Game Development Giant

When both parties have a strong intention to cooperate, the negotiation process will be very fast.

In just three days, Jester and Claudia reached a general cooperation intention, and the remaining specific terms were negotiated smoothly.

In the new company, Jester will hold 70%, while Claudia will hold 30%. In addition to being responsible for the game, Jester will also need to invest 60%, while Claudia will hold 30%. Ya is responsible for the establishment of the channel and the other 40% of the funding.

The initial investment amount of the entire European branch was US$15 million. Claudia said before that she only had US$4 million, but now she sees that she can absorb US$6 million of investment without any pressure. Obviously, she Not everything I said before is true.

As the negotiations came to an end, the Queen concert that excited Adam Edgar the most was about to be held. Originally, Adam Edgar booked the tickets late and the position he got was not good, and so did Jester. Before coming to London, I heard from Adam Edgar that Queen had a concert at Wembley recently, so Jester didn't have a ticket.

But Claudia's energy in the UK really impressed Jester. After asking Jester how many people in his group wanted to go to this concert, he got more than 20 tickets that afternoon that had already been taken. There were concert tickets that had doubled in price but were not available, and there were even two VIP box tickets.

On the afternoon of the concert, Jester met Claudia who was wearing casual clothes. Her hair was simply tied into a ponytail, she was wearing a pair of canvas shoes, and she was wearing a light blue pair of pants on her slender thighs. Jeans, a white T-shirt and a light blue jacket on the upper body.

The zipper on the front of the coat was not closed, and Claudia stood there casually with her hands in the pockets of the coat.

This was the first time Jester saw Claudia without formal clothes. When he first saw her, she was wearing a long dress. In the past few days, she has been wearing formal business suits.

I didn't expect that wearing such a simple casual outfit now would have a different flavor.

Claudia showed a charming smile to Jester, who was in a daze, and said with a smile: "It is very inappropriate to wear formal clothes to watch rock music."

Jester agrees with this.

Wembley Stadium was built in 1923 for the 1924 World Exposition. It was mainly a landmark building to show the strength of the British Empire, so it was not called Wembley Stadium at first. , but it was called the Empire Stadium, but because the stadium is located in the Wembley district of northwest London, over time, the term Wembley Stadium came into being, and it is still used today.

The current Wembley Stadium is not the modern super stadium that later generations of Jester saw in football matches, because the future stadium was rebuilt two thousand years later, and the current one is still inherited. The holy place of British football culture for decades.

In front of Wembley, Jester saw the pair of white towers that were once the symbol of Wembley Stadium. This pair of white towers will be demolished after the new Wembley Stadium is rebuilt and will become history forever.

Looking down from the highest point of the stadium, you have the feeling of being at the top of the mountain and seeing all the small mountains. After all, this is a huge stadium with a height of more than ten floors and can accommodate 120,000 spectators. Jester heard it before According to Claudia, nearly 150,000 tickets were sold for Queen's Wembley concert this time.

This amount is not far behind even compared to the two most famous games in the history of Wembley Stadium, the White Horse final and the Stanley final.

When Jester and Claudia arrived, the audience had already entered the venue one after another. Because Claudia had tickets to the VIP box, Jester and Claudia left in a special way. aisle instead of having to squeeze into the already overcrowded ordinary aisle.

The concert time was set at five o'clock in the afternoon. After arriving at the box, Jester looked at the time and there was still more than an hour left.

Then Jester looked around, as if he wanted to find something to do for this boring hour or so to make the time less boring.

But Claudia seemed to be prepared. She took out two Pokemon electronic pets from her bag, and then handed one to Jester.

Then she connected the two electronic pets with a communication line.

To be honest, this setting of using a communication line to connect is quite stupid in Jester's opinion, but it is not so in the eyes of today's people. Two handheld consoles that can communicate with each other are in the eyes of players of this era. It is very fresh and interesting, and it is a setting that can be called a pioneering work.

"What are you going to do?" Jester took a look at the Charmander Pokémon pet machine, and then asked Claudia with some curiosity.

"Pets can fight with each other!" Claudia answered excitedly.

At this time, Jester said oh, he remembered.

It seems that when he was making this Pokemon version of the electronic pet machine, he added a setting to the electronic pet inside, in order to echo the Pokemon that will definitely be released in the future. In this Pokemon electronic pet machine he launched In addition to borrowing many of the functions cultivated in Tamagotchi, it also adds additional settings for learning skills and pet upgrades through combat.

However, Jester has not experienced this function himself. After all, his work is too busy and it is impossible for him to do everything by himself.

Holding Claudia's electronic pet machine, Jester thought that it would be a good idea to take advantage of the opportunity to watch Queen's concert to experience it.

