Sell, sell, sell!

Chapter 96 Sell, sell, sell!

[Snake Game producer unveils new title! Pac-Man ignites North American high schools!]

[The greatest work in video game history has been born! The yellow Pac-Man has won praise from countless professors!]

The era of artificial intelligence has officially arrived! Pac-Man is a perfect example of its application!

Hollywood director Steven Spielberg said, "Ethan Jones is the most creative game developer I've ever seen! He can see the future of video games the moment he closes his eyes!"

Ralph Bell stated, "Ethan Jones proved to me that the era of circuit boards is dead, and video games will move towards greater sophistication. I'm fortunate to have witnessed his arrival firsthand."

In just two days after the Pac-Man press conference, related promotional articles spread throughout America. The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times, the three major North American daily newspapers, all reported on the game, with their wild language and effusive praise leaving everyone speechless.

At one point, even those who bought these three major newspapers began to wonder if Ethan Jones, the producer of Snake Game, had simultaneously paid these newspapers money. Otherwise, why would these newspapers be praising his new game, Pac-Man, all at once?

Ethan Jones could only say that he charged up, but not completely.

The reason I say "charged" is because he did invite some media to witness the Pac-Man launch event.

As for the claim that he didn't pay, it's because Principal Fred Terman, who had already seen the game demo, felt that those California tabloids were too incompetent and that using them to deliver information was too slow. So he personally stepped in and brought in the editors and reporters from the three major newspapers.

When those pens-wielding individuals are getting paid to attend press conferences and witness miracles firsthand, they start exaggerating with "Wow, wow, wow!" sounds. This is especially true when the attendees are all industry leaders, making the reports even easier to write.

To be honest, when Ethan was first interviewing, he felt that the pomp and circumstance were a bit excessive.

but……

Cough cough cough...

But with his strength undeniable, he can't afford to be low-key!

After all, America does not follow the compromise and moderation advocated by Mr. Zhou Shuren; Anza's values ​​are pragmatism!

So Ethan reluctantly agreed to play the little trick.

Well, it's just a tiny bit, about the size of a fingernail, not worth mentioning.

hehehe~

Of course, as its reputation soared, Destiny Game also received a flood of orders.

Although the new product launch was held on Sunday and the reports in the three major North American newspapers appeared on Wednesday, the company's fax machine was already out of order by the end of Friday's workday, because in just two days they had received more than 60 orders, totaling 1,000 machines to be delivered.

That's right!

Within two days, Destiny Game had already sold a thousand arcade machines!

The reason why fax was such a high-end ordering method was simply because the people placing the orders were all from North American universities! When these universities learned that the concept of artificial intelligence, which had been proposed for twenty years, was actually being applied to the civilian gaming industry, almost everyone called to verify the facts. After waiting for industry leaders who had attended the press conference to confirm with them one by one...

Placing an order became inevitable.

Of course, there are only so many North American universities that have the capacity to support AI research. Theoretically, it's impossible for them to get a thousand electronic arcade machines. But what happens when many universities seek verification from President Fred Terman?

Upon hearing that these guys wanted to order machines, Principal Fred Terman immediately said:

"One electronic arcade machine can only be used by a few students to study and observe at the same time. Your school has so many students, and it is too time-consuming to queue up to use it. Therefore, we need to order at least ten machines to alleviate the teaching pressure."

"Besides, an arcade machine isn't expensive, only two thousand dollars. Ten arcade machines would only cost twenty thousand dollars. In the field of scientific research, that amount of money wouldn't get you anything. But now, twenty thousand dollars can let those students who only know how to study touch the latest cutting-edge inspiration! It can allow students to acquire more excellent creative ideas! So... what do you say, are you going to buy it or not?"

"purchase?"

"Okay! Place the order!"

"What? Just the circuit board?"

"Oh my god! You guys are from Harvard! Can't you even come up with $20,000? Aren't you ashamed?!"

"You want more circuit boards? I'm telling you, you don't have any!"

"As long as I, Fred Terman, am at Stanford, our company will never sell circuit boards!"

"Destiny Games is our star company! You can't just trample on our school's support program like this!"

"That's it, I've made my decision. Harvard will get twenty units! I'll only give MIT fifteen!"

"I'll help you make them furious!"

"It's dead!"

This kind of sales pitch really opened Ethan's eyes!

No wonder he's the kind of guy who poachs Harvard's talent from within the Harvard campus!

That's amazing!

The price jump from $1,200 to $2,000, and the declaration that they wouldn't sell circuit boards, made Ethan extremely grateful to the old principal. He immediately decided to donate twenty Pac-Man arcade machines to Stanford for them to... research.

Well, Ethan actually thinks that once the game comes out, there will probably be even more people who get addicted to it.

