Since the birth of video game consoles, there have been many 'game machine centres' in Hong Kong, commonly known as 'machine shops', and arcade machine shops are everywhere in the 19 districts of Hong Kong.

The rainbow game machine shop in Mong Kok is in full swing at this time.

Lin Ruijiang, the president of the Yangtze River Industrial Group, walked in with people at this time, and he paused behind every arcade machine, followed by the president of the Ninth City, 'Saburo Watanabe' and other high-level executives.

Ninth City, a subsidiary of Changjiang Industry Group, specializes in the development of software and hardware for video games; The department that develops software is called 'Ninth City', and the department that develops hardware video game consoles is called 'Little Genius'.

Ninth City's video game software, last year's net profit was as high as 200 million Hong Kong dollars; As for the 'Little Genius' game consoles, they are currently mainly arcade machines and copycat red and white machines.

The early "Hong Kong Cubes", "Little Bee", "Pac-Man", etc., are still the main sources of profit; In the second half of last year (1985), games such as "Contra" and "Street Fighter" were released one after another.

Among them, "Contra" has achieved remarkable results in half a year and has been well received by the market. As for Street Fighter, it received a good response in North America, but it seems to be relatively flat in Asia.

Based on this, Lin Ruijiang went to Hong Kong's game machine shop for a field trip to see why the game plan given by his father was not a big success?

"President Watanabe, what do you think are the shortcomings of this game?"

Saburo Watanabe used to be the head of video game development in Japan, and was poached by Lin Ruijiang to Hong Kong as the president of Ninth City, so his ability is naturally very high.

He then said: "Hong Kong kung fu movies are very influential in Asia, far more than in Europe and the United States. However, the success of Street Fighter in Asia is not expected, obviously not because we are going in the wrong direction, but because Street Fighter is only an incomplete first product. The next generation of products should be developed in the direction of battles, which increases the entertainment! ”

Lin Ruijiang nodded and said, "Well, I think so too, in this way, I hope you can come up with a second-generation product in three years." After all, the current performance in Europe and the United States proves that the prospects of this game are still very good and have very strong potential. ”

"Okay, Mr. Lin."

The people in the machine shop were all over the place, but when they looked at Lin Ruijiang and the others, they still showed a scared expression. This group of people is dressed very formally, and there are tall and sturdy retinues behind them, and they look like rich and powerful people, and they can't afford to mess with them.

Lin Ruijiang asked a person who was playing Street Fighter, "Is this game fun?" ”

The young man who was playing energetically, seeing the appearance of Lin Ruijiang and others, said: "It's a kung fu game of customs clearance, it's fun, it's fun, it's just playing with the machine, it's not exciting enough!" ”

Lin Ruijiang said 'thank you' and left!

In the office, Lin Zhichao listened to Lin Ruijiang's work report.

The business of Cheung Kong Industrial Group is still huge, and the profit has exceeded 1 billion Hong Kong dollars a year, making it a proper large-scale industrial group and technology company.

The overall business is divided into: zippers and machinery, toys and models, electrical and electronics, electronic games, smelting, etc.

In terms of electrical appliances, Midea has invested heavily in the mainland, and in addition to Hong Kong, it can now produce televisions, picture tubes and other products, plus the original electric fans, radios, tape recorders, etc., which have begun to take shape.

Among them, in terms of electronics, Midea's Walkman is still a best-selling product, although it is inferior to Sony, but it has also carved up a part of its international market; In addition, Midea Electronics has entered the semiconductor industry and invested in R&D and production centers in the mainland; It also manufactures a wide variety of products such as telephones and pagers.

"You're right, Street Fighter is meant to be a battle game, so it's the essence of the game. For example, there can be two characters from our Huaxia, one is the 'Flying Dragon' based on Bruce Lee, and the other is a 'Chunli' female character wearing a cheongsam but full of strong physique, and Japan can also engage in two, a judo-type player and a sumo wrestler."

When "Street Fighter" was planned for the first time, Lin Zhichao did not say too much detail, and he was also worried that the configuration was insufficient and could not reflect his ideas.

