[Chapter 567: Real-Time Strategy Game]
William White didn't care much about what toys his daughter liked. Living in such a family, the little girl had a tough time.
The so-called rich daughters didn't just have it easy. The price they paid for growing up was certainly daunting.
As William White grew older, his life began to fall into a routine. Unless there was an important meeting, he usually spent his time at home.
"Honey, you've been pretty good lately, don't you think you deserve a reward?"
"Heh, you always have your tricks up your sleeve. What role are you planning to be this time?"
"I'm going to give you a shot."
"Wow, those nurses at that hospital are incredibly beautiful."
...
Let's skip the wild night and fast forward to the office; William White found himself thinking about Saddam again. Man, what a downside, it was a bit hard to take.
"Damn, how did I forget about this? Suzuki, get Tom over here."
"Alright."
William White felt speechless about this girl, who seemed uninterested in everything except for being by his side. Was this what they called Stockholm syndrome?
"Sir, you called?"
"Yeah, take a seat. Suzuki, please make us a cup of coffee."
"Sure thing, sir."
"Tom, check out this plan. It's a concept for a computer game inspired by the current desert war. I've already thought of a name: Command & Conquer. The version will be named Desert Storm."
"Sir, is this a 3D game?"
"Not exactly; at most, it's 2.5D. The mainstream computers are 486 -- how many people can afford a graphics accelerator? By the way, how long before that budget 3D accelerator is ready?"
"Sir, the costs are still quite high, and memory prices have been soaring lately; it won't be possible in the short term."
"Hey, has that side of the world settled down?"
"Heh, the semiconductor industry in Taiwan is developing rapidly. And there's more than one company in the game."
"Good, you need to push this game plan. Who knows when they'll finish fighting. If we can wrap it up before the war ends, we might hit a goldmine."
"That's not too tough, but the requirements for the computer are high. A 386 can't handle it without a graphics accelerator." As soon as he finished speaking, Tom seemed to realize. It appeared the boss was indeed aiming to boost graphics card sales.
That was right; William White's aim was to stimulate the sales of 3D accelerators. Monopoly and games like that had a huge appeal to gamers. Command & Conquer, on the other hand, had a much broader audience.
If there's any game in the world that was more popular than Command & Conquer, you'd have a hard time finding it. Back in the day, the only fun at an internet cafe was playing that game.
Okay, you could argue about that Legend.
C'mon, times were different. When Command & Conquer exploded in the market, people were just starting to use Pentium chips. TNT and Voodoo graphics cards were really expensive.
Of course, the game didn't make much money.
As for the reasons?
Well, I can't delve too deep. This kind of real-time strategy game doesn't require servers. A single internet connection can cover it. Making money out of it is just a pipe dream.
Let's not say it had zero benefits; at least, the Bentley SUV became the armored personnel carrier. The game even featured bottled water from Ice Age.
Unethical?
Sigh, if you all could throw down cash, would I be playing like this? There's never such a thing as a free lunch in this world.
"Sir, with so much product placement, shall we consider a pure version?"
"Nonsense, Tom, do you know how many game cartridges were sold in our market?"
"Sir, are you saying...? How about we create something anti-piracy? The product placement is a bit excessive."
"Sigh, I don't want to do this either; anti-piracy? You want a dongle with every game? Let me tell you, where there's a will, there's a way. Piracy is an everlasting problem; have you seen anyone from Soviet Union buying our software?"
"Fine, looks like there's no other way."
...
Having convinced Tom, William White headed to the set; The Departed still needed work.
After some time of tinkering, the collaboration between DiCaprio and Cruise showed significant improvement. The more troublesome part was those two pretty faces. Still, William White took his responsibilities seriously.
They say the quickest way to a woman's heart is... you know. To teach them to act, William White truly dedicated himself.
"Hey, you two, can you stop fighting and hurry up and get dressed? We need to discuss the script."
Watching the two beauties who had just walked arm in arm suddenly turn on each other was overwhelming for William White. Truly, not everyone could handle the blessings of many.
"Darling, she shoved me, I caught her for you, move it!"
Seeing all that skin on display, William White swallowed hard and said, "Nastassja, cut it out; we've been at this dinner for over two hours, let's get on with it."
"Hmph, it's all your fault."
Dealing with this enchantress left William White feeling helpless. Comparatively, Nicole was much more innocent. But seriously, what had just happened? Weren't they supposed to be eating steak?
During the afternoon shoot, William White was clearly off his game. The only saving grace was having two decent assistant directors. It seemed he needed to pull back a bit; he still had two at home.
At that moment, William White thought about Howard Hughes. This guy dated over a hundred Hollywood stars at once. William White wondered, did he have some kind of superpower? Cough, okay, maybe not. How could that even be explained?
Ugh, how unfair. Why didn't I get that kind of super ability? Just plain wrong.
So, it seems that the unscrupulous always had it rough. Howard Hughes certainly had it tough too -- suddenly going crazy, dating so many girls after being triggered. It's hard to imagine that such an extraordinary guy could still be rejected by beauties.
As for Iron Man, well, the movie didn't completely follow reality. At least, part of it wasn't accurately portrayed. In William White's eyes, that part was a failure; it could have been more emotional. Flying around the world all the time has plenty of missing elements.
This is the legend who slept with almost every actress in Hollywood; the extent of his prowess was beyond words.
Think about it, back then there weren't fake beauties; they were all natural. Writing this would make a great web novel. Your movie doesn't even touch on it?
Iron Man surely had his struggles, saving the world every day. Who knows if he ever got tired?
*****
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