White! Big! Long!

Chapter 21 White! Big! Long!

When Ethan thinks of gaming conventions, the first thing that comes to mind is—white! Big! Long!

Uh... there's no way around it.

Why do major game expos still like to push the boundaries decades later?

The Tokyo Game Show, which originated in 1996, was the first exhibition to combine video games with beautiful women. The girls at the Yakuza booth have always been a beautiful sight.

Perhaps due to geographical proximity and ease of learning, ChinaJoy, which originated in 2004, was not to be outdone. Almost all exhibitors would hire beautiful showgirls to warm up the atmosphere. Their eye-catching curves, sexy outfits, and prominent logo placements made ChinaJoy a successful event time and time again.

Because these two companies went too far, E3, the world's largest electronic entertainment exhibition, also started hiring models. By 2009, when Gamescom was established, they couldn't resist joining the trend, hiring showgirls and doing cosplay, further combining beautiful women with video games.

From then on, "white," "big," and "long" became unique labels for game expos.

And this era...

"Oh my god! This is a trade fair???"

After finishing breakfast, Ethan followed Frank to the San Francisco video game convention. As soon as they entered, he exclaimed, "My God!!! This is something you can see for free???"

Ethan stared wide-eyed.

The fluttering eyelids were like the shutter of a camera, clicking and recording the beautiful scenery around them.

As far as his eyes could see, there were machines everywhere and crowds of people.

Of course, neither a single person nor a single machine would surprise Ethan, who had seen the world. What truly astonished him were the girls in front of each booth.

They were groups of scantily clad women, wearing nothing more than a Bxa top and tiny TX shorts, with high heels on their feet. Whenever tourists stopped in front of the machines they were standing on, these women would enthusiastically greet them and introduce the products they were selling.

Since he hadn't experienced it himself, Ethan wasn't sure how professional these girls were, but judging from the facial feedback of the customers who had already tried it, they seemed very satisfied at that moment.

"Is this some kind of video game convention?"

"This doesn't look proper at all!"

After looking around, Ethan Jones was completely dumbfounded!

Turning to look at Frank, he felt as if he had stumbled into a red-light district instead of an exhibition!

Because this place, apart from lacking the nauseating smell of cigarettes and deafeningly loud music that are most common in nightclubs, actually has everything that should and shouldn't be there!

Ethan's astonishment made Frank burst into laughter.

He raised his arm, hooked it around Ethan's shoulder, and then pulled Ethan inside.

He added, "Wow! Surprised? I get the feeling this is the first time you've seen something like this. How old are you? Never been to a bar before? They're just showgirls! It's not unusual for them to be here!"

"Dude! You need to know where those arcade machines used to be sold! The place with the best sales and the most generous payments was Las Vegas! Since the 1950s, Las Vegas has been the favorite customer of California arcade operators! And to cater to those bosses and make them feel comfortable, it's perfectly normal for these arcade manufacturers to offer the same showgirl services as in Las Vegas when promoting their machines, isn't it?"

That's why capitalism is all about money.

In order to gain more profits, the suppliers in non-monopolistic industries often follow the principle of catering to the preferences of others!

The customer is king!

We give our customers what they like!

As Ethan followed Frank into the venue, the overwhelming enthusiasm he encountered smelled like deodorant.

Although the mixture of various strong fragrances wasn't very pleasant, and could even be described as pungent, to be honest, when those gaudy-dressed young women used their high-pitched voices to act as "salespeople," introducing the machines at their booths and patiently teaching you how to use them, the gentle feeling was still quite wonderful!

after all……

It's free!

Nothing brings more joy than getting something for free!

But while he felt a sense of inner satisfaction, Ethan's face didn't look very good.

Because in the face of this old-fashioned sales model, he, who came alone with the arcade machine, looked like a clown.

To be honest!

Even if Snake is really fun, it's impossible to sell it in a godforsaken place like this!

When major manufacturers are using beautiful women to attract customers, he, Ethan Jones, can't exactly dress up as a male dancer and show off his figure in public, can he?

After all, this is a game expo!

It's not a male escort club!

And indeed, when Ethan brought Snake into the venue, not a single person came to try it out for two whole hours.

Especially when the background music from "Snake" was still "Jingle Bells," the merchants who came to place orders with Frank would just laugh to encourage Ethan, then clap their hands and leave quickly.

Yes, the Mr. Formers that Ethan mentioned actually had a booth.

As a hazardous chemicals retailer with a store in downtown San Francisco, he was invited by the organizers to help these recently transformed arcade manufacturers solve technical problems and provide material assistance.

Ethan was only able to bring the game console in because Frank was a legitimate invitee; in fact, the organizers even kindly lent a hand during the moving process. But if he could turn back time, Ethan would rather not have brought the machine, because standing there was truly a waste of time!

To be honest, instead of sitting here watching old-school arcade companies have a party, he'd rather go to Sacramento!

