Video Game Empire

"As the person in charge of the company, you should have a broader vision. When considering problems, you should not still use the perspective of the previous technical R&D personnel, but make decisions from a high-level perspective!

For example, it is also the theme of the Three Kingdoms. The people in the project team below are thinking about how to make a good game! As a manager, what you need to consider is how to maximize profits? Can you fully tap the potential of this theme?

Now the company has just launched a case book for breaking through and fighting, so if it is successful, can it take advantage of the hot situation and quickly launch other Three Kingdoms themed games. △￠Small, such as strategy management games, the protagonist is no longer a military general to fight and kill, but becomes a protagonist, strategizing strategies, and winning thousands of miles!

This kind of strategy management game is definitely not suitable for arcade platforms, but we still have game consoles! The people below only need to be responsible for their own projects, and the people in the arcade department will definitely not think about the platform. However, as a senior manager, you need to consider all issues from the perspective of the whole company! "Li Xuan eloquently analyzed.

Du Wenqiang nodded in admiration, he really didn't think so far. Although Li Xuan has always trusted him, the experience of yesterday and today also made him feel pressured and found that he still has many shortcomings.

Fortunately, Li Xuan did not criticize him too much, and instead asked another topic: "How is the progress of the -2 project?"

-2 is the next-generation home game console platform planned by Dongfang Game Company to replace the game consoles that are now selling well.

"Actually, the prototype of the -2 was made as early as the end of last year, but I have temporarily frozen this project! First of all, the current sales momentum has been very strong. The global monthly sales are maintained at more than 1 million units! Therefore, we do not It is necessary to rush to launch -2 to replace it. After all, it is risky to launch a new model!

Second. The -2 uses an r-1 processor, which is now too expensive for a home console. Our consoles are only around $110 ex-factory. But the lowest price of the r-1 processor that Dongfang Shoji reported to us is also $249.

If you use an r-1 as a -2 processor, it will cost around $400 from the factory, and retail for at least $500! Such a price is too high, and will greatly weaken the market competitiveness of -2 game consoles! The Kemodo company recently lowered the price of the 'Kemodo-64' home computer, and the latest market retail price has dropped to $395! "Du Wenqiang explained helplessly.

In fact, the price of the r-1 processor was higher when it first came on the market, with a single purchase of more than 100 pieces, and the wholesale price of each piece was as high as $350. But before Intel's 80286 processor went on sale last year, Dongfang Commercial lowered the price of the r-1 to $299 each in order to kill off its competitors.

The 80286 processor sold for as much as $360 when it hit the market. In addition, its performance is slightly inferior to that of the r-1, so the sales are completely cold. The industry has not been optimistic about the future prospects of the s (complex instruction set) processor before, so this eventually led Intel to hurriedly end the follow-up research and development of the 86 architecture and turned to the rs (reduced instruction set) camp.

After that, as Dongfang Semiconductor gradually improved the yield rate of the r-1 production line, and the R&D costs amortized after the mass production of the processor decreased rapidly. Therefore, under the agreement of the Oriental Research Institute, Dongfang Commercial Corporation, which is responsible for the global sales of the r-1 processor, lowered the wholesale price of the r-1 to US$249 at the end of last year.

As for the Kemodo company mentioned by Du Wenqiang, it is a strong opponent that the Oriental Group has recently faced. The company has been one of the leading PC makers in the United States. The previous -20 computer was the best-selling model in the US low-end PC market.

The Kemodo company still continued its low-cost line, and launched a new computer "Kemodo-64" last year. This PC uses the same 6502 processor as the ab-1, but it costs only $595.

But the o of Kemodo is still not satisfied with this price, in order to further reduce the cost. He simply bought the os technology company, the developer of the 6502 processor. In the face of the price strangulation war launched by Kemodo, Aikon has simply stopped production of the unprofitable ab-1 computer as early as last year.

And this "Kemodo-64" home computer although under the banner of a personal. But one of its very important functions is actually playing games. After the collapse of Atari, Eastern Games' home consoles swept the market. But after all, it is impossible to achieve a 100% monopoly.

In fact, not a small part of the market that Atari ceded was seized by the "Kermodo-64" computer with the slogan "Can be used as both a computer and a game console". In the third-party game development company that previously relied on Atari's home console platform. There are also some who are unwilling to accept the recruitment of Dongfang Game Company, and instead start to develop games for Kemodo Company.

Although the dominance of game consoles in the US home console market has been unshakable, Du Wenqiang has always been highly vigilant against this new competitor. In particular, the price of "Kemodo-64" is constantly decreasing. According to the company's internal cost analysis of this new model, its latest retail price of $395 has made Kemodo almost no profit at all.

After realizing the monopoly, Dongfang Game Company released a new model in the name of modifying several small details. Manufacturing costs for the new consoles have barely changed, but the U.S. retail price has risen from $199 to $229.

According to the analysis of the news feedback from the US market from the Oriental Commercial Company, Kemodo may continue to cut prices. And if the price of the "Kermodo-64" computer falls further, the price gap between him and the game console will be further narrowed. There are sure to be plenty of customers willing to shell out over $100 more to take home a console and a computer.

"No company can eat 100% of the market, but I welcome such a coveted opponent. At least it exists. It will spur you to raise your spirits and take it seriously!"

Li Xuan's laughter made Du Wenqiang a little ashamed. Is this the boss who didn't work hard before beating him? He decided to sign up for CUHK's ba course immediately after returning to improve his business management ability.

Li Xuan didn't notice Du Wenqiang's complicated mood at the moment. He continued to say to himself: "When the new r-2 processor goes on sale in January next year, the price of the entire r-1 series of processors will be reduced uniformly, and the new price is estimated to be controlled within $200!"

