this man is not calm

Chapter 486 Development Plan

At this time, elite white-collar workers account for a large proportion of Internet users. In addition, there are middle-aged wealthy people with free time who are not proficient in computers but like to keep up with fashion, watch movies and make friends, but cannot spare much time. They have only a superficial understanding of computers and cannot use complicated ones, but they enjoy watching movies and TV series, listening to music, reading the news, playing casual games and the like.

The era of online games has already begun to emerge, but the games that currently rank at the top in terms of total online time spent by users are not blockbusters like "Fengshen", but rather card games with a broad mass base, such as "Dou Dizhu", "Chess", "Go" and "Mahjong" series.

Basically everyone can do it, the threshold is low, and veteran players who like it are particularly enthusiastic about it. They spend several hours every day playing it, and it is very stable. The most players are especially between 6pm and 10pm.

In terms of newly joined netizens, there are still more netizens playing "Fengshen", "Mob of Fighters", "StarCraft", "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and "Counter-Strike", but the average online time of each individual is still slightly lower.

However, the money-making effect, peripheral output and attraction to new netizens are the opposite.

The fundamental reason for this phenomenon is the surge in the number of Internet cafes in China, which has resulted in the number of networked computers being far greater than expected.

Even many players do not have basic computer and Internet knowledge, cannot type, and do not understand online shopping and online payment, but it still does not affect their enjoyment of "Fengshen".

After more than three years of development and growth, Internet cafes have gradually become a leisure place for young people that has sprung up all over the country, following game halls, video game arcades and billiard rooms.

Compared with other places where there are all kinds of people, hooligans gather together, and it is not known whether they have formal licenses, today's Internet cafes still maintain a high-end style. Computers cost thousands or tens of thousands of yuan at any time. They are not something that the spirited young men and rune girls in the urban and rural areas can afford to cheat. If they break something, they cannot afford to pay for it.

With so many Internet cafes of all sizes, the Internet cafe alliance developed by the Northern United Online Electronic Reading Room still controls the highest-end market. The vast majority of domestic network applications, functional programs and product releases are basically launched first in its Internet cafes.

This is what Jin Shang values ​​most. For example, the promotion of online payment, the trial of online video, the trial of QR code and scanning equipment, and the decoration, franchising, advertising and investment promotion of high-end large-scale chain Internet cafes are all integrated with the strategy of the head office.

Internet cafes are very profitable these days, especially in the high-end Internet cafe market, the profits are staggering, and the cost can be recovered in just over two years, or at most three years.

Others with slightly weaker operational capabilities will not last more than five years.

This profit margin is too high. It is obviously the dividend of the times. After the novelty period wears off, it will not be so exaggerated.

In 1998, the emergence of a series of network applications and "Fengshen" significantly accelerated the speed of Internet popularization.

During the two months of the entire summer vacation, Jin Shang received no less than three calls from Hao Qilian, and his words expressed surprise at the smooth promotion of the ADSL network.

It showed extraordinary development potential during the trial period. But when it was rolled out to major cities across the country, we found that everyone had underestimated it. Not only were there many applications from Internet cafes, IT companies and commercial businesses, but even people who didn't have much hope for home broadband had long queues.

The latest price for dial-up Internet access as of August this year is between RMB 4.2 and RMB 4.5. It varies in different cities and regions, and the monthly price is approximately between RMB 90 and RMB 120.

This is the price for personal household installation. If it is for commercial use, the price will be much higher depending on the situation.

As for ADSL broadband, it costs 150 to 200 yuan per month in Beijing, and the cost of a one-year package is 1800 to 2500 yuan. It does not seem particularly expensive, but the current average monthly salary in Beijing is barely over 1,000 yuan, and this is the data after statistical averaging. In fact, nearly 70% of workers have a monthly income of less than 800 yuan.

With this income level, it is really too much of a stretch to spend at least 200 yuan a month just to get broadband to surf the Internet, play games, watch movies, and listen to music.

What is even more discouraging is that individuals who apply for broadband have to pay an "initial installation fee" of 3,000 yuan. The essence of this is that the construction of IT infrastructure is lagging behind, and a large amount of manpower and material resources are needed to lay the network cables. There are simply too many places to spend money.

