Rebirth of America, this is my era

Chapter 95 This is really hot!
Borrowing an auditorium from Stanford is actually very simple, because the support plan for the company Destiny Game was specially approved by President Fred Terman himself. Once this relationship appears, let alone borrowing an auditorium to hold a new product launch conference, even if it is to build an observation tower commemorating the former President of the United States, that... well, this is really not possible.

But this is not important. After all, Ethan is not a bad person. At his request, Stanford directly gave him the oldest Memorial Church in the school for use. In the words of the school, the names Memorial Church and Game of Destiny are very compatible.

When Ethan received the plan, he was a little confused, because the Stanford Memorial Church was built by Mrs. Stanford to commemorate her deceased husband. Although it is open to the public, it is rarely used for commercial purposes. At most, it is used to hold weddings and funerals for teachers and students within the school, or to give awards and promotion speeches to people who have made outstanding contributions in certain fields.

And now...

A gaming company’s new product launch conference is held in a place like this?

Why does this sound funny?
But Evelyn thought it was okay. On the morning of April 4, while tying Ethan's tie, Evelyn said, "I have reported the copy of the game to Mr. Vinton and Principal Fred. They were very surprised by the performance of the game's AI and liked the concept of AI more in the game. So, using the Memorial Church to hold the press conference was their idea."

"So that's how it is?" Ethan was immediately relieved.

At the same time, he also cast his gaze towards the mirror. The figure in a black suit and red tie looked more handsome than Tom Cruise no matter how you looked at him. But even so, he was still a little uncomfortable. "Can I change to a plaid shirt and jeans?"

"I always feel that it's a bit awkward to wear formal clothes today."

Ethan couldn't understand why a game developer like him would wear formal clothes during a press conference?

Aren’t people who work in technology just free to do whatever they want?
Especially with the red tie around his neck!
If I go to New York, wouldn't I be mistaken for a gay by a real estate agent?
However, his proposal was met with a rebuttal, “No!”

Evelin grabbed his tie and said, “I have no problem with you usually joking around with a smile, but today you have to be serious!”

"Because in addition to our own people who were invited here, there will be many outsiders coming to watch today."

Evelyn wasn't lying, for when she submitted the finished game, the invitation list for the Pac-Man press conference was like the legendary List of Gods, with names popping up one after another.

At first, Ethan just wanted to invite some people around him, such as Steven Spielberg who had helped him and his father Arnold Spielberg, to witness the birth of "Pac-Man" with their own eyes, to tell them that their help was not in vain, and that he, Ethan Jones, could really come up with a groundbreaking work, and then invite some media to be on the scene to witness it, and the whole press conference would be over.

As for the actual sale?
Of course, that depends on the press releases purchased from the media!
After the media releases the news, there will naturally be curious businessmen coming to inquire. At the same time, he will also organize people to carry out ground promotion. When they sell with the widely publicized media reports, the efficiency will be much higher than selling it individually in obscurity.

And that is the real time for negotiation.

But now?

When Ethan drove his favorite Dino 246 GTS and took Evelyn to Stanford Memorial Church, he had just entered the backstage to prepare when company administrator Damio Dean immediately handed him an updated list of attendees.

With just a quick glance, Ethan felt like his head was exploding.

"Did Steven Spielberg's father bring one more person today?" Ethan asked.

"Yeah~" Damio Dean nodded and said, "That was his friend when he worked at General Electric. He was also the inventor of General Electric's first computer. His name is Homer Oldfield. The reason he came here is because he has a good relationship with Mr. Spielberg. He is also a friend of President Fred Terman. He worked at the Stanford Research Institute before, which was twenty years ago. Although it was a long time ago, after hearing that his good friend had saved a revolutionary game, he decided to come and see what his friend had discovered..."

'I see... He's a big shot...' Ethan muttered to himself.

"And did Professor Ralph Bell bring more people today?" he asked again.

"That's right. After Professor Ralph Bell heard about our game, he decided to bring his friends to witness history. They are all the inventors of the original brown box of Milova Odyssey..." Damio Dean answered quickly.

'Got it... this is a group of big shots...' Ethan marked it in his mind.

“And Steve Wozniak’s father came too?” Looking further down, he found a new note.

Damio Dean immediately reported, "Yes! Mr. Wozniacki's father is here too. Not only that, after arriving, he also greeted President Fred Terman. I heard that Mr. Wozniacki's father once participated in the Stanford Research Institute's research on missile propulsion systems."

'Okay...you all have a good dad...' Ethan said with some emotion.

Then, he glanced down again, and then he found - "William Hewlett? David Packard? They are here too?"

These two are the founders of HP.

