Chapter 265 Mirage Electronics (Happy New Year to Everyone)
After being persuaded by Xiao Lu, Yang Dong and others, Chen Ba finally changed his mind.
Embezzling 99% of the production funds is too much. If it gets out, it will damage his image and reputation. Besides...
1% of the original budget may be too little to produce satisfactory results. 5% should be a good choice!
certainly!
5% is not a small amount, that’s 20 million dollars! This amount of money is a piece of cake to make a fighting game.
As for the remaining money, most of it went into Chen Ba's pocket, and another small part was used to acquire shares of China Mirage Electronic Technology Co., Ltd.
That’s right, the other party agreed!
The proposal put forward by Tianba Studio was indeed irresistible to Mirage Electronics and was too tempting.
If they refuse Tianba Studio's acquisition, their products will have no market and no fame, and their investors will be unable to hold on and run away. It goes without saying that the outcome will be dire.
Agreeing to the acquisition and developing a special "peripheral package" for the game "Star Emperor 2" not only ensures sales, but also allows the company to become the exclusive peripheral sponsor of the GAL League.
With the help of this favorable trend, Mirage Electronics will definitely take off and its reputation will spread throughout the country and abroad in an instant!
Moreover, this is a two-way choice...
If they disagree, Tianba Studio can still talk to other companies, since they are not the only company making such interactive peripherals.
But if they miss this opportunity, it will be very difficult for them to get on the fast train of the GAL League and find an investor who is not short of money.
So, the man has feelings and the woman is willing.
The two parties hit it off and reached a preliminary consensus in just a few days. The only thing left was for Chen Ba to go to the other party's company to sign and then take a handshake photo and release it to the public.
There's actually not much controversy about the price.
Anyone with a discerning eye knows how much Mirage Electronics' fixed assets, patented products and technological advantages are worth. We can just give them a valuation that everyone can emotionally accept and leave a 5% stake to the management, and that's all.
Anyway, the final price was less than 100 million! It was indeed difficult to break 100 million, after all, the scale of Mirage Electronics was too small. It was only after understanding that Chen Ba realized that in addition to designing and producing various interactive peripherals, their profits all depended on making "game controllers".
That’s right!
Mirage Electronics' main business was not doing well, they could not sell many units and were in a state of loss for a long time. So they developed a sideline business, manufacturing various game controllers, mechanical keyboards, etc.
Life is miserable!
Fortunately, they still have a factory, as well as certain technical advantages and patent ratios, otherwise Chen Ba would not be willing to spend the money? A few million would probably be enough! "Mr. Chen, look..."
After arriving in Zhonghai, Chen Ba was warmly welcomed by the management of Mirage Electronics. Not only was he welcomed and entertained, but he was also taken on a tour of the factory.
What’s interesting is that Mirage Electronics’ headquarters is located in Zhonghai, but its factory is located dozens of kilometers away and not far from Jiangning, which left Chen Ba speechless.
"This is our latest generation of product, which integrates the most advanced sensor system on the market and can simulate various feedback reactions of the hand..."
"This product can be adjusted and modified according to your needs. If you are not satisfied with the current shape, we can also redesign it."
"No, this one is fine."
Chen Ba picked up a thick glove, put it on his right hand, and made a fisting motion. The dummy on the big screen also made a similar motion.
Yes, this works! Chen Ba specifically asked about the latency issue. Because it is a wireless connection, the latency will be a little high, but if a wired connection is used, the latency is basically acceptable.
The only problem may be that the total cost of this set of equipment, which includes two pairs of gloves, two sets of knee pads and a vest, is about more than 600 yuan.
The suggested price given by Mirage Electronics is 1,099 yuan, which is very sincere. It is not too much of a rip-off, as they still want to open up the market as soon as possible.
But even so, Chen Ba felt it was too expensive.
Not to mention the suggested retail price of 1099, just the cost price of more than 600, Chen Ba feels that 99.9% of the players would not be able to afford it.
"That's true..."
Yang Dong, who came with Brother Ba to sign the contract, nodded and said, "Some people might be interested in a mechanical keyboard worth more than 600 yuan, and some people will buy a controller worth more than 600 yuan, but no one will buy a suit worth more than 600 yuan that is gathering dust."
The problem isn't the price, but the lack of confidence players have in this thing.
