game trailblazer

Chapter 210 Nintendo's Turnaround
At the same time that the entire July and August were organized by Fengyun Interactive into a lively summer vacation, a lively ceremony was also being held near the Shangdi Information Technology Industrial Park. The China Education and Research Network (CERNET) optical fiber backbone network project that the company is responsible for the construction held a groundbreaking ceremony. Important leaders from the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, and the Ministry of Science and Technology were present. Hua Ziqing, the general manager of Dongfang Industrial Group, also personally appeared Participated in the ribbon cutting.

There was a burst of crackling firecrackers, a few scissors waved "chi chi chi cha cha", and the long red silk ribbons became several sections in response, and the scene immediately burst into warm applause.Putting down the scissors in their hands, several leaders, together with Hua Ziqing, each took a shallow dig with a shovel, and the cameraman followed closely to take a key shot.After the leaders dispersed, the real construction workers were able to enter the site, and the machines began to roar. The CERNET optical fiber backbone network project finally officially started.

Of course, Zhang Lexing did not see all this with his own eyes, but only learned about it from Yan Ruofei, who went with Hua Ziqing, and reported it back. However, even if Yan Ruofei did not say anything about activities such as leader ribbon cutting, Zhang Lexing would have been familiar with it for a long time .Although the optical fiber backbone network project has officially started, Zhang Lexing also knows that it will not be enough to complete it in one or two years. Fortunately, he does not expect to be able to use it immediately. A backbone node is connected, which is basically enough.

The optical fiber network is not accomplished overnight, and Zhang Lexing does not need or need to intervene in person. When it comes time to install network equipment, he can use his own experience to come up with ideas. After all, he has seen what the future backbone network and metropolitan area network will look like. .But right now, there aren't many things that Zhang Lexing needs to do personally. Every industry has its own business department and company to manage and operate, and I have enough time to accompany Chen Zishan or pay attention to the "Adventure King" that is under development.

In addition to following the development process of "Adventure King" and accompanying Chen Zishan, Zhang Lexing will also pay close attention to the situation in the game industry. For example, today, he called Wang Mengyao and listened to her report on the game industry information collected during this period of time. .

"Boss, let me first talk about the game console competition that you are most concerned about. The information collected by our investigators shows that in the current war of next-generation consoles, the PS game console has temporarily taken the lead, and the advantage is very obvious. As of the end of August, RB's domestic sales of PS game consoles have reached 8 million units, 350 million SS game consoles, 300 million N64 game consoles, 100 million PS game consoles in North America, 210 SS game consoles, and 80 SS game consoles in Europe. There are 160 million SS game consoles, 25 SS game consoles, and N64 game consoles have not yet been sold in North America and Europe..." Wang Mengyao first introduced the latest competition situation of game consoles.

According to Wang Mengyao, the joint development of PS game consoles with Sony has already seized the opportunity in this next-generation game console war. There are few heavyweight manufacturers like Square Enix.Sega's SS game console worked very hard, and even surpassed the sales volume of 100 million earlier than the PS game console. Unfortunately, the host's performance is inherently insufficient for 3D performance. In addition, it has a nearly brain-dead leader, and it is gradually left behind by the PS game console. This is especially true in North America and Europe.

As for the N64, which Nintendo has been brewing for a long time, although it sold 30 on the first day of its launch, which makes people feel the strong reputation of an established manufacturer, but because the games are very rare, except for the three first-release games, other games have to wait at least It took four or five months to go on the market, and then sales began to go from bad to worse, and the weekly sales fell behind PS game consoles. As a result, it barely passed the line of 100 million units until now.

The 3DO, which started the next-generation game console war, has gradually faded out of people's sight at this time. In addition to buying the so-called 3DO upgrade version and code-named M2, Panasonic released some news from time to time. What "M2 console is stepping up development" , the launch date is not far away", "Many manufacturers are optimistic about the prospects of M2", etc., but they always see the stairs ringing but no one comes down, just like the legendary "bubble piece", which keeps it from the original The expecting players gradually lost their patience and turned to embrace PS, SS or N64.

