Reborn America, this is my time

Chapter 199
When MGM pulled out a work like "Tom and Jerry" from its crotch, did it say that it would not affect the pattern of the video game industry?That's simply erhu nonsense on the grave!

Even in an emerging market that is constantly developing and has not seen the upper limit of the total value for the time being, the appearance of an excellent work will definitely have an impact on other works.

Like Pac-Man and Star Wars.

Before the launch of "Star Wars", even if the crazy purchases of major merchants in North America allowed "Pac-Man" to occupy the North American market at an extremely fast speed, allowing it to climb to the top of sales in a short period of time, there is no big A breakthrough is possible, but after that, its sales will still climb slowly.

This kind of water grinding effort reflects the excellent production of the game and the public's love for it, and secondly, there is no rival in the market that can compare with it.

But after "Star Wars" was officially launched, the arcade machine "Pac-Man" really couldn't be sold.Buying new rather than old is one of the reasons, and more of it is that the stock arcade machines in the market can already meet people's ever-decreasing consumer demand after the emergence of new games.

Before, Ethan didn't care about these things.Because whether it's Pac-Man or Star Wars, it's his own game.In the case that he sells more and sells less, he earns his own money. Whether to squeeze out all the potential of the product is actually based on the company's strategic planning.

He wanted to squeeze it all out, and not release anything after Pac-Man came out.

In order to maintain the status of the industry leader and attack the host products of Atari and Mirov, then use "Star Wars" to destroy the entire game market, even if this behavior will affect "Pac-Man".

This kind of thing is very flexible, right?

But now?

It's MGM that launched the new game!

It may be the fate game that is affected!
When the follow-up sales of "Snake 2", "Wind Money", "Taken" and "Need for Speed" are all likely to be affected by MGM's games...

'Damn it, you're numb! '

This is the sincere greeting that Ethan Jones, a high-quality human male, most wants to send to MGM.

And just as Ethan thought, when MGM gathered some arcade buyers to hold a new product launch conference, with the appearance of "Tom and Jerry" and "James Bond", the new order of Destiny game The number immediately fell to a certain extent.

Previously, they could sell more than 200 machines a day.

now...

On the third day after MGM's new product launch event, that is, on July 150, [-], the total number of orders received by Destiny Games was only [-] units.

On the fourth day, it still broke a hundred, but the number was only over 130.

On the fifth day, the threshold of [-] units was maintained, and the total sales volume was [-] units.

On the sixth day, when MGM's first batch of electronic arcade machines spread all over California...

The total number of orders received by Destiny Games is only 91 units!
Among them, "Need for Speed", which was not well received by the market, is no longer ordered;
The sales volume of the arcade machine "Taken" is only in single digits;

The best seller is not "Snake 2". Of the 91 orders received by Destiny Games, only 2 belong to "Snake 37";

The only one that actually sold more than [-] units was "A Windfall from Heaven".

This kind of distribution made Ethan throw away the report in his hand, and called his big secretary Ballmer.

"I have a list here, and you can purchase it according to the mark on it."

"Get ready in the morning, and go out with me for a walk in the afternoon."

Since the appearance of commodity trade, market research has always been one of the important means for a company to gain a deep understanding of a specific industry, while on-site research is the only way to obtain first-hand information.

In the commercial field, this kind of on-site research can allow the researcher to quickly understand the market popularity and consumption power of a product, and can also spy on the actual turnover of the opponent.

Therefore, when MGM's games really have a certain impact on the products of Destiny Games, watching the scene with your eyes is what Ethan wants to do most.

And when Ethan came to San Jose near Palo Alto on the afternoon of July [-], [-], the first thing he saw was a clear pattern.

Those bowling alleys, bars, dance halls, and shops along the street are all electronic arcade machines for the game of fate. The most eye-catching ones are the two little snakes named Jack and Meat Shredded by Ethan, occupying the next best position. It is a big gold coin with golden light.

At the entrance of the movie theater and the entrance of the audio-visual product store, all MGM products are displayed, and the soundtrack of "Dangdangdang~" from "Tom and Jerry" can be heard clearly even on the street.

