Rebirth of America, this is my era

Chapter 256 Different thoughts

For ordinary people in North America, there were only two major events at the beginning of 1979.

The first thing is that Microsoft released the spreadsheet, which officially turned the computer product from a toy for enthusiasts into a tool for ordinary people. In the next few years, people's lives will undergo earth-shaking changes.

The second thing is that Destiny Game officially announced that it would hold a national game competition. Ethan Jones would pay back to the players out of his own pocket and share the progress of the times with people.

As for the rest?
Of course there is none.

Even if a magnitude 9.0 earthquake had occurred in Hollywood, the only people who could feel the tremors would be the capitalists who were able to enjoy the different views. When the media that emphasizes freedom of speech turns a blind eye to these things, the people of other countries will have even less idea of ​​what is happening in Los Angeles.

Therefore, when Nintendo's General Affairs Director Hiroshi Imanishi saw the information handed over by Arakawa Minoru, his entire face was filled with shock. After he quickly flipped through the documents in his hand and digested the contents, the word "sigh" was perfectly displayed on his face.

"It's crazy! Ethan Jones is really crazy!"

"Just hit the entire Hollywood?"

"Wow--"

“This is really enviable!”

"How many capitalists dream of such cross-industry and arrogant behavior?"

"But unfortunately, other capitalists have concerns when doing things, only he——"

"Arrogant!"

"Run rampant!"

Imanishi Hiroshi put down the document.

The touching words also made Yamauchi Hiroshi laugh out loud, "It's a very pertinent comment."

"When he dealt with us before, his attitude was just as bad."

After laughing, Yamauchi Hiroshi asked again: "Konnishi, what do you think about this matter?"

"Uh..." Hiroshi Imanishi hesitated for a moment and said, "According to the information collected by Arakawa, Ron Miller, the person in charge of Warner, MGM and Disney, has officially joined forces."

"They did not admit defeat and wanted to fight Ethan Jones to the end."

"This fact is consistent with our previous judgment, because once they admit defeat, their interests may be at risk. For example, Roy Disney of the Disney Group has always wanted to kick out Ron Miller. MGM is an object that can be split and listed for Wall Street financiers. Not to mention Warner. With movies, music, games and comics, they are simply a multi-faceted entertainment giant. As long as they can merge with an influential media, they can become a media entertainment aircraft carrier."

"So, in order to protect their property, they have no choice but to continue gambling."

Yamauchi Hiroshi was very satisfied with the words of the Director of General Affairs.

"very good."

Lao Shannei said: "So you think they will attack Ethan Jones again?"

Imanishi Hiroshi nodded and said, "Of course!"

"If I'm not mistaken, they are probably holding a meeting to discuss countermeasures now."

"Discuss what method should be used to defeat Ethan Jones next time."

"If they were more radical, they might have already made their move? We just don't know!"

"But it's not important, right?"

"We don't need to know how they attack. We just need to know that they don't give up. That's enough because it will keep Ethan Jones from paying attention to us."

"As long as they can hold off Ethan Jones until next year, then..."

"Our time will come!"

Speaking of this, Hiroshi Imanishi's face was beaming.

Hiroshi Yamauchi, who was leaning on the sofa, was shaking his legs happily.

This situation made Arakawa very puzzled.

If he remembered correctly, last year, after seeing the game presentation of "Starry Sky", his old father-in-law was very sad. He looked so frustrated as if the sky had fallen. But what about now?

His old father-in-law has made up for his previous decline!

When I went out earlier, I made him happier!

This sudden change made Arakawa a little uncomfortable.

It made him feel like an outsider.

And his doubts were all captured by Yamauchi Hiroshi.

After seeing his son-in-law looking at him with a confused expression, and feeling as if he wanted to ask something but didn't dare to, Yamauchi Hiroshi immediately nodded at Imanishi Hiroshi, motioning him to come forward and explain.

