Chapter 157: Poking at Your Lungs! - Part 2

Why do these guys have to mourn him with such frenzy?

Truth be told, even with mental preparation, Ethan couldn't help feeling irked upon seeing the overwhelming wave of disparagement. However, that very afternoon, he met with Fox's corpulent executive again.

The executive had traveled all the way from Los Angeles to present Ethan with a freshly prepared promotional plan. Despite the plan spanning over two thousand words, Ethan's eyes sparkled more with each word he read.

After finishing, he asked, "Can we really do this?"

"Of course!" the executive replied with a nod, "Mr. Jones, after seeing those reports, we understand your frustration."

"So..."

"Don't suppress yourself..."

"When your competitors are publicly disparaging you, the best response is to hit back hard!"

"Okay!" Ethan liked this decision, "Let's proceed with this plan then!"

Ethan's enthusiastic response made the Fox executive smile and nod in approval.

On April 8th, the first step of their counterattack took place. That day, Fox, Lucasfilm, and Destiny Game jointly held a press conference in Los Angeles, announcing that a new science fiction movie, crafted by George Lucas, would be meeting audiences this summer.

"It's a sci-fi movie that will present an epic fantasy story to the viewers," they said.

This simple description hardly piqued the interest of the media.

The invited journalists, after asking briefly about the movie itself, uniformly turned their questions to Ethan Jones, inquiring why he was present at the movie's press conference.

The spokesperson for Fox answered with a smile, "Simple, because we have confidence in the cinematic presentation of this sci-fi movie, we invited the hottest game producer, Ethan Jones, to create a game for this movie."

"And this game..."

"Will be launched in North America on the same day as the movie!"

Upon this revelation...

The atmosphere in the room turned electric! All journalists looked at Ethan Jones with incredulity.

No wonder...

Magnavox and Atari, in their quest to elevate their status, had purchased countless disparaging articles against him. Now, as the entertainment focus shifted to Ethan Jones...

The media-shy individual had already prepared a game? Oh! My! God!

This was truly sensational news!

Almost instantly, the media's hands shot up in a frenzy. Some didn't even bother with the press conference etiquette and shouted their questions:

"Mr. Jones! Is this why you've been refusing interviews over the past few weeks? Because you and Fox were under a non-disclosure agreement to keep their movie content a secret?"

"Mr. Jones! Can you tell us about your new game?"

"Mr. Jones! We'd like to know, how do you view Magnavox and Atari's new products? Do the Apollo and the New Generation products affect you?"

"Mr. Jones! I'd like to hear your views on the future of the video game industry. With media everywhere saying that the era of arcade games has passed and home consoles are the future, video games will surely move from the streets to everyone's homes in the coming years! Also, I'm curious, how do you view the criticism from the outside? Many media experts say you're just using arcade games as a tool to make money?"

As the barrage of questions ensued, Ethan, sitting in front of the press conference table, smiled.

He courteously glanced at the Fox executives and George Lucas, who gave slight nods before Ethan picked up the microphone, saying:

"Firstly, thank you all for your concern and attention."

"Your enthusiasm reflects the vibrant spirit of the media world."

"Secondly, I want to say, declining interviews was due to a busy schedule."

"Last week, our company's new game was in its final packaging phase, requiring my full attention away from media interviews, hence the universal decline."

"Regarding the new game... like our previous 'Pac-Man,' we will hold a special new product launch, so I won't introduce it here."

"Then, I can answer any questions you have."

"Regarding my views on the future development of the video game industry."

"For this question, I just want to say—"

Ethan cleared his throat, a radiant smile on his face, and loudly proclaimed:

"Arcade games are in their most vigorous growth phase! They won't be phased out by home consoles! As for Magnavox and Atari... I think they're spouting nonsense, trying to deceive the public into buying their home consoles with misleading concepts!"

"As far as I know, have both set the price of their home consoles at $199.99?"

"To me, that price is nothing but an additional barrier to gaming!"

"They call arcade games a money-grabbing scheme?"

"Oh—then I want to ask them, abandoning arcade games for home consoles, isn't that excluding a whole group of gamers who just want to play?"

"Because after buying a home console, they can't just play games!"

"They also need a TV!"

"And a living room to place that TV

!"

"Perhaps in the eyes of capitalists like Atari and Magnavox, every gamer has a living room and a TV, but I say—please go out and look around!"

