Chapter 151: The Invitation - Part 1

Since the Apple 2 product would be of great help to him, Ethan wondered when Steve Jobs planned to launch this machine on the market.

With his inquiry, Jobs also gave an answer.

"Apple 2 is currently in the testing phase. According to our plan, we intend to take it to the computer expo on April 16th after the testing is completed."

"The computer expo?"

Ethan had never heard of this term.

"It's in April, so isn't that still two months away? Does testing really take that long?"

Under Jobs' explanation, Ethan understood why they made such a decision.

The emergence of the MOS 6502 had driven the crazy development of the personal computer industry. In the past two years, countless computer companies had sprung up across America like mushrooms after rain.

Due to the abundance of products and varied specifications, not only was it unfriendly to the general public, but even professionals in the industry were easily overwhelmed. Therefore, Jim Warren, a computer expert at the Stanford Medical Center and organizer of the Computer Society Bay Area, invited various companies in the industry in order to organize a nationwide computer expo at the Civic Auditorium in San Francisco on April 16th of this year. The purpose was to help people understand computer brands and configurations better, and also to popularize computers to more people.

Because this guy was using Stanford's name, both computer manufacturers and practitioners in the computer industry were very receptive. It was precisely because the expo attracted numerous peers that Jobs wanted to take Apple 2 to the event, hoping to shock the world there.

When Ethan heard about this idea of secretly developing and then astonishing everyone...

He immediately gave Steve Jobs a thumbs up.

Waiting for two months just to show off?

This idea was brilliant!

Jobs clearly understood the essence of life!

If people live just to show off, what's the difference between them and lazy fish?

And after applauding Jobs' grand plan, Ethan revealed his true intentions.

After learning that Ethan needed Woz's help, Jobs, this spirited fellow, without hesitation, took Ethan to Woz's house. That afternoon, firefighters even carried three newly assembled Apple 2 machines to the Destiny Game and took the initiative to explain how to use this new machine to Evelyn and the others.

Woz's selfless help made Ethan feel a little embarrassed.

But the helpful chubby guy thought it was nothing.

And he repeatedly expressed that the most important thing between friends was mutual assistance.

Although Ethan didn't want to take advantage of him, he offered him a labor fee of $100,000. At first, Woz thought the fee was too much, and he didn't deserve it at all. Until Ethan repeatedly said that if he didn't accept this fee, he would directly take the machine and leave, and then reluctantly accepted the check.

And when he got the project draft...

The shooting game against aliens made him jump in place!

"Oh, Ethan—Is this the new game you came up with?"

"Damn!"

"Shooting endlessly while driving a spaceship—isn't that so interesting?"

The chubby guy had a keen eye and immediately saw the gameplay of the game.

Due to their previous cooperation, communication between them was very smooth.

After Woz understood the whole story and realized that Ethan's inspiration came from two movies, he felt a little itchy inside and quietly asked Ethan if he could go and watch the movies. Because he believed that watching the original movies could help him create better.

For this request, Ethan actually didn't want to comply.

Firstly, because "Star Wars" was not his movie, it would be a bit tricky to negotiate.

Secondly, the initial edit of "Star Wars" was indeed a bit lackluster, and he was afraid that Woz would be disappointed after watching it.

So he tactfully expressed his disagreement to Woz.

But Woz was also a stubborn person, and he kept pestering Ethan about this matter. After being annoyed to the point of a splitting headache, Ethan had no choice but to make a phone call to George Lucas, and then...

He agreed.

Because Lucas had always felt that his movie was flawless!

It was just that Marvel and Fox didn't understand appreciation!

This self-confident behavior made Ethan unsure of what to say. And since the main character agreed, he stopped hesitating and took Woz, Evelyn, and Damian to Los Angeles to see the movies.

And after they watched the rough cut of "Star Wars"...

All three of them were speechless.

Awkwardly but politely, they gave a good review of Lucas's movie and then hurriedly left Lucasfilm. On the way back, Evelyn couldn't help but say, "What we just watched is your inspiration? Oh, Ethan—are you lying to me?"

"Why would I lie to you?" Ethan, who was driving, shrugged.

"Because we didn't understand what the movie was about!"

Sitting in the back, Woz leaned forward, astonished—

"Oh, Ethan, you didn't really understand it, did you?"

"If you really understood this movie, then I would suspect you're an alien!"

"Was that thing he filmed really meant for people to watch?"

"Oh—you still want to make a game for him?"

"Oh my god!"

"I'm starting to wonder if you're going crazy!"

Woz's exclamations caused the other two people in the car to agree in unison.

Ethan regretted it a bit.

If he had known it would end up like this, he should have been more resolute and said no to watching it.

But since it had already happened, he could only insist that the three of them weren't up to par.

"It's obviously your lack of taste!"

"I firmly believe that this movie will shock the world!"

At that moment, Ethan finally understood why Spielberg had supported his friend Lucas so firmly when they were at Fox.

Because he couldn't explain it!

He himself didn't know what was good about "Star Wars"!

And since he couldn't explain it, he just had to argue strongly!

Anyway, I made "Jaws" and I have hard evidence of success!

You don't agree?

Crawl!

However, even though Evelyn, Woz, and Damian questioned Lucas's movie, they showed enough professionalism when making the game.

On February 5th, after dismantling Ethan's ideas, they officially began making the game.

On the same day, Damian completed the game interface. 

On February 8th, Evelyn completed the design of the alien spaceship. There were a total of ten different shapes of spaceships according to different difficulty levels. Of course, they were called spaceships, but only the first wave of spaceships met the aesthetic standards of the film, being disc-shaped. The rest were some weird things.

As for why they were made like this...