"When a whale falls, everything comes alive. There should be many people starting their own businesses here, right?" Chen Zhiwen asked.
"Yes, our people have contacted almost all the R&D engineers at Atari. At least 6 small groups have formed game companies, and several of them are very capable. They were very good when they were at Atari. results." Lei Shengli said.
"Well, then contact them. Our previous third-party open platform also needs a strong team like them." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.
In this world, many capable people go through a process from working part-time to becoming a boss. When Atari was still around, these people may have been accustomed to their previous life, which was fine, but once they lost their jobs, they had thoughts in their minds. , those are those who will not give up until they reach the Yellow River, and even nine oxen cannot be pulled back.
There are a lot of people like this. Even if he manages to recruit these people today, more will appear tomorrow. Garage entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley is a trend for people with ideals.
Among these people, maybe someone will be able to create a game comparable to Mario. Although this is not a threat to Midea, it will definitely have a lot of impact, especially if there are too many such games, it will A new market will be cultivated: new game home consoles.
This is a threat to Midea's foundation in the game industry. Therefore, before they become big, just tie them to their own boat, even if most of the profits from the game cards go to the original author.
As long as the platform is stable and famous, other game creators will actively apply to join, so these first few years are the most important.
For these entrepreneurs, they now have nothing but creativity. If they cooperate with Midea, they can directly use Midea's powerful channels to issue their own game cards, and their operations can be lightweight.
"I have arranged for people to talk to them, and they also said that they will think more about it after the game is completed." Lei Shengli said.
"Okay, if this is the case, we need to increase our advertising investment in the United States. NBC is now our ally. Ask them for more advertising time, and then ask the most famous people in the United States to endorse them. We must In a shorter period of time, more families will become our users." Chen Zhiwen thought for a while and then said.
Nowadays, Midea's profits in the United States are very high, but the market has not yet reached a monopoly position. After all, there are at least tens of millions of households in the United States. At the current sales rate, it will take several years to reach 1/3, and this The number is basically the limit of the game market. This is also the total market number of game consoles in the United States in previous generations. After all, not all families like to play games, and there are also many families who play less, so just a few families can make one.
However, there is theoretically no upper limit on the number of game cards. New games can be added one after another. In the next few years, game cards will become another major source of income for Midea, and the introduction of third-party game companies is for this purpose.
"Okay, I wonder what the budget is?" Lei Shengli asked.
"In half a year, maybe 20 million U.S. dollars." Chen Zhiwen thought for a while and said. With Midea's current profits, this amount of money is not small but not too much. Besides, advertising can always attract more people to buy. And if you buy a game console, the market for cards will become even bigger.
"Okay, Henry Morgan will probably be extremely happy." Lei Shengli said with a smile.
20 million U.S. dollars is already a considerable amount of advertising money for a TV station. Although NBC may have a discount, the profit from an order of this magnitude is definitely not bad.
Of course, this money may not all go to NBC. At most, other TV stations will not be considered. Other newspapers, shopping mall advertising spaces, etc. will also have certain investment.
"They must at least have a good discount there, otherwise I won't choose them." Chen Zhiwen smiled and said: "There is nothing wrong with this game. If it goes well, it will be released in the arcade as soon as possible. The current arcade market is not comparable. In the past, when the arcade market was almost fully developed, we would need to get a Famicom."
Although Midea still insists that high-quality games be released on arcades first and then on Famicom, this can ensure maximum profits, but when a large number of Famicoms appear in ordinary families, even the playability of "Tank Battle" will be far worse than before. Play [Mario], but the game cards are purchased with one-time money. After purchasing, you can play as you like. A thousand hours of playing will only cost you a little more electricity. And no matter how fun [Mario] is, you still have to spend a lot of money each time. money.
Even if a true game fan will continue to play arcades, when there are other free games at home that are less entertaining but free, they will at least save money on arcades.
So no matter what, the arcade market will be affected. This is inevitable. We cannot give up the Famicom market just because arcade machines are highly profitable. Isn't that similar to Kodak's desire to hide the discovery of digital cameras and preserve the profits of its own film?
"Okay, I'm going to start flying to the United States for small batch testing at the end of the month. I should be able to stock up on goods by late June. According to market forecasts, Mario will be available on the Famicom by the middle of next year." Lei Shengli analyzed.
"Okay, let's follow this plan." Chen Zhiwen paused and said, "I'm planning to go to the mainland soon. When I come back, I'll prepare to develop another game."
