However, Boss Pei felt that this was not appropriate. Could it be that he felt that these two people were useless and wanted to kick them out to replace them?
Pei Qian nearly choked on his breath.
What kind of comprehension ability did Qiu Hong have?!
How could you fire such trusted aides?
Pei Qian quickly said, “Your understanding is ridiculous! What I mean is to modify, optimize, and redo these two games until they are recognized by the market, understand?”
“Every independent game is the condensation of designer inspiration and wisdom. If the game is not popular with gamers, it does not mean that the idea is bad. It only means that the way to express this idea is not mature enough!”
“How can any idea succeed if you give up after trying superficially?”
“If you don’t succeed, then spend money to redo it until you succeed!”
Qiu Hong was stunned.
Other games companies would cut down failed projects in time to stop losses. Yet, Boss Pei was trying his best to extend the lives of failed projects!
Logically speaking, this was a very stupid act. After all, the game itself had already been rejected by the market. It was better to make new ones instead of making huge changes.
However, Boss Pei’s tone was extremely firm and confident. It made Qiu Hong feel that what he said made sense! So he was the one who was wrong?
Qiu Hong pondered for a moment. “Then… there has to be a limit to the investment, right? One million? Two million? There can’t be more for independent games!”
After a moment of silence, Pei Qian said, “Don’t let money limit precious imagination.”
“If a game can only achieve the best results by investing five million yuan, and you set a limit of two million yuan for it, how can it succeed?”
“Since you’ve decided to do it, you must do your best. Do you understand?”
Qiu Hong: “…Alright.”
…
Pei Qian continued to read the reports from the other departments after hanging up.
At that moment, someone knocked on the door. It was He Desheng.
“Boss Pei, I’m here to briefly report the situation with the Cold-Faced Lady. I can’t explain it in a few words, so I think it’s better to report it in person.”
Pei Qian nodded. “Okay, speak.”
He Desheng briefly introduced the situation with the cold-faced lady.
After Meng Chang sold all his shares, he completely cut off all ties with the cold-faced lady and left it alone. However, a large portion of the cold-faced lady’s original employees remained.
The company was running out of money and there was a delay in their salaries, they could not jump ship so quickly either.
Many people heard that the company had failed. They were looking for a job dejectedly, but before they could find a new job, they heard that their original job had been saved.
This group of people had already been resettled and returned to their workstations. Cold-Faced Lady’s shop should be able to open soon and start operating normally.
Of course, Dream Realization Ventures had also taken out a sum of money for the operations of Cold-Faced Lady’s shops.
He Desheng asked, “Boss Pei, are we still doing the marketing activities that Cold-Faced Lady did previously?”
Previously, Meng Chang had been spending money like water. It was mainly because he had spent too much on marketing. He had bought all sorts of hot searches, advertised, and booked a venue for a speech.
If it was just subsidies to maintain the daily operations of the shop, the spending would be quite slow.
Pei Qian pondered for a moment and said, “Let’s set everything aside for now and think about it at length.”
It would be faster to continue spending money on these marketing activities, the boss of the Cold-Faced Lady had now changed from Meng Chang to Tengda. Considering Tengda’s influence, if they were to really publicize it, it might have some unknown impact on the Cold-Faced Lady.
Thus, after some thought, Pei Qian decided to observe the situation first. It had not been easy for him to find something that could steadily incur losses. He did not want to lose it as soon as he took over.
What’s more, many marketing activities could not be done without Meng Chang. Take the speech for example. Pei Qian could not possibly take it up himself. That would be ridiculous.
He Desheng hesitated for a moment and said, “Boss Pei, the other marketing activities are easy to deal with. The only thing is that there is a ‘Street Food Contest’. We have spent a lot of effort to find some vendors from all over the country. The competition will be held next week. Do you think we can still hold this competition?”
Pei Qian was stunned.
A Street Food Contest?
This Meng Chang was quite capable. How did he come up with such a marketing idea?
Pei Qian immediately thought of Meng Chang’s intention: He wanted to invite vendors from all over the country to make some delicacies to serve as contrasts for the cold-faced lady. This would definitely be a good topic and the advertisement would not be bad.
Pei Qian was quite interested. He nodded. “That sounds good. Let’s go with the original plan.”
He Desheng nodded. “Alright, Boss Pei. There’s nothing else.”
He was about to leave when Pei Qian stopped him.
“What is Meng Chang doing now?”
He Desheng answered, “He seems to be looking for investments, but has been rejected by all of them. The chances of him making a comeback are slim.”
“Some failed entrepreneurs look like they have a chance to turn things around, but in fact, that’s because they either have a good family, connections, resources, or fans… In fact, Meng Chang has nothing but his own ability. That’s very fatal.”
“However, if Meng Chang puts down his pride and does some jobs that he doesn’t like and works hard for more than ten years… he should be able to pay back the money.”
