Thursday, April 1, 1976. On this day, Steve Wozniak was dragged off by Steve Jobs. Ethan knew exactly why — it was the day Apple was born.
But Ethan wasn't too concerned about that for the moment. After half a year, he finally went online again and paid a visit to his loyal company.
To be honest, Ethan felt his company was burning money. It had been running for six months without closing a single deal, yet two administrative staff members and one financial officer were still drawing full-time salaries. Why hadn't he ever come across such a "free money" deal in his past life?
In a daze, he even thought to himself, The man disappears, but the wages keep coming — the perfect example of why the person a company most needs to fire is often the boss. Because with or without him, everything is the same!
But that thought didn't last long. When he pulled up to the company in Thomas's Ford pickup truck, hauling a freshly minted Pac-Man arcade machine, Damio Dean — the male executive — was already waiting. Having heard the news, he quickly called over Aaron Massey from finance, moved the machine from the truck, and brought it into the office.
This kind of level of cooperation made Ethan feel very pleased. What made him even more pleased was the tea service and report delivered by another administrator, Julis Noble, right after he sat down in his office.
Although Ethan hadn't given them a single task in six months, the young woman in professional attire stood before him holding a neat stack of documents and began her report:
"Mr. Jones, even though our company hasn't conducted any business in the past six months, we haven't been idle. We've been collecting industry news."
"Hmm?"
Ethan was interested. "What news? Tell me everything."
After all, spending half a year in the pre-Internet era was almost like being cut off from the world. Ethan genuinely had no idea what had been happening outside.
Julis opened her folder and continued: "Mr. Jones, after sorting and reviewing everything, we think there are three pieces of news you'll find very interesting.
The first is last year's video game sales rankings, published by the Wall Street Journal.
According to the list, our company's Snake Game ranked first in North America with 12,000 installed units."
"okay!" Ethan was very satisfied with the result. Although Snake had brought him plenty of headaches, it had also brought him a mountain of money and praise. When he first chose it, his goal was simply to make something easy to build and easy to profit from. But after all the ups and downs, he found himself hoping the game would also earn some genuine recognition.
This wasn't about seeking profit or fame — Ethan simply wanted those who coveted Snake to know:
You read that right! Snake is an awesome game! It won the U.S. sales championship for 1975!
The best part is, I still own the copyright! Ethan chuckled. At the same time, he grew curious about the rest of the rankings.
"So, who's behind us?" he asked.
Julis Noble immediately replied, "Second place is Speed Race, a game developed by Taidong of Japan Game Company and distributed by Midway Games. Combined sales of its first and second editions totaled 8,000 units."
Ethan knew this one — a racing game with both single-player and two-player versions. Though it couldn't compare to later racing games, for its time, its quality was quite good.
"Third place," Julis continued, "is Tank, released by Kee Games, with 5,000 units sold."
Ethan nodded. He knew this one too — a two-player game where both players control tanks and try to blast each other off the screen. Sounds familiar, right? It should — it's the true predecessor of the Famicom classic Tank Battle.
"Fourth place is a table tennis game from Meadows Games, selling 3,000 units. Fifth place is Gran Trak 10, an Atari release from before their settlement with Magnavox, with 2,000 units sold."
The games ranked six through ten, Julis explained, were all estimated by the Wall Street Journal to have sold around 500 units — figures with little reference value.
As Julis wrapped up her report, Ethan gained a quick snapshot of the North American game industry in 1975.
At first glance, the industry looked vibrant — a hundred flowers blooming, a hundred schools of thought contending — with many companies appearing in the sales rankings. But Ethan knew most of these companies wouldn't last.
Not just because they didn't exist in his memories of his previous life, but because they wouldn't be able to afford Magnavox's steep patent fees while simultaneously making the leap from the circuit-board era to the CPU era.
And that was good news for Ethan. As a player, he wanted as many games on the market as possible. As a businessman, what he wanted most was to strangle his competitors!
"What about the other two news items?" Ethan asked. "They're not more rankings, right?"
Rankings were just the same with a different flavor — once was enough.
Julis shook her head firmly. "No, Mr. Jones. The other two aren't rankings.
"The first comes from Magnavox. At the end of November last year, they officially announced that the first-generation Odyssey home console would be discontinued early this year. At the same time, they said they'd be launching a new product.
A month ago, they revealed that the new console — the Magnavox Odyssey 300 — will be released this summer. It will include three built-in games: Tennis, Hockey, and Squash. They've also introduced three difficulty levels: Novice, Intermediate, and Expert. According to them, this is a revolutionary innovation, because no other game has ever had difficulty settings.
They even claimed their system is more player-friendly than our Snake, because it lets players truly choose their experience, bringing games back to fun rather than frustration."
Ethan froze. Magnavox was about to release a new console?
And they were making difficulty settings the selling point?
And taking a shot at Snake while they were at it?!
For a moment, Ethan was speechless. But the third piece of news surprised him even more.
"It's about Atari," Julis said. "Nolan Bushnell announced they'll release a new game called Arkanoid in June — just two months from now. He said this game will be Atari's greatest work yet, a truly endless, infinitely replayable experience, and—"
Julis hesitated before finishing, "…and much more fun than our Snake."
She sneaked a glance at Ethan, worried he'd explode in anger. But when her eyes met his, what she saw instead was a boss who suddenly broke into laughter.
"That's right!"
