"Computers have been working for decades on the traditional task of data processing, and perhaps they are tired of the old-fashioned work and are now looking for innovation, and networking and communication are the options for the future."

In order to support his own opinion, Tang Huan naturally had to give some examples.

For example, there are word processors that are now offering e-mail-related features, BBS is in the ascendant, and MUD, a text online game that is still in the experimental stage.

In these fields, Tang Huan's companies are actively involved, and he is naturally very upbeat.

Listening to Tang Huan's analysis of the significance of the Internet to the video game industry, Atari CEO Ray Kassar sat in the audience. Casa couldn't help but think thoughtfully.

Even though they belong to competitors with a very poor relationship, he has to sincerely praise that EA is really leading step by step in the field of technology, no wonder it can surpass Atari in second place in terms of performance so much.

Thinking of this, Ray? Casa began to wander, recalling the previous Warner meeting, the boss Steve Ross-Steve Ross? Ross developed a series of radical plans for Atari.

Since Atari lost the lawsuit with Activision, the other party's development of video games on the Atari 2600 platform became justified, and Atari was bound to face competition from both internal and external directions in the future.

So Warner first demanded that Atari must launch the next generation of video game consoles as quickly as possible, and it cannot be compatible with the existing Atari 2600, so as not to make a wedding dress for Activision and other third-party game manufacturers.

All the while, Warner management based in New York. are interfering heavily in Atari's operations. Thunder? Naturally, Casa was quite dissatisfied with this. But they were powerless to fight.

Like this request for the successor to the Atari 2600, Ray? Kasa felt that something was wrong.

For the incompatibility of old products, externally, although it can keep Activision and other third-party game manufacturers out of the door and enjoy exclusive benefits, internally, it also increases the difficulty of work.

If the new product doesn't have a game, it's a flash. Users can only buy it back as an ornament. Whether it's porting an existing game or developing a new one, the workload should not be underestimated.

Now that third-party manufacturers have legalized the development of games, it is better to admit the reality and see if we can cooperate with these motley armies and share the benefits.

But the arm can't twist the thigh, for Ray? Casa's suggestion, Warner simply did not take it.

Under such persecution, Ray? Casa had to go as fast as he could. The successor to the Atari 2600 was found, the Atari 5200, the remodeled personal computer Atari 400/800.

In fact. At the moment the Atari 5200 exists almost exclusively in the file.

Although the internal hardware of both is the same, only the software and input devices need to be rematched, but the PC Atari 400/800 will still take a while.

It's all thunder? Casa was forced to rush and had to take an emergency approach.

However, it is ironic that the Atari 400/800 was originally designed with consoles in mind, but it was only because of the booming PC market that it was changed to a personal computer, and now it is back to consoles.

Such a change of order and confusion seems to be a bad omen.

In addition to ducking the Atari 2600 successor, Warner also set a 60 percent performance target for Atari.

When Thunder? Casa's scalp tingles a little when he sees this number, and in order to achieve this goal, Atari has to desperately dump the Atari 2600 and game cartridges on the market.

Steve? Ross said confidently: "Look at EA, following the boom in the summer file, the video game "007" was launched, and it easily sold 1 million units in one go. It can be seen that how big this market space is, it can be said that it is unlimited, and what reason does Atari have for EA to be so dominant? ”

Thunder? Does Casa know Steve? Ross is jealous of the success of the resource collaboration between Lianmei and EA, but until now, there is still no spark between Warner and Atari, so that the boss sits on the treasure mountain but does not see the treasure, extremely annoyed, he still doesn't want to touch the mold and say something "dry up and fish", just follow the order.

Just so, regardless of the launch of the Atari 5200. Whether it's developing as many new games as possible, you need to further strengthen the game's technical team.

But the house leak happened to rain overnight, and Allan Alcorn, Atari's most important technology veteran and developer of the arcade game "Pong", Allan Alcorn? Alcon, who also recently left Atari.

When he goes, does it mean that Nolan, the founder of Atari? The technical team of the Bushnell era has completely disappeared, and the impact is not insignificant.

The reason for this situation, Ray? Casa knew that it was nothing more than his own iron-fisted policy, which caused the dissatisfaction and resistance of these old employees.

Before taking over as CEO of Atari, Ray? Casa has extensive experience as a manager as Vice President of Burlington Industries, a textile company.

Atari at the time, the boss Nolan? Bushnell even soaked in the bathtub for meetings, which shows the extent of the company's chaos.

In 1978, Warner added $100 million in R&D funds to the Atari 2600, and the annual sales volume was only 800,000 units. Casa to replace Nolan? Bushnell's location.

After taking office, Ray? Casa immediately underwent a drastic transformation of Atari, recruiting managers with business school backgrounds to establish the order that a modern business should have.

But, Ray? Casa is not the founder of the company, so the prestige naturally can't compete with Nolan? Bushnell compared to Nolan? Bushnell left the company he had founded as a victim of being squeezed out, which caused the old Atari employees in the reform environment to naturally resist it. Casa took on the nicknames "Sock King" and "Towel Czar".

After this. These people cite unsatisfactory treatment and unsatisfactory work. They all ran away. What's more, an Activision that digs into the corner of the old club has emerged.

For this result, Ray? Casa has never regretted it.

In his opinion, if he didn't bring order to Atari, how could he have grown from $78 million to $900 million in sales in just a few years?

The Atari 2600, which has an additional $100 million in R&D funding, will not be able to make profits through marketing as soon as possible, how will it be explained to the board of directors?

If only it were as those tech maniacs had requested. Continue to invest resources in R&D endlessly, and now Atari may be bankrupt.

