After the main GOTY segment, the event continued as Kenichi stepped forward, his expression lit with anticipation. "Next, we have an important announcement for the future of gaming itself!" he declared, his voice filled with excitement.
Kiroro followed up with a bright smile. "We now present to you a special presentation from the Sonaya team!"
The audience broke into applause, Zaboru included. He leaned back slightly in his seat, intrigued. What is this about? Is Sonaya launching a new console? He grinned slightly. If anyone knows how to pull off a surprise like this, it's definitely Sonaya. They've always been great at this kind of dramatic reveal.
Moments later, the lights dimmed slightly as Junpei Hoshida, the head of Sonaya's Video Game Division, stepped onto the stage with a confident presence. The crowd greeted him with warm applause as the spotlight followed him to the podium.
Junpei smiled and greeted the audience. "Hello everyone, and good night!" he said with cheerful energy. Several members of the audience nodded in return, acknowledging his presence. Junpei continued, "It's been a fantastic event, and congratulations to Chrono Trigger from ZAGE for winning the GOTY award. It's a great game—truly well-deserved." The audience responded with applause, echoing the sentiment. Junpei waited a moment, letting the applause settle before continuing with his presentation.
"What I'm about to reveal is something we've poured years of hard work, passion, and persistence into," Junpei declared with pride. "After countless challenges and innovations, we at Sonaya are proud to present our latest creation—the first-ever 32-bit gaming console: the Game Station!"
At that moment, the giant screen behind him lit up, revealing a sleek, futuristic image of the Sonaya Game Station. The console featured a clean white base accented with subtle red highlights. Its design was modern but bold, with a front-facing disc drive giving it a high-tech edge. Flanking the console were two matching controllers, each sporting the same white-and-red color scheme. The controllers included four face buttons, a responsive D-pad, two bumper buttons, and two triggers—one on each side. Positioned at the center of the controller was a new addition: a small, joystick-like nub that seemed to hint at more precise movement control, possibly for navigating 3D environments or more complex gameplay mechanics.
The overall look of the Game Station was fresh, powerful, and undeniably next-gen. Gasps and murmurs of excitement began to ripple through the crowd as the reality of what Sonaya had created started to sink in.
Everyone in the audience gasped and broke into enthusiastic applause, clearly impressed by the reveal of the 32-bit Game Station console. The sleek design, cutting-edge look, and powerful promise of next-gen gaming had ignited excitement across the entire room.
Junpei Hoshida took a moment, allowing the reaction to settle, before continuing. "With the Game Station, we are embracing CD-based technology—something we at Sonaya have extensive experience with. This shift allows for far greater storage capacity, smoother load times, and richer audio and video quality. In addition, we've implemented a built-in storage system capable of holding user save data, offering a total of 512KB of memory. That should be more than enough to accommodate multiple save files across a variety of titles, giving players more freedom and control over their progress."
The screen behind Junpei changed again, now displaying a sleek interface overview and specs chart, showing the Game Station's hardware architecture, controller layout, and internal systems.
Junpei grinned as the crowd leaned forward with interest. "And our hardware is fully capable of delivering complete 3D gameplay—something that will define the future of gaming. With real-time 3D rendering and support for advanced physics, this console officially launches us into the true 32-bit era. And as always, we're supporting it with strong content from day one. At launch, we'll be releasing six fully developed games that showcase the capabilities of the Game Station."
Junpei grinned as the screen behind him shifted once more, this time revealing a vibrant visual showcase. A new slide came into view—bold, colorful, and cinematic—listing the six launch titles that would accompany the release of the Game Station. Each game title was presented with its own stylized logo and a brief animated teaser loop, giving the audience a quick glimpse into the world and gameplay of each title. There was an audible ripple of excitement across the room as fans recognized familiar franchises and anticipated new ones. These six titles would not only represent Sonaya's rich legacy but also set the tone for what their next-generation hardware could truly offer.
Sun Knight 4
Sherif Juan 4
J yagyu 32
Ultimate Brawler 3D
Dragon Ride 2
Cham Sup
Junpei Hoshida smiled warmly. "We've always cared deeply about our legacy franchises. That's why we've focused on revitalizing our most iconic IPs—and of course, they'll play very differently this time around," he said with pride.
The screen behind him shifted again, now playing fast-paced gameplay footage of all six launch titles. The visuals were stunning—fluid animations, vibrant environments, and smooth 3D rendering that rivaled arcade machines. The audience burst into applause, clearly thrilled at the prospect of experiencing this level of quality at home. The combination of nostalgia and innovation was electrifying.
Junpei let the applause ride for a moment, then smiled again and continued.
Junpei then said "This game station is also able to play any CD movies or music on it. It's a plus!' many audience members gasp then Junpei continue.
"We will officially launch on the holiday of December 30, 1996, with a retail price of 40,000 yen," Junpei announced. "Each video game CD will be available for 9,000 yen."
A wave of surprise rippled through the audience at the pricing. It was undeniably expensive, but for a console boasting such advanced technology and groundbreaking potential, it seemed worth the cost. Many attendees, especially those with deep pockets, were already whispering to each other, clearly considering a purchase.
Junpei raised his voice one final time, his tone filled with excitement and pride. "Start the new era with us—Game Station!"
With that, the presentation concluded to a thunderous round of applause. The crowd clapped enthusiastically, buzzing with energy and curiosity for what the future of gaming would bring.
Zaboru was genuinely surprised—and admittedly, a little excited. True, Sonaya had once again beaten ZAGE to the punch when it came to releasing a next-gen console, just like in the past. But strangely enough, Zaboru didn't feel frustrated. In fact, he barely cared. The ZEPS 3 was still progressing well in development, and he was confident that once it launched, it would completely shake the gaming world to its core.
He leaned back in his chair, chuckling to himself. We were originally planning to release twelve launch titles—mostly sequels and new games with Old Vs New Gimmick, he mused. Then he laughed again, a bit louder. But hey, there's still a couple of months before the ZEPS 3 hits shelves... Maybe I can sneak in one more game and make it thirteen. Just because hehehe.
Zaboru stood up, leaving the FAMICOM booth with a spark in his eyes. As he slid into his car, he couldn't help but grin. That was definitely something. Honestly, I'm kind of looking forward to playing their game. Let's just hope it's worth the price, he thought.
Back at the ZAGE headquarters, Zaboru walked through the front doors with renewed purpose. He was already thinking about concepts, genres, and mechanics for that potential thirteenth title.
Because now, the competition had gotten real—and Zaboru wouldn't just answer back. He'd outdo it.
But then he thought, Still, it's kind of cheeky that Sonaya got their ad spot right after the FAMICOM GOTY award. I wonder how much they paid for that placement. Zaboru chuckled to himself. After all, it was ZEMITSU and Compute X who had asked for his permission to host the GOTY event in the first place. The fact that ZAGE's biggest rival managed to sneak in a major promotion at the same event could easily be seen as a betrayal.
But Zaboru didn't see it that way. If anything, he found it amusing. It's interesting, he thought, and it adds some spice to the scene. He shrugged it off, completely casual about the whole thing.
Aside from that he is really excited that there will be more games to play and hopefully Sonaya games will not disappoint
Meanwhile the video game industry went nuts with the reveal of Sonaya 32 Bit Console The Game Station.
To be continue
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