Chapter 6

In the depths of Shenzhen in 1989, opportunities were everywhere.

It was a special era. The country faced minor setbacks on the political front, and the incident occurred, followed by joint sanctions from Western countries, leading to a shortage of materials and soaring prices in society. The only fear was that you wouldn't have the goods; almost anything could be sold!

After just one demonstration of the Snake game, the Shenzhen cartridge wholesaler immediately bought out the 1,000 cartridges, paying promptly and in cash. Over a dozen people, carrying cash bags, surrounded Zhao Yongping, vying to buy them!

It was a resounding success!

Zhao Yongping and the accountant hurriedly fled to the car, clutching the 30,000 yuan, tears streaming down their faces.

Although it was just a small 30,000 yuan, it meant that Huamao Electronics Factory finally had a way out!

Zhao Yongping, not yet thirty, had taken on the immense pressure to join the factory, trying every possible way to find a path to survival. He had endured immense pressure and countless scoldings from others...

The 1,000 cartridges were sold out in less than an hour, and seven or eight bosses were ready to visit Huamao Electronics Factory. The subsequent orders were endless, and no one even haggled over the price. Everyone at Huamao Electronics Factory was extremely excited.

The factory was saved!

On the other hand, Yang Yun left early on his own. It was rare for him to come to Shenzhen, and this time he thoroughly explored the local electronics wholesale market, but he was deeply uncertain.

Sure enough, when Zhao Yongping was about to drive back to Zhongshan, he saw Yang Yun with a sullen face, holding a large bag of items.

It was a beautifully packaged box, clearly labeled with an English word: Nintendo (Nintendo)!

Zhao Yongping's heart sank, for he saw a word in Yang Yun's eyes: helplessness!

...

...

Back at Huamao Electronics Factory, the three of them went to the development workshop.

Looking at the cartridges named "Donkey Kong" and "Super Mario Bros" that Yang Yun took out, Zhao Yongping asked, "What are these?"

Aleksey, who was fiddling with a testing machine, inserted the cartridges, and they were compatible. He started playing the games.

Yang Yun looked gloomy, "These are Nintendo's original cartridges! The whole set costs 1,200 yuan, how could I afford it! I begged for these few cartridges for a long time, and they turned out to be Donkey Kong and Super Mario! Damn! How can this be so unfair? Your great-uncle's third niece! How can we play this?"

Yang Yun was so angry that he spoke without thinking, not caring whether Zhao Yongping understood, as he suddenly felt a deep sense of powerlessness.

Nintendo was a famous Japanese game company that entered the FC market in 1985. Within a few years, it developed Donkey Kong and Super Mario, and successfully launched them in Europe and America in 1987. In the following years, it sold 40 million cartridges in North America and Japan, and eventually, the entire Super Mario series sold 160 million copies worldwide!

What does this mean?

Having such a competitor is like a nightmare! There's no way to compete; it's like comparing a baby to a heavyweight boxing champion. No, Huamao Electronics Factory isn't even a baby; it's more like a fertilized egg...

Fortunately, in 1989, Nintendo only sold original cartridges, and the consumption capacity in mainland China was too low, making it difficult for them to enter the market. They didn't pay much attention to the Chinese market and didn't distribute on a large scale.

Yang Yun's eyes blazed with anger. If he wanted to include this classic game, he had only one path: to copy it!

Yang Yun said seriously, "Director Zhao, I hope Aleksey and I can focus on research and quickly develop our own version of Super Mario! We need to race against Nintendo to capture the market!"

Zhao Yongping, upon hearing this, thought it was a good thing. After all, they were already copying; they could copy 10,000 cartridges if they had already copied 1,000. They had already copied Kot's learning card, so why not copy Nintendo?

It's like having an affair; at first, both sides are concerned about morality and public opinion, but once the first barrier is broken, it's easy to do it again.

The 1,000 cartridges they copied over the past two days had already brought in a profit of about 20,000 yuan. If they copied two more games, the price per cartridge would be even higher, and no one would be foolish enough to pass up such an opportunity!

Zhao Yongping nodded, watching Mario jump on the screen, finding it quite appealing. He laughed and asked, "Aleksey! What do you think of Xiao Yang's plan?"

Aleksey accidentally fell into a pit and lost all three lives, resulting in a Game Over.

He put down the controller and hesitated, "The Snake game is fine; I haven't heard of any company having a patent on it. But copying both of these Nintendo games completely could cause trouble! Nintendo is a large Japanese company; aren't you afraid they'll sue you for infringement?"

Yang Yun snorted, "This is China! I don't believe the Japanese can make much of a fuss!"

In 1985, the Japanese Prime Minister's first official visit to the Yasukuni Shrine caused a huge uproar in China. The Xinhua News Agency published a commentary, stating that this was a rehabilitation of militarism, reigniting anti-Japanese sentiment in the country.

Moreover, due to the incident in Beijing this year, the United States and other Western countries imposed sanctions on China in various aspects, and Japan was among them!

This was a statement of anger from Yang Yun. Knowing the history, he was well aware of how Sino-Japanese relations would develop. The Japanese really did cause a significant stir in China, with countless Japanese companies entering the mainland market and flourishing everywhere.

He also knew that later, Universal Pictures and Nintendo went to international court over the copyright of "Donkey Kong," and Nintendo dragged Sega and Sony into endless legal battles over cartridge games. Nintendo was definitely not to be underestimated!

In the end, it all came down to one word: money.

Cutting off someone's source of income is like killing their parents!

Copying Super Mario and competing with Nintendo would change the nature of the game!

Nintendo was a powerful company, firmly controlling the exclusive production rights for all Japanese cartridges and the software publishing rights. All game cartridges had to be manufactured in their factories or in strictly quality-controlled subcontracted factories. Most of the profits from popular third-party games went to Nintendo, while the developers bore all the risks and obligations.

If Yang Yun really copied Super Mario completely, it was uncertain whether Nintendo would sue him.

But he was truly unwilling to let such a classic game slip away!

Zhao Yongping, as the actual leader of Huamao Electronics Factory, had many things to consider. He asked, "When was Super Mario developed?"

"Two years ago, around 1987, it was mainly targeted at the Japanese and North American markets. I heard that over a million cartridges were sold, but it's hard to find in our domestic market. I searched for a long time in Shenzhen to find it. The dealers said it was too expensive and hard to sell!"

"Over a million market... How do you plan to do it?"

PS: Some things can only be vaguely mentioned, so the timing of some events has been slightly modified. Please don't mind.

PPS: And the damn keywords! Sigh!

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