But now in the development of "Street Fighter 2", Lin Zhichao is full of firepower, telling some key points of development - for example, to maximize the pursuit of action advancement, you can attack in eight directions, and you don't need to spend too much energy on the beginning and end, or the background.

Lin Ruijiang recorded it in detail, he was already very impressed by his father's awesomeness, and he was not surprised by his father's all-round performance.

"Okay, so in this way, the goal of our development is very clear, and I believe that in two years there should be Street Fighter 2. Atari, for their part, also asked us to develop a follow-up to Street Fighter, saying that this product is very promising."

Currently, Atari has become the software division and Sega has become the hardware division.

Lin Zhichao said confidently: ""Contra" and "Street Fighter" will become classic games! ”

Whether it is a console game, a future computer web game, or a computer online game, Lin Zhichao can provide many game design solutions. These alone can bring huge profits and huge IPs to the ninth city.

Then, Lin Zhichao said: "At present, Changjiang Industrial Group is already strong and has sufficient cash flow, so it is imperative to develop science and technology. We have the backing of the mainland market and talents, and Hong Kong has also cultivated a lot of science talents over the years, so the time has come. The development of science and technology, as long as you grasp the direction, you can always have a harvest! ”

He has been developing the technology industry, but he was accumulating experience in the early stage, and now he is ready to do a big job.

Lin Ruijiang said: "Well, I think so too. We have a lot of cash cows (cash reserves, zippers, toys, two buildings in Central, game software, etc.), which is enough for us to develop into a technology company step by step. ”

He is very confident, and as a science student at Stanford University, he has always been more interested in science and technology. In the past few years, he has been developing this business and has made some small achievements.

Lin Zhichao continued: "Next, you need several directions: first, to strive for the little genius game console to enter Eastern Europe, even if it is cooperation, it doesn't matter, and secondly, to enter the mainland, which can bring a certain amount of cash flow; Second, the establishment of a Chinese pager R&D department in the mainland can also provide a certain amount of cash flow after success. These are products, as for the research and development of semiconductors, it will take a long time to develop the results, take your time, we have money anyway! ”

The cash flow of Cheung Kong Industrial Group, which Lin Zhichao has not used for a long time, is already a cash reserve of five or six billion Hong Kong dollars, which is where the group's confidence in developing real technology lies.

What's more, Lin Zhichao will always come up with product plans to bring more cash flow to this group.

Lin Ruijiang said: "Okay, I will definitely make some achievements on this road!" ”

Without saying much, he had a passion for the technology industry, and his father wanted him to do it.

Lin Ruicheng found Lin Ruikai and said, "Fourth brother, what is the trouble for you?" ”

Lin Ruikai said with a smile: "Eighth child, everyone is a brother, what trouble is not troublesome, let's say it!" ”

Lin Ruicheng immediately said: "Can you help me introduce Wang Zuxian and let me know!" ”

Lin Ruikai was stunned for a moment, and then said: "Eighth child, what are you doing, your girlfriend Kuang Meiyun is pregnant with twins and is about to give birth, and even my father is very happy." At this time, you know a celebrity, is it not good? ”

Kwong Meiyun was the champion of the Asian sister in 1982, and after Lin Ruicheng caught up, he quickly made other people's stomachs bigger and gave birth to a son the following year; In this regard, Lin Zhichao was also very happy and went to the hospital to visit in person.

Now that Kuang Meiyun has embraced August again, and they are twins, Lin Zhichao is also in a good mood after hearing about it.

Lin Ruicheng is his sixth son, the eighth in line, and Lin Ruinan was born in the same year as the ninth child, and he is also 28 years old this year. Now he has gradually gained the trust of Lin Zhichao and serves as the vice president of the Global Group, mainly managing the shipping business.

Although the global group has experienced the withdrawal of funds and the reduction of ships, its assets are still not low, including a fleet of more than 5 million tons, Amazon commercial real estate worth 2.5 billion US dollars (9 Manhattan office buildings), half of the equity of No. 1 Kwai Chung Pier, 60% of the equity of Hong Kong Airlines, sufficient cash flow, etc.

