan frown.

"Why?" He didn't understand.

"Because I don't know what kind of game you are going to make~"

Evelin shook the documents in her hand and said righteously: "Where are the follow-up things? Where are they?"

"You just show me a half-finished product? And then ask me if it's difficult to make?"

"Even if I am the Virgin Mary, I can't answer you!"

“Hiss——” Ethan thought it made sense.

"Then I'll come back after I finish painting?" He asked with a frown.

But this takes too much time.

"No need to bother."

Evelyn waved her hand and said, "Just tell me about the follow-up. For example, how do you want to design the subsequent levels? Will every map have an afterlife? What will the final battle be like? Will Mr. Pac-Man defeat the snake king Jack? That's enough."

"As for the rest, like map details? That's not important."

“We can discuss it slowly while we’re making it.”

"Oh, really? That's no problem." Ethan didn't hesitate. He spread the document on his legs, took out a pen and wrote as he said, "The process of this game is actually the same as "Starfield". The only difference is..."

Although "Contra" and "Super Mario" are both horizontal scrolling games, the former focuses on shooting, while the latter focuses on adventure and puzzle solving. Therefore, when designing levels, it is necessary to distinguish the core elements. What needs to be strengthened in the "Contra" game are the two elements of combat and shooting, while what needs to be emphasized in "Super Mario" is avoiding enemies and quickly passing levels.

Therefore, fighting will not be the focus of "Super Pac-Man".

“Although I put snake monsters, turtle monsters, and ghost monsters on the map, these are not the players’ goals. When players appear at the starting point of the game, their core task is to quickly reach the end point to find the apple that Mr. Pac-Man needs.”

"All the attacks in this process are aimed at breaking down obstacles."

"Therefore, the combat element of this game cannot exceed the puzzle element. In other words, we can design complex maps for players, design some blocks for them to hide things, and let them pass the level quickly through various functions, but we cannot give them too much force and let them kill from beginning to end."

"My current concept is very simple. The monsters will only walk at a normal speed. As long as they touch Mr. Pac-Man, they will attack him. And Mr. Pac-Man will die if he is touched by them once."

"Mr. Pac-Man's attack is also very simple. He jumps up and stomps on the monsters. Like Mr. Pac-Man, the monsters don't have patience settings, and they will die if they are stepped on once."

"Every time you pass a level, you will get a golden apple, which is actually a score. When the player collects a certain number of golden apples, that is, when he reaches a certain number of levels, the snake king Jack from the Apple Kingdom will appear in anger because of the decrease in apples."

"And this is actually the final Boss level."

"If all the levels before the Boss appears are puzzles, then the last level is a battle. In my plan, the first battle between Snake King Jack and Mr. Pac-Man is carried out in the simplest way. For example, the Snake King swings its tail to hit Mr. Pac-Man, opens its bloody mouth to bite Mr. Pac-Man, and rushes towards Mr. Pac-Man at a faster speed. Mr. Pac-Man still fights back by jumping up and stepping on him. But unlike attacking ordinary monsters, Snake King Jack can withstand a certain amount of attacks. Mr. Pac-Man must attack a certain number of times before he can defeat the Snake King, but Mr. Pac-Man still has no patience and will die if he is hit once..."

Hearing this, Evelin understood a little and said, “Ethan, you mean that before you come into contact with the snake king Jack, all the monsters in the game are actually moving obstacles?”

"Is it right?"

"Yes." Ethan nodded.

"And finally, the increase in the patience of the snake king Jack is actually a disguised way of increasing the difficulty of the game?"

"Yeah~" Sister's idea made Ethan give a thumbs up, "That's it."

"Oh - I understand -" Evelyn clapped her hands, but the next second she became curious, "If your idea is adventure puzzle solving, then many of the apples you designed can't be used."

"Especially that colorful apple!"

The girl thought Ethan was wasting his inspiration.

Moreover, there was some discrepancy between Ethan's description and his design.

But Ethan shrugged. "Who said it's useless?"

"As long as it's something I conceived, it will definitely be used." "For example, what we are making next is the first version of Super Pac-Man. In this game, we don't need to provide players with too difficult game maps, so only two or three apples will be used."

"Let's put the rest aside for now."

“When the first Super Pac-Man sold out, we launched a sequel, Super Ms. Pac-Man. The story is also very simple. Ms. Pac-Man is Mr. Pac-Man’s girlfriend. When she found out that her boyfriend had mysteriously disappeared and there was only a bitten apple at the scene, she was tricked by the God of Apple and tasted the apple. Then she entered the maze just like Mr. Pac-Man.”

"After a while of clearing levels, Ms. Pac-Man also came to the Apple Kingdom. Then she learned about Mr. Pac-Man and wanted to find him. Of course, she found him in the end."

