Chapter Fifty-Nine: Voices of Opposition

  Regarding the naked sprinting bet, since another party involved went missing and it was never settled, Jester didn't mind. He held this trial play meeting not to prove his innocence but to hype up his game. Even without this racial discrimination incident, Jester would have found other excuses to spark a hot topic discussion.

  Because Jester from the future knows that even the best games need hype to promote them, in the game industry, there is no saying that good wine doesn't fear the alley being deep.

  The two-day trial play was a huge success, and Mars Entertainment's phone was almost blown up by buyers.

  They were all distributors or owners of numerous amusement halls.

  Actually, many of the people who came to participate in this trial play conference were bosses of game halls who made a fortune from "American Blocks" in the previous period. Some may really like Martian Entertainment's games, but many are here to see if Martian Entertainment's new game is worth their continued investment.

  It turned out that this time Huo Xing Entertainment not only did not disappoint them but also far exceeded their expectations.

  They released another "American Block" again.

  However, the game's publishing rights have now been transferred to Fengxing Distribution Company. For these purchasing merchants, Huoxing Entertainment can only indicate that specific purchase matters should be contacted with Fengxing Game Distribution Company.

  This is a piece of news that makes many distributors curse, but makes the bosses of many arcades cheer. Because after the distribution rights are handed over, distributors can no longer make money by selling "American Blocks" in the same way, while these arcade bosses can directly purchase goods at factory prices.

  However, Carly is currently only setting up logistics centers in three states, and only the California logistics center, which was built the earliest, can be officially put into use. As for the flagship store in the central city, there is no plan yet. Margaret Whitman has only secured rental locations in San Francisco and Los Angeles, but it will take another month to decorate them. The opening dates of the flagship stores in the Midwest and East Coast are still uncertain.

  In order to accelerate the establishment of a direct sales channel across the United States, Carrie couldn't help but think of the franchise store model she had previously discussed with Jester. To her surprise, as soon as this plan was proposed, it received a lot of response, and many owners who had operated amusement parks before inquired about the franchise method.

  In just a short week's time, nearly twenty franchise stores were set up all over the United States.

  However, Sega's first batch of arcade boards won't arrive for about another week, and the cabinets are made locally in the US, so even if you prepay now, it's impossible to get a machine until at least ten days from now.

  However, the franchise store owners and amusement hall bosses are still competing with each other to pay in advance and place orders ahead of time.

  Among them, "Gemstone Labyrinth", "Zuma" and "Puzzle Bobble" have similar order quantities, with each game being pre-ordered in quantities of around 5,000 to 6,000 units. The order quantity for "Snow Bros." was the most explosive, and within a short period of just a few days, the total number of orders directly exceeded 20,000 units. These are not verbal orders, but require full payment in advance.

  To know, even with the popularity of "Minecraft", up to now, it has only sold about 200,000 copies.

  Although Jaleco lowered the price of the arcade version compared to Tetris, the single-unit prices for Puzzle Bobble, Zuma and Bust-a-Move were $3,000 for distributors and $4,000 for amusement halls. However, the company took a 20% profit from each distributor, who was responsible for local promotion. The price of Snow Bros., on the other hand, was the same as that of Tetris, at $6,000, which was also the actual selling price without any middlemen's markup, even if it was sold to distributors, the unit price of Snow Bros. reached $5,000.

  Moreover, the three games of "Gemstone Labyrinth" have already started production and will be available in a few days, but the game "Snowman Brothers" has not even been produced, let alone mass-produced. Despite this, it was able to pre-sell 20,000 units after its first appearance, which is beyond Jester's expectations.

  In just a few days, the account of Fengxing Distribution had an increase of over $300 million in cash, which would be split 50/50 with Huaxia Entertainment.

  But for Jester, it was just a matter of turning his left hand over to his right.

  The large amount of pre-orders brought in by these four games also allowed Just Cause's previously tight financial situation to breathe a sigh of relief.

  As long as he doesn't have to worry about his company's capital chain breaking and collapsing.

  Jester rushed back to California at the end of July, and immediately there was a discussion about the progress of research and development for next month.

  Jester first chatted with Sefer Daburworth, listened to his ideas on game design, and felt that although he was young, he was also a talented person. He also had the plan to formally establish the third core R&D team at this discussion meeting and let him be the leader.

  However, in this discussion meeting, other projects did not have any major issues. For example, 'the-king' continued to be responsible for the development of 'Avengers', and it is expected that three levels can be produced this month. Yuandian will complete the level production of 'Snowman Brothers' and then hand over the follow-up work to Qingdao Husband. After that, he will fully invest in the design of 'Dawn'. Sid Meier also officially joined the Yuandian development team at this meeting.

