Video Game Empire

Intel's unreleased new processors are already at a disadvantage in terms of market recognition when competing with star rivals such as the erm architecture. If they are not as good as their rivals in system compatibility, the situation is bound to be even more difficult. "≤,

At that time, how many computer manufacturers will choose Intel's processors as the CPUs of their own computer products? Li Xuan guessed that there will not be many companies that dare to take risks!

And once it is suppressed from the very beginning, it is doubtful whether Intel will be entangled with Dongfang Electronics for a long time! Because the next year or two will be the most difficult time for Intel. Intel's core product is memory chips, but this area is now being seriously eroded by Japanese semiconductor companies.

In another time and space, Intel relied on the wave of compatible machines started by ibm and easily transformed into a processor manufacturer. In this life, the rhythm of the personal computer wave is completely controlled by Li Xuan. Intel has lost the first opportunity in the processor field. It will never be easy to regain the dominance from Li Xuan!

"Have you ever played the game "Dungeon and Dragon"?" Li Xuan asked suddenly.

Du Wenqiang nodded: "When I was in college, when the dormitory roommates in the dormitory got together, we played together!"

Dungeons and Dragons (dnd) was first invented by an insurance salesman in Wisconsin in 1974 as a set of role-playing card board games, which quickly became popular throughout the Western world. Its world view and game rules are very complete and complex, and almost all Western RPG games in later generations are deeply influenced by this.

Such as alignment, lawful, neutral, chaotic; good, neutral, evil. From this, nine modes can be combined. Another example is the race, the six races of human, elves, halflings, dwarves, mechanic, and drow. There are also occupations. Priests, rogues, warriors, druids, mages, barbarians, etc., each profession has a huge and rigorous skill system. weapon system.

The entire "Dungeon and Dragon" game can be described as a western magic epic based on a medieval background. The settings of a series of subsequent games such as "Witchcraft" and "Might and Magic" were greatly influenced by "Dungeon and Dragon".

"Have you seen Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit?" Li Xuan asked again.

Du Wenqiang shook his head. Western magic literature in this era is not very popular in Asia. Even in Hong Kong, a British colony, everyone still likes the "Shu Mountain" by Huanzhuzhuzhu, the martial arts world written by Jin Yong and Gu Long.

"Take the time to take a good look at these two greatest Western fantasy works of the 20th century. Many of the concepts in "Dungeon and Dragon" are derived from Tolkien's works!" Li Xuan said.

Later Hollywood's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy and "The Hobbit" trilogy made Tolkien's name resounding all over the world.

"For a long time in the future, the market for computer games is mainly in Europe and the United States. Because I hope that the Eastern Game Company can start a game project with a Western magical background that fits the values ​​of European and American players as soon as possible! I don't want this project to be just a small game. Instead, there is a huge worldview plan, and it is best to make it an evergreen tree like "007" that can continue to produce sequels and last for decades.

You can draw on existing literary works and games such as The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and Dungeons and Dragons, organize specialized historians, linguists, and authors to write a complete and systematic system for the game. The Chronicle Outline is out!

My only requirement is that the first work of this game must beat any existing computer game work in quality! And to be in line with the -5 computer configuration that will be newly listed next year. Use the -5 performance to the extreme as much as possible! "Li Xuan said.

"You mean to use new games to promote computer sales?" Du Wenqiang understood what Li Xuan meant.

"The performance of -5 computers will be a leap from the current -3! How do we convince users to buy new computers to replace those outdated old products? The best reason is to tell them that new computers can Provide more powerful features!"

Li Xuan continued to answer his own questions. "But where is this power? In the field of business office, the new -5 computer can run the next generation of business office software that is easier to use and more complete. To this end, the new version series of Oriental Business Software Corporation. Will also be in the -5 The first time it goes on sale is on the shelves!

And when it comes to home entertainment, I need to have an amazing computer game. Come and capture the hearts of all players! -5 computers will be equipped with independent graphics cards and sound cards, which are in the field of business office at this stage. The utility is not great. After all, company computers are for processing files, not videotapes!

So I need an epoch-making game to reflect the value of these new hardware! In the past, computer games were limited by hardware and could not compete with arcade machines and home game consoles with gorgeous pictures and realistic sound effects. But now the powerful discrete graphics and sound cards on the -5 computer have largely erased the gap.

