Chapter 100: Conspiracy? - Part 1

Three hours later, at Ethan's home in Palo Alto.

Wearing an apron, Ethan busily cracked four eggs into a bowl in the kitchen, then added a splash of fresh milk.

After stirring evenly, he used a sieve to filter out foam and egg strands that couldn't blend, then heated a pan and melted a tablespoon of butter.

He poured the egg mixture into the pan, slowly sautéing over low heat. When it was about seventy to eighty percent cooked, he turned off the heat.

Sprinkling white pepper over the fluffy and fragrant scrambled eggs, he then plated and brought them to the dining table along with steak, salad, and clear soup.

As Ethan placed the final dish on the table, creating a sumptuous dinner, he couldn't help but think that in a past life, he would have taken a photo of this aromatic feast and shared it on social media to showcase his culinary skills.

But now, without the internet and social platforms, he had to content himself with personal enjoyment.

Oh, wait!

There was someone nearby!

Why was there no reaction at all?

"Hey~hey~hey~ give me some feedback! Dinner is ready!"

Glancing at the figure buried in documents nearby, Ethan snapped his fingers.

The sudden call made Evelyn, who was sitting by the dining table, look up. She first gazed at Ethan with confusion, then lowered her eyes, instinctively scanning the tabletop. When the beautifully arranged and enticing dishes appeared, she instantly realized and belatedly praised, "Oh, Ethan, are you done? You really worked hard~"

'...'

'So insincere.'

Ethan pursed his lips, clearly expressing his displeasure.

Evelyn, understanding his reaction, quickly changed her tone, clasping her hands in front of her with a sincere look.

"Oh, my God—such a lavish dinner—and all the dishes I love—"

"Oh, Ethan—did you specially make these for me? Oh, thank you so much—"

'...'

Ethan felt suffocated by the feigned enthusiasm.

And that deliberately affected voice even carried a hint of tea.

"Okay, Okay, Okay."

Feeling a bit fed up, he surrendered. "Evelyn, spare me. I don't need your compliments. Let's eat."

Ethan arranged the disinfected utensils on the plate and pushed it towards Evelyn.

Her somewhat helpless appearance made Evelyn quickly change her tune, clasping her hands in front of her, eyes widening, she complimented, "Oh, Ethan, have you finished? Thank you so much~"

'...'

'How hypocritical.'

Ethan rolled his eyes, wearing his discontent on his face.

This performance made Evelyn immediately catch on, and she hastily changed her approach, folding her hands in front of her, eyes wide, genuinely praising, "Oh my God—what a lavish dinner—and all the dishes I love—"

'...'

Ethan felt a bit choked up.

And that affected tone was giving off a strong tea aroma.

"Okay, Okay, Okay."

Feeling somewhat unable to handle it, he raised his hand in surrender. "Evelyn, spare me. I don't need your praise. Let's eat."

Ethan placed the disinfected knife, fork, and spoon on the plate and pushed it toward Evelyn.

Her resigned appearance made Evelyn burst into laughter.

Standing up, she moved her chair.

With a snap of her fingers, she sat next to Ethan.

Then, shaking the documents in her hand, she explained with a smile, "Oh, Ethan~ don't be angry~ It's not that I want to ignore you~ It's just that the terms in these two cooperation agreements are really surprising~"

"Really!" she emphasized, "The clauses in these agreements are so exaggerated! Fifteen million dollars? Say the word, and they give you twenty million dollars? Wow! Is it that they're rich, or do other countries really have such a huge gaming market?"

Yes, after Evelyn came back from school, Ethan handed her the letters of intent for cooperation between Sega and Nintendo.

After all, "Snake Game" was not solely Ethan's game. If it were to be released overseas, Evelyn needed to be informed.

Her seriousness was a result of Ethan's caution. But when the girl opened the files and read them carefully...

The blank look just happened.

Knowing the whole process, Ethan didn't mind.

He repositioned Evelyn's plate and then picked up the knife and fork, cutting into the steak.

At the same time, he said, "Of course other countries also have large gaming markets."

"After all, businessmen are profit-driven. If this business doesn't make money, why would they come to me?"

"Give us money for nothing?"

"Isn't that absurd?"

"True," Evelyn agreed, finding Ethan's words reasonable.

"So, what do you think about this matter?" she asked.

At the same time, she added, "I guess, at this stage, you don't have plans for self-operation, right?"

"At least not now, right?"

Evelyn hit the nail on the head!

Regarding the overseas distribution rights of "Snake Game," Ethan indeed planned to sell them.

