Return to 1958 and build a century-old giant

Chapter 807 Pac-Man, Snake, and the lucrative "Tank Battle"

"Mr. Bao, you're too kind." Yang Wendong smiled. Among the super-rich or politicians, favors are the hardest to repay; compared to that, money is nothing, unless it's a really large sum.

Bao Yugang continued, "I'm planning a large-scale development of the land owned by CLP Power. This land is simply being wasted in the hands of the Kadoorie family. How about we cooperate in developing it together?"

Yang Wendong readily agreed: "Okay, no problem, I will arrange for Zheng Zhijie to negotiate with your people."

CLP Power is also a century-old enterprise in Hong Kong. In its early years, it owned a large amount of land on the Kowloon Peninsula, even more than Hong Kong Electric. After all, a hundred years ago, Kowloon or the New Territories were completely wasteland and forests, and almost no one wanted them. But today, although they may not be as valuable as Hong Kong Island, they are still quite valuable.
Hong Kong's population is now close to 500 million, and Hong Kong Island simply cannot accommodate so many people. Even the coastline of Kowloon Peninsula is almost full, so people have no choice but to move towards the New Territories.

Once the MTR opens, many people will choose to live in the New Territories and commute to work in Kowloon or Hong Kong Island, which is a common practice in many mainland cities in the future.

“Alright, I will arrange for my son-in-law Wu Guangzheng to take charge of this matter,” Bao Yugang paused and said, “Mr. Yang, I’m preparing to go to England.”

"Really? Congratulations! The Bao family is about to have a son," Yang Wendong said congratulatoryly. In vitro fertilization (IVF) allows for gender selection, and usually results in twins.

Of course, with the Bao family's wealth, three or five, or even more, wouldn't be a problem.
Bao Yugang laughed and said, "It's hard to say. After all, I'm not young anymore, and I'm not sure if I can succeed. If I do succeed, I will definitely hold a thank-you banquet to express my gratitude to Mr. Yang."

Compared to the business, having descendants in the Bao family is much more meaningful, since all that money has been made needs to be inherited.

Yang Wendong said, "Don't worry, it will definitely work. If it doesn't work, just try again. You'll eventually succeed."

The gambling king in his previous life could have children even when he was over 70 years old. Bao Yugang is only 60 this year, so it is definitely possible, at least theoretically.
For the super-rich, as long as it's theoretically feasible, they'll just throw money at it.

"Haha, thank you very much." Bao Yugang was also very happy;
Yang Wendong suddenly thought of something else and said, "Bao Sheng, if you get pregnant, you need to take good care of your health. I have a professional medical examination company in Hong Kong; you can go there for a checkup, or you can have one in the UK too."

He recalled that Bao Yugang died of cancer in 91. Although it is still relatively early now, there may have already been signs.
Even if you don't have any health issues, there's no harm in getting a checkup. Older people often have some health problems, and early detection and treatment, or prevention, can help.
For the super-rich, the biggest worry is their health. Even Steve Jobs died of cancer. Of course, his cancer was actually curable; he brought it upon himself.
But some of the most dangerous cancers, even for the super-rich, are beyond help; at most, they can only prolong their lives a little longer—that's just fate.

“Okay, no problem, I’ll take it seriously too,” Bao Yugang said spiritedly.
If I have a son in the future, I will have even more to look forward to in life and career.
Only those who have been through it understand that a family is not about adults raising children to adulthood, but about children accompanying adults as they grow old.
The next day, Yang Wendong arrived at the Peninsula Hotel;
The hotel manager was still a foreigner named Edward, who gave Yang Wendong a thorough introduction to the Peninsula Hotel:

"Mr. Yang, our hotel opened in 1928 and is Hong Kong's oldest five-star hotel, boasting a Michelin-starred restaurant, the Peninsula Spa, and the famous Peninsula Afternoon Tea."

After listening to the introduction, Yang Wendong nodded and said, "That's good. Just maintain the previous operating model. Also, did you have any plans to build a second hotel?"