After some thought, Pei Qian said, “If he really has no other way out, I can consider giving him a job.”
He Desheng: “Alright, Boss Pei. Should I let him be in charge of the cold-faced lady?”
Pei Qian shook his head. “No. We’ll talk about it when the time comes.”
Chapter 817 - Strongly Recommended Bickering Mode!
“Your express delivery.”
The young man from Upwind Courier stations politely moved a huge box to Qiao Liang’s door. The Fully-Automated Smart Bickering Machine that he had ordered last night had arrived.
Qiao Liang was elated. Upwind Logistics’ speed and service were as good as ever.
“Help me remove the packaging,” Qiao Liang said.
The delivery man opened the package outside the door in a very considerate manner. Qiao Liang carried the new bickering machine in and placed it in the living room. Then, he took out the old bickering machine and handed it to the delivery man.
Tengda had provided a service where the original version could be exchanged for the new version which would also entitle them to a discount. Qiao Liang felt that there was no point in having two Bickering Machines at home, so he replaced the previous one.
Qiao Liang began to size up the new bickering machine after closing the door and sending the delivery man off.
His first impression was that this thing had grown taller and was quite heavy.
The original Fully-Automated Bickering Machine was not light either because it was filled with metal parts. Now, with the addition of the sound system, it became even heavier. However, it could still be moved.
Qiao Liang took the two small speakers out of the bickering machine and played with them. He found them very interesting.
He had read the introduction of the new Bickering Machine before on the information page. He knew that there were two removable surround sound systems here, but he still found it interesting to play with them.
It looked very different from other smart
speakers or echo wall products from the surface.
He placed the bar-shaped sound system under the television, and the main part of the bickering machine next to the television cabinet. Then, he placed the two removable surround sound systems on the bookshelf behind the sofa, one on the left and one on the right.
“Play a movie to feel it.” Qiao Liang casually turned on a movie from the television, preparing to test the effect of the sound system.
The echo wall had advantages and disadvantages compared to traditional sound systems. The sound quality of the echo wall would definitely not be comparable to traditional speakers of the same price, but it would be much better in terms of surrounding and setting.
What’s more, the echo wall on the Fully-Automated Bickering Machine was priced at about two thousand yuan. In the eyes of true sound enthusiasts, it was only at the level of “listening to sound”. The sound quality was not that good either.
However, it was definitely much better than those smart speakers that cost hundreds of yuan or the sound system that came with the television. To ordinary people, the improvement in the sound quality was obvious.
The movie began to play. The sound effects from all directions quickly surrounded Qiao Liang. Compared to the sound system that came with the television, the biggest advantage of the echo wall was the layers of sound it could produce.
If the voice before was an ordinary cake, then the echo wall would be a thousand-layer cake.
Qiao Liang could not help but feel regret when he felt like he was in the same situation.
He regretted not buying it earlier!
Qiao Liang did not watch television when he was in Beijing. While he did watch a little television when he arrived in Jingzhou, he did not have much interest in the quality of the sound. However, after hearing the sound of the echo wall, he immediately felt that he had been watching television for nothing.
It would be a waste if such good quality video could not be matched with good sound!
What’s more, the Echo Wall had 13 megaphones. They were arranged in a formation with the principle of real reflective surround sound. In other words, while there was a delay to control the sound of each megaphone, the strongest point of the sound wave would be superimposed to form a sound line, creating a real surround feeling.
Qiao Liang immediately switched off the movie and turned on the game console.
Now, many overseas Triple-A games also supported the sound of Dolby Atmos surround sound technology. This was especially true for gunfight games. After using the echo wall, the sound came from all directions, and the immersion was instantly maxed out.
While FPS games were best played with earphones, the main game was not a competitive game. It was not convenient for the main computer and television to pair with earphones, so most people would not wear earphones when playing.
Thus, after changing to the echo wall, the effect was obvious.
Qiao Liang changed several games in a row, but he had not enjoyed enough of it.
“Alright, this money is worth it. However… How did Boss Pei think of combining the Bickering Machine with the Echo Wall? It’s a genius idea!”
After experiencing it for a while, Qiao Liang picked up the manual and flipped through it carefully to see if he had missed any key functions.
“Eh? There’s even a bickering mode?”
“What model is this? Am I supposed to argue with this thing?”
Qiao Liang was shocked when he saw the contents of the instruction manual. He almost thought that this was a prank. He tested the waters and said, “Enter the bickering mode.”
…
Fifteen minutes later, Qiao Liang’s face was flushed red. He almost spat out a mouthful of blood.
His blood pressure nearly shot off the charts!
At first, Qiao Liang thought that this function was meant to be a joke. To argue with artificial intelligence? Wasn’t this bullying it, oh no, bullying artificial intelligence?
Did the staff who developed the Fully-Automated Smart Bickering Machine confirm that AEEIS could understand what people were saying?
