In February many things were happening across ZAGE. First of all, ZAGE was preparing new tasks for the teams whose games were planned to release in March. In truth, most of those projects were already finished in February, but Zaboru intentionally postponed their release. The market had just experienced the massive launch of the ZGBA along with its twenty‑one launch titles, and Zaboru understood that players and reviewers needed time to cool down and properly digest that wave of games. Releasing even more titles immediately would only overwhelm the audience, so he deliberately spaced the releases out to maintain excitement while avoiding fatigue.
Among the upcoming releases were several major projects. Mafia, developed by TEAM TEMPEST in the United States, was scheduled for release on PC. At the same time Fallout 2, developed by Team Enigma, was also preparing for a PC launch. In addition to that, Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2, another title handled by Team Enigma, was being developed for the ZEPS‑3 console. Because of these projects, Zaboru carefully distributed responsibilities between the teams—assigning one major task to Team Tempest while giving two important projects to Team Enigma so their development pipeline would remain efficient and balanced.
First of all for Team Tempest, as usual Zaboru would assign them a PC project, and this time the task was a third‑person shooting game called Max Payne. Team Tempest were already familiar with creating action‑heavy PC titles, so Zaboru felt confident entrusting them with the project. The schedule he gave them was ten months, which meant the game was expected to release in December 2000.
In Zaboru's previous life, Max Payne had been remembered as one of the most iconic action shooters ever created. What made the game truly special was its cinematic storytelling and the revolutionary bullet‑time mechanic. During combat the player could slow down time while diving through the air, allowing them to dodge bullets and shoot enemies in dramatic slow motion. At the time this mechanic felt completely new and changed how players experienced gunfights in video games.
The atmosphere of the game was also a major reason why it became so beloved. Instead of a bright heroic action story, Max Payne told a dark and gritty tale about a detective seeking revenge after the murder of his family. The narrative was delivered through stylized comic‑book panels combined with strong voice narration, creating a unique noir style rarely seen in games before.
As for Team Enigma's next project, Zaboru chose Spyro. In his previous life, the little purple dragon had been one of the most beloved platforming characters of the PS1 era, and for good reason. Unlike many platformers that focused heavily on strict jumping challenges, Spyro emphasized exploration, freedom, and personality. The worlds were colorful and lively—filled with castles, forests, floating islands, and magical landscapes that encouraged players to wander around and uncover hidden secrets.
The controls were also remarkably smooth for their time. Spyro could glide across large gaps, charge enemies with his horns, and breathe fire with satisfying responsiveness. These mechanics made movement feel quick and playful rather than frustrating, allowing players to flow naturally through each environment.
Another reason the game became so memorable was its atmosphere. Every level felt alive with charming characters, hidden treasures, and small environmental details that rewarded curiosity. Instead of becoming repetitive, the gameplay constantly pushed players to explore every corner of a stage—rescuing dragons, collecting gems, and unlocking new areas.
The soundtrack and art style also played a major role in the experience. Bright visuals combined with energetic music created a light‑hearted fantasy tone that appealed to both younger players and longtime platformer fans.
Because of this balance of smooth gameplay, imaginative worlds, and constant discovery, Spyro had stood out as one of the most enjoyable platformers of its generation in Zaboru's previous life. Now he wanted to bring that same spirit into this world as well. To make it happen, Zaboru gave Team Enigma 11 months of development time—meaning that if everything progressed smoothly, Spyro should be ready by January 2001.
Then the next game is a title planned for the Halloween season, Alone in the Dark. This game is based on a title from Zaboru's previous life called Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare. However, in this world the franchise does not exist yet, which means this version will effectively become the first installment of the series here. Zaboru believes the horror genre is perfect for a seasonal release, especially around October when players are naturally drawn to darker and more suspenseful experiences. Because of that, he specifically scheduled the project with a Halloween launch window in mind. The development timeline is tight—Zaboru expects the game to be ready by October 2000, which gives Team Enigma only eight months to complete the project. Despite the pressure, Zaboru is confident in their ability. Team Enigma has already proven that they can handle complex projects, and the team itself is excited by the challenge. The game will focus heavily on atmosphere, eerie environments, and tense exploration, elements that made the original concept memorable in Zaboru's previous life ..
For now, within Team Tempest and Team Enigma there were not many developers directly proposing completely new original projects to Zaboru. However, that did not mean the teams lacked ideas. Several designers and programmers were quietly preparing their own concepts, refining them internally before presenting anything formally. In The new ZAGE's culture, developers were encouraged to submit ideas only when they were confident the concept was strong enough to stand on its own. Because of that, many of them preferred to polish their proposals first—experimenting with mechanics, writing rough story outlines, and building small internal prototypes—before bringing them to Zaboru for approval.
At the same time, ZAGE's development timeline had begun to shrink dramatically compared to earlier years. The internet infrastructure around the world was improving quickly, allowing teams across different countries to collaborate more efficiently. Large files could now be transferred faster between studios, patches could be distributed more easily, and communication between teams had become really more efficient.
