Rebirth of America, this is my time

Five minutes later, Ethan entered the reception room on the second floor of Kismet Game.

As he appeared, the middle-aged man sitting on the sofa stood up immediately, extended his right hand to Ethan in a friendly manner, and introduced himself to his home.

"Hello, Mr. Jones, I am David Rosen, CEO of Sega. Nice to meet you."

As the saying goes, don't hit the smiling person.

The oncoming enthusiasm made Ethan respond politely, stretched out his right hand and gave it a simple shake. At the same time, without stopping, he said directly: "Mr. Rosen, I am also very happy to see you. I I have heard your name and I admire your legendary experience very much."

Ethan is not bragging.

After all, the person in front of him was the founder of Sega, the guy who dared to fight guerrillas with the US Army in history.

When Sega's slot machines appeared one after another in Hawaii, Japan, and the US military bases in Southeast Asia, the sales ability of Sega was truly amazing.

"Oh, Mr. Jones, you're flattered. Compared with your creativity, my sales are nothing." David Rosen shook his head with a smile.

After a few simple words of courtesy, Ethan invited the other party to sit down, and also asked the administrative clerk Julis Noble to serve two cups of tea.

That's Chuan Ning black tea, washed with cold water.

Ethan doesn't like drinking, but when it comes to business entertainment, the emphasis is on public taste.

After Julis Noble disappeared, David Rosen directly stated his purpose.

"Mr. Jones, I am visiting your company this time because I want to discuss something with your company about "Snake Game"."

"Mr. Jones, we at Sega have actually noticed that after you terminated the cooperation with Atari, there is no longer a company in North America that produces the "Snake Game" electronic arcade machine."

"Although judging from the current market feedback, merchants on the market are quite satisfied with the inventory of "Snake Game" arcade machines, because the more than 10,000 electronic arcade machines on the market can meet people's current gaming needs, but to be honest, "Snake Game" Game" arcade machines still have a certain sales space in the North American market. According to our estimates, this number should be around 3,000 to 5,000 units."

"If it's vacant... it's really a waste..."

David Rosen smiles and speaks sincerely.

Although there was no clear intention, Ethan already understood his purpose.

It’s nothing more than wanting to be the agent to produce “Snake”!

In fact, after terminating the cooperation with Atari, Ethan also thought about whether the game "Snake" still had value and whether it needed to continue to be produced and sold. But at that time, the patent for video games and training devices Like a sword of Damocles, hanging over his head, he didn't dare to do arcade production at all.

Ever since, this issue was put aside by him.

But when he solved the patent blockade and was able to continue the production business, he discovered that making new games at this time was the best choice.

First, although "Snake" is profitable, its shipment volume is just like David Rosen said, with a maximum of three to five thousand units.

If it is purely an arcade machine, the profit will be considerable, with a gross profit of up to 1.8 million, but if the motherboard is half and half, the profit will have to be cut off at least the first one.

When such a big fluctuation occurs, it will be very difficult to control the cost of setting up a factory to produce "Snake".

Because no one knows how much of this thing should be produced.

Everyone is even less clear about where else on the continent of America needs a large amount of "Snake".

If it is point-to-point precise sales, then this business is still profitable.

And if the goods are re-distributed all over the country, then there will be no point in doing this business at all.

Selling dozens or hundreds of units in one state, this kind of money accumulated purely through time, is a business that all companies hate.

The efficiency is too low!

As for the second point, new companies need new products.

Currently, all the "Snake" arcade machines on the market have Atari's logo hanging on them.

In other words, anyone who has heard the name of the game "Snake" will almost know that it is an Atari game.

Because Ethan used Atari's channels and Atari's brand, and thus took advantage of Atari's market value.

When Ethan chooses to take shortcuts to make quick money, there must be some price to pay.

Now, he can indeed re-release "Snake" under the name of his own company, Destiny Games, but this kind of release has no meaning in building the company's brand.

If Ethan had no memory of his past life and was just a North American native, then he believed that he would drain the IP of "Snake". But when you still have three trump cards in your hand and you have enough funds, instead of promoting the old game to confuse the players, it is better to use the new game to show off!