There are not many classic games from his past life in his memory. When these games are almost used up, Naomi Games will have to rely on itself. Therefore, the best way now is to set up a third-party platform, and the plan is In the early days, you also needed to have enough classic games, so that you could rely on the games to attract other families to buy red and white consoles, thus taking the first step towards monopolizing the market.
"Okay." Lei Shengli nodded and said.
…
Friday, May 20th.
Chen Zhiwen and a group of Hong Kong wealthy people boarded a charter flight to Yanjing.
This time, at the invitation of Xinhua News Agency, some Hong Kong Chinese rich and famous people went to Yanjing together, including Li Ka-shing, Pao Yugang, Hu Yingxiang, Lee Shau Kee, etc. The purpose was naturally to discuss how Hong Kong will develop in the future. By the way, they may also discuss Various possibilities for cooperation.
On the plane, Chen Zhiwen also met Jin Yong, the great martial arts writer. Although Chen Zhiwen had known his name for a long time, he had never seen him since he traveled to Hong Kong. Maybe it was because there was no need for it. After all, there was no commercial cooperation. In the early stage, if you are not famous, you may not be accepted by others, but later on, when you become famous, there will be no need. The two also chatted for a while on the plane, but Chen Zhiwen didn't understand either, so they could only talk about the mainland later.
More than three hours later, the plane arrived in Yanjing City.
This time it was not an open invitation, so there was no big reception. A director of the Ministry of Commerce came and sent everyone very politely to a five-star hotel on the edge of the Second Ring Road of Yanjing.
It has been more than four years since it was re-opened, and Yanjing has undergone many changes. There seem to be more bicycles on the road, and the ability to receive foreign guests has also improved a lot. There are at least a few five-star hotels, but these are not They are all invested and constructed by Hong Kong capital or overseas Chinese.
In the afternoon of that day, several big leaders came to negotiate with the Hong Kong businessmen present. However, what the big leaders said were all in official language, supporting Hong Kong investment in China, ensuring everyone's income, mutual benefit and win-win, etc. The real investment in details naturally comes from subsequent professional docking.
The Hong Kong businessmen who come here basically have their own projects. For example, Li Ka-shing announced very early on that he would build a university in Shantou. This time, he was contacted by the Ministry of Education, while Hu Yingxiang wanted to continue building a cross-river bridge. , so it was docked by the Ministry of Transport, Bao Yugang, naturally it is still a ship. Although global shipping is no longer good, it is even more difficult for the mainland to just prepare to do it. We can only find well-known shipping companies like Bao Yugang. In addition, because Bao Yugang controls China Electric Power, the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Station project becomes Bao Yugang's. This time he came to Yanjing and he was the busiest.
As for Chen Zhiwen, there is nothing else, only the International Trade Center project, and other industrial investments have basically been completed, so he does not need to interfere too much.
The person who contacted Chen Zhiwen was Deputy Director Wei from the General Administration of Foreign Trade. Although this project was in Yanjing City, it was directly managed by the central government. After all, after the completion of the International Trade Center, it will not only serve Yanjing.
"Director Wei, please take a seat." After President Liang finished the introduction and left, Chen Zhiwen said with a polite smile.
"Mr. Chen, you're welcome." Director Wei didn't dare to put on airs with the person in front of him. You know, even if the other person met the big leader he led, it was true. One person's assets exceeded that of everyone in Yanjing in a year. Total wealth, if he takes over the International Trade Center project this time, it will greatly ease the pressure on domestic finances.
"There is some Pu'er tea here. It is prepared in the hotel. Director Wei can try it." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.
"Okay, thank you." Director Wei took a sip and said, "Mr. Chen, the main reason why I came here this time is to discuss with you the matter of the Yanjing International Trade Center. The central government also attaches great importance to this matter. We will I have also discussed it with Mr. Zhou from Hutchison Whampoa, and I wonder if you have any other questions?"
"I don't think there is any problem with the location selection. The location of the Third Ring Road is very good and the transportation is very convenient. However, I compared the data of New York City and feel that our International Trade Center seems to be too small?" Chen Zhiwen asked.
"Chen Sheng, according to our plan, 100,000 square meters is enough for the first phase of the building." Director Wei said: "Chen Sheng means to build the International Trade Center larger."
"Yes, I think since it is going to be built, it must be built as a super landmark and become an external phenomenon for the entire Yanjing city." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.
(End of chapter)
