Rebirth of America, this is my era

Chapter 98: Second-hand Dealer, Misophimosis

Although the fact that Pac-Man advertised Apple 1 was a bit outrageous, Ethan didn't dwell on it too much. Because no matter how outrageous it was, it was still his money! The money was already in his pocket, so he couldn't just take it out, right?
All he can do now is to feel bad for other computer manufacturers on the market. These guys did nothing wrong, but they were kicked in the butt by consumers in the market for no reason. This is really unlucky!

After a moment of silence with a smile on his face, Ethan changed the subject and asked Jobs about another matter.

"Hey Steve, there's something I want to ask you."

"You go ahead." Jobs was in a good mood now. "Don't be so polite, brother~"

"It's like this. Before the press conference for Pac-Man, I heard from my employees that Atari will release a game called Breakout this summer, after the ban on new games with MILO expires. Did you know about this?"

"Yes, I've heard of it." Jobs asked doubtfully on the other end of the line: "What's wrong? Is there a problem?"

'? ' This rhetorical question made Ethan purse his lips and reorganize his words.

"It's like this. I'm very interested in that game because I think it's interesting just by hearing the name, but you also know the relationship between Nolan and I, so... I want to ask, do you know anything about that game?"

In early April, Ethan returned to the company after developing "Pac-Man". When he heard his subordinate Julis Noble talking about Atari's recent situation, he actually felt a little confused because he heard about the game "Breakout" from her.

In his memory, this game was clearly the work of Jobs and Wozniak!

You know, in his previous life, it was because these two guys tinkered with "Breakout" that they left a significant mark in the history of video games. But in this life... Ethan can't say that he is with them every day, but he has at least witnessed the birth of APPLE 1 with his own eyes. When they are already so closely tied together, how can Atari still launch the game "Breakout"?
This……

Ethan just couldn't figure it out!

When did Steve Jobs, the guy with thick eyebrows and big eyes, betray the country?
I didn’t ask before because the timing was wrong. We were rushing to release Pac-Man and couldn’t afford any problems. But now…

snort!
If this guy really sold the game to Atari while he wasn't paying attention...

Then this guy is dead!

However, Ethan's question made Jobs on the other end of the phone a little confused.

"Oh Ethan, I'm not a prophet, how do I know what the game Breakout is like?"

'? ? ? '

“You don’t know?” Ethan suddenly felt like he had traveled through time again.

Didn’t Jobs know about Breakout?
What kind of heaven-defying world is this!
His doubts made Jobs even more surprised. "Ethan, why should I know? I didn't make that game!"

"If you want to know the content of the game Breakout, I really can't help you, but if you want to know when this game was created, I can tell you that, as far as I can remember, this was Nolan's inspiration, long before he was sued by MILO, but at the time the market was full of ball games, so he had no intention of making it."

"Later, when Atari and Magnus signed an out-of-court settlement agreement on the copyright infringement of Pong, Nolan had no way to produce it because he didn't want to give the copyright of the game to Magnus..."

Jobs' words solved the mystery in Ethan's mind.

'Breakout was originally the inspiration for Nolan Bushnell?'

"This guy must have something!"

At the same time, Ethan's filter for Jobs was shattered.

He always thought that Jobs played the role of inspiration provider in the game "Breakout".

But I didn’t expect that this guy was actually a middleman!
Nolan Bushnell provided the inspiration and asked Steve Jobs to make it, but Steve Jobs outsourced the work to Steve Wozniak and took all the bonuses???
hiss……

What is a profiteer?

This is what we call a profiteer!

Ethan was convinced.

When he smiled and shook his head, not knowing what to say, Jobs on the other end of the phone said, "Oh Ethan, I think your concern is unnecessary, because many game companies' products are not selling right now."

"The market feedback from Pac-Man made them very painful, and this pain..."

“I think it will also be reflected in Nolan.”

Ethan thought it made sense, so he stopped caring about these little things.

While they were taking some time off, at Atari, Nolan Bushnell's office was filled with gloom.