Lin Ruicheng said: "Fourth brother, I don't want to get married, of course I can date whoever I want." What's more, my father didn't know what I was thinking, and he didn't say much! On the contrary, it is you, my sister-in-law is the daughter of my cousin, and she is your childhood sweetheart, so even if you are the president of the media group, you can only look at it, I feel sorry for you! In the end, he couldn't help but make a triumphant joke.

Lin Ruikai immediately said: "My father asked me to participate in the content management of the media group, just to rest assured that I don't have those messy ideas, you think I want to!" To be honest, it's not impossible for you to let me introduce you, at most, I'll let Shi Nansheng provide you with a chance, it's not enough."

Lin Ruicheng asked curiously, "But what?" It's not a troublesome thing, I just need to give a chance to get to know, even if I don't have the ability to chase girls, but in the big family in Hong Kong, I am also dignified and charming! ”

Lin Ruikai couldn't help but teach: "It's good that you don't mention your father's affairs less!" Also, this Wang Zuxian was dug to Hong Kong by his father, and only I know about it. ”

Lin Ruicheng was immediately shocked, and hurriedly said: "When I didn't say it!" Fourth brother, you must keep it secret for me, please! ”

If that is the case, when his father finds out, he believes that his good life will come to an end.

His five elder brothers and one younger brother are all married, but he can be chic, the biggest reason is that the five elder brothers are very competitive, get married early and have children, and listen to the opinions of their parents - to reproduce.

In this way, his father was actually not too harsh on him and his seventh brother Lin Ruinan. However, Lin Ruicheng also understands that if he does not have children, it will be detrimental to the future, after all, according to his father's arrangement, he will accept the Global Group in the future.

Therefore, Lin Ruicheng thought of a way, that is, to catch up with Sister Ya, and then let her have a child, so that his goal was achieved. Of course, he will not choose to get married, because once he gets married, it means that his father and mother will not allow him to mess around.

Lin Ruikai said with a smile: "Don't think about it, although my father introduced Wang Zuxian to join Golden Harvest Pictures, he actually only informed me, and then I arranged for someone to do it." From beginning to end, my father should have never known Wang Zuxian, if it is like what you imagined, my father would not let Wang Zuxian shoot a kiss scene! ”

Since New Year's Day, "A Chinese Ghost Story" has been released in Hong Kong, and the box office has been 18 million Hong Kong dollars.

Because of this, Lin Ruicheng noticed the beautiful female ghost.

Lin Ruicheng said: "It's better to believe it than to believe it!" I won't give up an entire forest for the sake of a tree. ”

Lin Ruikai nodded with a smile, and persuaded: "That's it, Kuang Meiyun is going to give birth recently, so you should be lonely first, and care more about other girls." Hearing that his father has seen it, he still admires Kwong Meiyun a lot, and thinks that although this girl's family is not good, she has also developed a tenacious character, and her face is still very good. ”

In the end, he hoped that his brother would change his mind.

It's a pity that Lin Ruicheng's idea has already been fixed, that is, he will not get married easily, before he has had enough.

"Brother, don't talk about this, the second brother was strict back then, there was no chance, I finally had six brothers to fight for anger, I was a little unsatisfactory in this regard, and my father and mother would not be angry."

"Okay, I'm not going to talk about it!"

Enough is enough, after all, his father is relieved, what else can he do!

As for the second brother Lin Ruijiang, although he was romantic back then, he was indeed managed by his parents; However, the current second sister-in-law was introduced to the second brother by her father, and the second brother didn't dare to have any more ideas in his life.

When Lin Ruicheng left, there were no regrets, only happiness!

In the office of the media group, Lin Zhichao sat in the office and didn't know what was going on between his sons.

At this time, he was planning and developing for the media group.

