Zhang Shaojie smiled and said: "Doctor, you are an expert in technology, and you are an amateur in the market." In the future, the system software will become the master of the microcomputer market! Whoever can monopolize the system software is equivalent to occupying the commanding heights of the personal computer industry. In the future, countless software companies and hardware companies will have to rely on the snort of system companies."

Professor Huang said stiffly: "No matter how promising it is, selling it for free is also a loss of money!" ”

Zhang Shaojie said with a smile: "When we monopolize the market with the system software, the user habits are fixed, and other software companies are developing application software for our platform after a few years of version 2.0 and version 3.0 of the system will start to charge, do you say that users will choose to pay to use our next-generation operation system, or choose other operation systems?" ”

"Users also have the option to use the first generation for free all the time!" The doctor reminded him.

Zhang Shaojie didn't bother to continue to explain with Huang Tingjun.

The problem of the doctor exists in the vast majority of technical personnel - proficient in technology, but the ability to understand the market is extremely poor.

If you don't find a person who has a vision for the market to command him, a technician like a doctor can only become a loser if he works hard all the way.

"By the way, Doctor, do you have any thoughts on the video game console market?" Zhang Shaojie asked again.

"Video games, this is not new! The most popular host on the market right now is the Atari 2600! Huang Tingjun said, "At present, Atari occupies half of the home game console market, and is almost synonymous with home game consoles!" ”

"If you were asked to design a home game console with a 6502 CPU, would you be able to make it?" Zhang Shaojie said.

"Please! You underestimate me too much, back then, the old man could design a microcomputer single-handedly! Isn't it easy to design a lower-tech game console?! Huang Tingjun said.

Zhang Shaojie smiled: "Okay, then can you design a home game console for me, whose surname is not inferior to the Atari 2600 and the price is less than $100?" ”

Huang Tingjun said in a negative tone: "Impossible! How can you compress the cost to $100? Even if the price of the 6502 chip is reduced to $10 each, how can the other parts add up to more than $200 to get it out, right? ”

"Forget it, I know it's unreliable to count on you, you still find some young people in the United States with excellent technical skills, and send them to Hong Kong. I personally led a group of teenagers to dismantle the game consoles that already exist in those markets and go to the cottage, wrong, it is a miracle! "Zhang Shaojie is full of fearless copycat spirit.

Historically, by the time of 83 years, Nintendo made the FC for only 9,800 yuan, equivalent to 75 US dollars, so it quickly defeated Atari!

It can be seen that in the home game console market, the host is cheap!

The real money is selling game cartridges!

As long as the user buys the console, then it is natural that the game cartridge will continue to be purchased! Selling a game console, even if the hardware is not profitable, will continue to make money through the sale of games in the future.

In the past, Zhang Shaojie was short of funds on hand, so he naturally had no confidence to make a family game machine. And now, "The Rise of a Great Power" has brought Zhang Shaojie a deposit of 9.6 million yuan, and the North American market ORD software can earn 500,000 US dollars a month. Not long after, the box office dividends of the "Legend of Double Dragons of the Tang Dynasty" movie.

There are more banknotes, which gives Zhang Shaojie the confidence to do a bigger business.

Nintendo's FC red and white machine has not yet been released.

Atari is already showing signs of fatigue.

It was my generation, pointing at Atari, shouting - the era of "Thanco replaced"!

———————————— April 20, 1981. Huang Tingjun came to Hong Kong with more than 10 electronic technology talents from the United States. These talents were recruited in the name of North American ORD Co., Ltd., and then sent to the Hong Kong headquarters to do research projects, and these technicians were abducted.

These guys chosen by Huang Tingjun are all awesome and coaxing, and none of them are idle people!

Among them, there was an older young man of Robert, who boasted that his birth led to the birth of integrated circuits. As fate would have it, he was destined to be extraordinary, so he began to play with electron tubes at the age of 3, transistors at the age of four, and became proficient in radio at the age of five, and was able to make his own transistor radio. By the time he was 7 years old, he could toss any resistor, capacitor, inductor and other components.

