There were many things happening in July. Several ZAGE teams had already completed game development that was scheduled for release this month, and those teams included IZAN, KODO, NOVA, and TEMPEST. It was a busy and productive period, with multiple projects finally reaching completion after months of effort, coordination, and refinement.
For Team NOVA, their work on Ape Escape was completed as expected, and the results were solid. However, instead of assigning them a new project immediately, Zaboru made a deliberate decision. He wanted them to focus entirely on Smash Bros for the time being. Rather than rushing into another development cycle, he prioritized polish,fine-tuning mechanics, balancing characters, improving responsiveness, and ensuring the overall gameplay felt smooth and satisfying. This aligned with what team NOVA asked..
To Zaboru, this phase was just as critical as development itself. A well-polished game could define how players experienced and remembered it. Since Smash Bros was positioned as a major title, he didn't want to risk compromising its quality.
Next, for Team Tempest, their July task was to release the expansion of Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos, titled Warcraft 3: Frozen Throne. Zaboru intentionally priced it very low,around 4 USD or 400 yen,making it extremely accessible. Despite the low price, the expansion offered significant value: a brand-new campaign, updated maps, and additional content that expanded the overall experience. Alongside this, ZAGE also updated the DOTA map, which was included within Frozen Throne, introducing many new heroes and improvements that further strengthened its growing player base.
By keeping the price low and the content rich, Zaboru ensured that more players could join, which in turn made the ecosystem stronger and more active.
After the release, Zaboru assigned Team Tempest new responsibilities. At that point, they were already handling four major ongoing projects,Max Payne, Age of Empires 2, Baldur's Gate 2, and Driver. Each of these was a heavy task on its own, requiring significant effort, coordination, and technical execution. However, Zaboru understood that Team Tempest had grown into a highly capable and reliable team.
Because of that, he made a bold decision,he assigned them yet another major project: Doom 3. It was an ambitious move, but also a calculated one. Zaboru believed that pushing the team slightly beyond their comfort zone would accelerate their growth even further.
Doom 3 from Zaboru's previous life took a different approach compared to the earlier Doom titles, shifting more toward a horror-focused experience rather than pure fast-paced action. The atmosphere was darker, the pacing was more controlled, and the sense of tension played a much bigger role. Instead of overwhelming players with constant enemies, it focused on fear, limited visibility, and psychological pressure. Even so, despite this change in direction, it was still a very good game overall, offering a fresh experience while maintaining the core identity of Doom.
He set a clear target: August 2001. That gave them roughly 13 months to complete the project. It was a tight but achievable timeline, one that would test not just their technical ability, but also their efficiency, coordination, and endurance as a team.
For Team IZAN, they had just finished developing Dino Crisis, and even though they were still handling six ongoing projects, Shinji Mikami, as the team leader, approached Zaboru with confidence. He stated that the team was fully capable of taking on a new task. This surprised Zaboru at first, but he didn't reject the request. Instead, he saw it as a sign of growth. Team IZAN had reached a level where they were not just following orders, but actively seeking more challenges.
Fortunately, Zaboru had already planned something for them. Their next project would be a Bruce Lee game. Since Zaboru had already secured the rights to Bruce Lee, who was now also his Sifu, this project carried both business and personal meaning. The game would be a beat 'em up, staying true to Bruce Lee's martial arts style, but Zaboru wanted to add something unique. He planned to give Bruce Lee a form of "Chi power," allowing for more dynamic combat and slightly supernatural elements while still respecting his identity.
Zaboru planned to make Bruce Lee capable of utilizing a "Thunder Dragon" power in this game, where each of his strikes would be coated in golden lightning, giving his attacks a sharp, explosive feel while still reflecting his speed and precision. This ability would not just be visual, it would also affect gameplay, allowing players to chain faster combos, break guards, and unleash short bursts of power during critical moments. In addition, as a beat em up title, the game would include a wide range of unlockable abilities and upgrades, such as new techniques, enhanced Chi control, and special finishers, giving players a sense of progression and mastery as they continued playing.
This game would also be part of a shared universe, connected with the previously developed Jackie Chan and Michael Jackson games.
He had already decided on the title, "Thunder Dragon Warrior." It was bold, memorable, and fitting for the direction he had in mind.
For the timeline, Zaboru gave Team IZAN exactly one year. The target release would be July 2001. It was an ambitious schedule, especially considering their existing workload, but he trusted their capability. At this point, Team IZAN had proven that they could handle pressure, and this project would be another step in pushing them even further.
As for Team KODO, their work on Ultraman Fighting Evolution was completed once again, showing consistent performance in handling ZAGE IP-based games, which had become their specialty. Because of that, Zaboru decided to assign them another project within the same category, this time a Naruto game.
The concept of the game would be similar to Naruto: Ultimate Ninja on PS2, but Zaboru understood the limitations of ZEPS 3. Since it couldn't fully replicate PS2-level graphics, he planned to slightly reduce visual performance while pushing the system in other areas. His goal was to make the game feel advanced for ZEPS 3, even if it didn't match raw graphical fidelity.