"Yes, Professors Hewlett and Packard are in California recently. The Terman Engineering Center that our school is building was donated by them. They came here to review last year's engineering audit report."

Damio Dean explained: "Because the timing was quite coincidental, they decided to come and take a look. At the same time, they also wanted to know which company President Fred Terman had chosen after decades..."

'……' Ethan really had nothing to say about Fuck right now.

'What the hell is this?'

“Ah, bah, bah…”

'Who are these big guys? Why are they here at a game conference?'

Ethan couldn't laugh or cry.

But at the same time, he also knew that these people probably wanted to see what kind of AI humans' current civilian technology could create.

Although the concept of AI is not unfamiliar to them, Ethan even believes that if these people really want to write AI code, they will definitely be better than Evelyn and Wozniak, but the times are a cruel meat grinder.

In the same era, there are countless people who understand technology. At the same moment, the same inspiration will emerge on the vast earth. But only when inspiration and technology truly collide together can it create the most brilliant fireworks!
And whoever can combine technology and inspiration first will be able to stand on top of the wave!
"Oh... It seems I made the right decision not to choose Space Invaders..."

"When the gears of fate turn to this point, then I deserve to be the one to show off..."

Ethan pursed his lips to hold back his smile, trying hard to suppress the happiness in his heart.

However, just when he thought that everything that followed would be very easy and he only needed to introduce the game to the bigwigs present, he had just arrived at the entrance and was about to go on stage on time when the discussions from outside made him feel a little dry in the mouth.

Even though he has lived two lives, he seems to have never experienced these things.

He has never spoken in public, let alone in front of a group of bigwigs.

This unfamiliarity made him a little nervous.

"How can Jobs have such a good mental state?"

Ethan suddenly remembered the hippie.

Because he clearly remembered that last time this guy promoted "Snake" in front of hundreds of people.

Not only was he not afraid, but he was interacting enthusiastically with the people below.

That kind of ease really made him feel a little...

"Hei! Hei! Hei!"

In a trance, a call interrupted his thoughts.

Ethan turned his head and took a look. Wow, the usually energetic young man was dressed like a real man today.

"Wow~ Ethan~ You look so handsome today~" Jobs, who was wearing a suit and had long hair, spoke first.

"Why are you here?" Ethan was very surprised.

"I came to see you!" Jobs answered naturally, "You're going to go on stage soon, so I came to see you."

"WTF? Are you here to laugh at me?" Ethan immediately felt something was wrong.

"..."

"Oh! Sxxt! Am I that bad? I came here because I thought you might be nervous!" Jobs rolled his eyes, then put his arm around Ethan's shoulder and said, "Don't be nervous, brother. Public speaking is actually a very simple art..."

"When you stand on the stage, you are the focus of everyone's attention. At that time, you may be afraid of saying something wrong, saying some wrong words, and being embarrassed in front of the people below, because you want to show the best of yourself to everyone, and this is the source of many people's nervousness."

"It's actually very simple to overcome this. I won't tell you to calm down and speak slowly. I will tell you that it doesn't matter if you are nervous, because you only need to speak in short sentences. You don't have to speak in long paragraphs like those speeches at large gatherings. Even if the audience are all elites, you only need to use the simplest words to describe what you want to express."

"For example, if you designed the welcome message for the entrance as 'Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the new product launch of the Destiny game', you can completely change it to 'Good morning, gentlemen and ladies...', dividing a sentence into three sentences, or even breaking it into short sentences. Wouldn't it be less nervous to say it this way?"

'? ? ? '

Ethan tried it simply, and then he found that it seemed to make sense!

However, when he asked Jobs how he knew the wording, Jobs suddenly spread his hands and said -

"I made it up..."

"Because I never get nervous about this kind of situation..."

"Oh! Sxxt! Get the hell out of here!" Ethan's eyes turned black and he almost kicked Jobs.

"What the hell is this!"

"You lied to me!"

However, after Jobs's joke, Ethan suddenly felt much more relaxed.

And before Jobs left, this guy actually said some useful things.

"Ethan! The so-called speech is to let the people below listen to what you like to hear!"

“If you don’t know what to say, then show your product. When your product is powerful enough, it will cover up all your speech flaws!”

"Finally, there is one more thing..."

"Although today is the launch of your game, it is also a commendation meeting for their achievements. Okay?"

Ethan was stunned by these words, then he smiled and said, "Okay."

He admitted that Jobs was right about that last point.

When it was ten o'clock in the morning, Ethan walked into the auditorium at the signal of another employee of the company, Julis Noble.

