novellk Chapter 31 Thunder Monkey, Mr. He
Chapter 31 Thunder Monkey, Mr. He
Gerrard was unable to give a definite answer.
The booming arcade market is unrelated to the home console market.
If players still don't buy it, then Lin Lixin's rash entry into a new field will likely result in a disastrous fall.
Lin Lixin wasn't in a hurry to get an answer. After explaining the arcade regulations, he left in a hurry.
……
A few days later, GAMENOVA.
After all three arcade machines were officially released, their arcades finally saw a significant decrease in customer traffic.
Many players have switched to larger arcades that are closer to home or have more elaborate decor.
GAMENOVA's only advantage might be its consistently high price of 25 cents per game.
However, this is also good, as Lin Lixin is happy to have some peace and quiet so he can make some progress during the day.
He emptied his mind, delved into his brain, and summoned the system interface.
[User]: Lin Lixin (Jesse)
【property】:
[Program Development]: 51
[Scriptwriting]: 22
[Graphic Design]: 13
[Music Composition]: 11
[Hardware Technology]: 45
……
After such a long period of development, all of his attributes have been significantly improved.
With the added rewards from Contra, Lin Lixin can now be said to have made achievements in various fields.
At the very bottom of the panel, a skill gift pack lay quietly.
He received it suddenly on his way back not long ago; it was a reward for the cumulative number of players in Contra.
"Ideally, it should be a hardware or graphics-related skill."
After some thought, Lin Lixin realized that there wasn't much he could actually do at the software level.
Before the hardware is fully upgraded, there is actually little benefit in continuing to refine the programming technology.
【Ding! 】
[Acquired Skill]:
[The Art of Language]: [You have mastered the essence of communicating with machines and can easily understand lexical and machine code.]
"Um?"
Lin Lixin was slightly taken aback.
This skill can't be described as either a hardware ability or a software technology.
But it was incredibly useful!
Unlike modern high-level languages such as C#, Java, C++, and Python, programming is not an easy skill to learn.
Despite the flashy and elaborate final product, the development process was truly painful.
In an era when the concept of game engines was still immature, Lin Lixin's development process was actually closer to directly manipulating the computer itself.
He needs to be so precise that he needs to write a line of encoding for each register to control it.
Just to make a single pixel move on the screen, you need to write a long string of code.
With this skill, he can do many different things.
He could even repackage a high-level language himself!
"Hey, sleeping in broad daylight? Did you stay up all night?"
Vivian's voice interrupted Lin Lixin's thoughts.
He slowly opened his eyes and saw Vivian waving a stack of neatly printed blueprints in her hand.
"Here, Mr. Gerald asked me to bring it over."
At first glance, it was exactly the standard design of the replaceable substrate that he had entrusted to him before.
I didn't expect to get results so quickly.
Lin Lixin took the document and carefully read through it, amazed by Gerald's skill.
"Sam, take a look at this document."
Sam, who had just finished his chores and was standing in front of the Contra arcade machine, froze, reluctantly stuffed the coin back into his pocket, and returned to the counter.
"Is this the modular production you mentioned before?"
After quickly scanning the document, he immediately realized the huge profit potential within it.
"Should we arrange for the contract manufacturer to adjust their production lines now?"
"Yes, the sooner the better. It takes some time to adapt to the new model."
After watching Sam rush out of the house in a flurry, Lin Lixin looked at Vivian and nodded slightly.
"Thank you so much for making the special trip, senior."
Upon hearing this, Vivian deliberately feigned anger and teased:
"You have the nerve to say that? Mr. Gerald shut down VideoSoft, and now I'm unemployed!"
Lin Lixin chuckled. It was indeed his fault that this matter was something he had to keep quiet about.
However, he had always intended to recruit this highly promising talent, so in the end, the good stuff didn't go to outsiders.
Just as he was about to speak, Lin Lixin suddenly remembered the home console project he was planning with Gerald, and his eyes lit up. He immediately changed his mind.
"Senior Vivian, you've made quite a few achievements in the field of display chips, haven't you?"
"Hmm... Are you alright? What's wrong?"
Lin Lixin's lips curled up, revealing a harmless smile.
"We at GAMENOVA are currently preparing to establish our own display chip subsidiary. I wonder if Senior Vivian would be interested in being in charge of this?"
Vivian's eyes widened, never expecting Lin Lixin to say such a thing.
"You want to make your own image chips?"
"That's right, covering graphics coprocessors for arcades and display chips for home consoles, I think this is an important direction for future development."
If he wants to make his own home console, graphics chips are an unavoidable part.
To achieve those stunning effects, given the limited performance of an 8-bit processor, a graphics coprocessor is required.
And the next form of this thing is the graphics card, a crucial cornerstone of future information technology.
Whether it's graphic design, video games, or artificial intelligence, graphics cards are now indispensable.
Both NVIDIA and AMD have made a fortune from their graphics card businesses.
"That's so cool, of course I'd love to!"
Vivian readily agreed to such an offer, which seemed like a windfall.
"How many people are there now? I can start working immediately!"
"Well... strictly speaking, there's only you right now."
"¿" Vivian felt as if she had been doused with a bucket of cold water, the chill running from her head to the soles of her feet.
"Wait, I'm going to do this all by myself? Develop a graphics chip??"
She had assumed that someone as capable as Lin Lixin would have made thorough preparations.
At least a few industry leaders need to join.
After all that fuss, it turns out it's a business that hasn't even been set up yet.
"Even though you're all alone right now, it's alright. I've already found you some capable helpers."
Lin Lixin smiled as he watched Vivian leave, then pulled out his phone book and found a number.
……
Toronto, Canada.
He Guoyuan had just finished yet another unsatisfactory job and sat alone in his room.
As a Chinese immigrant, he faced numerous obstacles in his life here, and his salary kept dropping.
He couldn't help but recall his days in Hong Kong, when at least he had an annual salary of $50 and was considered a successful person with some standing.
"Why……"
He sighed and turned his gaze to a draft on the table.
The top line reads: Yetian ATI.
If he still can't find a satisfactory job, he'll have to take out his savings and gamble it all!
Just then, the landline phone at home suddenly rang.
"Could it be that the headhunters have made contact?"
He quickly answered the call.
But what came through the phone was a strange, immature Mandarin, mixed with a deliberately forced, energetic Greater Bay Area accent.
"Hey, Mr. He~"