Today's media group, in the eyes of outsiders, can be said to have reached its peak-

The publishing business, with a net profit of HK$210 million last year, became the leader of the four major businesses of the media group. Almost all of the profits come from the animation industry, and overseas profits account for more than 7%. In addition, Hong Kong has become the 'animation capital' of the world, which has also led to the development of Hong Kong's tourism industry.

In the paper media business, the net profit last year was 65 million Hong Kong dollars, and the daily sales of "Oriental Daily" in Hong Kong were 380,000 and 220,000 overseas, with a total daily sales of 600,000 copies; Magazines such as "Gang of Men", "Capitalist" and "YES" are also best-selling magazines in Hong Kong, and "Gang of Men" even sold the rights.

The TV business, with a net profit of 35 million Hong Kong dollars last year, was the second year of profitability, and it was more than doubled. Nowadays, ATV and wireless are stable, so large advertisers have also chosen ATV, and profits have naturally risen. However, because the cost is still high, the profit is only about 30% of that of wireless. The success of last year's "The Voice of Hong Kong" allowed ATV to make up for the last shortcoming - music.

In the film business, last year's net profit was 120 million, seven of the top ten local films in Hong Kong were Golden Harvest Pictures, and twelve of the top 15 were Golden Harvest, mainly Chow Yun-fat had six films on the top 15.

After a while.

"Father"

Lin Ruikai walked in and said respectfully.

Lin Zhichao nodded and said: "Come here, I have something to explain to you here, there is a movie called "500 Million Inspector Lei Luo", you let people see if they can shoot it, and the protagonist will be played by Andy Lau."

Liu Dehua is now blocked by wireless, but he can shoot movies, and Golden Harvest asked him to shoot movies last year; And everyone has already negotiated it privately, and as soon as the contract arrives this year, they will switch to ATV.

After all, the current ATV has a more ambitious prospect than TVB. What's more, it can also be appreciated by Golden Harvest.

Lin Ruikai said in surprise: "This is a related movie of Inspector Lu Le of Zonghua back then?" ”

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "It's his, it's not to praise him, it's just to tell about that era!" You just let Zou Wenhuai prepare, don't worry so much! ”

Lin Ruikai nodded and said, "Well, I remember!" ”

Although he went abroad to study very early, he didn't know much about Lu Le's affairs. But although this kind of character sounds very powerful, it must have been just a small role in the eyes of his father back then.

He really guessed correctly, back then, Lu Le wanted to befriend Lin Zhichao and directly detain Long Yun's son for one night, but unfortunately Lin Zhichao didn't look down on this person. Of course, for Lu Le, it doesn't matter if Lin Zhichao doesn't look at him, but he must not have an opinion on him, otherwise it will be a big trouble.

"How's the preparation for 'Millionaire'?"

"We are preparing intensively and it is expected to be officially broadcast in the second half of this year, and we attach great importance to this program, so we are very serious about the details."

"Well, ATV still needs to cultivate more talents, and you can let ATV prepare a 'funny artist' training class, and you can specialize in doing an exclusive 'comedian' program in the future. In variety shows, in addition to on-the-spot performance, there is generally a script, so in addition to the screenwriter, you can actually subdivide a 'writer' to specially design some bridges and lines."

His layout of "Hong Kong Stream Culture" is first ready to develop from 'variety shows', and then 'Hong Kong Stream Music' and 'Hong Kong Stream Drama', "The Voice of Hong Kong" and "Millionaire" can be regarded as the germ of Hong Kong Stream culture. Of course, these two programs are focused on the development of worldwide IP.

Lin Ruikai felt that every time he came in to listen to his father, a huge cultural industry was gradually advancing, and he liked this cause so much that it could make people feel a sense of pride.

"I've written it all down!"

"Okay, take your time! Many IPs are long-term wealth, such as "Millionaire", which is suitable for hundreds of countries in the world as local programs, and we can charge a lot of copyright fees in the future. ”

"Well, I understand, these are intellectual copyrights, every movie, every show, every episode, is a valuable asset. More importantly, this cultural industry can make Hong Kong more developed. ”

(End of chapter)