Rebirth of America, this is my era

Chapter 275: Believers All Over the World
"Oh Ethan! You just gave a really great speech!"

"Your choice is the joy of the world?"

"That's a really cool sentence!"

After giving the green field to the staff, Ethan also went up to his own side stand.

As soon as he stepped onto the stairs, Xiao Qiao, a classmate who was invited, stretched out his fist and hit him twice in the chest.

The excited praise made Ethan smile. "You think I spoke well?"

"Oh, I think so too!" Ethan raised his right hand and punched Jobs, then continued, "Of course, you also have half of my medal of honor."

"Huh?" Jobs didn't understand.

Ethan said, "After all, you were the one who told me that a speech is about saying what the audience wants to hear. And at this moment, what could excite them more than the results of the game of fate?"

"Right?"

Ethan winked at Jobs.

Even though the scene was very noisy, Xiao Qiao still heard his words clearly.

When Jobs recalled what happened at the Pac-Man conference, the sturdy young man wearing glasses burst into laughter, "Oh - my good brother -"

He opened his arms.

Ethan didn't hesitate and hugged him.

Not only that, he also patted the other person's back hard.

After chatting for a while, Ethan continued to move forward, bumped chests with Steve Wozniak who was twisting his body, high-fived the cheering Steven Spielberg, took the light blue lightsaber from George Lucas, waved it twice in front of the camera, and aroused screams from the audience.

Then he pointed at the stands and swung his lightsaber out.

Following his movements, countless people rushed forward.

This scene made Ethan smile and ask for a microphone.

"Be safe!"

"If you have any questions, just call security!"

“We have a medical team on site!”

"If you need emergency treatment, I will pay for all the expenses today!"

"Hahahaha—" Ethan's words caused a burst of laughter.

After shaking hands with Bill Mensch, hugging Ralph Baer, ​​and taking a photo with the Governor of Arkansas and his wife, as well as Barbara Babcock who were invited to the event, Ethan finally saw Bill Gates and Paul Allen.

Oh, no, old Gates was here today too and he was sitting next to his son.

"Thank you for your support." Ethan took the initiative to extend his hand.

"Oh - Ethan, we should be the ones thanking you." Old Gates stood up with his son and his friends, and said with a smile, "Thank you for your invitation."

Ethan didn't bother to be polite about such a boring thing, and nodded and said, "Have fun."

After greeting the special guests, Ethan returned to his seat. Unlike usual, Thomas and Linda also came to the scene today. Perhaps because he was too happy, Thomas gave Ethan a bear hug when he saw him coming, but it may also be because all parents hope that their children can have a bright future, so Linda held his cheek and kissed him hard.

As for Evelyn?
This guy looked at Ethan with disgust.

"Stop laughing!"

"The corners of your mouth are almost touching your ears!"

"My mouth is watering!"

"Just like the Big Bad Wolf in Little Red Riding Hood!"

"Happy..." Ethan shrugged and sat down.

The heartwarming scene was faithfully recorded by the photographers. After Ethan waved his hand, signaling them to pay attention to the game, they handed the camera over to the host of the event.

"Okay, now it's finally my turn. I thought I would have to wait a long time." The former governor of California said with a smile, and then continued: "Next, I will invite all the contestants participating in today's competition..."

The game plan Ballmer had previously formulated worked very well during its execution.

When people learned that the rules of the qualifiers were a one-time system, all contestants would be ranked according to the number of levels they cleared, with the top 100 from each state entering the knockout rounds, ever since the start of the competition, the entrances to the competition venues in each state have been blocked by crowds of curious onlookers every day.

Because this kind of schedule is too exciting!
Because the contestants must give their all and not hide anything!

Whenever people discover that a new contestant has set a record and made it onto the state's top 100 list, the simple change in numbers will make them excited and give them more topics to talk about!

In this case, when the elimination rounds in each state officially begin, the local people can actually recognize the contestants. When the state finals begin, anyone who has watched a few live broadcasts and heard some news will be able to find something to cheer for.

Now that the general public can recognize the contestants, when most of the people watching the finals are former contestants, every time the former governor of California calls out the name of a state, it can arouse cheers of support from the audience.

Although we were enemies before, at this moment, supporting our own people is the right thing to do!
What's more, among the guys who are eliminated, there is no one who doesn't hope that the one he loses is the number one in the country!

This……

This is the real reason why Ethan is trying so hard not to sell tickets directly!

All the contestants who can come to participate in the competition are eager to succeed.

Since they desire success, they must like cheering.

Therefore, when they are not well-known, letting their hometown people come to watch the game is the most fair thing the organizer can do. If you sell tickets without caring about anything, the event held in California will definitely attract countless Californians to watch, and the people of California will definitely praise the local players to the sky.

From the organizer's perspective, this situation fails to demonstrate tolerance.

From the players' perspective, inexplicable pressure will put them at a disadvantage.

If it were a MOBA game today, with players playing against each other, then it would still be possible to hype up the confrontation.

But when the competition is a maze solving game in a single player, it allows all players to perform better, challenge themselves, and achieve outstanding results, which will make the fans who follow the competition feel comfortable.