However, Ethan didn't have time to worry about these things for the time being, because when a large number of orders came in, the things he needed to focus on most were production and delivery. According to Ethan's original plan, the sales of Pac-Man should be a gradual process. First, a new product launch event would be held, and then people would be hired to promote the product on the ground. During the promotion process, factories would be purchased to hire workers to produce the product, so that the inventory could be kept to a minimum.

There was nothing he could do; back then, he thought that no matter how amazing Pac-Man was, it would take time for it to become popular.

But when Stanford granted him the use of the Memorial Church and President Fred Terman decided to attend, Ethan sensed something was amiss. He immediately ordered Damio Dean to purchase the factory site and hire workers to start production ahead of schedule.

So, ten days ago, they took over a two-acre abandoned electronics factory in Sunnyvale for $100,000.

Five days ago, we recruited thirty circuit board engineers with experience in circuit board manufacturing.

Like Nolan Bushnell, Ethan also provides employment opportunities for unemployed people, specifically targeting the hippie community who need social assistance. Therefore, they receive a certain degree of humane treatment in terms of cost: a weekly wage of one hundred dollars per person, who only needs to make ten arcade machines for him within five days and eight hours. If the efficiency is improved, he will give an additional fifteen dollars bonus for each additional machine made.

Okay, to be honest, it's just cheap and easy to use.

As for the materials...

That makes it even simpler.

Chuck Patrol was able to handle all of Ethan's chip needs, while Ethan sourced the circuit board manufacturing materials from San Francisco Electronics Supply Company. Yes, at this moment, Ethan thought of his dear Mr. Fulbright, who had been offline for a long time.

When Mr. Foberle arrived at Stanford in his beloved car, he was furious!

Because Ethan didn't invite him to the Pac-Man product launch!

But when Ethan took a marker, drew a Pac-Man on his white T-shirt, signed his name, explained that the press conference was for technical exchange and that's why he couldn't invite him, and then promised to give him a Pac-Man arcade machine so he could play it at the store, the extremely wary Mr. Foberle just snorted a few times and didn't bother with Ethan anymore.

Of course, what needs to be emphasized will still be emphasized—

"Ethan! If you don't call me next time, we're not friends anymore!"

These words, spoken in a fit of pique, made Ethan nod with a smile—

"Okay, okay, okay, I'll definitely do it next time, I'll definitely do it next time."

Production issues were easy to resolve, but transportation was a major problem because electronic arcade machines are very valuable and cannot be easily transported.

Just when Ethan was having a problem, Thomas offered to help.

"Ethan, we have seventy-six permanent workers in our orchard, twenty-seven of whom have been working for me for ten years."

"These people all have families and children, so you can rest assured about their character."

"Moreover, all 27 of them have experience driving trucks because they help me transport navel oranges to the dock every year."

"So, if you're short-handed, they can help you with deliveries."

"However, you have to pay them their wages normally. For example, when I had them help me transport goods before, each person received a subsidy of ten dollars a day, and that was calculated based on the total round trip distance. If you can accept that, then I can talk to them about it."

"If you still feel you don't have enough manpower, I can help you borrow some. Do you remember those uncles and elders from before? They were the ones I brought home for drinks after 'Snake Game' became a big hit. They have some long-time employees who have worked for them for over ten years, and many of them can drive trucks. I'll talk to them, and each family can send a dozen or so people. In three days, I can put together a 100-person convoy for you without any problem."

Whoops!

This is truly like having a pillow delivered to your head when you're feeling sleepy!

"Oh Thomas, I love you—"

Ethan smiled and hugged Thomas. "We don't need to borrow anyone for now. Our family of twenty-odd people is enough for the time being."

"Salary is no problem, I won't shortchange them!"

"Whatever standards you set for them, that's the standard I'll apply to them!"

"But... if you ask them to help me, what about the orchard at home?"

Thomas waved his hand at Ethan's concern, saying, "Don't worry about the orchard. I can hire some more people to help, temporarily."

"Then we should pay for it," Ethan quickly offered.

Thomas smiled and shook his head, saying, "Oh, Ethan, I can still afford these wages!"

"Your company hasn't even recouped its funds yet, so don't increase expenses!"

"You guys do a good job, just so I can brag to my friends when I go out drinking!"

"I hope that when the time comes, I can introduce myself like this—I, Thomas Jensen, have nurtured the world's richest man!"

"Hahaha--"

Thomas chuckled at this point, laughing and slapping the table.

Ethan couldn't stop smiling either, shaking his head repeatedly and saying, "Don't worry, Thomas, this day will come."

"Then you can tell others that the world's richest man was raised by you, with your own hands and feet."

"Hahahaha—" Thomas laughed even louder.

"Thump, thump, thump!" He clenched his fist and banged on the table.

Tears were still glistening in her eyes.

(End of this chapter)