To put it bluntly, if you spend the same amount of money to buy a keyboard and mouse or a controller, you can at least enjoy it. But it is a waste to spend money on this trial product and use it once or twice before it gathers dust.
The price is a little cheaper, about one or two hundred yuan. Although it is likely to be collected dust at home, everyone is still interested in trying it! Forget about more than six hundred yuan...
"There is still room for cost reduction. If we control the use of materials a little, we can reduce the cost to around 300-400 yuan. If the cost is not important, reducing it to 100-200 yuan will be fine!"
However, since the costs are pushed to the limit, don’t expect a very good performance when it comes to materials and sensors.
In short, you get what you pay for!
The price of low cost is heavy. At least the user experience will not be very good, and the product quality is also worrying.
“That’s enough!”
Chen Ba thought about it and gave Mirage Electronics an idea, which was to castrate different product versions.
For example, the complete set he has can be sold for thousands of dollars and is named the deluxe version.
The slightly smaller version is called the Elite Edition and is priced at 699 yuan per set, while the most reduced version is called the Youth Edition and is priced at 399 yuan per set.
In this way, it not only meets the demand of lower prices to attract more players to try the game, but also launches a high-priced version so that players with more money can have a better experience.
It's perfect! "The Youth Edition is not for profit, just sell it at the cost line, and give it a discount from time to time, anyway, use it to give players a taste. As for the Elite Edition and Deluxe Edition, they are the main products that make money, and there will always be people willing to pay for the high configuration."
By this time, Chen Ba had already conceived a complete marketing plan for this product.
If nothing unexpected happens, this set of peripherals will be released with the release of "Star Emperor 2". At that time, he will try to give players a hint: using peripherals will be more powerful! In this way, players who pursue the ultimate gaming experience and gaming intensity will definitely use this set of peripherals.
"Don't forget, among the players of the first generation of Star Emperor, there weren't many other players, but there were a lot of rich guys..."
Patting the factory manager on the shoulder, Chen Ba said: "Hurry up the production and prepare the stock. The future of this product is definitely bright!"
I don’t know whether the future is bright or not, but now you are the boss and you make the decision, so just do as you say!
The head of the factory solemnly guaranteed that when "Star Emperor 2" was released, he would be able to prepare 200,000 sets of products.
Having received the guarantee, Chen Ba left the factory contentedly and returned to have dinner with the original entrepreneurial team and management of Zhonghai Tongmihanlou Electronics.
While eating, Chen Ba did not forget to remind these people to keep in touch with Tianba Studio, especially the development team of "Star Emperor 2".
After all, this set of peripherals was designed for "Star Emperor 2" from the beginning, so the compatibility must be perfect! "Don't worry, we will."
"But I am very curious about what the final effect will be like after adaptation."
The final effect?
Hearing this, Chen Ba put down the wine glass in his hand, and the conversation he had with Yang Dong in the past emerged in his mind.
At that time, he told Dong Ge that they were going to make an alternative fighting game next, the background of the game would be fantasy fairy tales, and the game characters would all be emperors and supreme beings.
Then Brother Dong asked him, "The background of fantasy heroes, but the battle between strong men ends up with punches and kicks?"
"What's wrong with punching and kicking?"
The answer given by Chen Ba was that even though they were a group of extremely powerful people who had reached the pinnacle of the fantasy world, fighting with punches and kicks was a bit low.
But as long as you add some special effects and improve the expressiveness of punches and kicks, none of this will be a problem!
An ordinary punch or kick can be transformed into the invincible “Emperor of Heaven Fist” and “Emperor of Heaven Kick” with amazing power!
Now, his answer remains the same.
What's wrong with punching and kicking? The peripherals provided by Mirage Electronics can only simulate the "punching and kicking" actions of players, which looks stupid and silly.
But that's the look and feel without special effects.
There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!
Players don't have special effects in real life, but the characters in the game do! As long as there are special effects, these punches and kicks can still wipe out the road.
“I see…”
Several executives of Mirage Electronics blinked, already imagining the scene in their minds.
Wearing sensor gloves on his hands, he suddenly threw a punch. A gorgeous special effect suddenly appeared on the screen. Under the fist shadow that covered the sky, the enemy was instantly crushed into powder.
Can!
This is in line with men's middle school fantasies. If they had this thing when they were kids, they would probably faint from happiness on the spot.
