Rebirth of America, this is my era

Chapter 295: Ambition of an Open World
To be honest, Ethan actually wanted to invest in Spielberg's company.

Because "Indiana Jones", "ET the Extra-Terrestrial", "Back to the Future" and "Jurassic Park" are all rare gold mines in the film industry.

When Darth Mickey was reaping huge profits with Marvel and Star Wars, it was the "Jurassic" IP that allowed Universal to re-enter the top ten list of North American box office. The series of IPs created by Spielberg are also the key to Universal Studios' ability to persist. After all, four of the five most attractive IPs in the entire Universal Studios were brought by him. In addition to "Minions", "Jurassic", "Kung Fu Panda", "Transformers" and "Harry Potter" were all signed by him.

It is no exaggeration to say that without Spielberg's god-like productivity, Universal Pictures might have fallen behind in Hollywood long ago. And now that he wants to leave Universal, doing everything possible to get him back is what a qualified capitalist should do.

It's a pity that he doesn't want to.

However, being able to obtain the game production rights, film distribution rights, and CD distribution rights for all his works is also a huge gain, because even though it has been five years since the time travel, Ethan will not forget that when he was playing "Medal of Honor" in his previous life, he saw the name of DreamWorks Interactive in the production team column.

Yes, in his previous life, the number one player in the film industry also dabbled in game production.

The reason for this situation is very simple. When Spielberg discovered that his child was addicted to stupid games like "007: GoldenEye", he felt that he had an obligation to let his child understand what a real video game is!

So, in the late 1990s, Spielberg led the production team to make "Medal of Honor".

And it sells well.

According to Ethan's understanding, after the release of "Medal of Honor", the good response made Spielberg want to make another effort to create a sequel, but because of problems with the main film business, DreamWorks was besieged by Hollywood giants and overseas distribution was unable to open up the situation. In order to raise money, he was forced to sell the production company.

Afterwards, the production team of "Medal of Honor" split into two groups, one joined Electronic Arts and the other joined Activision. The former made the hardcore shooting game "Battlefield" according to the script left by Spielberg, and the latter used the idea of ​​"Medal of Honor" to make "Call of Duty".

These two games shook up the entire gaming industry and made Activision rave about its profits, but now...

All of the old man’s game ideas are his!

From now on, Ethan Jones no longer has to worry about the game plot!

Because there is someone around you who can write!
What’s more important is that this kind of person is willing to write!

Just as Ethan stood up and prepared to call Ballmer to sign the contract with the two, Spielberg, who was sitting on the sofa, stopped him and said, "Wait a minute, Ethan, we haven't finished talking yet..."

"Anything else?" Ethan put the butt back on the sofa just after it left the sofa.

"Yes, there are two more small things." Spielberg nodded and said, "The first one is related to Raiders of the Lost Ark. According to our plan, we will set up the crew this year, start filming next year, and release it the year after."

"Because I have plenty of time, I was thinking..."

“Can you make a game for it?”

“Like Star Wars and Alien?”

“Because I also want to experience the sensation of selling out in the first week.”

The simple request made Ethan laugh out loud. He could understand Spielberg's desire, because becoming an instant hit would be the coolest thing, but making "Indiana Jones" into a game?
This question made Ethan pick up the script again and start reading it.

As he fell silent, Spielberg also looked nervous.

Because in the past few years, Spielberg has never seen Ethan hesitate when it comes to games.

In his impression, whenever Ethan talked about games, God was second and he was first.

But now...

What is he thinking about?
However, even though he was anxious, Spielberg did not ask any questions. About ten minutes later, Ethan, who had finished reading the script again, said seriously, "Steven, Raiders of the Lost Ark can be made into a game, and I have two ideas. They may represent different results. You need to choose."

"I think you can understand what I mean, right?"

Ethan raised an eyebrow.

"Of course." Spielberg suddenly realized and said, "You asked us for the game license because you believe that our movie can be successful. But even if the movie can bring a large number of fans, you must first make a good game, so that the fans' enthusiasm can be converted into purchasing power."

"We are the same. We think your game can be successful, so we give you the game license for the movie. We also hope that fans of the game can help the box office and peripherals of the movie."

"so……"

"If you have any questions, just tell me."

