California.
A private plane lands at the airport.
After being quickly settled in by his entourage, the president from General Motors hurriedly boarded his car and headed to the General Motors Design Center in California.
Russell flew all the way from his headquarters on the other side of the United States here for only one reason.
An invitation from gamenova.
Logically speaking, General Motors, an industrial behemoth, wouldn't be so eager to curry favor with others.
After all, what kind of company is General Motors?
With over 750,000 employees and annual revenue of US$132.4 billion, the company ranks first in the world.
With numerous car brands under its umbrella, from Chevrolet to Cadillac, it is a true dominant force in the American automotive industry.
Cars aren't video games; for United States, they're a real necessity—everyone has one.
This country is primarily a road-based economy, lacking a convenient railway system, and its public transportation is limited to certain major cities.
If you want freedom of movement, you need your own car. In this environment, General Motors has consistently been a leader in the consumer market.
In particular, it was the first to introduce digital design processes based on Novaradeon graphics cards and the first to collaborate with video games.
These groundbreaking initiatives have once again given GM a significant boost in its brand image among young people.
But this year's situation is somewhat unfavorable.
In 1991, the automotive industry was hit hard by the economic recession, and expensive items like cars were directly and severely impacted by the loss of consumer confidence.
Meanwhile, a host of affordable and reliable models from Japan, such as Toyota and Honda, are aggressively targeting the United States domestic market.
This caused General Motors, the absolute market leader in the United States, to lose more than ten percentage points of its market share.
As a result, in 1991, General Motors suffered a net loss of approximately $4.45 billion, one of the largest annual losses in United States. corporate history.
In order to weather this crisis, the entire board of directors truly went to any lengths.
Massive factory closures, management reshuffles, job cuts...
It's like frantically cutting off your own flesh, bleeding yourself dry.
The closure of a factory doesn't just mean the loss of thousands of jobs. It also causes major problems for surrounding suppliers, upstream and downstream parts manufacturers, transportation companies, sales companies, and other supporting businesses.
As a result of the chain reaction, those communities and towns that originally relied on General Motors' factories to develop could collapse overnight.
But there's nothing we can do; capitalists need to make money.
We can't just give up our pay to keep our jobs, can we?
In conclusion, GM General Motors is undergoing a very difficult restructuring this year.
While it wouldn't lead to the complete collapse of the empire, it would certainly be a major, crippling problem.
Upon hearing that Gamenova intended to further develop the cooperation, Russell naturally volunteered to take on the task without hesitation.
After all, he already had experience dealing with Lin Lixin.
Imagine this: at a time when people are starting to lose faith in United States cars, Gamenova suddenly encourages everyone to support General Motors. What would that look like?
Overnight, they were able to regain their market dominance.
Perhaps General Motors is indeed an invincible super industrial behemoth, and there is no other company on Earth capable of challenging it.
However, in terms of buzz and influence, Gamenova is far superior. Just because Lin Lixin drives a Chevrolet Corvette, the entire Corvette series has seen its price increase by at least 30%.
Limited editions, especially the ZR-1, have fetched astonishingly high prices at auctions.
It sounds mysterious, but he has that kind of magic.
All it takes is hiring a reporter to take a few close-up Close-Up of Mr. Lin in the car, and the Chevrolet brand's influence will soar the very next day.
That's what they say.
But after Russell heard Lin Lixin's idea, he suddenly found himself in a dilemma.
"I thought it would be a sequel to Need for Speed."
That's what he thought, at least before he came.
But after Lin Lixin said that, Russell realized that he had completely misunderstood.
This is a brand new game IP, a completely unknown project whose success is still uncertain.
Even more terrifying is that this is a crime-themed game. "If players drive our cars through the city, running over pedestrians, killing and robbing... oh no..."
This is not what he wanted.
The collaboration with Gamenova was specifically designed to enhance GM's brand power.
If I understand correctly, this " Morality and Rule of Law " game... is practically a crime simulator.
Its social influence will likely be terribly damaged!
No wonder Lin Lixin set up a new studio specifically for this.
Let's take a look at what Rockstar has in store for them right now.
Mortal Kombat!
If Russell still doesn't quite grasp the true situation regarding " Morality and Rule of Law," this work, which was transferred to Rockstar, is already strong evidence of it.
"You don't like it?"
"I don't want General Motors to be associated with crime, but... is there a playable demo available for the game yet?"
"Hmm... not yet, but it won't take too long." Go to Bing search engine to see the latest chapter!
Russell pursed his lips, not rushing to give an answer.
