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Chapter 15 : Selling Arcade Machines!
“You really are a beginner?”
Vivian looked at Lin Lixin hesitantly, growing more and more suspicious that he was messing with her.
Even if she were the one designing something this mature, it would still take considerable effort.
“It’s all thanks to your guidance, Senior. Without your explanations, this game wouldn’t exist.”
Lin Lixin had approached her with a goal in mind from the start, so naturally he shamelessly laid on a thick layer of flattery.
Еǹ u m а
“Oh, stop thanking me. I only explained the most basic beginner-level concepts. Being able to achieve this level is entirely because you’re incredible.”
Vivian hurriedly waved her hands before returning her gaze to the screen.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
“So this is what video games are like…”
“Senior Vivian likes video games?”
“Me?” Vivian froze briefly. “I don’t know. I’ve only played Tetris and 1942. But if this is what video games are, then yes, I think I really do like them.”
Lin Lixin nodded lightly and casually inserted two more coins into the machine.
W̊.е̃ b̈ nоvê l Еň ü m̄ а̌
Compared to dry conversation, communicating through gameplay suited gamers’ social style far better.
“Why did you choose your current major, Senior Vivian?”
He already knew Vivian specialized in computer graphics, but after talking with her more deeply, he discovered she had never actually interacted with video games before.
How did someone completely uninterested in games end up walking a path so closely tied to them?
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“Mmm…”
Vivian maneuvered her fighter plane while shooting down another enemy squadron, thinking for a moment before answering.
Ẽn ûm̌а
“If I had to say… because cutting-edge technology makes money?”
“How so?”
“Graphical operating systems, graphics card drivers… those are all frontier technologies right now. I’m already doing part-time graphics optimization work for a small company my professor introduced me to.”
Lin Lixin hadn’t expected Vivian to already be operating at that level.
For a student still in school, she was already an exceptionally talented prospect.
“Impressive. Graphical operating systems are definitely going to become a major field in the future.”
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
He knew very well what kind of terrifying giant Bill Gates and Microsoft, currently still just a company run by a young man under thirty, would become in the future.
Within less than ten years, Microsoft would surpass the blue giant IBM and become the largest software company in the world.
And Microsoft’s signature product, Windows 1.0, had already been officially announced last year.
There was only one year left before Windows 1.0 officially launched.
As for Apple and its Mac operating system, the other future giant among the operating system triumvirate, it would also be released this very year.
Meanwhile, the future father of the Linux kernel, Linus Benedict Torvalds, was still just a fifteen-year-old kid.
Е̊ nu ṁ ӓ .іd
Choosing to enter the graphical operating system industry at this point in time was unquestionably a wise decision.
“I still prefer game development more,” Lin Lixin said as he smoothly coordinated with Vivian to destroy an elite enemy. “Creating happiness is something really cool.”
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For Lin Lixin, someone who had traveled back to this era carrying all the knowledge of the future, he knew he could succeed no matter what industry he entered.
As for what truly kept him determined to walk this road.
Aside from his perfectly matched cheat-like system.
There was only one other thing.
W̊ ё bn̊ о̆ v̂е́ l̈ Е num̊ а́
Faith.
Lin Lixin was a child who grew up in the new millennium.
From the Famicom and Little Tyrant consoles to Flash games and later the golden age of online and mobile gaming, video games had already woven themselves into every corner of his life and memories.
“I’m planning to establish a game company.”
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At last, he revealed his true objective.
“Originally, I wanted to ask whether you’d be interested in joining us. But from the looks of it, you’ve already decided on your own path.”
Е n̂ů m а̌ . іd́
“Join you?”
Vivian froze. She clearly hadn’t expected Lin Lixin to extend an olive branch to her.
Boom!
Distracted for just a moment, she made an operational mistake and exploded into a fireball.
Lin Lixin happened to lose focus as well while thinking about things and crashed right after her.
Vivian took a deep breath and suddenly understood why Lin Lixin had invited her to play together.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
She slowly stood up and bowed slightly.
“I’m sorry, Junior Lin. Even though I really like video games, entrusting my future to an industry the market doesn’t believe in is still a little…”
Vivian was kindhearted, but she wasn’t reckless.
Even as an outsider, she had long heard about the enormous impact of the Atari Crash.
North America’s game market had plummeted from 3.2 billion dollars to barely over 100 million, and it was still shrinking rapidly.
No matter how one looked at it, this was clearly an industry already halfway into its grave.
Ӗ n u mа̃
Hobbies and dreams couldn’t put food on the table.
Vivian understood that very clearly.
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Lin Lixin nodded.
Although Japan across the ocean was currently thriving within the industry, much of that success stemmed from Japan’s advanced civilian electronics technology and foreign asset reserves that far exceeded America’s.
Using that example to persuade Vivian probably wouldn’t accomplish much.
If he wanted her to join his team, passion for games alone wouldn’t be enough.
Ĕ n̆ūṁ а̂
He would also need a little push from reality.
Lin Lixin pulled a business card from his pocket. A phone number was written on it.
It belonged to Meyer, the man who had previously wanted to buy the Tetris prototype cabinet.
Now that the copyright issues were settled, selling arcade machines had officially become a viable direction.
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“Sam, stop playing. I’ve got an important task for you.”
Sam, who was still fiercely battling Neil, reluctantly dragged himself behind the counter after being interrupted by Lin Lixin.
Wе̃ḃ ñ.оv е l̂ Еn ǔ m ă_
…
“No way. Manufacturing them ourselves definitely won’t work.”
After hearing Lin Lixin’s plan, Sam immediately rejected it.
“Just the custom motherboard and EPROM costs alone would run into the tens of thousands. Then there’s the cabinet cost, five hundred to a thousand dollars each, plus compliance testing and certification expenses…”
He counted on his fingers for a moment.
“We’d need to invest tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars into production costs. Even if you shaved me bald, I still couldn’t come up with that kind of money.”
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“What about small-batch production?”
“Still impossible.”
Sam shook his head, but suddenly his eyes lit up as though he had thought of something.
“But we could outsource manufacturing! There’s usually a minimum order quantity, but the costs would be way lower. If we secure buyers in advance and they’re willing to pay deposits ahead of time, we could pull this off without spending much money ourselves.”
Hearing Sam’s idea immediately energized Lin Lixin as well.
Right, he had been so fixated on how to cover the production cost gap that he completely forgot contract manufacturing existed.
Ӗnũm а
“Then how much would one machine cost?”
Sam pondered for a few moments before slowly giving a rough estimate.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
“Fifteen hundred dollars.”
For a low-spec small arcade cabinet, that was already considered an extremely high-tier price.
Selling something like that definitely wouldn’t be easy.
Lin Lixin stared at the phone number in his hand before walking over to the landline telephone and dialing it.
Е̄ ṅ ù m̈а̌
(End of Chapter)
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