Game Development Giant

However, despite having the best hardware R\u0026D team in the industry, there is no news about Mars Entertainment’s new console so far, except for Dreambox 3, which has been guessed for who knows how many years?

No insider revelations, no spy photos!

I heard that there are several gaming magazines that want to challenge the status of game. They paid a high price to get a spy photo of Dreambox 3, but they couldn't do it.

Even die-hard players who have always had unparalleled trust in Mars Entertainment have to be a little suspicious.

After all, every time a new generation of consoles starts, it is a big competition for market share. No one wants to fall behind others at this time. If the sales volume is pulled down at the beginning, they want to catch up later. It will also be very difficult, so some die-hard fans who have been serving as game testers for Mars Entertainment contacted Mars Entertainment through their own channels.

But within Mars Entertainment, software, that is, game development, and hardware development are two separate parts, and even the offices are not in the same place.

The software development center moved to the newly built new headquarters.

The hardware department has always stayed in the old headquarters, and even some top-secret development projects have been returned to independent subsidiaries for development.

Of course, it is not ruled out that there are some people with great powers. From within Mars Entertainment, we finally got a piece of news, that is, the development of Dreambox 3 is in full swing, but it is still early to complete the development, at least in a year. However, it is unlikely that Mars Entertainment can come up with actual products.

The news instantly caused an uproar.

In particular, some media outlets that had obviously received money from Sony and Sega were reporting on this matter, and all kinds of malicious speculation were openly published in newspapers and periodicals.

One media even said with certainty that the development of Dreambox 3 was so slow. It's all because of Jester.

This report explains in detail the time when the Dreambox 3 project was established. It is the earliest among the three console manufacturers, even much earlier than the second-earliest Sony. But now, both Sony and Sega have announced their plans. The release date of the new console is unknown, but there is not even a shadow of the Mars Entertainment console.

The reason is in this article. He said it in a very conclusive tone, it was all because of Jester.

Because Jester forced the company to develop the 'Era' project and removed a large amount of development funds from the dreambox3 development team, the development progress of dreambox3 was slowed down.

So far, the 'Era' project has spent close to 200 million US dollars, and the final cost, including publicity expenses, may reach 300 million US dollars!

As soon as the news came out, the entire industry was in uproar.

Even a mainstream publication that has nothing to do with video games reported on the project. You know, Dzeko was not 20 years later. At that time, projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars were nothing. This was the mid-1990s. A $300 million project is pretty impressive.

Not to mention just developing a game.

Then many people expressed their doubts about this. It is very simple. It costs 300 million US dollars to develop a game. It is basically certain that it is impossible to make money.

Even if it is Jester’s own game, it will be released on a new console. The sales volume is definitely not as good as that on mature consoles, and even on Dreambox 2, which now has tens of millions of units, Jester's games have sales of around ten million, while the sales volume of a game cartridge is The price is US$60, which is only US$600 million without discounts.

Coupled with the cost of the cassette and some other odds and ends, as well as the inevitable discounts and promotions, this game can barely break even. On the new console, needless to say, it can basically break even. It is certain that within the first one or two years of Dreambox 3, this game will cause Mars Entertainment to lose at least 200 million US dollars!

Moreover, this is still just an appearance.

Two hundred million US dollars were wasted. If the two hundred million US dollars were invested in other game development, would it be possible to produce other excellent games and make as much money for Mars Entertainment?

Precisely because of this analysis, many media outlets do not believe that the company’s news that the ‘Era’ project will cost US$200 million is accurate.

Moreover, according to Jester's always shrewd image, it is impossible for him to do this kind of thing at the expense of others.

Moreover, this is simply not in line with Mars Entertainment’s internal game development strategy.

Because there are countless game media reports about Mars Entertainment’s internal game development strategy. Basically, all developers and game companies are envious of their strategy. Whether a game is developed or not, how much and how to invest , all need to be reviewed by senior management. Basically, investing 300 million for a game is simply not a decision that the senior management of Mars Entertainment can make.

Not even Jester's own game.

Of course, Jester has the power to force through proposals internally, but in the eight years since Mars Entertainment implemented this system internally, Jester has never used this power.

Moreover, if Jester really used the power to force the approval during the review of the 'Era' project, how come no one from Mars Entertainment has spoken out after all these years?

So, this is simply impossible.

Of course, although some game media did not believe it, many players couldn't bear it and believed it. They wrote letters, made phone calls, even sent faxes, and even went to the door of Mars Entertainment's game development headquarters. Ask Mars Entertainment whether there is anything that has been reported by the media before.

Jester was also very troubled during this period.

Some of the things in these reports are indeed true, but some key aspects are false.

For example, the 'Era' project does cost 300 million U.S. dollars. However, these 300 million U.S. dollars are not from Mars Entertainment. Mars Entertainment only approved a 100 million U.S. dollars development plan internally, and this is already Jester's Try your best to achieve a result.

Secondly. The slow development progress of dreambox3 this time indeed has a lot to do with myself.