From a rational perspective, General Motors should never have collaborated with such a work.
Imagine players driving GM cars recklessly through the city, speeding along sidewalks with tanks full of gas...
From any perspective, this is a significant blow to the company's image.
but...
What if?
If it were just another game developer, Russell wouldn't even bother to pay attention; he would simply reject it outright.
But the other party is Gamenova.
They seem to have an innate ability to always succeed and always stay on the right track.
What if Lin Lixin is right again this time, just like before? And then the game becomes a nationwide sensation.
Every car in the city is the same model.
Players can sit in any vehicle and see the vehicle's name pop up on the screen...
Although the impact may not be as strong as having a sports car magazine shoved in your face like in Need for Speed.
But this subtle, insidious influence is even more terrifying.
When Chevrolet strolls through the streets of New York, when Buick drives through San Francisco...
When every corner of the city is filled with General Motors cars.
The next generation of users, this generation of gamers, will only have these General Motors models left in their minds.
"Hey, I've driven it in the game!"
"Hey, I swept through an entire gang in this car!"
The terrifying influence and brand effect brought about by this sense of immersion is enough to make any car company envious.
Right now, it seems to be their only chance to get on board. Even if GM doesn't join, Gamenova can still approach Ford, Europe manufacturers, or even Japan manufacturers.
Even without any collaboration, they could easily design some fictional brands to reference.
Will I be able to board the ship then?
That's not something that can be solved by simply having a heart-to-heart talk with the other person.
Look at the current state of the record industry. Ever since Gamenova publicly collaborated with Michael Jackson, the buzz they had built up with " Rocksmith " has become even more unruly.
Do you still want to join their record label?
Then it all comes down to who has the best skills and the most abundant resources.
"By the way, due to capacity limitations, we can only accommodate 50 vehicles this time. I've reserved half for GM, as a way of supporting our old friend."
Lin Lixin suddenly spoke up.
"Wait, what about the remaining spots..."
" Ford, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Porsche."
... General Motors' franchising is almost a done deal.
After all, the company is in a slump, and the entire board of directors is looking for an opportunity to turn things around.
To survive the price war among Japan manufacturers, these engineering-focused companies need the kind of courage to make drastic sacrifices.
In comparison, collaborating with a game company doesn't seem like such a huge Adventure.
However, Lin Lixin did not sign a very long license directly; it was only a one-time license that included the two future games.
Do you want to renew your contract in the future?
That would require General Motors to approach him directly.
After all, this is just a top-down view, and the vehicles needed can be presented entirely as textures, without the need for Industrial Light & Magic to participate.
"The map doesn't need to be a complete recreation; we need to make some gamification modifications to make it more suitable for the game."
Lin Lixin said.
In the office, several people sat around a table. The project development was now progressing smoothly.
The engine team needs to first write a dedicated, reliable engine for it.
As for the planning team, they are currently considering the map issue.
As per Lin Lixin's requirements, the game must have three maps.
Three huge maps.
One is Liberty City, modeled after New York; another is San Andreas, modeled after San Francisco and Los Angeles; and the last is Vice City, modeled after Miami.
According to him, once the 3D wave fully arrives, these maps can be used to create subsequent 3D works.
For example, incorporating Los Angeles into the game.
Imagine players being able to drive their favorite vehicles at breakneck speed through the streets of Los Angeles...
You can even do whatever you want in this city...
Just thinking about it is exciting enough.
"Our goal is not to perfectly replicate the real world at a 1:1 scale," Lin Lixin continued.
Several well-drawn maps were laid out in front of them.
Because this project was designed based on a top-down 2D perspective, they had many shortcuts to take in map design.
By simply taking a map of the corresponding city and copying it into the game, theoretically, one could recreate a city that is roughly the same as the original.
But this is not what Lin Lixin wanted.
The " Morality and Rule of Law " series never advocates for complete replication.
It's more like extracting features from the city and compressing them to a scale that players can accept.
Rather than a city, its map is more like a giant... amusement park.
Every road is meticulously designed by the architects.
The Los Santos ring road doesn't necessarily look like this in the real Los Angeles.
It was incorporated into the game; it's a racing track that the designers specifically prepared for the players.
It is precisely because of this smooth, closed-loop superroad that players always have a place to test their new car's long-distance performance after modifying it. However, its scale has been adjusted to some extent.
Places that would normally take one or two hours to reach in real life can be reached in just a few minutes in the game.
However, the presence of skyscrapers, Hollywood, and other landmarks in the city prevents it from feeling out of place.