Jester pressed the start button, and the black and white LCD screen that was originally dark lit up. It seemed that Claudia had played a lot. The Charmander in his hand had evolved into a Fire Dinosaur, and he had also learned the skills. Three, but Claudia's Squirtle hasn't evolved yet.

Because the communication line was not very long, Jester and Claudia sat very close to each other, almost side by side. Jester could smell the fragrance of Claudia.

Jester felt something was wrong, so he took the initiative to sit a little aside.

Then Claudia invited Jester to spar, and Jester chose to agree.

There is no doubt about the final result. Jester, who has never played Pokemon electronic pets in this world, was completely defeated by Claudia, who is experienced in fighting. Moreover, Squirtle also learned a skill after winning the battle. This also made Claudia happy.

Jester, who was a little dissatisfied, played a few more games, but the final result was the same. He didn't give up until the fire dinosaur in his hand refused to play because of hunger.

"Seriously, it's a great idea to allow two handheld phones to communicate together! How did you come up with the idea?" He took the fire dinosaur pet phone in Jester's hand and operated it carefully. After feeding the food and letting the fire dinosaur go to sleep, Claudia asked Jester with a smile.

"This..."

Jester wiped his nose and thought for a while, then said: "I wanted to make a development game at that time, because we don't have a home console yet, and such a game is not suitable for arcades. I thought of Nintendo at that time. gw palm game console, so I came up with the idea of ​​making a palm game, and then there was Pokemon electronic pets. As for being able to interact with each other using communication lines...it's actually very simple. I think two people who raise each other's little pets must definitely They would like to let their respective little pets meet and communicate with each other, and I initially planned to use infrared interaction, but then my colleagues in hardware development told me that it was unrealistic, so I gave up.”

"Infrared interaction?" Claudia's eyes lit up when she heard Jester's statement. She also felt that using infrared to interact was more stupid than using two different machines to interact every time. Communication line connections are much stronger.

While chatting, Jester and Claudia talked about the newly formed company.

"Your plan is that the new products released by the company will be the European version of the card game called "World Storm" and the Pokemon electronic pet machine that you brought?" After playing with the Pokemon electronic pet machine in his hand, Ke Claudia asked in a low voice.

"Um."

Nodding, Jester explained: "I personally think that the card game "World Storm" is very suitable for the first release in Europe, because the consistency in the background is also suitable for enhancing the sense of substitution, and I also like the electronic pet machine. After reading your survey report, I think you are right. Moreover, the Pokemon electronic pet machine has been successful in Japan and the United States. In Europe, the market research I have done in the past few days has also found a lot of crowds, and In some large shopping malls, I even found some stores selling them, and the sales are pretty good, so it’s a good choice to use these two to build your reputation.”

Claudia smiled after hearing this and corrected Jester: "We are no longer a new company with little reputation. Sega used to use your success in the United States to promote your four arcade games. Advertising, so Mars Entertainment now has many fans in the UK."

"Haha." Jester smiled nonchalantly and said, "Then I have to thank Sega."

Then, Claudia also retracted her smile and continued to ask: "Then what?"

"Actually, my initial plan is not only that, but also to officially release "game" in Europe. The initial plan is to launch a German version and a French version in addition to the English version. Also, the promotion plan is the same as in the United States. , I plan to use the trial version of "City of Battle" to open up the sales of "Gaem" magazine in Europe." Jester said simply.

"Actually, we can wait for Sega's promotion plan. After they help us promote it, we can start the formal promotion. After all, Europe is not the United States. If you rely on the reputation of Mars Entertainment to promote magazines in the UK, it may still be possible, but in France With Germany, there is no possibility." Claudia thought for a while before expressing her opinion.

"Okay." Jester frowned and thought for a moment before agreeing.

During the conversation, countless spectators poured into the stadium. On the stage set up on one side of the stadium, the staff had already arranged the scene, and various rock instruments had been moved up. In the center of the stage, there were also He was holding a piano. Seeing an instrument like a piano at a rock band's concert made Jester a little curious.

Although the Queen band members have not yet appeared, the audience, which has filled the entire stadium like a sea of ​​people, is constantly cheering and shouting the names of the Queen band members loudly. Under the guidance of the on-site DJ, Every time a name is uttered, there will be a burst of cheers.

Especially when Freddy McCreary's name was called, the cheers were the loudest.

Looking at the exciting scene below the box, Jester was also a little bit impatient. He suddenly realized that Adam Edgar's choice was correct. Originally, Claudia also wanted to get him a ticket to the VIP box. But he refused and replied in a dismissive tone: "You don't understand the rock scene at all. You can't integrate that kind of passion in the box."

