Chapter 20: Old Era and New Generation

"San Francisco Video Game Expo?"

Mr. Foble's words filled Ethan's mind with numerous question marks. Because in his memory, he seemed to have never heard of such a gathering.

"Mr. Foble..."

"Call me Frank!"

"Okay, Frank." Ethan quickly changed his address, "Uh... I don't understand what you mean."

He pursed his lips and said seriously, "Can you explain it to me?"

"Hehe~" Ethan's curiosity made Frank on the other end of the phone laugh. Even though there was no face-to-face communication, Ethan felt like the guy on the other end was smirking.

"I knew you wouldn't know!"

Frank's laughter echoed in Ethan's ears. "Actually, I didn't know at first either. I even thought it was a scam gathering. But after I inquired, I found out that this damn video game expo is actually the old arcade trade show!"

"Oh! Damn! These guys are really boring! Changing names randomly!"

"And when I asked them why they changed the name, they told me that in the past two years, no one is making traditional arcades anymore. Everyone switched to electronic games. So, they decided to go with the times and gave their trade show a new name. In their words, a video game expo sounds much more high-end than an arcade trade show!"

After Frank's explanation, Ethan finally understood what the San Francisco Video Game Expo was all about.

For people living in the 21st century, mentioning arcades might bring to mind electronic games like Street Fighter or King of Fighters. Even on search engines, arcades are defined as electronic games.

However, before the advent of electronic games, the concept of arcades already existed in the world. Those machines placed on street corners, providing entertainment for people – that's what arcades were.

For example, claw machines and coin-operated machines.

Since the arcade industry emerged in an era with underdeveloped communication, everyone initially developed in their own corners. You sell machines in San Francisco, I pay protection money to Al Capone in Chicago, and everyone minds their own business, looking forward to a bright future.

But after dominating the local market, as various companies expanded externally, friction arose.

And then...

These companies fought to defend their market share and encroach on each other's business areas.

In this business war, many weaker companies disappeared into the river of history. As the dolls and coin-operated machines they sold back then had no special technological content, they had to resort to price cuts to gain market share. So, when many companies realized that fighting each other could only lead to cheap prices for consumers, they tacitly agreed to a truce.

They then shifted their focus to research and development, attempting to innovate and wipe out all competitors.

After they embarked on the path of R&D for victory, related trade shows were spontaneously organized by these businesses to better promote and sell their new machines.

Of course, these trade shows had regional protection. Shows covering Illinois were generally held in Chicago, while those gathered in California were usually held in San Francisco.

From the 1960s onwards, these trade shows were colorful and lively. But...

In 1972, when Nolan Bushnell introduced "Pong" to the world, traditional arcade manufacturers were suddenly pushed to the brink of death by electronic games.

Therefore, these traditional arcade manufacturers had to switch industries, but they naturally wouldn't give up their previous channels. So, they put the old-fashioned name of arcade trade show in the new era's glamorous coat, transformed it, and it became the video game expo.

After Mr. Foble spoke about this history, Ethan suddenly understood why he had no impression of this expo.

Because Magnavox never made arcades and didn't pay attention to such matters, so he couldn't gather information about it from Magnavox.

The time electronic games appeared was also short, and the currently popular companies on the market were newly founded by various electronic engineers, with no connection to traditional arcade companies.

Therefore, Ethan didn't initially think about these guys.

But now...

Emerging companies were unwilling to cooperate, while traditional companies were eager to enter?

'That's an interesting idea.'

Ethan's eyes lit up.

"When is the expo?" he asked.

"Hey, brother! I knew you'd be interested!"

Mr. Foble laughed heartily. "Day after tomorrow, April 19th. Are you coming?"

Ethan glanced at the calendar next to the phone. The 19th was a Saturday.

"I'm coming. What's the address?"

"Just come to my shop and find me," Mr. Foble on the phone was very happy. "So, see you on Saturday."

Just as Mr. Foble was about to happily hang up the phone, Ethan shouted again, "Wait, wait!"

"I want to ask, can you get a booth for me?"

"Ah?!" This question stumped Frank.

The sound on the phone suddenly disappeared, as if he was pondering the question. But the fumbling sound was more like reaching for something. After a moment, he said, "Magnavox Marketing Manager... Ethan Jones..."

When this voice appeared, Ethan suddenly slapped his forehead!

He suddenly remembered that when Frank gave him a business card that day, he instinctively handed one back! And that one seemed to be the one he used when he worked at Magnavox!

Sure enough, when Ethan explained to Frank that he had resigned from Magnavox and that day was just a misunderstanding, there was a surprised roar on the other end of the phone—

"What? You've already resigned from Magnavox?"

"Oh! Fxxk! Why didn't you say so earlier!"

"Dxxn! I've already filled out the hazardous chemical sales form!"

'...'

Ethan just paused for a second, then he understood why Mr. Foble called him! Probably ninety-nine percent of the reason was to confirm if his number was genuine! So that in case of an accident, it wouldn't involve him!

'This guy... I thought he was a good person...' Ethan cursed in his heart.

But Ethan truly admired Mr. Foble's caution, considering that the guy had actually helped him. Ethan didn't bother to argue.

After a few casual remarks, he hung up the phone. Looking back at his family, he smiled.

"Looks like I don't need to wander around."

Since traditional arcade manufacturers in California and nearby areas would gather in San Francisco, Ethan temporarily put aside his road trip plans. On the second day, April 18th, he rested at home, and on the third day, in the early morning of the 19th, he set off towards San Francisco.

A journey of an hour and a half allowed him to arrive at the entrance of the San Francisco Electronic Supply Company around 7:30 a.m. When he knocked on the rolling gate, the clanging sound attracted a shout—

"He's here!"

In less than half a minute, the always vigilant Mr. Foble appeared in front of Ethan. When he saw the machine wrapped in an oilcloth on the Ford pickup, a sense of relief flashed in his pupils.

"Is this the game machine you talked about yesterday?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, great."

Mr. Foble gave Ethan a thumbs up and then invited, "Brother, have you had breakfast?"

"What do you think?" Ethan tilted his head slightly, pointing to the sky covered in haze.

"Hahaha~ So, I

made an extra sandwich this morning and fried an extra egg."

Mr. Foble chuckled, making way, "Come in, brother."