"Arakawa, you are confused, right?" Hiroshi Imanishi smiled after receiving the order and said, "The reason why I said that next year will be our era is because our R&D department has achieved revolutionary success."

These words made Arakawa Minoru stunned for a moment, and then he showed joy.

Now, Hiroshi Nishi pursed his lips and said with a smile: "Arakawa, I wonder if you have noticed a problem. Even though the market in our country is full of fun games made by Ethan Jones, there are still many people who buy our home consoles. Do you know why?"

"Because the people of our country have very limited free time?"

Arakawa thought for a while and answered carefully.

"Yes, that's right." Hiroshi Imanishi nodded and said, "When the average working hours in our country are hundreds of hours longer than those in developed countries, the number of people who can enjoy arcade games on the street must be limited, and this group must be related to teenagers."

"But video games are not just for teenagers, right? Adults also want to enjoy the fun that video games bring. When many office workers are exhausted after get off work and don't want to go out on the streets to fight with young people for arcade machines, lying at home and playing games is their best choice."

"So, even if Ethan Jones's arcade machine is very popular, our home console can still sell well, even if the games in it are indeed not as fun as those in the arcade, but convenience is the best selling point."

"When this situation occurred, Gunpei Yokoi, the chief engineer of our R&D department, had a special idea. When video games can be played on the streets, they are called arcade machines, and when video games can be played at home, they are called home consoles, why can't we develop a game console that can be carried around?"

“So, at the beginning of this year, he told the president about this idea.”

"Then……"

Having said this, Hiroshi Imanishi stopped and looked towards Lao Shannai with a smile.

This kind of half-sentenced behavior also made Arakawa Minoru feel like he was being scratched by a cat.

He turned his head decisively and cast an expectant look at his old father-in-law.

This made Yamauchi Hiroshi, who was leaning on the sofa, smile and nod, saying with emotion: "Before, Ethan Jones' endless creativity made me want to catch up."

"I asked everyone in the company to follow his lead, study his games, analyze his ideas, and try to find his inspiration and learn the essence of his production, but..."

“It turns out that this approach doesn’t work.”

"Inspiration is a gift from God, and it cannot be learned through rote learning."

"So, when I realized that chasing after Ethan Jones would only lead to death, I let Yokoi and the others do what they wanted to do. Then, I realized how wrong I was before."

Yamauchi Hiroshi sighed, patted his thigh and said: "They are all geniuses——"

"Everyone at Nintendo, including you, is a genius!"

"Yokoi wanted to make a gaming machine that could be held in the hand, preferably about the size of a calculator."

“When I heard this idea, I was totally shocked!”

"Because I've never thought about such a thing!"

"I even think he is crazy!"

"And when he put the project proposal in front of me at the beginning of the month, I realized that he had considered everything! And in order to make a game console that can be held in your hand, we only need to solve four problems!"

"The first problem is the screen display. There is a ready-made solution for this. We can just copy the display method of the calculator. We can use a black and white LCD screen."

"The second problem is the microprocessor. This problem is not a problem for us at all, because we have the world's cheapest eight-bit processor in our hands, and the calculator can easily install it."

"The third issue is the battery. Yokoi wants to use button batteries, but the battery life is still uncertain."

"The fourth question is games, which he is making now."

“When three of the four problems don’t need to be solved, and the only thing we need to tackle is to design some simple games that can be played in the hand…”

"I can even declare that this product has been successfully developed!"

"And its name——"

"Yokoi named it Game Watch!"

When Arakawa Minoru took the confidential document handed over by Nintendo's General Affairs Director Hirofumi Imanishi and read all of Gunpei Yokoi's ideas, his hands trembled and his eyes turned red with madness.

"This is real?"

He raised his head with difficulty, wondering if he was dreaming.

After Yamauchi Hiroshi rolled his eyes and kicked him, the sudden pain made him jump up instantly!
"Hahahaha-"

A cheerful laugh came out of his mouth!