With the blessing of these two reasons, Ethan decided to temporarily stop the follow-up production of the "Snake" project. When he did not do it himself, Sega's founder David Rosen secretly told him that Sega wanted to Got the agency rights for "Snake Game"?

Go ahead and dream!

It’s all there in the dream!

Ethan simply thought about it for a while, and then refused directly.

"Mr. Rosen, "Snake Game" is the first game I made, and it has a very special meaning to me."

"I originally thought that cooperation with Atari would be a wonderful beginning, but no one expected that it would end like this."

"Atari hurt me and the games I made, which makes me very painful. But fortunately, the people who love "Snake Game" were not hurt. This may be the best result."

"If nothing else happens, I think we won't be able to cooperate for the time being, because we are not planning to continue producing "Snake Game" in a short period of time. If the public likes it, then they can completely use it in existing arcades on the market. Find happiness, and if the people forget it, let this history go with the wind..."

Ethan’s words were a little sad.

The reason why he packages himself as a literary young man is because he hopes that David Rosen will retreat when faced with difficulties.

Because he knows that successful businessmen all have one characteristic, that is, they will not give up until they achieve their goals.

What annoys him the most is when others keep nagging on about one thing for a long time.

After listening to his words, David Rosen, who was sitting on the sofa, also nodded and said with emotion——

"Oh Ethan, I also know something about you and Atari. Nolan Bushnell's behavior was really bad. His despicable methods and shameless conduct made Atari, who created the electronic arcade industry, Our glorious brand has been disgraced!”

"I can understand your mood and your pain, so..."

"I'm very sorry."

'great! ’

Ethan nodded in response with a smile, but in his heart, he snapped his fingers happily.

As long as you don't get entangled, everything will be easy to talk about!

However, just when he thought that David Rosen, who had given up, would stand up and leave after just a few polite words.

The guy sitting opposite him was silent for a moment, but then said: "Mr. Jones, although I understand your thoughts and respect your decision, I also feel that an excellent game should not end like this."

"Although "Snake Game" has brought great happiness to the people of our country, other people in the world have not yet seen its excitement!"

“We in the United States have a population of 200 million, but there are 4 billion people in the world!”

"There are still 3.8 billion people who have never played your game!"

"There are still 3.8 billion people who have never experienced the happiness you bring!"

"So... we actually still have room for cooperation, right?"

David Rosen looked at Ethan with a smile, and when he finished speaking, he raised his right eyebrow.

The fine expressions and movements showed his humor, and the sudden pitch of his voice made Ethan laugh.

This time he really understood!

Sega came here this time to seek the North American agent for "Snake"! Obviously he wants to get the overseas distribution of "Snake"!

And this is indeed a huge market.

Not to mention anything else, the book alone has a purchasing power that is not weaker than that of arcade machines in North America.

Although Europe is not well-known, there is still a market worth hundreds of millions.

These are just free money, there is no reason not to earn them.

That's right!

At this time, Ethan is no longer sentimental!

No way, who gave him a flexible moral bottom line?

Hehe~

But how to make this money...

In fact, he doesn't have a complete idea yet and needs to think about it.

Then, Ethan smiled again and said: "Sorry, Mr. Rosen, "Snake Game" is not my own game, so I need to communicate with my sister before I can reply to you."

This answer made David Rosen smile and nod, "No problem, I will wait patiently for your call."

As he said that, he looked around again, and after seeing the handbag on the sofa, he picked it up directly.

Then, he took out a stack of documents and handed it to Ethan, "Mr. Jones, this is the cooperation plan drawn up by our Sega."

"Please take a look at it with your sister."

"Okay, definitely." Ethan nodded with a smile.

After sending David Rosen away, Ethan returned to the office.

Put the files on the table, then lock the door and leave.

Although the overseas release of "Snake Game" is very important, he is a little anxious now.

As for the cause of the incident, he probably drank the Chuan Ning cold tea.

I went to the toilet and spent ten minutes solving it.

When he came out after washing his hands, he felt refreshed both physically and mentally.

However, just as he was about to return to the office to check the documents, a figure suddenly appeared from downstairs.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be another administrator, Damio Dean.

Not only that, after seeing Ethan, he said directly: "Mr. Jones, there are two Asians downstairs visiting our company and saying they want to see you. At the same time, they also said that they are from Benzi, and the leader even said I am the president of Nintendo."

