When Steve Jobs finally spoke, Ethan's expression became even more peculiar.
The divine and preachy feeling made Ethan feel like he was listening to a sermon.
Even though Steve Jobs seemed to radiate the light of evangelism, Ethan still caught the key points in his words. "Mr. Jobs, are you implying that Atari and Magnavox have reached some confidential out-of-court settlement?"
Ethan's cautious wording made Steve Jobs smile, shake his head, and say, "Not that it can't be disclosed, it's just that many media outlets haven't reported it yet. Because of that settlement, Atari and Magnavox have truly become one family."
At this point, he suddenly asked, "Do you know why I came to visit this exhibition today?"
Without giving Ethan a chance to answer, he smiled, looked out the window, gazing at the exhibition entrance, and said, "My boss, Nolan Bushnell, asked me to come and see the current status of these traditional arcade manufacturers."
"See what new products they've released."
"See what interesting games they've created."
"See if they pose any threat to our Atari."
"Because..."
"In the coming year, Atari cannot release self-developed games."
"What?"
Ethan was shocked!
"What did you say?"
He stared at Steve Jobs with wide eyes.
"Cannot release self-developed games?"
His voice was somewhat elevated, and an expression of disbelief appeared on his face.
As Ethan instinctively raised his voice, pedestrians in the McDonald's restaurant also looked at him with puzzled eyes.
In this situation, Steve Jobs pressed his hands down, signalling Ethan to calm down and at the same time, nodded and said, "Yeah, you heard it right. In the next year, Atari cannot release self-developed games."
"Why else would I ask, what do you believe in?"
"In my opinion, it's as if Buddha is protecting you."
Steve Jobs sighed with emotion, and through his narration, Ethan learned about the lawsuit between Magnavox and Atari.
Although Professor Ralph Baer intervened with kindness and facilitated an out-of-court settlement between Atari and Magnavox, Magnavox is a legitimate business company, and they would not truly let Atari off the hook.
Professor Ralph Baer thought that Atari compensating with fifty thousand dollars would be enough because the product "Pong" did not cause much damage to Magnavox.
But Magnavox disagreed; they believed Atari's market should belong to them!
So, during the settlement negotiations, Magnavox came up with a cunning plan. They forced Atari to agree that, from the day the settlement agreement was reached, for the next year, regardless of what games Atari releases, the copyrights would belong to Magnavox!
In simpler terms, Magnavox wanted to strangle Atari's path of innovation!
Once Atari dares to launch a new product, sorry, regardless of whether that game sells well or not, the copyright belongs to us!
Aren't you copying our stuff?
Alright!
Now, I won't let you release new products!
I won't let you do business!
If this had happened a year ago, Atari wouldn't have cared much.
After all, everyone was copying, and no one had copyrights!
Since we don't have copyrights for our own products, and you claim the copyright for this thing, then fine, take it!
As for how to deal with lawsuits later?
That's not a legal action; it's a magical showdown.
But now, when everyone has reached the end of the road in the path of copying, and everyone is ready to innovate on their own...
Not being able to release new products, not being able to innovate, that really means Magnavox wants Atari's life!
Because everyone knows that Atari only became prosperous due to the right time and circumstances!
And now, the time advantage they finally obtained has been cut off by Magnavox?
Other companies must be celebrating!
Although Nolan Bushnell knew it was a trap, he agreed to Magnavox's demands to avoid exorbitant compensation.
With his agreement, all of Atari's in-house projects were put on hold.
In such a situation, the most crucial thing for them to do is to gather information about other companies.
So, today, when traditional arcade manufacturers convened the exhibition, Steve Jobs was sent here.
No choice, as a guy who had just returned from a pilgrimage at his big brother's place, almost no one in the industry recognized him.
Hey! The main selling point is a kind of unfamiliar feeling!
To be honest, after Steve Jobs took a look around, he didn't find any company's products to be innovative. But just as he was about to leave, "Snake Game" delivered a soulful blow!
The excellent gaming experience made him sense the taste of success!
So...
"I just unplugged your game console," Steve Jobs, the young guy who hadn't founded Apple yet, said seriously. "Honestly, I even think those guys who saw 'Snake Game' and didn't want to compromise are all foolish!"
"Not taking such an excellent game?"
"How confident are they!"
"Confident that they can create a game even more fun than this?"
Steve Jobs's praise brought a smile to Ethan's face.
"Thank you," he said with emotion. "Thank you."
At this moment, he truly expressed his gratitude! Not only for Steve Jobs' recognition of "Snake Game" but also for the information he provided!
He was wondering who to collaborate with to sell the machines, and then Steve Jobs told him that the biggest bug in the Atari market had been banned.
It's like someone handed him a pillow right after he started to doze off. It's heaven-sent!
At this moment, Ethan believed that Atari was undoubtedly the most suitable partner for him in the world! Because they couldn't buy copyrights for self-developed games!
Because if they buy copyrights, those copyrights will belong to Magnavox!
This kind of foolish behaviour of spending money to give away copyrights to others...
Who would do that?
As for profit-sharing...
You can't even release self-developed games, so why talk about profit with me!
Now, what they need is to hold onto the market!
Don't let other companies take advantage of the situation and seize it!
As for the rest?
That can only be discussed after the tight curse on their heads disappears!
At this moment, Ethan couldn't help but admit that what Steve Jobs just said was right.
This is his destiny!
"Mr. Jobs," Ethan smiled, "Can I call you Steve?"
"Of course!" Jobs nodded cheerfully.
"Do you know my current mood?" Ethan pointed to his face.
"I can tell," Jobs also smiled. "Your smile can't hide anything."
"Do you know what I want to say now?" Ethan gestured with his index finger.
Jobs shook his head with a smile and said clearly, "I am fate."
"Pfft~" When these words appeared, Ethan finally couldn't hold back.
"Hahaha~"
Laughing heartily, he raised his cola cup to signal Jobs.
This hippie version of Jobs was a bit cheesy.
But...
He thought it was pretty good because it was amusing.
TL Note:
The compensation and one-year copyright reconciliation agreement was confirmed by Ralph Baer; he wrote a memoir in 1994 and specifically mentioned this matter. However, regarding the confirmation of the timeline, Ralph Baer's memoir states that the copyright restriction in the reconciliation agreement began in 1976. However the information from Atari is different; Nolan Bushnell and others claim that "Breakout" was ready in 1975, and to wait for the restriction to end, it was released in May 1976. Based on my research, the copyright for "Breakout" still belongs to Atari, so I don't know the exact situation. In the text, I followed the copyright information for Atari's "Breakout," and personally, I feel that Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs, and Nolan Bushnell wouldn't simultaneously write the wrong time in their biographies, right?