However, when they really started fighting, Qiao Liang realized that he was no match for AEEIS at all!
This AEEIS was not only mean in its speech, but it was also extremely sarcastic in its unique and indistinguishable electronic voice. It made people want to smash this thing on the spot.
If not for the fact that this thing was priced at more than two thousand yuan, Qiao Liang suspected that he might not have been able to hold himself back.
What was even more outrageous was that because it was actually an echo wall, even the mocking sounds were coming from all directions!
This feeling was like AEEIS’s virtual image was circling around you while mocking you from every angle. It was unimaginable.
Qiao Liang managed to endure it even though he thought he could not endure it anymore.
This Bickering Machine was the same style as before. As long as the user wanted to bicker, they would continue to do so. It would never admit defeat. They were in an endless loop whether it was the mechanical structure of the Bickering Machine or the voice bickering.
Qiao Liang spent a long time mentally preparing himself before he finally stopped. He also decided not to provoke AEEIS in the future.
They had to get along well now that they were under the same roof.
“Oh, right. someone mentioned online that this can match the lines.”
Qiao Liang found the dialogue between Qin Yi and AEEIS online and played with it as though he was undergoing a Pubscent Crisis.
However, this function could only be considered a small combo with the game, a small Easter egg. To Qiao Liang, the three most useful functions of the Fully-Automated Intelligent Bickering Machine were the surround sound effect of the echo wall, the decorative effect of the Bickering Machine, and the smart speaker controlling the smart home in the room.
The Sloth Apartments came with some smart apartments which could be controlled by AEEIS. All he had to do was shout in the living room.
However, the popularity of smart devices had not risen yet, so there were not many smart home devices that could be controlled. They could continue to expand in the future.
“This sound system is really not bad, especially this bickering mode. What kind of genius designed this! I have to publicize it!”
Qiao Liang immediately took out his cell phone and posted a Weibo message.
“I strongly recommend Tengda’s new Fully-Automated Smart Bickering Machine, especially the Bickering Mode. It’s especially fun. You have to experience it!”
…
At Shang Yang Games…
Wang Xiaobin was happily reading the gamers’ comments on the downloadable content of the games. He was overjoyed.
The downloadable content of the update this time was quite good, and it had a good reputation as well. It could be said that he had completed the task given by Boss Pei perfectly!
This was a huge improvement and breakthrough for a designer like Wang Xiaobin who was not good at playing games.
He really wanted to show off to Ye Zhizhou, but when he turned around, he realized that Ye Zhizhou was still in Los Angeles.
Among the many posts praising the downloadable content, there were also many people recommending the new Fully-Automated Smart Bickering Machine.
There was no way to find out how it became popular, but it was obvious that more and more netizens were discussing it online!
What’s more, everyone was giving ‘strong recommendation’.
“Is the new Bickering Machine really so fun? I must buy it!”
“Yes, just like before, full of philosophy!”
“It has been injected with a soul.”
“With this bickering machine, my temper has improved visibly. I feel like the distracting thoughts in my heart are getting lesser and lesser, and I’m about to float…”
“If you are an old user who values its philosophical meaning, you mu
st get your hands on a new model of the bickering machine. That is because it is more philosophical than the old model. If you are a new user, you must get your hands on one because it will be an unforgettable experience.”
Wang Xiaobin did not know whether to laugh or cry at everyone’s discussion.
The mentality of these people was the same as spontaneously promoting sadistic games. They all had the mentality of ‘I’m not going to suffer alone’.
Wang Xiaobin could not help but feel emotional. Boss Pei’s Bickering Machine and smart speaker were one and the same. He had given the Bickering Machine its soul!
Its greatest advantage was that it was special and recognizable enough among the smart speakers. It had a good appearance and practicality while also satisfying people’s curiosity.
“Could this be Boss Pei’s ultimate grasp of the consumer mentality?”
Pei Qian’s status in Wang Xiaobin’s heart had risen again.
Chapter 818 - The Hibernating Eric
Los Angeles Time, January 14th, Saturday morning, January 15th, in Jingzhou.
Today was the day of the IOI International Finals’ semifinals. FV Team was ready to go.
In the hotel, Ye Zhizhou, Bao Xu, and the other team members waved goodbye as they watched them board the minibus.
The backstage of the competition venue was limited and could not accommodate so many people. On the other hand, Ye Zhizhou, Bao Xu, and the others’ data analysis work had come to an end. They could take a break.
As the coach, Old Zhou brought a portion of the tactical team to the venue so that Ye Zhizhou and the others could move around freely.
Of course, if new tactics appeared after the semifinals, they would still have to continue analyzing and provide tactical support for FV Team.
It had been a week since the top eight competitions. During this week, many European and American teams had sent FV team invitations to the mock competition. FV team’s reply was the same: Sorry, our mock competition schedule is full.
Losing Money to Be a Tycoon c1-883 Page 547