Jester does feel this way now.

"I may not make any big moves until the end of the year. Everything is preparing for the CES exhibition at the end of the year. Whether it is the several games currently being produced or the home console, they are all for this time at the end of the year. Nintendo has also confirmed to attend the exhibition, and will officially launch the American version of their FC game console, NES, at the exhibition, but the specific news has not been revealed, but according to Nintendo, NES is not just a pure game console."

Jester spoke to Claudia again.

Claudia also nodded, and she asked thoughtfully: "You mean, our European branch has also been slowly preparing in the past two months, and then we will attack at the end of the year."

"Yeah." Jester nodded, and then shook his head, "It's not like we're not doing anything at all. For example, the cards and electronic pet machines of "World Storm" that I just mentioned can be ready for sale immediately, but More games will have to wait until the end of the year, and then it will be our first battle with Nintendo."

After hearing what Jester said, Claudia was a little confused and seemed to be deeply worried when Jester talked about Nintendo.

Although Nintendo's FC released in Japan has achieved incredible success, in terms of the quality of current games, Mars Entertainment is still ahead of Nintendo, and this is not competing with Nintendo in Japan, but in the United States, which already has a large number of fans. , she didn’t understand why Jester was afraid of Nintendo.

So, she also expressed her doubts.

Jester just shook his head and did not elaborate. Today's Nintendo may just be a successful gaming company in Japan, and its popularity around the world is not much better than Jester's Mars Entertainment. Even in the United States, In other words, in North America, Jester’s Mars Entertainment is even more famous than Nintendo.

But perhaps only Jester in the world knows how successful this game company, which is currently limited to Japan, will be in North America and the world. In the history of that world, between 1984 and 1988 Over the past seven years, Nintendo has become almost synonymous with video games.

However, Jester obviously couldn't explain this in detail. He just said perfunctorily: "I just received news from the Japanese branch. Nintendo has recently used FC's success in Japan to force many game manufacturers to sign a royalty system with them. Although many manufacturers don’t agree with the plan, we still have plans to sign a contract with Nintendo.”

"Royalty system?" This confused Claudia again. This was the first time she heard this term.

"Well, the royalty system." Jester nodded and continued, "I can't explain the details at the moment. You just need to know that this is a game distribution system of Nintendo. The purpose is to trap those who are on FC. A game developer that produces games.”

"Is this system difficult to deal with?" Claudia still didn't understand.

Jester was silent for a while before speaking: "Yes, it is very difficult to deal with, and this royalty system was created based on the collapse of Atari. This system can ensure the quality of the game to the greatest extent. It also allows Nintendo to avoid almost all risks and earn maximum profits from game distribution. I have to say that Mr. Yamauchi of Nintendo is a wizard in gaming."

And Claudia was extremely curious about the royalty system that Jester mentioned. She really couldn't figure out what kind of system could avoid risks while still making the maximum profit. According to the principle of equivalence, Shouldn’t we make high profits while also taking high risks?

For example, the simplest example is that a home console game always needs to be burned into a cassette for sale. The more it is sold, the more cassettes need to be burned into it. The initial cost of hundreds of thousands of cassettes is millions of dollars. In order to earn large sales While making excess profits, you also need to prepare enough cassettes before the release, when you still don’t know whether they will be a big seller. This is the risk you need to take.

So, she asked Jester the same question.

Jester smiled and was about to answer, but at this moment, a roaring sound suddenly came from the scene. He raised his eyes and looked towards Wembley Stadium. At this time, members of Queen had already taken the stage. , and Freddy McCreary, the soul of Queen and their lead singer, who was affectionately called Uncle Beard by later fans, also sat in front of the piano in the middle of the stage.

At this time, the music started playing, and a burst of flowing piano sound came from the microphones surrounding the audience. At this moment, there was a moment of silence in the stadium with hundreds of thousands of people.

Listening to this slightly familiar prelude, Jester knew that the first song Freddie McCreary would sing at this concert was "Bohemian Rhapsody" which he used to like very much. It is a song as gorgeous as a hymn sung by a choir, and it is also one of Queen's masterpieces, although it is not as well-known in China as the other two songs that have almost become Queen's trademarks.

And the moment this melody sounded, the hundreds of thousands of Queen fans in the audience burst into excitement.

Almost everyone was shouting Freddie McCreary's name crazily.

"I'll tell you in detail when the concert is over. Now let's listen to the song." Jester saw that now that Freddie MacRae had started singing, he didn't want to miss the highlight of the concert, especially It was still his favorite Queen song, so he said this to Claudia.

"good."

Claudia just smoothed her hair on her forehead and agreed with a smile.

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