Seeing that Zhang Shaojie didn't believe it, Robert was furious, and spent a night of hard work to change an appleii except for the shell, and the components inside were replaced, and the appleii was tossed from an 8-bit machine to a 16-bit machine!

"Sure enough, it's a cow!" Seeing that this guy actually has this ability, Zhang Shaojie said, "The monthly salary can be increased to 3,000 US dollars!" ”

Robert's heart is in full bloom!

Seeing this, other technical masters wanted to show their skills.

"Heroes, don't be impatient!" Zhang Shaojie temporarily refused, and said, "Lu Yao knows the horsepower, and he has seen the hearts of the people for a long time!" In the future, you will have the opportunity to perform at work! ”

When Professor Wong returned to Hong Kong, he brought with him not only these electronic technicians, but also a variety of electronic components, as well as some home game consoles on the market, such as the Atari 2600, Nintendo TVGamam6, and Abbotsch Cassettevision

The Atari 2600, a home console priced at $249, swept the market in the United States and dominated the country. At this time, the Atari 2600 has begun to use game cartridges, and users can change the game by inserting different cartridges at will. This kind of creativity makes a game console, in addition to playing built-in games, more constantly changing games to get more game experience.

You know, Atari made twice as much profit in 1982 as the entire Hollywood film industry! You can know that the game industry is profitable!

The success of Atari, the originator of video games, has stimulated a large number of companies around the world to follow suit, but for the time being, Atari is not exhausted, and the opponents have not been able to come up with an artifact that shatters the Atari dynasty!

Nintendo's company, at this time, has launched a tvgame6, but the response to this game console has been mediocre.

In 1981, the company also launched CassetteVision, which was also a model of Atari and could replace the game cartridge, but the market response was sparse.

In the entire market, most home game consoles are priced between $200~$500.

The Atari 2600 costs $249, which is on the lower side of the market.

Historically, when Nintendo's red and white machines appeared, they simply reduced the price to $75. In addition, Shigeru Miyamoto, a game designer who was born as a painter for Nintendo, wrote two games, "Donkey Kong" and "Super Mario Bros.", which quickly made Nintendo become the hegemon of the home game console industry.

And Atari was very sad, and in 82 years, it earned $400 million and reached the peak of its career. However, in '83, the Nintendo FC console was released, and Atari lost $500 million in '83.

In the next few years, Atari, who was greatly injured, tried to transform into an IBMPC compatible machine, but it was still in decline and difficult to change, and in 98 it declared bankruptcy and liquidation.

Zhang Shaojie knows that the two major weapons of Nintendo's rise - the first is the FC game console, the low price dumping of $75 has defeated most of the game consoles on the market with $200~$500 as the mainstream.

The second is that Shigeru Miyamoto has designed several games, which are very attractive. This makes Nintendo's consoles playable far more than other game consoles.

Therefore, Zhang Shaojie said without question: "I hope you can design a home game console for me with a cost price of less than $100 as soon as possible!" The work should be simple, and the surname should not be less than Atari 2600. By the way, I designed a gamepad, and that's what I'm going to do on consoles."

As he spoke, Zhang Shaojie drew a sketch of the classic gamepad of the FC game console in his memory.

"Damn, the cost of $100, and the surname can not be less than Atari 2600, just kill me," Robert, who was appointed as the chief designer of the home console project, rolled his eyes and said.

When Robert rolled his eyes, soon a Chinese young man William Lin raised his hand and said: "Boss, if Robert can't do it, you let me be the director of this project, I think maybe I can do it."

"Oh?" Zhang Shaojie praised the young man, "Tell me what you think? ”

William Lin smiled and said: "First, the 6502 chip of Motorola that we use was originally an 8-bit CPU with the highest surname price ratio!" Second, the workers in Atari's factories are all Americans, and the production costs are high, so if we set up a factory in China, the cost of a machine for American workers is $20, and the cost of a machine for workers in China is less than a dollar, so we can cut the cost by $19."