After going around the city of San Jose a few times, Ethan breathed a sigh of relief at the roughly [-]-[-] distribution of players.[-]% of the adults stick to the arcade of the Destiny game, and [-]% of them are looking for new products. This is actually in line with the curiosity and pursuit of the new game when it was released. After finding out that his game was not smashed by MGM, Ethan signaled the driver to be there. Parking in front of a movie theater.

He buttoned up the sleeves of his long-sleeved shirt, put on a peaked cap with the MGM logo on it, and carried a paper bag the size of an A4 paper, and he led Steve Ballmer out.

The bodyguards of the three cars following him also followed suit and got out of the car, but they didn't step forward, but watched the boss from a distance.

Under their watchful eyes, Ethan stepped onto the steps at the entrance of the cinema, and when he approached the arcade machines placed at the entrance, an exclamation of "Wow——" suddenly appeared in his ears.

Looking intently, it turned out that a player was playing Tom in the game of "Tom and Jerry", and he had successfully caught Jerry just after 30 seconds of the countdown.

This fact made Ethan's eyes brighten, and he walked over quickly with a smile on his face.

"Hello everybody—"

He greeted loudly the group of kids who looked to be high school students.

"Caught Jerry in 30 seconds? Wow! You guys are awesome!"

When the group of boys turned around in doubt, Ethan had already reached into the paper bag, took out a picture album the thickness of his index finger, and displayed it in front of them.

"Show me which hero did in 30 seconds a feat that Tom hasn't done in decades? Oh - is that you? It's a commemorative picture book for us at MGM, and now it's It's yours, because you helped Tom realize his dream."

Ethan handed a picture book that Ballmer bought in the morning to a tall blond man.

Such behavior attracted surprised looks from everyone at the scene, and the white boy standing in front of the electronic arcade had a look of surprise on his face, and asked shyly, "Send it to me?"

"Yeah~ it's yours now."

Seeing that the boy didn't believe it, Ethan lowered his head slightly and showed them the logo hat on his head.

After they saw everything clearly, he raised his head and said, "Everyone, we are MGM employees. Due to the company's request, we will go all over the city to find out whether you like our games."

"According to the normal procedure, we will ask you some questions, and after you answer, we will give you some prepared gifts, but the cheers you just had let me see your love for the game "Tom and Jerry". I like it, so - don't ask, right?"

Ethan winked at everyone.

This explanation made everyone at the scene suddenly understand.

Someone even asked, "You want to give us a survey, don't you?"

Questionnaire surveys are very common in the United States. Like Hershey chocolate and Green Arrow chewing gum, they will conduct some questionnaire surveys after launching new products to ask customers for their opinions.

Therefore, after hearing this question, Ethan nodded with a smile and said, "Yes."

"Oh, thank you—" This answer made the tall man take the album with confidence.

After he took a closer look, he suddenly exclaimed.

"Tom and Jerry [-]th Anniversary Album?"

"Yeah~" Ethan nodded with a smile.

"You sent this?" People around became interested.

"If you want anything else, we have..."

Ethan waved at Ballmer.

This guy was dressed like Ethan, except that he was carrying a huge Jerry schoolbag.

After opening the schoolbag, the nine versions of Tom cat dolls in the past 40 years suddenly appeared, not only that, but also the matching Jerry dolls, of course, those things are the size of a palm.

But even so, the guys present were very excited, "Yes, yes." They kept saying, "Ask now? We have time!"

The cooperative response made Ethan smile and took out a notepad from his pocket, and then asked the questions he had already prepared, "First of all, the first question, I want to know if you like the game "Tom and Jerry" or not?" "James Bond"?"

""Tom and Jerry"." Seven or eight people at the scene answered in unison.

"Why don't you like "James Bond"?" Ethan continued to ask.

"Because 'James Bond' isn't as fun as 'Star Wars,'" said a skinny guy. "I don't think 'James Bond' is as good as 'Star Wars. There are many types of spaceships, and they have different attack methods, but in "James Bond", all the enemies are very rigid."

