On November 1, 1980, Hong Kong's two most-watched free-to-air TV channels, Jade Channel and Lai Channel, suddenly appeared an inexplicable advertisement.

"What day is November 11th?"

This passage is not a question from the mouth of one or two people, but a rolling advertisement, each time a new face is changed to ask a question, and the new faces in the advertisement are all familiar to Hong Kong people in film and television and music stars - Leslie Cheung, Hui Guanjie, Jackie Chan, Ho Jiajin, Mi Xue...... There are dozens of people......

Although everyone just showed their faces or said a simple line. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

But such an advertisement has appeared dozens of times, and each time it is a different star combination, with a strange look, saying this sentence has to make the whole Hong Kong pay attention!

After a few days, the entire Hong Kong audience has been brainwashed, and they inexplicably think: "November 11th, what day is it?"

This inexplicable advertisement, of course, was placed by a new start-up electronics company.

After all, finding a few celebrities and delaying less than half a day will allow him to show his face on the camera for a few seconds, say a line that is not complicated, and give a "salary" ranging from 5,000 yuan to 50,000 yuan, depending on the size of his fame, and ensure that this advertisement will be broadcast on two free TV stations in Hong Kong.

In this way, whether it is for money, fame, or to give a face to a large enterprise like Xinchuang Electronics, there are more than 40 first-line and second-tier celebrities in the entire entertainment industry who participated in the filming of the commercial.

The luxury lineup can be called only 670,000 yuan. After all, just letting these stars make a cameo in a scene is very short, and of course it doesn't cost much.

More costs are spent on TV stations to buy advertisements, 1 million yuan in advertising expenses in 10 days! Let this suspenseful advertising line appear on TV at least five or six times a day.

Under such hard publicity and hype, November 11, 1980, suddenly became a day of great attention.

……

November 11, 1980, 7 a.m.

Hong Kong's two major free-to-air television stations, together with several radio stations and dozens of well-known print media, were invited to gather in the press hall of the headquarters of the new venture electronics company.

Lin Qi held up the handheld of different colors in high spirits and said: "November 11, 1980 is the launch day of new start-up electronics companies and new products! This is the blockbuster product we are preparing to release on November 11 this year, and it will also be a revolutionary ...... in the game industry."

"As the first generation of handheld game consoles developed by New Venture Electronics, it is subversive in price. It uses a chip, 6502 CPU chip. Did you know that the retail price of the appleII computer developed based on this chip in Hong Kong is still as high as more than 8,000 Hong Kong dollars. And our handheld machine, the core chip, is the same as the appleII, but its price, guess what?"

Under Lin Qi's heuristic inquiry.

A reporter from the Oriental Daily was the first to answer: "3,000 yuan?"

"No, it's too expensive, and we're not Apples, so it's impossible to sell it that expensive!" Lin Qi shook his head and said, "This doesn't fit our philosophy." ”

At that time, Apple kept stepping on IBM in order to sell computers. The conscience of heaven and earth IBM did not make microcomputers before, and there was no competition with Apple, but Apple repeatedly provoked IBM and seduced IBM to fight back, so as to attract the attention of public opinion.

In order to build momentum for new startups, new startups compare the unrelated handheld with the apple II machine without any discipline. In fact, the similarity between the two, I'm afraid there is only one 6502 chip, but most computer novices will not know the huge difference between the two.

Lin Qi almost scolded Jobs on the spot for his shamelessness, the computer launched in 77 sold for $1,300, and now only some peripherals have been added, but he resolutely refuses to reduce the price.

appleII's profit margin was not low at the beginning, but now most of the hardware has been greatly reduced, and appleII can be called a windfall profit.

Of course, its performance is no longer good, and it can't compete with the new computers that have been released recently. In addition, MOS Technology identified the 6502 chip, but did not follow up to develop the next generation of high-performance chips compatible with the 6502 chip. Later, Apple was forced to discontinue the production of the Apple II, replace it with a chip company, and develop new computers that were not compatible.

Therefore, Apple's success is also because of the 6502 chip launched by MOS technology. The failure is also due to the fact that MOS technology companies are not enterprising, and the progress of developing the next generation of compatible 6502 chips is slow, which drags down Apple, Atari and other manufacturers who use 6502 chips to make complete machines.

Ostensibly, Apple's failure to disclose technical standards led to the failure of the competition with the PC camp. But is Apple really not making its technical standards public?

Apple's computers are basically built using common hardware on the market, but the operating system and drivers are made by Apple itself. Although the technical standards are not fully public, if you really want to make a compatible machine for Apple computers, you can buy the same hardware according to the configuration of Apple computers, and you can do it!