'what? ’

Ethan, who was shaking the water, was shocked.

‘Nintendo is coming? ’

‘Isn’t it also for “Snake Game”? ’

With this idea in mind, Ethan asked Damio Dean to introduce the two of them into the reception room.

When he reappeared, two middle-aged men entered his field of vision.

One of them, wearing a black suit and tie, was sitting upright.

The other one was wearing a beige plaid suit and holding a pair of light brown toad sunglasses in his hand.

After seeing Ethan arriving, the two of them stood up decisively and bowed slightly towards Ethan.

Then, the man in a beige plaid suit said: "Hello Mr. Jones, we are representatives of Nintendo from Liben Company. I am Hiroshi Yamauchi, the current president of Nintendo, and this is my companion. Thank you very much for taking the time to spare your busy schedule. Take the time to receive us.”

Such words made Ethan nod slightly and respond appropriately.

Because we were not familiar with each other, we didn’t say too many polite words.

And when Ethan asked about their purpose, Hiroshi Yamauchi, who led Nintendo to the top of video games in Ethan's previous life, immediately smiled and said: "Mr. Jones, our purpose is very simple. The "Snake Game" you invented " is a very excellent game, and we want to bring it to Liben so that more players can experience the joy of video games."

While he was speaking, the companion beside him also opened the briefcase he was carrying and took out a stack of documents.

After Yamauchi Pu took it, he handed it directly to Ethan.

"This is the plan we have drawn up. Could you please take a look at it, Mr. Jones?"

'really! ’

‘These people are here for “Snake Game” too! ’

Ethan nodded with a smile and took the file.

Now that it has changed from a single quotation to a collective bidding, Ethan decided to see it first and then speak.

He had no intention of opening the document in front of Hiroshi Yamauchi, so he chatted for a few words and then got up to see the guests off.

After he returned to the office with the documents in hand, he was full of curiosity and directly opened the plans of the two companies.

After a brief glance, Ethan closed them again.

look up.

Look at the sky.

Everywhere you look, there are white flowers.

After staring at the ceiling for a while, Ethan lowered his head again.

When he opened the plan again——

Good guy!

He swallowed immediately.

Because in his eyes, he could only see one word——

There is money!

There are two cooperation plans offered by Sega, one is a buyout and the other is a share.

The buyout plan is simple. Sega wants to seek a five-year cooperation at a price of three million US dollars a year.

At the same time, they requested to secure the rights to sell the "Snake" arcade game in other countries outside of North America.

Although this price is far from the value of the IP "Snake", if calculated according to the contract Ethan signed with Atari, when Sega quoted a cooperation price of 15 million, it meant that They are confident that they will sell at least 100,000 electronic arcade machines within five years!

What is this concept?

According to Atari's previous shipment speed, they and other distributors could only produce 20,000 motherboards a year!

But now, Sega feels that it can sell 100,000 electronic arcade machines with global distribution! Not the circuit board!

This is completely confident in your own supply chain system!

But this is normal. Sega has been making arcade machines for decades. If it didn't even have this capability, it would have been dead long ago.

"Is this the strength of an established company?" Ethan smiled with emotion.

Looking further down, the share-sharing contract is a bit more complicated.

In terms of sharing, Sega is also seeking a five-year contract. To this end, they have promised that when the global shipments of the "Snake" electronic arcade machine are less than 40,000 units, Ethan can obtain the game licensing fee. Sixteen percent of the selling price of each arcade machine;

When global shipments of electronic arcade machines exceed 40,000 units and are less than 80,000 units, the standard commission for game licensing fees is 14%;

When global shipments of electronic arcade machines exceed 80,000 units and are less than 120,000 units, the standard commission for game licensing fees is 12%;

After the global shipment volume of "Snake" exceeded 120,000 units, the commission standard for game licensing fees will be calculated at 10%.

Ethan initially thought this was a range contract.

For the first to 40,000 machines, let him take away 16%, for the 40,000 to 80,000 machines, let him take away 14%, and so on, in descending order. .

But when he saw it clearly, he discovered that it was a declining contract similar to betting on sales.

