Chapter 12: Succesful Release
There is no need to worry about orders, and the market is also rising rapidly. Simon naturally no longer needs to pay too much attention, as long as there are no quality problems, this year will be a year of huge returns.
However, the lifespan of arcade games is very short. A hit game generally only lasts for about a year, and then it will enter a downturn. Even if it is a hit game, players will find it boring after a period of time when the market is spread. If there are more other popular games, old games will be abandoned immediately, because arcade games cost money to play, which is very distressing. What Atari has to do is to ensure that the hottest hits every once in a while are its own games.
After a large number of actual tests, the optimized software and hardware combination was determined and mass production began. The main focus of Woz' team was transformed into how to ensure the ability of workshop workers to solder on circuit boards, as well as the development of fully inspected equipment, which cost a lot of money. After almost a month, the equipment was gradually completed. The Woz team began to slowly let go and let the production and technical team in Staten Island take over the production tasks. However, they still left two people to watch the production line every day to prevent quality problems.
"Thank you for your trust in me, Eric." A technical geek like Woz is not as reserved with his boss as the management. In addition, Simon has a more easy-going personality, so he is naturally more easy-going.
"Snake is a success. I'm very grateful for your team's efforts. This is a reward for your team. You can choose where to go." Simon handed over a stack of envelopes, which contained many small colorful cards.
"Is this a travel promotion card?" Woz took the envelope and pulled out the card inside.
"Yes, some go Nordic skiing, some go to Africa to see the great migration of animals, some go to Egypt to see the pyramids, and some go on adventures in South America. Our team can go wherever we want, but we have to hurry up and wait for you. After coming back, there will be other new projects." Simon said with a smile.
For this technical team, Simon actually provided a lot of funds, at least much higher than the average technology company in the United States. It would be meaningless to give more financial rewards. After all, in the United States, many people pursue the joy of life and are not interested in money. Maybe they don't value it that much. It might be better to pay them to travel and save money.
"I would like to go to Africa to see wild lions, but I don't know what other people think." Woz looked at several promotional cards in his hand and said.
"It's really nice to watch lions." Simon said with a smile. Technical geeks generally don't like sports, nor do they like to go to commercial places. Skiing requires skill and courage. South American exploration seems to be more dangerous, and the pyramids are more tiring. Watching Lions is the easiest. A large car armed to the teeth drives to a remote area of the lion. As long as you don't seek death, you will basically be fine and not tired.
"What's the next project?" Woz asked after putting away the envelope.
"Why don't we wait until you come back?" Simon asked but was very happy with Steve's work attitude.
"When I travel, I don't play most of the time. If I know the content of the next project, I can also spend a little time preparing the materials every day, which is easy and won't waste time." Woz said.
"Okay, this is a game about the combination of 7 shaped blocks." Simon said.
"Seven combinations of blocks?" Woz didn't understand at first.
"I'd better draw it for you." Simon took out a piece of blank paper. He originally planned to write out the plan for the next game after Woz and others left for travel.
This game is naturally the most famous Tetris in later generations.
Speaking of Tetris, almost everyone in later generations knows that this Tetris was born in the hands of an IT engineer from Russia. It was originally designed to test the performance of personal computers. Later, it was accidentally used by a game company from the UK. The general manager noticed that, due to certain aspects of russian laws, the copyright was not purchased, so the British game company plagiarized it.
Although the method was inappropriate, it did successfully turn Tetris into a globally famous game.
The content of the game is very simple. Seven different block structures fall slowly from above. Players need to change the direction through the control keys. Then the blocks below will disappear when a row is filled up, and a score will be formed. The higher the score, the better the game will be. The more successful it is, and if a full row is not formed, the height of the block will become higher and higher, and finally it will get stuck.
"This new game is also very interesting. You need to use your brain when playing. It is similar to Snake, but the requirements are higher." Woz became interested after hearing this. He found that the fun in it was when each shaped block appeared, you must consider where to put it, and also consider whether the following ones will appear what you need. If it appears, it is naturally good, but if it does not appear, it may have a great impact.
At the same time, multiple lines disappearing together will generate exponential points, which will make players take risks and bet big, but the discovery is huge, but very exciting, and for game consoles, the more players invest, the higher the benefits.
"More or less. If you want customers to have fun, you still need to let them use their brains properly." Simon said. Games without brains, or games that don't allow players to calculate, will soon become boring, even the simplest mobile phone games in later generations, such as Fishing, Plants vs. Zombies and Angry Birds, actually make users use their brains, while the other games stimulate users' reaction speed, such as Temple Escape and Fruit Ninja. The rules of those future games cannot be implemented yet in this early era of chips.
"What's the name of this game?" Woz asked.
Simon said: "Let's call it Tetris?"
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