After learning the lessons of Apple and Atari, Lin Qi made up his mind that the new start-up electronics company would make its own CPU chips.

Purchasing cheap 6502 chips to make a machine, Lin Qi only plans to make low-end and cheap handhelds. Moreover, this is still an expedient measure, and when they can independently develop and make chips, the chips can also be replaced.

"1,000 yuan?" said the TVB reporter boldly.

We want to make it a simple toy that ordinary people can afford to use, rather than making it into a computer and selling it to computer fans. Lin Qi said, "Guess again, guess boldly!"

“500？”

Lin Qi shook his head.

“400？”

Lin Qi still shook his head......

The atmosphere on the field was a little excited, and I saw that everyone guessed wrong.

Lin Qi announced the answer: "We have launched handheld computers at different prices according to different users, but the most expensive flagship version is 138 yuan, which is equipped with a rechargeable battery and charger. ”

"Secondly, the 128 yuan standard version, send a rechargeable battery. ”

"The entry version of 108 yuan is only equipped with 2 disposable batteries. ”

As Lin Qi announced the price, the media reporters present only knew that it was a game console, but they still didn't know how to use it.

But because Lin Qi deliberately compared appleII to highlight the cheapness of the handheld, there was thunderous applause in the audience.

The price of 108 yuan handheld is the same as that of 8000 yuan Apple computer, the most important CPU. This gimmick alone is shocking enough!

"Two No. 5 batteries, if they are disposable, the price of each is 5 cents, which is one dollar. One dollar is only the price of buying a pack of instant noodles, but it can be played for 50 hours straight. Each battery has enough power to play for a day and a night!"

"The LCD screen is very power-efficient, so you basically don't have to worry about running out of battery while playing! Let's say an hour and a half a day of playing means two batteries can play for a month. ”

"Of course, we recommend using batteries that can be recharged. In this way, long-term use saves more battery costs. ”

Lin Qi took three handheld consoles and tried his best to promote the new product: "This handheld game console, we have defined a new brand for it - 'Palm Entertainment' handheld game console." The current product is the first generation, and through the hard research and development of dozens of engineers, the "Chinese Cube" game that originally ran on a large arcade platform was put on this handheld machine weighing only 350 grams! There are 10 samples on the scene, and interested reporters can experience the game on stage. ”

All of a sudden, hundreds of people present raised their hands......

Lin Qi had no choice but to pick some random reporters to come to the stage.

Then, hundreds of pairs of glasses throughout the scene stared at the experiences on the stage, looking at their happy smiles, and everyone in the audience was tickled.

After several batches of people came to power.

Lin Qi said: ""Chinese Cubes can be run on different platforms, but after the successful development of the handheld, we who have played the handheld began to believe it...... Handheld is the best platform for it!"

All of a sudden, the reporters who had experienced the handheld machine nodded one after another.

"This batch of handheld phones starts today and is ready to be sold in major shopping malls in Hong Kong. Of course, due to limited production volumes, sales are currently limited to 10,000 units per day. Of course, we provided 1,000 units on site today, which were sold at a preferential price of 98 yuan per unit, and each person was limited to 5 units......"

Lin Qi's voice has not yet fallen.

"I want to buy it!"

"I'll buy five!"

The media reporters at the scene no longer cared about interviews and questions, and rushed to buy them.

"Don't crowd, don't crowd, ready to buy, please line up in order, pay with one hand and take the goods with the other. "On-site security quickly came to maintain order.

Each person is limited to 5 units, and if you don't grab it, there may be no more in the back, so the team present quickly became a long line.

Everyone is not stupid, and naturally knows that if the game experience of "Chinese Cube" handheld is not lost to the arcade version, then it will definitely be a big hit!

Because, the price of the arcade version is 9800 yuan a piece, and ordinary players need to put coins to play. Even if God is half the operation, the arcade version of a coin is difficult to play for half an hour. This means that as long as the handheld version can play for 100 hours, it will definitely be earned compared to arcade players.

Moreover, the handheld has the effect of being carried around and playing anytime, anywhere, which is irreplaceable by arcade machines anyway!

The 1,000 machines present were quickly sold out.

Journalists who bought a limited-edition handheld were as excited as if they had won a battle.

The remaining half of the people who didn't buy began to negotiate with those who bought more than one handheld, and were willing to buy at the retail price in the market, so that those buyers who grabbed multiple units at a discounted price could also make a difference.

Therefore, the reporters present, unless they don't want to buy it, basically get more than one "China Cube" handheld machine.