CH141 - Apollo

"What did you say?"

"Trouble?"

"Oh, Eulise—don't scare me—"

Ethan pursed his lips, his face etched with fear as he regarded his company's executive manager.

His reaction was understandable, given the actions of these individuals had already frightened him.

Previously, the dismissed workers at the factory had caused a ruckus, yet his subordinates insisted there was no issue. Now, if they sensed trouble...

Wasn't that akin to the sky falling?

Eulise Noble, however, was not jesting. She pushed against the office door, urgently informing Ethan, "Boss! You need to see this for yourself! There really is trouble!"

Her anxious words spurred Ethan into action, following her to the company's lounge, which was now packed with people. Unlike the usual small breaks, everyone's attention was riveted on the Sharp television in the center of the room, where an advertisement flickered on the black and white screen.

Arriving mid-advertisement, Ethan missed the preamble but that hardly mattered. The content on display was enough for him to grasp the entirety of the situation.

"It's a pleasure to introduce Magnavox's new product to everyone..."

A young man in a suit, holding a boxy device towards the camera, said: "This home gaming console we're about to launch, named the Magnavox Apollo, is named so because it's far more powerful than the previous Odyssey..."

"The Odyssey was merely the most basic circuit board home console, capable of hosting up to eight electronic games. Switching games required players to manually replace the game board within the device, and the gameplay process was cumbersome due to the need for manual signal source matching with the television, leaving many struggling to find the Odyssey's signal..."

"But..."

"All these inconveniences are now things of the past!"

"With the Intel 8080-powered Apollo, now it can connect to televisions of all specifications!"

"Switching games is as simple as operating with a joystick!"

"Most importantly, the Apollo comes preloaded with twelve electronic games!"

"And these twelve games are not the simple ball games found in Odyssey consoles!"

"In addition to the universally known and classic electronic game 'Pong,' the Apollo also includes the famous space adventure 'Space Race'..."

"The popular maze game 'Tank'..."

"A shooting game that mimics Western duels with revolvers, 'Gunfight'..."

"The submarine simulation 'Sea Wolf'..."

"The racing game 'Wheels'..."

"And our newly developed combat racing game... 'Death Race'!"

As the young man narrated, the television screen swiftly switched between scenes.

Gameplay footage of Apollo's included games sequentially appeared on the screen.

First, the joystick-manipulated Pong;

Then, the high-speed racing with joystick manoeuvres;

Followed by maze battles with dual joysticks;

And finally, the violent car combat with a single joystick!

As the dazzling actual effects unfolded...

The staff at Destiny Game gasped in amazement!

For they had never witnessed such scenes before!

And that sudden outcry struck Ethan like a hammer, dazing and dazzling him!

Yes!

Ethan was shocked!

Despite being adversaries with Magnavox and a time-traveller who had witnessed technological advancements, the unveiling of Magnavox's new console still astounded him.

The reason was simple: the Apollo's performance could be described as epoch-making!

Before the Apollo, the market's game consoles were crude and rudimentary. Not to mention compared to future generations like PS and Xbox, even people of the current era found them bothersome.

The issue lay in the rapid development of the television industry leading to non-uniform standards.

In 1941, the FCC established the standard for analogue television using interlaced scanning, 30 frames per second, with 525 lines per frame to form a black and white image, a technology by RCA.

By 1953, the FCC approved the standard for colour television, adopting the NTSC format, which transmitted colour images through a combination of chrominance and luminance signals.

Though also an RCA technology, compatible with black and white television signals, it presented a significant challenge for game consoles without CPUs to manually set compatibility, a daunting task for ordinary people not versed in signal theory, and even more so for the less tech-savvy.

When these difficulties arose, it was no surprise the original Odyssey, a basic circuit board game console, struggled to sell. But now?

Under the young man's demonstration, the Apollo only needed to be plugged in to play! Powering on revealed the game menu! Navigating with the joystick allowed game selection! Confirming choices enabled easy switching!

Even as a person of two lifetimes,

Even as an adversary of Magnavox,

Ethan couldn't help but applaud this product!

For the Apollo truly was exceptional.

Simultaneously, he was puzzled—

Although he always knew Magnavox, despite being beaten by him, would continue to toil in the gaming sector, purchasing tens of thousands of Intel 8080 chips and acquiring several game production companies as proof.

He never anticipated Magnavox's new console to emerge so swiftly and impressively!

Ah, but wait—

How could they achieve such rapid and remarkable development?

If the Odyssey was a simple arithmetic question of one plus one, then the Magnavox Apollo was undoubtedly a discursive question explaining why one plus one equals two!

'What in the world is this?'

Ethan was bewildered.

'If I remember correctly, didn't Magnavox buy the chips around last July or August?'

'How did they manage to produce such a device in just half a year?'

Ethan couldn't figure it out.

'No, this device is targeting me, isn't it?'

'A home console with twelve games, five or six of which are blockbuster arcade hits, clearly aims to attract arcade gamers to purchase.'

Realizing this, Ethan's pupils contracted.

'MFxxk!'

At this moment, he felt Magnavox launching a fierce punch at him!

However, in front of his employees, he didn't show any panic.

Smiling for a while, he 'casually' remarked, "The device is well made."

"But its games are far from comparing to 'Pac-Man.'"

"Magnavox still hasn't grasped that content is key in the gaming industry."

"No matter how good the device, if the games aren't fun, it's useless."

"More importantly, they've moved many arcade games to the home console."

"Having already played them once, why would players spend money again?"

His words eased the tension among the employees watching the advertisement.

Indeed.

Discovering the potential threat of Magnavox's gaming console had them on edge.

Who could blame them when Destiny Game offered such attractive benefits?

A year-end bonus equaling half a year's salary for an ordinary person—where else could they find such a company?

But even as Ethan maintained a facade of calm in front of his staff, back in his office, he couldn't contain himself, instructing Eulise Noble:

"Quick, quick, quick! Gather all the information on Magnavox Apollo for me!"

"I want all the information! All of it!"

He also rallied Damian Dean, "What are you still doing here? Help her!"

He knew the young man wanted to make games, but with the current situation, what games were there to make?

Their home was under threat!

Perhaps due to the official product release, information related to Magnavox Apollo was readily available. Soon, the two returned with a pile of newspapers.