"We finally turned things around! We finally turned things around!! We can finally turn things around!!!"

The heart-wrenching roar can blow the roof off!
According to his previous habits, Yamauchi Hiroshi could not accept other people yelling in front of him, but now, sitting on the armrest of the sofa, he looked at his son-in-law with a kind face.

He knew that Arakawa had suffered a lot in the past few years.

As a child of a large family, he had never had to worry about food and clothing since he was a child, and he was met with flattery and smiling faces in his life. However, after getting married, he was scolded every day because of his father-in-law's family business.

No one can accept this.

Arakawa Minoru was able to hold on until now without any seizures, which was already very surprising to him. And after learning that his business was finally picking up and he no longer had to rely on others for support...

It's normal to be a little excited.

After Arakawa Minoru had jumped up and down to vent his anger, he finally recovered and realized that the situation was not right. His face tensed and he wanted to apologize, but before he could say anything, Yamauchi Hiroshi had already waved his hands.

"Arakawa, there's no need to be like this. We're all family, don't be so reserved."

These words surprised Arakawa Minoru.

Just as he was wondering what his father-in-law was thinking, Yamauchi Hiroshi said, "Arakawa, there is one thing I don't understand. Do you like Nintendo?"

"?" Arakawa Minoru raised his eyebrows, not knowing why his father-in-law asked that.

Yamauchi Hiroshi looked at him with a smile, and answered his own questions:

"From your performance just now, you should like it."

"so--"

"Resign."

“Don’t stay in that damned place, Vancouver.”

“Come to Nintendo.”

"From now on, all of Nintendo's business in North America will be handed over to you."

"If everything goes well, your first job after officially taking office will be to sell Game Watch to North America on behalf of Nintendo. How about that, are you willing?"

Arakawa was stunned after hearing these words.

But the next second, ecstasy appeared on his face!
He understood that his father-in-law was ready to take the initiative!
With the powerful weapon Game Watch at hand, the only way to vent your anger is to take the initiative!
"Father-in-law." Arakawa said seriously, word by word, "Of course I am willing!"

"Hahahaha——" Yamauchi Hiroshi laughed out loud. He liked his son-in-law's answer.

Hirofumi Imanishi, who witnessed all of this with his own eyes, knew clearly that Nintendo had a successor.

Although it is impossible for Arakawa to change his surname to Yamauchi, it doesn’t matter, right?
His children would only be the Yamanouchi family's children, and that was enough.

After the two of them were excited, Arakawa asked another question, "Father-in-law, do we still need to continue negotiating with Ethan Jones about the product agency of Destiny Game?"

Yamauchi Hiroshi understood what he meant. When they had the ability to turn things around, it was unwise to continue to represent Ethan Jones' game, but -

"Of course we need to be the agent." Yamauchi Hiroshi said, "Securely grasping the sales rights of the Destiny game in our country will enable us to better sell our own game products."

"Securely grasping the overseas cash flow of the game of destiny will allow us to gain the initiative in the struggle."

"More importantly, the handheld game console may use 6502 in large quantities, so we must get the agent for the home console so as not to arouse suspicion on the shipment volume of 6502." "So, we still have to negotiate with the agent that we didn't get before."

"I have a new plan. Just take it to Ethan Jones."

"I believe that the negotiations will be much easier this time."

"Because Ethan Jones's North American enemies won't be left alone."

"Of course, in addition to these, there is another reason, that is, Yokoi is not the only genius in the world. When he can come up with the idea of ​​a handheld game console, other people will definitely have similar ideas. If these ideas only appear in some game developers, we are not afraid, because they have to purchase chips from outside. But if it is some old-school technology companies, such as those that make calculators, such as Casio, we have no advantage when competing with them."

"After all, Ethan Jones' good friend, Apple founder Steve Wozniak, had made a music calculator several years ago. With his modification, the music calculator became the Apple personal computer, and others could also make slight modifications to turn it into a game calculator."

