game trailblazer

Chapter 275 Eve of E3
Sorry to keep you guys waiting for so long.

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April passed by in a blink of an eye, and all aspects of the work were proceeding in an orderly manner, but the tentative name of the super network platform "Steam" was returned by Yang Xinxin. In her opinion, "Steam (Steam)" and VisualSystem The group and the game business in the future are too inconspicuous, and there is no direct connection between the two, so her staff had to reconsider the name of the platform.After several back and forth, the name "GameLiveNetwork" was finally approved, but the reserved domain names can no longer be used now. Fortunately, the group has a lot of domain names, so that it will not appear from other people's hands. The case of buying a domain name.As for a series of domain names including Steam, they were not wasted, and were transferred to Valve, a subsidiary of Lexueshan. In Yang Xinxin's view, "Valve" is quite suitable for "Steam".

"GameLiveNetwork" is a future-oriented platform, which will include game publishing, online battle, player interaction, game content organization and update, and online game operation. In Zhang Lexing's vision, when the network environment is suitable, there will be Launching an online store including games is like Apple's future AppStore, making the Internet a major channel for game distribution, but it's not yet time, and he can only discuss his ideas in a small area.

"Under the current network environment, it takes a little longer to download a game directly, but it may be better if it is replaced with music. We can design a portable music player, using the popular MP3 format. , use micro-hard disk or flash memory to store music files, and then design a dedicated music synchronization software, just like the PalmIII synchronization software we use, but only for music files. Not only supports the storage on the computer The music files are synchronized to the portable music player, and the latest music can be sampled from our online music store, and the full version of the music can also be downloaded for a fee..." Zhang Lexing sat in his office, facing Yang Xinxin in the video, Ballmer and others were talking.

Yang Xinxin frowned and asked, "Your idea is still very creative, but would anyone be willing to spend money to download music? What about the music source?"

Ballmer and others also seemed to have doubts about this, and they all nodded in unison in their respective video windows, and then waited expectantly for Zhang Lexing's answer.

"Actually, I'm not worried at all that no one is willing to spend money to download music, because lazy people will always exist, so we don't have to worry as long as we do two things well. One is the quantity of music. We must have enough massive Music, and we must continue to release new music, so that our music online store can be very attractive to users. Another problem is the download fee. I plan to use lower fees to develop this market, such as North America can be set at 99 cents to download a song, and we only need to earn 1 cent. As for the source of music, we can find ways to convince companies such as Sony, Warner, EMI and BMG Records, and then Together with Universal Music, a subsidiary of Universal Entertainment Group, I believe it is enough to solve the long-term supply problem of music..." Zhang Lexing explained.

"Mr. Zhang, but this doesn't seem to be of much benefit to us. Is it necessary for us to do this?" Ballmer asked puzzled.

"This is a long-term thing, and we don't necessarily see any results in the short term. In my vision, there are two profit channels. One is portable music players. We have to use the best industrial design and The publicity campaign has turned it into the most fashionable symbol on the planet, so that when people think of music players, our music player will first appear in their minds, coupled with the convenient operation of online music stores and synchronization software, through music Players to make money, another online music store, if successful, will make our portable music players account for a larger market share in the world, then there must be many people who are willing to try to download music through the online music store , as long as they are willing to try, compared to music CDs, the convenience of downloading from the Internet and the affordable price will definitely attract many users, even some users who did not buy music CDs may start their attempts..." Zhang Lexing further explained.

"It sounds really good!" Yang Xinxin nodded, looking very satisfied.

Zhang Lexing decided to add fire, and continued: "Once the online music store has a firm foothold, it will mean a steady stream of long-term benefits in the future. Although we may only earn 1 cent for each song, if we have There are tens of millions of users, so as long as each person pays to download ten songs per month, the income will be tens of millions of dollars in a year. If the number of users is more, and the frequency of users buying music is higher, the income will be only It will be even more impressive. More importantly, in the future, the online store can also be expanded to other aspects such as applications, games, etc., such as our ongoing home game console project. The future operating system can also take a similar path. We provide a lightweight basic system, and more functions come from the application software store. Users can choose free or paid software according to their own needs. As for the application software store We only need to provide a small amount of official software, and the rest will be handed over to developers around the world. We only need to get a proper commission from the download fees of those paid software..."