While waiting in the private room, Hiroshi Imanishi discovered that the contestants from each state would arouse at least one group of spectators to scream wildly. The scene that never dulled from beginning to end made him laugh at himself.

"President, is this the most popular fighting style you mentioned?"

Hiroshi Imanishi turned his head and looked at Yamauchi Hiroshi with admiration.

"To be honest, I hadn't thought of that at all."

“You are really amazing.”

"Yeah." Yamauchi Hiroshi, who had recovered from his shock, nodded slightly and said, "Don't be discouraged."

"I just lived a few years longer than you."

The humble words made Imanishi Hiroshi feel even more ashamed, and Yamauchi Hiroshi...

He also sighed silently in his heart.

'So Ethan Jones went to great lengths to sell tickets in order to help the players perform better?'

"I thought he just wanted to liven up the atmosphere!"

That’s right, Yamauchi Hiroshi also guessed wrong.

But unfortunately, Hiroshi Imanishi will never know about this.

Because Yamauchi Hiroshi decided to keep it to himself.

During the conversation between the two, 480 contestants from 48 states also showed up one after another. After simply greeting everyone in a group, the state champions of the 48 states also came on stage to draw lots. They will be divided into six groups in the form of A, B, C, D, E, and F.

Each group consists of eight states and eighty people.

They will play at the same time.

The rules of today's finals are actually exactly the same as the previous state finals. The contestants are still given three lives each, and the best scores are recorded.

In the end, the person who has passed the most levels is the champion.

When introducing the rules to this point, the former governor of California suddenly raised his hand and asked Ethan Jones in the stands: "Ethan, I have a question for you. If two people have the same number of levels, how do we determine the champion? Who takes the least time?"

This question made Ethan shake his head, and he picked up the microphone and answered: "The purpose of holding this competition is to hope that someone can complete my game. And this should also be the wish of all the audience, because they should also want to see the ending of the game."

"So, we said before the competition that the judging criteria for the competition would only be the number of levels cleared."

"If someone has the same number of levels, we will compare their second scores."

"If the second best result is the same, then compare it with the worst result."

"If the worst result is the same..."

"Then I'll throw them out!"

"Because no national exam controls scores like you do!"

"You can control the score but not pass the level. Aren't you humiliating me?"

"No matter what, I'll throw you into the Pacific Ocean to feed the sharks!"

"Hahahaha——" Ethan's funny words once again made the audience burst into laughter.

The former governor was also happy to raise the microphone and said, "What if there are several people who pass the customs?"

"..." Such a provocative remark made Ethan frown. "Then I will throw you into the Pacific Ocean to feed the sharks!"

“Hahahaha——” the audience laughed even louder.

The response earned the former governor a thumbs-up and he continued with the flow of the game.

Since there is no teamwork and no team results, even if many players are from the same state, they are still enemies. This way of competing will also keep the suspense of the game until the last moment, because only God knows who the champion is before the last player finishes the game.

There's no way around it, because breaking levels is different from racing.

The former can use the brain, while the latter relies more on skills.

In other words, there are a lot of muscle reactions involved.

Perhaps because the competition system was designed to be very compact, after the draw, when the first group of players from eight states took the field, the huge stadium suddenly became much quieter.

Anyone can smell the tension in the air.

Especially when Ballmer, with his loud voice, served as the commentator and announced the movements of each player with passionate words, the atmosphere on the scene became even more solemn.

That's right.

Although the former governor of California was the host of this event, Ethan invited him only to announce the grading plan for the Game of Destiny at the end. And he was invited here to show his face in front of the people of the country and accumulate points for future elections.

So——

It's fine to let him talk about the process of the game and introduce the players, but as for commentating the game?
This is a bit nonsense.

Because even Ethan himself didn't believe that he, who was eyeing the position of commander-in-chief, had time to play games.

Since they know each other well, Ethan will naturally let professionals do professional things, so in the setting of commentary, the passionate Ballmer became the best candidate.

Of course, he couldn't keep an eye on eighty arcade machines by himself.

So, in an era when technology was not yet developed and the Internet was not yet popular, the Destiny game used the dumbest method to show people the process of the game.

In addition to Ballmer, all members of the Destiny game's R&D department were also mobilized, with eight groups of two serving as secondary commentators. When eight groups of players competed at the same time, they would control the game details of the players on site in a one-watch-five manner.

If they see something exciting that might happen, they'll ask Ballmer to come over early.

If they are late, they will turn on their microphones and work together with the cameramen and directors to capture the fleeting wonderful scenes as much as possible.

In order to make the live game scenes more vivid, each player is equipped with a referee who is always keeping an eye on them and a photographer who carries a video recorder to record the game.

This way, even if the audience didn’t see the unique performance at the first sight, they could still watch it again through playback during the players’ rest periods…

When the Destiny Game has done everything it can, even if they are limited by the times, the audience on the scene can still watch it with satisfaction.

Especially when Ballmer ran around holding a microphone, even if he was panting and his voice was hoarse, he would do his best to shout out the game scenes and players' operations in front of the camera...