"so--"

"do not be arrogant."

"Restrain yourself, be patient, wait for the best opportunity, and strike your opponent with a thundering blow."

Arakawa nodded vigorously at his father-in-law's caution.

The next day, I boarded the return flight with the latest cooperation plan written by Yamauchi Hiroshi.

Without stopping, he went straight to San Jose. When he met Ethan Jones for the third time in the name of seeking the agency of "Star", Ethan, who had just finished his work, hesitated for a moment and then let Ballmer let him in.

Looking at the modest figure in a suit, Ethan smiled and said, "Mr. Arakawa, there is a saying in Eastern mythology that goes "not to do anything more than three times." This is the third time you have asked me to be the agent for home consoles. So, I think you will come with Nintendo's sincerity. Please don't let me down, okay?"

"Of course." Arakawa Minoru smiled and handed over the document in his hand.

If it were any other time, he would definitely think that Ethan's words were very annoying, but now...

'Laugh! Laugh! Keep laughing!'

'You'll soon stop laughing!'

Just as Arakawa thought, when Ethan saw the new plan proposed by Yamauchi Hiroshi, he immediately frowned and felt that the sun had risen in the west.

Although there is not much difference between the new plan and the old plan, Nintendo still divides the agency products into three categories. The terms of the electronic arcade project and the game cartridge project have not changed. In the home console project, the minimum guarantee of one million units has not changed, but the share in this category has been fixed.

Previously, Nintendo stated that the cost of the console project was unknown, so it was difficult to discuss profit distribution. Now, in order to win the agency of Johnson's home console, Nintendo is willing to give up the pricing power of the home console. They will sell it at whatever price Ethan Jones says. At the same time, they will also disclose the production cost details of the home console to Ethan Jones, directly showing the profit amount of the home console product in the book.

When this information is made transparent, after deducting sales costs, production costs and financial expenses, the share Nintendo demands is the production cost plus the three costs multiplied by the domestic bank loan interest rate.

All other profits belong to Ethan Jones's Game of Destiny.

To put it simply, Nintendo does not make a penny from the home console project.

Their behavior is equivalent to lending their own funds to the Destiny game console production company, and only charging the minimum loan income according to the bank interest rate.

When this fact appeared, Ethan narrowed his eyes immediately.

Because he didn't understand why Nintendo would offer such a contract.

Lend him money for production?
Contribute your own manpower?

What's the difference between this and doing charity?
"Mr. Arakawa, I don't feel your sincerity in this clause."

Ethan raised his head and said bluntly: “Doing business is not profitable?”

"Then why do you want to do business?"

"There is no such thing as a free lunch."

"Because we at Nintendo don't want to lose you as a partner." Arakawa Minoru had rehearsed the conversation countless times in his mind before coming here, so he answered frankly at this moment, "Your company's Johnson home console and the game "Starfield" have caused a huge response in the industry. In addition to people living in North America, some people in our country are also looking forward to your game."

"Under such circumstances, if we at Nintendo lose you as a partner and have to watch you work with others or run your own business, it will cause huge losses to us at Nintendo."

"So, in order to maintain our current market position and market share, we must obtain your product agency. Since we urgently want your machines and games, then..."

"Why not take the initiative?"

Arakawa Minoru laughed.

"If we can suppress other competitors by paying for the profits from the console..."

"Then why shouldn't we do it?"

The honest words made Ethan's mouth open into a playful smile.

"So, you guys at Nintendo are developing your own games?"

"Of course." Arakawa nodded and said, "We at Nintendo are very interested in video games."

"Then I can't hand over the Johnson host to you, right?"

"But it's best if you let us handle the hosting."

Arakawa pointed to the document in Ethan's hand and said, "You probably haven't finished reading the document, because our president made a promise below the terms of cooperation."

These words made Ethan glance down and take a quick look.

