Another world Game Developers in Japan`s 1991

Wednesday, 2 July 1994

Zaboru was at the office—but he wasn't working. Instead, he challenged every willing ZAGE employee to a match in Tekken. Not a single one managed to land a hit. That's because most employees were still new to Tekken—while Zaboru? He was already very, very good. Even in his previous life, without cheats reincarnated abilities, he had been a solid player who occasionally entered local and national tournaments. He wasn't a champion, but he was no pushover either. Now, with all the enhancements and knowledge in this world, he was on another level. He wasn't just good—he was dominant. Over fifty employees lined up to face him, and not one could even land a blow. It was pure madness.

Hideo Kojima stepped up next. Zaboru selected Heihachi, while Kojima went with Paul. Kojima played cautiously, trying to bait Zaboru into making the first move. "Just one hit is all I need," he thought. As Zaboru charged forward, Kojima spotted his chance and launched a high kick—only for Zaboru to sidestep, sweep his legs, and chain it into a flawless combo.

"PERFECT," the screen flashed.

Kojima sighed, slumping in his chair. He could handle most ZAGE employees, but against Zaboru? He felt completely outclassed.

Zanichi Zaboru's father and ZAGE CTO watching nearby, whistled. "Damn, boss. You're... insanely good at video games. I don't even know what to say."

Yugo was practically glowing. "BOSS-SAMA IS TOO COOL!"

Even Kojima laughed. "It's unreal, boss. Honestly." Kojima's respect for Zaboru had deepened. Like Yugo, he now saw Zaboru as more than a company figurehead—he was a visionary. But Kojima wasn't just a fanboy. What impressed him most was how Zaboru consistently thought about the players. His ability to design games with both depth and accessibility, while also mastering them himself, was rare. That combination made Zaboru, in Kojima's eyes, the ultimate role model in gaming and for himself.

Zaboru chuckled. "Maybe you all just suck?"

Zanichi grinned. "Better hold on to that, boss—someday I'm gonna beat you!"

Everyone laughed.

Meanwhile, Yugo said, "But still, Tekken has really complex moves—unlike other ZAGE fighting games, right?"

Hideo Kojima nodded. "True. While there are advanced movements in Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, and MARVEL VS ZAGE, in Tekken, moves that require complex input might only be one movement so its really hard to chain those combos."

Zanichi added, "Right, so Tekken will have a high skill ceiling—even for newcomers. Doesn't that concern you, boss?"

Zaboru chuckled. He knew this issue well. In his previous life, Tekken was like a legacy series. To truly excel, players either had to be veterans of the previous games or just pick easier characters and have fun. Still, Zaboru wasn't worried.

"Don't worry about it," he said confidently. "They're going to love this."

The other employees could only nod in agreement.

Meanwhile, fans across Japan were glued to the latest issue of ZAGE POWER, the monthly magazine that hits stands on the second of every month. As expected, it featured a full spread on Tekken—and the reactions were electric.

"Whoa! So many characters! And look at all these move inputs!" one player said, eyes wide.

"Wait… is this game actually complex? Like way harder than Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, or even Marvel vs. ZAGE?"

"Exactly!" his friend shouted. "This game's gonna kick our asses—and it's gonna be awesome! I'll kick your ass in it too!"

"Hah! You wish!"

Another player flipped through the pages. "It's fully 3D too! Like, can we move up and down now?"

"I don't even know how ZAGE does this stuff," someone said. "I'm just glad I'm alive right now."

His friend nodded. "As long as Zaboru's running ZAGE, they'll never stop blowing minds." Clearly another Zaboru fan boys

The group erupted in agreement.

Meanwhile, at Sonaya...

Yesterday at Sonaya, engineers were still analyzing the ZEPS 2 machines and cartridges—trying to figure out how ZAGE had managed to make the console both cheaper and more powerful than the Titan Dive. They'd been chipping away at this side project for months, but only this month did Hikaru Kurata commit full manpower to it because Sonaya was ramping up for a new project.

Then, out of nowhere, the Tekken trailer dropped—and left Hikaru Kurata speechless.

Now he and Junpei Hoshida sat together in silence, flipping through ZAGE POWER's feature on Tekken, trying to make sense of what they had just seen.

"Fully 3D arcade… how? Isn't that going to be insanely expensive?" Hikaru Kurata asked, eyebrows furrowed.

Junpei Hoshida shook his head. "I doubt it, boss. Maybe Zaboru found a way to produce real 3D graphics that still work in cost-effective arcade cabinets."

Kurata narrowed his eyes. "We need to move into this market. We can't let ZAGE dominate the 3D space too."

Junpei nodded. "Agreed. But let's not rush. We should buy one Tekken cabinet, break it down, study the hardware and code. Once we understand how they pulled it off, we can begin our own 3D arcade project."

Kurata gave a silent nod, rubbing his temples.

The headache was already returning.

"Damn you, Zaboru. Why can't you just stick to consoles and 2D games? We already backed out of the handheld market. Then you jumped into the PC—before we were ready. And now you're taking over arcades in 3D?"

He sighed, already mentally shifting budgets and manpower toward forming a Sonaya 3D arcade division. This was too big to ignore.

ZAGE and Zaboru always seemed to leave Sonaya behind—especially in the home console space. They moved faster, delivered stronger titles, and brought more creativity to the table. Then there was handheld gaming. Sonaya's team had ultimately abandoned it, citing the technical challenges. Meanwhile, ZAGE made it work—and thrived.

To make matters worse, ZAGE kept expanding into new markets. In the U.S., their PC games were selling like hotcakes. With a growing number of PC gamers stateside, ZAGE's appeal was skyrocketing. Sonaya wanted a piece of that, too, but their PC division was still in its infancy.

Then came arcades. Before the era of 3D arcades now, Hikaru Kurata had already decided to pull Sonaya out of the arcade space—just like handhelds. It seemed like the smarter move at the time, given the rising costs and limited returns.

But now? With 3D entering the picture, Kurata couldn't sit still. He believed 3D was the future of gaming. That meant Sonaya couldn't afford to abandon or ignore it any longer.

Back when Sonaya released the Titan Drive, a 16-bit home console, they promoted it with the slogan: "Play Arcade at Home." It was a jab at ZAGE, which only had 8-bit home consoles and 16-bit arcade machines at the time. Sonaya wanted to frame themselves as the company bringing real arcade power to living rooms. But now, that slogan started to feel ironic.

Perhaps ZAGE took the mockery to heart. Since then, they had unleashed arcade titles like OutRun, Dance Dance Revolution, and now Tekken—games that pushed beyond anything the Titan Drive could ever handle.

What once seemed like a confident boast from Sonaya had become a punchline. The slogan "Play Arcade at Home" now felt like a bad joke. 

Hikaru Kurata sighed. "Maybe in the future its a bad move to provoke ZAGE…" Hikaru Kurata gave a bitter laugh before he focused on something else.

Across the Pacific, at Microsoft HQ, Bill Gates was enjoying his breakfast. He thought about the Tekken ad and smirked.

"3D graphics... Zaboru, you really are something else."

He wouldn't say it out loud, but in his mind, Bill respected Zaboru. The guy wasn't just leading—he was shaping the future of gaming. Still, Bill had his own ambitions he also assured that projects for the September of Windows 94 showcase will definitely be safe in Zaboru hands.

"Someday, Microsoft will create what ZAGE creates—and the things ZAGE can't. For now lets just Learn from the best"

With that thought, he took another bite of pancake and kept planning.

To be continued

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