"That's right, Brother Ba!"
As if he had thought of something, the president of Mirage Electronics asked, "We have signed the contract. When will we announce this to the public?"
"Don't worry, I'll set the date."
Chen Ba originally wanted to say that it could be done now, but he didn't know what influenced him and suddenly had an idea. Why not use the omnipotent "Mountain Village Past" to predict an auspicious day?
"Didn't you always claim that "Past Events in a Mountain Village" is not metaphysics but science? Why do you believe it now?" Yang Dong was very confused.
Chen Ba: “…”
He really didn't believe this before. After all, he knew the inside story of this divination system better than anyone else. It was absolutely science, not metaphysics.
But as more and more netizens in the Tianba community posted revelations, especially as more and more netizens shared their own verified results of "cyber fortune-telling", he began to doubt his life.
Netizen A used the divination system of "Mountain Village Past" to calculate the good or bad luck of his blind date, and the result was really accurate. This blind date was a great success!
Netizen B used the divination system of "Mountain Village Past" to pray for her postgraduate entrance examination. The divination showed a very bad luck, and in the end she really... failed the exam!
There are too many similar cases.
As more and more similar posts appeared, the players who were originally just following the trend for fun now began to have some doubts about this world, just like Chen Ba.
What's going on? We use "Mountain Village Past" to predict the good and bad fortune in real life. Isn't it just for fun? Why can it be so accurate?
We agreed on a little fun, but how come it’s almost becoming real?
It’s not surprising that people would think this way, mainly because there are indeed too many posts in the Tianba community proving how reliable the divination system of "Mountain Village Past" is.
As these posts become more and more numerous, it is inevitable that people will have an illusion that the divination system of "Mountain Village Past" can not only calculate the fortune trends in the game, but also calculate good and bad fortune in reality!
"Let's just say..."
"Is it possible that only those whose predictions are correct will post to share, while those players whose predictions are not correct will not post specifically to talk about it at all?" Yang Dong rolled his eyes.
“That makes sense!”
After being reminded by him, Chen Ba suddenly realized that this was indeed the case.
There are indeed many posts proving how effective "Past Events in a Mountain Village" is, but this is because those who do not think it is effective will never post to brag about their experience.
"Now I feel relieved."
Chen Ba let out a long sigh and said, "You scared me. I really thought that "The Past in the Mountain Village" was so mysterious!"
"As for metaphysics, you know what, "The Past in a Mountain Village" is indeed quite metaphysical..."
Yang Dong smiled and said: "Although everything in reality cannot be predicted by "Mountain Village Past", what happens on the Internet cannot be hidden from the divination system of "Mountain Village Past"."
The number one master of metaphysics on the Internet! Whether it is a lottery, opening a box, drawing cards, or playing cards, or any game that has something to do with luck, players will pay homage to Master "Hu Xi" in advance and ask him to tell their fortune.
The most outrageous thing is...
The "game character" Hu Xi was originally famous only in the gaming circle, but soon spread throughout the entire Chinese Internet.
Not only that, those talented businessmen also produced small commodities such as "Hu Xi" wall pictures, photos, mobile phone cases and key chains, which were very popular after they were launched on the market.
There is no doubt that they infringed.
"Hu Xi" is neither the Jade Emperor nor the Bodhisattva Guanyin. As a virtual character, his personal image is copyrighted, and the copyright belongs to Tianba Studio.
These businesses used Hu Xi's image at will to produce various products without obtaining authorization from Tianba Studio. If they are held accountable, they will all have to pay compensation.
But Chen Ba and Yang Dong had no intention of pursuing responsibility at all.
Because they are also hesitant now.
How come Hu Xi, a fictional "game character", is becoming a god now? He has a huge number of fanatics and loyal fans on the Internet!
To be honest, fanatics are not easy to deal with.
It would be fine if netizens and players just played around with the meme, but in reality, there are quite a few middle-aged and elderly people who believe in "Hu Xi" as a real master.
Chen Ba felt that the matter regarding "Hu Xi" needed to be handled with great care.
After all, this character now shows some signs of "turning the false into the true" and "turning the virtual into the real".
It is better to turn a blind eye to this kind of infringement! If you really want to investigate and crack down on it, you may end up in trouble and it will be a thankless task!
(End of this chapter)