He An, who spent more than five hours to complete "Struggle" in one go, fell into confusion.
Is there something wrong with this game?
This is too depressing and sad, right?
Or am I just too unlucky and I chose every option carefully, but I got the crappiest ending?
He An subconsciously reflected on himself.
Well, maybe I opened it the wrong way.
After all, interactive movie games like this will have many branch options, and the same is true for the game "Struggle".
He An took a look at the plot line in the game. It was like a dense network with many branches.
According to common sense, each version should have at least three or four endings to be worthy of the size of the game.
What's more, if you buy the poor version and the rich version together, there should be hidden endings and easter eggs?
So He An decided to run through all the remaining branches after dinner, and he should be able to get a good ending.
This feeling is like a table with delicious dishes and unpleasant dishes. If you take the last bite of an unpleasant dish, you have to take another delicious bite to squeeze it down, otherwise the unpleasant taste will come out.
It will never go away.
"I have to say that Mr. Pei's skills are quite profound. Regardless of whether the direction is right or not, the foundation is there."
"I originally thought that realistic themes would be boring to play, but it didn't feel that way after playing it. Although there were two bad endings, the content was still quite shocking."
"After all the endings are played out, we can use these endings to analyze what kind of private goods Mr. Pei brought in this game."
He An found that he rarely felt this kind of excitement, anticipation and excitement because of a domestic stand-alone game. He couldn't wait to eat, and continued to play other endings of the game after the meal.
…
…
September 4, Sunday, noon.
He An sat in front of the computer, lit a cigarette, and thought about life silently.
Last night and this morning, he was working on various branches of the game "Struggle".
Let the rich version of the protagonist choose different interests and hobbies when he was young, choose different girls to marry, and choose different careers as adults;
The protagonist of the poor version chooses different courses when he is young. As an adult, he tries to be careful, save money, and find a better job...
However, no matter how hard he tried and how many branch plots he solved, there was still no change in the last two endings!
No matter what the rich do, they will eventually be killed at the book signing.
No matter what the poor do, they end up in a cycle of poverty.
Of course, there are still some subtle differences between the two versions:
Regardless of whether the rich make the right choice or not, it does not actually affect the progress of the game, because every time they fail, their funds will be quickly replenished, and choosing a different career is just a change from one kind of success to another;
As for the poor, whether the choice is correct or not still has an impact. If you keep choosing wrong, you will come to the end in more than an hour. If you keep choosing right, you can last for three hours, and you will have a middle-class addiction.
Come to the end.
As for the so-called hidden ending? It can’t be found at all!
There is no hidden ending, and there is no connection between the poor version and the rich version.
He An originally subconsciously believed that the person who killed the rich protagonist was probably the poor protagonist whose dreams were shattered, or the poor man's son. However, after trying hard for a long time, he could not find any connection between the two.
There is absolutely no connection between the poor protagonist, the poor son and the rich protagonist.
In other words, whether you buy the poor version or not has basically no impact on the game content of the rich version.
This is outrageous!
This seems to mean: You'd better not buy either of them. If you must buy it, buy the rich version.
This is very unreasonable!
He An couldn't help but apply his game design theory to this game. He has told Mr. Ma four key points so far:
Choose marketing methods for game content;
Choose game types with high market share;
Appropriate inclusion of private goods in the game;
Analyze and meet market needs.
From the current point of view, the game "Struggle" really doesn't touch a single line! It's all wrong!
He An previously felt that if one of these four was wrong, the game would be incomplete; if two were wrong, sales would be worrying; if three were wrong, the game would definitely end up on the street.
A game with four wrong lines? Unheard of!
At least, choosing a game type and choosing an appropriate marketing method are all free points, right? Isn’t it a bit outrageous to not answer these questions correctly?
As for the last two points, there seems to be a big problem with the approach of "Struggle".
He An said that when bringing in private goods, one must consider the audience’s acceptance and tolerance.
And what are the private goods contained in "Struggle"?
Stirring up hatred? Or arguing that struggle is futile?
Indeed, as a realistic theme, this game is indeed realistic enough, including the details of the lives of the poor and the rich, which are basically consistent with some data in the United States.
However, this ending is too disgusting, right?
More importantly, advocating the futility of struggle is wrong in any context.
This kind of private goods, cutting open the bloody reality, does not seem to have much guiding significance, but will only cause people's discomfort.
This is what the saying "kneel before the truth" means.
Real life is miserable enough, and I know real life is miserable, and then you still insist on talking about it in front of me with a loudspeaker?
Isn't that disgusting?
Therefore, He An's first feeling was that this was not appropriate private goods, because this kind of private goods had no guiding significance and was not well accepted by people. Instead, it could easily arouse resentment.
As for analysis and meeting market needs, it is even more irrelevant.
Obviously, the current mainstream market still regards games as entertainment and leisure activities. You have made it so heavy, which obviously does not meet the needs of most players!
