Thursday, 27 November 1992 – Late Morning
Sakaki took a breath and began to explain his answer. "In my opinion, Street Fighter is such a polished ga, especially for arcades. Although it's almost perfect, for personally, there's no such thing as perfection—everything can be improved. The first thing I would tweak is the character roster. The current lineup is solid, but I noticed there are characters that appear in the stage as CPU fighters but aren't playable. For example, Zabo-man, Guy from Final Fight, Sakura the highschool girl, and even that strange character that appears on Punch Out fantasy circuit, Giga-Chad Mario. They show up as NPCs, but we can't play them. That feels like a missed opportunity. If they were unlockable or had special conditions to play as them, it would add a layer of excitent."
Zaboru nodded, intrigued. Sakaki continued without hesitation.
"The next thing is the story. Right now, the ga focuses mostly on the core combat loop. But imagine if each character had a dedicated storyline—personal motivations, rivalries, maybe even animated intros or cutscenes. It would boost player engagent. People already pick favorites, so giving them deeper lore would turn interest into real connection."
He hesitated for a second, then said, "I think that's all for now. Sorry if it's lacking."
Zaboru leaned back and gave a rare chuckle. "No, it's a great answer. Especially given the six-minute ti limit. Very well, you're hired. Head to HR and finalize the paperwork. Welco to ZAGE."
Sakaki blinked. "Seriously? Thank you, Zaboru! Thank you so much!"
Zaboru waved a hand. "You earned it. I'll be expecting good things from you."
Yumi returned and guided Sakaki to Human Resources where he signed the contract and set his official start date—Friday. Everything about the experience felt surreal to Sakaki.
Outside the ZAGE building, Sakaki practically skipped his way down the sidewalk. "I did it! I actually did it! I'm in!" he whispered excitedly to himself. "Now it's not just Sawada who's living the dream. I'm working at ZAGE too!" Grinning from ear to ear, he headed straight to Bakudan Arcade, ready to celebrate with another round of Street Fighter and ready to brag to anyone he talk too.
Back inside ZAGE HQ, Zaboru was still seated at his desk, frowning in mild disbelief.
"It happened again..." he muttered. "Another ability awakened."
After the major ZAGE expansion eting earlier that week when Zaboru decided to expand ZAGE to the rest of the world, Zaboru had unlocked a new ability—one he hadn't anticipated: the Ga Scanning Eye. It allowed him to see an individual's gaming-related abilities in real-ti, similar to an RPG status window.
Zaboru thought, "As I suspected, I seem to gain new abilities whenever there's major progress—either for myself or for ZAGE. I got this ability right after deciding that ZAGE needs to expand globally and launching that operation. Hmm... anyway, I called Sakaki to test this ability, after all." Zaboru smiled.
Earlier, out of curiosity, he had called Sakaki to his office masking it as a formal interview and used the Ga Scanning Eye on him.
That's when Sakaki sees Zaboru's eyes shining briefly.
Instantly, a stat screen appeared in Zaboru's mind. It categorized abilities into two sections: Ga Developer Skills and Gar Skills.
Sakaki Yukimura - Ga Developer Skills:
Ga Programming: E
Ga Creation Creativity: C
Ga Design (Art Style): D
Gar Skills:
Hand Speed: C
Reflex: C
Gar Instinct: C
Grit: B
Passion: A
Zaboru had smirked when he saw the breakdown. "This power might seem useful, but it's dangerously misleading if overused," he had thought.
Now, reflecting on it again, he leaned back in his chair. "These stats only reflect current capabilities, not potential. People can improve, grow, evolve. This ability might cloud my judgnt if I lean on it too much."
He sighed and stretched. "Besides, it doesn't show the full picture. What about personality? Work ethic? Leadership? Grit isn't even fully quantifiable. If I'm not careful, I'll start trusting the numbers more than my gut."
Zaboru paused, thinking to himself. 'The stats themselves are questionable. For example, if two ga developers have unique art styles and both are rated 'A' by this ability, it still feels vague—because art style is subjective. What one person finds beautiful, another might dislike. Take Studio Ghibli, for instance—many people admire its artistry, but others prefer the cartoonish charm of sothing like SpongeBob. It's all relative. You can't fairly quantify that with a letter grade.'
Still, he admitted it could be helpful in specific cases. "It's a tool, nothing more. And tools are only as good as the hands that wield them."
Zaboru jotted a note in his sketchpad: Use Ga Scanning Eye sparingly. Never substitute for judgnt.
Then he stood, ready to prepare for ZAGE's December lineup. "Well lets begin brainstorming ZAGE New December Release i wonder which ga we should make?"
To be continued.
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