game trailblazer

Chapter 77 A New Beginning
In March, according to the practice of RB companies, it is the day when the annual financial final accounts are announced. Nintendo also announced the financial situation of the previous year. With the help of the two big money-making machines of Super Nintendo and GameBoy, the turnover rose to 3 billion yen, and the net profit of the year was . Reached 7850 billion yen, even overwhelming Sony, which is much larger than Nintendo's home appliance giant.This is really a great humiliation for Sony. This has stimulated Sony to increase investment in the R&D team of game consoles, and with its support, the Hong Kong chip factory has gradually adjusted its production line and shifted to CPU production.

In mid-April, Dongfang Electronic Entertainment Co., Ltd., funded and established by Dongfang Holdings, completed the acquisition of Eidos Interactives (Eidos Interactive), a small company headquartered in England. The main business of this small company was the research and development and promotion of video compression technology.After the completion of the acquisition, under the direction of Zhang Lexing, Eidos Interactive began to enter the game entertainment market.

In May, Nintendo felt that the development of Sega was under control, and decided to abandon Sony, which had lost its use value. A well-prepared press conference was held. At the meeting, a Nintendo spokesperson announced: “…… It is found that CD-ROM has the weakness of too slow reading speed, which will directly affect the user's experience of our game and also affect the user's perception of the quality of our game, so this company is not optimistic about the new storage medium CD-ROM (CD-ROM). ) application on game consoles, decided to abandon the plan to cooperate with Sony to develop a new console using CD-ROM, and the cooperative relationship with Sony will also officially end..."

In response, Sony also held its own press conference. At the meeting, Sony's spokesperson denounced Nintendo's unilateral act of tearing up the cooperation agreement, believing that it did not have the most basic integrity as a company, and said that Sony would reserve the right to pursue Nintendo. The right to legal liability.For this kind of false intimidation, Nintendo, which was prepared before signing the contract, certainly would not care. For Sony, this is just a smoke screen to confuse Nintendo. The battle between the foxes continues quietly.

In early June, Oriental Electronics Entertainment Co., Ltd. acquired Mediagenic, which had already entered the bankruptcy process, and invited company veteran Robert Kotick to serve as CEO. The company's name was also restored to the original Activision (Activision), and the company's office Moved to the metropolis of Los Angeles.After Robert Kotick's drastic restructuring and personnel adjustments, the new Activision (activision) has regained its vitality and returned to the familiar game entertainment market.

At the end of June, the traditional Chinese version and Japanese version of "The Heroes of the Three Kingdoms - Liu Bei Biography" led by Zhan Jun's team were launched in RB, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan at the same time. The innovative game method attracted many players, and many games The magazine also rated this game as the most creative Three Kingdoms game, and "Three Kingdoms Heroes" had a great moment.

……

After closing the folder, the recent events gradually faded away from Zhang Lexing, and the thoughts of returning to China gradually became active again.Zhang Lexing got up and paced back and forth in his office, the air was filled with a faint aroma of coffee mixed with milk, Zhang Lexing was thinking about his future while walking.

"This year is the year when the domestic computer game industry officially started. Jinpan Electronics will be established in BJ, and Zhiguan will also extend its tentacles to Guangzhou. Am I ready? VisualSystem is already deeply rooted and flourishing, and I don't need it." Take good care of them as before. The works produced by these people who went abroad for further studies are not bad, and it seems that they can be regarded as the first glimpse of the way of game design. Well, the time is ripe to return to China to establish a computer game development company and revitalize the domestic game industry up.

Where to start?In the next few years, most domestic computer game development companies will gather in BJ, and games, as a cultural product, are deeply influenced by national policies. As the capital of the country, BJ is a well-informed place and the place where you can most directly feel the national policies , I think it should be a good place to take the first step.

It seems that it is time to call everyone together and have a good talk. "

People in the United States are easy to deal with, anyway, they are close, and they can be found at any time. The six people staying in RB are more troublesome.But since they have already planned to go back to start a business, they are naturally indispensable.Zhang Lexing picked up the phone on the table, pressed the number button, and dialed Nangong Yun, the chairman of Scowell Company. During the phone call, Zhang Lexing told him to arrange for the six people who were studying in RB to come to the United States as soon as possible. There was something important. To study and study with them.Nangong Yun's efficiency was very high, and the flight was quickly arranged. The six-person training group will take the plane tomorrow morning to come to the United States.The plenary meeting planned by Zhang Lexing was also scheduled for the day after tomorrow.

