In March 1984, in Burbank, California, USA, Atari, which originally belonged to Atari Corporation, the largest subsidiary of Warner Group, was particularly deserted and depressed.

In fact, like other collapsed companies, Atari's top management changed frequently, and management was constantly parachuted in in an attempt to set things right. However, it is in a state of accelerated destruction. Every time a new management rectangles, the company's business and size are cut down.

After more than a year of continuous collapse, the Atari empire employed more than 10,000 employees at its peak, and had absolute advantages in R&D, production, publicity and sales. As a result, even if the Atari 2600 platform cannot prevent third-party game manufacturers from unscrupulously flooding into the market, the vast majority of third-party game manufacturers will choose to hand over their games to Atari for distribution.

The Atari empire had to continue to lay off employees because of the continued unsalable products, and within a year, almost 90% of the staffing was cut, and its scale was less than 2,000 people. Many business teams, who are actually trying to save the company, have been notified by the top management that sorry, the team is disbanded......

Throughout '83, Atari lost at least $700 million, of which, in addition to the losses caused by unsalable game consoles and game cartridges, the greater losses came from severance pay for employees. Long-term operating costs have been saved through large-scale layoffs, but ...... Naturally, Atari's business capacity was greatly impaired, and its monthly revenue gradually fell from more than $200 million to less than $10 million.

"This time, the Atari 7800 we developed will definitely save the company!" Atari's new president, Philip Morgan, who was originally a tobacco company, confidently stated to the board of directors of the parent company, Warner Group, "We have learned the error that the Atari 5200 is incompatible and backwards are compatible with all the game software of the Atari 2600...... Performance-wise, it's far more powerful than the Atari 2600......"

Of course, this is pure, the CPU of the 7800 and the 2600 are basically different models of the same CPU, and the performance improvement is extremely limited. Its limited improvements, but the memory and display chips have been slightly optimized, so to speak, this is the version of the Atari 2600 that has been re-entered with a new vest.

"This is Atari's last chance!" said Warner's board of directors, and the atmosphere was a little cold.

If Warner tried to save Atari at the beginning, by now, Atari has lost so many years of accumulated vitality, and if it continues to transfuse blood at any cost, it may not only be the Atari pill, but even the parent company Warner pill.

Therefore, Warner Group is ready to cut assets, and once Atari fails to save itself this time, then Warner will divest the high-quality assets of a few departments of Atari, such as the software development department and some valuable game rights. The rest of the hardware division and non-performing assets were left to Atari, and after that, Atari was packaged and sold, and if it could not be sold, it declared bankruptcy. In this way, the risk is controlled at the level of Atari's bankruptcy, so as not to let the decades-old Warner accompany Atari to the end.

"I know!" said Philip Morgan confidently, "I believe that with our company's better console market, we will be able to save the company's reputation, and in addition, the new console will be compatible with previous games, so as to avoid the embarrassing ...... of not having the support of game manufacturers to develop new games in the first place."

The tobacco merchant thought that after half a year of recharging and learning, he fully understood the plight of the gaming industry and Atari. Among them, many industry insiders analyzed that the failure of Atari's previous new host was that it was not compatible with Atari 2600, and he also thought so. It is precisely because of the Atari 7800 that Philip Morgan has great expectations.

On March 25, the Atari 7800 console was officially announced, and in order to build momentum for the game console, Philip Morgan gritted his teeth and took out a $5 million budget in the company's poor finances, and invited the popular singer Michael Jackson to perform at the press conference to attract popularity.

"The Atari 7800, which is only $140, is far more functional than its predecessor, and more importantly, it is compatible with the Atari 2600, which can get better picture quality sound ......"

After some boasting and packaging, the Atari 2600 console sold 30,000 units on the day it was launched, giving Atari the illusion that it could be revived. But soon, the sales of this host quickly dived,

"The garbage 7800 is just a 2600 with a new name, and the improvement is extremely limited, and it is still a backward 6502 chip. ”

"Completely sincere game consoles, there are no high-quality new games at all, and all that can be played are garbage games on the previous 2600 platform. ”

"Nintendo's NES are all better than the Atari 7800, and moreover, the price is only $43. ”

Obviously, the Atari 7800 console could not save the Atari empire, and after it fluttered for a while, sales soon became cold.

Peter Zhang, president of the North American branch of Xinchuang Electronics, got the prototype of the Atari 7800, and couldn't help but say with emotion in the office: "The Atari company is finished, there is no advantage in technology and performance, and there is no advantage in price, and in the future, there are only other competitors left in the market......

NES(FC Europe and America)?C64?No!

In fact, these are not the opponents of the Pangu console, the Pangu console is in the home game market market, it really stands out from the crowd and beats those children.

So much so that the opponent that can really threaten the Pangu console is not in the home console market, but - PC!

In fact, the hardware performance of the PC is much more powerful than that of most game consoles, but at this time, the PC does not pay attention to the entertainment effects such as display and sound, so compared with the game console, the entertainment is still a little worse.

However, as the PC industry chain gradually begins to incorporate the advantageous market into its vision, then, graphics cards, sound cards and other hardware continue to receive technical support, and the PC is indeed expected to become a terrible competitor!

On the grounds that the enemy of an enemy is a friend, the new start-up electronics company and Apple Computer gradually began to form an alliance.

At present, Apple computer's products are gradually placed on the counters of the self-operated stores of the new start-up electronics company. At the same time, Apple's channel has also begun to sell products from the new venture electronics.

"Thank you, Mr. Jobs, if it weren't for your strong support from Apple, the performance of our new North American branch would have lagged far behind the Japanese branch!"

"We're allies, aren't we?" Mr. Jobs said in a very sincere tone.

"That's right! Our two companies are allies!" Peter Zhang said, "Unfortunately, the technology cannot be further compatible!"

In order to save costs, Apple and Xinchuangelectronics have cooperated on technical standards, among which, the CD drive standard on Apple's computer is compatible with Xinchuang's Pangu platform. Even, Apple gradually began to entrust the production of some parts to the factory set up by the new venture electronics company in China, in order to reduce the cost of Apple computers.

In addition, the two companies have cooperated in channels and after-sales service resources, and now, users of the two companies can even get after-sales maintenance services in each other's stores.

This kind of alliance is not that the two companies appreciate each other, but more importantly, because the powerful PC makes Apple realize that it is impossible to win on its own, and it does not want to be marginalized by the market, so it can only seek allies!