He An, who had spent more than five hours completing Struggle in one go, fell into confusion.
Was there something wrong with this game?
Wasn't this too depressing and depressing?
Or was my luck so bad that I chose every option seriously and ended up with the trashiest ending?
He An subconsciously reflected on himself.
Well, maybe I opened it the wrong way.
After all, interactive movie games like this would have many side options, and it was the same for Struggle.
He An looked at the storyline in the game. It was like a dense net 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, there should be hidden endings and Easter eggs if he bought the rich and poor versions together, right?
Therefore, He An decided to play through all the remaining side quests after his meal. He should be able to get a good ending.
This feeling was like having a table full of delicious dishes and disgusting dishes. If you ate the last dish that tasted disgusting, you would have to quickly eat another mouthful of the delicious dish to suppress it. Otherwise, the disgusting taste would linger on your tongue.
"I have to say that Boss Pei's skills are quite profound. Whether the direction is right or not, the foundation is there.
"I thought that the realism theme would be boring, but it didn't feel like that at all. Although there were two bad endings, the content was still quite shocking."
"Once all the endings are revealed, we will be able to analyze what Boss Pei has smuggled into the game based on these endings."
He An found that he rarely felt such excitement, anticipation, and agitation because of a domestically-produced standalone game. He could not wait to eat and continue playing the other endings of the game after eating.
…
…
September 4th, Sunday, noon …
He An sat in front of his computer, lit a cigarette, and silently thought about life.
He had been working hard on the various side quests of Struggle last night and this morning.
He gave the rich version of the protagonist different hobbies when he was young, different girls to marry when he was an adult, and different careers.
He gave the poor version of the protagonist different courses when he was young, tried to be frugal when he was an adult, tried to save money, and found a better job.
However, no matter how hard he tried and how many side quests he played, the final two endings did not change!
No matter what the rich man did, he would be killed at the signing event.
No matter what the poor do, they will eventually fall into a cycle of poverty.
Of course, there were still some slight differences between the two versions.
Regardless of whether the rich made the right choice or not, it would not affect the progress of the game. This was because every time they failed, their funds would be quickly replenished. Choosing a different class was just an exchange of one kind of success for another.
As for the poor, whether they made the right choice or not still had an effect. If they kept making the wrong choice, they would end up in an hour or so. If they kept making the right choice, they would be able to last up to three hours and enjoy being a middle-class person.
As for the so-called hidden ending? He couldn't find it at all!
It would have been fine if there was no hidden ending. In fact, there was no connection between the rich and poor versions.
He An subconsciously thought that the one who killed the rich protagonist was most likely the poor protagonist or the son of the poor protagonist whose dreams had been shattered. However, after trying for a long time, he could not find any connection between the two.
There was no connection between the poor protagonist, the poor son, and the rich protagonist.
In other words, buying the poor version of the game had no effect on the rich version of the game.
That was ridiculous!
It seemed to be saying: You'd better not buy either of them. If you have to buy it, then buy the rich version.
That was very unreasonable!
He An could not help but apply his game design theory to this game. He had told Boss Ma four key points so far:
Choose the marketing method based on the game's content;
Choose the game genre with a high market share;
Smuggle goods in the game appropriately;
Analyze and meet market demand.
From the looks of it, Struggle really did not touch on any of these points! They were all wrong!
He An previously felt that if one of these four points was wrong, the game would not be complete; if two were wrong, the sales would be worrying; if three were wrong, it would definitely be dead.
A game with all four points wrong? Unheard of!
At the very least, choosing the game genre and choosing the appropriate marketing method were all free points, right? Wasn't it a little too ridiculous to get all of these wrong?
As for the last two points, Struggle's approach seemed to be very problematic as well.
He An said that smuggling goods must consider the audience's acceptance and affordability.
What were the goods smuggled in by Struggle?
Inciting hatred? Or was it useless to struggle?
Indeed, this game was really realistic enough as a realistic theme, including the details of the lives of the poor and the rich. It was basically completely consistent with some data in the United States.
However, this ending was too disgusting, wasn't it?
More importantly, advocating the theory of the futility of struggle was wrong in any context.
This kind of smuggled goods that cut open the bloody reality did not seem to have much guiding meaning. It would only cause people to feel uncomfortable.
As the saying went, 'kneel before the truth'.
Real life is already miserable enough. I know that real life is miserable, but you still have to use a megaphone to talk about it in front of me?
Isn't that disgusting?
Therefore, He An's first feeling was that this was not appropriate for smuggled goods. That was because such goods had no guiding meaning and could not be well accepted by people. Instead, it was easy to cause disgust.
As for analyzing and meeting market demand, that was even more out of the question.
Obviously, the current mainstream market still treated games as entertainment and leisure activities. Making it so serious obviously did not meet the needs of most players!