  However, when Jester proposed the establishment of a third core R&D team to develop the westernized "Baldur's Gate", Mark Sweeney had a different opinion.

  "Jest, what kind of game did you initially want to make?" Mark Sien asked directly to Jest, without mentioning the shortcomings of Sefer Dabrowa's modified "Balotelli Police".

  Jester knew what the other person was going to say as soon as he heard the question.

  This is actually the two styles of game production later on, and can even be said to be a confrontation between two schools - realistic and cartoon.

  The Sheriff of Ballotree, modified by Sefer Dabroworth, tends to be realistic in style, with specific backgrounds also placed in the West. The monsters or enemies that exist are all real or have been rumored, which can make it easier for players to immerse themselves.

  But...

  Mark Cerny didn't wait for Jaffe to respond, instead saying directly: "We're not talking about the target audience of the game, I just want to give a very simple example of design. Sheriff Barlotteli is eliminating enemies in this way - he jumps up, higher than himself, and then tramples down, flattening his enemy. In Jaffe's previous design plan, what he was trampling were mushrooms, cartoon turtles with a strong flavor, so this method that seems ridiculous and strange at first glance would not only be considered funny but also reasonable. But if you change the monsters to be defeated into Indians, voodoo witches, western bandits, bounty hunters, you can imagine the picture - it's no longer just absurd and strange."

  "This is foolish."

  "So, in this style of gameplay, his style has to be cartoonish. The style that Jesse designed previously is great, I really like it, so I think there's no need for any changes at all, that's my opinion, that's what I have to say."

  Mark Sweeney finished speaking and spread his hands, indicating for others to express their opinions.

  "I also agree with Mark's opinion, and I think what we should clarify is what kind of target audience this game is for." At this time, the leader of the original design team, Sean Dabiri, stood up and said slowly, "Firstly, this is a game made for our home console, it's a launch title released to open up the market for the console in such a cold market environment. So, who would buy a home console? This is actually a very clear question. No matter how high-end the console is, at least for now, it's essentially just a toy, and we must clarify this point."

  "Undoubtedly, our main consumers at the beginning must be children! Who will buy game consoles for kids? Their parents. I think once you understand this point, it's self-evident whether to choose a lighthearted, humorous, fun and cartoonish style or a realistic violent style. That's all I want to say. If this were an arcade game, I wouldn't oppose it. Sefer Djabarov's modifications are indeed very western-style and down-to-earth, if done well, will definitely be liked by some people who like western themes."

  "And also on the topic of substitution, I know that when you were all kids, you thought John Wayne was great, thought Clint Eastwood was cool, and wanted to be tough guys like them, heroes like them. But think about it yourselves, when you were kids, did you like 'Tom and Jerry' or 'Mickey Mouse' more, or did you like 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly' or 'A Fistful of Dollars' more?"

  "With these clarified, it's natural to know how to choose between styles."

  "Of course, like Sefer Djabbarov's design, I do not deny the greatness of "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" and "A Fistful of Dollars", his western style is also one that I love."

  "As for me personally, I'm looking forward to this game."

  When Sean Darcy finished speaking, everyone's eyes turned to Jester. After all, the original setting was made by him, and he was also the first to propose modifications. Now, both leaders of the core R&D team disagreed with his modification plan, and Mark Senny was not only his partner but also the head of the software development department.

  Jester lowered his head and thought silently, and the scene remained silent for five minutes.

  He looked up without voicing his conclusion, instead turning to Seaver Dabroworth who had been sitting there silently and asked: "Neither of them agrees with your revised plan, don't you want to say something?"

  "I..." Seifer Dabworth, who had just graduated and was only twenty-one years old, was naturally introverted. When asked by Jester, he suddenly became tongue-tied and didn't know what to say.

  "Just say it, our monthly R&D discussion meetings are always free and open. Say what you want to say, don't mind the identities of these two people. If they dare to make things difficult for you afterwards, I'll back you up." Jest said with a smile.

  This also made Mark Sweeney and Shawn Estes laugh, as they both knew that was just Jeter joking around, and neither of them were thin-skinned guys.

  Taking a deep breath, Seifer Dabberwott seemed to calm down before speaking: "Actually, I thought about it earlier and Mark Senni's director and Shawn Darbili's team leader made sense. I did think the design of this game was too simple, plus I don't really like cartoon styles. Just then I saw your character setting for the boss as a western sheriff, and since I like watching westerns, that's how the previous revised script came about."

