Chapter 40: Do you dare to make a bet with me? (Seeking recommendation votes!!)

  When Jester revealed under Oprah's inquiry that his company was about to release three brand new games and had two more in development, the audience participating in the recording also burst into astonished voices.

  Many people inside thought that Jester made the game called "American Blocks" just for the first pot of gold, and after he made money, his company would definitely transform, such as making computers.

  Computers are now an absolutely emerging industry, favored by everyone, and I don't know how many people have rushed into this industry that seems to be full of gold everywhere.

  Because this industry is indeed filled with astonishing profiteering now.

  In contrast, the electronic game that was a hot investment just a year ago has now become a dead end after Atari's collapse. Whoever enters is a fool.

  Jester looked at the reactions of people below the stage, which was within his expectation. The damage that Atari caused to the entire American video game industry is beyond description, if one word had to be used, it would be destruction.

  It's hard to know, but rebuilding is much harder than pioneering, especially when it comes to bringing back players who have already given up.

  Jester knew that this wouldn't be accomplished in just one or two days, even a flawless masterpiece like Super Mario isn't sold 40 million copies overnight, it takes time, and healing the wounds of players from before takes a lot of time.

  Might as well talk about the news of home computers too.

  Suddenly, an unstoppable thought emerged in Jester's mind, and he somewhat maliciously wanted to see how his company, now the envy of everyone, would react when it went bankrupt in this industry where everyone was struggling.

  Will it be exciting? Ah ha, this company that has been walking on dog shit luck is finally going to take the initiative to find its own death!

  Jester doesn't know, but he can try.

  While everyone was still immersed in the news he had just announced that his company would continue to develop games, he said another piece of news in a very calm tone, which made these people even more unbearable.

  "My company has fully acquired the hardware R&D team of the former Atari, and they are now working hard to develop a new host that completely surpasses all home game consoles on the market. Around the end of the year, there will be specific product information announced, and formal samples will also participate in the CES exhibition held in Las Vegas at the beginning of next year."

  This time, the temporary audience below was no longer in the same state of astonishment as when they first heard Jest say new game. The expressions on their faces gradually turned into shock, and a buzzing discussion also started, although chaotic, Jest could still roughly hear their similar arguments.

  "He's gone mad!"

  "Did he forget Atari?"

  "Can't be just because one game was successful, you've become arrogant!"

  "They're asking for trouble!"

  "In this market situation, it's already surprising that they're making arcade games, but they actually dare to make console games?"

  And so on.

  Oprah didn't think this would happen either, and she looked at Jester with some surprise. Although she didn't know much about this aspect, she knew that if it was just game development, the investment wouldn't be too high. Even if several games failed in a row, they wouldn't lose too much, after all, you can't make thousands of arcade machines in advance and put them there as inventory.

  However, the situation is different for home consoles. Home consoles face gamers, and game cartridges also face gamers. At least 100,000 units of inventory need to be stored before they can be released for sale. One hundred thousand is a significant number; if production cannot sell out, it will result in losses of at least tens of millions. In addition, there are at least four or five games that come with the console, and assuming each game has 100,000 copies, that's 400,000 to 500,000 copies.

  It's worth noting that the Atari cartridges buried in a New Mexico desert landfill were only 700,000 copies.

  Atari could hardly withstand such losses, let alone a company that had just been established and only had one hit arcade machine?

  She wanted to persuade Jester a bit, but thinking of her own relationship with him wasn't that close, she felt somewhat hesitant to speak up for the time being.

  Jest also noticed Oprah's abnormality, and he still had a good impression of this future famous talk show queen, so he spoke directly: "It's okay, I know what I'm doing. When I recruited before, the slogan was to make the best game, relying on the slogan of reviving the electronic game industry, plus the big sale of 'American Blocks' just recruited this batch of the best game designers in the United States. They gathered around me with their love for electronic games. As a person who loves electronic games and really wants to revive this industry, I cannot disappoint them, nor can I disappoint myself. And..."

  Jester paused for a moment, his eyes scanning the murmuring crowd below, and flashed a smile. His tone turned incredibly confident. "Ms. Oprah, are you so certain I will definitely fail?"

  Oprah listened to Jester's words and also revealed a brilliant smile. She could see a familiar gaze in Jester's eyes, the same as when she vowed to become the best host and no longer be ridiculed and discriminated against by her male colleagues. It was firm like a piece of steel that had been tempered a hundred times. So she no longer insisted on her previous idea. Since the other party was full of confidence in what they wanted to do, why bother worrying about it?

  "Wish you success."

  "Wishing you good luck."

