Chapter 384: Can Handheld Consoles Still Be Rescued? (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Passes)

After the New Year, Nebula Games' employees successively onboarded. Meanwhile, major game developers online also made various big moves in the new year.

The main directions stemmed from two areas.

The first was the battle royale gameplay ignited by 'Warzone,' which many game developers were attempting, launching new content.

Secondly, there was the open world created by the globally popular 'Red Dead Redemption.'

This prompted many game developers to follow suit.

Although many game developers didn't grasp the core essence of the open world.

A superficial resemblance was enough of a gimmick.

As for how to achieve this resemblance?

Excellent visual presentation, large maps, and an endless array of quests.

Especially AtraI, which relentlessly announced a new project.

Its genre, naturally, was open world.

However, this time AtraI didn't resort to IP adaptation; the designer in charge of the new project was just an ordinary designer.

From the content AtraI released, senior designers in the gaming industry basically understood its intentions.

That was to cobble together a new game using scraps from 'Storm Action' and 'Beautiful World,' then label it as open-world, creating a 'canned' product.

On one hand, it was a trial run for the open-world genre; on the other, it was a way to make some quick cash.

As for reputation?

As if AtraI's reputation was ever good to begin with.

Meanwhile, Nebula Games also added quite a few new employees.

“Now it has completely taken on the shape of Nebula Games,” Meng Zuo remarked in the office.

After a lot of thought back home, he finally contacted Chen Xu and joined Nebula Games.

After all, there wasn't much choice; there were only a few first-tier game developers domestically.

Moreover, he had already arranged it with NetDragon, so he directly onboarded at Nebula Games after the New Year.

“Teacher Meng, please don't say such strange things,” Chen Xu, next to him, was speechless.

However, he was also quite happy. Not only Meng Zuo, but he also brought a small team of technical personnel.

Of course, many of these individuals, due to their contracts with NetDragon, would only be able to join in one or two months, as they were still working on NetDragon's projects and needed to complete the handover.

As for non-compete agreements and such, the company had already communicated with NetDragon about them.

After all, both parties were still in a honeymoon period of cooperation.

“Hey, Mr. Chen, what's this?” Meng Zuo suddenly noticed a device on Chen Xu's desk.

“An iQue Player. Of course, it's now a brand under Nebula Games,” Chen Xu smiled.

This was considered an old domestic brand. Old it may be, but honestly, it wasn't worth much.

After a brief contact and a hint of interest, iQue was ready to sell.

Of course, it wasn't acquired in Nebula Games' name, otherwise, it would probably have taken more effort.

“Mr. Chen, are we really going to make handhelds?” Meng Zuo asked Chen Xu, clearly feeling a strong sense of allegiance.

“That's right, Teacher Meng. As I said before, I believe handhelds still have a significant market,” Chen Xu nodded with a smile.

Regarding handhelds, Chen Xu hadn't considered collaborating with third-party developers or anything like that.

After all, the Switch wasn't particularly strong in terms of technology; it was more about its design philosophy and the games that complemented it.

Furthermore, in this Parallel World, the technology in this area was much stronger than in his previous life, at least it was perfectly sufficient for use in a Switch-like device.

“Mr. Chen, please don't call me Teacher Meng anymore, just call me by my name. But what direction should we take next?” Meng Zuo asked Chen Xu.

Hearing Meng Zuo, Chen Xu nodded, though he wasn't particularly concerned about this aspect.

“Moving forward, the main focus will be on games. Nebula Games has partnered third-party game developers who will port some games.”

“At the same time, some suitable games under Nebula Games will also be ported,” Chen Xu told Meng Zuo.

After all, it's impossible to launch with no games at all.

Developing entirely new games for everything is certainly not feasible.

So, the plan is to port some classic games, both from third-party developers and Nebula Games' own older titles.

Of course, when it comes to pricing, they'll have to be cautious.

It's impossible to sell old games for more than new ones, like the Switch in his previous life.

After all, in the Parallel World, the cost of such platform ports isn't high.

As Chen Xu and Meng Zuo discussed these matters and began planning the content layout,

a rumor began circulating online: Nebula Games was acquiring iQue handheld.

Initially, many players didn't believe the news, as most considered handhelds to be an almost obsolete product.

Otherwise, how could iQue, once the big brother of the handheld industry, have fallen to its current state?

It wasn't until some players discovered Nebula Games' logo and relevant links added to iQue's official website that they confirmed it was true.

After this news spread, players and people in the gaming industry were instantly stunned.

There was extensive discussion among players on various forums.

“My youth is back! Does this mean the iQue handheld is revived?”

“Ahem... just a reminder to the commenter above, your youth is still gone, because iQue has now taken on the appearance of Mr. Chen and Nebula Games.”

“Why is Mr. Chen making handhelds? Hurry up and develop a sequel to 'Red Dead Redemption'!”

“Are you dreaming? A Red Dead Redemption sequel? I'm dreaming of a VR version of 'Warcraft'! Stormwind and all its numerical easter eggs are already there! When will the game be released?!”

“But handhelds feel like old antiques that the market has almost phased out. Why would Chen Xu specifically make one?”