After hearing that Magnavox was about to release a new console and Atari was preparing to launch Arkanoid, the first thing Ethan wanted to do was laugh.
So, the three rival were all jumping into the fray again? Ethan admitted that Arkanoid was an excellent game and that Magnavox's difficulty settings for the Odyssey 300 were a landmark idea in gaming history. But no matter how good they were, neither of them had Pac-Man's anthropomorphic AI.
He had just finished building Pac-Man — and now his two biggest competitors were preparing to launch new products?
"Alright, I get it."
Smiling, Ethan nodded and said, "Julis, you've done a good job. I'll give you a bonus at the end of the year.
"Now, here's why I came back to the company — our new product is ready. Next, we need to apply for a provisional copyright and then hold a press conference.
Have Damio Dean handle the copyright application.
As for the press conference venue, contact Stanford and see if there's a large lecture hall or auditorium we can borrow. If there is, work out the dates with them. If not, we'll just set up a platform downstairs."
We're a young company with limited resources — a little rough around the edges is fine, right?
"As for the guest list…" Ethan pulled a sheet of paper from his briefcase and handed it to her.
"I've already drafted the list. Once the venue is confirmed, send out invitations according to the scheduled date."
Then he added, with a grin: "And… make sure Nolan Bushnell and Magnavox are on the list."
"Yes, sir!"
Ethan hadn't planned to invite Atari and Magnavox. He wasn't a devil — once he got his revenge, that was enough.
But now, since his "friends" were still determined to challenge him, he felt it was only right to help them save on operating costs.
After all, he had already shown Pac-Man to both companies. If they still insisted on releasing new products after that, well… that was their problem.
Julis Noble had no idea what her boss was thinking. She only knew that the company — idle for half a year — was about to get busy again.
She nodded and hurried off to start preparations. But before long, she returned.
"What's wrong?" Ethan asked, surprised.
"Mr. Jones, there's a guest you need to invite personally," Julis said.
"What?" Ethan frowned. "Who?"
"It's Mr. Steven Spielberg. He's very angry right now, so we can't just send him a letter."
"?" Ethan was puzzled — until Julis handed him a copy of the Los Angeles Times.
One look at the bold headline on the front page made him blink in disbelief:
[Hollywood Upstart, Jaws Director Steven Spielberg Angrily Complains the Academy "Doesn't Understand Movies!"]
The report inside was even more explosive:
[At the recently concluded 48th Academy Awards, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest swept the competition, taking Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay.]
[In response, Hollywood's rising star Steven Spielberg expressed strong dissatisfaction. He reportedly said that the Academy "doesn't understand movies" and that his Jaws was the most beloved and deserving of Best Picture. Regardless of whether it competed with One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon, Al Pacino's Dog Day Afternoon, or Robert Altman's Nashville, nothing could match his record-setting film.]
[Spielberg further stated that he will never participate in the Oscars again.]
"Holy shit! That bold?"
He hadn't seen Spielberg in months — and now the man was publicly feuding with the Academy?
No wonder Julis was afraid to send him an invitation. Anyone would be cautious in such a situation.
But Ethan wasn't the type to get scared — just curious. After reading the article, he picked up the phone and called Spielberg directly.
Because Spielberg didn't recognize the company number, the first call didn't go through. But after a few more tries — and some help from the staff at Universal to transfer the call — he finally heard Spielberg's breathless voice on the line:
"Oh, Ethan, I'm sorry. I didn't know it was you calling."
"Oh, that's my fault — I forgot to give you my company's number. Are you busy?"
"I'm very busy right now… wait, did you call because of the Los Angeles Times?"
At the mention of the paper, Spielberg's voice immediately rose.
"Yeah! Those idiots completely misrepresented what I said!
"I didn't even get an Oscar nomination this year — why would I complain that the Academy 'doesn't understand movies'? Am I crazy?
What I actually said, in an interview, was that One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was a great film — but commercially, it couldn't compare to my Jaws. There's nothing wrong with that, right?
I made the highest-grossing film in North America! The first film in the world to pass $100 million at the box office! Am I not allowed to say I did a great job?"
"Then what…"
"Those bastard reporters said I claimed the Oscars 'don't understand movies'…"
"Oh! Shit! What a bunch of sons of bitches!"
Hearing Spielberg's outburst, Ethan laugh. But instead of comforting him, he said with a teasing tone:
"Ah? Is that so? I was actually planning to back you up…
I was going to have my company contact the Los Angeles Times and buy a front-page headline saying: Steven Spielberg will be the greatest director in America! Jaws is just the beginning! One day, all of Hollywood will tremble under your rule!"
"Cough—cough—cough!"
Ethan's exaggerated words made Spielberg choke on the other end of the line.
After calming down, Spielberg said with a wry smile, "Oh, Ethan… as much as I'd love to hear that, in the end, movies have to speak for themselves. I'll be shooting a new film in May. Once it's finished, I'll show them what a real movie looks like!"
That confidence made Ethan smile. Sure enough, every successful person has a heart of steel, he thought.
Then he said, "Really? Then you're in luck."
"Huh?" Spielberg didn't understand. Ethan didn't make him guess. "It's simple — the new game is ready. I'm planning to hold a launch event.
Steven, may I have the honor of inviting you?"
There was a brief silence. Then a roar burst through the receiver:
"Oh—Fuckk—! You finally finished it?! Do you know I've been waiting half a year for this?!
"No — scratch that — I do know! When's the press conference? I'll bring my people to support you!"