Return to 1958 and build a century-old giant

Chapter 794 The Money-Making "Space Invaders"

We plan to make large-scale investments in Australia in the future, as it has many resources that Changxing Group needs. However, for now, we are just testing the waters.

Currently, it's still a long way from the point where the world needs a large amount of mineral resources and agricultural demand. The biggest factor in this is the rise of the mainland. When the economy of a country with more than one billion people takes off, the demand for resources is enormous.
While the mainland has a spirit of independence and self-reliance, mineral resources and agricultural land are things that are difficult to change through hard work. Therefore, after the mainland rose to prominence in the modern era, it became a competitor with industrialized countries such as Europe, the Americas, Japan, and South Korea, but its relations with resource-based countries such as Brazil and Australia have become increasingly better.

His current core industry layout has two main directions: one is the future electronics industry, and the other is the reform and opening up of the mainland.
By seizing these two opportunities, one's industry will become a top global giant within the next few decades;

After returning from Australia, it was already July 23rd;
That day, Assistant Aying came over and said, "Mr. Yang, we have received news from the mainland that they have reinstated the college entrance examination system and are now officially selecting talents."

"Haha, this is also good news for us. We can use the talents from the mainland in the future." Yang Wendong said with great joy after hearing this.

The National College Entrance Examination (NCEE) in mainland China can be considered the fairest selection process in the world. From the late 70s to the 2020s, it is this 40-plus years of NCEE system that has selected a large number of talents, enabling China's economy to become the world's second largest.
Some people may feel that the college entrance examination is flawed in one aspect or another, and that is certainly true in some ways. But is there any method that is fairer than the college entrance examination?

In Europe and America, many universities rely on a recommendation system. Without sufficient connections, no matter how good your grades are, you won't get in. In China, at least in the 80s and 90s, a top student from a remote mountain village could get into Tsinghua or Peking University, and basically didn't have to worry about tuition fees.

Ah Ying asked curiously, "Boss, the people selected through the college entrance examination are basically government officials or employees of state-owned enterprises, right? We can't possibly poach them, can we?"

"That's just how it is for now, and I estimate that if the mainland wants to develop, it will definitely need to send some people abroad." Yang Wendong smiled and said, "Let's not worry about that for now, I'm not in a hurry either."

Ah Ying said, "Okay, boss, there's one more thing. The mainland has sent over 100 officials from China Resources, specializing in foreign trade, textiles, food management, and other fields. They've already started their internships at our various companies."

"Okay, where do they live?" Yang Wendong asked.

Ah Ying said, "They live in staff dormitories, six people to a room, each with its own bathroom. They are provided with three extra meals a day. Each person is paid HK$300 a month, which is not much, but it is enough for them to live on."

“Okay, that’s fine. Just provide them with a basic standard of living. There’s no need for special treatment.” Yang Wendong nodded and said, “From now on, we’ll follow this model for all people coming from the mainland, unless it’s something very special, in which case we’ll make other arrangements.”

Although he favors the mainland and hopes that the mainland economy can develop well, he is not trying to curry favor. Currently, both sides are cooperating on the premise of mutual benefit, and normal behavior is sufficient.

“Yes, Mr. Yang.” Ah Ying added, “In addition, we have received news from China Resources that a total of 8 South China tigers have been captured in China recently and are ready to be sent over, but only 3 of them are adults and the other 5 are cubs.”

Yang Wendong then asked, "Are these tigers related by blood?"

Ah Ying said, "There shouldn't be any, the eight tigers come from three different identities."

“Alright, cubs are fine too, I want them.” Yang Wendong thought for a moment and said, “However, we need experts to know how to raise cubs or how to raise adult tigers safely.”

See if they can provide experts in this field in mainland China; the compensation will definitely be good. If not, then look in other countries.

Raising animals is difficult, and raising such ferocious wild animals is even more difficult. If something happens, it could result in human lives and affect the entire project.

However, in order to preserve the South China tiger's genes, it must be raised in Hong Kong. In the next ten years or so, the mainland will only focus on developing its economy and will not care about animal protection.

