Compared to Wang Lei.
Overseas game giants had mixed views.
"I don't believe that little Lingjing can make mecha parameters provide a perfect operational experience!"
In the Bao Xue conference room, George Will, head of the game development department, was the first to voice his objection.
In his eighteen years of experience, he had never encountered technology that bypassed the testing phase and was used directly.
Especially in emerging industries like VR, almost every step was built upon a vast accumulation of experimental parameters.
Even Bao Xue, who was fast, had only just broken through human simulations and partial animal virtual states, at most adding ecological simulations for exoskeletons.
As for mechs, he hadn't even dared to think about it.
"Whether you believe it or not, Lingjing has already done it."
Pree Jess, from the planning department, said indifferently, "We've already suffered enough from arrogance and underestimating opponents."
His words made Bobby, who sat at the head of the table, his expression darken.
This guy was definitely being sarcastic and alluding to him.
He had thought that as the world's fastest VR equipment manufacturer and VR game producer, they would make a fortune while everyone else was still reacting.
However, a dark horse had appeared midway, and Lingjing's emergence had only allowed about sixty percent of this perfect plan to be realized.
Not only did the sales volume of their equipment fail to reach the expected target, but even their VR games were overshadowed by Lingjing's "Wang Daer and the Colossus."
The VR equipment they sold had actually paved the way for Lingjing.
They still had a chance to remedy the situation, but the arrogant Bobby hadn't paid much attention when the dark horse Lingjing emerged.
By the time he realized the situation was dire, the reputation of "Wang Daer and the Colossus" had already been established.
And as players progressed through the game, the final despair kill completely ignited the players' emotions.
Even if the surprise left for players in "Star" was as beautiful as it could be, it wouldn't achieve the same mechanical effect as "Wang Daer and the Colossus."
"I believe Lingjing's goal is not just this; the mecha experience might just be one of the many highlights of this work."
"I wonder what thoughts come to your minds when you see this scene."
Pree Jess pointed to the two figures, one tall and one short, standing side by side in the fire and forest at the end of the promotional image.
"Harmony?"
"Warmth?"
"Violence?"
"Adrenaline rush?"
"A perfectly coordinated duo?"
"A unique bond of companionship?"
...
Below, everyone was chatting animatedly, seeing different things.
"It's just a single image, Pree, aren't you imagining things too exaggeratedly?" George Will snorted.
Clearly, he saw nothing in this sparse and ordinary scene.
"Are you saying Lingjing wants to convey an emotion to the players in the VR world through the game content?"
"To establish a bond with a steel mecha?"
"That's a bold idea!"
Bobby Kordick looked up at Pree Jess. Bobby had been researching the project of conveying emotions in VR games for a long time.
Moreover, the Star Wars-themed VR game to be released in June was also built around this core.
Companionship, team honor, a sense of belonging to the planet… these were the emotions that "Star 2077" aimed to express.
It was also Bao Xue's killer move, Bobby's magnum opus of five years.
"Bingo!"
Pree snapped his fingers. His mind was always active, "But it's not just these."
"They want him to form a bond with it!"
He first pointed to the pilot in the image, then to the scrap metal Bt-7274.
...
"Pfft... Hahahaha!!"
After a brief silence, the conference room erupted in laughter.
The entire cabin was filled with a joyful atmosphere.
Even the composed Bobby could hardly contain himself, struggling to suppress his laughter until he felt an internal injury.
George laughed the loudest and most unrestrainedly, as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world.
"Would you develop feelings for a weapon?"
"Would you develop feelings for your gun?"
"That gun? Maybe if it were the one below."
"Ugh, you're so perverted~~"
George asked his colleagues one by one, and everyone's answer was impossible.
In their opinion, this scrap metal was just a killing machine designed by AI. At most, it would have some artificial intelligence and simple interaction with players.
But to humanize this scrap metal and make players develop deep emotions for such a rigidly programmed machine was simply wishful thinking.
Even their own "Star 2077" achieved this emotional transmission through extensive plot, character design, plot buildup, and environmental rendering...
While the promotional images of "Titanfall" only conveyed spectacular combat scenes and the tacit combat cooperation between the player pilot and the mecha.
The selling points were very clear: an extremely satisfying combat experience. If they could deliver it, the reputation would surely not be bad.
But to insist on adding a strange mix of emotions as Pree suggested would only be counterproductive and embarrassing.
