Chapter 898: eHome Advances to Semifinals First
Chen You-shan said, "It's not an exclusive authorization, but I've heard that Nintendo is the largest manufacturer in the global electronic game industry. Even they can't produce a good game, so how can we believe you?" Cheng Long also self-deprecatingly said, with some harsh words: "I don't want to see another game in this world that bears my face and claims to be Chinese kung fu, but is actually a fake." As soon as he spoke, Zhao Yong-ping felt unhappy. They weren't a company that produced fake products; they made every game with high standards of quality. However, Yang Yun understood Cheng Long's feelings. He had always wanted to enter Hollywood, but Hong Kong films were not recognized in the North American market. Hollywood didn't accept him as an "international kung fu superstar." Just when he finally got in touch with Japanese sponsors and started his international career, the action game he endorsed turned out to be terrible, without any international appeal. It would likely become a laughingstock for himself in the future.
It's not about the money, but rather that Cheng Long refused, which is normal and understandable. Even the world's top game company can't do it, what makes you think a domestic Chinese enterprise can? It's one thing to understand, but how are we going to break this deadlock? Yang Yunfei thought quickly about how to persuade him and decided to change his approach: "Since Cheng Long doesn't want to sponsor us or let us use his image, how about being our martial arts consultant?" As a martial arts consultant wouldn't appear on the production team list, this proposal was still acceptable. Cheng Long's expression eased up a lot: "What aspects of content does Mr. Yang want to know about?" Yang Yun pointed to one page of the document: "The fighting techniques between real people are ever-changing, but our game controller only has two buttons, A and B. We need to use these two buttons to complete complex fighting techniques, so we need your professional guidance as a martial arts consultant."
Additionally, the game's storyline takes place in Los Angeles. We are not familiar with American culture and do not know what kind of weapons real-life American gangs would use in street fights. In terms of hand-to-hand combat and armed combat, is there a big difference? We want to perfectly showcase realistic scenes." Cheng Long burst out laughing: "I didn't expect Yang's game production to be as meticulous as filmmaking, paying attention to so many details! The game's storyline takes place in Los Angeles, which is Hollywood's forte!" Yang Yun raised an eyebrow and complimented him subtly: "Big brother has been a director for many years, surely you think this heroic rescue plot is too simple? You've seen at least 800 scripts like this, right?" Cheng Long knew what he meant and smiled slyly, joking: "Are you guys planning to have me do the work of a director while paying me an actor's salary?" Everyone burst out laughing. Yang Yun laughed and said: "Actually, I want to invite big brother to be our company's spokesperson for long-term cooperation. Even if it's not for the Cheng Long series games, helping our Dragon Rise learning machine take some ads or do product promotion would be great too."
Zhao Yongping's mind was racing, and he continued with full confidence: "I've already thought of several great advertising ideas. For example, the 'Little Brother' song that kids are all singing these days, and the clapping song. If Brother Cheng Long participates, it should have a particularly good effect!" Yang Yun's face turned black, damn it, this Zhao Yongping was indeed a freak. These things were really his doing. These ideas were truly classic... Cheng Long, being from Hong Kong, wasn't too familiar with the 'Little Brother' song that had been passed down for so long in mainland China, but he knew something about the clapping song. Since different regions had different versions of the clapping song, he asked: "How do you plan to sing your clapping song?" Zhao Yongping was just about to respond when Yang Yun rolled his eyes and said: "You clap one, I clap one, Dragon's learning machine has emerged... You clap two, I clap two, learning games are all together..." "Yang, this is...!" This idea Zhao Yongping hadn't told anyone, it was the first time he mentioned it today. He didn't expect Yang Yun to know the lyrics too, it was truly mysterious and unpredictable. Why not call him shocked and amazed? Yang Yun pouted: "I have a few more lines! You clap four, I clap four, guaranteed to learn typing in three days. You clap five, I clap five, laying the foundation for the future."
"Brother Zhao, this clapping song idea is great, it's going to be a huge hit!" Zhao Yongping was stunned, as if he had seen a ghost. All these things existed in his mind, and he had never told anyone about them, nor had he written them down on paper. But Yang Yun seemed to know his thoughts crystal clear. What kind of person was he?... After Yang Yun finished speaking, she looked at Cheng Long and found that he also seemed interested, so she quickly took advantage of the situation: "Brother Cheng Long, what do you think if we give this clapping song to you, and then advertise it on CCTV, promoting our Dragon's home computer learning machine nationwide? Are you interested?" Advertising on CCTV would have a huge audience, and Cheng Long's image would enter thousands of households, from cities to rural areas. As long as there was a TV, people would recognize this superstar.
Cheng Long would not refuse, and the two sides finally found a common language. However, Cheng Long still had concerns about portrait rights, and if he didn't take it down, Yang Yun's Double Dragon game promotion would be a bit difficult. Yang Yun suddenly thought of another game, Red Fortress, and decided to bring out both things at once, constantly increasing the weight. He believed that as long as the weight was heavy enough, it would eventually move Cheng Long's heart. Yang Yun asked: "Big brother, I have another game, the technology is already in place, now it just needs a story script to fill in the content. Since you're a martial artist working as a director with low pay, why don't you design a Hollywood-style storm rescue for us?" Cheng Long was in a good mood, looking at the brief introduction and rough sketches of Red Fortress, listening to Yang Yun's explanation: "Storm Rescue can also be said to be Special Forces Rescue. Our story's protagonist drives a jeep, fighting against enemies in different special locations, rescuing his captured comrades while destroying the enemy camp."
Hollywood is extremely particular about heroic images, and the story Yang Yun told was full of war elements, heroic characters, rescuing comrades, violent destruction, and complex scenes. As soon as this idea was mentioned, Cheng Long's eyes lit up. Sneaking into the enemy's headquarters alone, turning the tide, beheading the enemy general, and escaping with his own comrades, leaving a trail of destruction behind - this is a perfect Hollywood script! This type of script can have many variations, and there are plenty of existing ones everywhere. However, it's difficult to execute in film, and although Cheng Long was interested, he didn't dare try directing and acting himself easily.
However, the game is much simpler than the movie, and the technical content is not as high as the movie. If the game becomes popular, a same-name movie can be released in the future. If the game doesn't become popular, there won't be any loss for Cheng Long. So Yang Yun's suggestion to use the game to realize this script is a detour tactic, with no harm and all benefits. Cheng Long has no reason to refuse.
"Wow, this is Rambo's style!" Cheng Long exclaimed: "What's the name of this hurricane rescue game you mentioned?" Yang Yun smiled: "But I think it's better not to let Sylvester Stallone see the game script, in case his Rambo can't complete the task and gets killed instead. This is a life-or-death situation!"
The group burst out laughing, and Yang Yun continued: "The Japanese version of their game is called Jackal, our company's version doesn't have a confirmed name yet. Do you have any good suggestions, big brother?"
Cheng Long laughed loudly: "Why not call it Expendables? The Chinese name can be 'Dare to Die Team'!" Ah... this name isn't bad, but it seems like there might be something slightly off about it... Never mind, this name is great! Let's just call it 'Dare to Die Team'!
Yang Yun decided to adopt the suggestion. Who cares? Even if Sylvester Stallone comes to protest in person, it won't work!
PS: The Expendables is a 2010 action movie starring Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Jet Li. Using this name to crush Jackal (Red Fortress) might not be high-end or classy enough?