Another major reason for this acceleration was the maturity of the Unreal Engine, the powerful game engine owned and maintained by ZAGE itself. Over the years the engine had evolved into a highly stable and flexible development platform. Many systems that once required developers to build tools from scratch—rendering pipelines, physics simulation, animation blending, and asset management—were now already integrated into the engine.
As a result, development cycles that previously required a lot of time could now be significantly shortened. However, Zaboru deliberately gives his teams more breathing room. That is why projects like Spyro and Max Payne still receive development windows of around 10–11 months, even though technically they could be completed in 7–8 months. Zaboru believes strongly that pushing teams too hard leads to burnout, and he prefers steady, healthy production rather than forcing developers to rush their work.
The next thing that happened this month was that Zaboru began distributing ZGBA development kits to many third‑party developers. These devkits allowed studios to properly test their games on real ZGBA hardware rather than relying only on emulation tools. But that was not the only support ZAGE provided. Along with the devkits, Zaboru also introduced a dedicated development framework built specifically for the handheld. It was based on the company's internal technology and officially named Unreal Engine Advance.
This specialized version of Unreal Engine was optimized for ZGBA hardware, allowing developers to build games much faster than before. Many common systems—graphics rendering, memory handling, audio playback, and controller input—were already integrated into the engine, meaning teams could focus more on designing gameplay rather than struggling with low‑level hardware programming.
As usual, Zaboru allowed developers to use the engine for free, which surprised many new studios at first. However, there was a simple agreement attached to it. In exchange for free access to the engine and development tools, studios would share the technical data they generated while using it. That data would help ZAGE improve the engine further, making future updates more efficient and powerful.
By this point, most developers already understood how valuable such shared data could be. In earlier years many studios had been hesitant about sharing technical information, but ZAGE had built a reputation for using that data responsibly. Developers trusted that improving the engine would benefit everyone involved.
If Unreal Engine Advance continued to mature, studios using it would gain better tools, faster production pipelines, and more stable performance for their games. In the end it created a situation where both ZAGE and the developers benefited—making the entire arrangement a genuine win‑win partnership.
Then this month Zaboru was also preparing a major overhaul for the cartoon division of Nickelodeon, a network where ZAGE already held the majority ownership. Because of that, this was not merely a partnership but part of ZAGE's own entertainment ecosystem. For years the channel had already produced many successful cartoons such as Transformers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, SpongeBob SquarePants, and The Powerpuff Girls, all of which had performed extremely well with audiences.
However, Zaboru believed the cartoon division could evolve even further. Drawing from his memories of modern animation from his previous life, he wanted to introduce a new generation of shows that felt fresher in tone, pacing, and storytelling. Several months earlier he had already presented a long‑term plan to Nickelodeon's internal leadership teams, and since then multiple creative groups had been quietly working behind the scenes to prepare new series.
Under this plan, several brand‑new cartoon projects were scheduled to debut. Writers, animators, and directors inside Nickelodeon had been experimenting with new character designs, comedic timing, and more dynamic animation styles intended to appeal not only to children but also to older viewers. By this point most of the productions were already deep into development, with voice recording, animation work, and music composition nearing completion.
Many of the shows were expected to premiere as early as the following month, which meant Nickelodeon's studios were rushing to finalize editing, promotional trailers, and broadcast schedules.
Then there was ZUSUGA. Zanki Zagashira personally arranged a meeting with Shinji Mikami, hoping to convince him to return to the company. During the meeting Zanki presented an extremely generous offer, promising Mikami a leading position within ZUSUGA's development structure. He even went so far as to say that Mikami could become the head of the entire game development division—or even take the role of CTO if he wanted. The offer included full creative control, a large development budget, and authority over multiple internal teams.
However, Shinji Mikami simply shrugged after hearing the proposal. From his perspective, there was no real reason to return. At ZAGE he was already one of the heads of a major development team, working alongside some of the best developers in the industry. The resources, tools, and freedom available there were far beyond what ZUSUGA could currently offer.
To Mikami, moving back to ZUSUGA would feel like stepping backward in his career rather than forward. ZAGE's work environment was also something he valued greatly. The studio culture encouraged experimentation, creativity, and collaboration between teams, making it an exciting place for developers who truly loved making games. For someone like him, leaving that environment made little sense.
So Mikami politely rejected the offer.
The rejection left Zanki extremely frustrated. Not only had he failed to recruit a talented developer, but the conversation also reinforced how far ahead ZAGE had become compared to ZUSUGA. As he left the meeting, Zanki could still feel a headache forming again, the same one that had been haunting him for weeks while he tried to figure out how ZUSUGA could possibly compete with ZAGE's next generation of handheld systems.
Meanwhile, Zaboru arrived at the NBA All-Star Game arena. He had been personally invited by Michael Jordan, and the NBA was introducing a new format this year called the Celebrity All-Star Game. Zaboru attended as a special guest, though his role in the event would be a little different from the other celebrities.
To be continue
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