However, having learned from the last lesson, no one dared to be the first bird this time.
Despite laughing loudly, everyone tacitly did not negate Pree's opinion, but this laughter seemed more hurtful than denial.
Pree was indifferent to this.
He did not change his opinion because of everyone's ridicule.
He just shook his head with a faint smile. Although his reason told him that Lingjing couldn't make such a VR game mixed with strong emotions, after all, no one had ever attempted such a pioneering feat.
But having observed Lingjing for so long, he always felt that if it was just to showcase spectacular combat experience and popcorn-style cool scenes, it would be contrary to Lingjing's usual style.
Being vigilant was good, but facing such arrogant colleagues, he couldn't help but smile.
While everyone seemed to have learned from their previous failures, in reality, including the parent company, everyone was generally satisfied with the results.
Selling so many devices was enough to write a brilliant chapter in the financial statements.
They needed a complete failure to wake up.
If they didn't wake up, he would have to consider if he was suited for this environment.
...
Nintendo.
Like Valve and Bao Xue, all manufacturers were repeatedly studying the promotional videos released by their opponents today, carefully deliberating.
Attempting to analyze the strength of each party from them.
Negra picked out five from dozens of promotional videos and sent them to everyone in the venue one by one.
"Dragon Country has immense potential this year. Half of the five highly anticipated viral works, whether it's NetEase's 'Journey of the Wind' or Lingjing's 'Titanfall'."
"From a purely technical standpoint, they have reached international standards and are in no way inferior to us."
"It is evident that in terms of VR, Dragon Country has mobilized far more resources and effort than we imagined."
Jacob, after receiving the message via video conference, nodded heavily. He strongly agreed with Negra's statement.
"Dragon Country's ambition is great if they want to overtake us on the curve."
"Their determination is strong. They have been dormant for decades, and we cannot underestimate them."
At this moment, Jacob was at the Hollywood base. Nintendo had also maxed out its budget for the VR battle in June.
Not only did they invite James Cameron, the most imaginative director in Hollywood, to create the script, but they also adopted motion capture to perfect the details of various actions in the game.
All to create VR games that were most closely aligned with the real world and provide players with the most authentic competitive experience.
"Overtake on the curve?"
"Dragon Country is worthy of that!?" Kojima Saburo in the conference room said sarcastically, "Based on their gaming foundation over the past decade?"
"Are they still the game giant Tencent who only knows how to copy others' ideas?"
"Or NetEase, who prefers to act as an agent?"
"Could it be the newcomer Lingjing?"
"Hahaha, it's hilarious!"
Unable to accompany Jacob to Hollywood to gain experience, Kojima Saburo was full of anger and nowhere to vent.
Upon hearing these two locals praising Lingjing excessively, he immediately retorted.
Sakuraba Taro, in the video conference, was about to chime in, but Jacob glared at him, and this guy immediately shrunk his head and remained silent.
"Mr. Kojima, don't forget that the company you call a newcomer has set one glorious record after another on the PC platform."
"Even..."
Saying this, he tapped the table, "Don't forget, we lost the lawsuit with Lingjing, and the headquarters hasn't settled the huge compensation with you yet."
It was Kojima Saburo who had come up with a terrible idea back then, which led to the first defeat of Nintendo, the strongest legal department in the Eastern Hemisphere.
Jacob was furious because the year-end bonuses for the Seattle Nintendo branch were all discounted.
"Cough cough..."
"Let's not talk about that for now. Jacob, how is the progress on your end?"
"Is the filming and location scouting for 'Avatar: The City of Water' going smoothly?"
Negra cleverly changed the subject. The decision to sue Lingjing for copyright infringement was ultimately made by him.
If they continued to argue, the fire would spread to him.
Although his position in this conference room was the highest, in reality, all three of them held a certain degree of authority.
Hearing this, the two of them extinguished their mutually confrontational attitudes.
Jacob replied, "It is in the final stages. All filming and location scouting tasks will be completed by mid-May at the latest, and it will be successfully launched in early June."
"Then... it's time for our promotional video to stir up trouble in this murky water." Hearing Jacob's answer, Negra smiled calmly and then assigned tasks.
Nintendo's attitude was: Let the strong be strong, the gentle breeze brushes the mountain ridge. With the help of the great director, no matter how you tear down the east wall.