After adjusting the schedule for the next three days, Zhang Lexing got up and left his office, and went to the room where Yang Xinxin worked.He knocked lightly on the door in the inner room of the office, then pushed the door open and walked in. Yang Xinxin just raised his head when he heard the sound.

"Is there something wrong?" Yang Xinxin looked at Zhang Lexing and asked.

Seeing Zhang Lexing's hesitant expression, Yang Xinxin sighed: "Are you still leaving?"

"Yes." Zhang Lexing nodded.

"When are you going to leave?"

"Not yet finalized, maybe next week."

"Okay, is there anything else? If not, I'm going to be busy. I still have a lot of things to do today." Yang Xinxin flipped through the documents all over the table, lowered her head and stopped looking at Zhang Lexing.

Zhang Lexing felt her unhappiness, and wanted to say something to make up for it, but he opened his mouth but no sound came out. This step would have to be taken out one day. Sighing, Zhang Lexing turned and left.In the next few days, every time Yang Xinxin saw Zhang Lexing, she seldom spoke, even when the two of them were having dinner together, she was silent. Even if Zhang Lexing opened his mouth, Yang Xinxin would at most deal with it twice and then stop talking.

Time passed quickly, and in a blink of an eye, the six-person training group from RB had already arrived in the United States for a day, and the meeting that Zhang Lexing planned was also held in the borrowed conference room of Blue Dragon Company.

"Everyone, I believe some people may have already guessed the purpose of my visit." Zhang Lexing saw that everyone was here, and began to introduce his thoughts, "That's right, we will return to China soon to create a new world of domestic games."

Everyone's expressions were different, some people's expressions didn't change much, they seemed to have known it before, some people seemed a little surprised, maybe they were used to staying abroad, and they didn't expect to go back.

Zhang Lexing continued: "Maybe some people think it is necessary to go back to China? It's good to stay outside, and you can also make games, even Chinese games. Anyway, there are publishing companies in charge. There are many opportunities for technical exchanges abroad. It might not be so convenient if we go back.”

Many people nodded their foreheads, and it seemed that what Zhang Lexing said was exactly the question that was circling in their hearts.

"I think you should have been exposed to many games produced by the United States and RB over the years, and there should be many of them that impressed you. Except for the two Chinese games I made, I am afraid that other Chinese games are difficult for you to look up to. This shows that Now the level of Chinese game production is still relatively low, but this means that there is great potential for development. If you just want to make a good game, you can do it in the United States or RB. But if you want to make a Chinese game with real connotation, you must It is difficult to experience in foreign countries that you need to be immersed in Chinese culture. Therefore, I want to go back when domestic computer games are still in their infancy and open a computer game production company. I hope that one day I can make the most Good Chinese game. The Chinese game I am talking about here is not just a Chinese version of the game, but a game that includes Chinese culture. I hope that one day even foreigners can like Chinese games. Everyone, would you like to join me Strive for this goal?"

Zhang Lexing's words aroused everyone's ambition, they all applauded, and some impatiently shouted: "Yes!"

"Then we're going to get to the point. If someone doesn't want to go back, he can bring it up now. I'll recommend him to the game development company here." Zhang Lexing glanced at the crowd, but no one answered this time. It seems that everyone should be I have made my own choice.

"Since there is no opinion, let me talk about the future development direction of our company and the future development team model..."

In fact, Zhang Lexing already had an idea for the future direction of the company, but he couldn't say it directly, because the Blizzard company he admired hadn't appeared yet, and the founder of Blizzard still didn't know where he was squatting.Zhang Lexing admired Blizzard's philosophy of focusing on game quality, and he also hoped that his company would also pay attention to game quality in the future, even if it loses money, it can't just make up some inferior works to make up for it.Although it is not possible to teach under the banner of Blizzard, Zhang Lexing can still determine several development directions for the company after referring to Blizzard's experience and lessons:

First, we must have a top-ranking distribution company in the world.With the experience he learned from Larry Probst, Zhang Lexing knew that game publishers are the real leaders in the game industry. After all, the power of capital is very powerful, and publishing companies with strong capital will naturally Will become the real overlord of the game industry in the future.If a game production company cannot master the distribution channels and has enough development funds, it will definitely become a vassal of the distribution company, or even become a victim in the acquisition process.Zhang Lexing doesn't want his company to suffer such torture one day, so he has already started planning in this regard.

Second, to become a development company that produces high-quality games.The future Blizzard is such a company. Although the number of games developed is small and tickets are often skipped, Blizzard's games can be said to be high-quality products, and the Blizzard brand has become a golden sign of game quality.This is also the goal Zhang Lexing set for his company, and he believes that it will be achieved under his supervision.

