Chapter 160: Atari's Got No Hope

Words : 1193 Updated : Oct 4th, 2025

The long-awaited gaming console by Legendary World was finally announced, and William White didn't even bother to attend the press conference. Rumor had it he was really busy lately. That's a powerful excuse, saying you're too busy to attend such an important product launch. Other than making movies, what else could be keeping you busy? Alright, you're also recording an album. All this for some romancing -- well, you're really something. There's even talk of a "second Monroe." When William White heard this, he couldn't even respond. Dude just accidentally pulled a muscle in his back. He really shouldn't be making public appearances. Can't people be a bit more considerate? Sigh, dancing takes a lot of work. Tom -- once a humble salesman -- was now quite a big shot. His introduction style was, of course, different from William White's. That subtle cockiness, you really can't imitate without some flair. Luckily, the product was solid, so even if you're not the best talker, it's no big deal. Besides, Tom could really talk up a storm, almost like Eddie Murphy. ... "Twisted your back playing golf? No way, that's too funny!" "Boss, the word internally is that's exactly what happened, though it doesn't seem too serious." "Come on, what kind of fancy moves was he trying?" "No clue. But that's what everyone's saying." "Haha, the joys of being young, huh?" The excuse William White came up with was as ridiculous as they come. This guy's already got some golf basics down. Even if he's not hitting any balls, he shouldn't be injuring himself like that. The three new arcade games being launched were intriguing, but the real star was the gaming console named PS1. It's just stunning. As for the games? Nearly all of them were classics. [T/N: For those who may have forgotten, the games are: Street Fighter, Golden Axe, and Airforce Delta Strike.] When's the release date? No idea. We're mainly selling game cartridges. The consoles themselves will be outsourced. Licensing is possible, but it comes with a fee. Can you develop software using our systems? Yes, to prevent low-quality games from flooding the platform, here's our royalty system. "No way, that's crazy!" "What?! We need this license; we have to get it." "The initial order is for three million units, but we'll talk about that in private." Whoa -- several bigwigs took a sharp breath. Even if you sell them for $199 each, that's a $600 million order. If it's $299, then it's $900 million. But how can you speak so casually about it? Do you even realize what level of order this is? Is there really that much demand? "This is just what we need to deliver this year." With a simple statement from them, the entire venue fell silent enough to hear a pin drop. Thinking about the shares they held, many people's breathing started to get heavier. They realized that perhaps the profits from the console weren't the main focus; it was definitely the revenue from the game cartridges. After the product launch, William White's net worth skyrocketed again. Even the most cautious investors were optimistic about the sales after seeing those games. Before this, they'd done a crash course in gaming. They visited some arcades and bought Atari consoles to play at home. Even if they weren't gamers, it was easy to judge the quality of a game. These games were from a completely different era; there's just no comparison. Are games harmful? Haha, the Japanese folks' eyes were practically burning with desire. Even if there are concerns in America, there's still a lot of sales in Japan. As for the royalty system? It's like taking a cut from everything, and yet they managed to present it all so openly. Fine, no one's forcing you to join. If your game isn't up to par, Legendary World isn't going to welcome you anyway. ... Atari was desperately developing more game software, hoping to compete with sheer volume. In the short term, things seemed alright, with company revenue growing rapidly. What they didn't know was that consumers were bored of these generic games. This business model had led the company into a dead end. Historically, that's exactly what they did. Can you imagine? They churned out tens of thousands of games. If you tried to collect them all, you'd likely go broke. Getting duped once or twice is fine, but even if you design a great product later, it's doubtful consumers will bite. And now, with Legendary World's new console announced, it'll probably hit shelves before long. As for that junk at home, see if any sucker wants to take it. Atari couldn't imagine that just one product announcement would hurt their console sales. Once the rival hits the market, they'll definitely crash hard. Two paths lay ahead: develop a similar system and start a price war -- though this is tough. Winning is uncertain, and development costs will run at least a billion. And those darn patents -- a simple controller has a dozen or so patents. Forget trying to get around them. If you pay the patent fees, how can you fight a price war? Besides, engaging in a price war with the Japanese will only bring you bad luck. Completely siding with Legendary World? It's a bit embarrassing. They couldn't quite accept it. After all, they'd been the big shot for so long; suddenly being the junior partner was a tough pill to swallow. ... While Americans were tangled up, the Japanese didn't care as much. Public bidding contracts were quickly snatched up. Those royalties weren't seen as much, really. A small price to pay. After all, the charges weren't too high. Game cartridges were more lucrative -- that was nearly an industry consensus. They didn't quite understand how they could open up this platform -- seemed a bit too altruistic. It wasn't just the Japanese who couldn't comprehend; Wall Street was baffled too. Contract manufacturing was already too much, and now they were even selling production licenses. That's a ton of money left on the table. "No money to start a factory." Upon hearing this bizarre explanation, the folks on Wall Street were nearly in tears. If you need money, just say so; we've got plenty. Opening up the gaming platform too? That was truly maddening. Wasn't he making things difficult for himself? Fine, whether they understood or not didn't matter. They should just look at their shares. By the end of the year, they might just double in value. What was there to complain about? "The company's strategy is to maintain high dividends. The boss doesn't like factories, thinking they'd be a burden." With a simple explanation, Legendary World moved on without addressing further. ***** https://www.patreon.com/Sayonara816.

Chapter 160: Atari's Got No Hope

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