In fact, even if Wang Mengyao didn't mention these things, Zhang Lexing knew about them.The result of this round of game console competition can be said to be Sony's victory. This newcomer in the game industry pushed the original boss Nintendo down from the altar with the PS game console, and indirectly realized their dream for many years for Sega. Unfortunately, this is not what the unlucky Sega company wants to see.In the eyes of many people, Nintendo, the original giant in the game industry, is now at sunset, and it is only left to sing "I haven't been a big brother for many years...". Incidents such as unsmooth and poor sales after the official listing seem to prove this point.

For these things that should have been clear, the reason why Zhang Lexing sent investigators to investigate is actually because he was worried that his existence would bring too many variables, making the transition from 16-bit consoles to 32- and 64-bit consoles the next generation of games. The console wars have taken an unforeseen turn.Whether it is Sony's PS game console, Nintendo's N64 game console, or Sega's SS game console, a situation where either party wins decisively and leads to a dominant player is not what Zhang Lexing wants to see, because that would mean When their own game consoles go on the market, they will face an overly powerful opponent, so the best situation is that Nintendo, Sony, and Sega will fight among themselves, instead of prematurely deciding the final result.This is also the reason why after jointly developing the PS game console with Sony, he did not do his best to support Sony, but turned part of his power to the not-so-good N64 console. Zhang Lexing did not want Nintendo to collapse suddenly during this most difficult period, lest No one will help spread the fire in the future.

In terms of game software development, Zhang Lexing is adhering to the same considerations, and does not limit which game platform to choose for its TV game development company. As long as it can make money, no matter if it is PS, SS or N64, it can be considered. Of course, like 3DO. Certainly not a short-lived platform.The heavyweight masterpieces such as "Final Fantasy", "Dragon Quest", and "Legend of Zelda" mastered by Zhang Lexing's companies will be used as balance weights to control the development of game consoles such as PS, SS and N64. Development, don't let the gap between them widen too much, especially between PS and N64, Sega's SS game console Zhang Lexing also thought about making a difference, but unfortunately they themselves are too disappointing.

After introducing the main competitors of the next-generation game console, Wang Mengyao began to introduce in detail the main actions of Nintendo during this period. This is also a point that Zhang Lexing is more concerned about. He wants to grasp the next development track of Nintendo.

"...In mid-May, at the E5 exhibition in Los Angeles, Nintendo North America exhibited the N3 game console. It also spent 64 million US dollars to arrange a very luxurious booth, and put out more than 400 N50s for the audience. Trial play, the games on display are mainly "Super Mario 64"..." Wang Mengyao started from the E64 exhibition in May, introducing Nintendo's recent actions on the N5 console.

Many game manufacturers are not optimistic about the future of the N64 game console. Although this is the future console mainly promoted by Nintendo, the repeated delays to the market have made the manufacturers lose confidence. If Nintendo hadn't released the N64 at the end of last year After experiencing the failure of VRBoy, many people doubt whether Nintendo has the ability to complete the development of the N64 game console.Although there is hope for the launch of the N64 game console, its backward cassette media has disappointed the manufacturers. Correspondingly, the number of N64 game support manufacturers is very small. The outlook for the N64 console was clouded.Before the E64 exhibition, even many Nintendo employees were full of worries about the future of the N3.

However, Yamauchi's son-in-law Arakawa Minoru is not a guy who is willing to give up easily, not to mention that he completed the research and development of the N64 alone, and he cannot give up the N64 game console just for the future of Nintendo and Nintendo North America.But the situation Arakawa is facing is too dangerous. Because of a stupid decision, the N64 can only use cassette media. Not only is the cost much higher than that of CDs, but the capacity is also much smaller than CDs. As a result, there are not many. Manufacturers are willing to develop games on it. If Nintendo hadn't made some concessions decisively, even "Legend of Sedar" would have gone to other companies.

There are not many games that can be sold, and Arakawa is embarrassed to copy the propaganda methods of the Nintendo Famicom and Super Nintendo era. Fortunately, he is a flexible person. It doesn’t matter if there are few things. Like "Super Mario 64" and "The Legend of Zelda 64" that someone promised them.The E3 exhibition this time is an experiment by Arakawa Minoru, and the final result is similar to what he expected. The masterpiece strategy has achieved quite good results, basically relying on "Super Mario 64". It has achieved similar results to Sony and Sega.But Arakawa hadn't had time to be happy, Sony announced that the price of the US version of the PS game console was reduced to 199 US dollars, and even Sega's SS game console was also forced to lower the price. The US dollar price becomes embarrassing.Arakawa was really not reconciled to such a good situation, so he immediately flew back to RB to discuss the adjustment of the price of the N64 US version.