The frank words made Ethan change his sitting position and said, "Yes, so I don't want to deceive you."

"Raiders of the Lost Ark seems a bit difficult to do for me."

"Since the core element of this project is adventure puzzle, in my opinion, the current way of making games, similar to the linear model of "Starfield", may not be suitable for "Indiana Jones"."

"Uh... Ethan... I don't understand what you mean." Lucas didn't understand and raised his hand to indicate, "What do you mean by linear mode? Isn't Starfield a level-breaking game?"

"Before, when we were talking about The Empire Strikes Back, you said that the arcade version of The Empire Strikes Back would also be made in this mode? The full name seems to be something like... scrolling shooting game?"

"Oh yes." Ethan nodded repeatedly, realizing that he had made a mistake.

Electronic games in this era are not as diverse as they will be in the future!

When he is already the recognized godfather of the game industry by people inside and outside the industry, wouldn't it be boring for him to chat about professional terms with Spielberg and Lucas, two outsiders!
So he stood up and took a stack of white paper from the desk.

After sitting down again, he spread the paper on the coffee table and started writing in front of the two of them...

“Although Starfield is a scrolling shooting game, its gameplay is actually very simple. The challenges and events in the entire game are all unfolded in sequence.”

"For example, you can only enter the second level after you clear the first level."

"And the process of the second level is also fixed. You can only enter the third level after you clear it..."

"If you simplify all of this, when designing this kind of game, the first thing the designer does is to design a starting point A, arrange an end point B, and then let the player go from A to B according to a fixed process."

“Of course, there will be twists and turns, which are levels.”

“But because its process is unchanging, it is just a line, so I call it linear.”

"Oh——" Lucas understood.

Spielberg nodded.

The two's reactions prompted Ethan to continue, "But Raiders of the Lost Ark cannot be made in this way, or rather, this approach does not reflect the creative essence of Raiders of the Lost Ark."

"In my opinion, making Raiders of the Lost Ark in a non-linear way can make the game restore the flavor of the movie itself. The current technology can support my idea, but the players can't."

"Because this approach will make the cost of playing the game very high..."

That's right!

In Ethan's opinion, the most suitable game type for the "Indiana Jones" IP is the non-linear adventure puzzle game like "Hyrule Fantasy: Zelda"!

This is what future players will call ARPG, action role-playing game!

Because there are so many puzzle elements in "Indiana Jones"! Submarine battles, desert island survival, the Well of Souls, the Temple Tavern... Just the movie maps created by Spielberg and Lucas can support the puzzle development of an entire game!
When such detailed content appears, when such a sophisticated design appears, turning "Indiana Jones" into a simple scrolling game? That would be a huge waste!
Turning it into the North American "Zelda", making it an open world, and continuing to expand the worldview in the movie in the form of a game, that is the treatment that the North American annual championship movie deserves!
More importantly, even if Ethan didn't ask his sister for inspiration, he knew that the current technology fully supported it, because when Shigeru Miyamoto created "Zelda" in the 1980s, he used the original red and white machine to run it, and the home console of the Destiny game...

Cough cough cough...

I understand everything I understand.

But even if their Johnson home console could carry the fantasy of ARPG, Ethan could not turn his creativity into reality, because a game like "Zedal" must have the function of saving and loading files.

If players can't save their own games, then the puzzle game can't be played. The original Famicom didn't have a save function, so in his previous life, Nintendo's Hiroshi Yamauchi built an external disk drive to promote "The Legend of Zelda".

Now, Johnson's home console does not have a save function, so if he wants to make "Indiana Jones" into an ARPG, he must introduce external disk drives to players.

Although this promotion was very simple for Ethan, because Evelyn had already made a backdoor when designing the console, Apple's external disk could be used by simply plugging it into the game console, but they sealed the opening when making the machine shell for marketing, but...

Apple external disk is expensive!
For the price of four hundred and ninety-five per unit, you can buy two and a half Johnson home consoles!

This price is not acceptable to ordinary people!
Therefore, the ARPG concept of "Indiana Jones" cannot be realized at present.

As for whether Ethan’s disclosure will lead to the leakage of inspiration?
This Ethan didn't care.

