Billy Howard was excited for a while before realizing something was wrong. The news about Atari's rebirth seemed to have completely overshadowed his own.
Realizing this, Billy Howard quickly checked Weibo. Although his news was still at the second trending spot, it was receiving no attention. The entire homepage was flooded with Atari-related content. Countless excited netizens were creating and sharing memes and posting passionate articles.
Moreover, upon closer inspection, many of these users were between 30 and 40 years old.
Atari entered the gaming market in 1972 and reached its peak in 1975, releasing numerous games that swept across America. At that time, Nintendo was no match for Atari, and all American children aged 5 to 18 were loyal fans of Atari.
In 1982, Atari released E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, marking the beginning of its fatal decline.
By 1990, Atari's market had been almost entirely eroded by Nintendo. Although Atari was still technically alive, it was effectively dead. From 1972 to 1982, the people who were between 5 and 18 years old were Atari users. This group is now precisely between 27 and 50 years old, and they constitute the main force of the current internet society.
Some might wonder why the main force on the internet isn't younger people, but rather those between 27 and 50.
Firstly, who told you that people between 27 and 40 are considered middle-aged?
In 2004, the internet was still in its developmental stage. While many households in America might have had computers, less than half were connected to the internet. The internet had not yet reached its peak as it would later.
Most of the internet was actually spread across various companies, and it was the middle-aged individuals, between 27 and 50, who used the internet at work. As for the children under 20 who would later use the internet extensively, that wouldn't happen until after 2008, when internet costs decreased and it was fully rolled out across America.
Therefore, the internet at this time was primarily populated by Atari's residual fans. Curiously, despite Atari's past blunders and the existence of many anti-fans due to their "brainless" actions, as time passed and Atari vanished for over a decade, those anti-fans grew up. Time quickly washed away their past resentment, replacing it with fond memories of their childhood.
It's similar to how, if Tencent were to suddenly disappear in the future, after a decade or so, its former anti-fans might feel immense nostalgia for it. Perhaps they would.
Atari naturally gained a filter effect, becoming the good companion that accompanied them in their childhood memories. So, when they saw the news of Atari's rebirth, they couldn't help but get excited.
Even company presidents like Billy Howard, upon seeing the news of Atari's rebirth, forgot their original purpose.
When he finally came to his senses, he could only helplessly realize that the entire internet was being dominated by Atari. Furthermore, Atari had announced a special retro carnival in three days, inviting all former Atari players to visit and play. Most importantly, it was free, and they would also announce significant news on-site.
Honestly, when Billy Howard saw this news, he couldn't help but want to attend, even though the carnival was hundreds of kilometers away, spanning two states. Billy Howard still felt a surge of impulse.
His infatuation with Atari back then was now matched by his longing for it.
No, let's get back to work!
Billy Howard tapped his head, jolting himself out of his childhood dream. Then, with great pain, he looked at the online rankings before him. He understood that he had likely failed again, as no news in the world could suppress Atari's rebirth, unless another plane crash occurred.
"But what should I do?" Seeing that even with an investment of $200,000 and 1.3 million water army accounts, he still couldn't occupy the front page of Weibo, and everywhere he looked, it was filled with headlines about Atari's rebirth, Billy Howard fell into complete despair.
He was silent for a long time, then picked up his phone and dialed Edward Zamp. He helplessly explained the situation and requested more time, hoping to attack after the fervor of Atari's rebirth news subsided.
"How many times have you asked for an extension?" Edward Zamp retorted unceremoniously after hearing Billy Howard's request.
"The third... the third time..." Billy Howard stammered.
"Yes, I told you to start planning half a month ago. I've given you a total of $9 million, and now you're asking me to continue delaying?" Edward Zamp raged. "I won't wait any longer. I'll give you three days. But after three days, I want to see scandals about Jiangnan spreading across the country."
"Don't think I don't know how much of that $9 million you've actually put to use. So, I don't care about you, I just want to see results. If you can't complete it, I will definitely make you return all $9 million!" With that, Edward Zamp angrily hung up the phone.
Indeed, Edward Zamp was so angry that he forgot to tell Billy Howard that the Jiangnan Group and the US Priority Group were actually behind Atari.
"Sir, what should we do?" the secretary asked cautiously.
"What else can we do? We have to push forward with it. It seems I won't be making any money this time!" Billy Howard wailed and then began working even more frantically.
First, Billy Howard took out another $200,000 to buy all the firepower from the water army companies they were currently cooperating with. He also took out another $200,000 to find water army companies they hadn't yet cooperated with and bought their firepower.
But that wasn't all. Billy Howard mobilized almost all his contacts and, with an additional $3 million, began contacting various offline media. He directly offered $3,000 for a major news story in a print media outlet, $10,000 for a golden prime-time slot on a local TV station, and $50,000 for a golden prime-time slot on a national media outlet.
Finally, he approached TV media like NBC and bought a special, continuous report for $500,000 each.
With a total of $4 million poured into this endeavor, the effect was immediate and substantial. The next day, the news of the Jiangnan Group stealing chip technology from scientists finally exploded across the entire internet, with momentum not much lower than the news of Atari's rebirth. This time, the incident finally became a hot topic.
Soon, the next day, under Billy Howard's arrangements, NBC organized an investigation team that began investigating the truth of the matter directly in China.
Well, it's unclear how an investigation team managed to land in China without any prior preparation. Even if you exclude all preparation time, you would have to spend over 20 hours on a plane to get to China, right?
Yet, they miraculously started on the spot. First, the standard BBC gloomy filter was applied, followed by shots of heavily armed police patrolling. The camera angles were intentionally low, giving the impression that the police were looking down on you.
Then, they began interviewing various so-called insiders. Of course, these insiders did not reveal their names, nor did they dare to disclose their positions. The entire report consisted of vague identities like "investigators from a certain research institute" or "executives from a certain company."
During their interviews, their faces were heavily pixelated, and they spoke in standard English, recalling the events that occurred two years prior.
In their accounts, Professor Chen was portrayed as a dignified, successful, passionate, and sunny professor who led a dozen students, selflessly dedicating himself to academic research and striving to develop his own chips amidst hardship.
However, on the day Professor Chen was to present his new chip, he was arrested by the police and completely disappeared. It wasn't until months later that news emerged of him going to the United States.
The reporters then began investigating who was behind these events. They immediately became evasive. Under repeated questioning from the reporters, they finally, somewhat fearfully, revealed the truth: that it was all the work of the Jiangnan Group.
For instance, the Jiangnan Group had long coveted Professor Chen's chip, attempting to acquire his technology. Despite offering various high prices, they were sternly rejected by Professor Chen.
His reasoning was that he believed the Jiangnan Group was a dark company, filled with unsavory dealings. He feared that if his chip technology, which represented world-leading standards, fell into the hands of the Jiangnan Group, it would lead to the destruction of world peace, cause immense damage to the world, and even lead to the destruction of America, the world's beacon.
In their narrative, it was akin to the destructive power of an atomic bomb.
Therefore, for the sake of world peace, Professor Chen refused, was arrested, disappeared, and then the Jiangnan Group obtained the world's leading storage chip technology, earning unimaginable profits worldwide. Finally, they even produced mobile phones like the Tianxing 5, all of which utilized Professor Chen's technology!
Good heavens, after this documentary was broadcast, the Jiangnan Group truly became famous.