After the new year, Nebula Games employees returned to work one after another. At the same time, major game companies online also had various big moves in the new year.
The main directions stemmed from two areas.
The first was the battle royale gameplay sparked by 'War Zone', which many game companies were trying and introducing new content.
The second was the open world created by the globally popular "Red Dead Redemption: Redemption".
Many game companies followed suit.
Although many game companies didn't understand the core of the open world.
But a similar gimmick was enough.
As for how to be similar?
Excellent visual performance, a large map, and various endless tasks.
Especially Atari, who announced a new project non-stop.
As for the type, it was naturally an open world.
However, this time Atari didn't use any adaptation of an existing thing. Instead, they hired an ordinary designer to be the designer of the new project.
From the content released by Atari, some experienced designers in the game industry basically understood their idea.
That is to use the scraps of 'Storm Action' and 'Beautiful World' to put together a new game, and then call it an open world, similar to a canned product.
On the one hand, it was to test the waters of the open world, and on the other hand, it was to make some money.
As for reputation?
It's as if their previous reputation at Atari was very good.
And within Nebula Games, many new employees were added.
"Now it has completely become the shape of Nebula Games." Marcus said with emotion in the office.
After thinking about it for a long time before going back, he finally contacted Lucas and joined Nebula Games.
After all, there wasn't much to choose from, these were the only top-tier game companies in the country.
And he had already talked to NetDragon, so he went directly to Nebula Games to start work after the new year.
"Mr. Marcus, please don't say such strange words." Lucas next to him was speechless.
But he was also quite happy. Because it wasn't just Marcus alone, he also brought a small group of technical personnel.
Of course, many of these people's corresponding contracts with NetDragon would not be able to start work for another month or two, because they were still responsible for NetDragon's projects and needed to complete the handover.
As for things like non-compete agreements, the company had already communicated with NetDragon about it.
After all, the two parties were still in a honeymoon period of cooperation.
"Hey, Boss Lucas, what is this?" Marcus suddenly noticed a device on Lucas's desk.
"IQue Player, of course it is now a brand under Nebula Games." Lucas smiled.
This is considered an old brand in the country, but to be honest, it's not worth much money.
After a little contact, showing a little intention, IQue wanted to sell it.
Of course, it wasn't acquired in the name of Nebula Games, otherwise it would probably take some effort.
"Boss Lucas, are we really going to make a handheld console?" Marcus asked Lucas, showing a strong sense of belonging.
"That's right, Mr. Marcus, as I said before, I think handheld consoles still have a lot of market potential." Lucas nodded with a smile.
Regarding the handheld console, Lucas didn't think about looking for a third-party manufacturer to cooperate with.
After all, the Switch isn't that strong in terms of technology, it's more of a design concept and matched games.
And the technology in this parallel world is much stronger than in the previous one, at least it's completely enough to be used on the Switch.
"Boss Lucas, don't call me Mr. Marcus, just call me by my name. But what direction should we take next?" Marcus asked Lucas.
Hearing Marcus's words, Lucas nodded, but he didn't really care about this.
"Next, the main thing is the game. Nebula Games has partnered with third-party game manufacturers, and some games will be ported at that time."
"At the same time, some suitable games under Nebula Games will also be ported at that time." Lucas said to Marcus.
After all, it's impossible to have no games at all in the early stages of launch.
It's definitely impossible to develop all new games.
So, it's to port some classic games, third-party game manufacturers, and old games under Nebula Games.
Of course, the price will definitely have to be reasonable.
It's impossible to sell old games more expensive than new games like the Switch in its previous life.
After all, in a parallel world, the cost of platform porting isn't that high.
.........
While Lucas and Marcus were talking about these aspects and started planning the content.
A rumor spread online that Nebula Games had acquired the IQue Player handheld console.
When many players first saw this news, they didn't believe it. After all, in the eyes of most people, handheld consoles are basically obsolete products.
It wasn't until some players discovered that the IQue official website had added the relevant Nebula Games LOGO and corresponding links that they were sure it was true.
After this news spread, players and people in the game industry were shocked.
There were a lot of players discussing it on various forums.
"My youth is back, does this mean the IQue Player has been revived?"
"Ahem...let me remind you upstairs, your youth is still gone, because the IQue has become the shape of Boss Lucas and Nebula Games."
"Are you daydreaming? A sequel to Grand Theft Auto? I'm still thinking about developing a VR version of Warcraft! Stormwind City and the numerical easter eggs in it are all there! When will the game be released!"
"But, handheld consoles feel like they're old antiques that have been eliminated by the market, why would Lucas specifically make them?"