With William Lin's explanation, Zhang Shaojie's eyes lit up, gave him a thumbs up, and said, "There are yours!" ”

When everyone heard this, they applauded and agreed.

William Lin glanced at everyone and said, "I haven't finished talking yet, Atari originally planned to make a personal computer, and it was made into a game console by mistake. However, on their consoles, they also retain a large number of personal computer features. If we simply make game consoles, many unnecessary functions can be cut, and some costs can be saved. All in all, I think it's completely achievable to compress the cost to $100."

"So what are you waiting for?" Zhang Shaojie said, "Let's get started!" ”

"So I can replace Robert as chief designer?" William Lin did not miss the opportunity to fight for power.

"Damn, Lin, die! The guy who is far more able to move his mouth than he is to take my place too" Robert almost went berserk.

Zhang Shaojie smiled: "Don't worry! Robert is still the chief designer, and William Lin is the deputy chief designer. You both earn $3,000 a month. For the rest, $1,500 for the time being. Wait until the actual product is made, and reward for meritorious deeds! ”

Next, everyone's task is very simple, that is, to disassemble all kinds of home game consoles on the market, and digest and absorb the technology of game consoles in the market through systematic copycat and imitation.

The structure of a game console is much more rudimentary than that of a computer. However, it is still very difficult to learn from the strengths of others and develop a new product that is inexpensive and has better features than the consoles on the market.

After the practice of technicians, it was found that although the 6502CPU is cheap, a CPU cannot meet the operation of the home game console system.

"Boss, no! I've tried, just with the 6502 chip, it's not enough! If you use this chip to control the system program, then the game screen will not be displayed. If you just control the game screen, you won't be able to run the game program! Robert said with tears in his eyes.

"Rely on it, one won't work, you don't know how to use two 6502!" Zhang Shaojie scolded, "One control screen, one control program, two add up, only 20 dollars, which is still very cheap!" ”

"Yes, two! Give it a try! "Everyone is very hands-on.

A few days later, a game console with two 6502 chips was created. One 6502 chip allows players to control game programs from a controller, while another chip enables the game to be displayed on the TV screen.

This console, with a resolution of 256x240, is capable of displaying 24 colors at the same time. Compared to Atari's host, it has been a layer of awesome.

The company's programmers transplanted the classic game "Pac-Man" designed by Nangong Dream Company to the game console.

Pac-Man was originally an arcade classic, in which players use the "arrow keys" to manipulate the game's main character, elves, to avoid various ghosts and eat small yellow beans in a maze. Normally, when a pokemon encounters a ghost, it will die. However, if the Pokemon eats the in-game Stronghold, it will be able to eat the Ghost for a period of time.

Because "Pac-Man" has a fresh style, a strong interesting surname, and a simple operation, it quickly became popular in Europe and the United States in the 70s, and ushered in the love of hundreds of millions of arcade players!

Atari Inc., in its 80s, brought the game all the way to the Atari platform. Of course, the game originally needed an 8KB cartridge to show better results, but Atari insisted on using a 4KB cartridge.

As a result, the Atari console version of Pac-Man has a much lower game experience than the original arcade version, and although the game sold 7 million copies on the Atari platform, most players of the game have expressed extreme dissatisfaction and disappointment!

"I'm here to play!" Zhang Shaojie took the lead, holding the game controller, up and down, left and right, acting as an elf to avoid all kinds of little ghosts, not counting looking for yellow beans to eat.

"Boss, what a handsome skill!" William Lin couldn't help but admire.

"Average, third in the world!" Zhang Shaojie said modestly.

"Boss, give this machine a name!" William Lin said.

Zhang Shaojie thought about it carefully and said with a smile: "Little Overlord Game Machine, what do you think?" ”

"Good name, so domineering!" William Lin had an admiring expression.

Zhang Shaojie listened to it, but others regarded William Lin as a sycophant!

(To be continued)