"Yeah, your James Bond is so stupid," responded another. "Those enemies don't attack Bond, it doesn't make any sense."

"No challenge!"

These evaluations were faithfully recorded by Ethan.

Then he asked, "So, what do you like about Tom and Jerry?"

This question made the players on the scene eager to speak——

"I love the gameplay in Tom and Jerry! The design of Tom catching Jerry is so interesting!"

"This hunt you guys do is so much fun! It's like real!"

"Yes, yes! Tom and Jerry's work is very cartoon-like, and what I like the most is actually the confrontation in it. When I play with my friends, the guy hiding will find a way to escape and catch it. That person will find a way to chase, that kind of situation is like playing hide-and-seek! Very exciting!"

The words of the players made Ethan nod with a smile.

After writing the important information in the notebook, he said again: "The last question. I want to know, which one do you think is more fun, our MGM game or the Destiny game?"

Maybe it's because the question is too difficult, but it's also possible that the game types are not easy to compare, so when those people heard Ethan's question, they all fell silent.

After thinking for a while, someone said: "Although you are from MGM, I still want to say that I like "Snake". I spent about 50 dollars on this game. I also spent about a dozen dollars on "Snake 2", and the idea of ​​challenging yourself to play infinite games is very good!"

"Then now?" Ethan pointed to "Tom and Jerry" behind the speaker.

"Are you deeply attracted by our game?" Ethan asked with a smile.

The child has brown hair and freckles all over his face.

After seeing what Ethan was pointing at, he shook his head and said, "I think there are not many people in America who haven't seen "Tom and Jerry", right? So when it came out, we came to play."

This statement won the unanimous approval of the people around.

Following his opening, those children also said——

"Your "Tom and Jerry" is fun, but the time limit is too great!"

"Yes! "Snake", "Pac-Man" and "Star Wars" released by Destiny Games before are all games without time, and the same is true for "Finance of Fortune" and "Snake 2" released now , as long as the technique is good enough, you can play indefinitely, but your "Tom and Jerry" can't."

"And more! Your "Tom and Jerry" has a big problem with the battle mode and the single player mode. Tom and Jerry in the battle mode don't have a rest in the single player mode, so we always encounter [-] No one can catch up to anyone after the second is over!"

"Yeah yeah——your mode can only allow masters to beat rookies! If two people have similar skills, then whoever plays Jerry will win! But "Snake 2" is different, who's Whoever has the best skills will win! That's what we want to play!"

An interrogation lasted almost five minutes.

When Ethan distributed the gift in his hand, what he got was two pages full of player feedback.

After waving goodbye to the children, Ethan nodded to Ballmer who had witnessed the whole process, and then the big bald man led the bodyguards and Ethan separately.

One by one, one by one, and soon, the residents of San Jose can see MGM investigators running around the streets of their own city.

then……

A similar figure emerged in San Francisco.

From two o'clock in the afternoon to two o'clock in the morning when major theaters and audio-visual product stores closed, Ethan, with twelve bodyguards, four drivers and a big bald head, collected a total of more than 700 player feedbacks.

Let everyone go back to rest, and he and Ballmer nestled in the office to tidy up. When the sky was bright, Ethan, who had read all the feedback, leaned on the back of the soft boss chair.

Among the more than 700 player questionnaires, [-]% of the guys who think the games produced by MGM are more fun than the Destiny games, and the vast majority of these [-]% are fans of "Tom and Jerry". Sen could sense the palpable joy they felt for Tom and Jerry.

Ethan can understand this kind of thing. After all, "Tom and Jerry" is an IP that has been popular for 40 years. Their popularity may not be as high as Mickey, but it is absolutely top-notch in the United States. If you rely on them in this situation If the normal games produced cannot be popular, then the IP industry and IP operations will not be born, and Disney has already thrown itself into the ground.

Therefore, the result of 40-[-] is acceptable to Ethan.This means that the Destiny game has left a deep impression on the players after three years of operation. When the impact of [-] years was successfully resisted by three years, this achievement has proved that they have successfully defended.

In addition, through questionnaires, they also collected many players' comments on the game.

