March 1982. Pen & Fun & Court www.biquge.info San Francisco, USA.

This is Lin Qi's first visit to North America, no matter how good the United States is, but the law and order situation is not ideal, and the number of shooting deaths can reach 30,000 every year. Even the number of deaths from terrorist attacks, which people talked about later, was not as good as the number of deaths from daily shootings in the United States.

Although, half of the gun fatalities were killed by suicide with guns. But even so, the number of homicide deaths caused by guns exceeds 10,000 a year.

Because shootings have become a daily routine in the United States, unless there are particularly tragic shootings with particularly heavy casualties, ordinary shootouts and shootings will not make big news in the United States.

This kind of law and order situation made Lin Qi not very willing to come to the United States. However, for the sake of business, it had to come.

Because, the Atari empire is about to fall into the prelude to collapse at the end of this year!

No one could have imagined that the '82 Christmas sale would become a talisman for the Atari empire.

Before Christmas, Atari was still in full swing, and most of the world's game makers were wagging their tails to Atari for mercy. But no one expected that just after one Christmas, Atari would encounter an unprecedented boycott from players.

The collapse of the Atari empire quickly became a feast for other competitors in the gaming industry, and whoever can seize the market gap created by the collapse of the Atari empire in advance will become the hegemon of the game industry in the future.

Historically, Nintendo became the winner, and after the collapse of the Atari empire, it was the period when Nintendo's FC console came into full swing. At that time, Nintendo didn't have many games on consoles, but it was a good game. The early Nintendo FC platform, almost every game can be called a contemporary classic. Relying on a large number of high-quality games, it has won the trust of players, and since then, Nintendo has almost sat firmly in the hegemony of the game industry for 20 years.

And Sega was one step late, and in the end, the console era was reduced to the second for a long time. Later, after Nintendo and Microsoft entered the game, they couldn't even do the second child, so they could only declare bankruptcy.

Now, Lin Qi is almost clear about the timetable for the collapse of Atari and, of course, will not give the opportunity to Nintendo.

"Mr. Bushnell, as the father of video games, you are actually running a restaurant now, are you really just satisfied with making pizza?" After Lin Qi came to the United States, he inquired about Nolan Bushnell's contact information and found a way to meet Bushnell.

"What are you doing if you don't run a restaurant?" Bushnell said, shrugging his shoulders, "When the Atari 2600 was launched, the sales were not ideal, and someone had to be responsible, so I left the Atari." You know, when I left, Atari didn't make a profit, but lost money for more than three years!"

"Don't you want to prove that they are wrong?" Lin Qi said, "You know, the current Atari is almost eating your old technical book." In the past, Atari lost money, but because the money was invested in technology. Now, Atari has reduced its investment in new technologies and increased its marketing efforts. On the surface, revenues are rising, but in reality, the technology is no longer advanced!"

"No! Maybe I'm wrong, after I left, Atari grew dozens of times in size!" Bushnell shook his head.

In essence, Bushnell is out because Warner got what he wanted, and the boss of the entrepreneurial team had lost its use value, so he drove Bushnell away and replaced it with a team of professional managers who were poached. This practice is actually very common in the United States.

"You really don't want to make games?" Lin Qi said, "If you want, I can help you set up a new game company." Don't worry, I won't interfere with your business and ideas, nor do I seek to control, just be a venture capitalist!"

"Hehe, actually, you're trying to use my 'Father of Video Games' sign, right?" Bushnell said with a smile, "Actually, you're not the first to come to me, I've been approached by the top companies in the entire gaming industry, as well as investors from all walks of life." But...... Do you think Atari will let me continue to work in the game industry after I get out? No! Who the fuck doesn't want to make games? No! Atari and Warner won't let me make games! From the time I left Atari, in November 1978, and for the next seven years, I was banned from working in the game industry! And after seven years, the game industry has been stabilized, and I can't make any changes if I leave the mountain!"

"No!" Lin Qi said, "Atari has a serious problem now, it doesn't pay attention to the quality of games, and garbage games are rampant. Profits and revenues, although still growing. However, players' trust in the quality of games on the Atari platform has deteriorated. They misunderstand the essence of the game, that when you make a game, it is simple, and if you use a metaphor to underestimate the IQ of Americans, you can make a game that sells well. But it is only made that does not require a manual, and can be played both as a game. This is still the church to be followed in the gaming world. But now, Atari's games, part-time jobs are garbage games that are pieced together without using their brains, and there are a bunch of bugs, and there is nothing interesting to find at all. As an industry acquaintance in the gaming industry, I can safely say that Atari will not only not grow in the future, but will also be a pill!"

"Friend, come back to me after 1985, maybe, at that time, I might think about it seriously. The sharpness in Bushnell's eyes was fleeting.

"So...... Can I invest in your Chuck E. Cheese's restaurant?" Lin Qi suddenly had an idea.

Chuck E. Cheese's, which is why Bushnell did not continue to work in the game industry after the ban ended.

Because, Chuck E. Cheese's, founded in early '82, was so fucking successful. By the 21st century, the restaurant had expanded to 562 locations in eight countries, including the United States, and was a large entertainment and cultural restaurant company with 17,000 employees.

Also, the biggest difference from other restaurants is that this restaurant is very large, and some bands and singers will be invited to perform live. In addition, the restaurant has a variety of video games, toys and entertainment. The atmosphere of eating and playing has made it quickly popular in the United States and the world.

Bushnell couldn't help but be stunned and said, "You want to invest in my restaurant?"

"That's right!" Lin Qi said, "Actually, I'm optimistic about you! I'm sure Chuck E. Cheese's will be just as successful!"

In this way, Lin Qi threw $10 million in exchange for a 40% stake in the Chuck E. Cheese's restaurant chain. In addition, he also promised not to interfere in the operation of the restaurant, but Lin Qi made some suggestions and told Bushnell in advance about the ideas and ideas of Chuck E. Cheese's.

Sure enough, Bushnell was very interested, and said with a smile: "After listening to your suggestion, I think that if you open a restaurant, you may be more successful than me." ”

"No, I have other businesses and don't have the energy to do the restaurant business myself. Lin Qi smiled, "However, cooperating with you can also achieve my expectations for the restaurant industry." ”

Chuck E. Cheese's was able to rise to prominence mainly because it was designated as a children's restaurant. There are kid-friendly video games and toys that the whole family can play with while eating, which attracts a lot of children and parents alike.

Lin Qi and Bushnell talked for several hours, and it was inevitable that they felt a little sympathetic to each other.

"Lin, restaurants are indeed a very meaningful entrepreneurial project, but I'm not just satisfied with making money. Bushnell smiled and said, "When the non-compete contract expires, will you invest in the game company I set up in the future?"

"Yes!" Lin Qi said, "Just the father of video games is worth the investment!"

"The father of video games is no longer worthy of his name. Bushnell said with emotion, "The game industry has been developing, and it is gradually different from before, and the games you designed have long been much more powerful than my games!"