As for the highest level of creative needs…
He An previously felt that Mr. Pei was a master of creating demand.
But for "Struggle", creating this level of demand is incredibly difficult!
What's more, this paper has four questions in total. If you answered the first three questions wrong, how can you still answer the last question correctly?
If you can answer this correctly, I will give you this paper on the spot...
Frame it!
He An originally wanted to set up a flag, but then he thought about it, he couldn't do that, and he couldn't underestimate Mr. Pei.
I can think of problems, but Mr. Pei can’t think of them?
Definitely thought of it.
And He An subconsciously felt that this game was not actually that disgusting to him. If he dug deeper into his deep feelings about this game, he actually still had some special emotions in it.
He An thought for a while and decided to temporarily forget the theories he had accumulated over the past few decades and re-examine the game from the perspective of an ordinary person and analyze its deeper meaning.
Maybe my theory is outdated?
…
At the same time, Pei Qian was also at home, using his laptop to check the first batch of players' reviews of "Struggle".
The game process of "Struggle" is not very long. I bought the game yesterday and can complete it today. Even if I play a little bit, I can complete all the branches.
Pei Qian knows very well that the feedback and reputation of this group of players will directly determine whether the game "Struggle" can succeed in losing money!
The best result, of course, is that players scold the game so much that a group of players refund the money, and more players refuse to buy or even pay attention to it.
Of course, Pei Qian himself felt that this idea seemed too optimistic.
The worst result is that a few players blew up "Struggle" while the majority of players didn't buy it.
This result is very acceptable to Pei Qian, and it is the most likely result in his opinion.
Pei Qian began to check the players' comments.
"This game is falsely advertised! I thought it was a large-scale action game, but when I came in, I realized I had been deceived!"
"However, the slogan is completely correct. I can only call it a marketing genius... This is at best deliberately misleading, although it is indeed very unpleasant. When did Tenda start to play such clever tricks? Is it because it is afraid that people will not buy the true propaganda?"
"But I think it's okay to just advertise that this is an interactive movie-type game. We will still buy it and play it!"
"No one can stop me this time. I have to give a one-star negative review! I bought the game as soon as it came out, and I was so excited until this morning, thinking about a perfect ending. What happened? I was disgusted several times.
!I watched both endings three or four times!”
"I feel like my soul has been severely traumatized! Playing the poor version made me depressed, so I thought about playing the rich version. The results were good at first, but I never expected that I would get a hand wrapped in gold foil at the end!"
"Upstairs, you are great. I played the rich version first, and ended up being fed a mouthful of Xiang. Then I was wondering if the poor version would be different. But this time it was miserable from beginning to end. I felt bad.
Got it!"
"It doesn't matter which one you play together first, it will make you feel sick?"
"Is this called a game? Why don't you make a documentary or art film if you want to do this?"
"Games are obviously a carrier with more freedom of expression than documentaries or art films. If you think about the characters in it, think about the separate pricing of the two versions, and the many interactive experiences, these are things that movies cannot provide."
"Anyway, I absolutely love this game! Especially these two endings, the 'liar' in the rich version, and the echoing monologue from the beginning to the end in the poor version, it's great!"
"Okay, those two paragraphs do give people a good feeling, but looking at the entire game, don't you feel that it is lame? This seems to be a game made entirely to reproduce reality. What about the fun of the game? And the inclusion of private goods is too serious.
Yes, are you advocating fatalism, class theory, or the futility of struggle?"
"Indeed, I think this game may sell better in the West. After all, they like this kind of idle moaning. Most domestic players still recognize struggle and recognize that 'God rewards hard work and self-improvement'. The theme of this game is similar to
The thoughts of most people in China are actually conflicting and will cause instinctive discomfort."
"At this time, I think I should call Qiao Laoshi!"
"Indeed, there may be some points that I haven't noticed? If Qiao Laoshi could explain it in detail, it might be more comprehensive."
Pei Qian read a lot of comments from players and felt that the current situation was quite optimistic, but it was worse than he expected.
A large number of players are stimulated by the cruel reality reflected in the game, which is in line with Pei Qian's expectations. But the problem is that Tengda's long-term reputation has withstood this trend of collapse of public opinion!
If it were another manufacturer, it is estimated that the person currently criticizing would have an absolute advantage.
But there are too many die-hard fans of Tenda games, and everyone is just thinking about it. When these people play Tenda games, they will naturally gain an aura, and many of the originally ordinary advantages have become special advantages in the eyes of these players.
These die-hard fans are the first to get the game, and are more keen to participate in discussions and have a louder voice, so the two voices on the Internet are still evenly matched.
In addition, another important reason is that the quality of the game itself is indeed good.
After all, the Tenda Game team has rich development experience. Even if it is working on such a realistic theme, it can be very good, especially the endings of the two versions are still quite bluffing.
Pei Qian thought about it and realized that this might also be due to the subject matter.