Chapter 98: Fragrant Muffins - Part 1

Five minutes later, Ethan entered the reception room on the second floor of Destiny Game.

Upon his arrival, a middle-aged man sitting on the sofa immediately stood up, extended his right hand in a friendly manner, and introduced himself.

"Hello, Mr. Jones. I'm David Rosen, the CEO of Sega. It's a pleasure to meet you."

As the saying goes, extending a hand is better than striking a smiling face.

Ethan reciprocated the warmth, shaking hands with Mr. Rosen while expressing, "Mr. Rosen, it's also a pleasure for me to meet you. I've heard of your name, and your legendary experiences are truly admirable."

Ethan was not exaggerating. After all, the man in front of him was the founder of Sega, the person who dared to guerrilla fight against the U.S. Army in history.

When Sega's slot machines appeared successively in military bases in Hawaii, the Philippines, and Southeast Asia, their astonishing sales performance left a lasting impression.

"Mr. Jones, you flatter me. Compared to your creativity, my sales achievements are insignificant," David Rosen said with a smile, shaking his head.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Ethan invited Mr. Rosen to take a seat and ordered administrative clerk Eulise Noble to bring them two cups of tea, specifically Sichuan Ning Hong tea, served cold.

Though Ethan didn't prefer it, he understood the importance of catering to a general taste in business hospitality.

Once Eulise Noble disappeared, David Rosen straightforwardly stated the purpose of his visit.

"Mr. Jones, I came to your company to discuss something, concerning the 'Snake Game.'"

"Mr. Jones, Sega has noticed that since you terminated the cooperation with Atari, there hasn't been any company in North America producing electronic arcade machines for the 'Snake Game.'"

"Although the current market feedback indicates satisfaction with the existing stock of 'Snake Game' arcade machines, given that there are over ten thousand units available, it meets the current gaming needs. However, in our estimation, there is still a sales space for 'Snake Game' arcade machines in the North American market, probably in the range of three to five thousand units."

"If left unused... it would be a bit of a waste."

David Rosen wore a smile, speaking sincerely.

Though his intention wasn't explicitly stated, Ethan already understood.

It was about Sega wanting to be the agent for producing "Snake Game"!

In reality, after terminating the collaboration with Atari, Ethan had contemplated whether "Snake Game" still held value and needed continued production and sales. However, at that time, the patent for TV games and training devices, like the Sword of Damocles, hung over him, preventing him from venturing into arcade machine production.

Thus, he shelved the matter temporarily.

Now, having resolved the patent blockade and having the capability to resume production, Ethan discovered that creating a new game at this point was a more lucrative choice.

Firstly, while "Snake Game" was profitable, the shipment volume was limited, as David Rosen mentioned, at most three to five thousand units.

If produced solely as an arcade machine, the profit was substantial, potentially reaching a gross profit of up to 1.8 million. However, if incorporating the mainboard, a significant portion of that profit had to be sacrificed.

Dealing with such a fluctuating production, especially without a clear understanding of demand, made managing costs challenging.

Nobody knew how many units of "Snake Game" would be needed, and even less clear was where on the vast continent of America there was a demand for a large quantity of "Snake Game."

If sold point-to-point with precision, the business could be profitable.

However, if nationwide distribution was necessary, the venture would be senseless.

Selling dozens or hundreds of units per state, accumulating money over time, was a business strategy that every company despised.

It was just too inefficient!

The second consideration was that a new company needed new products.

Currently, every "Snake Game" arcade machine on the market displayed the Atari logo.

Anyone familiar with the name "Snake Game" would likely associate it with Atari.

Ethan had used Atari's channels, brand, and market value when taking advantage of a shortcut to make quick money.

Now, without the memories from his past life, if he were just a Native American in North America, he believed he would fully exploit the IP of "Snake Game." But armed with three aces and sufficient funds, in the current situation, creating a new game was a better choice.

On one hand, although "Snake Game" was profitable, the shipment volume was limited, with the maximum being three to five thousand units, as David Rosen mentioned. The profit from purely producing arcade machines was substantial, with a maximum gross profit of 1.8 million. However, if including the mainboard, at least part of that profit would be deducted.

With such a significant production fluctuation, establishing a factory to produce "Snake Game" was challenging to control in terms of costs.

This business was set aside due to the uncertainty of production quantity.

