Rebirth of America, this is my time

CBS's broadcast brought the previously unknown pirated game into the public eye.

Well……

This is actually not accurate.

First, because the concept of pirated games has been around ten years ago. "Pong" is not only the first video game that countless people have come into contact with, but it is also one of the most famous pirated games in the history of video games;

Second, after three days of spreading, at least thousands of pirated games have entered the market.

Although the number of thousands of copies is not enough in front of tens of millions of players, Steve Ross chose a very good time. The registration stage of the national competition brought countless people together. , all it takes is a flame, and those people will turn into the east wind and ignite everything.

Therefore, even without the promotion of CBS, many people already know that there are new games for "Ms. Pac-Man" and "Star Wars".

And with CBS's momentum...

Almost instantly, those pirated new games became the most beautiful in the country!

Countless players flocked to the mall and wanted to buy it.

However, they learned that the official channel that had been cooperating with Destiny Games had no supply?

Oh no!

Not only do those shopping malls have no supply of goods, they don’t even know that Destiny Game has released a new product!

When this fact emerged, all the players who entered the store were dumbfounded!

If what the mall said was true, what was CBS reporting?

If what CBS is saying is false, then what game is being played on TV?

The strange message that suddenly came made them puzzled.

And just when they were puzzled, someone said that his friend had the cassette, and he could ask his friend where he bought the game.

This news attracted the attention of everyone present.

Although they have never met, although they do not know each other.

But at this moment, they became brothers with adopted father and adopted mother.

After a while of questioning, everyone immediately came to the homes of the players who owned the cassettes.

Then, they learned that those cassettes were purchased from the console hall.

To be honest, when the host room came out, many people smelled something unusual.

Because Destiny Games has stated many times that large shopping malls in various places are their only partners. The sales facts in the past few years have also proved this. When major shopping malls have no supply of goods, it is impossible for other merchants to use the third The goods were obtained through the identities of the three parties.

but……

Compared with weird sources of goods, more people are interested in games.

So, even if they knew something was fishy, ​​when the boss wanted to play, they still poured into the console hall that the owner of the cartridge said. Then, they learned that there was no more stock here.

"Out of stock? Is it sold out?" Everyone asked in confusion.

"No, no, no...it was confiscated..." The boss shook his head like a rattle.

"Confiscated?" This answer confused the excited players.

After the boss's explanation, they realized that the game CBS reported that many people already owned was actually pirated.

Those games were not produced by Destiny Games, nor were they authorized by Destiny Games. Therefore, when Destiny Games learned about this matter, they teamed up with law enforcement agencies to confiscate them.

In other words, those cassettes that are still in the world are all orphans.

Such a fact made the players present frowned.

"Oh! Sxxt! I didn't expect it to be a pirated version."

Some people cursed and left the host room.

Those who stayed at the scene were unwilling to do so.

"That means we can't buy it anymore?" They still want to fight for it.

"Well...if Destiny Games doesn't release them, then...there's a high probability that yes..."

The boss nodded sincerely.

"Oh! My! God!" There was a cry from the scene.

Although everyone already knows that there are no official sequels to "Ms. Pac-Man" and "Star Wars", it doesn't matter, right? Because regardless of whether it was CBS's demonstration or what they had just seen with their own eyes, they could tell that the quality of the pirated games was still good.

And since the quality of the game is good, whether it is pirated or not has nothing to do with them.

That's right.

Players as a group, or in other words, human beings, have double standards.

When something affects one's own vital interests, as an individual, he will do everything possible to safeguard his own interests. However, when something does not cause him any physical pain, it can even bring him spiritual joy. After entertainment, will these things interfere with the interests of others?

What does that have to do with them?

Therefore, at this moment, they don't care at all whether "Ms. Pac-Man" and "Star Wars" are pirated copies. They just want to know where they can play them.

And when this emotion appears...

The boss of the console hall immediately rolled his eyes and said: "Although those games are no longer available, it does not mean that you can't get them. Aren't things like game cartridges spread through copying? It's just that things in Destiny games are relatively It’s so advanced that ordinary people can’t copy it.”

"But now that there are products on the market that can successfully pass Johnson's home console test, copying cassettes will become very simple, right?"

These words stunned the players who were still gathered.

The next second, they understood what the boss meant.

"Boss, can you copy it?"

"I can not."

"Then what nonsense are you talking about!"

"But... there is something that can..."

The boss took out a box and a piece of paper from the drawer.

"Fifteen dollars a piece."

"You have to pay."

When the Destiny game's cassette burning method appeared on the North American continent.

Those players who own pirated cassettes have become the most beautiful kids in the country!

Friends around me want to borrow it!

Players who heard the news wanted to copy it!

This phenomenon was noticed by Ethan Jones, who had been paying attention to this matter.

After waiting for Michael Dell to present the copy method and copy cassette to him, Ethan simply read it and handed it to his sister. After she read it, he asked——

“How different are these things from our products?”

"Exactly the same." Evelin's face looked very ugly.

"In other words, as long as those people are willing, they can directly copy our games?"

"Yes." Evelin nodded vigorously and said, "This problem is very difficult."

"We cannot release new games until the problem is resolved."

The crisp answer made Ethan nod slightly.

But the next second, he laughed again.

"Oh - Evelyn - don't be so nervous -"

"No one is going to copy our game."

"???" Ethan's words made Evelin frown.

"Why?" She didn't understand.

