game trailblazer

Chapter 267 Xu Yeming's Harvest
1999 came around in a blink of an eye, and it was hard to solve the shortage of Dreamcast hosts due to the shortage of PowerVR2 display chips. After the launch of the signature game "Sonic Adventure" late last year, there was no new game that made it to the store shelves, and this situation continued for several weeks.

For those players who unfortunately snatched the Dreamcast console, the original joy has gradually been replaced by endless troubles. They are also game console players. At the end of the year, others worry about which game to play. Even players who have the least choice of N64 game consoles still have choices, but players who chose Sega now don't have to choose anymore.Every time I think of this, those players who have relatively affluent economic conditions and bought Dreamcast consoles while keeping their PS game consoles laugh. They still have so many choices, and those with shrewd minds use their PS game consoles to trade in The players who came to the Dreamcast console couldn't help crying, they could only helplessly endure the ridicule from their friends who were still playing PS game consoles next door.

On January 1, PocketStation, a portable handheld console capable of exchanging data with PS game consoles, was officially released. The first batch of 23 units were sold out on the same day. Many fanatical PS players had to queue up for sales because they missed the first move. Waiting outside the store for new stock to arrive.Due to its popularity, although Sony Computer Entertainment worked hard to organize the follow-up supply of PocketStation, it was often sold out by waiting players as soon as it arrived at the sales store, resulting in a long period of out-of-stock Phenomenon.On the same day, Sony Computer Entertainment implemented the sixth price adjustment for PS game consoles, lowering the price of PS to 30 yen, intending to continue to consolidate its position in the game market.

Four days later, the Dreamcast console players who had been waiting so long for their necks finally got a big dish. The "Sega Rally 2", which has been postponed several times, was finally put on the shelves, although not everyone likes this kind of racing game. I like it, but it's a little new, so I don't want to just look at the happy every day next door.Many picky Dreamcast host players stood in front of the shelf for a long time, and finally picked a set of "Sega Rally 2". There is no way to wait for the next game to be released for at least three weeks, and there will be no more delays Down.Some players also speculated in a self-deprecating way, "Maybe Sega wants us to play every game seriously, so the interval between game releases is relatively wide."

At the end of the year, Paradise, which lost out in business strategy, was not idle. They launched "Super Smash Bros." The fun of fighting together, this new type of fighting game has been well received since its launch, and even became the first choice for many families to entertain together during the holidays.

……

"President Gaotang, I can only show you this performance briefing for the time being." Xu Yeming took out a document from his briefcase and handed it to Gaotang Yoshihiko who was sitting across the conference table: "If you want to see the actual machine and If you want to explain in more detail, then you must first sign this non-disclosure agreement.”

Gaotang Liangyan waved his hand arrogantly, pushed away the document that Xu Yeming stretched out, and said, "Xu Sang, you are so dishonest."

"Well then, President Gaotang, I'll use a laptop to play a game video demonstration for you. The effect may not be as clear as the real machine, but I believe it can satisfy you." After Xu Yeming finished speaking, he turned his eyes to Gaotang Yoshihiko, waiting his reply.

Yoshihiko Gaotang pondered for a while, and felt that he would not suffer anyway, so he nodded, agreeing.Xu Yeming waved to his side, and immediately the accompanying staff brought a laptop over.This notebook is different from ordinary computers. It is not a high-performance notebook computer that comes off the assembly line. Inside, even the display is a super-responsive LCD that spared no expense.

Xu Yeming turned over the screen of the laptop, quickly called up the game demo video he was talking about, and then directly rotated the screen 180 degrees, facing Yoshihiko Kodo who was sitting opposite the conference table, and then pushed the laptop forward , for the convenience of Kodo Yoshihiko to watch.

The content of the game demo video is actually very simple. In the eyes of ordinary people, it is nothing more than a gloomy man with red hair and black clothes and a handsome man with a white belt on his forehead fighting each other in a large ornately furnished house. , but falling into Yoshihiko Kodo's eyes, he couldn't help but gasp.

"What!" Yoshihiko Kodo exclaimed, "Isn't this Yagami and Kusanagi Kyo!"

"It's them." Xu Yeming said with a smile: "I'm sorry, President Gaotang, I used your game characters without discussing with you."

