Chapter 499: The History Teacher Who Creates History Himself
Chen Mo’s second elective class was once again packed to the brim.
Considering the overcrowding from last time, the leaders of First University had specifically arranged a lecture hall this time.
This lecture hall was the largest in the entire complex building, capable of seating several hundred people. But even so, every seat was filled.
Liu Hai was speechless. Just how big a room would be enough? Would they have to book an auditorium for performances?
Half an hour before class, students had already started saving seats. Before the lesson began, they scrolled through their phones and chatted idly.
“I wonder what Chen Mo will talk about this class?”
“Last time was just a discussion, covering the general outline. This time, he should go into detail.”
“It seems like last class stirred up quite a bit of controversy online.”
“Yeah, hasn’t it gone viral? Chen Mo said handheld consoles still have great potential in this era. That’s obviously a personal opinion, but it doesn’t match the mainstream view. It’s pretty annoying how some people with ulterior motives are stirring things up.”
“And Chen Mo’s really stubborn. He even posted a Weibo saying he’s going to make a handheld console.”
“He’s a big shot, after all. But I think he probably won’t bring up this topic again before he actually makes the handheld. Only when it’s done will it be convincing.”
“I think so too. Maybe today’s class won’t mention it at all.”
“I don’t think there’s any need to dwell on it.”
Fang Yubin, the dean of the Game Design School, and several professors were sitting in the back row.
Chen Mo had done well in the first class, showing his professional expertise, aside from the minor controversy over his comments about handheld consoles.
They were all looking forward to the content of this class.
Five minutes before class, Chen Mo arrived on time.
He seemed completely unaffected by the negative comments online, his expression very calm.
Before class started, a student in the front row asked, “Teacher Chen Mo, what are we covering today?”
Chen Mo smiled. “Today, we’ll discuss the future development prospects of handheld consoles.”
The front-row students were stunned. What the hell?
Was Chen Mo picking a fight with the people online? Wasn’t the original course plan supposed to be different?
Had he changed the syllabus just to slap those people in the face?
The bell rang.
Everyone waited for Chen Mo to start the second lesson.
Chen Mo scanned the students below. “Today, we’ll cover the second lesson: the future development prospects of handheld consoles.”
The students and professors below were all shocked. What the hell, again?
“Discussing the future development prospects of handheld consoles? What prospects? They’ve been dead for so long!”
“Prospects aside, isn’t this class going off track? The future can’t be just handheld consoles, right?”
“Chen Mo didn’t say the future is only handheld consoles. He just said he’d talk about their prospects. He hasn’t denied phones, PCs, or VR either.”
The students and professors were baffled. Logically, Chen Mo’s best move would be to drop this topic entirely.
He was there to teach. He just needed to explain some basic knowledge. For his outlook on the future of the gaming industry, sticking to mainstream views would have been enough to get the job done.
But Chen Mo seemed to be digging in his heels. Why was he still going on about handheld consoles?
Chen Mo seemed to sense everyone’s confusion and said with a smile, “Don’t worry. What I’m going to talk about is an outlook on the future gaming landscape. The future gaming landscape definitely won’t consist only of handheld consoles. I believe the future will see a long-term coexistence of phones, PCs, VR, and handheld consoles. This status quo will persist until the next technological explosion.”
“Handheld consoles will only gain an edge in certain areas, serving specific groups of people. I think all of you here are especially fortunate, because in the coming time, you will witness the rise and expansion of handheld consoles.”
“Next, I’ll elaborate on this from three aspects: first, the target audience for handheld consoles; second, the advantages of handheld consoles compared to PCs, phones, and VR; and third, the characteristics of handheld console games in the future.”
The students and professors below listened intently, all looking bewildered. At this moment, no one was on their phone or zoning out. The content Chen Mo was presenting was too shocking; everyone was afraid of missing something!
At first, everyone thought Chen Mo was talking nonsense. How could handheld consoles become another mainstream platform alongside PCs, phones, and VR?
Wasn’t that just bullshit?
But as Chen Mo continued explaining, they found it actually made a lot of sense.
Clearly, Chen Mo hadn’t come up with this concept on a whim. It had been carefully thought out.
A full class period seemed long, but it wasn’t really, because Chen Mo drew on a wide range of examples, introducing many game cases.
Among these games were classics from the parallel world and some fictional ones Chen Mo made up to help the students understand better. After all, most of the audience were students, and Chen Mo had to consider their level of comprehension.
By explaining more thoroughly and in depth, everyone could grasp it better.
Chen Mo didn’t plan to reveal all the core content, keeping it relatively superficial. Although there was basically no chance of domestic game companies plagiarizing handheld console games or designs, Chen Mo didn’t want to take any risks.
He had to be cautious with such confidential content.
Soon, Chen Mo’s second class ended.
The crowd below applauded, but some professors and students wore worried expressions.
“I feel like Teacher Chen Mo’s remarks are going to stir up even more controversy.”
“Yeah. Last time, just a brief mention drew so much criticism. Now that he’s gone into detail, those with ulterior motives will definitely find more ammunition to attack him…”
“Actually, there’s no real ammunition. It’s just that these things are unverified. For example, if I said TV game consoles still have room for development, I could give plenty of reasons, but whether it’s actually feasible is another matter.”
“Yeah. Even though what he said makes sense, no popular handheld console has emerged in so many years. Couldn’t others have thought of this idea?”
“Maybe others had the idea but no concrete design plan. Teacher Chen Mo only talked about some possibilities in this class without presenting a specific design. So it’s like talking to a wall—nothing’s clear.”
“I wonder if it’s for confidentiality or if he just hasn’t designed it yet.”
This time, Chen Mo’s boast was even bigger.
Before, he only said handheld console games still had room to survive. That was a vague statement, like how some niche phone brands can still survive as long as the company exists.
If Chen Mo made a handheld console and sold a few hundred thousand units, roughly breaking even, he could claim it had room to survive.
But in this class, Chen Mo directly said handheld consoles would rival the three major platforms—phones, PCs, and VR—and coexist with them for a long time to come. That was just absurd!
Many people’s first reaction was that Chen Mo was talking nonsense!
Sure enough, after the recording of this class was released, another wave of criticism spread online.
“Chen Mo’s second class—why is he still fixated on handheld consoles? How deep is his obsession with them?”
“Yeah, it feels completely like sophistry, just arguing for the sake of arguing!”
Someone even tagged Chen Mo on Weibo: “I used to like you, but after watching the recordings of these two classes, I think you’re like a history teacher leading students astray, teaching wrong history! This elective course you’re teaching could influence other students’ understanding of the gaming industry. With all this personal bias, doesn’t your conscience hurt?”
Chen Mo chuckled and replied, “I can only say that your vision limits your imagination. Speaking of history teachers… Do you know what the coolest kind of history teacher is? The coolest history teacher is the one who creates history himself.”