Before the millennium, families that could afford to install broadband were generally relatively wealthy and well-off. They could spend several thousand or tens of thousands of dollars on a computer and more than two thousand to install an Internet cable, and most of them were not very sensitive about paying another three thousand for the "initial installation fee."

Following the rapid development of cable TV networks last year, the rapid development of high-speed broadband ADSL has also surprised many people.

For such a large country, it’s not that it can’t find a group of people with high spending power to pay for the early network infrastructure, but that it didn’t find the right direction.

The driving effect of the online game "Fengshen" not only shocked people in the industry, but its influence even spread beyond the circle.

Not only do young white-collar workers and college students from wealthy families stay up late to earn money and level up, but even some middle school students have delayed their studies for this, causing dissatisfaction among some teachers and parents.

Gradually, electronic games have moved beyond the scope of IT and the Internet and have become a major event that is hotly debated in society.

The biggest change brought about by this is that electronic computers, a high-end technological product, are no longer just "production tools" that can only be used in school computer rooms and laboratories, but daily-use computers that are closely related to ordinary people.

It is no longer an invisible and intangible phantom that floats in the sky, but a "household appliance" that actually affects our lives.

In addition to traditional appliances such as televisions, air conditioners, washing machines, microwave ovens and refrigerators, computers have become a new option.

It is said that the child of my second uncle, "Erhui", secretly got up in the middle of the night to fight a "union war" and was caught red-handed. Then his computer and game console were confiscated. While no one was paying attention, he called Jin Shang to complain. Unfortunately, his little cousin didn't know that my second uncle Mei Yingnian was listening at the side at that time. He was very angry about his youngest son's complaints and he would probably be severely punished when he returned home.

August has not yet ended, and Jin Shang learned from the weekly report summary that the number of registered active users of "Fengshen" has exceeded 700,000. Considering the current situation in China where there are more than 1.5 million networked PCs and several times more high-end game consoles, this is a very amazing result.

In the previous life, "Legend of Mir 2" was launched in 2001. After more than a year of development, the peak number of online players was 670,000. Five years later, in 2006, this figure increased six or seven times, and the actual number of active users was close to 120 million, most of which were supported by large and medium-sized Internet cafes.

According to this ratio, the peak number of simultaneous online users of "Fengshen" should be between 20,000 and 30,000, but the actual result is six times that.

According to the real-time data recorded by the data center, the number of simultaneous online players from 7 to 10 p.m. in mid-to-late August was close to 200,000, which is exaggerated.

More than a week ago, the tenth group of game servers was opened, and the speed of player registration has not seen a significant decrease. In fact, think about it, Shanda started operating "Legend of Mir 2" after the millennium, and the network construction may be more complete, and the number of netizens is larger, but the strength of this company itself cannot be compared with Jinxi Culture. The publicity investment and technical team are not at the same level at all.

The number of Internet users in 1998 of this life may be only one-sixth to one-eighth of that in 2002 of the previous life, but in terms of the level of development, Jinxi Culture is dozens of times higher than Shanda.

As for the quality of the game, there is no need to mention it. "Legend of Mir 2" is just a shoddy transitional product with a lot of bugs. The development technology and operation team are a mess. If it weren't for the strong ability of Chen Shoufu to deceive people, and the fact that it happened to be at a good time and just filled the needs of domestic netizens, an online game of that level would have failed long ago.

If the current computer hardware conditions were not slightly inferior, Jin Shang would even be confident that he could create a masterpiece with quality far exceeding that of "Legend of Mir 2". Even so, the picture quality, degree of completion, game playability, background settings, etc. of "Fengshen" are also obviously the most sincere and optimal solution.

In view of this, Jinxi Culture decided to strike while the iron is hot and launch a cross-platform operation plan for the big IP "Fengshen". The comics have been serialized for a long time, the novel e-books are also online at Jinxi Library, and the game has become popular. The next step is to release physical books and launch the "Fengshen" movie plan.

As for how to do it, Jin Shang no longer gave specific instructions, but left it to professionals.

Among them, Nan Dalong was the most enthusiastic and always wanted to lobby Jin Shang to let it go.

