Chapter 8: Turning Back Her Sleeve and Leaving

  Despite seeing the game's popularity, on the first night, the Jester family of three was still shocked when they counted up the day's sales of American Block game coins.

  Jester's mother was even more incredulous, repeating the calculation twice before believing the fact.

  The time when Nolan Bushnell's first Pong was filled with 1,200 quarters in a single day by crazy players in the bar's game room has become a beautiful legend. This time, the players are even crazier, and two "American Blocks" sold a total of $3,000 in game coins in just one day, averaging $1,500 per machine!

  It's simply profiteering.

  And now, how much does an arcade machine cost on average? Generally speaking, the price of an arcade machine is about seven times that of a home console. The FES, which will be released next year, costs $200, so an arcade machine would cost around $1,400.

  In just one day, "American Block" earned the price of an arcade machine. If those who sell entertainment equipment and run arcades knew about this, they might be shocked to the point of having a heart attack.

  In fact, there is no need for Jester to do publicity. The supermarket of his mother's today is so hot that it will not be hidden from those who are interested. They only need to push a little bit and they can calculate how much money a "Block of America" can make in one day.

  Merchants are merchants, they were born for pursuing profits, as long as this boom can last, he doesn't worry that his goods will not be sold.

  So the next few days will be crucial.

  The next day, Jester and his father moved all three of the first five made to his mother's supermarket.

  Even his mother had several old Atari machines moved to the warehouse, specifically to make room for the "American Block" arcade machine. Anyway, those old Atari arcade machines were not popular wherever they were placed.

  It turned out that Jester and his father went to the supermarket at 6 o'clock in the morning to install new machines, and unexpectedly found that dozens of players who played "Ameri-can Block" yesterday had already gathered in front of their family's supermarket. When they saw the three beautiful machines with completely different Atari street machine shapes behind the truck driven by Jester's father, they even cheered loudly.

  They came here early in the morning just to be the first ones to play " Tetris" when the supermarket opens.

  The second day, the business of "American Blocks" was still booming, despite increasing to five machines, but a long queue was still formed. Every person who played this game was full of praise, and even many people who played "American Blocks" yesterday not only came again today, but also called their friends to come together.

  In June 1984, at least in the small town of Costa Mesa in Orange County, "American Block" was phenomenal.

  Almost no one in this city doesn't know that a game console called "American Block" has appeared in a supermarket on their Yeril Street.

  By the third day, the fourth day, this fiery enthusiasm continued unabated, with almost no signs of weakening. This made the salesmen of entertainment equipment and the bosses of amusement halls restless, as they sniffed out an astonishing business opportunity from "American Blocks".

  It's just like the business opportunity of Pong back then.

  A guest room on the top floor of his mother's supermarket converted from a storage room.

  "What? Five thousand dollars each? And you want full payment upfront? You're ripping us off! Atari's Space Invaders didn't sell for that much back then!"

  The man yelling in Jest's face was a white middle-aged man named Kerry Thomas, a representative of a large entertainment equipment sales company from Los Angeles. His face was bright red with anger as he insisted that the price of $5,000 for a single arcade machine was absolutely unacceptable to him, more than three times the average price of an ordinary arcade machine.

  Next to this white middle-aged man named Kaili were three others, their facial expressions identical to Kaili's, and they too were representatives of some entertainment equipment sales companies, just representing different companies.

  "Rest in anger."

  Jie Si saw the other person's appearance and was not angry, he knew a word called "strange goods can be precious".

  He picked up the cup of coffee in front of him, which was still steaming hot, and took a sip. After savoring the wonderful taste of bitterness and sweetness in the coffee, he slowly spoke to the four salesmen from different places and companies: "You are all professionals, you don't need me to tell you how much money a street machine with my designed 'American Block' can make in one day at my supermarket. Do you think $5,000 per unit is expensive? I don't think so. For a machine that can pay back all the investment in just a few weeks, this is a golden egg-laying hen. You can see how popular 'American Block' is now! And this is just in a small town like this. Imagine if it were in Los Angeles? In the whole of California? On the entire West Coast? In the entire United States?"

  "Although it is said that, this is just the beginning. People are just trying something new and nobody knows what will happen later on. It's unknown how long it can be popular. And you also know, the current game market isn't very good. Moreover, only with your five machines here would such a deformed boom scene appear, this boom has a very strong deceptive nature... If there were fifty machines, maybe it wouldn't be like this... and each one costs $5,000, not including shipping fees, this price is too expensive, besides we are not small-batch orders..."