In plain language, your VR games might be very impressive, but the VR game market will definitely have a place for Nintendo.
Major game companies that focus on reputation are like this. They are very patient and don't compete, but you can't snatch the piece of meat that belongs to me.
...
For several consecutive days, major manufacturers urgently prepared their game promotions, throwing money at advertising as if it were free.
However, even so.
The news headlines of this day were still stolen by the silent Lingjing.
The mysterious grand prize for the top 200 players who cleared "Wang Daer and the Colossus" has arrived!
When the fully simulated VR game access cabin of Bt-7274 was successfully assembled, the surprise of the promotional video becoming a reality made every player who received the delivery burst with excitement.
Immediately afterward,
As these people showed off, players all over the internet were completely unable to sit still!!
...
(Today, there's only one large chapter. I got back a bit late.)
PS: Following the author's words↓:
I didn't pick up the car in September, so I broke the contract, but I'll still go back to get my 1,000 yuan deposit if I have time. If they don't give it to me, I'll call the consumer complaint hotline.
Then the car pickup was delayed until December, and the truly exciting part came!
Since the purchase tax reduction policy ended at the end of December, I had to buy the car in December (to save money as much as possible)!
Then, at the beginning of this month, family relatives had happy and sad events, which caused me to miss my full attendance this month. So, I decided to go all out and buy a car!
I looked at software and chatted with various salespeople online.
Finally, I found that the price of this car was much lower than in September. Then I met the first salesperson.
The salesperson from the provincial capital, whom I chatted with online, said that the on-road price with installments could be handled for 195,000 (black, black is 2,000 yuan cheaper than white).
I was really tempted!
Then the real trick came!
After a while, that salesperson told me that this car was selling very well and asked me to pay a deposit first. Having been fooled before, I refused to commit no matter what he said.
He compromised...
It's not over yet!
After a while, he sent me a screenshot saying that a black one had been sold, and the one I needed, the black one, had only one last unit in stock.
He asked me to pay a deposit again. I said, "Brother, I will definitely pick it up tomorrow. Why do you insist on a deposit? I've already booked my high-speed train ticket, you can check it if you don't believe me."
I showed him the high-speed train ticket, and he said, "Okay, since you're so sincere, I'll guarantee to my boss that I'll keep a car for you! (Note! This is the first step of moral blackmail by this salesperson. To keep the car for you, I went to guarantee it to my boss.)"
I really believed him and was very touched, thinking I would only buy from him.
And the price was indeed much cheaper than what I negotiated at the 4S store at home. So I decided to head to the provincial capital.
Before going, I contacted my university classmates who worked there. They advised me not to rush to buy and to spend some time looking around in the provincial capital.
So, when I arrived at the store, the salesperson took a long time to come and greet me. As soon as we met, he wanted me to sign the contract. (He kept me waiting for a long time, which was uncomfortable. He didn't seem to value me much, as if he thought he had me.)
I waved my hand and said, "Wait a moment, please follow the process."
Then he followed the procedure and introduced me to the prices, fees, and installments. Ten thousand, installments for three or five years. Later, I saw that it was directly set to five years. (Installments were very important to me because I had the cash for the full payment. To give him some profit, I was willing to make a small installment of tens of thousands to the salesperson as performance, but only thirty to fifty thousand, with installments for three years.)
Ten thousand, five years, the interest alone would cost more than twenty thousand. I thought this wasn't much cheaper than at home?
So, I said, "Let me wait and see. I'll compare prices."
His expression immediately changed, "Brother, you didn't say that yesterday. To keep the car for you, I guaranteed it to my boss and so on..."
I said, "But I really can't accept the installment part. I'll go back and discuss it with my family."
He said helplessly, "Okay, call me after you discuss it." Then he left. It was just noon then, and he didn't even offer me lunch...
Damn it!!
I went hungry all day and visited other brands' 4S stores, and even visited a 4S store of the same brand. The price was similar, but the salesperson looked very shrewd, and I didn't dare to buy from him.
I was afraid I couldn't outsmart him.
That night, I called this salesperson and confirmed that I would buy from him, accepting the installment of ten thousand for three years. I could accept it, it was only about 12,000 yuan in interest, which was acceptable.
Notice, I said three years!
This salesperson was truly a master of moral blackmail. The real moment of moral blackmail arrived!
...