Yang Xinxin, Ballmer and the others couldn't help but light up when they heard this, a brand new development path flashed in front of them, especially the later part about the development of the operating system, which was simply for the lightweight operating system under development. (intended to be used in mobile devices such as handheld computers), and the design of the application software store is the finishing touch of Hualong, which changes the positioning of VisualSystem Group from an aggressive overlord to a leader who gathers talents from all over the world.

"However, the first thing we need to do now is to design the first portable music player. The capacity and cost of the flash memory are not suitable for the time being. Maybe we can give priority to the micro hard disk, but the research work on the two aspects can be carried out simultaneously. You can look for companies with relevant patents around the world, and if necessary, you can speed up the research progress through acquisitions and other means... I have written the relevant information in the email, and you can read it in detail later.” While talking, Zhang Lexing attached the materials he had prepared in advance to the back of the email, then filled in the email addresses of the participants, and sent a copy to each of them.

After completing the video connection with Yang Xinxin and others on the "enterprise future development seminar", Zhang Lexing glanced at his schedule on his Palm III, and then it was time for a video conference with Xu Yeming and other people in charge of the DreamBox128 mainframe project. In less than ten minutes, he just got up to move around.Just when Zhang Le was walking to the window and admiring the street view outside, in RB, which was far away from him, several key meetings were being held intensely.

In the meeting room of the Nintendo headquarters in Kamitoba Hokotachi, Minami District, RB Kyoto...

Hiroshi Yamauchi looked at Genyo Takeda, the head of the Comprehensive Development Headquarters sitting at the bottom, and asked with a serious face, "Taketa-kun, how is the dolphin project going?"

The comprehensive development department led by Takeda Genyo was originally the third development department of Nintendo. It was mainly responsible for designing new hardware. At the beginning, it was known as the "Three Masters of Hardware" of Nintendo along with Yokoi Gunpei and Uemura Masayuki. Occasionally, it would develop one or two lesser-known games. Before the SFC (Super Nintendo) era, it was basically unknown, but it was deeply trusted by Hiroshi Yamauchi.Starting from undertaking the research and development work of the N64 game console, the department led by Takeda Genyo officially came to the stage. Although the market performance of the N64 game console was not very good, it did not affect Hiroshi Yamauchi's attention to the comprehensive development headquarters at all. The "Dolphin Project" launched for the first time to regain the status of the leader of the game industry naturally fell into the hands of Takeda Xuanyang.

"President, we had contacted Panasonic early last year, learned some experience from its 3DO-M2, and obtained the DVD patent authorization. At the end of last year, we had completed the prototype design of the initial version. But In March, Sony's PS3 and Blue Bird Co., Ltd.'s DreamBox2 were announced successively. Compared with the performance parameters released by them, the specifications of our Dolphin prototype machine are a bit behind, so we started to redesign according to your instructions from the president. Your request "Under the premise of controlling the manufacturing cost as much as possible, the performance can completely surpass PS128 and DreamBox2". After our evaluation, we think it can be realized, but many parts need to be replaced and debugged, so the launch of the Dolphin console needs to be postponed..., after Director Arakawa Contact, now we have reached an agreement with IBM, our dolphin host will use the 'Gekko' PowerPC chip developed by them, and its performance is expected to exceed the strongest DreamBox128...The graphics processing system is developed by ArtX...The storage medium is DVD-ROM , the corresponding media and drives are developed and supplied by Panasonic..." Genyang Taketa replied blankly, he has always been serious, and Hiroshi Yamauchi has long been used to this.

"So, when will the Dolphin console meet the listing requirements?" Hiroshi Yamauchi asked.

Takeda Xuanyang thought for a while and replied: "According to our estimate, it should be around September next year."