Perhaps the new arcade companies there would be willing to cooperate with Snake?

Ethan was frustrated, but Frank was in high spirits.

She kept looking around at the girls at each booth.

Not only that, whenever he discovers his type, he will use the excuse of needing to pee to escape.

He asked Ethan to watch the booth while he dashed off to the booth of his crush, his sister, to play a couple of games.

Ethan strongly condemned this inhumane behavior, and just as he was pondering whether he should make an excuse to leave when Frank returned and teach the young boss a lesson…

A figure suddenly appeared in front of him.

This is a young man wearing a cowboy hat and sunglasses, a floral T-shirt, and flared pants.

After glancing at the booth sign, he asked curiously, "San Francisco Electronics Supply Company? Hello sir, do you sell materials here? You mean materials for making circuit boards?"

"Yeah, sell."

Ethan was already very familiar with this process.

He was so familiar with the company that he thought he was the boss of an electronics supply company in San Francisco!

He patted the record sheet on the table and said, "Write down what materials you want here, noting the name and quantity. Then leave your contact information, and we will contact you within three business days to arrange pickup."

"Okay, okay, thank you." The man bent down to write.

Ethan shifted his body slightly as his long hair flowed down.

These days, people who wear floral shirts and have long hair are basically hippies.

He didn't want to associate with such a restless guy, lest he get into trouble.

Oh wait, I mean, hippies?

This word made Ethan glance at the other person a few more times.

Then, an interesting idea suddenly popped into his head.

"Wasn't Mr. Forbes always afraid of something going wrong?"

"Hey!"

"Now we can at least give him something to do for fun, right?"

Ethan thought that if he told Frank later that the guy who came to buy chemical materials was a clearly dressed hippie, the cowardly guy would probably be terrified.

While Ethan was lost in thought, the long-haired hippie gentleman had already finished writing his list.

He nodded amicably to Ethan, then turned his gaze to the Snake arcade game next to him.

Seemingly attracted by its exquisite appearance, or perhaps stunned by the background music of "Jingle Bells," he stared at it for a long time before finally speaking, "Sir, is this a video game released by your company?"

"Ah...I guess so..."

Upon hearing this, Ethan immediately perked up. "If you're interested, you can give it a try."

At the same time, he pulled out a stack of coins from his pocket, saying, "It's free."

"Thank you." The long-haired hippie picked up a twenty-five-cent coin and tossed it in. As the screen flashed by, he began to play intently.

At first, because he didn't understand the game mechanics, he died just like everyone else who tried playing Snake.

But after spending a few coins and figuring out the game's mechanics, he gradually got on the right track.

The joysticks were rhythmically manipulated with both hands.

Under his control, the little snake on the screen ate the white dots again and again.

At the same time, he fell into complete silence, as if possessed by a ghost.

Although the exhibition was very noisy.

But Ethan could always hear the rhythmic crunching sounds of food being eaten in his ears.

This scene surprised Ethan.

Because he never expected that this hippie gentleman could withstand three waves of game acceleration!

It wasn't until the fourth wave of acceleration arrived that he was unable to control the snake in time and watched helplessly as it crashed into the wall!

"Oh! Fxxk!"

He waved his fist and cursed loudly!

"So close!"

He stomped his foot angrily!

Ethan, who witnessed all of this, thought he was pretty awesome.

Because this guy is the only person in the past few days who, without being familiar with the mechanics of Snake, managed to get a score of 40 using only four coins.

Just as Ethan was about to offer his praise, the hippie-like man suddenly stood up straight and looked around.

Ethan Jones was puzzled by the man's thieving manner, but the next second, the man gave his answer.

He bent down, unplugged the game, then leaned close to Ethan Jones and whispered, "Sir, it's a pleasure to meet you here. Please forgive my rudeness, as I'm quite excited right now."

"Sir, since you brought 'Snake Game' to the exhibition, it proves you're interested in selling it, right? If that's the case, how about we get to know each other?"

As he said this, he touched his buttocks and pulled a wallet out of his pocket.

"This is my business card."

Ethan Jones was very pleased with the straightforward attitude.

He had thought he was going to go home empty-handed!

But unexpectedly...

There are still people who know its value, aren't there?

But when he smiled and accepted the business card, glanced at it, and prepared to discuss a collaboration with this hippie gentleman…

Good guy!

The words on the business card stunned him on the spot!

He rubbed his eyes, somewhat incredulous!

Because it says on it:

Steven Paul Jobs, an electronics engineer at Atari.

Note: ①The concept of showgirl has existed for a long time. It is very common in the United States for various exhibitions to invite beautiful women to walk the runway. However, the neutral meaning of showgirl is actually our local term. In the United States, showgirl actually refers to a stripper. In 1995, Hollywood even made a movie about strippers called "Showgirl". So, I don't know which genius directly adopted this derogatory term that has existed in the United States for more than a hundred years for publicity.

(End of this chapter)