game trailblazer

Chapter 164 The First E3 Exhibition

In just a few days, the influence of "What is a Game" has spread all over the country. As Zhang Lexing expected, it not only affects a few people in the game circle, but also relies on the image of the central authoritative newspaper in people's minds. The scope expanded to outside the game circle from the government leadership down to the common people, and suddenly "game" and "video game" became a hot topic again, but this time it was no longer as one-sided as before.

"Lexing, your idea is really good. I heard that many places have postponed the farewell video game swearing-in meeting, and many local newspapers no longer focus on negative news about video games." Zhao Haiguang said in Said excitedly on the phone.

"Brother Zhao, now is not the time to be happy. In fact, we only achieved the current situation with the help of the influence of the central authoritative newspaper. It is only a temporary situation. If we don't continue to follow up, once this trend passes, maybe everything We are back to the original point, so we have to continue." Zhang Lexing has seen too many harsh realities, but he will not be so blindly optimistic.

"Lexing, what else do you think needs to be done?" Zhao Haiguang asked on the phone.

"Articles about games in newspapers can't be stopped immediately, but the frequency of publication can be reduced a bit, and it doesn't have to be entirely up to us to prepare the content. It can attract some letters from readers, as long as it maintains a certain degree of popularity. Next It is also necessary to make a TV promotional film, the format can be adjusted a little bit, and the content is still the popularization of knowledge about video games. After all, there are many more people watching TV than reading newspapers. Besides, there are more negative news about street game halls now. , I plan to invest in building a relatively large-scale video game city, so that those who think that street game halls can only hide filth and evil people can see what a regular arcade hall looks like. Brother Zhao, I am also here to help you establish image project, you can help a lot.”

"Okay, no problem, Lexing will help as long as I can."

"Well, it's mainly the government department. I want Brother Zhao to help me with the formalities and licenses. As for the location of the game city, I plan to find someone to investigate first."

"Lexing, there are several companies under our association that make this street game machine, do you need me to help you get in touch."

"Brother Zhao, thank you for your concern. Don't worry about the game console. We'll wait until the place is confirmed."

……

In the days that followed, Zhao Haiguang continued to promote the discussion about "games" and "video games", and Zhang Lexing actually arranged for people from Dongfang Holdings to find a suitable place to build a game city in BJ City.

Time came to the beginning of May, and the work of improving the public opinion environment was still being carried out subtly. Zhang Lexing also chose a target from several alternative construction sites for the game city, a six-story building attached to a commercial building with convenient transportation. The two-story podium was directly purchased and planned to be built into a video game city. In the future, it is also planned to introduce restaurants, cinemas, Internet cafes, fitness, etc. to develop into a video entertainment city.

But these are things for the future, and now Zhang Lexing is going to the United States again, because the first E3 exhibition is about to open. The full name of E3 is TheElectronicEntertainmentExpo, which means Electronic Entertainment Expo, and it is an exhibition exclusively for game manufacturers.Before that, game manufacturers could only participate in the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) twice a year. Although the number of game manufacturers participating in the exhibition increased year by year, the booths occupied in the exhibition hall were always in a very inconspicuous corner and were not taken seriously at all.In response to this situation, Douglas Lowenstein, president of the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA, an organization integrating anti-piracy, protection of game industry rights, and game ratings) decided to organize a special international electronic entertainment exhibition. E3 came out.

This trip to the United States, Zhang Lexing did not intend to watch the excitement alone, but mobilized many people to go together, not only the game production companies under the Eastern Electronic Entertainment Co., Ltd., but also the American Activision and the British Eidos. In addition, Xishanju, the leadership of the China Game Industry Association (Zhao Haiguang's trio), and several companies willing to go abroad to meet the world (Leader Software, Hongda Software, Zhiqun Software, etc.) The representatives of the company also organized a 20-person E3 tour group.

On May 5th, Zhang Lexing and the exhibitors from Creative Workshop took a direct flight from BJ to Los Angeles, accompanied by the 10-person E20 visiting group, and the exhibitors from Tianzhiyuan departed from Shanghai.When the plane landed in Los Angeles, the staff sent by Dongfang Electronic Entertainment Co., Ltd. had already arranged for the pick-up vehicle. After boarding the car, they were taken directly to a hotel not far from the Los Angeles Convention Center.Due to the large number of people coming, Oriental Electronic Entertainment Co., Ltd. directly booked the guest rooms on the third floor of the hotel for the exhibitors of its game production company, Activision and Eidos to rest, and the E3 visiting group also enjoyed the The treatment of free board and lodging.

