Chapter 95: Atari's Counterattack

After chasing away a few clowns who were presumptuously coveting the Xiaobawang game console, Tang Huan came to his office calmly, took the newspaper and read the unremarkable report he had paid attention to before.

Like smartphones in previous lives, video game consoles have had as much of an impact on people's lives, and are starting to show up, with some commentators criticizing the phenomenon of teenage gaming obsession, as in this report.

Although this voice is still very weak, Tang Huan did not underestimate the power of the media.

We must know that in the original time and space, the rise and fall of the second generation of video game consoles, the role of the media in fueling the flames cannot be underestimated.

When the game console market was booming, the media shouted "The Video Game Boom Is Boundless!" That is, "The trend of games is boundless!".

When Atari shipped more than a ton of unsalable "E.T. Alien" game cassettes to the landfill in New Mexico for destruction, the attitude of the media changed rapidly, vigorously promoting various negative values ​​of the game, and proclaiming "The Video Game Boom Is Over!" That is, "the tide of the game is over".

As a result, the 1983 U.S. game console industry depression was hyped up to earth-shattering and weeping ghosts and gods.

Therefore, if possible, the media's face should be taken care of.

Just like "smoking is harmful to health", in order to maintain the product image, who would not shout a few slogans.

Tang Huan thought about it for a while, then took a pen and wrote down "moderate games benefit the brain, indulging in games hurts the body". In the future, such warnings will be printed on the packaging of Xiaobawang to demonstrate the public morality of Xiaobawang At the same time, it shows that there is a fundamental difference between Brother and those unscrupulous capitalists who only care about making money.

Tang Huan wrote down the key words "parental control function" in the product planning memo. This small function can be added to the 1980 version of the first generation of Xiaobawang game consoles that are being improved and optimized.

At this time, Wang Xuehong walked in with a stack of documents.

This young lady is still taking care of her studies and work, and she is working very hard. Tang Huan, who also needs to think about her studies, asked her to help her with her trivial matters at the University of California, Berkeley.

Zheru's great success exceeded the expectations of Tang Yun and Cai Shaotang who encouraged Tang Huan to continue his studies. Due to busy work, Tang Huan couldn't even go to class for three days fishing and two days drying the net.

Although under the care of Cai Shaotang, it is almost impossible to get a master's degree on time like ordinary students.

Therefore, Tang Huan simply changed the method and demonstrated his academic level through practice.

He has published many papers on computer technology. Among them, referring to the series of papers on IEEE754, the IEEE binary floating-point arithmetic standard, he demonstrated an advanced and advanced A reasonable standard for computer processing of floating-point numbers has been generally praised by the technical community.

In addition, Tang Huan also participated in the UNIX/32V project of Berkeley University to port UNIX to the VAX computer framework, that is, the 3BSD version, and contributed a lot of key program codes.

Berkeley Software Distribution is BSD, also known as Berkeley UNIX, a student of the University of California at Berkeley, one of the founders of the future Sun,

Pioneered by Bill Joy, the authorization is very loose, which has special significance for open source and the Internet.

In particular, the success of 3BSD has attracted the attention of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which made DARPA decide to fund Berkeley's CSRG - Computer Systems Research Group, the Computer Systems Research Group, to develop a UNIX standard platform for their future research.

It can be said that in this one of the best public universities in the United States, even though there are many elites, Tang Huan still stands out, and even casts a layer of mystery on the wisdom of the Chinese.

The documents of Tang Huan's work results were basically submitted to Berkeley University with the help of Wang Xuehong.

"Should the operation of Xiaobawang game console be officially independent? Chambers went to discuss the database business with customers. These documents can only be handed over to you." Wang Xuehong made a suggestion.

"I have confidence in the success of the Xiaobawang game console, but I didn't expect it to be so popular." Tang Huan rubbed his brows and sighed, "It doesn't matter whether it is an independent operation, find someone who is in charge of this business President, it is imminent."

Speaking of this, the name of Trip Hawkins flashed in Tang Huan's mind, but he immediately remembered the founder of Atari - Nolan Bushnell.

Due to poor management, by the end of 1978, the Atari 2600, which spent a total of 100 million US dollars in research and development expenses, only sold 550,000 of the 800,000 mainframes produced. This man is naturally responsible and has been kicked out by Warner. The successor, Ray Casal, was very competent. Through some drastic reforms, Atari was quickly brought out of the quagmire.

