While Zaboru's YouTube updates were giving Apple and Microsoft major headaches, Zaboru himself was already at the airport. It was late at night, and the airport lights reflected softly against the glass walls as staff mbers quietly prepared his private flight to the United States. As usual, Zaboru had to visit ZAGE USA to check several important matters directly, but this ti Ayumi had decided not to join him.
Ayumi stood beside him with Zenshin holding her hand, while little Arumi rested comfortably in Zaboru's arms. The atmosphere was calm, but there was still a faint sadness in the air because even though these trips were common for their family, farewells never beca completely easy. Zaboru gently hugged Ayumi with one arm while holding Arumi carefully with the other. Then he lowered his hand and softly caressed Zenshin's head, making the boy look up at him with bright eyes.
"You're really sure you don't want to join?" Zaboru asked with a small smile.
Ayumi chuckled and shook her head. "Work is busy too, Zabo. Besides, I'm actually kind of bored going to the United States again. I love staying in Japan."
Zaboru laughed softly before lightly pinching her nose. "Hehehe, you already sound like a rich-girl princess now."
Ayumi imdiately puffed her cheeks, but she did not move away from him. "I am not a princess. I just know what I like."
"That sounds even more like a princess," Zaboru teased.
Zenshin giggled after hearing that, while Arumi made a small noise in Zaboru's arms as if agreeing with her father. Ayumi narrowed her eyes at both of them, but the gentle smile on her face made it clear that she was not truly upset.
Zaboru then softened his voice. "But next ti, let's go to Italy together. I want to see how Inter is doing too, and we can take a proper vacation there. No rushed schedule, no business pressure, just us enjoying the trip."
Ayumi's eyes imdiately lit up. "Okay!"
Her answer ca so quickly that Zaboru could not help laughing again. For soone who claid she was bored of traveling, she was clearly not against the idea when the destination was romantic enough.
Then Zaboru finally bid farewell to his family before boarding his private jet and preparing for the long flight toward the United States. As usual, the inside of the aircraft already looked more like a luxurious moving hotel than a normal plane. Several staff mbers quietly prepared docunts and schedules, while a private chef was already inside the kitchen area, ready to cook absolutely anything Zaboru wanted.
And honestly?
Whenever Zaboru traveled like this, he ate an absurd amount of food.
Well... to be fair, Zaboru always ate absurd amounts of food.
Not long after takeoff, Zaboru imdiately began devouring his al while relaxing comfortably in his seat. Right now, he still had not activated his Emulator Mind because sothing else was currently occupying his thoughts. A large plate of fried rice sat in front of him, several side dishes were arranged neatly nearby, and in his left hand was an ice-cold Pepsi.
Zaboru took another sip while smiling slightly.
Even though he could technically experience food inside his Emulator Mind, eating real food was still completely different. The heat, the texture, the sll, the atmosphere, and even the slight heaviness after eating too much... those things could never fully be replaced.
And honestly?
Zaboru loved eating far too much to ever give that up.
Zaboru casually called out, "Yukimura-san." Then he looked toward the chef and imdiately added, "Another two plates of fried rice, three dumplings, and also fried chicken."
Yukimura smiled helplessly before nodding. "Sure thing, Boss."
Honestly, everyone inside the private jet was already used to this. Zaboru eating enormous amounts of food was practically normal at this point.
Yukimura himself was not so world-famous "super chef" wearing fancy uniforms while talking dramatically about food philosophy. Instead, he was a forr restaurant owner who simply loved cooking and had years of real experience making delicious als for ordinary people. He could cook almost anything well, from simple comfort food to luxurious dishes, and that was exactly why Zaboru liked him so much.
Compared to overly classy chefs obsessed with presentation and prestige, Zaboru preferred people who genuinely understood cooking itself. Yukimura's als always felt warm, satisfying, and honest rather than overly decorative.
And honestly?
Working for Zaboru had completely changed Yukimura's life.
Back then, he was just a struggling restaurant owner trying to survive difficult business periods. Now he had beco Zaboru's personal jet chef with an absurdly high salary, luxurious benefits, and enough money to support his entire family comfortably.
Sotis Yukimura still found the situation unreal.
Especially whenever he watched Zaboru casually consu enough food to feed multiple grown adults by himself.
So while waiting for his next al, Zaboru opened his laptop and began reviewing several internal docunts. At first, he only intended to check his schedule for ZAGE USA, but his mind slowly drifted toward sothing else entirely.
"So... next year, ZEPS 4 will probably be released," Zaboru thought while leaning back against his seat. "The exact date still isn't certain, but once it happens, what will beco of ZEPS 3?"
Zaboru smiled slightly as he stared at the screen. Normally, even after a new ZAGE console released, the previous console would not imdiately disappear. ZEPS 3 would naturally continue production for so ti, especially because its player base was still enormous and many third-party developers were still actively making gas for it. ZAGE itself could gradually reduce first-party developnt and allow outside studios to carry the system for a while.
That was the normal path.
But Zaboru did not want to follow the normal path completely.
