Friday 19 November Sonaya Offices.
At the Sonaya offices, Junpei Hoshida sipped his coffee and munched on snacks during his well-earned break. He had just finished another long session working on the Sonaya 32 console project, codenad Project "Amaterasu"—which would officially be known as the Ga Station. Sitting nearby was Ken Kutaragi, his partner in the project, who was also taking a short rest after their latest round of developnt.
Ken Kutaragi grinned and leaned back in his seat. "Heh, we overlooked one major drawback when we decided to switch from cartridges to CDs. The CDs themselves can't store player save data, and we didn't even think about that when we made the decision a few months ago. I still can't believe we missed sothing so obvious." He let out a chuckle, shaking his head.
He continued, "But thanks to you, Junpei, we've actually solved it. That embedded storage solution you ca up with? That's brilliant. Honestly, I don't think anyone else would've caught it in ti. You really pulled through, man."
Ken took another sip of his drink and smiled with a mix of relief and admiration. "It's easy to get caught up in the excitent of new tech and forget about the smaller things that make a huge difference for players. This is why having a team that actually understands the hardware and how people use it is so important."
Junpei chuckled. "Yeah, that's one thing we didn't realize at first. Thankfully, I rembered how storage systems work on PCs, so we were able to embed 512 KB of storage directly into our system. Sure, it increases the production cost a bit, but it's still far cheaper and way more efficient than sticking with cartridge-based consoles. Plus, it keeps everything compact and streamlined—no need for extra bulky add-ons."
Ken Kutaragi grinned. "Now, all that's left is for our six launch titles to be fully completed. If everything goes smoothly, they should be ready by late December next month. Honestly, I don't think ZAGE can match us at this point. With the head start we have, it might take them a full year just to catch up to where we are now." Ken spoke with confident optimism, clearly proud of their progress.
Junpei frowned and said, "That's not quite right, Ken-san. ZAGE has Zaboru, and there's no way he's going to fall behind. As we both know, they're already deep into developing their next-gen console project. We have no idea how far along they are, and if there's one thing we've learned over the years, it's that ZAGE always defies expectations. We shouldn't be too confident just yet." He spoke calmly while taking another bite of his snack.
Then Ken sigh "Junpei-san its because you are fan of Zaboru renkonan that you thought that way you'll see History are spoken we Sonaya especially in Kurata family are persistent one we might start not as the best but we definitely beco one in electronic industry and video ga industry will sa too we will definitely dominate as well just need ti for it." Ken said with a smile.
Junpei sighed. Ken Kutaragi might have years of experience in other electronics sectors—after all, he was a forr senior employee in another departnt at Sonaya—but when it ca to the video ga industry, he was still relatively new. That lack of familiarity clearly showed in his confident assumptions. If Ken had more experience with how ZAGE operated, he probably wouldn't be so quick to assu they'd be easy to outpace.
Junpei couldn't help but chuckle to himself. "Let's hope you're right about that, Ken-san," he said, not unkindly. He respected Ken's optimism, but deep down, he knew that underestimating ZAGE was never wise—especially with Zaboru at the helm.
The two n leaned back and quietly enjoyed their break, sipping their drinks and letting the silence settle in. It was a rare mont of calm amid the nonstop pressure of developnt. Soon enough, they'd return to the floor, back to the world of circuits, code, and deadlines—but for now, they allowed themselves just a little longer to breathe.
anwhile, at the ZAGE offices in Japan, Zanichi Renkonan—ZAGE's Chief Technology Officer and father of Zaboru—was at the helm of the ZEPS 3 developnt. He was the one leading the charge, ensuring the console t the company's high standards. At the mont, he was focused on solving one of the system's major challenges: the production cost of using both DVDs and cartridges. While DVDs offered massive storage, cartridges provided the essential feature of backward compatibility. Balancing both formats was no easy task, but Zanichi had found a brilliant workaround.
Thanks to his Machine Talk ability, a unique gift that allowed him to understand hardware and optimize systems instinctively, Zanichi was able to fine-tune the performance of ZEPS 3 to unprecedented levels. His solution involved streamlining the console's hybrid architecture so that it could handle both formats efficiently without driving costs too high. This not only preserved ZAGE's legacy support but also future-proofed the console's dia capabilities.
In addition to his technical work, Zanichi was deeply involved in ZAGE's strategic partnerships. The company had invested in both NVIDIA and AMD, giving them access to cutting-edge GPU and CPU technologies. Even though custom CPU and GPU production for ZEPS 3 was already underway by both AMD and NVDIA, Zanichi believed there was still room for refinent. He requested that Zaboru arrange etings with representatives from both companies. He wanted to provide direct feedback and suggestions, hoping to fine-tune the hardware further.
Zanichi's involvent wasn't just technical—it was visionary. His deep understanding of hardware, made him a key figure in the developnt of ZEPS 3. . It was clear that without Zanichi Renkonan, the ZEPS 3 project wouldn't be where it was today.
As for the gas planned for the ZEPS 3, Zaboru had assigned nurous developnt teams to work on them. He had already prepared twelve titles as part of the console's launch lineup, structured around the "Old vs. New" gimmick—a concept that would highlight beloved sequels duel alongside brand-new IPs. Zaboru provided each team with detailed blueprints, story outlines, and initial character designs to guide the creative direction.
Though he laid the foundation, Zaboru trusted the developers to expand on his ideas and bring their own creative energy to the table. His role was that of a visionary architect, offering direction while empowering each team to evolve the core concepts into sothing more refined and engaging.
The Sequel 6 will be
Super Mario 64
tal Gear Solid
The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Ti
Harvest Moon back to Nature.
Shin gami Tensei 2
Starfox 64
The Original 6 will be
Crash bandicoot
Resident Evil
Banjo-Kazooie
Suikoden
Twisted tal
Tomb Raider
For Super Mario 64, Zaboru assigned the Osaka team under the leadership of the legendary Shigeru Miyamoto. Banjo-Kazooie was entrusted to another talented group led by Satoru Iwata. As for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Ti, it was also being developed in Osaka with Eiji Aonuma at the helm. anwhile, ZAGE's Tokyo division was responsible for tal Gear Solid, naturally led by Hideo Kojima, whose cinematic style would define the ga. Resident Evil was in the skilled hands of Shinji Mikami.
The remaining titles were distributed strategically across ZAGE's various teams to ensure a balanced workload and a diversity of creative input. Although Zaboru provided the initial designs, story fraworks, and gaplay direction, he trusted each developnt team with the freedom to iterate and improve the chanics. As long as the changes enhanced the experience, Zaboru welcod them.
Often, developers would present new ideas directly to him, and more than once, Zaboru enthusiastically approved features that weren't in the original plan. This open-door collaboration created an environnt of creative synergy that elevated every project in developnt.
Zaboru was planning to reassign and restructure the developnt teams in preparation for ZAGE's next major chapter, set to begin in 1997. The company's ambitious expansion was on track, with both the ZAGE Tower Japan and the new headquarters in Silicon Valley scheduled to be fully operational starting in January. Next month marked the beginning of a transition period—a crucial phase that would shape ZAGE's future.
Currently, Zaboru was working closely with the USA developnt team in ZAGE USA, as both Starcraft and Chrono Trigger were nearing completion. He wanted to personally oversee these key titles before assigning the next wave of projects to the U.S. division. Once Starcraft wrapped up, he planned to entrust Team USA with additional responsibilities, aiming to strengthen their role in ZAGE's global creative strategy.
To be continue
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