Rebirth of America, this is my time

Although Ethan had provided Evelin with game controller design drawings before, regardless of whether it was XBox or PS, as long as he could think of it, he drew it.

Of course, Nintendo’s weird three-legged controller is not included here.

But even so, the handle Evelin handed him still had a strong sense of age. The base of the wooden box has a plastic joystick for arcade machines, and a red button on the side.

I took it in my hand and tried it briefly. As a hardcore player, Ethan quickly found the trick. He held the base in the palm of his left hand, with the button facing the four fingers. He could touch it with a light click, while his right hand was like It's like holding a manual transmission in a car, switching freely up, down, left, and right. If I have to use a metaphor, the whole process is equivalent to grinding the ink with one hand while using the inkstone in the left hand and the ink stick in the right hand.

This action seems a bit strange, but it is indeed quite comfortable to use. Every time Ethan fiddles with it, the bright bottom under the game name will flash. After testing the sensitivity a few times, Ethan selected Snake Game. 》, and pressed the side button.

With a click, the main menu on the TV screen disappeared like mercury pouring out, and the familiar fence appeared, with the small snake outlined with white pixels also falling in the center.

Turn the joystick and control the little snake to move forward and hit the white dots. The clicking and eating movements make the body of the little snake continue to grow. In less than half a minute, the original five-frame pixel bar has grown to ten. The number '5' was also hung in the score column in the upper right corner of the screen, but even so, the snake's traveling speed still did not get much faster, and it was still at a level where it could be repaired by being stunned for a second.

You remade the game Snake? Ethan was a little surprised. If he remembered correctly, the main feature of the game Snake when it was first sold was a quick ending.

It is precisely because Snake has unparalleled money-grabbing capabilities that it was able to sell a lot of machines on the day it was launched. And now, there is a clear difference between the game speed of the console version and the arcade version.

If the arcade tests the player's reaction, then the console tests the patience.

I didn't modify this...

I don't have time to modify the game either...

Evelin, who was leaning against the desk, held her hands back on the edge of the desk and said with a smile: This is the computer version of Snake written by Stephen, which is the Snake in the programming code book that is now going viral on the market. Snake, the game speed was adjusted by him.

He feels that home and the streets are two different game environments. The former allows players to calm down and taste a delicious meal, while the latter provides fast food like McDonald's. So as a designer who is a gamer, he feels that he has It is necessary to adjust the gameplay according to the state of mind of the player.

Since you are playing alone at home, the player's goal in the game should be to set a record.

So he lowered the acceleration amplitude and frequency of the little snake, so that more ordinary players can enjoy the real fun of the game, while experts can still challenge themselves after a certain period of time.

Good guy!

Ethan really doesn’t know this!

Although he did experience the APPLE 2 version of Snake with his classmate Xiao Qiao before, he did not indulge in it. He only confirmed that the project was feasible after entering the code and found that the game could run.

At that time, all he could think about was using games to promote APPLE 2. Even if APPLE 2 was selling like hotcakes, he only felt that Jobs' sales strategy was successful. But now...

That guy from Woz directly modified the game in order to let players play a better game?

No wonder this little fat guy is able to achieve success!

Damn it, it pays too much attention to user experience!

This change is quite good.

The comfortable game speed reminded Ethan of the days in his previous life when he was hiding in bed and holding a Nokia mobile phone while playing Snake crazily. The feeling of trying to make the snake's body fill the screen came back.

“Let’s do this for our console version of Snake.” He made a decision.

Hmm~ Evelin smiled and said, I think it's pretty good too.

“So I didn’t make any modifications after moving it into the machine.”

And the copyright of this game is in our hands. When the two Steves were making the computer version of Snake, they specially put our company's logo and the words Snake Game on the programming card. , it just doesn’t have ‘this game is an infringing product’ written on its face.”

Goose goose... Ethan laughed.

He could understand what Xiao Qiao and Woz meant, they were helping him safeguard his copyright.

Although it may seem strange that pirates help genuine ones maintain copyright, it’s not important, right? For the current Destiny game, making Snake more famous is the real thing to do, because only after an IP becomes famous can it be possible to develop peripherals.

Therefore, when designing the starting lineup of console games, the game Snake was Ethan's first choice. In the future, if other products are to be made, this little snake will appear like a nail in the door. Among those products, there is nothing more than making friends.

The second-generation gameplay of Snake also fascinated Ethan. Standing in front of the TV, he was chatting with his sister and staring at the screen seriously. When he made a mistake and occupied half of the screen, After the little snake hit itself and died, the regret that arose spontaneously made him stamp his feet.

Fuck you!

Sit down on the coffee table and start the game again.

The intense focus on the little snake made Evelin, who was leaning in front of the desk, smile brightly.