“Yeah, it feels like handhelds shouldn't have any room to survive, right?”

Many players, and even some in the gaming industry, were surprised.

If this decision hadn't come from Nebula Games, many players and industry designers might have thought the decision-makers were insane.

But now? Looking at Nebula Games' development, many truly didn't dare to draw conclusions.

But can handhelds really be rescued?

While there was much public discussion and speculation, Chen Xu inside Nebula Games wasn't particularly bothered.

He didn't even bother to respond publicly. After all, Nebula Games wasn't a publicly listed company, so how the market viewed them didn't matter. Furthermore, the Switch was still some time away from truly reaching players, so there was no need to respond for now.

In the office, Chen Xu received the person in charge from iQue.

Yan Xiong, who was also an engineer from iQue's R&D Department, sat apprehensively on the meeting room bench.

After all, the future direction of iQue was truly uncertain.

At the same time, he held a glimmer of hope, as they were being acquired by Nebula Games.

As gaming industry professionals, the iQue team naturally understood Nebula Games' influence.

“Moving forward with the handheld business, all production lines will be halted. We're going to develop a completely new handheld console.”

“Dr. Yan, please take a look at the requirements for the new product and see if there are any technical issues.”

Chen Xu watched Yan Xiong as he handed over a preliminary draft.

“Switch?” Yan Xiong paused slightly, looking at the document's title.

“Yes, the name of the new handheld,” Chen Xu nodded gently.

Switch, in English, means a toggle or converter.

It might sound a bit incongruous, but considering the Switch console's mode, it's actually quite fitting.

Because the Switch's biggest feature is its ability to seamlessly switch between handheld and home console modes.

Additionally, the accompanying Joy-Cons can form two individual controllers or function as motion controllers, fully maximizing the Switch's characteristics.

It can be said that with the birth of the Switch, all its functions served gaming, and this is the biggest difference between handheld consoles and other devices like mobile phones.

As for the specific hardware technical details, Chen Xu didn't research them; he left that to the professionals.

This handheld console's design plan was somewhat unexpected for Yan Xiong; it was truly unprecedented.

The ability to freely switch between handheld and console wasn't the novel key point.

The main points were the motion control mode and the Joy-Con controllers that could be used by two players; these settings were very innovative.

“Mr. Chen, from a technical standpoint, the current level can fully achieve this, but these features require adaptation from game developers. If not...” Yan Xiong didn't finish his sentence.

“Furthermore, if we want to run AAA-tier games, the cost might exceed five digits,” Yan Xiong said, looking a bit troubled.

He had, after all, analyzed why iQue had reached its current state.

It was simply that the cost of handheld hardware was too high.

But he felt it was a vicious cycle; even with high hardware costs, they couldn't afford not to upgrade.

Otherwise, wouldn't they fall behind the times?

“In console mode, output resolution supports 2K displays; in handheld mode, video output is 1080P. Furthermore, compress other configurations as much as possible, including prioritizing lightweight materials. What's the approximate cost if we fully reduce everything?” Chen Xu asked Yan Xiong.

Hearing Chen Xu's words, Yan Xiong was somewhat stunned.

It wasn't that the requirements were too high; it was that they were too low, right?

“Theoretically, the cost could be compressed to around 850 Yuan. Of course, this is when the production line is fully operational; if the volume is high enough, the cost can be further reduced... but Mr. Chen, these specifications?” Yan Xiong hesitated.

Hearing Yan Xiong, Chen Xu was greatly surprised.

Compared to the Switch in his previous life, his requirements were quite a bit higher.

He wasn't going to consider 4K for now; after all, if the initial version was already 4K, how would Switch Pro surprise players later?

Also, a low selling price was very important for early promotion.

After all, Nebula Games wasn't luxurious enough to lose 150 USD per console sold.

As for the configuration being too low, for a handheld console, supporting up to 1080P output resolution, coupled with excellent optimization, would fully enable games like 'Dark Souls' to perform at 1080P on the Switch, which Chen Xu considered sufficient.

Moreover, in console mode, 2K resolution support could largely meet the demands of most games; at least, the Switch's capabilities would be significantly stronger than in his previous life.

“Dr. Yan, you at iQue are already very familiar with handheld development and subsequent channel expansion, so I won't say much about that.”

“The Switch's selling price will be maintained at around 1199 Yuan. Of course, the specific price will depend on how much the cost can be compressed at that time. After deducting distributor, offline, and promotional expenses, we just need to ensure we break even,” Chen Xu said, outlining the requirements to Yan Xiong.

??????

Hearing Chen Xu's words, Yan Xiong's small head was filled with question marks.

Did he hear wrong?

“Mr. Chen, you... what did you say?” Yan Xiong stammered slightly.

“From factory to sale, for each handheld console, we just need to ensure we don't make a loss,” Chen Xu told Yan Xiong.

Receiving a definitive answer, Yan Xiong was dumbfounded.

The goal of selling a console is just to not lose money?

This... what does this mean!??

Chen Xu looked at the bewildered Yan Xiong and offered no further explanation.

(End of Chapter) <>