When the relief sculpture full of 17th century Spanish style appeared in front of him, the more than 40 dark figures below were actually all his friends, right?
"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the new product launch of Destiny Game..."

Ethan raised the microphone and put down his anxiety. Although he had written a manuscript, he now felt that he could speak without a manuscript.

As Steve Jobs said, a presentation is all about these few points.

First of all, thanks to——

“Thank you for the support of Stanford University and the help of President Fred Terman. It is because of your kindness that our company has been able to obtain the excellent R&D environment it has now…”

The old president of Stanford, who had never met Ethan, nodded slightly after hearing these words, and a smile of appreciation appeared on his fat face. Although Ethan did not understand his meaning, he also knew that the old president was not surprised.

"Thank you Professor Ralph Baer for your generosity, and thank you Mr. Arnold Spielberg for your selflessness. Without you, our company would not be able to continue making games..."

The two old men who were called smiled and raised their hands, making a simple gesture to Ethan. After that, they also looked around and accepted the kind smiles from the people around them. Their happy expressions seemed to be from the heart.

"Thanks to Mr. Chuck Petto and his MOS 6502 team for their persistence and hard work. Without the CPU you provided, we would not have been able to complete this game..."

Chuck Pete was the most respectful person at the moment. He stood up, put his hands together, and shouted to Ethan: "I want to thank you too! Ethan! Thank you for your help! Thank you for using my chip!"

As soon as these words were spoken, there was a lot of applause at the scene.

Because everyone present knew what this sentence meant.

Although the shipment volume of personal microcomputers has not yet shown explosive growth, after half a year of dissemination, the entire scientific community has come to know that MOS 6502 is the cheapest and most practical chip on the market.

The person who made chips truly affordable was Ethan Jones.

Ethan smiled and nodded, accepting the praise. He then said, "Thank you, Professor Vinton Cerf. Under your guidance, my sister has learned a lot of computer skills. Without your guidance, we would definitely encounter countless difficult problems in game production..."

"Thanks to Steve Wozniak. Without your help, the development of this game would definitely take more time. I would also like to thank his partner Steve Jobs, because the Apple computers they developed are important research and development tools for us..."

When Ethan read out the names of these people, he could clearly feel the people below smiling at him and praising the professors who were called out. Although many people did not know Ethan, it didn't matter, right? Because most of those who came here were brought by friends, and in front of friends, reputation is indeed more important than profit.

As for why?
Very simple!
Who among those who can sit here has not achieved financial freedom?
Oh yes...

Steve Jobs.

Damn it, I was careless and didn’t dodge.

After expressing gratitude, the next step is naturally to introduce new products.

Although the environment today was not as noisy as it was at Atari, and the people below would not cooperate with him in some interactions unless they were really shocked, this was even less important because Ethan had confidence in his product.

"The product we are launching today is called Pac-Man, and its inspiration comes from Snake."

"When Snake was first released, we received some feedback from players. Some players felt that a snake eating alone on a flat surface looked very lonely."

"So, I improved it a bit, turning the snake into a human and the empty map into a maze."

"And what he has to do is eat the food in the maze."

“When the little man eats all the food in a maze, it can move on to the next level.”

"Then it will keep eating."

"To use the words of the Los Angeles Times, I still retain the greed in human nature in this game."

"But there's nothing I can do. Who made me greedy?"

“I hope all my works will become popular.”

"Oh, by the way, there is another person at the scene who is even more greedy. That person is called Steven Spielberg. When I called him that day, he told me that his next movie will definitely be a hit because he will use his work to educate those who look down on him and tell them what a real movie is!"

At this point, Ethan paused.

"Hahaha……"

As he expected, laughter broke out at the scene.

"Crash..."

At the same time, applause of approval also followed.

Fred Terman, who was sitting in the front row, asked for a microphone and said, "Oh Ethan, I think what you said is a little wrong, because those who can sit here are greedy..."

"I have lived here for 70 years. I have witnessed Stanford's development from nothing to something, but I still hope that it can become better. Isn't this idea of ​​mine greedy?"

"Although David and Bill no longer manage HP's daily affairs, they still hope that HP can become a century-old enterprise. Isn't this greed?" "I have heard about Professor Chuck Petto's deeds. He hopes that computers can be used by the public. Isn't this greed?"

"And Professor Ralph Bell who is here today, he would rather not charge you royalties than let you make games. He wants to bring more happiness to the public. Isn't this even more greedy?"

At this point, the old principal's voice suddenly rose.

There was a sudden burst of laughter at the scene, and applause of approval rang out.

There are more jokes and jokes——

"Ethan, Fred is right, only greedy people can succeed!" Homer Oldfield, the computer director of General Electric, who was sitting next to Arnold Spielberg, said loudly.