After playing several games in a row, Ethan finally found the new rhythm that the little fat man Woz had set for the game. When he followed that momentum and spread the body of the little snake all over the TV screen for the first time, the clear layers of snow-white The picture made him jump with joy.

Yes!

“This version is very user-friendly for ordinary people!”

Stephen is a genius!

Oh no--

He is a genius!

After completing Snake, Ethan returned to the main menu interface and opened Pac-Man. Since this game was made using programming from the beginning, the experience on the console is different from that on the arcade. Games are no different, or rather...

Did you solder the arcade board directly into the host? Ethan asked.

Of course. Evelin nodded: The core purpose of using these games is to demonstrate the machine to you, so direct welding is the best method.

So I brought a box over today. Didn't you see there are three circuit boards inside? One is the core motherboard of the console, and the other two are arcade game boards for Pac-Man and Star Wars. They are just I cut out the 6502 used for calculation and connected it in series to the host motherboard.

This is just the simplest way to test whether there is any problem with the design of my console motherboard. In the final drawing, I will definitely use ROM cartridges to let players change the game.

I think this machine is okay so far, what about you?

His sister's words made Ethan nod seriously.

He didn't answer, but continued to play the game.

When the Pac-Man he controlled lost three lives in the 31st level, he quit the game and entered the world of Star Wars. After playing for more than 7,000 points, he experienced the regret of Game Over.

Can users achieve such an effect? Ethan put down the controller and turned to look at his sister.

Okay. Evelin nodded.

So are there any other problems with this machine? Ethan continued to ask.

Uh...yes, but not much...

Evelin organized her words and spoke out the difficulties she faced.

First of all, the first problem is the memory of the host. In Evelin's design, she chose a 2K memory stick produced by Texas Instruments. This capacity can run most video games on the market, but... ...excluding Pac-Man and Star Wars.

If you want to run Pac-Man and Star Wars completely, you need 8K memory.

When these games are released in the form of arcade machines, the problem of memory is easily solved, just stacking materials, and the extra cost can be easily passed on to merchants who want to make money with arcade machines, and these guys can make crazy money in the situation where the machines can I'm happy to pay for this part of the cost.

But for ordinary users, the situation is different. The cost of 8K memory is $280 higher than that of 2K memory. This kind of premium is not acceptable to ordinary players, at least not now.

How does Apple do it? I remember they also differentiate between 4K and 8K? Ethan asked.

Raise the price. Evelyn said: This is their solution, and it is also the solution of all computer sellers on the market, because no one can solve the problem of memory chips being too expensive.

What do you mean?

We can't raise the price of home game consoles, and we can't afford such losses, so we can only choose 2K memory and give up Pac-Man and Star Wars.

Evelin said: Of course, we can also use the method of compressing game performance to force these two games onto home consoles, but I don't recommend you do that, because... that would be too shameless.

His sister's words made Ethan frown slightly.

Eating more for one fish was his true idea.

But after thinking carefully for a while, he decided to adopt his sister's opinion.

Because the method of compressing game performance to allow games to be logged on low-end platforms was called shrinkage in his previous life, it was giving up user experience for the sake of money.

Although under this situation, there are still many games that are praised by players, the most famous of which are Zelda on the NS, Princess Link on the emulator and Princess Link on the switch. They are simply two people, but in this era, it is not the time for them to play shrink.

The current Destiny game has become an industry benchmark. It belongs to the kind of market giants that have players paying for any game they release. This kind of trust is their real fundamentals. There is no need to give up their reputation for a small profit. Destroyed, of course, is also related to the fact that the company has no external shareholders.

When all the money earned from the Destiny Game flowed into Ethan and Evelin's pockets...

Exchanging high-quality services for greater profits is an unchanging fact.

Since the chicken that lays the golden eggs is in their hands, why should they kill the chicken to get the eggs?

It makes no sense!

so……

Just leave Pac-Man and Star Wars to log into the machines of the future.

In other words, the only game our console can run at present is Snake?

Yes! Evelin nodded happily, So you need to keep working hard!

... Ethan choked for breath. After coming back to his senses, he rolled his eyes, Okay, Okay, Okay, I think I understand what you mean...

Ethan is not a fool, of course he knows that Evelin came here to ask him for a game.

After all, when they were planning the console project, they had reached an agreement to equip the first machine with an escort masterpiece and several auxiliary games.

The escort masterpiece is here, and the movie is ready to be filmed, but as for the auxiliary games...

The new version of Snake can be counted as one, and the rest...

Let me think about it and see what game is suitable. Give me some time. Ethan pursed his lips.

At the same time, he asked: Oh, by the way, have you started working on the scroll-shooting game I gave you last time? Is it difficult? When will it be completed?

The game Contra will be the focus of Destiny Games' research and development in the next one to two years. After all, whether the console sells well or not depends entirely on the popularity of the game. When Ethan had already spent money to start making movies, the game Contra could only succeed but not fail.