Usually, ZAGE consoles had a life cycle of around five years. By 2002, ZEPS 3 would officially reach that five-year mark, making it the perfect ti for ZEPS 4 to take over as the new main platform. From a business perspective, that made sense. A new generation would arrive, marketing would shift, and developers would slowly move forward.
However, Zaboru felt that abandoning ZEPS 3 too quickly would be a waste. The console was still powerful, popular, and deeply loved by players. More importantly, it had already built a massive library and a strong ecosystem. Letting it fade too soon just because a newer machine existed felt too cold for him.
He wanted ZEPS 4 to beco the future, of course.
But he also wanted ZEPS 3 to continue living beside it for a while longer.
He contemplated quietly.
'What if... we made "demakes" of ZEPS 4 titles?'
Zaboru grinned imdiately after thinking about it. He had always been amused by the concept of "demakes," sothing that existed in his previous life where developers intentionally reduced graphics, scale, audio quality, or gaplay complexity so modern gas could fit older systems.
And honestly?
Zaboru loved that kind of thing.
There was sothing incredibly charming about watching developers recreate ambitious modern experiences using limited hardware. Sotis the results looked worse technically, but creatively? They could beco even more impressive.
Because limitations forced developers to think differently.
That was exactly why Zaboru wanted to do this.
During the ZEPS 4 era, ZAGE would beco completely insane in terms of scale. There would be countless new IPs, huge cinematic gas, advanced physics systems, online infrastructures, voice acting, large worlds, and increasingly realistic graphics. Zaboru already knew that many ZEPS 4 gas would roughly reach the level of PS3-era gas from his previous life.
And while that sounded exciting...
It also worried him slightly.
Because in his previous life, Zaboru had seen what happened when developers beca too comfortable with powerful hardware.
Instead of becoming more creative, many studios simply brute-forced everything using massive resources. Poor optimization beca common. Bloated file sizes beca normal. Developers relied too heavily on stronger hardware, better engines, and larger budgets to solve problems that older developers once solved with pure ingenuity.
Back in older eras, developers had to fight against limitations constantly.
Limited mory.
Limited cartridge space.
Limited polygons.
Limited sound channels.
And because of those restrictions, developers beca unbelievably creative. They invented visual tricks, clever level design, compressed audio systems, reusable assets, gaplay illusions, artistic shortcuts, and optimization thods that almost felt magical.
That pressure created legends.
Zaboru did not want ZAGE developers to lose that ntality.
Yes, ZAGE would continue improving tools, engines, workflows, and developnt resources. Of course they would. But he did not want future teams becoming completely dependent on superior hardware and endlessly powerful engines.
He wanted them to keep sharpening their creativity too.
That was why the demake idea excited him so much.
If developers were forced to recreate a massive ZEPS 4 experience on older ZEPS 3 hardware, then they would need to truly understand ga design itself. They would need to rethink level structure, enemy counts, lighting, animations, mory managent, loading systems, sound compression, and gaplay pacing.
And through that challenge?
Zaboru believed so of the most creative ideas would appear.
Because sotis limitations did not weaken creativity.
Sotis they forced creativity to evolve.
'Hehehe... so what if there's Resident Evil 4 on ZEPS 4, but I also want to make a Resident Evil 4 version for ZEPS 3 as well? And how that works?' Zaboru chuckled quietly while staring at the laptop screen. 'Well... that depends on the team.'
The more he thought about it, the more amused he beca.
'Still, I probably need to clearly flag those gas as "Demake" versions so players won't get confused,' he thought. 'And honestly, I don't even want them to release at the exact sa ti as the original ZEPS 4 versions either.'
Zaboru grinned wider.
'It doesn't need to be perfectly similar. In fact... it could beco a completely different ga.'
That was the exciting part.
A demake did not need to beco a downgraded copy.
Sotis it could evolve into sothing unique.
Maybe the ZEPS 4 version of Resident Evil 4 would beco a massive cinematic horror-action experience with huge environnts, advanced enemy AI, dynamic lighting, and realistic physics. But the ZEPS 3 version?
That version might need to beco tighter, faster, and more focused instead.
Different level layouts.
Different enemy encounters.
Different pacing.
Maybe even slightly different chanics.
And through those differences, developers might accidentally discover ideas that worked better than the original in certain areas.
Zaboru had seen things like that happen before in his previous life. Sotis weaker hardware forced developers to simplify gas in ways that unintentionally improved pacing, atmosphere, or gaplay flow.
Because limitations forced prioritization.
When developers could not rely on raw graphical power anymore, they needed to rely on stronger gaplay decisions instead.
That was what Zaboru wanted his teams to experience.
He wanted young ZAGE developers to understand that creativity was not born from infinite resources alone. Sotis the best ideas appeared precisely because resources were limited.
If a developer could make sothing incredible on restricted hardware, then imagine what they could do later once stronger hardware beca available.
That kind of mindset was priceless.
Zaboru smiled to himself while taking another sip of Pepsi.
Honestly, the entire idea sounded absurdly unnecessary from a normal business perspective. Most companies would simply abandon the older console and push everything toward the newest hardware as quickly as possible.
But this was Zaboru.
And to him?
This sounded fun.
So eventually...
He planned to make it happen and beside? He owned ZAGE anyway heheheh
To be continue
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