Monday, 13 January 2002 — ZAGE Hub, China Branch
The thirty-first floor of ZAGE Hub China was considerably quieter than the development floors below it. Zaboru's personal office. He had only arrived recently, spending most of the morning downstairs with Team MYTH while helping them solve several development problems connected to their current assignments. By early afternoon, however, another meeting had begun—one considerably larger than anything limited to the China branch.
Several screens covered one side of the conference room, each connected through ZAGE's internal communication network to development leaders scattered across Japan, America, England, Korea, and other branches. A few leaders had traveled to China directly because they were already nearby for development work, while the rest joined remotely. The important thing was that almost every major ZAGE development group was represented.
From England, Rebecca Wood, Super Leader of Team OMNI, joined the meeting to represent ZAGE's European development efforts. Japan had a much larger presence: Shigeru Miyamoto represented Team NIWA, Shinji Mikami Team IZAN, Hideo Kojima Team NOVA, Toshihiro Nagoshi Team FUMA, and Masahiro Sakurai Team KODO. Across the Pacific, ZAGE USA had John Romero representing Team ENIGMA, John Carmack representing Team TEMPEST, and Sid Meier, recently transferred out of TEMPEST and appointed the new Super Leader of Team FROST. Lisa Valentine, meanwhile, attended as the newly appointed Super Leader of Team BLAZE. Peng Gao sat inside the room itself as Team MYTH's leader, while Korea was represented by Seth Kang, recently promoted to Super Leader of Team DYNASTY. Finally, ZAGE's arcade specialists were represented jointly by Oliver Jared and Masaru Yama, the respective senior leaders coordinating Team NEXUS operations across America and Japan.
It was an impressive collection of talent even by ZAGE standards.
Zaboru looked across the screens and the people physically sitting around the conference table before smiling. Ten years ago, the idea of gathering people like this under one company would have sounded ridiculous even to him. Miyamoto, Kojima, Mikami, Sakurai, Nagoshi, Carmack, Romero, Sid Meier and so many others—developers who, in his previous life, had belonged to different companies, different eras, and sometimes entirely different corners of the industry. Here they could argue about design philosophy in the morning and share tools with one another that afternoon.
That alone was still occasionally surreal.
Zaboru leaned forward against the table. "Alright, guys. This meeting shouldn't be complicated. ZEPS 4 is obviously our biggest priority now, especially with launch getting close, but I want to make one thing clear before everyone starts acting like every other ZAGE platform suddenly died overnight."
Several people smiled knowingly.
Zaboru continued, "We still have PC projects, ZEPS 3 projects, and ZGBA projects scheduled throughout this year. Keep them going. If a game is already deep into development and the platform still has millions of active players, I'm not going to suddenly tell the team, 'Sorry, throw everything away because the shiny new box exists now.' That would be stupid."
Shigeru Miyamoto nodded immediately. "Especially with ZEPS 3's installed base. Even after ZEPS 4 releases, it will remain one of our largest audiences for quite some time."
"Exactly." Zaboru pointed toward him before continuing. "ZEPS 4 becoming our primary development focus doesn't mean the older systems stop mattering. We transition naturally. Some players will buy ZEPS 4 immediately. Some will wait six months. Some a year. Some families might stay on ZEPS 3 for several more years, especially if they already have a large collection. That's completely fine."
Masahiro Sakurai adjusted several notes in front of him. "And because ZEPS 4 can play ZEPS 3 software, continuing ZEPS 3 releases also indirectly gives early ZEPS 4 owners more software."
Zaboru grinned. "That's one of the reasons backward compatibility was so important to me. The transition shouldn't create a wall. A game released for ZEPS 3 this year doesn't suddenly become irrelevant to somebody who bought ZEPS 4. They can put the game in and continue playing."
That point mattered enormously. Zaboru had always disliked generational transitions that made enormous libraries feel disposable. ZAGE had spent years building ZEPS 3 into a massive platform, and hundreds of developers had poured enormous effort into its software. Zaboru had no interest in treating those games as obsolete simply because ZAGE had produced stronger hardware.
John Romero leaned closer toward his screen. "So for our existing ZEPS 3 projects, we finish them according to their original plans unless there's a specific reason to move?"