"Yeah, it feels like handheld consoles shouldn't have any room to survive, right?"
Many players, including some people in the game industry, were surprised.
If it wasn't Nebula Games making this decision, many players and industry designers might think that the other party was definitely crazy.
But now? Looking at the development of Nebula Games, many people really don't dare to draw a conclusion.
But can the handheld console really be saved?
.........
While there was various discussion and speculation outside, Lucas in Nebula Games didn't care too much.
He didn't even bother to respond to the outside world. After all, Nebula Games isn't a publicly listed company. He doesn't care what the market thinks. Plus, the Switch isn't really ready to face players yet, so there's no need to respond for the time being.
In the office, Lucas received the person in charge of IQue.
At the same time, Andrew, an engineer from the IQue R&D department, was sitting nervously on the bench in the conference room.
After all, the future direction of IQue is really hard to say.
At the same time, he also had a glimmer of hope, after all, the one acquiring them was Nebula Games.
As game industry practitioners, IQue naturally knew Nebula Games' weight.
"Next, all the production lines for the handheld console business will be shut down. We want to develop a completely new handheld console."
"As for the requirements for the new product, Dr. Andrew, take a look and see if there are any technical problems."
Lucas looked at Andrew and handed over a draft.
"Switch?" Andrew looked at the title of the document and paused slightly.
"Yeah, the name of the new handheld console." Lucas nodded lightly.
Switch, the English translation is switch converter.
It sounds a bit strange, but referring to the Switch's model, it's actually quite appropriate.
Because the biggest feature of the Switch is that it can switch back and forth between home console and handheld console.
At the same time, a Joy-Con controller can be combined into a two-handed controller and a motion-sensing controller, fully maximizing the Switch's features.
It can be said that the birth of the Switch, all the functions are to serve the game, and this is also the biggest difference between handheld consoles and devices like mobile phones.
Lucas didn't study the specific hardware technology, he just left it to the professionals.
This handheld console design surprised Andrew a bit. It can be said that he had never seen it before.
The ability to switch between handheld console and home console isn't the key novelty.
The main thing is the motion-sensing mode and the dual Joy-Con controllers. These settings are very novel.
"Boss Lucas, technically speaking, it is completely possible to achieve with the current level. But these functions need to be adapted by game manufacturers. If not..." Andrew didn't speak.
"And if you want to run top-tier masterpieces, the cost may be in the five figures." Andrew was a little embarrassed.
He had also summarized why IQue had ended up where it was today.
That is, the cost of handheld console hardware is too high.
But he felt that this was a vicious cycle. The hardware cost is high, but you can't not upgrade.
Otherwise, wouldn't it be behind the times?
"Under the console mode, the output resolution supports a 2K display. Under the handheld console mode, the video output is 1080P. In addition, other configurations can be compressed as much as possible, including lightweight materials. How much would the cost be if we try to reduce it as much as possible?" Lucas looked at Andrew and said.
Hearing Lucas's words, Andrew was a little dumbfounded.
"In theory, the cost can be compressed to around $120. Of course, this is in the case of production lines being rolled out. If there is enough volume, the cost can continue to be compressed... But Boss Lucas, this configuration?" Andrew hesitated.
Hearing Andrew's words, Lucas was quite surprised.
Compared to the Switch in his previous life, his requirements were a bit higher.
Let's not think about 4K for the time being. After all, if the initial version is 4K, how will the Switch Pro surprise players in the future?
At the same time, a low price is also very important for early promotion.
After all, Nebula Games isn't rich enough to lose $150 for every console sold.
As for the configuration being too low, for a handheld console, the highest support is 1080 output resolution. At the same time, with excellent optimization, its configuration fully supports games like "Dark Souls" having a 1080 resolution performance on the Switch, which Lucas thinks is enough.
And in console mode, 2K resolution support can almost meet the needs of most games, at least it's much stronger than the Switch's performance in its previous life.
"Dr. Andrew, you IQue are very familiar with the handheld console's development and subsequent channel expansion, so I won't say much about this."
"Keep the price of the Switch at $169. Of course, the specific price depends on how much the cost can be compressed at that time. After deducting dealers, offline, and promotion expenses, just make sure we don't lose money." Lucas thought for a while and told Andrew his requirements.
Listening to Lucas's words, Andrew's small head was full of question marks.
Did he hear wrong?
"Boss Lucas, you...what did you say?" Andrew stuttered a little.
"From the factory to the sale, we just need to make sure we don't lose money per console." Lucas looked at Andrew and said.
Getting an affirmative reply, Andrew was dumbfounded.
This...what does this mean!?
Lucas looked at the confused Andrew and didn't explain too much.
(End of chapter)
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