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 members 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 time 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 became 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 immediately 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 time, 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 immediately lit up. "Okay!"
Her answer came so quickly that Zaboru could not help laughing again. For someone who claimed 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 members quietly prepared documents 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 immediately began devouring his meal while relaxing comfortably in his seat. Right now, he still had not activated his Emulator Mind because something 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 smell, 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 immediately 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 some world-famous "super chef" wearing fancy uniforms while talking dramatically about food philosophy. Instead, he was a former restaurant owner who simply loved cooking and had years of real experience making delicious meals 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 meals 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 become Zaboru's personal jet chef with an absurdly high salary, luxurious benefits, and enough money to support his entire family comfortably.
Sometimes Yukimura still found the situation unreal.
Especially whenever he watched Zaboru casually consume enough food to feed multiple grown adults by himself.
So while waiting for his next meal, Zaboru opened his laptop and began reviewing several internal documents. At first, he only intended to check his schedule for ZAGE USA, but his mind slowly drifted toward something 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 become 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 immediately disappear. ZEPS 3 would naturally continue production for some time, especially because its player base was still enormous and many third-party developers were still actively making games for it. ZAGE itself could gradually reduce first-party development 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 time 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 become 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 immediately after thinking about it. He had always been amused by the concept of "demakes," something that existed in his previous life where developers intentionally reduced graphics, scale, audio quality, or gameplay complexity so modern games could fit older systems.
And honestly?
Zaboru loved that kind of thing.
There was something incredibly charming about watching developers recreate ambitious modern experiences using limited hardware. Sometimes the results looked worse technically, but creatively? They could become 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 become completely insane in terms of scale. There would be countless new IPs, huge cinematic games, advanced physics systems, online infrastructures, voice acting, large worlds, and increasingly realistic graphics. Zaboru already knew that many ZEPS 4 games would roughly reach the level of PS3-era games 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 became too comfortable with powerful hardware.
Instead of becoming more creative, many studios simply brute-forced everything using massive resources. Poor optimization became common. Bloated file sizes became 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 memory.
Limited cartridge space.
Limited polygons.
Limited sound channels.
And because of those restrictions, developers became unbelievably creative. They invented visual tricks, clever level design, compressed audio systems, reusable assets, gameplay illusions, artistic shortcuts, and optimization methods that almost felt magical.
That pressure created legends.
Zaboru did not want ZAGE developers to lose that mentality.
Yes, ZAGE would continue improving tools, engines, workflows, and development 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 game design itself. They would need to rethink level structure, enemy counts, lighting, animations, memory management, loading systems, sound compression, and gameplay pacing.
And through that challenge?
Zaboru believed some of the most creative ideas would appear.
Because sometimes limitations did not weaken creativity.
Sometimes 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 became.
'Still, I probably need to clearly flag those games as "Demake" versions so players won't get confused,' he thought. 'And honestly, I don't even want them to release at the exact same time as the original ZEPS 4 versions either.'
Zaboru grinned wider.
'It doesn't need to be perfectly similar. In fact... it could become a completely different game.'
That was the exciting part.
A demake did not need to become a downgraded copy.
Sometimes it could evolve into something unique.
Maybe the ZEPS 4 version of Resident Evil 4 would become a massive cinematic horror-action experience with huge environments, advanced enemy AI, dynamic lighting, and realistic physics. But the ZEPS 3 version?
That version might need to become tighter, faster, and more focused instead.
Different level layouts.
Different enemy encounters.
Different pacing.
Maybe even slightly different mechanics.
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. Sometimes weaker hardware forced developers to simplify games in ways that unintentionally improved pacing, atmosphere, or gameplay flow.
Because limitations forced prioritization.
When developers could not rely on raw graphical power anymore, they needed to rely on stronger gameplay 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. Sometimes the best ideas appeared precisely because resources were limited.
If a developer could make something incredible on restricted hardware, then imagine what they could do later once stronger hardware became 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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