From their perspective, this makes sense. If Yang Wendong himself couldn't even feed himself, he certainly wouldn't care whether pandas would become extinct.

So all I need to do is keep these wild animals, which will also broaden the horizons of Hong Kong people. In ten or twenty years, when there are no more South China tigers in China, I will have a unique endangered species in the world.

Ah Ying replied, "Okay, Mr. Yang."

"Other endangered animals also need to be fed by experts, and we should also urge the progress in China to be accelerated," Yang Wendong added.

They offered the highest price for the tiger, after all, capturing a tiger alive is very difficult;
Ah Ying smiled and said, "Yes, there are some other animals too, but because our zoo is not fully completed yet, we will have to wait before they can enter Hong Kong."

"Okay, good." Yang Wendong was very satisfied.

This endangered animal conservation program is of great significance to him;
In the future, if the South China tiger returns to a normal life in the wild, humans hundreds or even thousands of years from now may not remember Changxing Group, but when describing the South China tiger, they may mention their own name.

After all, if it weren't for what I've done today, China would have lost its own tiger, which is a regret of my past life.

On July 26, Yang Wendong visited the Honor Factory located in North Point.

Wang Zhiqun led Yang Wendong into an industrial building. The building was blasting cold air, which was rare in Hong Kong's manufacturing industry.

"It's so cool here," Yang Wendong remarked.

Hong Kong in July is incredibly hot. There hasn't been any rain yet, and the sun shines brightly every day. Although it's by the sea and the seawater can absorb some of the heat, the high humidity makes it feel very hot even if the temperature drops slightly.

Wang Zhiqun laughed and said, "Yes, it's been too hot in Hong Kong lately. Our factories have all been equipped with air conditioning. This is mainly because arcade games have been a huge success in the US market, giving us a lot of returns."
To make it easier for the employees to install the arcade equipment, all of them were air-conditioned.

"Hmm, how many copies of 'Space Invaders' have been sold?" Yang Wendong asked.

Wang Zhiqun said, "We sold a total of 6000 units last month, and the orders for this month are still increasing. The movie 'Star Wars' is being shown in the United States, and it has broken the box office record in the United States."

Although the game content has little to do with the Star Wars movies, it's all about space, so many people still wanted to try it, resulting in a surge in demand at bars, with many buying several arcade machines.

"Hmm, this timing is quite good." Yang Wendong smiled.

He knew about Star Wars before and had even sent someone to inquire about investing, but was rejected. So he let it go; there were too many things to invest in in this world, no need to worry about it.
Then came the Star Wars movie, which broke his previous record set by Jaws. American media even declared that humanity was about to enter the space age, demonstrating the extent of the frenzy. The Space Invaders game also began to gain popularity in North America around this time, and given how fun the game was, it naturally became a massive hit.

Wang Zhiqun said, "Yes, this arcade machine is really too lucrative."

"The best is yet to come, just wait and see," Yang Wendong said.

In Hong Kong, each piece of equipment can earn a net profit of a little over $1000. With 6000 units sold per month, that's over $6 million. But that's normal, because the original "Space Invaders" earned $100 million a year in North America.
In other words, the craze for this arcade machine has only just begun.

Compared to "Chinese Blocks," this type of combat game is more likely to attract people to spend money to play;
Of course, "Chinese Blocks" is not bad either, but it is more suitable for home consoles or handhelds in the future, and not very suitable for the current arcade mode.

But that's okay. Copyright is protected for a long time in many parts of the world. As long as a game is developed today, the copyright will still belong to the developer in 2025. In the future, any computer, mobile phone, game console, etc. that has this game will have to pay copyright fees to the developer.

Comparatively speaking, Space Invaders is less likely to succeed in the future.

Wang Zhiqun laughed and said, "That's great. With enough funding, it will be much easier for us to develop home game consoles and personal computers."

"These two projects must be very expensive, right?" Yang Wendong asked.

Wang Zhiqun replied, "Personal computers are a bit easier, there are references. Home game consoles are more difficult. It's not that they can't be made, but reducing the cost or size is very difficult. If the product is too big and too expensive, the market will probably be very limited."