Ethan shrugged and said, "Because our game materials are quite sufficient."

"When we subtracted the game "Starry Sky"..."

"Any low-priced copy doesn't make sense because the hardware is too expensive."

That's right!

When Ethan recalled the past and discovered that Steve Ross in his previous life directly spread Nintendo's cartridge copying method when he was fighting against Nintendo, he was actually a little nervous.

Because once the official game encounters malicious communication.

Their revenue will directly drop.

But after he checked the cost of copying, he felt relieved again.

The reason is also very simple. Current storage chips are still very expensive.

When the cost of self-copying is only three to four dollars compared to the cost of direct purchase, any normal businessman will not do this business.

Therefore, before the price of memory chips is completely driven down by Neon, they don't have to worry about the game "Starry Sky" being copied and spread by players.

As for games like "Snake" and "Minesweeper"?

It doesn’t matter whether this little game spreads, right?

From the beginning, Ethan had no hope of making money on these games.

Since his original intention is to give it away, if the player wants to take it, then he will take it.

In addition, in the future, as hardware costs drop, what should players do if they copy their games themselves? Ethan has also considered this issue.

As long as a game can be sold normally for three years, piracy in the remaining time will not cause any harm to them at all, and as long as they grasp the core pulse of technological development...

Then they will definitely be able to make their games last three years.

Even if you don't make it, it doesn't really matter.

As long as they hold the patent for optical discs, they can make more money just from selling discs than from games.

Therefore, after controlling the upstream and downstream of the entire ecology...

As long as the pattern is widened, you won't count the slightest loss.

Not only that, you will also know that proper free promotion is the best promotion.

There is no room for survival for peers who can fight.

"So you're not going to condemn these players?" Evelin was shocked.

"They're stealing from us!" the girl emphasized.

"Oh - Eve -" Ethan stretched out his voice and said: "You have to understand one thing. The game is a cultural product. The wider its spread, the more we make. "

"Players are our customers, so it is impossible for us to condemn them."

"It doesn't matter if what they did was right or wrong."

"In my opinion, those things are morally tolerable."

"What we want to eliminate are those merchants who make profits from this."

"Because they are the culprits who infringe on our interests."

Yes.

Ethan is not prepared to send an open letter like Bill Gates, condemning players who play pirated games as thieves, because he knows that piracy cannot be killed, and you cannot ask everyone in the world to Everyone consciously abides by the current social rules.

In this case, no matter which merchant it is, it can only live in peace with all players.

Of course, this doesn't mean Ethan will let it go.

Killing profitable businessmen is the only way to combat piracy.

so……

When pirated cassettes like "Ms. Pac-Man II" and "Star Wars" spread wildly on the North American continent, Ethan also summoned the All-American Broadcasting Company and asked them to give him an interview.

"I'm aware of the pirated games, and in fact, over the past few weeks, we've been investigating this matter. We want to know where the games come from, and I also want to know how they hack our products. Yes, because it takes a certain amount of time to collect evidence, we have not publicly released this matter. If it has caused some trouble to the public, then I am deeply sorry."

"However, our investigation will not affect the current market. The reason why these games can spread wildly is because of the deep love of the public for us. Therefore, as long as the players play by themselves, or it is not for profit, Learn and communicate, for example, if you also want to make games and want to study how games are made, our company will not hold you accountable."

“There are only two types of people or groups that we will really attack.”

"The first category is those who maliciously crack our machines and cause serious infringement of our intellectual property rights; the second category is those who maliciously spread information and expand our company's losses."

"right."

"You're right."

"CBS is also the company we are holding accountable."

"They spread false information without investigating the facts."

"It has caused huge obstacles to our company's rights protection."

"Our lawyers have filed a lawsuit with the San Francisco District Court."

"In two months at most, CBS will be in the dock..."

When Ethan's voice reached all corners of America through the National Broadcasting Corporation channel, the guys who were paying attention to the matter all showed various expressions.

The guys who had a grudge against Ethan but did not take action just because of their own interests showed a playful smile.

"Let's fight—" Henry Ford loved theater.

The guy who had a grudge against Ethan but was no longer able to resist looked excited.

"Ethan Jones directly declares war on CBS?"

"Oh! This is really stupid!"

Thomas O'Neill already imagined what would happen to Ethan.

In his opinion, CBS, which has the power of the media, can blackmail Ethan!

The guys who formed an alliance with Ethan and were in the same camp looked worried.

"Why do I feel like he's lost his mind?"

Steve Ballmer frowned and looked at his friend.

After listening to the broadcast, Bill Gates also frowned and shook his head: "Ethan should not have declared war on CBS, even if the mastermind behind it was Steve Ross..."

It is actually a very unwise behavior to argue with the media.

Ordinary people in this era may not feel it.

But for the big guys, they can all imagine the scenes that people will see in the future right now.

According to Bill Gates, when Ethan officially declares war on CBS, what awaits him will definitely be a storm of public opinion response, but the fact is...

it's not true.

CBS only explained its right to free speech through its evening news and stated that it would respond positively and actively to the prosecution of Destiny Game.

And then it's over.

This situation is somewhat confusing to people who are paying attention to this matter.

They don't understand why CBS is so nice this time?

But soon, they figured out the reason.

March 20th.

When the registration time for the second national electronic game competition has passed more than half...

A new game has appeared on the Johnson home console platform.

And its name...

It's called "Brick Breaker." (End of chapter)