When someone knocked on his office door, he called for people to come in in a weak tone. After seeing his subordinate holding the documents, he smiled helplessly and shook his head, saying, "Is it because no one is coming to our new product launch conference?"

This question made the simply dressed young man nod silently.

Although he didn't say why, Nolan Bushnell knew everything.

"Oh--"

“This is really tragic—”

He sighed, put his hands on his head, and rubbed it back. Soon, his hair, which was originally slightly curved, was rubbed into a big back.

It seemed that this was not enough to vent his emotions, and after a moment, his hands began to fly around again.

Then, a bird's nest appeared on his head.

"Okay, put down the documents and go out and get busy." Nolan Bushnell waved at his subordinates.

Following his greeting, he was the only one left in the office.

He picked up the document and flipped through it. The full list of reasons noted on the contact list made him chuckle.

“They are all businessmen.”

“Really realistic.”

Nolan Bushnell threw his head with his hands and leaned back in his boss chair, facing the sky.

The white ceiling was like a magical screen, allowing him to see himself six months ago.

At that time, he went to Warner because of the news that Ralph Baer joined the Destiny Game and met with the CEO of Warner. Although he was worried at the time, the CEO did not get angry, but said in a friendly tone -

"Nolan, we know that it is not up to you to decide which company Ralph Baer chooses, so today's matter has nothing to do with you. The reason why we, Warner, acquired Atari is because we want to enter the video game industry, and you, Atari, are the most experienced people in this industry."

"So you don't have to worry about what happened today. We at Warner have no intention of pursuing responsibility."

"At the same time, we also hope that you can regroup, keep moving forward, and create greater glory in the gaming field..."

"Achieve greater success again?" Nolan Bushnell smiled bitterly.

"No one is buying games anymore. How can we achieve success again?"

"unless……"

He thought about it and opened the drawer of his desk.

Then, a document with rolled-up pages appeared in front of him.

On the slightly wrinkled cover was written a row of large words:

'Atari Home Video Game Console Planning Case'

Nolan Bushnell carefully picked it up and placed it in front of him.

"Now, I'm afraid you are the only one who can save me."

He stroked the cover, muttering to himself.

"Ethan Jones, I lost in the arcade field, but it doesn't matter because the home console industry is also a big market."

"I can't beat you, but can I still beat Mi Luohua?"

Yes!

Even though Ethan Jones's "Pac-Man" brought a huge shock to Nolan Bushnell and caused his former supporters to leave him, he still has the confidence to gain a foothold in the gaming industry!
If I can’t beat you, then I won’t do it!

Can't we change the track?
Anyway, you, Ethan Jones, don’t make home consoles!

However, just when Nolan Bushnell felt that doing so would be the death of Gemi Luohua...

After opening the first page of the plan, he was stunned.

Because in the machine specifications of the home game console, the CPU column says -

This plan gives priority to the MOS 6502 chip.

"Oh——Ethan——Why are you everywhere——"

Nolan Bushnell is annoying as hell.

At this moment, there was only one thought in his mind, which was to contact Milova to see if they had the disease of "Islamophobia".

As for Mirohua...

To be honest, the old man's situation is much better than Nolan Bushnell's!
Thanks to [Fallen Eternal 001] for the reward of 500 Qidian coins.

Note: ① Breakout was the inspiration of Nolan Bushnell, and Jobs and Wozniak were just the producers. There is a joke about this game. The game was officially released in 1976, but the copyright was not officially registered until 1992. The reason was that the idiots in the US Copyright Office refused to register for Nolan Bushnell on the grounds that individuals or companies could not swear copyright ownership of computer graphics. Nolan Bushnell was so angry that he sued them. The lawsuit lasted for several years until it was brought to the hands of Judge Ginsburg of the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals. This case was also the last major case before Ginsburg became a Supreme Court Justice. It was her ruling that allowed this abstract game inspiration to be protected by copyright.

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(End of this chapter)