For example, some people think that a fixed game every [-] seconds is too expensive. Even if every game can be played to the last second, it will cost ten dollars an hour.

For example, some people hope that some functional props can be added to the hunting map of "Tom and Jerry", just like the powerful pill in "Pac-Man", which can speed up the hunting Tom, or make the escaped Jerry is invincible, simulating the effect in the cartoon.

For another example, some people think that "Tom and Jerry" can add some visual changes. Tom can break a few drops of sweat like animation when resting, and Jerry can depict some tension when resting, making the game look richer. , which is even more interesting.

In addition to these, there are also many opinions about the game of fate.

The most noticeable thing is that many players feel that Destiny's "Need for Speed" is similar to some products on the market, and feel that the camera-opening gameplay of "Taken" is not easy to operate on the joystick.

I think "Wind of Fortune" and "Snake 2" are great, but they are not as amazing as when I played "Pac-Man" and "Star Wars".

Some people even said that if the battle mode of "Snake 2" did not have the limit of the map frame, and two snakes competed for apples in a field, while retaining the characteristic of collision and death, then even if "Tom and Jerry" was released, they would also Choose "Snake 2", because this battle is more exciting.

To be honest, when Ethan saw these contents, he really laughed out loud.

nice.

Because if "Need for Speed" is placed in later generations, it will be a copy!

Because the joystick for shooting through the scope shown in "Taken" is really not easy to operate, or in other words, before the controller appeared, there was no spring for shooting games. After the keyboard and mouse appeared, players would discover the special features of shooting games. Code can play more cool!
Because "Wind Fortune" and "Snake 2" are indeed not as good as "Pac-Man" and "Star Wars", after all, the latter are games that leverage the tens of billions of market!
As for the removal of map restrictions in "Snake 2"?
Wouldn't the special code become the future online version of "Snake"?
However, since the public has this demand...

That can still record one or two.

For example, if you are making a sequel to "Snake" in the future, you can introduce the props mode in the stand-alone version. Apples and boxes will appear on the map. Snakes still get points after eating apples, but There will be different random effects after arriving at the treasure chest, it may be an acceleration that increases the difficulty, it may be that the apple that increases the score falls from the sky, and it may be that the length that brings vitality is halved.

For example, the multiplayer battle version can introduce props while canceling the frame restriction, depending on whether the invincibility effect is added. The player who obtains invincibility is the winner. Just like the invincible star in Mario, it can make people beat the opponent Genesis.

Of course, these things are all assumptions, and they need to be considered according to the actual situation when making them.

After Ethan found out that the market's demand feedback for his own arcade machines was related to MGM but belonged to the normal new product launch category, although he was upset, he was relieved.

As long as MGM doesn't make any small moves, normal business competition is still acceptable.

And from the very beginning, he has regarded the electronic arcade machine launched this time and the "Ms. Pac-Man" launched in the second half of the year as the stable products of Destiny Games in the transition period in the video game market.

When the game he really wants to sell is Contra, and when the game he really wants to make is the Pac-Man version of Mario, sparring in the arcade field is actually a way to slow down others.

"Thanks a lot."

After reading the summary of the questionnaire, Ethan said to Ballmer who had been busy all night: "I will pay you three times the salary for staying up late last night, and then give you a day off. Holiday, see you the day after tomorrow, Okay?"

Although Ballmer is one year younger than Ethan, this kind of staying up late statistics is really annoying.

After hearing Ethan's words, the bald head with dark circles immediately nodded, "Okay boss, see you the day after tomorrow." After accepting the vacation calmly, he asked again: "Is the company okay?"

"What's wrong with normal competition?" Ethan shook the document in his hand and said with a smile, "If we were selling that kind of non-creative products, then we would definitely take this kind of competition from MGM into consideration." counterattack, but when we sell content, we cannot monopolize the entire market.”

"That's why there are several giants in Hollywood, and it's the same in the music market."

"Because no one in this world dares to say that the content they create can be liked by everyone, so in many cases, we can only accept this kind of imperfection that cannot be monopolized."

Hearing these words, Ballmer was a little dazed.