"President, do you think it is necessary to adjust the production plan and gradually convert the production line of N64 game consoles to Dolphin consoles?" Mitsuhiko Hosokawa, who is in charge of production management, asked for advice.

Hiroshi Yamauchi hesitated for a moment. He just read the internal financial report a few days ago. Due to the success of "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time", the sales of N64 game consoles have entered an upward period again. It also completely suppressed Sega's new DreamCast console.During this period of time, as long as there are N64 games with the Nintendo logo on them, there are almost no sales of less than 50 copies. However, if the new console is launched as soon as possible, this prosperous scene may soon disappear, and according to the Minister of Finance It is estimated that the launch of a new host will take up a lot of money. The initial estimate alone will cost hundreds of billions of yen, and a small royalty will be paid to Panasonic every time a new host is sold. Hiroshi Yamauchi, who received royalties from others, was very upset.

During this period of time, Hiroshi Yamauchi has been hesitating whether to promote the launch of the Dolphin host as soon as possible, "Maybe the N64 can last for a few more years, and the Dolphin host will be stronger by then, just like SFC did to MD back then..." Looking at the information in his hand, Hiroshi Yamauchi couldn't help thinking optimistically.One side is the real money that can be seen, and the other side is the unpredictable risk. The balance in Hiroshi Yamauchi's heart is gradually tilting towards the N64 game console in front of him.

"In that case, I will leave it to Mr. Taketa for the future, and I will give you plenty of time to slowly improve the dolphin host." After speaking, Hiroshi Yamauchi turned to Mitsuhiko Hosokawa on the other side and said: "Mr. Hosokawa, Right now we cannot relax the production of N64 game consoles, I believe you have seen the current market reaction, so it is not time to adjust yet."

"Yes, President!" After receiving clear instructions, Takeda Genyo and Hosokawa Mitsuhiko nodded and respectfully agreed.

At the same time, RB Tokyo, inside the Sony Computer Entertainment office building...

Ken Kutaragi was sitting in his president's office, listening to Aoyama Akihiro's report on the results of the "digging operation": "...President, unfortunately, although there are certain gains, the opponent's actions are not slow. In this case The attitudes of those game developers are also very ambiguous, especially the powerful big game developers. We have signed exclusive game development agreements with more than 50 small and medium game developers during this period, but those big game developers have always been It's evasive, except for Namco, no one is willing to develop an exclusive game for us..."

After finishing speaking, Aoyama Akihiro's face was full of shame beyond words.Ken Kutaragi waved his hand generously, and said, "Mr. Qingshan, I know you have worked very hard, but it doesn't matter, this problem will be solved soon."

"Really, President, that's great!" Aoyama Akihiro said happily: "Well, I don't know what kind of solution is so good."

Kutaragi Ken lowered his voice and said a few words to Aoyama Akihiro. He immediately showed a surprised expression, and said in surprise: "My God, they succeeded!"

"Mr. Qingshan, this matter is very important, you must not reveal it!" Kutaragi Ken made a silent gesture and ordered.

"Yes, President." Aoyama Akihiro stood up and nodded respectfully.

Soon after, in the Sega headquarters building, also in Tokyo...

President Nezuko Shoichiro is sitting in his office, looking at the E3 exhibition plan reported by his subordinates: "...The main points are in two aspects, one is to highlight the performance of the DreamCast console, and the focus is on compatibility with PS game consoles and The Pentium II266 is compared to the above two, the other is to attract North American consumers through game aces, such as "NBA2000" under development by Sonic and Sega Sports and "NFL2000" with detailed content. In addition, it is necessary to organize third parties as much as possible Game developers join the DreamCast host platform. This work is currently in progress. At present, games such as "Dolphin Adventure" and "Soul Force" have been confirmed. At the same time, they are also working with famous game development companies such as Midway, Acclaim, Namco, and Accolade. Contact..."

Looking at the detailed preparation plan, especially considering the mistakes made when the SS game console landed in North America, and the corresponding countermeasures, Renzuo Shoichiro nodded in satisfaction, and signed his pen on it. name.

The time is getting closer and closer to May 5th...

(End of this chapter)