The gameplay would focus on 2D fighting, simple in structure but fun and responsive, with strong emphasis on character abilities and fast-paced combat. Each character would feel distinct, reflecting their personality and fighting style from the anime. However, since the Naruto timeline in this world was only approaching Shippuden, there would be no Shippuden-era characters included. Zaboru wanted the game to stay accurate to its current timeline rather than jumping ahead.
and despite being a fighting game, it would be much simpler in execution. The moves would use easy inputs like down-down circle or up-up circle instead of complex combinations, making the game far more accessible for new players. This approach would lower the barrier to entry, allowing more people to enjoy the game right away, even if it meant the mastery level would not be very deep at first. Still, Zaboru was already thinking ahead. He planned to improve this system in the next installment, gradually adding more depth without losing accessibility.
In his previous life, anime fighting games were often treated as gimmicks, focusing more on characters and flashy visuals rather than solid gameplay. Zaboru wanted to change that approach. His goal was to create games that were not only visually appealing but also mechanically satisfying and worth mastering. He wanted each major anime IP owned by ZAGE to have a truly good game, something that could stand on its own merit, similar to how Dragon Ball games in his previous life eventually found the right balance between accessibility and depth. This Naruto game would be the first step toward that direction, laying the foundation for something much bigger in the future.
As for team KODO making this game , Zaboru saw this project as a way to strengthen KODO's identity. By continuing to handle IP-based fighting games, they could refine their expertise and build a recognizable style.
For the timeline, Zaboru gave Team KODO 14 months, targeting a release in September 2001. It was a reasonable schedule, allowing room for polish and iteration. And as always, if the team needed more time to ensure quality, Zaboru was willing to give it.
Aside from this, Zaboru also asked his lead developers from each team whether they wanted to create their own original games. Most of them gave a similar answer: they wanted to, but not yet. Many were still in the early stages, mapping out ideas, drafting concepts, and figuring out what kind of game they truly wanted to make. Zaboru understood this completely and chose not to rush them. For him, forcing creativity would only weaken the result, so he preferred to let ideas grow naturally over time.
He believed that when the time was right, those developers would come forward on their own, not because they were told to, but because they were ready. That kind of motivation, in his eyes, always led to better games.
At the moment, only one person had stepped forward to work independently—Shigeru Miyamoto. He was already developing a sequel to Mario 64 for ZEPS 3 on his own initiative. This didn't surprise Zaboru at all. If anything, it matched Miyamoto's nature perfectly, someone who constantly created, explored, and refined ideas without needing to be pushed.
Also in his previous life, where ZAGE did not exist, Shigeru Miyamoto was the one who created Mario. Now, in this world, he wanted to create his own Mario game once again, but this time under completely different circumstances and with new possibilities in mind. The experience he carried, combined with the environment ZAGE provided, could lead to something even more refined than before. Zaboru was genuinely excited to see how it would turn out.
Now aside from this, Disney was releasing one of its latest movies, Ice Age, and the movie itself turned out to be really, really good. Many families were enjoying it a lot, and people were genuinely surprised by how many strong 3D animated movies had come out this year. First, there was Finding Nemo from Disney, then Toy Story 2 from Pixar, and now Ice Age from Disney again. It created a sense that this year was a major turning point for animation, where quality and popularity both reached a new level.
Because of this, public excitement toward Disney grew even stronger. Their reputation rose significantly, and more people began to pay attention not just to the movies themselves, but to the companies behind them. Slowly, some started to realize that both Disney and Pixar were, in fact, majority-owned by ZAGE.
That realization surprised a lot of people. ZAGE was already known for its dominance in the gaming industry, but now it was becoming clear that its influence extended far beyond that. It wasn't just a game company anymore. It was also a major force in the movie industry, capable of producing high-quality entertainment across multiple mediums. For many outside gamers, this changed how they saw ZAGE completely.
Walt Disney was later interviewed, and what he said quickly spread across the entire industry. "All of those movies, even the ones from Pixar, are Zaboy's ideas! That Zaboy… his creativity is insane. We're just the ones bringing those ideas to life. Honestly, I wish I were younger so I could keep working alongside him. It's unfortunate… I don't have much time left." His words were raw and honest, and they carried a weight that people couldn't ignore.
That single statement shook the animation industry. Until then, many people had only seen ZAGE as a powerful video game company. But now, it became clear that Zaboru himself was the mind behind many of these successful films. It wasn't just business strategy, it was creative influence at the highest level.
Naturally, the media quickly turned to Zaboru for a response. However, instead of accepting the praise, he handled it in his usual calm and grounded way. "Walt Disney is just being modest," he said. "I'm not really doing anything special. I only give ideas. The teams at Pixar and Disney are the ones who truly make those movies happen. Don't discredit their work. I'm not the one who deserves the praise."
Rather than lowering his image, that response had the opposite effect. People saw it as genuine humility. In an industry where recognition and ego often went hand in hand, Zaboru's attitude stood out even more. Instead of claiming credit, he pushed it back to his teams, and that only elevated his reputation further.
But still Zaboru doesn't really care too much about his reputation as usual.
That was what July looked like for ZAGE. Now, in late July, Zaboru was back inside ZAGE Tower after returning from ZAGE MYTH in China. Everything seemed normal at first, but then he received an unexpected surprise.
To be continue
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