"It's okay." Yoshihiko Kodo waved his hand and said with a smile.It's not that he's being polite. In a situation like this that's not for sale, even if he's dissatisfied, there's nothing he can do about it.Besides, Yoshihiko Kodo also saw some other things from this video, such as the 3D transformation of "The King of Fighters".

Ever since 3D fighting games such as Sega’s “VR Warrior” and Namco’s “Tekken” became popular, Kodo Yoshihiko actually thought about making his signature games “The King of Fighters” and “Samurai Soul” into 3D. , It's a pity that I want to return to thinking, but it is not easy to do it.

SNK is not a big company. After so many years of accumulation, there is only one 16-bit MVS substrate (interchangeable with NEOGEO home console games). If you want to develop 3D games on it, it is almost the same as running Windows on Apple II. Not reliable.However, SNK's family background is too thin. If they want to re-develop a new high-performance substrate, it will not only cost a lot of money, but more importantly, it will not be able to afford time.

So more than two years ago, under the matchmaking of American MidWay Company, Kodo Yoshihiko made a decision to buy the said super-advanced 64-bit arcade board technology named HyperNEOGEO64 from the American Atari Company. Tens of millions of dollars, unfortunately, later facts proved that this so-called super advanced arcade board is no different from a super trap.

Joyfully brought the high-tech boasted by the Americans back to RB, Yoshihiko Kodo immediately organized the company's game development experts to tackle key problems, and soon "Samurai Soul 64-I" was launched, but unfortunately it ended up with "extremely poor graphics and refreshing 2D original work". The feeling is lost..." The evaluation was gorgeous.Yoshihiko Kodo was not reconciled, and organized people to tackle key problems again. A year later, he produced "Samurai Soul 64-II" and "Legend of Hungry Wolf 64". Unexpectedly, it hit the street again gorgeously.

At this time, Yoshihiko Kodo heard the news that the so-called super-advanced HyperNEOGEO64 substrate was actually created by the American Atari Corporation using the failed Jaguar home game console. It competes with the mainstream Sega Model3 and other advanced substrates on the market, and even in some respects it is not as good as the N64 game console that has been on the market for two or three years, but there is one thing that is not deceiving, the HyperNEOGEO64 substrate is really 64-bit.

Only this time Yoshihiko Kodo understood that he felt that he had been taken advantage of. The tens of millions of dollars were spent on research and development expenses for the Yankees. It is too late to start anew and re-develop.In desperation, SNK had no choice but to pick up the outdated MVS substrate again. The 64D dream was shattered, and it could only honestly return to 3D fighting.

This situation makes Kodo Yoshihiko very helpless, especially when he sees other people's 3D fighting games gradually becoming rounded from square-headed square-headed wooden blocks, and players are more eager for it, he is even more sad, although verbally He insisted that "the fun of 2D fighting games is unmatched by 3D games... the connotation of the game is more important...", but he still envies old rivals such as Sega and Namco in his heart.

The 3D fighting video between Yagami-an and Kusanagi-kyo just now revived the dream buried in Yoshihiko Kodo’s heart, but before that, he still has some things to confirm, “Maybe their game console can really help him realize his dream.” Yoshihiko Kodo Think this way in your heart.

"Xu Sang, show me that non-disclosure agreement you just had." Gaotang Liangyan showed a smile on his face, and stretched out his hand to Xu Yeming in front of him.

"Okay." Xu Yeming agreed with a smile, took out the non-disclosure agreement again, and handed it to Gaotang Liangyan.

Yoshihiko Gaotang took over the non-disclosure agreement and flipped through it, and then called the lawyer next to him to review it. When the lawyer made a reassuring gesture to him, he immediately took out a signature pen and started to write at the end of the agreement.

Looking at Yoshihiko Gaotang who was signing the non-disclosure agreement, Xu Yeming breathed a sigh of relief. As long as he was willing to sign the agreement, he believed that the other party would never refuse what was shown later. He had this confidence.During this period of time in RB, Xu Yeming often had to lead the team to fly around, and sometimes even had to talk about two or three companies in one day. Those small companies were easy to deal with. Done.Those big game companies are more troublesome, and some are as arrogant as Yoshihiko Kodo, but as long as they show the game demo customized for them, they still can't take it down.

After a period of hard work, Xu Yeming has successfully negotiated with 32 game development companies, among which there are many powerful and well-known companies like CHUNSOFT and Yuanqi. Today, he believes that this number will definitely become 33.However, although he has made some achievements, he still dare not slack off in the slightest. Now there is only more than a month before the Spring Festival S. In order to ensure the success of the DreamBox128 host, he has to win over as many game developers as possible. Join, so as to have a greater chance of winning against Sony.