And his question made Evelin shrug, That's the second question.

About the selection of image chips.

Remember what I told you before that I want to see if Motorola's image chip is the most suitable for the 6502 image chip? I already have an idea.

And this matter is actually a bit complicated...

Regarding the selection of image chips, it actually involves the video signal transmission method in the TV industry. The most common video signal in America today is composite video signal, which is a video signal that combines the brightness signal, chrominance signal and synchronization signal. For signals that are combined into the same signal, the most commonly used connector is the RCA connector, which is the red, white and blue lotus head.

Although it is very popular, its shortcomings are also obvious, that is, brightness and chrominance crosstalk with each other during transmission, resulting in poor quality of displayed images.

Therefore, how to make the transmission stable is a problem that various image chips have to solve, and those TV manufacturers have an absolute advantage in this regard, because they already have technology storage, which is why Milohua can be so fast. The reason why they made a new version of the home game console Apollo is that as a well-known brand in the TV industry, they have such an advantage.

In this regard, Destiny Games does not have any reserves, so it can only use products from other companies. There are only a few companies that perform better, and Motorola...

You mean their chips are very useful? Ethan asked.

Yes. Evelin nodded.

Is there an alternative?

have.

Is the difference big?

After my test, the difference is not big.

Then use a substitute, because 6502. It's up to you to decide. I believe you.

Okay. Evelin laughed.

In fact, the fundamental function of the image processor is to accurately call colors. For example, the color palette of the Apple 2 uses black, white, dark blue, blue, light blue, magenta, red, pink, The sixteen colors of dark green, green, light green, orange, yellow, dark gray, and light gray paint a colorful world. The biggest difference between each chip is that the color tone selected may be different, but this...

After Evelin's test, she felt that there was no big problem.

As long as you capture the three primary colors of red, green and blue, the things you make will basically not be ugly.

The reason why she wants to make Contra after confirming the image processor is because the production of Contra involves a lot of use of color. If the base color displayed at the beginning cannot be determined, then it will be appropriate later. The allocation will be modified at any time.

Not only is it troublesome, it's also time-consuming.

With the problems of memory and graphics chips solved, the obstacles on the road to home console development no longer exist. This fact makes Ethan very happy.

When I think about it, it won't be long before every home in America will have its own console...

His mouth could no longer be closed!

Special code!

I will soon achieve a feat that even Bill Gates could not accomplish in the 1980s!

Ha ha ha ha--

I want to be invincible -

He was in a good mood and kept wandering around the company. When he came to the R\u0026D department, Damio Dean also showed Ethan the games being produced. Several projects independently proposed by them were already in the post-production testing stage. , and the Snake 2 and Ms. Pac-Man arranged by Ethan...

'Snake 2' is already done, but 'Ms. Pac-Man' may still take a little time.

Damio Dean reports.

Well, you don't have to worry. It's February now. We will hold an internal exhibition at the end of March. Then you will show me the games one by one.

I want quality, not speed.

I believe that your pursuits are the same as mine.

After all, everyone wants their children to be beautiful, right?

Ethan's words made everyone in the office nod.

After walking around in a circle and saying a few words of encouragement, he left the R\u0026D Department with his hands behind his back like a king patrolling his territory. And just when he was thinking about where he should go next...

A loud shout reached his ears.

Boss! Boss!

Good news! Good news!

You're on the cover of Fortune! You're on the cover of Fortune!

Steve Ballmer, a bald man, rushed up from downstairs holding a magazine high.

Taking a closer look, on the brown-edged magazine, a young man was standing there with his arms folded. On the left shoulder was an anthropomorphic soybean with hands and feet, and on the right shoulder were four ghosts with different expressions. , and when they were looking at each other, a small green snake emerged from behind the young man and lazily put its head on the young man's head.

There was an apple in his mouth.

Not only that, there was also the faint sound of shelling on the starry background.

Such a cover made Ethan frown.

Scan it carefully after you get it...

Fuck you!

How could these people with special codes paint me so ugly?

It doesn't show any handsome charm at all!

... This complaint left Steve Ballmer speechless.

But the next second, he found Ethan opening the magazine.

Immediately afterwards, the corners of Ethan's mouth curled up slightly involuntarily.

Because the first line on the homepage table of contents says——

[Destiny Game, Fortune 500 New Players]

Note: ① The game controllers of that era were a bit weird, no different from a car gear lever. In reality, Alien, Batman, and the Governor’s T-800 were all made into controllers. ②Image chips have been made since 1975. Home consoles of that era did have this thing. In reality, Atari developed it by itself. The engineer... was a chip architect who left MOS. His name His name is Jay Miller, who is also the person who developed 6502. ③The Fortune 500 ranking list has been around since the 1950s. And their covers can be produced without consulting the parties involved, of course, provided that no real photos are used.