Top of the big era

Gaming is a huge industry that cannot be avoided as long as you are in the IT industry. However, games are more geared toward software companies than Internet companies.

The logical focus of the game is the product, and it has little to do with the order of entry time. As long as the creativity is good and the gameplay is novel, it can attract players.

The logic of the Internet is more about grabbing the track. Unless the first players to enter the market make too obvious mistakes and the products they produce are really poor, it will be difficult for later entrants to break through the resistance of the track even if they perfect their products.

In the past few years, Ziweixing's development focus has been on the Internet field. Zhou Buqi has not paid much attention to the gaming industry. He only cooperated with Sohu to jointly establish Changyou.

But things are different now.

This is a period of industry transformation for the mobile Internet.

Mobile games are different from computer games.

Computer performance is very good, and computer games can be well-made and stunning. But mobile games are not good. Due to the performance of smartphones, mobile games must make more choices in design and production, and they must actively give up some "exquisite" production, otherwise the mobile phone will not run.

In other words, even mobile games produced by EA and Blizzard may not be as beautiful as those produced by individual development teams.

It’s not that they don’t have the ability, it’s that mobile phone hardware has limitations and caps.

This also means that mobile games will have a large number of homogeneous products with no obvious differentiation, especially casual games. The logical focus is not on products, but also on the Internet.

This will remain the case for at least five or six years.

This is Ziweixing’s opportunity to enter the market and gain a valuable opportunity to use Internet logic to make mobile games for a certain period of time. After several years of development, Ziweixing's game department has become very strong. When the time comes, it will no longer be afraid to stand up and compete with world-class game giants.

Tang Binchen's advice was recognized.

Zhou Buqi sighed, "Well, I have been busy with Ziweixing Global and Ziweixing Digital Media recently, and I have paid less attention to Ziweixing's core business. You are right, now is a period of industry change. It really can’t be ignored.”

Tang Binchen said with a smile: "You can't arrange everything, otherwise what would the company do with so many people? We have to mobilize our subjective initiative. Everyone puts forward opinions and you make the judgment. This is the best mechanism."

"Um."

Zhou Buqi nodded.

I knew that this kid was suspected of fanning the flames, but I had to admit that what he said was right.

From this point of view, the land machine entrusted with the important task seems unreliable!

He didn't see such an important track? Or do you mean that you see it but don’t want to take responsibility and don’t want to give opinions? Or is it that he is not a gamer himself and is unwilling to pay attention because he lacks interest in games?

In any case, Zhou Buqi was very dissatisfied with Lu Qi in this matter.

At the critical moment, you have to rely on your direct relatives!

At this time, the consulting company finally came, speaking in half-baked English that Zhou Buqi couldn't quite understand, describing Sony's business, personnel, financial and many other conditions.

Fortunately, there are also translated English materials.

Zhou Buqi could listen to him and understand the situation at the same time.

This starts with Nobuyuki Idei, independent director and consultant of MSI Japan and former Sony chairman, president and CEO.

In the early 1990s, the Japanese economy was hit by the Plaza Accord, and Sony's development also encountered great difficulties. They had not launched a new product that could lead the world for a long time.

The most distressing thing is the entertainment industry.

Sony spent US$6 billion to acquire Columbia Pictures. Over the past few years, it suffered losses of more than US$2 billion, which became the most shocking and huge loss in the history of Japanese business.

Against this background, Nobuyuki Dei came to power in 1995 and initiated a series of reforms. The first thing is to reorganize the board of directors. At that time, Sony's board of directors had as many as 38 directors, but he reduced it to 10.

Then, Howard Stringer was invited to lead the reform of Sony Entertainment and achieved great success. In one fell swoop, he launched a series of major movies such as "Men in Black", "Jedi Men", "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Spider-Man". Movies for sale. It has also firmly controlled Michael Jackson's music copyright through a series of operations, becoming Sony Music's core asset.

At the same time, Sony launched the VAIO notebook computer, which once again led the market trend and became the aesthetic trend of Steve Jobs' later Apple computers. Coupled with the global sales of PS2, it created a profit of 2.5 billion US dollars in a single year... In just a few years, Sony recovered under the leadership of Nobuyuki Dei!

However, reform will inevitably encounter resistance and complex power struggles.

Nobuyuki Idei made two major decisions, one was to acquire Apple and the other was to sell financial assets. The talks were almost done, but they encountered firm opposition from the Council of Elders.

Then, the subprime mortgage crisis broke out.

Sony was hit hard, and Nobuyuki Idei could only take responsibility and resigned sadly. The successor was Howard Stringer, whom he had promoted.

After Howard Stringer came to power, he immediately made a series of reforms, which were even more aggressive than Nobu Idei's. The first thing is to abolish the system of senior executives becoming consultants after retirement, which is equivalent to disbanding the Council of Elders.

Then a series of business adjustments were made.

They were already thriving.