When the market cannot carry inspiration, what is the point of leaking it?
And after he mastered the promotion of hardware, others wanted to be the first to gain the world?
Ah--

dream!

It’s all in the dream!
Perhaps because he had no psychological pressure, Ethan was extremely detailed when he told the story.

When he presented the idea of ​​an open world to Spielberg and Lucas in a simple way, these two giants in the film industry were instantly shocked!
They never imagined that video games could do this?

If video games can present a relatively realistic open world to the public, allowing players to roam freely in it, then how should movies as an entertainment form stand?

When players can write satisfying stories with their own hands...

The originally lively movie will become extremely dull!
This fact will allow the video game market to continue to expand!

Maybe in a few years, movies will have to look up to games!

"This is too horrible..." Xiao Lu and Xiao Si were so shocked that they couldn't speak.

But when Ethan said that the current technology has allowed it, but people’s wallets can’t afford it…

They were immediately disappointed.

Although their main business is movies, all of their movies can be made into games by Ethan!

If before, when Ethan was lost in thought, they would still worry whether Ethan’s talent had been exhausted, but now, when the idea of ​​the open world came up, they knew that with Ethan’s creativity, he would be invincible in ten, twenty, or thirty years!

In this case, cooperating with Destiny Game is the best choice!

Creative innovations that bring forth new ideas will bring them glory!

It will also allow them to gain a lot!
"so……"

"We can't bring this product to market any time soon, can we?"

Lucas asked.

“At least we couldn’t do that by the time the movie came out.”

Ethan replied.

"When will this kind of game be available?"

Spielberg wanted a specific time.

"Well, that depends on the development of technology." Ethan thought for a while and said, "First, we have to wait for major companies to launch better disk drives, because only in this way can the price of existing disk drives be lowered. Secondly, I don't want to add a disk drive to the Johnson home console. According to my plan, digital optical discs will be the main storage for the new generation of home consoles."

"And the Johnson home console product can't possibly be obsolete after only one or two years on the market, right? It will have to be sold for five or six years at least? So, according to my plan, in 1985..."

“This is a more reasonable time for innovation.”

“New machines and new games are also what I pursue.”

"At least I can accept it."

Ethan's thoughts made the two brothers on the opposite sofa look at each other.

They couldn't accept this span.

Although they have other projects on hand, "Indiana Jones" is obviously an IP that can be made into a series. If Spielberg wants to go it alone, launching a popular series in the name of the new company is the fastest way to become famous.

"Ethan, what about the second idea you mentioned earlier?" Spielberg asked.

"The second idea is to make a scrolling game like Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back," Ethan said. "But after our Destiny game launched Starfield and Star Wars, I can't guarantee that the same type of Indiana Jones will be 100% successful."

Spielberg got it.

In other words, if he wanted to release the Indiana Jones game and movie together in 1981, Ethan would have had to make the game a scrolling adventure.

And this...

"I need to think about this."

"Okay." Ethan had no objection.

Perhaps it was because the result Ethan gave was quite different from what they had imagined before they arrived, so when they talked about the second thing, they were a little depressed.

But the second thing was not a big deal. Spielberg just wanted to get the right to host Michael Jackson's concert for American Music, the parent company of Universal Pictures.

Yes, even if Spielberg decided to leave Universal and go it alone, he wanted to take one last thank you to Sidney Sheinberg, CEO of American Music and Universal Pictures.

After all, without Sidney Sheinberg's generosity, Spielberg wouldn't be where he is today.

And this matter...

"I personally have no problem."

"Because Destiny Music is just a shell company."

"According to the current development momentum, Michael Jackson will definitely hold his solo concert tour in one or two years. If American Music is willing to take it over, it will be a great thing for me because I won't have to invest in it."

"but……"

"After all, the current chairman of Destiny Music is David Geffen."

“So whether Destiny Music will cooperate with American Music is up to him to decide.”

"You guys will join Destiny Pictures first, and then go talk to him?"

"uh-huh?"

Ethan had made his words very clear. As long as they had the status of co-president of Destiny Pictures, wouldn't it be a matter of a word to discuss a project with a subsidiary of Destiny Pictures?

The two of them also understood this truth and nodded.

"Okay, let's talk about it ourselves."

(End of this chapter)