……

At this time, in BJ Zhongguancun, in an office on the 13th floor of Beihang Building, Wang Juntao, known as the "Old Banyan", and Su Qiqiang, Wu Tie, Li Xianzhong, Zhang Yi, Mao Yiding, Zhao Chang and others gathered together to discuss Lianbang Software for new projects - e-commerce sites.There was heavy snow falling outside the window, but under the blowing of the indoor heater, people couldn't feel the slightest chill.

"Since we have decided to do this project, shall we register a domain name for it first?" Wang Juntao raised his head and glanced at everyone in the room.

"Mr. Wang is right. A good domain name can make it easier for users to access." Zhao Chang, the representative of Fengyun Interactive in Lianbang Software, echoed.

"What should it be called?" Li Xianzhong flicked the information on the table back and forth with his hands, as if trying to find some clues.

"Hey, what is the name of the well-known e-commerce website in the world?" Zhang Yi scratched his head, trying to think back.

"Is it Ebay?" Wu Tie said.

"Not this." Zhang Yi shook his head.

"Oh, I see, it's Amazon, right?" Su Qiqiang's eyes lit up, and he suddenly thought of a name.

"That's right, that's it." Zhang Yi nodded repeatedly.

"Amazon? What does Amazon mean?" Li Xianzhong asked in confusion.

"In simple terms, the Amazon is a river, located in South America, the world's largest flow, basin, most tributaries, and the longest river." Wang Juntao explained.

"Well, then we can also think about it in this way." Mao Yiding interrupted: "Since they can use the Amazon, then we can use the Yangtze River."

"Okay, Changjiang is a good name, at least once you say it, it will definitely leave an impression on users." Su Qiqiang agreed.

"Then let me check first." Wang Juntao turned his chair in the other direction, and operated the computer to log in to the domain name registration website to check. After a while, a disappointed expression appeared on his face.

Wang Juntao turned around, shook his head to everyone and said, "Unfortunately, it has already been registered, it seems that we have to think of another name."

So the brainstorming started again, but I even thought of several names, either too complicated or not suitable, or they had already been registered, and finally everyone had to give up the plan to use the name as a domain name, and decided to target it. numbers with specific meanings.

The first one to come up with was 960, and it was already registered after checking. Mao Ding slapped his thigh and said, "Come on, let's just use the height of Mount Everest, 8848. I don't believe it, everyone has been registered, old man." King, check it out again."

Wang Juntao logged on to the Internet to check again, and everyone immediately surrounded him and stood beside him to watch. "[Registered]", Wang Juntao did not give up, and checked again, "[Registered]".Looking at the information fed back on the screen, he shook his head helplessly: "Old Mao, this name still doesn't work."

Mao Yiding sighed in disappointment. At this moment, Zhao Chang who was standing aside suddenly said, "Not necessarily, this name may come back, we can look at the contact information of the registrant."

"It's not that easy." Wang Juntao shook his head, but he clicked on the registration information of "": "Here, this is it."

Zhao Chang stared at the screen for a long time, and a smile slowly appeared on her face. Under the astonished eyes of everyone, she smiled and said: "It was registered by our headquarters, and it should be very promising. Wait a minute, I will Go make a phone call."

After speaking, Zhao Chang slipped aside, picked up the phone on the desk and started making a call.

"Is it really possible?" Mao Yiding looked at Wang Juntao and asked.

"I don't know either." Wang Juntao murmured.

After about five or six minutes, Zhao Chang turned around and came back with a triumphant smile: "Everyone, good news, it's used for us, and luckily, the registrant of the domain name is also the headquarters, so we now have two domain names."

"That's okay!" Mao Yiding said in surprise.

When the rest of the people heard the good news from Zhao Chang's mouth, they immediately became excited, and couldn't they be happy that a big problem was finally solved.Besides, according to this posture, if you really can't think of a suitable name, you might not be able to go back today. Now that the problem has been solved by Zhao Chang, some people can be said to be happy from the bottom of their hearts.

After glancing at the happy children who looked like children, Zhao Chang came to the phone again, picked up the phone handle, and dialed a familiar number: "Well, please tell the boss that 8848 has been activated..."

(End of this chapter)