  A sales representative scowled, refuting Jester's previous claim that the game was a huge hit, but before he could finish speaking, Jester cut him off mercilessly.

  "First of all, I want to make one thing clear: we don't do small batch shipments. If your order quantity is less than 1,000 units each time, we won't ship. Moreover, it must be prepaid in full; we don't accept deposits, only full payment."

  Jester's tone was flat, but to the ears of these sales representatives, it was like a steel knife scraping their bones. These conditions were simply too harsh.

  That Kerry Thomas's white man, who represented Schwel, was the largest entertainment equipment distributor in Southern California, a company that had grown up with Atari. The other three also seemed to be looking at him as their leader, and he too became furious when he heard Jester's words.

  You're just a little kid who hasn't even grown out all your hair yet, and you've only managed to make one decent game, but you dare speak to me like that?

  Do you know what position Shewell Company holds in California's entertainment equipment sales industry?

  Pay the full amount first? Are you kidding me?!

  You really think you're making Pong, Space Cruiser, or Donkey Kong?

  You're really out of your mind! Today I'll let you know that some words can't be spoken casually!

  "Bang!"

  Kerry Thomas slammed a heavy palm on the table in front of Jester, his face seemingly covered with a layer of frost, not revealing any hint of a smile, and his gloomy expression was enough to make water drip.

  "Each unit is one thousand five hundred US dollars, we only pay twenty percent deposit, the balance will be paid after these machines are sold out. If sales are not good, we have the right to choose return goods. Finally, you are responsible for freight, this is our company's final offer, not a single point can be changed, either agree or refuse——Mr. Li, make your choice."

  "This is blackmail."

  Jest's eyes also turned cold, he had asked his father about the industry's rules before negotiating with these people. The down payment would be at least 30%, some even up to 50%, and there were also cases of paying the full amount in advance, but those were all popular American games, such as "PONG", "Space Cruiser", and "Donkey Kong".

  And only gave a 20% deposit, which is basically an insult.

  "The American Block will not tolerate this insult." Jester rose to his feet, a menacing look on his face, his upper body leaning forward, his fists clenched tightly, the veins on his exposed forearms bulging, his body almost pressing against Keri Thomas', hot air from his nostrils nearly spraying onto her face.

  Although he plagiarized the creativity of Russians, the block in this world was his first game designed by himself. This game gave Jester a feeling as if it were his own offspring, connected by blood.

  He absolutely cannot accept his descendants being insulted and humiliated like this.

  Jester's physique was robust, not like that of an ordinary Asian person. Keri Thomas was also taken aback by Jester's expression and aura, involuntarily taking several steps back, steadying himself before suppressing the fear in his heart. With a somewhat irritated and ugly cold smile on his face, he said disdainfully: "If you think this is extortion, then so be it. And as Schwel's plenipotentiary representative, I can clearly tell you, Mr. Li, that if you refuse our offer this time, the doors of the four largest entertainment equipment sales companies in Southern California, including Schwel Company, which control 60% of the sales channels in Southern California, will be closed to you forever. You will never again have the opportunity to sell even a single screw through our channels."

  In the end, Kerry Thomas looked at Jester who was already furious and trembling all over, thinking that he had already controlled the situation, and the other party could only choose to agree with his offer in desperation. He couldn't help but feel proud of himself for making another great achievement for the company, so he spoke to Jester in a tone that was almost condescending: "If possible, let's sign the deal."

  "Hehe!"

  Jester just sneered and looked at Kerry Thomas with a gaze that was somewhat pitiful, "Do you know what you just refused?"

  Kerry Thomas furrowed his brow in some confusion at Jester's enigmatic words.

  Jester didn't continue, instead he swept his icy gaze across the faces of the four different sales company representatives in front of him. All he saw on their faces was a kind of expression that seemed to be in control and confident of winning.

  Then he burst out laughing, a cold laugh with a hint of disdain.

  "I am now, as the plenipotentiary representative of 'American Blocks', telling you all clearly that unless your company fires all four of you and agrees to all my previous demands, I will not proceed with further negotiations with you."

  After finishing speaking, Jester turned around and strode out of the room in big steps without looking back.

  The four sales company representatives were left staring at each other in dismay.

  Then came their angry shouts mixed with slang.

  But it wasn't until Jester had walked out of the room for over a dozen steps that he suddenly came to his senses. Earlier, he was clearly in his own room, so why did he leave? He should be the one kicking them out!

  Jester couldn't help but feel embarrassed thinking about it now, and could only laugh at himself.