It wasn't that he didn't want to do it himself, but at the moment, they didn't have the strength for it.

"Of course!"

While forking the well-done steak into Evelyn's plate, Ethan nodded, "We don't have the qualifications to talk about overseas self-operation at the moment. When I was working at Magnavox, I already knew that Sega spent fifty years and over twenty million to establish a well-equipped arcade production line in Japan and Southeast Asia. The time and money they invested are not something we can afford."

"As for discarding concerns and opening a factory directly?"

"That's even more impossible."

"After all, the last company that rashly opened a branch, Atari..."

"They went bankrupt."

After the success of "Pong," Atari's founder Nolan Bushnell thought he was the chosen one.

So, he came up with the idea of exporting games globally to reap profits.

The first target was the thriving Japanese market, specifically Japan's strong economy in Tokyo.

However, after confidently establishing a branch in Tokyo and investing millions, they realized that Tokyo was a very closed market, not welcoming outsiders to invest at all.

Their hasty actions violated the local business code, and they faced severe sanctions and boycotts.

Then...

Atari had to admit defeat and withdraw.

When millions of dollars didn't bring a corresponding market, Ethan, with no money in his pocket, naturally wouldn't consider overseas distribution.

Ethan had told Evelyn this story before.

So when he brought it up again, Evelyn instantly burst into laughter, recalling everything.

"Yeah~Yeah~Yeah~"

"I understand."

"So, are you trying to cross the river by feeling the stones of Atari's corpse?"

"Why not?" Ethan said seriously, "Since our peers have given the wrong example, what we can do is express our high respect for their dedication and sincere regret for their failure."

Saying this, Ethan winked at his sister.

"Goose goose goose..." Ethan's teasing words made Evelyn burst into laughter.

Tossing the documents aside, she picked up the knife and fork and started eating the steak.

When the almost medium-rare texture appeared, her eyebrows naturally furrowed.

After glancing at the cross-section of the steak and then at Ethan,

who was enjoying his food, she shook her head in resignation and put the remaining half of the fork into her mouth.

"So, which company do you want to cooperate with?" she asked vaguely.

This question did catch Ethan off guard.

After swallowing the steak, Ethan stopped and stared into space, his face showing a conflicted expression.

"To be honest, it's really hard to choose between these two."

"If we look at the breadth of the market, I would prioritize Sega. They not only have subsidiaries in Japan and Southeast Asia but also have their own marketing points in Europe. Their global shipping capabilities are definitely greater than Nintendo's."

"But if we consider the depth of a single market, then I would choose Nintendo. Because Japan is the second-largest electronic gaming consumer market in the world, second only to our North America. Exploring this market in-depth can bring us greater profits, and Nintendo is a company with the ability to explore the Japanese market in-depth, having operated there for nearly a hundred years."

"What?" Evelyn was surprised by Ethan's words.

"Is Nintendo really that amazing?"

"I thought it was just an ordinary Japanese company!"

Yes, people in this era didn't actually know about Nintendo, or to put it another way, before the Mario craze of fixing pipes, hardly anyone in all of America had heard of Nintendo's name.

But that was normal.

After all, in this era, Nintendo was still focused on developing the Japanese market and hadn't officially extended its reach to America.

However, the indigenous residents' lack of knowledge didn't mean Ethan, the time traveler, would ignore it. While organizing his memories, he introduced his sister to the extraordinary aspects of Nintendo as a company.

"Nintendo was founded in the last century, initially operating in the unique flower arranging paper card business of Japan. At its peak, it could even be said to have monopolized the entire Japanese flower arranging paper card market."

"After reaching the pinnacle in a single field, they attempted to expand into new business areas, introducing our country's playing cards to Japan. Since there was no company doing the playing card business in Japan before that, they naturally gained a natural monopoly advantage."

"Not only that, they also collaborated with Disney, obtaining image authorization from Disney and printing classic cartoon characters on playing cards. Through this method, they achieved great success in the playing card field."

"Later, they focused on researching the toy field, trying their hand at toy development. One of their engineers, Gunpei Yokoi, invented several toys with sales exceeding one million in a single year. For example, the light gun configuration for the Odyssey, that was his invention. Just this one product could bring Nintendo tens of millions of dollars in annual revenue."

"WTF? They made Magnavox's light gun?" Evelyn was surprised by this news.

And Ethan nodded with a smile, saying, "Yes, they made that light gun."

In the mouths of the two, that light gun was actually an accessory for shooting games in electronic games.