Video Game Empire

European and American manufacturers and Japanese manufacturers have significant differences in the way they operate.

The business ideas of European and American companies are more focused and focus on their core business. For example, Intel, even if its microprocessor products are in the global market alone, they have never thought of extending the downstream industry chain to develop their own computer products.

However, Japanese companies have a completely different idea. They focus more on the systematization of the industrial chain and build a complete industrial structure and technical barriers. Then, through the optimization and integration of the entire industry chain, the cost of the product is reduced to the extreme, so as to obtain a price advantage in the fierce competition.

Of course, American companies are not without large and comprehensive companies, such as RCA, whose full name is American Radio Corporation. This well-known company, which started out with radio and radio in the early twenties, later pioneered the development of the first television.

The current RCA company includes the manufacture of consumer electronics such as televisions and radios, RCA records in the music field, NBC, one of the three major public broadcasters in the United States, as well as the semiconductor business, aerospace business, and even hot horses. Related blanket production business.

However, his core business, TV manufacturing, has been cornered by Japanese companies step by step since the beginning of 60 years. Of course, compared to other U.S. TV factories that have long gone bankrupt, he can at least barely hold on.

The main reason for this is that American workers will never be able to work as hard as their Japanese counterparts and regard factories as their second home. Powerful guilds will use strikes and ballots to make factory owners submit again and again, and continue to raise wages, thereby continuously pushing up production costs and reducing the market competitiveness of American products.

It is precisely because of this that American companies have to divest non-core businesses that they think have low profit margins, devote all their energy to core businesses, and defend price competition from Japanese companies through technological leadership.

Seiko Epson and other large Japanese companies operate in the same way. His core product is printing equipment, and the processing core of the printing equipment needs to be controlled by the CPU, so it built its own wafer factory. Of course, in support of Epson's decision to build a factory, in addition to the consideration of reducing the cost of printer parts, decision-makers are optimistic about the future development of the semiconductor industry is also the main reason.

However, the competition in the Japanese chip market, especially the memory market, is very fierce now. It is precisely because Intel can't resist the price war of Japanese semiconductor companies in memory products that it will transition to the production of microprocessors in two or three years.

Epson entered the field for the first time without any foundation. It is conceivable how difficult the current situation of its fabs is. When Li Xuan contacted the Japanese company before, the reason for the negotiation was that he wanted to purchase a batch of MOS6502 processors produced by Epson, and asked to go to Japan for inspection in person.

As a result, he, a small company that had just been established for more than a month, got a reply from Seiko Epson very quickly.

It is also through the attitude of the Japanese side that Li Xuan judged that the actual operating rate of Epson's newly put into operation fab should be very low. If their production schedule is very full, they will simply ignore a small company like him that has not established any goodwill.

"Xuan Shao, our goal this time has almost been achieved, and the only thing left is to sign the contract!" Du Wenqiang said with a smile on the way back to the hotel.

In the past month, he, the newly appointed head of the software development department, did not dare to relax for a moment. The pressure was even greater than that of Li Xuan, and he urged his subordinates to work overtime every day, causing everyone in the software department to complain. As a result, Li Xuan originally planned to develop the game in three months, but he just finished it in one month.

"It's uncertain whether we can sign a contract or not, but at least the potential we have shown is enough to attract the attention of the other party!" Li Xuan dared not speak too much.

"Xuan Shao, you are not afraid that Epson will kick us away after seeing our game idea and make the game console by himself!" Liang Ning's calmness after entering the company was completely different from the previous interview. Li Xuan has a feeling of picking up a treasure.

"We have applied for a patent, and Epson is not a game company. It takes the risk of a lawsuit to enter a new field that they are completely unfamiliar with. It takes a lot of interest to make this choice.

Besides, by the time they recruited people from the ground up to develop a similar follower game, we would have already found other partners. So as long as their president's head wasn't kicked by a donkey, they wouldn't make such a choice!

On the contrary, if it is a game giant like Sega, I will really worry! Even if we make a game console, they can kill us by just calling the distributor before we get a big sale.

And their ability to do market is simply not comparable to a new company like us without any foundation. If they really plagiarized their ideas, they would be able to make a similar game in minutes.

At that time, what was the use of going to court to sue? The meat has already been eaten by them, and even if they win the lawsuit, the compensation they get is at most a bit of broth. What's more, this kind of lawsuit often drags on for a long time, and I may be bankrupt before the case is over! "

Li Xuan explained a little. Patents are not a panacea, they just add an extra layer of insurance to themselves. Otherwise there wouldn't be so many space invaders follow-through games on the market.

And this kind of thing exists in almost all industries. Big companies just show what they can do if they infringe your intellectual property. As long as the profit earned is more than the litigation fee, they are not afraid of you going to the court to sue, and the first instance will be delayed for a year or two. In the end, it is the victims who will be the first to be subdued. Li Xuan has heard this kind of story many times in Silicon Valley in his previous life.

Hong Kong cubes and tank battles have completely different values ​​in the eyes of Epson and Sega. Something that wasn't worth the risk to Epson, but Sega could very well see its true value. It is precisely because of this that Li Xuan is reluctant to contact those game giants before his game console is produced.

"I'm afraid that the decision makers of Epson have underestimated the value of our two games. If they think that our Hong Kong Box and Tank Wars are only a few thousand units sold, you say that they can still make custom game motherboards for us. Is it? It is estimated that this profit is not enough for them to adjust the cost of the production line!"

Before Li Xuan came to Japan, he had already thought about giving up some of his interests. Compared with the Japanese market, the larger American market is the key to the rapid rise of Dongfang Electronics.

He sighed and continued: "I'm really not afraid that they will open their mouths. If the price is right, they can even authorize the production license of these two games in the Japanese market!"

In fact, Seiko Epson's conditions for making arcade machines are very mature. They already have a production line of printer motherboards, and they can be used to make arcade motherboards with a little adjustment.

With Li Xuan in charge of providing game content, and then solving the most critical game motherboard problem in the manufacture of arcade machines, producing its own arcade machines is a matter of course for Seiko Epson. UU reading www.uukanshu.com This is also in line with the development ideas that Japanese companies are striving to extend to the upstream and downstream of the industry.

If Epson can be turned into his ally, Li Xuan's Dongfang Electronics will instantly have the strength to challenge game giants such as Sega, Taidong, and Namco. If you want to gain a place in the video game console market, it is natural to develop a good game, but after opening up the market channel, it is also very important whether the production capacity can be exploded at the critical moment.

The arcade market is ultimately determined by the player's choice. As long as your game is fun enough and players are willing to put in coins, arcade agents will wave their bills to place orders.

Li Xuan has absolute confidence in the quality of the games developed by his company. At least Dongfang Electronics developed the 1979 version of Hong Kong Box and Tank Wars that is no worse than the version he played in his previous life.

But once the order is in hand, whether you can produce it is another matter. If you move slowly, other companies' follow-up games will come out soon, and you will make wedding dresses for others instead.

And this is precisely the weakness of Dongfang Electronics. The current arcade industry is not a mature market, and accessories such as frame, hand joystick, and CRT display screen are easy to be purchased on a large scale in the market. The only problem is the highest technical content and the most Key game console motherboards.

At present, there is no special substrate factory to support companies like Xiang Li Xuan. Li Xuan himself does not have the time and capital to build a special arcade version factory for the time being, so the best way now is to give up some interests to find an alliance.

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