But the problem is, this is not because I have diverted the development funds of the hardware development department, but because I have asked them to restart research and development halfway.

Because according to the standards developed before, there is simply no way to run the final product of the 'Era' project.

Jester had anticipated at that time that he was likely to face this situation. In fact, he had nothing to worry about. This was his own choice. Of course, it was impossible to say that he had no worries at all. After all, releasing the console a full year later than others means that you have to give up the next-generation market to others for a year. What can you do in one year?

It's very simple. Sony sold a total of 10 million PS4 consoles in the first ten months of its release.

Of course, Sony or Sega in this era is far from having the influence of Sony in the future. The reason why ps4 was able to sell so well at that time was completely beyond everyone's expectations.

Among them is Microsoft's own contribution to death. There is credit for the ps4's really good job and accurate positioning, and there is also credit for the strong game lineup of the ps3 in the later period, etc., many credits. There are even some credits that no one knows about.

Just like Shuhei Yoshida answered this question.

The popularity of PS4 is beyond our expectations. We don't even know why so many people are buying our product!

During discussions between Jester and internal staff, the release date was one year later. They will probably each be five to six million machines behind Sony and Sega. This number is very large, but. It's still within the bearable range. In Jester's opinion, relying on his dreambox3's extremely powerful starting game lineup is enough to close this gap within a year.

But now the situation seems to be out of control, which no one expected at the time.

Mars Entertainment is having an internal meeting to discuss how to solve this matter. In fact, there is nothing to discuss. Since the players want an explanation, then just give them an explanation.

So, very quickly.

Mars Entertainment released an announcement through the media.

This announcement said that they will hold a press conference in three days. At this conference, Jester will answer all questions and explain about Dreambox 3 and other Mars entertainment. project status.

After the industry heard that Mars Entertainment took the initiative to hold a press conference, both the media who were afraid of chaos in the world and the extremely curious players temporarily became quiet.

How are you going to handle the press conference?

After returning home, Claudia also knew that Jester was tired these days, but he also knew that Mars Entertainment announced today that they would hold a card conference to explain everything, so she asked Jester this way.

Jester shook his head indifferently.

It's not something that must be kept secret, just tell the truth. What we want to convince are our real fans and supporters. As for those who deliberately distort the facts, no matter how fanciful you say, it's useless.

Three days later.

In a conference room at the game development headquarters of Mars Entertainment.

Reporters from various game media have arrived early. The conference time is set at nine o'clock this morning, but some reporters arrived at the starting time. Mars Entertainment is quite humane after all. All reporters who arrived early were You can go to the employee restaurant and eat for free, and when Jester was building the company's restaurant, he adopted the design plan of Google Restaurant.

Professional chefs are also hired.

The food is naturally very delicious, and you can eat French, Mexican, and Chinese food here.

Basically something to satisfy everyone's taste.

After everyone had eaten, it was almost time for the press conference to begin.

Jester has experienced this kind of battle countless times, and this time he insisted on holding a press conference, because the reason why this matter has developed to this point is mainly his responsibility.

It started with a question-and-answer session.

As for the media's questions, Jester would tell them everything he could.

It is said that the 'Era' project has cost close to 200 million U.S. dollars. It is said that the final total cost will be as high as 300 million U.S. dollars. Is this true? At the beginning, a reporter from a game magazine asked this question. It was not easy. Answer the question.

In fact, many reporters thought this was false because the number was so large.

However, after hearing this, Jester's answer was beyond everyone's expectations. He smiled and said: This number is basically correct. Indeed, so far, the 'era' has been spent The revenue is close to US$200 million, and if some marketing expenses are included, the amount should be US$300 million.”

Just after Jester finished speaking, this answer immediately caused an uproar on the field.

This is actually true!

Everyone looked at Jester in astonishment. After all, the previous speculations and the actual situation from Jester's mouth were completely different.

When everyone was stunned, Jester smiled again and added: Of course, this money was not paid by Mars Entertainment itself. In fact, our company's internal review only passed 100 million US dollars in development and publicity. budget, and the remaining 200 million was advanced by me personally. The reason why I did this was just because I wanted to develop this game.

However, Jester's addition caused more than a thunderous sound among the media reporters below.

They all looked at Jester with disbelief.

I think Jester is a bit too stupid.

That's 200 million US dollars,

And basically there will be no profit of 200 million U.S. dollars. With 200 million U.S. dollars, there is nothing wrong to do!

Next question.

Jester saw that no one continued to ask questions, so he took the initiative to remind these reporters. Then the reporters who were shocked and speechless by Jester's words just came to their senses.

Then, a young female reporter asked immediately.

So, the fact that the development progress of Dreambox 3 is slow because of your relationship is also false?

hehe.

After hearing this question, Jester smiled first, then shook his head: No, this matter does have a lot to do with me. In fact, the reason why Dreambox 3 is developed so slowly is precisely because It was caused by me. (To be continued...)