Reborn as a tycoon in Hong Kong

In the afternoon, before the time reached 2:30, Nolan Bushnell, the president of Atari, came to visit in advance.

Nolan Bushnell didn't come alone, he brought his secretary with him.

"Welcome, Mr. Bushnell." "Nice to meet you, Mr. Lin."

Lin Baicheng and Nolan Bushnell shook hands.

"Please come to my office to talk."

Lin Baicheng took Nolan Bushnell and his secretary to the office, and Isabella went to make coffee for a few people.

Sitting down on the sofa, Nolan Bushnell did not get to the point right away, but chatted casually: "Mr. Lin, your New Century Software Company doesn't look like it develops games. What does it do?"

"It mainly develops software that can be used on computers to facilitate people's work."

Lin Baicheng replied ambiguously, without saying much. Although he didn't think that if he elaborated, there would be one more competitor, but there was no need for him to elaborate.

Nolan Bushnell listened and said: "Computer applications are becoming more and more widespread now. Apple's personal computers are convenient for both business and personal use in terms of price and size. I think personal computers will become more popular in the future. , Mr. Lin, the software you develop will have a huge market."

"It seems we have thought of getting together."

Lin Baicheng was a little surprised, then pointed to the personal computer on the other side of the desk and said: "That is Apple's personal computer. Compared with big machines such as IBM computers and Wangan computers, it is much smaller, so I believe It will be welcomed by people and gradually enter thousands of households."

"It is precisely because of the small size of Apple's personal computers that our company also bought a few."

Nolan Bushnell nodded in agreement. Because of its small size, Apple's personal computers are definitely not as powerful as those big computers. This is true, but for some companies that do not process much data, and individuals with smaller needs. Said, Apple's personal computers are enough.

Therefore, if it is sufficient, Apple's personal computer takes up less space and is much cheaper. Of course, people will choose it.

"BOSS! Mr. Bushnell!"

Isabella walked in, placed the coffee she was holding in front of several people, and then sat down next to them.

Drinking coffee, Nolan Bushnell stopped chatting and got down to the topic: "Mr. Lin, I think you should know the purpose of coming to you today. Atari wants to obtain "Xiangjiang Cube" from Galaxy Games Company. and "Pac-Man", and ported these two games to Atari's consoles."

Lin Baicheng was a little surprised that the game "Pac-Man" was added, but it is normal to think about it. This arcade game is also very popular, even more popular than "Xiangjiang Cube", but relatively speaking, "Xiangjiang Cube" is more suitable for playing in Just use it on the host.

Therefore, "Pac-Man" may not be as popular as "Pac-Man" when transplanted to the console, but it is a popular game after all. I believe that the results of transplanting to the console will not be bad, so Atari wants to win it together. It's also normal.

Lin Baicheng shook his head and refused: "Mr. Bushnell, I think my attitude is already obvious. I will not license these two games to Atari."

"Mr. Lin, don't refuse in a hurry. Listen to Atari's conditions."

Nolan Bushnell immediately said: "Atari is willing to license these two games for US$8 million, and is willing to give a 20% share of the sales of game cartridges. This is the share of the sales price of the cartridges. , rather than profit sharing. In other words, if a cassette sells for $40 today, Mr. Lin, you can get a share of $8."

"Today Atari VCS has sold about 400,000 units, which means it has an audience of at least 400,000, not to mention that cartridges usually sell more than consoles, and it is possible to sell 1 million copies."

"Furthermore, this is just the current sales volume of Atari VCS. The more Atari VCS is sold, the bigger the market will be, and the cassettes will naturally sell better."

"Mr. Lin, as long as you are willing to license, I can guarantee that you can earn at least US$20 million within two years with the licensing fee plus the sales share of the cassette. For this reason, I can even sign a guaranteed contract of US$20 million on behalf of Atari."

A profit of 20 million US dollars is already quite a lot. In this era, many companies do not make that much profit in a year. For example, Apple and Microsoft do not have such a large market value today.

Lin Baicheng admitted that he was a little excited, but what he was excited about was not the profit of 20 million US dollars, but the 20% sales share offered by Atari.

Lin Baicheng is very clear that Atari VCS sales will explode from next year, because Atari's competitor Fairchild Semiconductor withdrew from the game industry this year.

Although Atari VCS was only developed by Atari last year, and it only took about half a year in total, the concept of cassette insertion was not invented by Atari. A product of Fairchild Semiconductor is called "Fairchild The "F Wave" model was used for the first time, and it was only popularized in the gaming industry by Atari VCS.

The sales volume of Atari VCS is not bad, and Fairchild Semiconductor is not blind, so it upgraded the 'Fairchild F Wave' model and applied it to entertainment games. Now it is the competitor of Atari VCS on the market. .

In early 1979, Fairchild Semiconductor cut off game manufacturing due to poor management and the belief that video games were outdated. Unfortunately, in the summer of that year, Fairchild Semiconductor still failed to sustain itself and was eventually taken over by French foreign capital.

It is precisely because of the withdrawal of Fairchild Semiconductor and the public's realization that they can play games without going to the arcade that Atari VCS has experienced an explosion in sales and officially skyrocketed.

No, by next year, Atari VCS had already been upgraded to Atari 2600. Due to the withdrawal of Fairchild Semiconductor, by the end of 1979, the total sales of Atari 2600 reached more than 2 million units.

More than 2 million units are the sales volume of the Atari 2600 console. If the cassette is used, it will only be more than the game console. This is the bulk of the profit.

Therefore, if the two games "Hong Kong Cube" and "Pac-Man" are licensed to Atari, it is entirely possible that the licensing of these two games will bring Lin Baicheng hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue next year, you say How could this not make Lin Baicheng's heart move?

The profit of 100 million US dollars is just the licensing of two games. There is nothing to do. Market development is Atari's business. It doesn't have to spend any money. This kind of money is really easy to make.

You can make money just lying down, without doing anything, and you can still earn as much as 100 million US dollars. It's strange that Lin Baicheng is not tempted. But after his heartbeat, he regained his senses and was still ready to refuse.

(Thanks to ‘Changfengpang’ for the big 500-point reward support!)