Chapter 500: The New VR Connection Mode
Chen Mo's remarks about handheld consoles once again stirred up quite a stir, but while the internet was buzzing with heated discussions, Chen Mo remained very calm.
He didn't need to refute anything at all; as long as the handheld console was produced and players could actually play the finished game, that would be enough to explain everything.
At that point, players would understand why Chen Mo was so certain that handheld consoles could secure a place in the future.
However, developing a handheld console was not something that could be completed overnight.
Just like smartphone development, the speed of research and development often depends on multiple factors, and different manufacturers have varying speeds.
Some manufacturers develop one unit a year, some develop one every six months, and some faster manufacturers can produce one in a month or two. Of course, the quality of those is often not guaranteed.
Those manufacturers that update once a year aren't necessarily slow; it's just that the technology hasn't advanced enough, and the new phones they produce don't have any obvious advantages, so there's no need to rush.
In the parallel world, related technology was more advanced, so the production time was correspondingly shortened. However, considering that many components of this handheld console needed to be custom-made, the time would be extended accordingly.
According to Zhou Jiangping's estimate, the first prototype would take at least two and a half months to complete. As for whether it could meet Chen Mo's requirements, that was hard to say. If it didn't, adjustments might be needed.
Chen Mo felt this timeline was acceptable. The production of *Super Mario Odyssey* also required time. Although it wasn't a VR game, it had a lot of content, and some details needed repeated debugging. As long as both could be completed around the same time, that would be fine.
...
At the experience store, Chen Mo was chatting with Zou Zhuo in the VR gaming area.
"I feel like the players in those two gaming pods have been playing for over five hours already. Isn't it a problem that they haven't come out yet?" Chen Mo asked, puzzled.
Zou Zhuo inquired, "Store manager, have you not been following the news lately?"
Chen Mo nodded. "Yeah, I've been busy with the new game recently and haven't paid much attention to the news. What's up?"
Zou Zhuo said, "Apparently, there's been another technological innovation in VR gaming pods recently. On one hand, the level of mental fatigue players experience while playing VR games has decreased. On the other hand, a brand-new VR connection mode has been introduced, called the Relaxed Connection Mode."
"Relaxed Connection Mode?"
Chen Mo was taken aback. What kind of black technology was this again?
Zou Zhuo explained, "It's said that this Relaxed Connection Mode is the opposite of immersive experience mode. It's a new connection method for VR gaming pods. In this mode, the player's consciousness won't be as focused; it will even be somewhat relaxed. For example, if immersive connection is like having a nightmare, then Relaxed Connection Mode is like light sleep."
"Of course, the player's consciousness is still awake, but it's in a very relaxed state. In this mode, players will be placed in a special scene with soothing background music."
"In this environment, players' minds can rest. After one hour in Relaxed Mode, the player's mental state will be greatly relieved, allowing them to experience Immersive Mode again."
"However, even with this Relaxed Connection Mode, players can't spend more than seven hours total in the gaming pod each day. That means after four hours in Immersive Mode, then one hour in Relaxed Mode, they can do another two hours in Immersive Mode. Any more than that isn't allowed."
"This Relaxed Mode can also serve as a way to decompress. For example, if a player is tired from work, they can experience this Relaxed Mode in the VR gaming pod to effectively relieve their mental fatigue."
"I see." Chen Mo nodded.
He had been busy making the handheld console and the new game *Odyssey* lately and hadn't been paying attention to this. He didn't expect such black technology to appear.
Obviously, the biggest significance of this Relaxed Mode was to extend the time players could spend in VR gaming pods and, to some extent, alleviate their mental fatigue.
But what Chen Mo was more interested in was whether this Relaxed Mode could also be used to arrange some simple mini-games for players.
Recently, the rate at which he was gaining Happiness Points and Resentment Points had dropped significantly...
Chen Mo took out his phone and scrolled through the chat history in the Top Designer chat group.
The information in this chat group was always at 99+, and everyone was too good at chatting... Chen Mo usually had a lot of things to do and didn't bother to join the conversations, so he hadn't paid attention to what everyone was discussing.
Opening the chat history and scrolling up a few pages, Chen Mo indeed found everyone's discussion about this Relaxed Mode.
There were some introductions to this Relaxed Mode online, but they certainly weren't as reliable as the conclusions drawn by these professional designers.
Chen Mo roughly skimmed through it. Obviously, the indie game designers in the chat group were very interested in this Relaxed Mode, considering it a crucial opportunity.
In Relaxed Mode, the VR gaming pod would play some soothing and melodious background music. Additionally, there was a default scene of blue sky, white clouds, and grassland.
Both the scene and the background music were designed to help players relax their minds better.
However, in Relaxed Mode, players could actually play games too.
Of course, the games in Relaxed Mode would definitely be completely different from normal games. In this mode, only very simple, very casual games would be allowed. The system would automatically detect players' brainwaves while playing these games. Only games that could help relax the mind would pass the review and be included in the game store for this mode.
This was where the opportunity lay.
Because Relaxed Mode was a brand-new VR connection mode, there weren't any good games available for it yet. Players could only stay in the system's default scene. While it could still relieve mental fatigue, it was inevitably a bit boring and monotonous.
These indie game designers were all considering that if they could be the first to develop a casual game suitable for this connection mode, they would definitely capture the market.
After all, since there were no games for this connection mode yet, any game made would be played by players.
Many designers had already started taking action, brainstorming ideas for games suitable for Relaxed Mode.
"Relaxed Mode? That's quite interesting."
Chen Mo also became intrigued.
During this period, the Happiness Points and Resentment Points he had harvested had decreased significantly. Because *Human: Fall Flat* and *The Normal Adventure* had been online for a while, players who were interested had already played them and basically experienced the core fun of the games. As a result, subsequent emotional generation had been relatively low.
But for Chen Mo, Happiness Points and Resentment Points directly determined how many times he could draw from the lottery, so the more, the better.
There was still some time before *Super Mario Odyssey* was finished. During this period, Chen Mo didn't plan to just wait around.
Coincidentally, since the VR gaming pod had introduced this new Relaxed Connection Mode, Chen Mo had also thought of a game that was very suitable for this mode.