When Tang Huan was spitting lotus flowers in high spirits to sell his routers, the atmosphere at Warner headquarters in New York, which was also in New York, was much duller.

In 1982, Atari accounted for more than one-third of Warner's revenue. Now seeing that this golden egg with such an important status is beginning to fade, Warner's executives can't believe it.

In the movie industry, the box office ups and downs are quite commonplace, and everyone is used to this kind of high risk of rain that may be raining on any cloud, but the sharp depression of the home video game console market still catches people off guard.

Warner boss Steve. Not to mention the sense of loss in Rose's heart, the most aggrieved thing for him is that he can't reveal it yet, and he must hold on to it with a dead duck's mouth, otherwise his prestige will be ruined.

Previously, the popularity of the E.T. Aliens video game during the Christmas season really made Steve Extra-Terrestrial. Rose smirked.

Look, this is the boss's wisdom - at the expense of huge sums of money, he decisively won the video game license of "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial", and by the way, he won over Spielberg, and now that the money is rolling in, what could be more than this?

However, after the sales of the "E.T. Alien" video game exceeded 1 million copies, it suffered a recession in the entire industry, and the momentum was obviously not good.

Sales are in the tens of millions of dollars, which is considered to be on the list of Atari's best-selling games, but compared to the more than $30 million paid for the licensing of the "E.T. the Extraterrestrial" video game, it is obviously not enough.

And there are now nearly 4 million copies of the E.T. Extra-Terrestrial video game lying in warehouses. Even if you are willing to deal with it at a low price. No one wanted to take over.

Guy is a shoddy game due to rush. The players who have been regained their taste have been sprayed on the street.

It can be said that Steve. Rose made a loss-making deal that made him feel painful, and it was simply too late to be safe, and it was a little breathless when I thought about it.

At this time, Atari's new CEO, James Morgan. Morgan was sitting across from him, reporting to work.

"The Great Depression in the home video game console market is inevitable. Moreover, the Atari 2600 is getting old, and the Atari 5200 is basically failing, and we must decisively take effective measures to reduce operating costs. ”

"Then tell me about your plans." Steve. Rose bowed slightly expressionlessly.

"First of all, I plan to close the console factories in the Far East." Just over 40 years old, James. Morgan is in the prime of life, and when it comes to talking, it's called a crisp.

Steve. Rose's cheeks twitched slightly, and he slowly spoke: "If I'm not mistaken, the factory in Xiangjiang has been in operation for a year." ”

"It doesn't make much sense for us to reduce manufacturing costs. Everyone's products are now unsalable. "James. Morgan explained carefully. "And there's going to be layoffs here in Silicon Valley. I roughly estimated that the first batch would have to reduce the burden of more than 1,000 people. ”

Steve. Ross is a decisive shopping mall tycoon, and the layoff is just a simple number subtraction operation in his eyes, so as not to hurt the sadness of the past, the reason why he showed an unhappy expression just now is only because he is unwilling.

In fact, he was very interested in James. Morgan's plan to reduce operating costs was well anticipated, as Atari was left with few options.

Steve. What Ross really cares about is that Atari's decline can't continue to drag down Warner's stock price, and how to save this once golden egg.

He found a new CEO for Atari, indicating that he still hopes to continue the business, after all, Atari has assets in the hundreds of millions of dollars, and this candidate has shown that he is satisfied.

So Steve. Ross bowed slightly, and said in an affirmative tone: "These measures are also the meaning of the question. ”

"In addition, Atari has a place where it can significantly reduce operating costs. It is chaotic and wasteful in terms of R&D. Many researchers have consumed two years of the company's resources, but so far nothing has been achieved. The current Atari is not a Bell Labs, and these research projects are destined to be useless and must be axed. "James. Morgan raised the butcher's knife in his hand again.

Steve. Ross pondered noncommittally for a moment, "You only said measures to reduce expenditure, what about open source?" ”

"Although the market for home video game consoles has gone downhill, the arcade business has not been affected, and Atari's background in this field is no worse than any competitor, including EA." James, who has turned the tide on his own role. Morgan, with ambition in his eyes.

"Where's that guy's computer?" Steve. Ross asked with anticipation, "Isn't the successor to the Atari 400/800, the Atari XL, just released?" The personal computer industry is now very profitable, and Fangyuan Computer Company has not only taken more than $1 billion in IPO circles, but also has a market value of more than $30 billion. When others eat meat, we should be able to take a few sips of soup along with it. ”

"I'm going to report on the performance of the PC business in detail." James. Of course, Morgan felt that his boss was so envious of Tang Huan, a competitor, that he was almost resentful.

"We're in a weird circle when it comes to PC development. The projects that I have just highlighted to be cut are for that reason. ”

James. Morgan groaned: "Other companies develop personal computers, they simply develop this kind of products, but Atari develops personal computers on the basis of game consoles, and many times, they have to mix in the factors that are conceived for game consoles." ”

Speaking of which, James. Morgan sighed in annoyance, "The Atari 400/800, and now the Atari XL, have to be additionally equipped with a radiation-proof shield on the circuit board, which directly puts us at a cost disadvantage, which is a very ridiculous thing." And the disagreement between us and the FCC over radiation standards continues, which poses another operational risk for the company that cannot be ignored. ”

Steve Steve, a complete layman on high-tech. Rose, listen to James. Morgan babbled on and on for a while, and his head suddenly grew big.

He frowned and interrupted James irritably. Morgan's words, "The reason I asked you to be the CEO of Atari is to solve these problems." I just want to ask, do you think the Atari can still make a difference? ”

"Atari is certainly not close to collapse, but reform will take time." James. Morgan shrugged, "I just hope that the headquarters side doesn't interfere too much in the operations of the Silicon Valley side as it used to." ”

Slightly hot-skinned Steve. Rose, gritting his teeth and nodded, "Okay, then I'll give you time, but you have to understand that time is also limited." (To be continued......)