After 50 years, there is still only one hotel. In Yang Wendong's eyes, the Kadoorie family is simply a bunch of fools. Even if you don't have the money to build a new one, you can still seek franchising.
It's worth noting that Hilton and InterContinental in the United States may have been established around the same time as or even a little later than Peninsula Hotels, but they already have hundreds of hotels worldwide.
Edward quickly replied, "We have plans to build a Peninsula Hotel in Macau, but we haven't been able to solve the funding problem because the power plant being built by CLP Power is too expensive."

"Now that the Grand Hotel Group and CLP Power have separated, you should formulate your investment plan for Macau," Yang Wendong said. "If you don't have enough funds, borrow money from the bank. What business relies solely on its own capital?"

Many British-owned capitals in Hong Kong are still very conservative. For example, when Wharf Holdings built Harbour City in its early days, it relied on its own rental income, so the construction was very slow and it was eventually acquired by itself. Historically, it was also acquired by Pao Yue-kong.

Other British capital was similar. Because of its overly conservative approach, British capital declined while other Chinese real estate companies were using bank funds to grow at a compound interest rate. By the 80s, even without Yang Wendong, the time traveler, other Chinese capital would have gradually overpowered British capital, either by acquiring them or by essentially driving them out.
Edward quickly replied, "Yes, Mr. Yang."

“I will arrange for a Chinese operations team to come to the Peninsula Hotel. They will cooperate with you,” Yang Wendong added.

After acquiring these small companies, Yang Wendong would not dismiss their management teams, including those of Wharf Holdings and Hutchison Whampoa. Many of the British executives stayed on. Only a small number of those who were incompetent, had poor attitudes, or were unaware of the current situation were laid off.
One reason is that the company needs to expand into overseas markets in the future, so it needs some white employees. It is normal for such a large group to have employees all over the world.
Secondly, it is necessary to set an example for the companies that you will acquire in the future. Otherwise, if the management of other companies that you acquire see that the original management of the companies you acquired have all lost their jobs, they will definitely not cooperate.

To maximize profits, that's how it is; our own strategic acquisition targets are the most important, and entrusting them to Chinese or foreign managers is not an absolute necessity.

But the British can stay, but their operating model needs to change and keep up with the times. So some operating departments still need to be managed by Chinese people. This is why these companies have at least two factions. With them fighting each other, it is easier for the boss to control the company.

"Yes, Mr. Yang." Edward knew that he couldn't fight city hall, and that it was good enough if they could keep their jobs.

With the Peninsula Hotel deal settled, the Hong Kong stock market became even more active following this major takeover battle, with shares of many British-owned companies being highly sought after.

There are market rumors that Yang Wendong will also target other British-owned groups. Changxing Group declined to comment on the matter, saying they'd let the stock market do as it pleased, as they already held shares in many Hang Seng blue-chip companies, and the higher the share price rose, the better.
September arrived quickly, and Yang Wendong once again visited North Point in Hong Kong.
This area is now Hong Kong's largest electronics manufacturing center, home to companies like Cheung Hing Group, which produce arcade games, color TVs, white goods, small appliances, wires, and various other products. The number of employees working in North Point exceeds 3, with an annual output value of over HK$25 billion. It is also the largest industrial base on Hong Kong Island.

In a conference room, Yang Wendong and the senior executives of Glory Electronics arrived at a large, spacious laboratory.

Inside the laboratory, there are at least a hundred arcade machines.

Wang Zhiqun introduced, "Mr. Yang, there are seven different arcade games in this testing lab, including Pac-Man and Snake that you provided. They've just been made, you can go and take a look."

"Okay." Yang Wendong nodded;
Yang Wendong still remembers many classic games from his previous life, including Space Invaders, Tetris, and Tank Battle, which have already been released. In Hong Kong, they are also gradually researching various new games.

Some of it was provided by Yang Wendong, and some was created by the employees of the Hong Kong and US branches themselves;

Although Glory Electronics is now far ahead in the arcade game field thanks to Yang Wendong's creativity, just like Changxing Industry before it, while the creativity that the visionary can provide is of great value, the company itself also needs to have its own creative ability. Therefore, Yang Wendong also allows employees to make their own games, even if some of them will lose money, it is necessary to try.