Third, to become a company that promotes Chinese culture to the world.Zhang Lexing remembered that there was an American company developing a game called "Shogun" in later generations, and many American dramas also had backgrounds about RB, which made people look like that.But when it comes to China, you often see ugly pigtails.Zhang Lexing hopes that through the games he develops, foreigners can learn about China's long history and profound culture, and stop keeping their memories in the era of pigtails and little red books.

The ideal is lofty, but the reality has to be realized step by step. The immediate goal is to start the company first, so that we will have the opportunity to start our own brand in the future.If you want to set up a game development company, setting up a team responsible for game development is the top priority. As a game development company, there are many ways to form a development team. According to Zhang Lexing’s experience over the years, the most common ones are: CEO + working group model, where the CEO directly To manage one or several game development teams, the power of the CEO can be unlimited. In addition to being a producer, sometimes he also serves as a project manager and chief planner. Once the CEO can't adjust his position, it will often cause confusion in the entire development process and direction. ;Professional manager (project manager) + working group model, professional managers generally manage specific game development projects on behalf of investors, with great powers and responsibilities, as long as professional managers have good project management experience, they can usually complete them well project.

However, Zhang Lexing personally prefers another flat model, which is mainly adopted by some large companies, and is not limited to the game development industry.To put it simply, it is professional subdivision, ordering operation, collaborative work, and assembly line operation.Separate each major in game development (planning, art, program, QA, etc.) The department places an order, and the project manager completes the coordination of the entire project. After the project is completed, the department is disbanded, and all personnel return to the original department or production center.This model is suitable for the simultaneous development of multiple projects in the same company, and has very good expansion capabilities. It can even outsource part of the work to professional production companies when there are insufficient staff.

The current manpower is still very limited. According to this division method, some departments may only have two or three people. However, for long-term development, Zhang Lexing still determines the staffing of the three main departments (planning, art, and programming). As for QA ( Game testing) will wait until returning to China to recruit more people before considering the establishment. Now we can only make temporary guest appearances for the time being. As Zhan Jun and Zhao Yuanhuan (who developed "Three Kingdoms 2") with certain team management experience, they will naturally become project managers. preferred.

……

The development plan has been discussed, and the rest is when and how to go back.Considering that I haven't returned to China for several years, and whether there is a suitable place to stay, the brigade went back rashly, or they would have to do nothing all day, so it's better to let everyone stay here to gain more experience.Of course, Zhang Lexing doesn't need to go back to explore the way directly. After all, BJ still has a lot of people from Rising Sun Software and Le Yiyang. Just find a few reliable people, at least they can help find an office, at least let Zhang Lexing After the company opens, there is a temporary site, where the production staff can start work, and the equipment can also be stacked.

After dialing the number of Rising Sun Software Wan Lin (at this time, she has been transferred to be the Minister of Administration and Management, and her original position was taken over by a returnee named Gong Dingyu), Zhang Lexing said: "Wan Lin, I will return to China in a while, hurry up Time, help me find an office of at least 20 square meters. The place should not be too far away, it will be useful when I come back. Also, look for a community with houses for rent and sale. If there are more than [-] people coming back, you must have a place to live. Row."

"Boss, don't worry, I promise to complete the task." Wan Lin's cheerful voice came from the phone. It seems that life has been good in the past few years.

With Wan Lin's guarantee, Zhang Lexing can rest assured to arrange the itinerary for himself.Going back this time, in addition to the 18 people who went abroad for further study, there are three Americans who are very interested in China. One is Ken Silverman, who is engaged in 3D game engine research, and the other is fond of D&D (Dungeon and Dragon). ) role-playing game planner Mike Ronald, and a designer who likes to study simulation games John Fermax.They have often heard Zhang Lexing talk about China in the past few years. The mysterious terracotta warriors, the magnificent Great Wall, the long history, and the magnificent mountains and rivers have fascinated them for a long time. want to follow.With such a good opportunity, Zhang Lexing would naturally not be polite. After a bluff, the three Americans who were full of yearning for China signed a "sell contract", and then they will go to China with these developers who are here for further study .

Before Wan Lin finds a suitable office and residence, the brigade must not be dispatched, but in order to make the company's preparations go more smoothly, Zhang Lexing chose the most stable Xiao Donghai (an even more important reason is that Xiao Donghai's home is in BJ) First go to BJ and Wan Lin to meet, and by the way, bring 1 US dollars as the company's pre-preparation expenses.And Zhang Lexing himself booked a flight to Hong Kong, planning to find some shortcuts for his future game development company to open up the situation faster.

(End of this chapter)