"Yes, this is indeed a difficult point. Let's try to overcome the technical challenges," Yang Wendong nodded and said.

The electronics industry over the past few decades has essentially been a story about how to make electronic products faster and smaller.
Early computers were several rooms in size, but by the 80s, an adult male could carry them. In the 21st century, laptops were used for outdoor work, and then came iPads, large-screen mobile phones, and so on.

The biggest challenge is to reduce the size, increase the operating speed, and control the heat dissipation at the same time.

Especially heat dissipation; the biggest problem for many mobile phones in the past was poor heat dissipation.

Wang Zhiqun said, "Yes, I have already started recruiting on a large scale in Silicon Valley, and I hope to find suitable talent as soon as possible."

"Alright, I don't need to elaborate on the money aspect; you're not short of funds." Yang Wendong then asked, "How's the development of the 'Tank Battle' game going?"

Wang Zhiqun said, "The development is almost complete. The main thing is to set up many different levels. Mr. Yang, why don't you go and take a look at the prototype?"

"Okay, I'll go take a look." Yang Wendong was also very much looking forward to it.

Soon, the two arrived at a laboratory. The room contained more than a dozen arcade machines, and there was a person next to each of them.
Everyone seemed to know that the big boss was coming, and they were all very cautious.

Wang Zhiqun led Yang Wendong to an arcade machine and said, "Mr. Yang, this is the circular machine for 'Tank Battle'. You can try it out first."

“Okay.” Yang Wendong nodded, walked to the front of the arcade machine, and operated the levers and buttons;
Of course, there was no handle-style structure or D-pad in this era, but he had registered patents for all of them, including many D-pads, just to prevent others from using different structures to bypass them.

The familiar scene unfolded as Yang Wendong controlled the tank, relentlessly eliminating enemies. In no time, he had passed several levels. Some of his bolder colleagues approached to watch, and some even pointed out some hidden perks.

Yang Wendong was having a lot of fun, but being a newbie, he lost control and his health bar was depleted by the enemy, resulting in GAME OVER.

Wang Zhiqun asked, "Yang Sheng, how are you feeling?"

Yang Wendong laughed and said, "Very good. Send one to my office. I'll play with it occasionally."

He has been in this world for almost 20 years and has already gotten used to the era without electronic products in his previous life;
He found early arcade games like Ping Pong boring after a while, finding them less enjoyable than playing cards. Later, when Chinese Blocks came out, he could play it for a short time, but he still got bored quickly.

But the game "Tank Battle" in front of him was much better than the previous games in terms of gameplay and graphics. He felt that he could play it for a while, at least in the short term.

Wang Zhiqun replied, "Okay, Mr. Yang, I'll send a few units to the Kang Le Building right away."

"This game interface is much prettier, so it must require a higher-end chip, right?" Yang Wendong then asked.

Wang Zhiqun replied: "Yes, we have invited many experts in electronic chips to design the hardware for this arcade machine, but the final cost is still $800 more expensive than Space Invaders."

However, we've also tested its playability internally, and it's much better than our previous games, so we can release it at a high price; it should have a good market.

"Okay, but Space Invaders is currently making money, so let's wait and see about Tank Battle. We can't let it fight itself," Yang Wendong reminded him.
Whether a game will be a hit is something no normal company can guarantee, so it's rare to see a company competing against itself.
As a time traveler, Yang Wendong naturally knew that these games would become wildly popular, and his subordinates trusted his judgment.

Wang Zhiqun smiled and said, "No problem, we know how to do it. However, we will still send a batch to one or two cities in the United States to test the waters and see how the market feedback is. If there are any problems, we will need to make changes as needed."

“Okay, let’s try New York or Los Angeles.” Yang Wendong nodded.

“Okay,” Wang Zhiqun replied.

Yang Wendong then asked, "By the way, I told you before that I was going to talk to some processing plants in Guangzhou and Shanghai about contract manufacturing. How's that going?"

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(End of this chapter)