"...Arakawa Minoru's set of actions is quite effective. Not only has he avoided the weakness of N64 games' scarcity, but he has also successfully attracted players to those limited masterpieces, and he has touched the hearts of players with his meticulously crafted masterpieces...But At present, the future of the N64 US version is mainly in the price, if the price cannot be adjusted to the same level as the PS game console, I am afraid that the future ending will not be much different from the RB market..." Wang Mengyao couldn't help bringing out her Personal evaluation of Arakawa Minority.

Zhang Lexing also knows that Arakawa can be said to be the hero who brought N64 back to life. If it weren't for his efforts to make N64 popular in North America, Nintendo might not be able to survive for two years.However, many things have been changed by him right now, and Zhang Lexing is very worried about whether the price adjustment will change.

"Mengyao, the day when the N64 US version will be released is coming soon. You can arrange people to pay more attention to see whether the official launch price is 250 US dollars or 199 US dollars. This will determine the future of Nintendo, and it is also related to our home game consoles. Strategic adjustments in the market." Zhang Lexing solemnly explained to Wang Mengyao.

"Good boss, don't worry, I will report to you as soon as there is news." Wang Mengyao replied respectfully.

While waiting for the launch of the N64 US console, the GameBoy, which has gradually fallen into silence, suddenly caused a storm. "Pokemon Red" and "Pokemon Green" are popular among children with their correct positioning and endless variety of monsters. It became a fashion in the middle, coupled with the promotion of magazines and newly launched animations, not only the children fell in love with the cute "Pokemon", even the adult players who are no longer children are also interested in "Pokemon" . The sales of "Pokemon Red" and "Pokemon Green" have risen sharply, successfully breaking through the 100 million set mark, becoming the rare best-selling GameBoy game this year, and even the GameBoy, which has begun to slow down, has become the player's favorite again. The new favorite, and the PocketGB (the new GameBoy handheld developed by Junhei Yokoi) bundled with "Pokemon Green" has also sold nearly 90 units.

For a while, "FAMI Tong", which was joking about which of the two handhelds GB and GG fell first, also changed its direction and began to sing praises for the new GameBoy.It's a pity that the success of the GameBoy is not what Nintendo wants, because "Pokemon" is not produced by themselves, and even the PocketGB bundled with "Pokemon Green" was created by the former employee Junpei Yokoi. Slapping the faces of those who looked down on Gameboy at the beginning, especially Hiroshi Yamauchi, who personally launched Yokoi Gunpei out of the company, is even more exciting, but Nintendo can't jump out to oppose it. After all, "Pokemon" is a combination of fist-style marketing. Restarted the GameBoy market, and even attracted many manufacturers to follow suit and launch similar works. These are all worthless money for the troubled Nintendo. Push out the money, if he really does this, I'm afraid life at the shareholders' meeting will not be easy.

The rebirth of GameBoy brought about the direct reaction that Nintendo stock, which had been silent for a long time, began to rise. When Zhang Lexing took advantage of factors such as Yokoi Junhei’s departure from the company to cause Nintendo’s stock price to plummet, he arranged for people to buy a lot of Nintendo stock. The next day also skyrocketed. If you are willing to sell now, you can earn at least tens of millions of dollars.But what Zhang Lexing was after was not the small profit at the moment, he still ordered his subordinates to continue to scan the goods when the time was right.

On September 9, the US version of the N29 console officially landed in the North American market, and the price was $64, as Zhang Lexing expected.The attractive price, coupled with the masterpiece "Super Mario 199", immediately triggered a frenzy of sales. In just two weeks, the sales volume exceeded 64 million units, and there was a large area of ​​out-of-stock phenomenon.In order to replenish the goods in time, Arakawa did not hesitate to charter a commercial cargo plane to transport N100 game consoles from RB to North America day and night.The sales frenzy is still going on. Many container trucks transporting N64 game consoles from the airport have just parked at the door of the store, and they are surrounded by waiting players. Bought by a player.By the end of the year, the N64 had sold more than 64 million units in North America, surpassing the PS game console that had been on the market for a year in one fell swoop, and the opportunity for Nintendo to turn around finally came.

(End of this chapter)