And on -5 computers, large-capacity hard drives will become standard. Programmers no longer have to think hard about how to cram everything on a floppy disk when designing games. Designers can use their ingenuity as much as possible, even if the game program is up to several megabytes (m), it can be divided into multiple floppy disks, copied into the hard disk one by one, and then installed at one time! "

"In this case, we need to continue to expand the recruitment of the North American R&D department. After all, there are very few programmers in Hong Kong who have a good understanding of Western fantasy backgrounds, so as to avoid the games that come out from time to time! And this way, the initial investment of the project will not be small!" Du Wenqiang frowned and said.

"Don't be afraid of big investment! The bigger the investment, the more profits you will get in the future! As long as our games can be successful and continue one by one, it will easily become part of the social culture!

Just like the current hero comics in the United States, Superman not only appears in comics, but can also appear in TV and movies. Appears on clothes and toys. The value created by these peripheral income may be greater than the game itself. certainly. The premise of all this is that our games must be unparalleled success! "Li Xuan said with a smile.

This is also a new attempt by Li Xuan. See if we can create an unprecedented series of games! Today's American game companies rarely develop a game in this way.

If you follow Li Xuan's ideas, it may cost millions of dollars just to invite experts to design a huge world plot for the game just like writing a movie script in the early stage. And now most of the American computer game companies are still in the stage of family workshops. Only an industry giant like Dongfang Game Company can afford such a huge investment risk.

With the current profitability of Dongfang Game Company, there is no pressure at all to invest tens of millions of dollars in this project. even if it fails. It won't affect the company much. For most game companies in the United States, their annual sales are less than 10 million US dollars.

"I heard that the arcade department has recently launched a new project of "Three Kingdoms"?" Li Xuan asked suddenly with interest.

"Not long after the case was filed, it's still in the background filling stage!" Li Xuan nodded and explained.

If it was before, Li Xuan might not be able to take out a script by himself. After all, in another time and space, "Three Kingdoms" developed by Capcom can be said to be one of the must-have arcade machines in every game arcade. But now, Li Xuan's enthusiasm for copying has been reduced a lot. He prefers to take a look at the "Three Kingdoms" arcade game made by the Chinese himself. Can it be better than the Japanese.

"The background of choosing the history of the Three Kingdoms as an arcade is very good. It seems that the company's market research has been done very well. As long as the quality is high, it will not be a problem for this game to sell well in Asia!" Li Xuan said with a smile.

The most important arcade market in Asia is naturally Japan, followed by the four Asian Tigers with good economic development. And the history of the Three Kingdoms. It is a piece of Chinese history that the Japanese are most familiar with. As early as the seventeenth century, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" was translated into Japanese and spread to Japan.

And those civil servants and military generals who are described in the Three Kingdoms as their masters vying to dominate the world are actually very similar to the Japanese samurai class. So for a long time. Various stories in the Three Kingdoms are popular among the upper classes in Japan. Characters like Guan Yu and Zhuge Liang are definitely household names in Japanese society.

In addition to Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore of the other four Asian tigers are mainly Chinese. It is no stranger to the history of China's most famous Three Kingdoms, and the rest of Korea is also deeply influenced by Chinese culture. It can be said that the game is adapted from the history of the Three Kingdoms. Has a deep cultural foundation in East Asia.

As for the noble thing of promoting games based on Chinese history to the world and promoting China's national prestige, Li Xuan can easily push it, but he will never take this as a responsibility and obligation on his shoulders.

Don't underestimate the influence of cultural background on consumption. If players can't even understand the background of the game~www.readwn.com~, the sense of substitution for the game will be greatly reduced. Of course, with the exception of fighting games like The King of Fighters that don't have any plot, it is estimated that even most old players can't name the real names of these fighting characters.

In another time and space, the "Three Kingdoms" arcade has also been released on arcades and red and white machines in the United States. But Capcom changed the history of the Three Kingdoms beyond recognition in order to make it easier for American players to understand the background of the game. In the American version of "Three Kingdoms", the story takes place in the country shang ruled by a fictional evil overlord -orkhan (formerly Cao Cao).

-orkhan turned his attention to his neighbors after turning his country into ruins. The head of state of the neighboring country, Kuan- (former Liu Bei), with the help of five great warriors (former five tiger generals of Shu State), began an indomitable struggle to defend his own country and his people.

This has nothing to do with China's Three Kingdoms at all. The Three Kingdoms arcade game produced by Dongfang Game Company is naturally based on the orthodox culture of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". As for whether European and American players can understand and accept it, Li Xuan is not too sure. ! (To be continued..)

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