Then he discovered that Nintendo President Hiroshi Yamauchi promised that during the duration of the contract, Nintendo would not launch any other home consoles except COLOR TV GAME.

At the same time, Nintendo also stated that if it wants to release a home console game in the future, it will only be available on Johnson's home console. They will not pay for the book part, but they will accept the review of the Destiny game in North America and give up 15% of the profits based on sales.

'I see. ’

Ethan felt that he understood Yamauchi's thoughts.

When Nintendo was unable to produce a product that matched Johnson's home console or a game like "Starfield" in a short period of time, they wanted to rely on agents to maintain the market and then seize the time to develop their own products.

This has two advantages.

The first is to seize the market and squeeze the competitors' living space.

The second is to use the platform for trial and error and cultivate one's own game brand.

The former is easy to understand, but the latter...

That is actually equivalent to major game manufacturers in the future first selling games on the Steam platform, and when the time is right, directly setting up their own platforms to sell their own games.

Companies like Uplay and Rockstar Games do this.

They commit themselves when they are not strong enough, and turn against you when they are strong enough.

As for this point...

Ethan looked at Arakawa Minoru with a smile and said, "Mr. Arakawa, why are you so frank today?"

"Because even if I didn't tell you, you would think we were already developing it ourselves, right?"

Arakawa Minoru shrugged.

This response made Ethan stare at him for a long time, and finally he burst out laughing.

"Okay, since Nintendo is so sincere, we can continue to cooperate."

"However, the terms of cooperation need to be changed."

"First of all, the cooperation period remains unchanged, it is still the next five years, but I am not satisfied with the annual agency fee you proposed, 20 million per year, a total of 100 million."

"This agency fee must be paid in full in one lump sum. I must receive this money within thirty days after the contract is signed, otherwise our contract will automatically become invalid."

"Don't tell me I don't have money. I've earned nearly 200 million yuan in dividends from the three games Snake, Pac-Man, and Star Wars. With stores, it's impossible for you to earn less than me."

"Then, I have no objection to your new guarantee and profit-sharing plan, but I am not satisfied with your promise. In the future, if you want to release home console games, even if you only release them in your own country, the games must be submitted to us for review. You can only launch them after we agree."

"Secondly, no matter which country your game is launched in, since your game uses our platform, you must pay us a fee. The fee is calculated as 30% of the sales price, and you must pay an advance payment before the launch. The specific amount is calculated based on the number of initial releases."

"If you can accept that, I can have a lawyer draw up a contract now."

"If you can't accept it, then we can only say goodbye with regret."

"Because I don't want to go over the same issue four times."

The blatant threat made Arakawa Minoru stunned, and after a moment, he laughed.

"Mr. Jones, you are too greedy."

Ethan was unmoved and stared at him seriously, "Mr. Arakawa, if your company took the initiative today, then your father-in-law, Mr. Yamauchi Hiroshi, would be more greedy than me."

Compared with the royalty system created by Hiroshi Yamauchi in his previous life, Ethan's behavior of only reviewing but not releasing the products is much more merciful. Moreover, he has not restricted the number of Nintendo's games released like Hiroshi Yamauchi, nor has he controlled Nintendo's production. This kind of magnanimity is enough to make men silent and women cry.

Not to mention, in his previous life, Gunpei Yokoi resigned from Nintendo and was killed by a driver in Kyoto on the highway. Before his death, Kyoto Ritsumeikan University had even prepared a special lecture for him on "The only way for small and medium-sized enterprises to develop - to survive through continuous creation." Although the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department repeatedly stated that it was an accident, the gaming community and Gunpei Yokoi's family have never accepted this result, because Gunpei Yokoi's new entrepreneurial goal is to continue making games.

And that...

It is killing Nintendo!
When these facts exist in Ethan's mind, Ethan will not be kind to Nintendo.

But for Arakawa Minoru, who has never been exposed to any of this...

Ethan now, that is——

'devil!'

