Entering the winter, it seems that the whole person is lazy. Pen Fun Pavilion www.biquge.info∈ ↗,

Just as Nick is enjoying his food these days, some farmers near Qingtai have begun to gather around their stoves and eat baked potatoes from the fire.

Some of the potatoes that have just been pulled out of the charcoal fire have already burned off their skins, and with the white heat, you can smell a burnt smell.

Peel off the skin, the inside is just right, put it in the mouth not only to burn the tongue, but also to burn the teeth, and finally often whirring haha to eat.

Yu Tiecheng is not so leisurely, he has gone to great lengths to find so many chefs for Nick, just to stabilize Nick. On his part, he was running around looking for ingredients to make the shell of the Catch the Ball console.

I don't know how many gods I worshipped, and some people said that some clay could be sold at an unplanned price. However, it does not guarantee long-term supply, and the yield rate of ceramic shells is too low. Far from being six to eighty percent of the original blows of each factory director, but fifty percent or less than fifty percent.

Although there is no need for Huaxia Factory to pay extra money to make up for this yield rate, the output will not go up after all.

And the wooden shell is also very uneconomical now. Because, I can't get the planned wood, and now because of the squeeze on imitations in the south and the scarcity of wood, the original fist product of Huaxia Factory, the hydraulic game machine, has almost completely stopped production.

Fortunately, the production line of the rowing is still barely maintained, otherwise the "Catch" is difficult to deliver, the hydraulic game machine is almost out of production, and the Huaxia factory has just been converted from public to private for a few months, and it has fallen into a quagmire.

Recently, Yu Tiecheng no longer tried to find a way to find a way to do it with ceramics and wood, and instead devoted all his energy to petrochemical products. It's really got a lot of plastic particles.

But another problem has arisen, that is, the Huaxia factory itself and nearby factories do not have the equipment to process plastic molds. Therefore, in the end, it can only be commissioned in a factory in another province. Although the chest was beating loudly, the quality of this batch of shells will not be known until it arrives.

Fortunately, the R&D team under the leadership of Yu Sheng overcame the problems of clock display and alarm clock without greatly increasing the cost.

And, some changes have been added to Catch the Ball.

The modified "Catch" is divided into two modes, one is the basic "one mode", and the other is a faster "two mode", although the game does not have a difference in nature, but, on the premise of not greatly modifying the hardware, improve the playability.

The new "Catch" game watch that has completed this set of modifications will be a complete "game watch", which truly realizes the two functions of video games and electronic watches. In terms of circuit costs, it is only a 10 percent increase.

Recently, the food has been so good that Nick, an international friend who has weighed a few pounds, is lamenting that these people are really amazing. Not only is it powerful, but it's also cheap. He really can't imagine how a factory like a Huaxia factory in the United States can have so many powerful electronic engineers.

As the days passed, it was soon time to call the United States once a week again.

Nick sat on the phone in the director's office, holding his little notebook, thinking inwardly about how to explain the fact that "Catch the Ball" would not be produced in the near future.

More than an hour later, the phone was connected, and in the midst of the chaotic noise, Parkinson's voice was heard. Although his voice was very distorted, the exhaustion in his words could be heard.

"Catch the Ball? What "Catch the Ball"? No need. You don't need it anymore! The video game is over, and the company is going out of business, so come back as soon as possible. Parkinson's tone was a little crazy.

Is the video game over? Is the video game over?

Parkinson's on the other end of the phone, one moment said that the video game was over, and the other time he said that the company was over, listening to his crazy voice, it seemed that if he didn't take a few pills, he would be finished.

Parkinson's slowly got his emotions under control.

It took about twenty minutes for Nick to understand the ins and outs.

Christmas in 1983, video games were the hottest spot. And on the new hot spot of video games, the hottest pearl is the new work directed by famous director Steven Spielberg, the game adaptation of the same name of "E.T. Alien".

Because the movie "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" is so popular. The game adaptation rights to the film, Atari spent a full $21 million to acquire. As soon as he won the adaptation rights, he handed it over to Scott Howard, Atari's No. 1 game producer.