On May 5, the E11 exhibition officially opened at the Los Angeles Convention Center.The construction area of ​​the convention and exhibition center is 3 square meters. There are 67000 exhibition halls in the whole convention and exhibition center, namely: Kentia Hall, Petree Hall, South Hall, Concourse Hall and West Hall (West Hall).

The fan-shaped South Hall covers an area of ​​32227 square meters and is the largest building and exhibition hall in the exhibition center. Most of the booths here are the booths of European and American game development companies, and the booths of EA and KF-Panda related to Zhang Lexing are also located here. In addition, the booths of American Activision, British Eidos, and Bullfrog, Blizzard, and Blue Dragon under the Oriental Electronic Entertainment Co., Ltd. are also located here.

The rectangular west hall is the second largest exhibition hall, covering an area of ​​19573 square meters. The main exhibitors are almost all from Asia, such as the booths of Nintendo, Sega, Sony, Capcom, Konami and Oriental Electronic Entertainment Co., Ltd. The booths of its creative workshops, Tianzhiyuan, Maxis and other companies are also located here.

The booth of the former gaming giant Atari was set up in the smallest Petry Hall in the convention center. They tried to regain their former glory with the 64-bit game console Jaguar.The Kentia Hall, the second smallest of the convention and exhibition center, is located at the bottom of the South Hall. There are mainly some small-scale game development companies inside. Naturally, the layout and layout of the booths are not very good. It looks like a smoky market.

Zhang Lexing led the members of the E3 visiting group into the exhibition hall, first went to the corridor to get the guidebook and today's exhibition magazine, and then walked to the south hall while flipping through the magazine.The most conspicuous booths in the south hall are the booths of EA, KF-Panda, Activision, Virgin, Lucas Art and other companies. Display of computer games, among which KF-Panda was one of the earliest companies to support Sony, and more than ten PS games under development or about to be launched were displayed on the booth.At this time, the share of computer games in the entire game industry is still very small, and the booths of corresponding video game companies are naturally much larger. However, there are also very bright stars in computer game companies, such as Westwood and Blizzard. ), at this exhibition, it was as if the tip of the needle was pointing at the wheat. They launched "Command and Conquer" and "Warcraft II: Kuroshio" respectively, which took the development of real-time strategy games another big step forward.

These two games also aroused the strong interest of some members of the E3 visiting group, and even spent time queuing up to try it out for themselves.Zhang Lexing had no choice but to make an appointment with them at a meeting place, leave an interpreter behind, and then continue to visit with the rest.When passing by Bullfrog's booth, the "Magic Flying Carpet 2" that was being displayed attracted a few more people with its gorgeous magic and powerful 3D effects. After going back and forth like this, it didn't take long for Zhang Lexing to be surrounded by only Zhao Haiguang's leader. The association formed a trio, and even the people in Xishanju got lost in the bizarre game world.

Zhang Lexing doesn't mind about this, anyway, one of the purposes of this trip is to let domestic game companies see the world and broaden their horizons, don't just stay in the country and build a car behind closed doors, but keep up with the pace of development of foreign companies, and don't be fooled People are getting farther and farther away, but I don't know anything, but I am complacent about the little achievements in front of me.Now that they are willing to understand, of course Zhang Lexing will not object.

With Zhao Haiguang and others, Zhang Lexing sped up his itinerary, and his focus was no longer limited to the games on the booths, but focused on higher-level aspects such as booth layout and exhibition organization.Because Zhang Lexing still has a dream, hoping to hold a game exhibition equivalent to the E3 exhibition in China, this time Zhao Haiguang and others are here for this purpose.

Yan Xiaowei pointed to the racing game screen on the projection cloth not far away, and exclaimed: "Wow, this game is so realistic!"

Zhao Haiguang patted his head angrily: "Don't keep staring at the game, carefully observe how other people organize this kind of exhibition, if there is a chance, we will also hold one, so we don't have to travel all the way to the United States in the future .”

Yan Xiaowei repeatedly begged for mercy: "Yes, yes, boss, don't hit me on the head, it will make me stupid."

