Backtracking to the Age of Literature and Art

Deep Space Corporation's acquisition of Confinity Corporation has just started, it has not been completed, and it has not been announced to the public, so Steven Case was surprised to see Confinity's payment method appear on Space as a recommended payment method.

However, his first reaction was not that Deep Space Corporation acquired Confinity, but felt that Confinity’s business had been transferred from eBay to Space, and after thinking about Confinity’s business was doing well, he still recommended payment methods on Space.

Of course Steven Case knew about the company Confinity. He had thought about entering the electronic payment industry before, and he had also paid attention to this new company. However, the acquisition of Time Warner left him no time to care about other things. What? Electronic payment is no longer concerned.

Steven Case had bought "Plants vs. Zombies" on Space before, so he didn't need to pay again, he could directly download the game.

After clicking download, Steven Case ran to pour himself a glass of red wine, and he was ready to study the game carefully.

Although Steven Case is at the helm of America Online, the internet speed of his computer is not much faster than that of ordinary netizens, or even slower, because his home is dial-up.

By the time the game download was complete, Steven Case had already had his second cup.

The loading speed of the game was quite fast. When the game loaded to the login page, Steven Case followed the prompts to create his own account. Creating an account is not complicated, just enter a letter or number at will.

After the account was created, Steven Case followed the prompts and chose the adventure mode.

Entering the adventure mode, there is a demo screen at the beginning, and it will enter the normal game screen after the demo screen is over.

There is a wasteland at the door of a house, and a lawn is laid on the wasteland.

There is a long box in the upper left corner of the interface, with a multi-pointed star and a pea cannon. The system prompts that the pea cannon is a seed, click to plant it...

The first level is mainly to guide players to learn how to play the game, players only need to operate according to the prompts.

I have to say that the mechanism of this game is really very simple. After playing two or three levels according to the prompts, Steven Case felt that he had fully grasped the essence of this game.

"too easy."

This is Steven Case's first feeling.

However, although the game is relatively simple, Steven Case has to admit that this game is quite interesting, it is definitely a very good casual game, especially the new varieties of plant weapons and zombies that are constantly coming out can attract He plays down.

However, because he had been looking forward to this game for a long time and had high expectations for this game, after getting started, Steven Case was a bit disappointed. He originally expected a game with more than 90 points, but this This game seems to give him only [-] points, [-] points is very good, but it can't be compared with [-] points.

"If you play another level, you won't play again."

Steven Case made up his mind not to continue after finishing this level.

After a few minutes……

Steven Case looked at the newly opened round, raised his eyebrows, and muttered silently, "I won't play after this round is over."

……

Half an hour later, the corner of Steven Case's mouth twitched. He couldn't remember how many rounds he had played, but he couldn't stop.

Every time I think about playing one more round, it doesn't take long anyway, but every time the game ends, I naturally enter the next level.

With the increase in the number of levels, the difficulty of the game is also increasing. From the beginning, you can pass the level without using your brain, and now you need Steven Case to use your brain to think about how to prevent zombies from breaking into his hometown. .

But when it comes to how difficult this game is, Steven Case is still reluctant to admit that he still thinks that he can pass all the levels as long as he uses his brain.

What Steven Case didn't know was that this game captured the player's psychology. Each level didn't take long, and the difficulty of breaking through the level increased little by little, so players always wanted to play again One pass is over.

The game time of each level has been repeatedly tested by the staff of Deep Space Games. They spent a long time testing how long it takes to complete a level to keep players enthusiastic.

If it's too short, the player will lose enthusiasm and it'll be over, but if it's too long, the player will start to fatigue again.

It was just the right time that players like Steven Case couldn't stop at all.And there are always four modes in this game. In addition to the adventure mode, there are mini mode, puzzle mode and survival mode, but to unlock these modes, players need to complete more levels in the adventure mode.

Steven Case also wanted to see what the other modes looked like, so he kept breaking through the level, but the second level was almost over, and the latter modes were not unlocked.

After playing for more than two hours, Steven Case rubbed his eyes, leaned on the sofa, and let himself relax.

He couldn't help feeling that he was still old. When he was a child, he could play games day and night, and he didn't know what it meant to be tired, but now he played games for a little longer and felt pain all over his body, from his eyes to the soles of his feet. question.

But he hasn't played games for such a long time, after all, for him now, playing games is a waste of life.

In fact, several games of Deep Space Company are quite popular in their company, such as casual games such as "Xiaoxiaole" and "Lianliankan", which are especially suitable for office workers to play for a while when they are resting, without using their brains, and they can also relieve stress .

During the noon break, Steven Case would often encounter employees of the company playing Lianliankan or Xiaole, and even "Runaway".

The atmosphere in their company is relatively free, so although the employees know that Deep Space Corporation is their company's opponent, they will not shy away from playing games.

But after the merger with Time Warner, the situation is a little different. Steven Case has never seen Time Warner employees play Deep Space games during their breaks.

Time Warner employees don't just don't play deep space games, they don't know how to play any other games, and they are very strict even when they are off work.

After drinking the last sip of red wine in the glass, Steven Case looked at the game interface of "Plants vs. Zombies" again. Although he still didn't think the current level was any difficult, he already felt that the next level might be difficult. down him.