The ass decides the brain, and the self-feeling saves Atari from the quagmire, and the merit is immeasurable? Casa, who has always been dismissive of the hatred and rebellion of Atari's old employees, including Allen? The exodus of a heavyweight like Alcorn.

But things have changed now, and these plans have been put in place by HQ that require great technicians, especially those like Activision who can make games that are very popular in the market.

Seemingly. I'll have to figure out how to get some really good old employees back, or. Go to other companies and recruit some people who have made a lot of achievements.

Thunder in his head that is racing with all sorts of calculations? Casa, with a round of applause, was pulled back into the real world.

He looked up and saw that Tang Huan had finished speaking.

"Oops, I was distracted just now, and I may have missed some useful information." Thunder? Casa couldn't help but feel a little annoyed.

After thinking about it for a moment, Ray? Kasa got up and went to the archives set up by the COMDEX organizing committee and asked, "Do you have Tang Huan's speech here?" ”

The staff searched on the computer and gave a positive answer.

While waiting for the document to be printed, Ray? Kasa noticed that almost all of the office equipment, from computers to printers and fax machines, bears the logo of Fangyuan computers.

It's incredible that Tang Huan is not only the leader in the field of video games, but also has an extraordinary dominance in the personal computer industry.

Atari is also involved in these two fields, but it is still far from the height of others.

Thunder in my heart? Casa, after getting the printout he wanted, walked to the display area.

Due to the boom in video games, COMDEX has set up a special zone in this area, and many game manufacturers have taken advantage of this opportunity to showcase their new products and even simply samples to try to find out the feedback from the market.

Although Atari also has new developments, the schedule is often too far away from the timing of COMDEX to make the most of this showcase.

ON THE OTHER HAND, EA CAN STEP ON THE DRUM EVERY TIME, AND CAN ALWAYS GIVE FULL PLAY TO THE MARKETING ROLE OF COMDEX AS A PLATFORM.

This time, for example, EA showcased a new genre of games on COMDEX, fighting games, and offered a demo version of Street Fighter with an official release date next month's Christmas.

This year's sales season, it's going to be bloody again, Ray? Casa sighed to himself.

In the entire gaming area, EA not only occupies the best and largest position, but also has the largest number of viewers.

Judging from intuition, "Street Fighter", an innovative fighting game, must be another work that kills all sides, so Ray? Casa paid special attention to it, and even tried it out if he had the chance.

However, when it came to seeing the spectacular queue, Ray? Casa gave up on this unrealistic idea.

Fortunately, although you can only watch from a distance, you can't play closely, but it is enough to gather intelligence.

The demo version of Street Fighter only offers three fighting characters - a boxer from the West, a ninja from Japan, and a warrior monk from China.

Judging by the image and sound alone, Ray? Casa was sure that the game would only work on a perverted and powerful platform like the Little Overlord Arcade.

In the sound of energetic music, the sense of punching and punching even made Lei? Casa, an old-fashioned professional manager, also got goosebumps.

After realizing this gaffe of his own, Ray? Kasa felt a little embarrassed, and then had an epiphany, "It seems that there is no other way to compete with such a strong opponent than to win by quantity." ”

Thinking of this, Ray? Casa had a malicious sneer on his face, "Since Atari is ready to launch the next generation of game consoles Atari 5200, what is there to be nostalgic for the Atari 2600 platform, launch an action to dry up and fish, let it shine at the end, maybe there is still hope to challenge EA's status." ”

After gathering intelligence in front of the EA booth in person, Ray? On a whim, Casa decided to go to the PC exhibition area to see that the market performance of the Atari 400/800 was quite decent, and I don't know what new developments other peers have.

As a result, Ray? In front of the booth of Fangyuan Computer, Casa met a colleague who was looking for intelligence, IBM's Don? Estlic.

……

Bill? Lovo is righteous enough, according to Don? Estlic's desire to successfully lobbied a group of executives from IBM's headquarters to come to COMDEX to get a closer look at the competitors.

But what they didn't expect was that Fangyuan Computer announced at this COMDEX that in addition to personal computers and peripheral equipment, its product line was also supplemented with new products from low to high - personal workstations, network servers, and even supercomputers, and the new products that could be displayed on the spot were personal workstations PW-2400 series.

When I saw the PW-2400, Don? Estlic and Bill? Lovo and others didn't quite understand the significance of this product positioning.

What exactly does a personal workstation mean? Is it a top-of-the-line PC or a minicomputer?

After understanding the functions of professional software such as AutoCAD and Photoshop running on the PW-2400, they have the answer - this thing is definitely the most powerful competitor of the current minicomputer.

"I didn't expect a personal computer company to be able to design and manufacture such a promising product." Bill? "So it seems that network servers and supercomputers may not be their bluffs, they may really exist, but unfortunately they are not shown." ”

The executives of the management committee who were lobbied to visit also showed great interest in the PW-2400, but the information available so far was only some performance-related indicators, which was very limited.

One of the executives suddenly said with a big brain: "Just for this perfect system, maybe after we go back, we can suggest that the headquarters buy this Fangyuan computer company." ”

As soon as you hear this, Don? A black line appeared on Estlic's head, and he said in his heart, "You stay in IBM's kingdom all day long, and you are too ignorant of the information outside, Tang Huan is recognized as a nouveau riche in Silicon Valley, and he is never short of money in his hands, how can he sell such a promising company." ”

Tang Dynasty? Estlic was ashamed of the ignorance of his companion when he suddenly heard someone laugh and ask, "Whoever wants to buy a round computer, you might as well state the conditions." (To be continued......)