"Who doesn't want to leave their name in history?" The MOS developers next to Chuck Pete laughed out loud.

"If the pursuit of better is greed, then we at HP are willing to be greedy to death," said David Packard, the founder of HP.

After these echoing voices passed, Fred Terman continued: "So, Ethan, I always think that your "Snake Game" is very well done. From the starting point, it conforms to human nature. And today's game, I think you will not disappoint us..."

Having said this, the 76-year-old old man stopped.

Ethan did not hesitate and continued the topic directly, "As Principal Fred and everyone else said, today's game is actually more greedy, because I hope its name can be heard throughout the world."

He ripped off the curtain on a nearby Pac-Man machine.

As he moved, an arcade machine with four ghosts chasing Pac-Man appeared in front of everyone.

“The concept of our game is simple…”

“The player controls the little man and tries to find his own way to survive by eating all the beans in the maze.”

"At the same time, there are four guardians in the maze, and they are trying their best to protect their home."

"This red ghost has a bad temper. I call it persistent because after discovering the player, it will keep chasing the player, trying to drive the player out of its home."

"This pink ghost is a naughty girl. I call it foresight because it can come to the destination in front of the player and ambush."

"This blue ghost is a clever one. I call it containment because it will cooperate with its red companion to double-team the player."

“And this orange ghost is the most neutral embodiment of human nature. I call it casual because it won’t attack the player unless the player really provokes it.”

Ethan pointed at the pattern on the arcade machine and introduced it to everyone.

And every time he introduced a ghost, the faces of everyone present became more serious.

Because everyone knows that this is the AI ​​display they most want to see.

After Ethan finished his introduction, all the technical experts narrowed their eyes.

When this scene appeared, Ethan knew that the time had come.

He turned on the arcade machine directly.

For the convenience of display, this arcade machine still uses an external wired handle.

Following his actions, the game quickly reached the first level.

Under his operation, the yellow Pac-Man ran out of the middle hut and kept eating along the bean track on the map.

After eating about ten beans, the red ghost suddenly started to move, following the footsteps of the yellow Pac-Man, chasing him madly.

No matter how the yellow Pac-Man runs away, the red, hot-tempered one will not give up and will keep chasing him.

Not only that, the speed of the red ghost will also become faster and faster as the number of beans on the field decreases...

When one fifth of the beans on the scene were eaten, the surging pursuit really gave people a feeling of being a reckless man!
“Although this algorithm is simple to write, the inspiration is great.”

A comment popped up from the guest seats below.

Just when people wanted to agree, the pink ghost suddenly appeared.

As soon as she appeared, she rushed madly in the direction of the player, but unlike the red ghost, she had no intention of chasing after the player. Instead, she came in front of the player and wanted to ambush him.

Not only that, but every time the yellow Pac-Man changes direction, the pink ghost reacts.

She will change positions to better ambush players.

The most amazing thing is——

“This pink ghost actually takes a detour???”

That's right! When a wall on the map separated the positions of Pac-Man and the pink ghost, the pink ghost directly chose to ambush in the opposite direction of Pac-Man's advance!
At first, people didn't see anything strange.

But when the red ghost drove Pac-Man to the pink ghost's position, the ambush was foreseen and everyone at the scene was amazed.

“Oh!!! There is something to this algorithm!!!”

"This isn't a literal collaboration! The algorithms of the red ghost and the pink ghost overlap!!!"

Just when the guests thought that Pink Ghost's algorithm was already amazing, because the dynamic computing power was a complete reflection of the powerful CPU.

The next second, the yellow Pac-Man had eaten two-fifths of the beans on the map.

Then--

The blue ghost that triggered the condition jumped out of the haunted house!

then--

It became the most beautiful cub in the audience!
Because it uses vector calculation to attack the player from the other side of the red ghost!

When the real encirclement occurred, everyone present frowned!

If that’s all, it’s not real intelligence!

When the blue ghost abandons the path that the pink ghost is on and goes to another fork to intercept Pac-Man...

The anthropomorphic operation of three people making up a crowd surprised the big guys who had been engaged in scientific research for many years.

"Oh! My! God! — How long did it take you to write this algorithm?"

“Oh - when we keep emphasizing the learning ability of artificial intelligence, why doesn’t anyone think that games are the best way to show it?”

"Although this is a game, you can definitely publish a paper on it! And this game can be used as a teaching material in the engineering schools of major universities! What is the logical thinking of a machine? What is artificial intelligence? Although we cannot turn a machine into a brain yet, this kind of logical judgment of pursuit is the best embodiment of a real machine!"