  Jester nodded and didn't say anything more.

  As the murmurs of the audience below gradually faded away, the interview continued, but no matter what questions were asked next, they couldn't evoke the same shock as Jester's sudden announcement that he was developing a brand new game console, which would be entering the already devastated home console gaming industry.

  The dullness continued until the end, when Oprah suddenly said she had a tape of a new game release and trial play conference held by Mars Entertainment a few days ago, which drew attention from the audience again.

  They were also very curious about Jester's new game, who had just boasted that he would revive the glory of electronic games.

  However, they may be disappointed that this tape does not have a specific game introduction, but mainly publishes the trial play conference, and there are only a few shots of the actual gameplay.

  However, the players who were interviewed all praised Mars Entertainment's three latest games to no end. After interviewing over a dozen people, from teenagers in their early teens to young adults in their twenties and thirties, they all had nothing but good things to say.

  They all consistently commented that although these three games have different gameplay, they are all on par with "Tetris".

  This made the audience under the stage even more restless, isn't it comparable to "American Block"? One "American Block" has already sold nearly $100 million in sales for Mars Entertainment, and three games that are not inferior to it, wouldn't they sell out for another $300 million?

  Nonsense.

  Is the US dollar that easy to earn? Do they really think we Americans are foolish and have a lot of money to throw around?

  This video is obviously fake, the people inside are all hired actors, everything inside is self-directed and performed by Huo Xing Entertainment, otherwise, how could they only let the game expose a few shots that can't be understood at all?

  This is simply naked hype!

  Especially when the recorder of this video said that some players who were not satisfied with the trial and bought other people's number plates to experience it again, and the price rose directly from $50 to $100, the audience showed a look of collective indignation.

  This tape is an insult to their intelligence!

  "Despicable yellow-skinned monkey! You're a swindler!" Finally, one of the audience members couldn't bear it anymore and shouted out in anger. The word "swindler" then spread like a signal throughout the entire venue, with over 100 audience members staring at Jester with fierce eyes, all shouting "Swindler" in unison.

  Even several of them stood up, seemingly wanting to come forward and use their own flesh to severely educate Jester about his previous arrogance and this time's deception.

  At this time, even Oprah showed a somewhat flustered expression. She had never encountered such a situation before, and she also knew that the tape was recorded by her ABC colleague. After watching it beforehand, she had raised doubts, but after contacting Jack Aston, who was in charge of this outdoor interview at ABC, his response shocked her.

  "More popular than you see in the video tape."

  This is nothing, what's serious is the previous yellow monkey's words, this is blatant racial discrimination, and she is a black person, which makes it even more abhorrent.

  "Haha......"

  Just as Oprah was about to stand up and put an end to the commotion, Jester burst out laughing loudly.

  He looked at the already outraged audience with disdain and said in a scornful tone, "Even if you call me a scammer, you have to take a look at these three games before speaking."

  As he spoke, Jester stretched out his hand and pointed to the somewhat stout white man who had shouted "Yellow Monkey" and "Cheater" earlier. His face still wore a faint smile, but the smile now carried a hint of coldness. "May I ask, sir, could you please tell me your name?"

  The white man looked at the crowd around him, also red-faced and furious, and appeared very bold. Without any hesitation, he loudly said his name: "Henry Stuart, my name is Henry Stuart, what do you want to do?"

  But this time he didn't utter those racist words again, and he knew that his previous discriminatory language was enough to get him into trouble.

  In America, racial discrimination is a done thing but an unsaid one.

  This is taboo.

  "Nothing, since you call me a cheat, are you daring to make a bet with me? Whoever loses will run naked around the Art Institute of Chicago three times, and the whole process will be broadcast live across the United States - don't worry, I'll cover all the costs for the broadcast." As he spoke, Jester's face revealed a sinister expression, his eyes gleaming with cold light as he stared at the white man.

  Then this big white man named Henry Stuart was like swallowing a fly, unable to say a word. He looked around at the people who were all staring at him, and he didn't want to back down no matter what.

  However, his momentum was not as strong as before. He remained silent for several seconds before opening his mouth in a loud and fierce tone: "I want to know what you're betting on first!"

  "It's about you calling me a scammer, so I'm planning to do the same thing in Chicago as I did in Costa Mesa, and I'll buy out this time slot for a live broadcast across the entire US. If my three games can't create a sensation in Chicago, then I lose. But if they do create a sensation, then you lose. What do you say?"

  Jester's mouth opened, revealing his snow-white teeth, and his smile seemed radiant. The expression in his eyes appeared unchanged from before, but a hint of unmasked chilliness surprisingly flowed out.