"The economic crisis isn't over yet!"

"There are still many families struggling to make ends meet!"

"$200, for Atari and Magnavox, might just be the cost of a machine, but for those people, it's more like two weeks' worth of meal expenses!"

"Expecting them to spend their food money on a home console?"

"Hah—"

"Do Magnavox and Atari even have any shame?"

Ethan raised an eyebrow, looking at the journalists who were stunned into silence, elongating his voice: "Or perhaps—"

"Do they think video games aren't meant for the general public?"

At this point, Ethan's smile widened, his tone carrying a hint of mockery, "I've always been baffled by their logic."

"The true essence of video games, isn't it to bring joy to people around the world?"

"If they insist on prefixing such a universal form of happiness with countless conditions, then I'm curious, do they genuinely believe that those who can't afford two hundred dollars don't deserve to relax and enjoy video games in their free time?"

"If that's the case, then I ask you to print my words exactly as I've said them!"

"I invite Atari to go back and ask their parent company, Warner, whether they no longer wish to serve movie fans? Does Warner also believe from the bottom of their heart that moviegoers who spend a dollar to watch a film don't deserve this form of mass entertainment?"

"I also invite Magnavox to ask their parent company, Philips, whether they no longer wish to serve music fans? After all, a music cassette doesn't sell for much!"

With a bang, Ethan slammed the table.

He lifted his chin, solemnly stating, "I, Ethan Jones, make my stand clear!"

"Home consoles might be a good product, but arcade games will never be outdated!"

"When Ralph H. Baer developed the home console, his greatest dream was to spread laughter around the world! But why did he abandon Magnavox to support me? It's because he knew, only arcade games truly serve the masses!"

Ethan's decisive statement.

Sitting at the press conference table, he looked around, asking with a smile, "I've said my piece, does anyone disagree? I don't know who among you wishes to disconnect from the public, but I, Ethan Jones, certainly won't. As long as there are people playing arcade games, we at Destiny Game will continue to do so!"

"If even the simplest joys have to be hierarchized by Atari and Magnavox..."

"Then isn't this world a bit too dark?"

At Ethan's words, a collective gasp echoed through the room! All journalists stared at Ethan, at that moment, feeling as if they had seen the light!

And Ethan? He simply smiled, thoroughly enjoying the moment.

The satisfaction bloomed within him, making him feel exhilaratingly refreshed.

In fact, months ago, when Nolan Bushnell accused him of scamming with arcade games, he had wanted to hit back! And now...

His wish had finally come true! Magnavox and Atari say home consoles are the future?

Yes!

Ethan admitted, home consoles indeed are the future!

But that doesn't mean the arcade industry will suddenly die off! They can paint a beautiful tomorrow for gamers, but they can't declare the existence of arcade games undesirable!

When they disparage arcade games to promote their products, they can't blame Ethan Jones for being ruthless! An industry that grew from the masses wanting to detach from them?

That's just courting death!

These people dare to criticize arcade games for being expensive, dare to accuse Ethan Jones of using arcade games to amass wealth, then he, Ethan Jones, dares to say they've lost touch with the masses! After all, whether it's video games, Hollywood movies, entertainment music, or electronic consumer products, they all rely on public support to thrive! When these companies are labeled as detached from the masses...

What kind of product can they still produce?

Ethan believed that once such reports surfaced, whether it's Atari or Magnavox, Warner or Philips, they would feel as uncomfortable as if they had been poked in the lungs! And the more uncomfortable they felt, the happier Ethan Jones would be!

No helping it!

They were the competition, after all!

Seeing the competition get criticized is more satisfying than receiving praise oneself!

Note: 

1. Hollywood superstitions should be well known. "Vanity Fair" even wrote articles specifically about this. Hollywood is likened to the world's largest casino because no one really knows why a movie succeeds. The so-called summaries of success are all after-the-fact analysis, so when there's no experience to summarize, whoever succeeds the most is considered right. 

2. The economic crisis described in the text is actually a series of events from the 1970s: the breakdown of the Bretton Woods system, the oil crisis, inflation, which led to a decrease in consumer confidence among Americans, resulting in a skyrocketing unemployment rate. Although officials claim it was short-lived and completely resolved by 1976, the public's feedback was still not great. The text adopts the perspective of public sentiment.