"Exactly," Zaboru replied. "Don't randomly convert a game to ZEPS 4 just because the machine exists. If the project was designed around ZEPS 3 and it's already seventy, eighty, ninety percent complete, finish the damn game. We can always make a sequel or enhanced version later if there's a good reason."
John Carmack gave a small nod. "Avoiding late platform migration also prevents teams from wasting months rebuilding pipelines."
"Right. I don't want technology becoming an excuse for unnecessary redevelopment."
Zaboru then changed the screen behind him, revealing a broad production schedule divided across ZEPS 4, ZEPS 3, ZGBA, PC, and Arcade. Dozens of project codenames appeared throughout the year, some public and others still known only internally.
"For ZEPS 4 specifically," Zaboru continued, "stick with the assignments I've already given each of you. The twelve launch titles are essentially locked. Beyond those, almost every team already has at least one additional ZEPS 4 game in production or planning. Some of you have two. I'm not adding ten more projects tomorrow just because the hardware is finished."
Hideo Kojima smiled slightly. "That sounds unusually restrained for you."
Zaboru stared at him for a moment. "Hey."
Several people laughed softly.
Kojima continued, "You normally finish assigning one project and immediately begin talking about another."
"That is slander."
Shinji Mikami looked toward him. "It's accurate."
Zaboru sighed dramatically but quickly returned to the point. "Anyway, for 2002, I want our teams to release at least another one or two games each for ZEPS $ beyond the launch wave where schedules allow. Not forced. Not rushed. If the game needs more time, it gets more time. But I don't want twelve huge launch titles followed by six months of silence."
Rebecca Wood nodded. "A steady cadence."
"Exactly. ZEPS 4 should feel alive throughout the year. Every month doesn't need some giant blockbuster, but players should regularly have something new to look forward to."
That was something Zaboru considered essential. Launch lineups created first impressions, but the months afterward determined whether a console became a genuine platform or merely an exciting piece of hardware sitting beneath televisions. He remembered plenty of systems from his previous life that launched with enormous attention, only for owners to begin asking the dreaded question several months later: Okay… what do I play now?
ZEPS 4 would not suffer that problem if Zaboru could help it.
The sheer number of ZAGE teams already made maintaining a release schedule easier, but he still wanted discipline. Flooding the market was almost as dangerous as starving it. If ZAGE released five major games within two weeks, they would compete with each other for players' money and time. Good games could disappear simply because something larger released beside them.
Sid Meier leaned forward thoughtfully. "That also gives us room to support each release properly. Patches, online support, community events, expansions where appropriate."
"Exactly. Especially because ZEPS 4 makes post-release support much easier than our older machines. But don't misunderstand that as permission to ship unfinished games." Zaboru's expression sharpened slightly. "Downloadable patches are there to fix unexpected problems, improve things, and support games. They are not an excuse to release something broken because 'we can patch it later.' If I see that mentality starting inside ZAGE, I'm going to be extremely annoying about it."
Several developers smiled because everyone in the meeting knew exactly how annoying Zaboru could become when he disliked a development practice.
Then Zaboru shifted toward the platforms that would continue alongside ZEPS 4. "For January specifically, we already have three releases representing that transition pretty well. Team MYTH has Tales of Demons and Gods coming to ZEPS 3. Team FROST has Rise of Nations for PC. Team FUMA has Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure for ZGBA. All three continue exactly as planned."
Peng Gao nodded. "Tales is already in final preparation. We're not changing anything major this late."
"Good."
Sid Meier added that Rise of Nations was also proceeding according to its PC schedule, while Nagoshi confirmed that Crash Bandicoot's handheld release remained on track. Nothing about ZEPS 4 needed to interfere with any of them.
Zaboru smiled. "That's what I want. ZEPS 4 is an expansion of what we can do, not some giant meteor that wipes out everything we were doing before."
His gaze moved toward the ZGBA schedule in particular. The handheld remained enormously important to ZAGE. Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire were still major releases, Scurge: Hive had only recently introduced an entirely different style of game to the platform, and developers were still finding new ways to push the hardware. Zaboru had already started thinking about the handheld that would eventually succeed it, but that did not mean the ZGBA itself had reached the end.
That little thing still has plenty of life.
Then there was PC.
That subject was considerably more complicated.
Zaboru shifted the presentation again and displayed two large logos side by side.
ZEPS 4
PC
He leaned backward slightly in his chair. "Now this one… I'm still thinking about."