After staring at Ethan for a few times, a smile appeared on his round cheeks.

"Boss, I thought you would be very angry."

"Of course I'm angry, but that's life, isn't it?"

"Yes." Ballmer nodded, then got up and went home to sleep.

However, shortly after he stepped out of the office, he returned.

Lying on the door frame of Ethan's office, his big round eyes were full of curiosity.

"Boss, can I ask you something?"

"You said."

"Why did you go to the questionnaire survey yesterday? You can leave the matter to us."

This question made Ethan, who was sorting out the files, laugh.

Looking at the guy who was slightly sideways, Ethan caught the curiosity on his face.

Sighing, Ethan said: "Countless business empires collapsed because the people at the helm who made the development plan were divorced from the public. When the high-ranking people refuse to go to the scene, the people who look down will only see the people below." Smile."

"It's not that I don't trust you."

"I just want to hear what consumers who are willing to spend money on me are saying."

"!"

Ballmer opened his mouth slightly.

After staring at Ethan for a while, he chuckled lightly and said, "Thank you."

"Need not."

Ethan waved his hand.

"Fuck off!"

"Go back to sleep!"

Since MGM didn't make any extra moves in the promotion of the game, Ethan decided to quietly pay attention to them to see how much the chase game "Tom and Jerry" could sell.

His silence, however, earned MGM high-profile publicity.When July [-]th came, MGM, which had already distributed goods in Quanmi, bought advertisements in the three major newspapers——

[After many years, "Tom and Jerry" swept America again!Tom and Jerry, who are about to celebrate their 40th birthday, once again brought happiness to the people all over Mimi!And the one lying under their feet is "Snake" who just turned three years old!Jack and Rousi are trembling! 】

[Fifteen days!Ten thousand units!And watch "Tom and Jerry" become the hottest video game of the moment! 】

[The background of the old entertainment company!MGM first entered the field of video games and broke the sales record of Destiny game! "Tom and Jerry" is expected to become this year's sales champion! 】

【What did the game of fate do wrong?Why did Ethan Jones fall from the altar? 】

When the reports of dragging and stamping appeared all over the sky, countless black lines appeared on Ethan's forehead.

Good guy!
"Tom and Jerry" sold 2 units in 40 days, while his "Snake [-]" sold [-] units in just [-] days. This kind of sales for [-] years can't match the sales of three days. can blow?
Ethan really overestimated the integrity of these people!

He was still thinking about how restrained MGM, which has a relationship with Italy and Italy, has not seen the shipping problem envisioned by Michael Blanco so far. Not only that, they also sell goods in a low-key manner.This kind of behavior of being an honest person and doing things according to one's duty is a bit strange in the capitalist society.

But now—

Still can't help it!
You have to step on it!

"Grass!"

"It's really as black as crows in the world!"

Looking at the newspaper in his hand, Ethan shook his head.

"Philips did it before, Time Warner did it, and now MGM is doing it again! Is your guy named Bryant? Shaq did it too?"

Ethan was speechless.

And when he found out that the little brother in the industry wanted to step on his big brother to take the position...

Then he will definitely not agree!

Waving a slap, giving this little guy a big pussy is what he wants to do most!

And how to fan...

Looking at the game rankings in the office, Ethan pursed his lips.

Although the sales of games such as "Snake 2" and "Heaven's Windfall" in the current season can make him fight back, but such a small gap in the results can't bring out the crushing pleasure.

He wanted to slap MGM in the ground!

And since that's the case...

Ethan set his eyes on "Star Wars" ranked first and "Pac-Man" ranked second. After staring for a while, he glanced at the desk calendar on his desk.

Then, he picked up the phone on his desk and dialed a number.

After a while of transfers, he called Vancouver.

"Hello? Is this Arakawa Minoru? It's time for you Nintendo to come and check out!"

That's right!

If you want to enjoy the thrill of crushing, you have to pull out Nintendo for the special code!
The overseas sales of Lao Tzu's game are even more than the total sales of your MGM!

Just like that, are you still showing off?

Show off your horse!
(End of this chapter)