Although the discussion below has begun, Ethan did not stop.

Because the Orange Ghost is the guy who truly understands human nature.

When Xiaocheng entered the map, everyone present realized how much like a human this AI is!
Once the player enters its hunting range, it will work hard as if it were being followed by its boss at work!

If the player escapes from his pursuit range, he will start to slack off, just like a worker who finds that his boss has disappeared!
Once the player enters his hunting range too many times in a short period of time, it will do some retaliatory 'efficient' work, just like countless PTSD patients who have been frightened by the boss's DeBuff!
After waiting for the player to escape from his pursuit for a long time, it started to slack off again!

When this vivid and lively display appears on the arcade screen...

Even though the forty-odd people present were mentally prepared, they were still shocked!

“This is indeed the real application of AI technology in games!”

"Although we all have the ability to write this algorithm,... we really don't have the inspiration..."

Principal Fred Terman, who had already seen the results, smiled and made the final decision.

At the same time, he stood up and walked tremblingly to the arcade machine, wanting to appreciate the performance of AI in the game up close.

If someone is the first to come forward, there will naturally be a second to follow.

Ralph Baer jumped straight in front of the arcade machine. As he observed Ethan's movements of the controller and paid attention to the chasing methods of the four ghosts in the game, the smooth pursuit made him laugh.

"Oh Ethan - is this your fucking gift for me?"

“Your game is really great!”

"It's so great that I feel like the best thing I've ever done in my life is to be a consultant for your company!"

If there is a second one, then there will naturally be a third, fourth, and fifth one...

Although there were many big names at the scene, Steven Spielberg was not afraid and came directly to Ethan's side.

"Oh! Fuck! I've never seen a game like this in my life! This looks so fun!"

At the same time, he also wanted to experience the latest game, "Oh Ethan... my good brother... please let me play..."

The next second, he suddenly remembered something, "Oh, right! Did you promise to give me a game arcade machine?"

“Is this mine?”

"Can I take it with me later?"

Before Ethan could reply, a roar was heard, "Oh Steven - calm down!"

That's Arnold Spielberg's voice.

"How can I stay calm? This game is really fucking interesting!" Spielberg didn't listen to his father at all.

He nudged Ethan with his body, trying to take the external controller from his hand.

This situation made Ethan feel a little helpless.

Since the game had already been demonstrated, he didn't insist and just gave the controller away.

And when he turned to the guest seats again...

The figure that almost came close to him, with eyes full of desire, scared him!
But the next second, he became happy again.

Because he knew that this press conference was very successful!

"Do you like it?" Ethan patted Chuck Pete's shoulder and said with a smile, "It's made with your chip."

"Oh - it's our honor!" Chuck Paddo hugged Ethan and laughed, "Ethan! Thank you! It's you who proved to us that MOS 6502 is useful!"

After returning the hug, Ethan came to Ralph Bell again and put his arm around him.

"How about it, Professor Bell, are you satisfied with this game?" Ethan smiled and patted his shoulder.

"Arnold is right. You young people are smarter than us." Ralph Bell also opened his arms and hugged Ethan. "Thank you. You gave me a new idea. The era of circuit boards may really be over..."

Such words made Ethan laugh and nod.

Being able to act cool in front of these big guys is really...

Thai pants are hot!
Of course, compared to showing off, there is something even cooler waiting for him.

When Ethan looked around, he found that there were two people still sitting in the guest seats.

Not only that, at this moment they were already dumbfounded, staring blankly ahead with lifeless eyes.

This situation forced Ethan to take a slight detour and get behind them.

Then he opened his arms and hugged the two people.

Then, he smiled and said, "Nolan, I haven't seen you for half a year. Are you doing well?"

"Come here today and see my game. What do you think?"

That’s right, one of the people Ethan hugged was the founder of Atari, Nolan Bushnell!

After hearing Ethan's words, this guy's eyes widened and he turned his head with difficulty.

Those bloodshot eyes were filled with shock.

"great……"

He uttered his evaluation with difficulty.

"Oh, thank you." Ethan nodded in thanks with a smile.

Then, he turned his gaze to another person, "Mr. from Mirowa, what do you think?"

As soon as these words came out, the old man in the white suit suddenly began to breathe heavily.

After a long while, he finally said, "Very...very good...very good..."

"Thank you." Ethan narrowed his eyes and smiled.

He patted their arms lightly and said happily, "It is really my greatest honor that you two like me."

He bowed slightly and then left.

That dashing figure made the two men clench their fists.

But after a moment, the sudden weakness made them arch their backs.

Because they know this is Stanford!
They know better...

You can't mess with any of the special guests on the scene!
(End of this chapter)