The latest and hottest movies, the most loved directors, and the most senior game producers. and Atari's big capital operation, which hyped up the already popular topic of "E.T. Extra-Terrestrial".

Although it is not too early to get the adaptation rights, there are still less than two months before Christmas. However, Atari said that there is no need to worry, everyone will definitely see the game on the shelves at Christmas. Because, the Atari version of "e.t. the Extra-Terrestrial" is the best Christmas gift for children.

After extensive customer research, Atari decided to print four million copies of e.t. Extra-Terrestrial at once.

You know, although Atari has also had several games that have sold more than one million before.

However, these games are printed and sold in batches. Because the price of the game cartridge is expensive, it can only be burned once, and if the game is unsalable, it will cause a huge cost burden and inventory burden.

However, according to Atari this time, they fought hard in order to provide the best Christmas gifts for the children.

The Christmas shopping spree, while not as crazy as Thanksgiving, is not to be underestimated.

The Atari version of "e.t. the Extra-Terrestrial" on the shelves was sold one after another.

On Christmas Day, more than 400,000 copies were sold. Following this momentum, a total of 4 million cartridges were sold out in less than 10 days.

However, the good times were short-lived, and from the next day, the sales curve began to decline, and the Christmas season ended with a total of 1.5 million units sold.

But looking at the number of 1.5 million sales, it is very good, but compared to the production of 4 million, it looks bad.

Retailers are either returning unsold games to Atari or selling them off for five dollars a bargain.

In November, Atari was still a video game giant with annual sales of more than $2 billion, and by the end of December, Atari had a loss of more than $300 million.

The market is in a panic, and the video game industry, which has absorbed a lot of hot money, is rapidly depreciating due to bearish expectations. Voices of selling off shares in video game companies are flying all over the United States, but few people are taking over.

In this process, Parkinson's, which used financing leverage, and Parkinson's, who used Parkinson's Trading Company as collateral, could not hold on and entered the brink of bankruptcy.

If it weren't for the good sales figures on Thanksgiving, which made him overly confident, he used financing leverage, and increased investment in video games, maybe he wouldn't be so miserable.

The popular "Catch" on Thanksgiving, due to production capacity problems in China, was cut off for more than a month.

Parkinson's, who is optimistic about the prospects of video games, and Parkinson, who has been cautious for decades, decided to increase investment in the field of video games in order to obtain high returns.

Unexpectedly, he has just increased his investment for less than a month. The video game market has changed.

Hearing this, Nick comforted Parkinson and asked what he should do next.

"Come back, it's useless for you to stay there. After settling your wages for these few months, you are a free man. ”

"Got it......" Nick put down the phone, silent.

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

Rewind time, two months ago.

"The games we make 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 research 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. The excitement of making "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" as a big Spielberg fan 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 to help alien e.t. connect with his family, and in order to complete the mission, players need to control the characters to avoid government agents and scientists.

"I felt like I had to make something innovative, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial was a breakout blockbuster, and I thought it would take an equally groundbreaking game to deserve 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. ”

This is the end of the meeting, the design of the game has not changed, and the game will not be a "Pac-Man" in the skin of "E.T. Alien".

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

At first he started working in the office, but soon a serious problem appeared. 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 the game production team of "E.T. Alien", which spent $21 million to buy the copyright, turned out to be only one programmer.

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 burning. Now that time is running out, no matter how much we check it, we won't be able to complete the production and distribution of four million cassettes before Christmas.

While Howard was working hard 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 participate in the screening of "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" in the United Kingdom, and the seats were arranged in front of the Princess of Wales.

Atari executives have said, "As long as the name e.t. Alien exists, 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." ”

At the beginning of Christmas, "E.T. Alien" quickly became a best-selling champion. However, bad news followed, as the game had a lot of serious bugs.

Huo Dehua, who was relaxed, only then did he have the time to play the game he made, and his current game has too many mistakes, which have 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 news, saying that "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 Xun realize that the sales of "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" could not 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 such as Atari began drastic layoffs.

It seemed that in an instant, the end of video games had come. (To be continued.) )