Although they all use the r-1 architecture, there are still some differences between the r-1 processors used in ab series computers and the r-1 processors used in home game consoles. The Oriental Research Institute will delete or strengthen some modules inside the r-1 processor specifically for game applications.

"In short, the idea of ​​using r-1 as the core p of -2 game consoles is absolutely unshakable! Starting from -2, home game consoles and computers must adopt a unified architecture. This is more conducive to cross-platform porting of games! With The more powerful the hardware performance, the more complex the game program will definitely be!

If the architecture between platforms is not unified, the workload of cross-platform porting is almost the same as rewriting a new game. Even trying to preserve the essence of an old game may be harder than writing a new one!

The development progress of -2 is your own control. With the current momentum of the game console, it will not be a problem for another year or two to be popular. But -2 has to use another p with a new architecture after all, and the compatibility of and cannot be perfect. Therefore, when you determine the launch schedule of -2 development, you must give the market sufficient time to digest it. After all, it takes a process for players to recognize the new game console! "

Development timeline for the next generation of home consoles. Li Xuan will not interfere too much. In addition to the cost factor that must be considered, the performance of the processor is also a key factor in the use of a new processor of the r architecture in the -2 to replace the old 6502 processor in the game console.

r-1 as a 16/32 bit processor. The computing power is far more powerful than the 8-bit 6502 processor. And this means that new games developed with r-1 technical indicators can be run on the 6502 processor. Once the -2 is listed, the heavyweight developed by Dongfang Game Company will definitely be transferred to the new -2 platform. New games are bound to fail to run on older consoles.

In this way, once a new -2 game console appears, sales are hindered. And the original game console is less attractive because it cannot run new games, and the position of Dongfang Game Company in the home console market is likely to be shaken.

So the game console upgrade is a very risky thing. Dongfang Game Company is bound to conduct detailed and careful investigation and analysis, and will act only after finding the best time period.

Seeing Du Wenqiang walk out of the office, Li Xuan couldn't help shaking his head. The rise of the Eastern Company is too fast. When Du Wenqiang started his business with Li Xuan in 1979, he was just a young man who had just graduated from university and was fond of video games. In just four years, he has become the president of a game company with an annual output value of more than 20 billion Hong Kong dollars.

With the current scale of Dongfang Video Game Company, let alone a small pond in Hong Kong, even if it is placed worldwide, a company with annual sales of more than 3 billion US dollars will not be ignored in any country.

Although Du Wenqiang has grown rapidly in recent years, he still looks too immature compared to Han Peng, He Guoyuan and others. Before Han Peng joined Dongfang Electronics Co., Ltd., he was already the second-in-command of Ampei Xinda Hong Kong Company, the leader of the electronics industry in Hong Kong in the 1970s. He Guoyuan was also the manufacturing director of Philips Hong Kong before joining Dongfang Electronics Co., Ltd. Both of them have rich management experience.

Even John Martin, president of Computer Park Company, who Li Xuan thinks is a little mediocre, has been immersed in the computer industry for nearly ten years.

And Du Wenqiang is obviously not a qualified executive. It's just that every step of Dongfang Game Company's development has been stepped on the most correct stage, and the entire process of rise has hardly encountered any obstacles. With the current power of Dongfang Game Company, there is enough room for Du Wenqiang to mature slowly.

After all, Li Xuan is still a nostalgic person. When Fatty Du was working on a copycat arcade in Keji Company, he was already a veteran under his command, and he was willing to give him more opportunities.

In fact, not only Du Wenqiang, but even Li Xuan himself in the savage growth of Dongfang Group, even with the help of Reborn Golden Finger, it is still impossible to achieve perfection. After all, his brain is not Baidu or Google, and there will always be some blind spots in his memory.

For example, now, Li Gang, the president of Dongfang Application Software Company, has brought some disappointing news.

"Li Sheng, Mr. Wang Jialian rejected our acquisition request for company a!" Li just walked into Li Xuan's office and started reporting.

Li Xuan shook his head helplessly. He had completely forgotten about this character before. Wang Jialian on the east coast and Wang An on the west coast were the two most famous Chinese giants in the American industry before the 1990s. As for Yang Zhiyuan and others, it will not be until 1995 that they start to emerge slowly.

Compared with Wang An Computer Company, which has been gradually weakened since the 1980s, Wang Jialian took the company A he founded and gradually became a giant in the software industry. And he also used more than 100 mergers and acquisitions throughout his career, and was called "software shark" in the industry.

Wang Jialian founded a company in 1976, and the reasons for starting his own business were also dramatic. The boss of the company he used to work for was planning to abolish his software sales department~www.readwn.com~ and just at this time, a Swiss company came to the door, hoping that their company could act as an agent for the sales of a mainframe software in the United States.

So Wang Jialian simply persuaded the boss, let him take over the software sales department of the original company, cooperate with Swiss company a, and set up a US subsidiary. But after only six or seven years of development, Wang Jialian's American company A not only annexed the parent company in Switzerland, but also successfully went public in 1981.

Wang Jialian used the $3.2 million in cash raised by the listing, combined with stock exchange, to annex a number of software companies one after another. This time, Li Xuan valued Wang Jialian's company A at US$35 million, which is already a 15% premium over the actual market value of company A. But Wang Jialian is obviously very ambitious, and immediately rejected the merger proposal of Dongfang Electronics Company.

In fact, Wang Jialian's actual shareholding in company a is very limited. If Li Xuan is willing to continue to raise his offer, it will not be difficult for him to successfully acquire company a. But what Li Xuan really likes is not company A, but the talent of Wang Jialian.

"As the so-called twisted melon is not sweet, since the other party has no such intention, we don't have to force it!" Li Xuan shook his head and said. (To be continued..)

ps: Chapter 2 may be a little late