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"It was a day I'll never forget in my life, when I was sitting in my office and I got a call from CEO Bran and he said, 'Howard, we need to make this game of Aliens, can you do it?' I replied, 'Absolutely, I can do it'. ”

Rewind time, two months ago.

"Our games need to be packaged and distributed, which takes weeks to manufacture and ship, and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial wants to be released at Christmas, and the development time is very tight." Bran sat in the boss's swivel chair and circled around with the phone, "Howard, you're going to work hard, we need to get it done by November, which means you only have five weeks." ”

"It usually takes six to eight months, five weeks, to make a game, and that's ......," Mr. Howard said hesitantly. As a big Spielberg fan, the excitement of making "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" has faded for the most part.

Bran's tone became stern, and he said, "There's nothing to do, hurry up and plan the game, and go to the airport on Thursday morning, and there will be a special plane to pick you up to meet Spielberg." ”

"See...... See Spielberg? Howard was surprised.

"That's right, that's it, Howard, come on, isn't this what you've been hoping for?"

Thinking that he could see the idol with his own eyes, his previous doubts were swept away, and Howard immediately assured, "Absolutely no problem, I can do it." ”

A few days later, Howard flew from Atari's headquarters in California to Los Angeles to present his plan to Spielberg.

His idea is an adventure game in which players collect components to make interstellar telephones and help alien E.T. connect with his family, and in order to complete the mission, players have to control the characters to avoid government agents and scientists.

"I felt like I had to do something innovative, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial was a breakthrough blockbuster, and I thought it would take an equally groundbreaking game to live up to that name." Howard said as he showed Spielberg the whole plan.

"Well......" Spielberg said after a pause, "but you only have five weeks." I think you might as well make a game like Pac-Man, which I've played and it's not bad. But the most important thing is to follow your ideas, do you know what I am most annoyed about making movies, I am most annoyed by others pointing fingers at me. ”

That's the end of the meeting, the design of the game hasn't changed, and the game won't be a Pac-Man in the skin of E.T. the Extraterrestrial.

Back in California, Howard thanked Spielberg for his understanding and began to work intensively.

At first he worked in the office, but soon discovered a strict problem. He still needs to go home every day, and he needs time to rest and eat, which is very, very short, but Howard has to save. Because, he is the only programmer in the entire "E.T. Aliens" game project team.

Outsiders may not believe this, but E.T. the Extraterrestrial, which spent $21 million to buy the copyright, has only one programmer in the game production team.

But that's just the way it is.

In fact, Atari at this time also needed a blockbuster game.

Although the company's sales peaked at $2 billion in 1982, the emergence of the home computer "Computer 64" had already begun to seize the market share of Atari 2600.

The reason is simple, computers can do more than game consoles.

Howard, who was busy, simply on his way to and from work, began to study the programmatic of the game. Atari assigned him two assistants, one for his travel and one for his food, so that he could continue to work normally and continuously.

Five weeks passed in the blink of an eye.

An hour before the deadline arrived, Howard typed out the last line of code and encapsulated the program.

"Oh my God, it's done." Howard sat slumped, Herman Miller's office chair under his ass creaking and moaning.

The finished game program was not even checked, and it was quickly sent to the factory for programming. Now that time is already very tight, no matter how much we check it, we will not be able to complete the production and distribution of four million cassettes before Christmas.

While Howard was doing his best to make the game, Atari also invested five million dollars in advertising the game.

The advertising cost of 5 million is the first time in history, and this is already the highest advertising cost in the game industry.

You know, the advertising investment of one million dollars in the past will make everyone sigh and reminisce for a long time.

"Aliens need help from humans, and that person is you!"

The advertising slogan is a little second-in-class, but it is very bold. Spielberg himself has already appeared in the promotional video.

A few days later, Howard also flew to London, England, to attend the premiere of "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" in the United Kingdom, and the seats were arranged in front of the Princess of Wales.

Atari executives said, "With the name E.T. Extra-Terrestrial, any game we make can sell millions of copies." ”

At this time, Howard also heard a famous quote from the founder of Atari who had left Atari, "Whoever can boldly underestimate the wisdom of Americans will make money, and computer games are a less nerve-wracking game." ”

Beginning at Christmas, "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" quickly became a best-selling champion. However, bad news followed, as the game had a lot of strict bugs.

Huo Dehua, who was relaxed, only then did he have the time to play his own game, and he found that the game had too many mistakes, which had affected the normal play of players.

But the sale of the cassette has already begun, and there is no chance of revision, not to mention the remarks of the high-level, which made him a little disheartened.

He wrote in his diary, "It's a full game, but it's not perfect. A lot of people, including me, won't be able to continue the game for a variety of reasons. I love this game, but I can't do anything about it. ”

Players' complaints quickly made the press, saying "It's terrible that E.T. often falls into a pit for no apparent reason and then gets stuck." ”

The New York Times, a mainstream media outlet, reported, "A ten-year-old knows that this game is not fun. ”

The one-sided bad reviews, as well as the rapidly shrinking sales, made Atari quickly realize that "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" sales were unlikely to meet expectations.

In early January 1984, Atari announced that it was disappointed with the sales of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

Atari's parent company, Time Warner, has shrunk its market value significantly as a result of this incident.

Investors are worried and pessimistic. Other gaming companies have started to decline in market capitalization.

Consumers have abandoned their support for home gaming consoles in favor of home computers.

Hot money flowed out, and game companies led by Atari began drastic layoffs.

It seemed that in an instant, the end of video games had come.

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