"However, during this process, Ms. Pac-Man's behavior was discovered by Snake King's wife, Snake Queen Rousi. Just like in the first film, Snake Queen Rousi also attacked Ms. Pac-Man."

"Since it's a new game, we can pick a few designed stock apples to add into it."

"When this Super Ms. Pac-Man has sold out, we will count to three and make a two-player version of Super Pac-Man. In a single-player game, players can choose to play as Mr. Pac-Man or Ms. Pac-Man. If it is a two-player game, the two characters will work together to pass the levels."

"The story goes that after the two met, Mr. Pac-Man was moved by Ms. Pac-Man's love and wanted to return to the original world to get married, so he continued to look for the apple."

"At the same time, the snake king Jack and the snake queen Rousi, who were defeated by them before, also discovered the other world. They understood why Mr. Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man were so powerful. It was because the beans in the underground maze could enable them to fully exert the super powers hidden in their bodies."

"Not only that, they also learned that if they ate Mr. Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man, they would also have the ability to digest infinitely. After combining this with their own infinite devouring ability, they could even allow their bodies to carry the superpower of multiple apples. Therefore, they decided to take the initiative—"

"Take down Mr. Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man."

"Because this generation has more confrontations, we can give Apple some offensive capabilities."

"If the sales of the third generation of games are good, we can do the same for the fourth generation."

“Develop some Apple capabilities, develop some puzzle maps, and keep selling.”

"But if it doesn't sell well, we will release Super Pac-Man: Star Wars Special Edition and add colorful apples. The story goes that one night, there was a loud noise in the sky of the Apple Kingdom, and then countless stars shone on the earth. This phenomenon caused some apples in the Apple Kingdom to change from a single color to multiple colors. After Mr. Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man eat it, they can become Jedi Knights, and the Snake King and Snake Queen can gain the power of the Sith Emperor."

Ethan spoke happily, but Evelin was stunned on the spot.

When she realized that Ethan had counted to four before the game even started and wanted to keep talking, she immediately raised her hand and patted Ethan.

"Stop, stop, stop..." The girl signaled Ethan to stop.

"What's wrong?" Ethan stared curiously.

"How many Pac-Man games are you going to make?" Evelyn asked in confusion.

"Of course we can make as many as we can!" Ethan said confidently, "If the game sells, it means people like it. Since people like it, we have to keep going!"

Although it is not appropriate to measure classics by the number of works.

But all classic works must have huge numbers of support.

For a classic book, the huge number can refer to the number of copies printed, the degree of dissemination, or the derivative stories and folk creations;
For a song, quantity can refer to the number of copies sold or the number of covers;

As for movies and games...

It must be a sequel.

Because only when people like it will they pay for it.

When people pay money, businesses that want to make more profits will continue to produce series.

vice versa.

Therefore, Ethan didn't think there was anything wrong with his looking around.

Or...

If possible, he hopes that the Pac-Man game can be made indefinitely!

Because it means that no matter how much time has passed, people still love it!
"Oh—Ethan—"

Evelin changed her posture. She rested her head on the armrest of the sofa, and looked at Ethan with her arms folded and a smile, “I take back what I said before. You are indeed a qualified businessman.”

"Oh...just tell me if you can do it..." Ethan didn't want to hear such boring comments now.

He certainly knows that he is a qualified businessman!

In other words, he is truly a qualified people's entrepreneur because he always considers consumers!

Hehe ~
"Can do it."

Evelin thought for a while and said, “It’s not difficult, it just takes a little more time.”

"Because I have to think about how to combine the normal world and the underground world together."

"What about you?" Ethan raised his eyebrows at his sister.

The look of expectation was so clear that everyone knew what was in his mind.

“Okay.” Evelyn rolled her eyes.

"Oh——" Ethan was extremely happy at his sister's answer.

Just as he was about to squeeze out words of praise from his head, Evelyn changed the subject.

"But not now. I'm not doing it now."

"Why?" Ethan didn't understand. "Have you been busy lately?"

"No."

Evelin stretched and yawned, “Can’t I just not want to work?”

"..."

Ethan gave his sister a 6 in his heart.

Well, that's a very strong reason.

"of course can."

Ethan was in no hurry.

The schedule for their destiny games is almost complete, with Starfield this year and two arcade versions of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back next year, which will keep them in the public eye.

As for the three games launched by the console this year, what should the console sell next year?

Well...let's talk about this after "Alien" is released.

Besides, no matter what games the console sells next year, it’s unlikely to be Super Pac-Man, right?
After all, he is not a demon. Why would he release two blockbuster products in one year? Would he just empty his family's pockets?

This is not the way you cut leeks!

And Ethan’s nod made Evelin blink and ask, “Are you done now?”

"Ah... sort of? What's wrong?"

"How about going to New Orleans with me?" Evelyn sat up and said expectantly, "I want to eat Bananas Foster."

(End of this chapter)