Even though at times, the players’ performances did not meet the expectations of the sub-group commentary team, and looked exciting but not outstanding, resonant cheers could still be heard in the huge venue.

This scene made Ethan a little dazed.

He leaned back in his chair with his arms folded, his face full of emotion——

As I said, games are never played alone.

Because happiness is something that should always be shared with others.

Being able to share happiness with friends around you is the greatest meaning of the game.

Even in the future, the money-making behavior of major manufacturers has changed the taste of games.

But people can still gain a lot from the game.

For example, many people feel that what they defeat in the game are monsters created by the designers.

actually not.

The successful players always defeat their tired selves after get off work.

Times change, people change, but games never change.

As long as you need it, it can satisfy you.

This is the greatest thing about the game.

Just when Ethan's thoughts were in a mess and he was about to float away from the earth, a huge cheer instantly woke him up.

When I looked up, I saw that someone had broken through the 150th level.

This achievement made him smile and applaud, and just as he was thinking that with the combined efforts of North America, someone should be able to complete "Ms. Pac-Man" today, his thoughts were interrupted by sudden words.

Ballmer, holding the microphone, looked at his hand and said:

"The contestant who just broke through level 150 is from California!"

"He's an engineer from General Instruments!"

"His name is Sid Meier, and he's loved video games since their inception!"

"And in the pre-match interview he also said that his biggest wish was to join the game of fate!"

“Because he loves games and wants to make games!”

'What is that? ? ?'

Ethan was shocked.

Sid Meier???

He frowned and looked at the big screen in the stadium.

When a figure with a middle-parted hairstyle, wearing noise-canceling headphones and concentrating on playing games in front of an arcade machine appeared in front of him, the slightly unfamiliar face made him a little dazed.

At this moment, he really didn't know whether the guy in front of him was the Sid Meier who created the famous turn-based strategy game "Civilization" in his previous life.

But it doesn't matter, right?
Because he has all the information of these players.

Call the staff and ask for the players' documents.

Then, Ethan discovered that he knew many of the people on the list!
Like Michael Dell, the boss of Dell;
Like the founder of Nvidia, Leathery Huang, who has superb knife skills;
Like Valve boss Gabe Newell who can’t count to three;
Like what mock godfather Will Wright;
And from the University of California, it must be Sid Meier's Sid Meier...

When these people's names jumped in front of him one by one, Ethan immediately slapped his forehead!
At this moment, he suddenly remembered another advantage of video games -

All inclusive!

In his previous life, among all the tech tycoons who became famous because of the computer wave, there was not a single one who didn’t play video games! Or in other words, interest is the best teacher!

Even South Africa’s Elon Musk is no exception!

He practiced his programming skills by writing games!
No matter what industry you are in, doing things based on your interests is the fastest way to get started!

And in the computer industry, video games are the best guide!

Because this is a product that can be accepted by ordinary people!
Things that can be judged as good or bad by ordinary people!
A source of happy feedback for countless people!

Thinking of this, Ethan immediately touched his chin.

He has always felt that the greatest value of games is that they can help him get rich quickly.

But now, he suddenly realized that money was just a superficial appearance brought to him by the game.

What he really gained...

Those are the admiring gazes of countless young bosses!
hiss……

Why does this sound so disrespectful?

never mind!

As long as these guys are geniuses, that's enough!
When this thought came to his mind, Ethan immediately turned his head away.

As his eyes swept over Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Paul Allen, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg one by one, the figures that had already blended into the scene made him curl the corners of his mouth.

After traveling through time for four years, all the big guys are my fans?

"what--"

He's not laughing!
effort!

Hold back!

"Pfft-"

"Ha ha ha ha--"

I really can't help it!

Because when I think of the believers everywhere in the world...

A feeling of comfort rises from the soles of my feet!

The shock that touched his soul made him unable to close his mouth anymore!

Notes: ① Sid Meier has always played games. After graduating and joining General Instrument, he also took private jobs to help some banks make some coin-catching games, similar to the "Windfall" written in this book. He also likes to compete with others in his game skills. It is said that he played the best game "Red Baron". In the early 2s, he was already studying game AI. ② Will Wright is the designer of "The Sims". He made money from games in . His shooting game "Raid on Bungling Bay" sold one million copies in Japan. ③ Elon Musk did learn programming by writing games, called "Blastar". ④ In the early days of computer development, the influence of electronic games was invincible, because the concept of software was not popular at that time, and ordinary people rarely came into contact with it. Therefore, the best way to talk about programming with ordinary people was to talk about games. And writing games was also the best way to verify technology in that era. As long as you can make a perfect game, your programming skills will definitely be no problem. Not only that, this is also the easiest way for ordinary people to achieve financial freedom. In addition to video games, there was another product that was extremely influential in that era, the Apple . When Steve Wozniak added an external disk to it, ordinary people could also access software. This is also the reason why Apple became so popular and countless engineers admired Woz. That product really changed the world. As for Gates... no one admired him.



(End of this chapter)