"I'm not kidding you, Xiao Biao. Changdi Culture's film list is really too long. There are so many films to be completed in the second half of the year. How can theaters show them all? The market is so small. The quality strategy is the key. Large quantity is enough... To be honest, it doesn't work in the film and television industry, especially in the movie market."

Watching TV series is free, but watching movies requires paying real money to go to the cinema. It is too intuitive. Quality is the basis of everything. Whether it is good or not is an inadequate but necessary condition for the success of a project.

Nan Dalong sighed helplessly:

"It's not that I'm too greedy, but the market in the first half of this year is really lackluster. Compared with last year's magnificent market, the contrast is too obvious. We have upgraded and renovated many 3DIMAX theaters, but there are too few suitable blockbusters. Our "trump card" is concentrated in the second half of the year, showing films from other film studios, but it's really a bit of a hopeless situation..."

"Alas, the production cycle of blockbusters is too long and the cost is extremely high. As for the many fake 3Ds, it's better not to mention them."

There are so many embarrassing and even ridiculous stunts, sound and light effects that are not even good enough for show, and shocking looks and acting. There is really no end to the description.

"If this continues, the reputation of the 3D special effects blockbusters that have finally started to gain some popularity will be ruined."

"what can I do?"

"Let's make a live-action blockbuster. With 'Investiture of the Gods' being such a popular subject, why make an animated film?"

"This is a big IP, not something for others to practice on. Are you sure there are domestic directors and teams that can shoot it? The "Legend of the White Snake" was just right. When I was making "Journey to the West", I found that it was actually a bit forced. In the end, I added a lot of budget to complete it smoothly without any problems."

The first two can only be said to be normal and difficult modes, while "Fengshen" is definitely a nightmare level. If the gods, demons, monsters and goblins in comics and novels are really to be brought online in their original form, animated films have more room for operation. As for live-action blockbusters, the current domestic film industry is not up to standard. It may be barely possible to shoot them, but the quality, budget and cycle are difficult to guarantee.

"Ashan, listen to me. Such a big IP cannot be handled with ordinary methods. The production investment is tens of millions, and it is very likely to exceed 100 million, or even hundreds of millions. Such a large investment involves many aspects. It will take more than a year to prepare, and it will be good if it can be released in three years."

"Is it that troublesome?"

"You don't want to invest the entire amount yourself, do you? Not to mention the risks, it's too much of a loss. As long as the project is good, there are big bosses who will wave their money to invest. Many 'suckers' spend money just for the opportunity to get in..."

As for copyrights and IP and the like, they have nothing to do with layman investors who have no resources except money. It would be good enough if they can give you a little bit of profit later.

"You mean..."

"It is the conscience of the industry to make it clear in advance and not to cheat outsiders. It is not cost-effective to rely on ourselves to support tens of millions or hundreds of millions of investments. It is better to find a few more investors to share the risks, and we can also recover part of the costs in advance..."

"As for the risks, I believe no one would dare to cheat me. But your idea of ​​reducing costs is worthwhile. If you don't start the machine right away, you can indeed preheat it in advance..."

"That's right. Nine out of ten projects fail. This is normal for commercial investment. Start slowly and only start when the time is right..."

First, let the news ferment for three to five months to attract potential sponsors and investors, then look for a suitable director and filming team, and finally determine cheap and easy-to-use actors, contact publicity and distribution channels, and by the way, go to film festivals to promote it.

"You can give it a try, but don't be too sure. I still have a lot of promotional plans. For example, for this animated film, we must not only focus on the IP of 'Fengshen' itself, but also on the team..."

"Is that so? You want to completely incorporate the Shanghai Animation Film Studio?"

"Well, animation is a huge market, and it's related to real estate, large theme parks, and tourism development. We've already planned it."

"Fine!"

Since Jin Shang has made the decision, Nan Dalong knows that it cannot be changed. It would be great if the animated film could serve as a warm-up for the rentals.

"It's good that you know. Just discuss it with Da Biao. I won't ask about the details. By the way, who are you looking at in such a hurry?"

"Erlang Shen!"

(End of this chapter)