The two were arguing, and Wang Bo, who was taller, seemed to have discovered some new world, and greeted repeatedly: "Boss, look over there, what do you think those women do, with so little clothes on?"

When Yan Xiaowei heard Wang Bo's shout, he quickly turned his head to look over there, and couldn't help sighing after seeing it: "Tsk tsk, look at the depth of her, that chest...how broad!"

Zhao Haiguang turned his head and took a look, and said calmly: "What a fuss, it must be a performance. Le Xing, you say so."

"Well, Brother Zhao, you are right, they are ShowGirls, they can also be called Show Girls." Zhang Lexing explained beside him.

"But what does their performance have to do with this game exhibition? It seems to be quite different." Wang Bo scratched his head and asked in puzzlement.

"Actually, ShowGirl's performances are divided into many types. You can see that there are singing and dancing performances. In the past, those performances were cosplay performances, where they acted as characters in the game, and those who hung ribbons and handed out promotional materials. These Both. In fact, this is a means of attracting attention. You should pay attention to observe whether there are more visitors to the booth of ShowGirl, and more visitors to the booth of ShowGirl with higher quality. What is the reason? I believe Everyone should understand."

The three members of the association observed according to what Zhang Lexing said, and the situation was really like this. After thinking about it carefully, and after glancing at each other, they all laughed knowingly...

The entire South Hall turned down, and the first day was almost over, and game company representatives who turned into fanatic players also came back one after another. From the expressions on their faces, Zhang Lexing felt that his goal had been achieved.

"It turns out that there are so many tricks in the game!" A group member who was deeply shocked by the wonderful light and shadow changes along the way and the variety of game forms sighed.

"The gap between us and foreign games is really big, but we will definitely catch up." One of the members of Xishanju who was not overwhelmed made a passionate declaration.

Of course, there are also those who are frightened by the intuitively felt gap in quality and the insurmountable gap in quantity, and even have no interest in talking at this time, and just sigh sadly beside them.Zhang Lexing felt that the goal was basically achieved, but the effect seemed to be too good.

After returning to the station for dinner, Zhang Lexing, Zhao Haiguang and others had a secret discussion, and Zhao Haiguang called the members of the E3 visiting group to have a short meeting together.

After Zhao Haiguang summed up his impressions of today's visit in a few words, he changed the subject and said: "...When I came back today, I felt that although I saw the gap with foreign countries, most people still have fighting spirit. However, there are also a few people who seem to have given up, which is not good...the gap exists in reality, in order to narrow the gap, our association is going to organize a game developer conference, please Mr. Zhang Lexing to explain the specific situation."

Zhang Lexing took the microphone and said: "Well, this gamer development conference is planned to be held in BJ in October this year. The participants include computer and game console game developers, game marketing personnel, and game-related professional R&D personnel. We will make this conference a meeting for communication and learning, inspiration and interpersonal communication. Everyone can gather together to exchange experiences and ideas, showcase the latest game development technology, and imagine the future of the game industry...

In addition, I also intend to invite some famous foreign game designers to hold special lectures, give speeches, and impart development experience.I believe that with the long-term holding of the Game Developers Conference, as long as everyone has confidence, the gap with foreign countries will gradually narrow, and even catch up. "

Hearing this news, everyone in the E3 tour group just felt refreshed, and their confidence seemed to be back again.

Zhang Lexing looked at everyone's expressions and decided to add more fire, so he continued: "In addition, I want to tell you a piece of good news. The first professional game talent training institution in China, the students of Fengyun Game Academy will graduate at the end of June. At that time, we can provide game developers with a certain foundation for our company.”

This good news even lifted the spirits of everyone present. What is the most lacking these years-"talent", now someone can help solve it. Although I don't know how the students of Fengyun Game Academy are, at least they are better Those who don't understand at all will be much stronger.The reason why Zhang Lexing wanted to announce this news was, of course, that he was not so kind as to hand over all the graduates of Fengyun Game Academy to other companies, at least not yet.On the one hand, it wants to use the developers who have undergone initial training to help mainland game companies improve their game development capabilities. On the other hand, because of the expansion of enrollment, this year's graduates will reach 180 people, while the creative workshop is expected to recruit only about 120 people , and there are about 60 more people. If they can be arranged to other companies, it will be a very good thing for both parties.

(End of this chapter)