CH : 26 Atari

26 Atari

10 minutes later, Steve Jobs finished his work and was ready to go. Henry then led him to a coffee shop nearby. They then ordered two cups of cappuccino and began to wait. As they wait for the cappuccino, Henry starts the conversation.

"So Jobs, are you doing well at Atari ?" Henry asked this as he can see Steve Jobs looked very dissatisfied with his job now.

"Well, I'm doing fine now even though the job is hard, the pay is minimum but this is better than nothing I guess" Steve answered truthfully as this was nothing to hide.

When Henry heard Steve Jobs answer, he knew the opportunity was in front of him. So he quickly began to talk again,

"Well, it's indeed great to have a job now as many people are unemployed. But, if there is a better job waiting for you, will you take it?" Henry threw his bait.

"What better job out there for me? I don't have any special skill or anything remarkable, even I was accepted into Atari because the boss pities me." Steve felt depressed about himself as he had not yet caught Henry's meaning.

Henry just laughed when he heard Steve self-depreciation. Henry knew Steve Jobs true talent is his creativity and strong management ability. But apparently, Steve himself has not yet found his talent, so he can be like this.

Even Steve himself has not yet found it, how can other people find it? Only the likes of Henry would know Steve Jobs' talent or other people as he is from the future. Henry is glad he came to this era as many people have not yet excavated, this is a great opportunity.

Now he already knows Steve Jobs' true situation, it's the time for the fish to get entangled in his net

"Hey Jobs, If I say someone would like you to be a company CEO, how would you react ?" If Steve can't still catch his meaning, then it is not worthy of his name.

Steve, of course, understood what Henry meant to him, but he was surprised as he didn't expect this so he directly asked, "Why me ?"

Henry already thought of a great answer for this, "From the moment I saw you in that restaurant, I knew you were someone of great talent. Even though you seem don't possess anything special now, I believe it is only buried in the pile of anxiety, stress, depression and a lot of self pity but it was just temporary."

Even if Steve felt this is nonsense Henry spoke, but he still moved as someone finally acknowledged him. Now Steve is not yet mature, so when he heard Henry remark he was very excited, so he excitedly replied, "Really ?"

"Of course it's true, you must not know I even searched you with a bounty on a newspaper. Why would I lie to you ?"

Steve, of course, understands Henry would not lie to him as now he is just an insignificant person with nothing to lie to. But he was just making sure as this feels too unbelievable for him.

"What company are we talking about ?" Now after finally getting Henry confirmation and calming himself, Steve asked with great care as this is his future job.

"It will be a Tech company focused on computers at least for now, the name of the company is Apple. With my insight into the future of computers, I feel the computer industry is very promising and..." Henry then explained everything Steve Jobs needed to know about Apple and the future of it.

When Steve heard various comments of Henry and insight into the industry, he was very shocked. If what Henry says is just 10% achieved, he will be one of the great men. He himself will be famous and successful beyond his wildest dreams.

Henry then chatted with Jobs for 3 hours straight with the 12th cup of cappuccino emptied. Steve was very satisfied with Henry's offer as he was given 10% of Apple shares. With various Henry plans that he revealed, Apple basically will definitely be successful if nothing goes wrong. Now that he accepted Henry's offer, it's time for him to settle his job at Atari.

So after they ate lunch, they quickly headed back to Atari HQ. When Henry and Steve entered the building, they saw a man waiting at the front desk. When Steve sees that man, he quickly knows who he is, so he whispers it to Henry.

Henry then quickly went forward and took initiative, "Hello Mr. Nolan, my name is Henry William."

This man was Nolan Bushnell, boss of Steve Jobs and one of the founders of Atari. Atari was the future giant of the gaming industry from 1979-1983. Atari was so successful in the 1979-1983 period as they valued at $4.3 Billion at its peak. It's a pity Atari collapsed in 1983 due to a fatal mistake they made.

Atari's failure to capitalize on its initial success can be attributed to several factors. Primarily, the company struggled to withstand the gaming crash of 1983–1985, which dealt a severe blow to the entire industry. Additionally, Atari faced criticism for its perceived lack of recognition for its developers, failing to acknowledge the creative talent behind its games. It appeared that Atari overlooked a fundamental truth: it's not merely hardware that drives sales, but rather the quality and appeal of the software it offers.

This pivotal mistake led to the unraveling of a gaming empire that otherwise had the potential to thrive and continue its growth trajectory. However, it was precisely this error that paved the way for the rise of Japanese game companies such as Nintendo, SEGA, and Bandai, with Nintendo emerging as the dominant force. In the aftermath of Atari's collapse, Nintendo ascended to the throne, seizing the opportunity to reshape the gaming landscape and establish itself as a powerhouse in the industry.

Nintendo learns from Atari's mistake so they manage to keep their company's success until 2030 where Henry came from. Even though in 2016 Nintendo was not so powerful compared to the 1990s, it was still an industry giant.

As they understood some of the most important fundamentals of gaming, the fans and creativity. With that alone owning some of most iconic games and characters with some of most iconic handheld gaming devices.

In fact they owned worlds highest grossing media franchises with one of the best selling video game franchises.

Atari in 1974 faintly showed its potential due to the PONG they developed in 1972. After PONG was developed, it quickly became popular within many bars. The sound of a PONG machine can be heard basically in many bars now.

Henry knew the game industry is one of biggest media franchises out there and its profit was simply outrageous. Even though Atari manages to gain some success due to PONG, it is still far from their peak. Now that Atari has not yet grown up, Henry felt he should take action on it.

After all, creating your own company from scratch is too much work. Why not just buy a small company and make it your own.

As far as Henry knew about Atari, they now should develop a home version of PONG. If that is successfully developed, it will be hard to put a hand bhinend Atari. Now it's the best time for him out a hand bhinend Atari, so Henry took initiative.

And turn this small company into a gaming giant that owned more gaming studios than most people could remember, a gaming conglomerate solely owned by Umbrella Corporation.

Nolan Bushnell saw his new employees Jobs with some stranger walking toward him. Then he saw the stranger walk toward him and introduced himself. Although he was surprised, out of politeness he still replies to the stranger named Henry William.

"Hello Mr. Henry, what are you doing here ?" Nolan asked

"Nothing, I just offered a job to my friend here, which is Steve Jobs. I know Atari took him due to pity and cheap labor, so I asked Jobs just to work in my place." Henry explained straightforward as he came here to dig their employees.

When Nolan Bushnell heard that, he did not care as Steve Jobs didn't have any value that he could offer to Atari.

"Well, do whatever you want then." Nolan wants to continue to watch the newspaper as now is rest time.

"Wait Mr. Nolan, I want to discuss something with you, do you have time now ?" Henry quickly talks as he can see Nolan Bushnell is free now. It's better to discuss the Atari now as the sooner Henry can get it, the better.