CH121 - Choice

"So, what's your take on all of this?"

After parting ways with Hiroshi Yamauchi, Ethan followed through with their original plan and left the hotel with Evelyn to visit the best aquarium in the northeastern United States, the New England Aquarium, which was established in 1969.

Yes, indeed, the aquarium was only built seven years ago.

Although the 270-degree aquatic tanks were quite fascinating, allowing them to observe turtles, jellyfish, and dolphins swimming around up close, neither of them felt like enjoying the sights at the moment. Instead, they were pondering the words just spoken by the president of Nintendo, Hiroshi Yamauchi.

Upon hearing his sister's inquiry, Ethan smiled.

"How do I see it when?" he retorted knowingly.

This rhetorical question earned Ethan a playful glare from Evelyn.

The girl understood Ethan's implication; he wanted to express that he was genuinely enjoying himself and not being burdened by work. However, his instinctive retort, devoid of any consideration, made him seem insincere.

"Oh, Ethan—don't you want to get punched?" Evelyn winked at Ethan, brandishing her right fist.

"Okay, okay." Ethan surrendered to this violent coercion, raising his hands in surrender and shaking his head with a smile. "Honestly, Hiroshi Yamauchi's proposal regarding the Pac-Man project is quite enticing."

"If they're really willing to change the revenue-sharing model for the Snake Game from annually to semi-annually for the sake of securing the licensing rights for Pac-Man, or if they're willing to settle the revenue sharing for the Pac-Man deal semi-annually as well, then it's definitely good news for us."

Absolutely!

In Ethan's view, handing over the Pac-Man arcade to Nintendo for distribution was completely feasible!

Because the outstanding performance of Snake had already proven Nintendo to be an excellent distributor. Shortening the revenue-sharing interval would allow them to recoup a significant amount of cash in a short period.

According to their previous agreement with Nintendo, which was 1+3+3, even if settling once a natural year, as Hiroshi Yamauchi just mentioned, the earliest they could receive the $4.2 million bonus related to Snake would be in May or June of 1977. But after modifying it to 6+2+1, settling semi-annually, they could receive the $4.2 million bonus in September of this year.

Even if someone who didn't understand finance or business were to analyze this issue, they would know which option is more profitable. So when faced with this cooperation...

Ethan would naturally vote with his feet for the sake of profit.

After all, in his previous life, he already knew how important it was to secure one's future.

And this choice also earned Evelyn's approval.

In fact, after Hiroshi Yamauchi presented the cooperation plan, she had already made up her mind.

The main reason she asked was to see if Ethan had any plans to do it themselves.

After all, she was no longer the industry novice she was a year ago. When she saw that the profit margin of the Pac-Man arcade was as high as two hundred percent, even if she used her feet to think, she knew that self-distribution would be more profitable. As for why not do international business...

"Is it because international business is difficult?" Evelyn asked with a smile.

"Yes."

On this issue, Ethan did not hide anything, nodding sincerely.

"Although we're having a great time now, this ease is built on the basis of countless people voluntarily helping us. In terms of publicity, Rudolf and Steven took the lead. In sales, Principal Fred helped us finalize a two-million-dollar order. In production, Frank and Chuck took care of the raw material issues, while in shipping and finance, it's all thanks to Thomas's connections, or rather, his accumulated trust and network over the years..."

"When they're willing to lend a helping hand, a two-person small company like us can get on the right track in the shortest amount of time. At this time, it's most important to let the company continue to move forward steadily and to let the personnel in each department adapt to this work rhythm and content. That's the most important thing..."

"After they have been tempered by time and gained enough experience and our trust, then we can think about establishing overseas branches and sending those trusted individuals out. But before that..."

"Some money can only be earned by others."

With that said, Ethan sighed.

Many times, it's not that he doesn't want to trust others, but the trust he had before brought nothing but pitfalls.

The incident with Atari scared him; now, he only trusts Thomas and Linda, who raised him, Evelyn, who grew up playing with him, and those who actively helped him in times of difficulty like Barbara Babcock, Steve Jobs, Steven Spielberg, and the relatively pure Chuck Peddle and Ralph H. Baer who are still alive.

But these people...

Which one of them can he hire to develop overseas markets?

And this helplessness is also a pain that all companies must face in their development.

In Ethan's memory, when Nintendo was developing the North American market, the president of Nintendo of America was Hiroshi Yamauchi's son-in-law, and he also sent out his own daughter because Hiroshi Yamauchi didn't trust anyone! Bill Gates was the same; Steve Ballmer was his roommate, and that was a friendship proven by time!

When even the big shots couldn't escape this, sometimes, temporarily giving up market expansion is inevitable.

After all, this is not a video game; loyalty cannot be raised lightly.

Ethan's composure earned Evelyn's approval.

After leisurely strolling through the tunnel-like aquarium, they then came to the performance area to watch the performances of bottle-nosed dolphins and California sea lions. When a dolphin gave lucky audience members a kiss under the trainer's command, Evelyn suddenly asked, "Ethan, will the company distribute bonuses this year?"

"Why? Do you need money?" Ethan asked curiously.

At the same time, he added, "If we hand over Pac-Man to Nintendo for distribution, then we can receive the first half of the year's bonus for Snake this year."

"There's $4.2 million there, and splitting it in half is $2.1 million each."

"When signing the contract, the copyright for Snake isn't with the company, so we can split the money ourselves."

However, his words made Evelyn shake her head.

"$2.1 million seems like a lot, but there won't be much left after taxes."

"And I want to buy some land now, build a mansion, and then build an aquarium at home. Just imagine, waking up every morning to dolphins giving you a kiss. That feeling would be amazing, wouldn't it?"

As she spoke, she raised her right hand and pointed.

Following her gaze, yes, the dolphins were cute.

And buying land to build a mansion...

That sounds good too~

It's a waste not to spend money when you have it~

Although Ethan had many ideas in his mind, he didn't want to shortchange himself in life.

"I won't touch the money in the company for now because I might use it for investment or to expand operations."

"You can use the bonuses from Nintendo first."

"As for buying land to build a mansion, consider it a joint venture between you and me."

"After it's built, we'll bring Thomas and Linda over, and then hire bodyguards."

"With our continuous development, there will definitely be people eyeing us from the outside."

"Safety first, right?"

Ethan decided on the cooperation. His decisive stance made Evelyn happily shake her legs and say, "Okay~~~"

Since the decision to continue working with Nintendo had been made, Evelyn no longer dwelled on such matters. In between watching performances, she asked another question.

"What about the chip agency?"