The content of this seemingly simple game is not simple at all. The game experience can be so comfortable, it must be because the game is very good in terms of mechanism and numerical design.

It is also a strategy game, some games feel awkward when played, or are particularly unsmooth, because there is a problem with the numerical design.

To give a simple example, he has played the current level, and each level requires him to choose eight of the seed cards he has already obtained, and he will think carefully every time he chooses.

It can be said that every card is useful, and choosing different cards will definitely affect the difficulty of breaking through the level.

This doesn't sound like a special thing, but many games can't do it. Some games make some props, which is very tasteless. As long as there are one or two props, other props can be retired. In this way, the game strategy will be reduced.

Although Steven Case does not make games, he knows what a game needs to do if it wants to be popular, and the game "Plants vs. Zombies" definitely has the characteristics to attract players.

……

While Steven Case was resting, many players were still struggling to break through.

One hour, two hours, three hours... The game always makes people ignore the passage of time.

At this time, Ken Williams couldn't help showing a gratified smile when he saw the continuously rising number of online users. Although the sales volume of the game hadn't reflected the popularity of the game, and the feedback from players hadn't come out yet, it didn't look good. As soon as the number of online players increased, he knew that the players recognized the game very much.

So many players are willing to spend hours on this game, which can fully explain the charm of this game.

I believe that after the past few days, the word-of-mouth of this game will gradually spread to more people's ears. At that time, the sales will really pick up.

Roberta Williams also took a look at the data, and was not surprised to see such good data. She had tried "Plants vs. Zombies" before, and she asserted that it must be a very popular game.

Seeing Roberta coming, Ken asked with a smile, "How is it, is there any progress on the new game?"

Roberta covered her forehead, "You just asked this question yesterday. This new game is destined to be a long-term project, and it will take at least two years, otherwise it will be impossible to finish."

Ken shrugged his shoulders: "I know, but I always feel that miracles will happen. In life, you have to believe in miracles, don't you?"

Roberta twitched the corner of her mouth, "What you said is not a miracle, but wishful thinking. I hope that you will stop asking me about the tension in the game for at least a month."

"That's not acceptable. I'm the CEO of the company. It's my responsibility to care about the development of the company's projects."

"Yes, responsibility." Roberta sneered, then turned and left.

She has been too busy recently, and there are too many problems to overcome in the new game, and each of these problems needs to be written on several sheets of paper.

In fact, the game is not without any progress as she told her husband. They have even made a simple version that can be played, but the game contains too few elements, which is equivalent to only an empty shell.

Next, what they have to do is to enrich and optimize the game. If they do it quickly, the game will be produced in the middle of next year, and after a period of trial operation, the game will be launched by this time next year.

The reason why she told her husband that it will take two years to complete is because she knows her husband. Ken Williams is a hothead. If you tell him now that the game will be completed in the middle of next year and it will be online at the end of the year, then he will definitely not stop Pushing them hard, trying to get them to push the time forward, maybe asking them to let the game go live in the middle of next year.

Tell him now that it will take two years, and he probably won't press too hard in the short term.

In fact, Ken Williams also knows that it is impossible for the game to take two years. Not only does Roberta know him, but he also knows Roberta. Let's talk about it for a long time.

Ken Williams decided that he must push them to get the game online next year.

But right now, all his thoughts are still on "Plants vs. Zombies". After looking at the data for a while, he said to his assistant, "The new event will be released in two hours, and the backstage will definitely be under great pressure. Let everyone Keep your spirits up and don't lose the chain at the critical moment."

The assistant said with a smile, "Please rest assured, there will be no problem, we are ready."

……

After the official release of "Plants vs. Zombies", a hot question arose on the Deep Space Tribe, that is: Is Plants vs. Zombies fun?

Not only the Deep Space Tribes, but even America Online's Tribes.com is hotly discussing this matter.

Many players are curious about whether this new game from Deep Space is fun, and some people ask where they can play this game.

When many people hear that there is a new game, the first reaction is to go to some well-known game websites to find it, and some people go to physical stores to find it, but of course they can’t find it.

There are also many people who know where the game is, but are not sure if it is good or not, so they dare not buy it lightly. After all, buying a game requires money, and it is not cheap.

Just when these people were hesitating, Space suddenly announced a new rule. If users have any dissatisfaction with any game purchased on Space, they can refund it within [-] days. Of course, there is another The premise is that the player can't play the game for more than two hours.

As soon as this announcement came out, those players who were still hesitant no longer hesitated, and directly chose to buy. After all, the refund conditions of space are quite humane. No matter what, two hours is enough for them to figure out what they like. Don't like a game, if a game can really keep them playing for more than two hours, it is worth spending money.

Of course, there are also those players who want to prostitute for nothing, they just want to play for more than an hour, and then quit the game.

For this kind of players who want to take advantage, space certainly doesn't care, even if they don't earn money from these people, they can still earn traffic from these people.

Those who have money support the money market, and those who have no money support the personal market. These people belong to the people market.

Besides, although these people have the intention of wanting to prostitute for nothing, maybe a few of them end up falling into it instead.

No matter what, after this announcement came out, the number of people who bought the game increased dramatically, almost causing the space software to collapse.

When many people first started playing the game, they looked at the time while playing, thinking of getting a refund two hours before, but when they actually played the game, they couldn't pay attention to the time anymore.