Of course, in the short to medium term, the core game is still something we provide ourselves;
After the release of "Tank Battle" last year, Yang Wendong came up with two more games: "Snake" and "Pac-Man". With the current technical staff of Honor Electronics, it is not a problem to develop several or even dozens of games at the same time. Other large companies have the same R&D departments.

Soon, Yang Wendong was led to an arcade machine, a Pac-Man arcade machine. After the engineer explained the rules, Yang Wendong started playing it and after a while, he said, "It's very good. This game is not rushed or stressful, unlike other games that always make you tense."

Of these two games, Snake is fine as long as it comes out anytime, so there's no rush. But Pac-Man is different; it has its own unique characteristics.
In the late 70s, arcade games emerged, but they were all dangerous level-based games where characters could easily die. This was also a market demand; the faster the characters died, the more money the businesses could make.

However, when all games are like this, players get tired of them after playing them too many times. It's too tiring, both tiring and expensive. That's why casual games like Pac-Man succeeded. Although Pac-Man is also a level-based game, its design is not very fast-paced, making it easy for players to play.
Thus, in its original history, Pac-Man brought in approximately $1.8 million in revenue for the development company in a single year, significantly more than Space Invaders.

Wang Zhiqun said, "Yes, this game is relatively easy and comfortable to play. We have done tests. Although each level takes longer, it seems like the company is losing money. However, more people can play more levels. Overall, it is not much worse than Space Invaders and Tank Battle."

"Okay, after the tests are completed, send it to the United States for preliminary testing," Yang Wendong nodded and said.

Every arcade machine needs to be sent to New York or Los Angeles for preliminary testing to see how it performs.

“Okay.” Wang Zhiqun added, “Mr. Yang, Tank Battle should still have a few months left, so there’s no need to rush to release our Pac-Man.”

Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Of course, we need to avoid games that we like to favor, so as not to cause conflict. How are the profits of 'Tank Battle' going now?"

For ordinary games, releasing them together is fine, since two or more games don't occupy a large market share and won't cannibalize each other; but blockbuster games must avoid this.
This is similar to blockbuster movies. In the past, Hollywood blockbusters were released by several major film companies in consultation with each other to avoid direct competition. Unless it was around the summer vacation or Christmas season, the release dates were still staggered to avoid internal competition, since the customer base is limited.

Wang Zhiqun laughed and said, "The revenue of 'Tank Battle' is even higher than that of 'Space Invaders'. In six months, a total of 5.8 units were sold. Our ex-factory price for each unit was $2800, and the net profit was about $1150. In six months, we earned nearly $7000 million."

"7000 million in six months is within my expectations," Yang Wendong nodded and said.

In this era, the US dollar is valuable, but electronic products are even more valuable. People from the previous life should have been able to discover this as well. The price of electronic products is getting lower and lower, and conversely, the earlier the time, the more expensive the price.
For example, Apple's personal computers at that time cost close to $2000, and that was just for personal devices. Honor's arcade machines, on the other hand, could generate profits for bar owners or owners of commercial properties.

Given the lack of entertainment options for people in this era, it's normal for a hit arcade game to earn $100 million a year; there have been several hit games in history before.
Of course, the biggest profits from games still come from home game consoles, but this market won't emerge until the 80s. "Battle City" is also very suitable for home games, and by then, the profits from just the cartridges alone will be astonishing.

Wang Zhiqun smiled and asked, "Will Snake be released after Pac-Man?"

Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Yes, it will be released later. Anyway, the copyright has already been registered, so it won't make a difference. The most important thing is that we can't have internal conflicts with our games."

There is no internal competition between home video game consoles because players can buy multiple cartridges, but arcade machines cost several thousand dollars each, and their customers are mainly bar owners, so it is necessary to control the order of play and maintain profits.
“Okay, I understand,” Wang Zhiqun said.

Yang Wendong added, "Send another one to my office so I can play with it occasionally."

PS: Please give me a monthly ticket
(End of this chapter)