Everyone became more attentive.
Zaboru looked at the two platforms. "In the near future, I want us to seriously consider bringing more ZEPS 4 games to PC. Probably not something I'm going to make our major priority this year, especially during launch. But next year? Maybe."
John Carmack looked unsurprised. He had always been one of the strongest PC voices inside ZAGE.
Zaboru continued, "Console exclusivity has obvious advantages. If somebody wants a game badly enough and the only place they can play it is ZEPS 4, that helps sell hardware. Simple. Exclusive games create identity. They give people a reason to say, 'I need this console.'"
Shinsuke had made that same argument repeatedly in marketing discussions.
"But being available on both console and PC has advantages too," Zaboru continued. "More players. Longer software sales. More international reach. PC games can survive for years if they build the right community. Mods become possible. Hardware keeps improving. Some genres simply fit PC better."
Sid Meier nodded immediately, while Carmack added, "Strategy especially."
"Exactly. Strategy, simulation, certain shooters, online games—sometimes forcing them to remain console-only doesn't actually help anybody."
Zaboru rested one elbow against the table. "The question is where the balance should be. Maybe some games stay exclusive permanently. Maybe some launch on ZEPS 4 first and reach PC a year later. Maybe some release simultaneously. Maybe it depends entirely on the franchise."
That approach felt increasingly attractive to him.
He did not want a rigid rule.
The gaming industry loved creating rules and then defending them long after they stopped making sense. First-party means permanent exclusive.PC and console audiences are separate.A game leaving one platform automatically weakens the original platform.
Zaboru did not entirely believe any of those things.
A strong exclusive could absolutely sell hardware. He had seen it countless times.
But he had also watched incredible games remain trapped on old machines for decades because publishers treated accessibility as some kind of threat like Bloodborne for example if that thing sold on PC in his previous lives it probably sold insanely.
Zaboru chuckled quietly. "Well… being exclusive to the console definitely has its perks. Being available on both PC and console has perks too. I'll think about it properly later. We don't need to solve the entire future of multiplatform publishing in one Monday meeting."
Carmack gave a small smile. "As long as PC remains part of the conversation."
"It always will."
That answer was immediate.
ZAGE had too much history with PC to abandon it. Steam itself was a ZAGE platform. Unreal Engine had deep PC roots. Several of its teams specialized in genres that naturally belonged there. Zaboru might prioritize ZEPS 4 heavily, but he would never pretend console hardware needed to replace computers.
The meeting continued for another hour as each team leader reviewed their current workload, production stage, staffing, and expected delivery windows.
By the end of the meeting, the strategy was clear. ZEPS 4 would become ZAGE's primary console platform immediately, but ZEPS 3 and ZGBA development would decline naturally rather than being brutally cut off. PC would remain independent and important. Arcade development would continue through Team NEXUS. Existing projects would finish on the hardware they had been designed around unless there was a genuine technical or commercial reason to change them.
And ZEPS 4 itself would receive a carefully controlled stream of new software throughout 2002.
One by one, the developers disconnected or left the meeting room until Zaboru was eventually alone inside his office again.
For several moments he remained sitting in silence.
Then his eyes slowly moved toward something resting on the side of his desk.
Twelve Blue-Ray cases.
Not prototypes.
Not blank test discs.
Actual finished review copies.
Zaboru slowly stood.
A grin spread across his face.
"Hehehe…"
He walked toward the twelve cases and placed both hands on the table.
These were the games that would introduce ZEPS 4 to the world.
Not merely technology demonstrations.
Not promises.
Games.
Zaboru picked up the first case and stared at its cover before looking across the entire row. Twelve different projects. Different genres. Different development philosophies. Different reasons for owning ZEPS 4.
"Well…"
He leaned back against the desk and crossed his arms.
"I really can't wait to see people's reactions."
For the first time, the scale of what was about to happen felt completely real.
ZEPS 4 would launch in less than three weeks.
The console was finished.
Manufacturing was accelerating.
Marketing was about to explode.
The pricing model was set.
The digital strategy was forming.
And sitting directly in front of Zaboru were the twelve games that would determine the machine's first impression.
He slowly looked from the first Blue-Ray case to the twelfth.
One by one.
His smile widened.
"Yeah…"
Zaboru reached toward the first case.
"These twelve are going to make people lose their minds."
And the titles were—
To be continued.
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