When Ethan resolved the patent blockade and had the capability to continue production, he realized that, at this point, creating a new game was a more suitable choice.

Under the influence of these two reasons, Ethan decided to temporarily halt the subsequent production of the "Snake Game" project. However, when he himself was not pursuing it, Sega's founder, David Rosen, hinted that Sega wanted the agency rights for "Snake Game"?

Dream on!

Everything was in the dream!

After a brief consideration, Ethan directly refused.

"Mr. Rosen, 'Snake Game' is the first game I created, and it holds a special significance for me."

"I initially thought that the collaboration with Atari would be a wonderful beginning, but no one could have anticipated such an ending."

"Atari has harmed me and, more importantly, the game I created. It has caused me a great deal of pain. Fortunately, the people who love 'Snake Game' haven't been harmed. Perhaps that is the best outcome."

"If nothing unexpected happens, I think we can't collaborate for the time being because we don't plan to continue the production of 'Snake Game' in the short term. If people love it, they can find joy in the existing arcade machines on the market. If they forget about it, let this piece of history fade away with the wind."

Ethan's words carried a touch of sadness.

The reason he portrayed himself as an artistic youth was to hope that David Rosen would understand and retreat.

Because he knew that successful business people had one trait – they would not give up until they reached their goal.

And he particularly disliked others babbling on about one thing for a long time.

After hearing Ethan's words, David Rosen, sitting on the sofa, nodded and said with emotion,

"Oh, Ethan, I'm aware of your situation with Atari. Nolan Bushnell's actions were truly despicable. His mean methods and shameless conduct brought shame to Atari, the radiant brand that pioneered the electronic arcade industry!"

"I understand your feelings, I understand your pain, so..."

"I apologize."

"Great!"

Ethan nodded with a smile, but inside, he was happily snapping his fingers.

As long as there was no entanglement, everything was fine!

However, just as he thought that David Rosen, who had given up, would at most exchange a few more polite words and leave, the guy sitting across

from him, after a moment of silence, said,

"Mr. Jones, although I understand your thoughts and respect your decision, I also feel that an excellent game should not exit the stage like this."

"Although 'Snake Game' has brought immense joy to our nation, people in the rest of the world have yet to experience its brilliance!"

"In the United States, we have a population of two hundred million, but in the world, there are four billion people!"

"There are still three billion eight hundred million people who haven't played your game!"

"Still three billion eight hundred million people who haven't felt the joy you've brought!"

"So... we actually have room for collaboration, right?"

David Rosen looked at Ethan with a smiling face, and as he finished speaking, he raised his right eyebrow.

His refined facial expressions conveyed humor, and the sudden rise in his tone made Ethan burst into laughter.

This time, he truly understood!

Sega's visit was not about becoming the North American agent for "Snake Game"! Clearly, they wanted the overseas distribution rights for "Snake Game"!

And this was indeed a huge market.

Not to mention anything else, just in Europe, there was purchasing power for arcade machines comparable to North America.

Although Europe's reputation might not be as prominent, it still had a market at the level of hundreds of millions.

All of this was a pot of white silver, and there was no reason not to earn it.

That's right!

At this moment, Ethan was no longer talking about sentiment!

Unfortunately, he had to admit that, being a businessman, he had a flexible moral bottom line.

Hehe~

However, how to make this money exactly...

He actually didn't have a complete plan and needed to think about it.

So, Ethan smiled and said, "Sorry, Mr. Rosen, 'Snake Game' is not just my game alone. I need to discuss it with my sister before giving you an answer."

This answer made David Rosen nod, "No problem, I'll patiently await your call."

Saying that, he looked around and, seeing the handbag on the sofa, picked it up directly.

Then, he pulled out a stack of documents from it and handed it to Ethan, saying, "Mr. Jones, this is the cooperation plan we've prepared at Sega. Please review it with your sister."

"Okay, definitely." Ethan nodded with a smile.

After seeing David Rosen off, Ethan returned to his office.

He placed the documents on the table, locked the door, and left.

Although the overseas distribution of "Snake Game" was crucial, at the moment, he felt a bit urgent.

As for the cause of the urgency, he estimated it was the Sichuan Ning Hong tea.

Going to the toilet took about ten minutes to resolve.

When he came out after washing his hands, he felt completely relaxed both mentally and physically.

However, just as he was about to return to his office to check the documents, a figure suddenly emerged from downstairs.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be another administrative staff member, Damian Dean.