If in the first year of cooperation, Sega only sells 20,000 electronic arcade machines due to production constraints, then they will give Ethan a commission of 16% of the selling price.

But if in the second year, because the production chain keeps up, their output comes out and 40,000 units are sold, and a total of 60,000 units are sold in two years, then the licensing fee for 60,000 electronic arcade machines will be based on 100 Fourteen/fourths recalculated.

In the first year of settlement, the 2% extra payment for the 20,000 electronic arcade machines will be deducted by them in the second year of settlement.

The situation is the same after that. As the quantity increases, the licensing fee ratio decreases.

At first glance, this way of deducting licensing fees does make people feel uncomfortable.

But at the same time, Sega actually promised the shipment quantity of the machine in disguise.

Only when they felt that the arcade machine "Snake" could sell 120,000 units in five years no matter what, did they dare to make this plan!

Not only that, there is a handwritten message at the end of the document.

‘Mr. Jones, I am very sorry that we did not receive you as well as we could during your last visit. The employee who received you before felt that he was not suitable to work in our company, so he resigned yesterday. And I approved. ——David Rosen’

Such words made Ethan laugh——

"Hey, Sega, it turns out you have this day too!"

"I asked you to represent me before and you were unwilling to do it, but now...hehehehe~"

To be honest, Ethan has always remembered how he was rejected by Sega when he was promoting the "Snake Game" arcade machine.

He didn't mention it in front of David Rosen, not because he was generous, but because he hadn't decided whether to cooperate with Sega.

If they really want to cooperate, he will definitely say more on this matter during negotiations and try to gain more benefits.

But now...

David Rosen is very knowledgeable!

However, it’s useless to know what’s interesting, because compared to Sega, Nintendo’s plan is actually more explosive.

It is also a buyout and split into two options.

But in terms of regional agreements, Nintendo and Sega are different. They only want the books where they are located.

But even so, Nintendo is willing to give a price of 20 million over five years for the sake of a single market for the notebook.

In terms of sharing, they are also rougher than Sega.

The five-year contract, fixed price, is 14% of the selling price. Not only that, they also promised to ship at least 50,000 units.

This number is really full of sincerity.

Because as long as Ethan signs the contract, Nintendo will have to pay him a guaranteed licensing fee of US$8.4 million.

Compared with the fixed price of 20 million, it may be a little less, but in the sharing contract, the bet is on a shipment volume.

When these two plans appeared, Ethan said he was not surprised because they were all false.

At the same time, he had a feeling in his heart——

‘The three industries of Huang, Gambling and Ai are really special ways to make money! ’

‘These gambling equipment makers are each richer than the last! ’

Note: ① There is one thing that should be noted in particular. Electronic arcade machines are only sold in North America when they are disassembled. According to Minoru Arakawa, the son-in-law of former Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi and former president of Nintendo of America, selling electronic arcade machines in North America is very troublesome. Because of the vast land and sparse population, selling them directly to the arcade would be a loss to grandma’s family, so they will sell them. Even if the profit of the arcade machine board is higher than that of the board, he himself has indeed gone into the battle himself. Just like I wrote and sold "Snake" before, he has installed it in the arcade machine. This is from an interview with Minoru Arakawa in Playboy magazine in the 1990s. ②The sales volume of arcade machines in North America is indeed a mystery. When I explained the data of Chapter 39 in a single chapter, I said that "Space Invaders" can sell 100,000 units a year in this book, but North America only sells 100,000 units. Less than that, the most outrageous thing is that "Donkey Kong", which became a hit in North America, has been sold for several years, but the cumulative shipments are only 68,000 units. In fact, I have never understood what this number is, and no professional has analyzed this reason, so the data I wrote in the article can only be estimated. You may think that the gap between the world and North America is too big, and you think it is outrageous. , actually I think it’s outrageous, but I really don’t know why. ③The Hanafuda sold by Nintendo is said to be playing cards, but in fact it is exactly that.

PS, today is just one chapter. I was really unlucky last night. A couple living in the house above me had a quarrel. The special number allowed me to quarrel from 12 o'clock to 3:30. The process was quarreling, smashing, stopping, quarreling, Smash, stop, the cycle continues. My brain is so fried today that I can’t write at all.