As for the highest level of demand creation …
He An previously thought that Boss Pei was a master of creating demand.
However, it was extremely difficult to create such a level of demand for Struggle!
What's more, this paper had a total of four questions. How could you answer the last question correctly if you got the first three questions wrong?
If you can answer it correctly, I'll put this paper on the spot …
Frame it!
He An originally wanted to raise a flag, but on second thought, he could not do that. He could not underestimate Boss Pei.
How could Boss Pei not think of the problem that even I could think of?
He definitely thought of it.
Moreover, He An subconsciously felt that this game did not actually make him feel that disgusted. If he dug deeper into his feelings for this game, there were actually some special feelings in it.
He An thought about it and decided to temporarily forget the theory that he had accumulated for decades. He would re-examine this game from the perspective of an ordinary person and analyze its deeper meaning.
Perhaps his theory was outdated?
…
At the same time, Pei Qian was also at home, using his laptop to check the first batch of players' comments on Struggle.
The game process of Struggle was not considered long. Players who bought the game yesterday would be able to complete it today. They might even be able to complete all the side quests if they worked a little harder.
Pei Qian knew very well that the feedback and reputation of this batch of players would directly determine whether Struggle could successfully incur losses or not!
The best outcome would, of course, be for players to criticize the game badly. A batch of players would be refunded, and more players would refuse to buy or even pay attention to the game.
Of course, Pei Qian himself felt that this idea seemed too optimistic.
The worst outcome would be that a few players would praise Struggle to the max while most players would not buy it.
Pei Qian could also say that this outcome was very acceptable to him. Moreover, it was the most likely outcome.
Pei Qian began to check the players' comments.
"This game is fake publicity! I thought it was a large-scale action game, but I realized that I was deceived after entering! "
"However, the publicity slogan is completely correct. I can only say that it's a marketing genius … This is at best a deliberate misdirection, although it is indeed very unpleasant. Since when did Tengda start to play such tricks? Are they afraid that people won't buy the real publicity? "
"However, I think it's okay to advertise this as an interactive movie game. We will still buy it and play it!"
"No one can stop me this time. I must give a one-star negative review! I bought the game as soon as it was released and then worked until this morning. I wanted to play a perfect ending, but what happened? I was repeatedly disgusted several times! I've watched both endings three or four times! "
"I feel like my heart has suffered serious trauma! The poor version made me depressed, so I thought about playing the rich version. In the end, it was quite good at the beginning, but I never expected it to be wrapped in gold foil at the end! "
"Previous poster, you're not bad. I played the rich version first, and I was fed a mouthful of sh * t at the end. Then, I wondered if the poor version would be different. In the end, it was miserable from beginning to end. I don't feel good!"
"It's the same no matter which you play first. You'll feel disgusted, won't you?"
"Is this a game? Why not make a documentary or an art film if you want to do this? "
"Games are obviously more free to express themselves than documentaries or art films. Think about the image of the characters in it, and then think about the price of the two versions. There are many interactive experiences. These are things that movies can't provide."
"No matter what, I'm praising this game to the max! Especially these two endings. The 'liar' in the rich version and the monologue in the poor version. It's great! "
"Okay, those two endings do give people a good feeling, but don't you think that the entire game is lame? This seems to be a game made to recreate reality. Where's the fun in the game? What's more, it's too serious. Is this advocating fatalism, hierarchy, or the futility of hard work? "
"Indeed, I think this game might sell better in the West. After all, they like to moan about nothing. Most domestic players still recognize hard work and 'Heaven rewards hard work and constant self-improvement'. The theme of this game is actually conflicting with the thoughts of most domestic people. It will cause instinctive discomfort. "
"I think we should call Teacher Qiao at this time!"
"Indeed, there might be some points that we didn't notice, right? If Teacher Qiao can explain it in detail, it might be more comprehensive. "
Pei Qian browsed through a large number of players' comments. He felt that the current situation was quite optimistic, but it was worse than he had expected.
A large number of players were stimulated by the cruel reality reflected in the game. That was in line with Pei Qian's expectations. However, the problem was that Tengda's long-accumulated reputation had withstood the collapse of public opinion!
If it were any other manufacturer, the people who were scolding would probably have an absolute advantage.
However, there were too many hardcore fans of Tengda Games. Everyone was full of imagination. When these people played Tengda Games, they would naturally have a halo around them. Many ordinary advantages became special advantages in the eyes of these players.
These hardcore fans were the first batch to play the game. They were more enthusiastic about participating in the discussion, and their voices were louder. Thus, the two voices on the internet were still in a state of equal strength.
Apart from that, there was another important reason: the quality of the game itself was really good.
Tengda Games had rich development experience after all. Even if it was a realistic theme, it could still be very outstanding. The endings of the two versions, especially, were quite shocking.
Pei Qian thought about it. This might also be because of the theme.
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