It can be seen that Bushnell's management level is really not flattering. But the flaws do not hide the advantages. His pioneer status in the video game industry is a very good card. Tang Huan can't help but be a little tempted. Let this person be the president of the game business, supplemented by professional management talents to limit it. will play a very positive role.

But the problem is that Bushnell can be regarded as successful and famous. Whether he is willing to give up the enjoyment of life to fight in the mall is really unpredictable. But no matter what, you still have to try it out.

Tang Huan picked up a note, wrote down a few key words, and handed it to Wang Xuehong, "Follow the above clues, help me contact Nolan Bushnell."

After Wang Xuehong left, Tang Huan flipped through the documents and read them.

To some extent, Zheru's company management was the first to benefit from the microcomputer office trend led by Tang Huan.

From the daily data statistics provided by the CGrid electronic form, to the financial management, purchase, sales and storage based on the EBase database, and a series of applications of the latest CRM (customer relationship management), various data flows are sorted out in an orderly and reasonable manner. Tang Huan can always grasp the key data of the entire company and even the group at the fastest speed.

Thinking about Zheru's main business report, Tang Huan couldn't help showing a knowing smile with satisfaction.

The advent of EBase allowed Zheru America to jump out of the pattern of grabbing market share with old rivals of word processing software and new competitors of spreadsheet software, and took the lead in entering the field of microcomputer databases. It's no worse than the Xiaobawang game console that is selling like crazy.

This kind of money is earned in a dignified way, which is much more decent than the current game machine business, which seems to be a little bit of a side.

With the signing of each document, the business information related to Xiaobawang gradually increased. After Tang Huan dealt with it in one go, he stood up, frowned, and paced back and forth in the office.

Indeed, with the development and growth of Xiaobawang's game machine business, the streamlined routine that I formulated at the beginning, which was a separate company in name but actually managed by a department, could no longer keep up with the current actual situation.

Moreover, judging from part of the information gathered by the marketing department, Atari has already realized the threat of the sudden appearance of the rookie, Xiaobawang, and has adopted various countermeasures.

The methods of struggle in the business field, no matter how they are packaged, cannot be separated from those ancient categories. They are nothing more than fighting for money and squeezing at low prices, imitating various forms of copycats, trying to poach corners, and even discrediting opponents by all means.

Of course, how to use resources strategically, play the cards in hand well, and exert efficient execution capabilities are also very important.

Atari has been in the field of game consoles for almost the entire 1970s. Needless to say, the background is self-evident, and the boss behind the scenes is the deeply rooted Warner.

As for the current CEO of Atari, Ray Casal, he is different from Bushnell. He is a senior professional manager with very sophisticated means of business operation. In terms of advertising, many big-name stars have also been hired. Warner, who was born in filmmaking, can have less resources like this.

Although the impact of these methods has not yet seen the results, the attack power is beyond doubt.

What's more, Christmas in the West is coming soon, and everyone wants to take this opportunity to make a fortune. It is not an exaggeration to say that the eyeballs are red.

If Xiaobawang continues to operate in the current way, it is very likely that it will be crushed into slag, and even Zheru's own main business will be dragged down.

But even though there are many hidden worries, Tang Huan does not plan to go to battle in person. It is the right way to use foresight to find an agent who can take care of himself and save himself worry and effort.

Having made up his mind, Tang Huan stretched his brows, smiled confidently, sat down again, picked up a pen and wrote on the memo, "If you don't accept gifts for Christmas this year, you will accept Xiaobawang".

Aren't Atari and Warner trying their best to get a piece of the Christmas pie? I'm not easy to mess with, there are so many marketing methods, it's disgusting to you.

Wang Xuehong was very methodical, and quickly contacted Bushnell, and transferred the call, so Tang Huan directly expressed his request for a meeting.

"Shall I find you, or should you come to Cupertino?" Tang Huan asked.

"Whoever boldly underestimates the intelligence of Americans can make money." Bushnell laughed heartily, "The Little Overlord game machine fits this point. I'm very curious about your company. I've wanted to Let's go visit."

Tang Huan looked at the time, "Then I will wait for you, and treat you to Chinese food."