Then, I encountered the same situation as Nobuyuki Dei, and the economic crisis came again!

Originally, Sony was gradually recovering under his leadership, everything was getting better, and they were looking to make a big move, but they suffered another critical blow!

The material gives a lot of reform measures, as well as details on business adjustments, as well as various intricate interpersonal relationships within Sony.

These are not important, Zhou Buqi will not pay attention to these trivial things.

He only had to make sure of one thing.

History is always surprisingly similar.

Nobuyuki Dei stepped down because of the economic crisis. This Howard Stringer is a foreigner and will face greater pressure for reform than Nobuyuki Dei.

There is an economic crisis right now, and maybe he will step down too.

Zhou Buqi just needs to grasp this pain point and help Howard Stringer get through the current crisis.

The consultant’s name was Ryo Ono, and he was a vice president of Panasonic before retiring, so he was able to quickly grasp the key points and quickly said: “The difficulties Sony is currently facing are mainly consumer electronics products, such as mobile phones, Walkmans, TVs and DVD players. But the most important thing is their home game console PS3.”

Zhou Buqi was very interested, "Okay, let's focus on the PS3."

Mr. Ryo Ono concluded: "This is Sony's flagship product. However, after its launch, sales were not satisfactory and its reputation also declined seriously. There are three main reasons."

"good."

"First, the price is too expensive. Sony spent a lot of money to develop its own chip that adapts to the Blu-ray high-definition format, which cost a lot of money. Second, the PS3 mainly promotes Blu-ray high-definition and new technology images. The game visual effects are rich in elements and the light and shadow performance is very good. It’s powerful, but there are no games. Past games were developed for past hardware, which resulted in incompatibility with PS3 at all, resulting in very few games playable on PS3. Third, there are system problems.”

Having said this, Ono Ryo took out his mobile phone.

It's an iPhone.

Ono Ryo said with emotion: "I have never seen such an invincible, clean and attractive operating system. But PS3 is so far behind that it even lags behind in interface design."

Zhou Buqi frowned.

PS3 is a consumer electronics product, which represents the soul of Sony, which is much more important than the copyright of "Spider-Man". For Sony, "Spider-Man" is just a tool to make money, but PS3 is the belief, the soul, and the spiritual pillar of the company.

However, each of these three things is more difficult than the last, and it is difficult for Ziweixing to help.

Tang Binchen asked: "Mr. Ono, do you think there is room for expansion in the business cooperation between Ziweixing and Sony?"

"have."

Ono Ryo was categorical.

"oh?"

"Now is the Internet era. Compared with PS2, PS3 has also followed up with Internet functions. For example... well, ZiMSI's YikYak and UC Beauty can both develop software on the PS3 system."

"Well……"

Tang Binchen twitched the corner of his mouth and didn't think this proposal was very good.

PS3 is a home game console, which is equivalent to a box. It needs to be connected to a TV to display images on the TV screen. In this operating environment, how can the product advantages of YikYak and UC Beauty be demonstrated? There is neither a keyboard nor a camera.

But then, Ono Ryo added, "The one with the most potential for cooperation is your video website Niconico. I think Sony will be very interested."

Tang Binchen slapped his thigh, "That's right!"

Niconico is a two-dimensional website.

There are two major user groups here, one is animation fans and the other is game fans.

Almost all senior game fans in Japan are Niconico users!

In other words, the user base of PS3 and Niconico's user base are highly overlapped, which creates a basis for strong alliances. If it were in the past, Sony would be high-spirited and might not be willing to put down its dignity and cooperate with Internet companies.

But things are different now. Under the economic crisis, we have to let go of face and other things.

Especially when the family member, Howard Stringer, is an American, cooperation is even easier.

Ono Liang said: "PS3 is not only a home game console, but also a DVD player and a TV box. In other words, after buying a PS3, you can use it to play DVDs and watch online videos on the TV through the Internet. I believe this These are all points that Ziweixing can take advantage of.”

Zhou Buqi frowned and didn't quite understand, "Isn't the PS3 positioned as a game console? With the added functions of DVD playback and TV box, doesn't it weaken the game attribute?"

Ono Liang said with a smile: "Mr. Zhou really hit the nail on the head."

"what happened?"

"Ahem, this is the complexity of Sony. Different business lines are not subordinate to each other, and they only care about their own interests. PS2 has sold 200 million units worldwide. A large number of people bought PS2, not for playing games. They are all used as video players to watch DVDs. Electronic products are the spirit of Sony, which are more important than games and film and television entertainment."

"Um."

Zhou Buqi nodded.

This requires the choice of the person at the helm, that is, the CEO's trade-off.

From a long-term perspective, PS2 can be used as a DVD player, and PS3 even adds the function of a TV box, which will greatly affect Sony's game business.

But in the short term, if sales go up and money is made, the performance report will be very beautiful.

Under the economic crisis, this is indeed a good way to quench thirst by drinking poison.