He cursed in his heart, took a deep breath, and said, "Mr. Jones, let the lawyer take care of the rest. I will take your contract back to Nintendo, and I will also try to convince our president. I believe that this cooperation will bring us a win-win situation..."

Now that the framework for cooperation has been established, the drafting of the contract proceeds quickly.

Two hours later, Arakawa Minoru left the Destiny Game with the freshly-made contract. Looking at the car body moving farther and farther away, Ethan returned to his desk and used the internal short number to call Ballmer.

"I'll give you a task."

"Boss, tell me."

"Do you know Julis Noble?"

"Yes, she is the former supervisor of the company. I met her before when she came to report on her work."

"Okay, send someone you trust to Benzi, call her home, and tell her to keep an eye on Nintendo every day from now on."

Ethan looked at Ballmer with a sharp gaze and said, "If Julis doesn't believe it, then tell her that she went to Benzi to taste the power. If she still doesn't believe it, then tell her that if she doesn't believe it, I will call her parents and tell them where she works. Please note that I have only one requirement when doing this, that is, don't meet her no matter what, understand?"

"?" Ethan's order made Ballmer blink, "Boss, is that all?"

"Gone."

“……”Ballmer was stunned.

He never expected that the boss would act so mysterious, only to ask him to convey a message?

This……

Outrageous.

As for Ethan, his behavior was a perfect reflection of his prudence.

Did Arakawa think he won by being honest?

Do not make jokes!
He has revealed his flaws!

As the son-in-law of the tyrant Yamauchi Hiroshi, if he had not obtained Yamauchi Hiroshi's approval, how could this guy dare to say that he would try to persuade his father-in-law when he put forward harsh conditions?

Only if Yamauchi Hiroshi desperately wants to be the agent, will he delegate power to Arakawa Minoru!

And Yamauchi Hiroshi is eager to get the agency?
This is interesting, right?

Although Ethan didn't know why Yamauchi Hiroshi suddenly became so anxious, he believed that there was no impenetrable wall in the world! As long as Yamauchi Hiroshi had a plan, he would definitely take action!
In this situation, let Julis keep an eye on it so that she can give an early warning in the first place!
He doesn't want to be like before, where he only found out about the COLOR TV GAME after it was released!
After distributing the tasks, Ethan, who was well prepared, finally breathed a sigh of relief. Just as he leaned back in his chair and tried to think about what conspiracy Nintendo had, someone knocked on the office door from outside again.

After being asked to come in, the guy who came in was Damio Dean, the head of the company's R&D Group 2.

"Boss, do you have time now?"

"Something happened?"

"Of course. Didn't you ask us to make a plan for the two Star Wars games that will be released next year? We have already finished that. If you have time... go and take a look?"

Note: ① The birth of Game Watch is mentioned in all books about the history of Nintendo. It was Gunpei Yokoi who found office workers playing with calculators on the way to work, so he had the inspiration to make a handheld game console. This is actually the root of the development of handheld game consoles, which brings entertainment to people with fragmented time. ② In 880, Nintendo launched a handheld game console, and Casio launched a game calculator called MG-. After that, it launched a bunch of similar products. Their products are very awesome, such as boxing games, Sudoku games, dice games, baseball games, and Go games. Moreover, it was because Casio's products were easy to operate that Nintendo later made a cross key for the handheld game console. But unfortunately, no matter how good the machine was conceived, it could not beat Shigeru Miyamoto's game creativity. ③ Nintendo's royalty system can be simply summarized into four points. First, Nintendo produces game cartridges, and manufacturers have no right to manufacture them. Second, Nintendo sells game cartridges, and manufacturers have no right to sell them. Third, there is a limit on the number of games that each game company can put on FC each year. Fourthly, game manufacturers need to estimate sales in advance and pay royalties based on sales. As for whether the games can be sold or not... Nintendo doesn't care.

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(End of this chapter)