Chapter 388: Not Making Money Is a Crime! (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Passes)

Chapter 388: Not Making Money Is a Crime! (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Passes)

While Chen Xu and his team were developing Super Mario Odyssey, Animal Forest, and porting old games,

the gaming industry was making waves of its own, diverting some of the attention away from Nebula Games' entry into the handheld console market.

After the Lunar New Year, major game developers including TengHua, NetDragon, and overseas giant Atrai began launching promotional campaigns for their new titles.

Whether domestic or overseas, all developers had one word prominently featured in their marketing: Open-World.

Science fiction, urban, fantasy; FPS, ARPG, ACT—no matter the theme or genre,

everyone was branding their games as "open-world."

Moreover, the promotional focus generally centered on two aspects:

Large maps and numerous quests.

Clearly, these game developers were capitalizing on the outstanding success of Red Dead Redemption,

a title that had achieved both critical acclaim and massive profits.

As a result, competition in marketing became fierce, pushing developers to their limits.

It was understandable—players indeed had great passion for open-world games,

but the sudden flood of blockbuster titles all claiming to be "open-world" created a problematic situation.

Especially in the domestic market, with both NetDragon and TengHua involved—both already well-known names—

and both launching new titles on the Huanyu VR Platform,

they spared no expense in their promotional campaigns.

NetDragon was developing an open-world FPS set in a vast, exotic land, where players take on the role of an elite special forces unit combating drug cartels.

Meanwhile, TengHua was reviving a classic ACT franchise that had been declining in popularity. The series traditionally focused on fast-paced mowing grass gameplay, and this time they aimed to reinvent it using the open-world selling point.

Whether the games would actually be fun remained to be seen, but in terms of marketing hype, both NetDragon and TengHua had maxed out their efforts.

While they fought fiercely, Chen Xu remained completely relaxed.

"You two fight it out. Nebula Games has no VR plans in the near future anyway."

Meanwhile, the first prototype of the Switch had already been completed.

Compared to his previous life, most technologies in this Parallel World were readily available.

Especially HD Rumble—Chen Xu had tested it with a simple demo.

For example, when landing from a height onto surfaces like water, gravel, dirt, metal, or concrete, the vibrations from the voice coil motor provided excellent feedback.

It felt just like the DualSense controller from his previous life.

Additionally, Chen Xu had instructed Yan Xiong to pay close attention to the details.

At the very least, they had to avoid the infamous joystick drift issue that plagued the previous life’s Switch—

where players’ joysticks would start drifting after just two months of use, forcing them to inject WD-40 into the controller.

Controllers were consumables; some wear and tear was inevitable.

But the damage rate of the previous life’s Joy-Con was simply too high.

Of course, this was partly due to Nintendo’s consistent cost-cutting in materials.

Nintendo’s quality control had always been a meme, with people joking, "If the quality improves, how will they make money from hardware?"

The prototype in front of him was entirely black—both the console and the controllers.

Unlike the classic red and blue from his previous life.

But color was an easy fix—whether red and blue,

or even a seven-color rainbow, they could produce it.

The overall design was similar to the previous life’s version, but multiple refinements had been made due to technological differences in this Parallel World.

The most noticeable improvements were a sturdier build and a reduced bezel size, which had been a common criticism of the original Switch.

Additionally, features added later in the previous life—such as Bluetooth support—were now built-in from the start.

There was also an integrated voice system, allowing players to use voice commands directly in tablet mode.

Then there was the game cartridge system.

Chen Xu had initially considered whether to keep physical cartridges, since digital games were mainstream in this Parallel World, and physical copies were mostly for collectors.

However, after discussing with Yan Xiong, he learned that cartridge production costs in this world were not high.

This led Chen Xu to decide to retain the cartridge format.

Of course, like in his previous life, the cartridges would include a bittering agent—

for safety, and also as a potential marketing gimmick.

He disassembled a Switch controller, then attached it to the dock to switch into TV Mode.

Although no games were yet adapted, several test demos had been specifically developed.

The system was already highly polished.

"Mr. Chen, what do you think?"

"Some minor details can still be adjusted, but overall, there are no major issues," Chen Xu nodded.

"Also, Mr. Chen, the cartridge samples have been produced," Yan Xiong reported.

Cartridge production was outsourced, while iQue handled quality control and verification.

All relevant patents and brand registrations had already been secured.

All that remained was finalizing the specifications and beginning mass production.

"And not just the Switch and cartridges—don’t forget we can produce our own accessories: screen protectors, protective cases, additional controllers, docks, and other merchandise," Chen Xu instructed Yan Xiong.

"Huh!?" Yan Xiong was taken aback.

"The Switch has a touchscreen—don’t players need screen protectors?"

"And protective cases—just like phone cases, the Switch is a portable handheld, so won’t players want to protect it?"

"Even though the Joy-Con controllers are excellent, that doesn’t mean players won’t want traditional full-sized controllers."

"Also, bags for carrying the Switch when traveling—just because the console itself might not make a profit doesn’t mean we can’t profit from accessories."

"Of course, set reasonable prices—don’t make them too expensive. We shouldn’t end up with just the official label and zero cost-performance ratio," Chen Xu emphasized.

Once the Switch launched, most of these accessories would be essential for players.

And if players needed them, they had to make them.

Not making money when you can? That’s a crime!

..................

Days passed, and May approached.

Online discussions were still dominated by NetDragon and TengHua’s upcoming titles.

No other major new releases emerged during this time.

However, updates to Red Dead Redemption and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare managed to grind some spotlight.

For many players, the most anticipated event was the annual gameplay Expo at the end of May.

This year’s exhibition was particularly exciting.

Given the intense marketing battle between NetDragon and TengHua, it was certain their rivalry would reach a boiling point at the event.

But just then, an unofficial news report surfaced.

Nebula Games would also attend the expo.

And they would reveal news about a new handheld console and new games.

Instantly, the entire gaming community, industry designers, and developers turned their attention toward Nebula Games.

<>