  Jester nodded, then fell silent for a moment before standing up and bowing slightly. With some apology in his voice, he said: "Firstly, I apologize for my thoughtlessness. Due to personal preference, I made a somewhat hasty decision, neglecting the fact that this is a home console game. However, I won't take back what I previously said."

  He first slightly expressed his apologies for being inconsiderate, then changed his tone and continued.

  "The western-style intense 'Baldur's Gate' I think has a certain audience, is a very stylized game, he certainly will limit his target audience to some extent, but at the same time he will also make his target audience love this game even more. I call these players core gamers, they have a special affection for a particular type of game. And I see that our development team has too many members, over 40 people, doing post-production and debugging doesn't need so many people, so I plan to take out 30 people from it to form two core R&D teams."

  "And besides, Mars Entertainment isn't just a company that makes games for little kids. We should have the courage to make some unique and stylish games that players will like, even if they won't sell too well." As he spoke, Jester turned his head towards Mark Cerny, smiling as he said, "One of these two core development teams is from 'The King', with your second-in-command Will Wright in charge. The other..."

  Mark Sweeney nodded in agreement, he had no objection. In the past month of contact with Will Wright, he also found that the other party was indeed a talented designer with his own unique personal understanding of the game. This time, it is only natural to have the opportunity to let him lead an independent research and development team to make games.

  Jester's gaze turned to Seifer Almasy, a smile once again appearing on his face as he said, "Seifer Almasy will be in charge."

  Jester's announcement was met with surprise, not just from others, but even Seifer Davenport's face showed an unexpected expression. After all, he had only been at the company for less than a month and had only participated in the final stages of several games, without being involved in any formal game development. It seemed too hasty to let him lead a team.

  "I won't," Sefer Dabrowa said quietly.

  Jester just smiled and waved his hand, saying: "It's okay, you take care of it. From this revised script, I can see that you have a deep understanding of the western style, and this is a game with a strong western style or personal style. It's most suitable for you to do it."

  He first directly refuted what Seferino Dabrowa had said, then Jester continued, "However, this means that the gameplay can't use the cartoon style of Balotelli police chief I designed before. At least the cartoon-style jumping and stomping on monsters attack method can't be used, but jumping can be retained."

  At this time, Jest thought of some settings in "Metal Gear" and continued speaking.

  "Firstly, this is no longer a home console game, but an arcade game. The attack can be changed to a built-in revolver, which can be used for long-range attacks with unlimited bullets, although the player needs to reload after firing a certain number of shots. At close range, a dagger can be used. During gameplay, items that enhance the character's abilities can also be added, such as more powerful firearms. Due to the game's realistic Western style, the firearms should also be realistic and not include things like laser guns or missile launchers. Additionally, a vehicle system could be added, but it should also fit with the Western theme - for example, horses equipped with machine guns. After clearing out enemies, players can choose to ride..."

  "Of course, this is a scrolling game, and the development difficulty is great. However, some of the scrolling techniques you need are in the technical reserve department, which was broken through by Mark's group. When necessary, you can ask for their help on the technical side. I've seen the first level of "Avenger" they made, it's very smooth, that's really a masterpiece across the ages."

  "Then, the name of this game remains unchanged, still called "Balotelli Sheriff", and the other cartoon-style one is renamed to "Balotelli's Interdimensional Adventure", led by Will Wright's team, because it's a home console game, and our home console is still in design, you must follow up with the hardware development progress all the way, you must fully understand the performance of the game console we are developing, and also must release the home console version of this game at the same time as our game console launch."

  "As for the name of the group, you can decide it yourself."

  Finally, Jester summarized this discussion meeting, which can also be said to be the summary of Mars Entertainment's R&D task for next month.

  Origin completed the level design for Snow Bros, then fully prepared for the development of Dawn Patrol. Sid Meier served as vice president of Origin, The King still in charge of the production of Ultima VI without any changes. Two new core R&D teams were established, one responsible for the western-style shooter side-scroller "Bad Blood", led by its proposer Steve Cartwright, and the other responsible for the console's first release, a cartoon-style, light-hearted entertainment game "Wind in the Willows", led by Will Wright. As for Richard Garriott, he was still in charge of post-production and debugging work. This month was mainly about Snow Bros.

  At the same time, Jestro also served as a producer on Dawn of the Croods, Sheriff Callie's Wild West and The Adventures of Puss in Boots.

  P.S. The plot of the previous paragraph is also a bit embarrassing for me to write, I feel like it's as shallow as a certain someone. From now on, I'll just stick to my dry and tasteless explanatory writing style, if you don't like it then so be it.