Chapter 1464 1382 — ZEMITSU Talk: ZAGE Anomaly

Junpei smiled faintly after Kiara's question, then leaned back in his chair as he considered how honest he wanted to be. After a few seconds, he gave up trying to soften it. "ZEPS 4 is insane. There's really no better way to describe it. Honestly, it feels years ahead of what most of us expected the next generation to look like." He rested one hand near his drink and continued in a more analytical tone. "If you think about the natural evolution after ZAGE's ZEPS 3 or Sonaya's Game Station 32, something like X-Box or i-Play makes sense. Stronger hardware, better 3D graphics, larger storage, more online functionality, digital services. Both X-Box and i-Play were clearly inspired by what Steam had already demonstrated on PC when they started building their own online and digital ecosystems."

Junpei gave a short laugh before shaking his head. "And honestly, that was roughly what we expected from ZAGE too. We assumed they would take those ideas, integrate them better, give the machine stronger hardware, and naturally create something more polished than everyone else. Then suddenly—boom—ZEPS 4 arrives, and it goes far beyond that. The graphics are absurd, the specifications are absurd, but the features are what surprised me most. ZAGE Network, ZAGE ID, Z-Store, digital games, hard-drive storage, media functions, screenshots, video clips, backwards compatibility, built-in applications… everything is already connected from day one even as someone competing with them, I have to admit it's extremely impressive." Realizing how enthusiastic he sounded, Junpei smiled awkwardly. "I really sound like Zaboru-san now. I'm sitting on a ZEMITSU podcast praising a competitor."

Kiara laughed brightly. "You really do! A little more and you'll start saying, 'You are very cool!'"

Mitsu chuckled while Nigo merely allowed a small smile before asking the obvious follow-up. "So, if you think ZEPS 4 is that far ahead, do you think X-Box and i-Play simply don't stand a chance against it?"

Junpei stared at him for half a second, then laughed. "That is clearly a trap question."

Nigo's expression stayed almost perfectly neutral. "It's just a question."

"That makes it worse." Junpei shook his head, still smiling. "I'm not answering that directly. Those consoles are still young, their libraries will grow, their companies have enormous resources, and the market changes quickly. Time will tell us how they actually perform."

Kiara immediately pointed at him with a cheerful grin. "Hoshida-san, you're afraid!"

"I am employed, Kiara-san."

Mitsu chuckled at the answer, but instead of pushing Junpei further into dangerous territory, he shifted the subject toward something the Sonaya executive could discuss more freely. "Fair enough. Then let's talk about the launch lineup. We released our emergency ZEPS 4 review issue recently, and honestly, even the lowest score we gave was Monster Hunter at eight out of ten. That's still a genuinely good score."

Junpei nodded immediately. "And honestly, that says a lot. Forget the scores for a second. ZAGE released twelve games alongside the console. Twelve. That alone is absurd." He looked toward the three hosts. "Take the recent X-Box and i-Play launches. If I remember correctly, both launched with roughly six or seven games. And naturally, not every one of those games receives the same amount of attention. You usually have a few major projects, some decent supporting titles, and then one or two where you can clearly feel that the budget, development time, or priority simply wasn't the same."

Kiara suddenly interrupted with a cheerful grin. "Well, all the i-Play games suck, though."

Mitsu immediately laughed and turned toward her. "Kiara, one day you're going to create a serious problem for this program."

Nigo barely changed expression. "It is difficult to get in trouble for stating an opinion."

Kiara looked triumphant. "See?"

Junpei only laughed while Mitsu shook his head helplessly. After gesturing apologetically toward their guest, Mitsu said, "Anyway, Hoshida-san, please continue before my own hosts destroy our relationships with every company in the industry."

Still smiling, Junpei returned to his point. "Right. The strange thing about ZAGE's twelve games is that there really isn't an obvious weak link. I'm not saying every player will love every one of them—that would be impossible—but each game understands what it wants to be."

He began going through the lineup without turning the podcast into a full review show. "Devil May Cry is stylish as hell. Its combat feels excellent, Dante has a ridiculous amount of personality, and the whole game understands that making the player look cool is part of the fun." Kiara's eyes immediately lit up, and she could not resist her first interruption. "AH, I love that! Dante acts like getting attacked by demons is entertainment!" Junpei laughed and nodded. "Exactly. His personality and the gameplay actually support each other."

Junpei continued before Kiara could add more. "Then Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne feels like ZAGE took what already worked about SMT and pushed it much further. Press Turn makes weaknesses, resistances, buffs, and debuffs genuinely matter. It's difficult, but usually in a way where losing teaches you something." He then moved directly into Need for Speed: Underground, praising its identity more than any individual mechanic. "Underground has atmosphere. That's the easiest way to put it. Nighttime streets, tuner culture, customization, wet roads, music—you can see one screenshot and immediately know what game it is."

Kiara interrupted for the second time, smiling almost involuntarily. "AH, I love the menu music!"

Junpei stopped and looked at her.

Kiara immediately laughed. "Sorry! Continue."

He shook his head with a smile. "Yes, Kiara-san. The menu music is very good."

From there Junpei moved more quickly through several games. "TMNT gives you genuinely strong four-player co-op instead of simply relying on the license. ZAGE Kart is pure multiplayer chaos. Monster Hunter introduces this completely different loop of hunting monsters, learning them, breaking parts, gathering materials, then turning what you killed into better equipment. Super Mario Sunshine is a perfect example of using stronger hardware for color, animation, water, and artistic expression instead of simply chasing realism."

When he reached Pokémon Colosseum, Junpei became slightly more animated. "And Pokémon is interesting because they didn't simply say, 'Let's make the handheld game in 3D.' Colosseum is fully 3D, yes, and finally seeing Pokémon properly animated on a home console is impressive, but they also changed the tone. Wes is different, Orre is harsher, Shadow Pokémon give the story a darker edge, and Double Battles make the gameplay feel different from the normal handheld adventures."

Kiara opened her mouth.

Junpei noticed.

Mitsu noticed.

Nigo noticed.

Kiara slowly stopped herself and smiled awkwardly.

Junpei laughed. "Go ahead. That would be number three."

Kiara immediately gave in. "AH, I love that! Shadow Pokémon are so sad, and Wes is really cool!"

Junpei nodded. "There. Three interruptions."

Kiara blinked. "You were counting?"

Mitsu calmly took another sip of coffee. "We all were."

Nigo added, completely straight-faced, "Your consistency was impressive."

Kiara looked between the three men and then slowly leaned back in her chair. "Okay. Fine. I'll behave now."

Mitsu smiled approvingly. "Excellent."

"I'm still excited."

"You can be excited internally."

Kiara crossed her arms with exaggerated seriousness and pressed her lips together. The expression was so unnatural for her that Junpei laughed again before continuing.

"Then you have Z-Sports, which is probably one of the strangest projects in the lineup because it isn't trying to impress traditional players first. It's showing what the Z-Remote can do through activities almost anyone understands. Baseball, tennis, bowling, boxing, golf. You don't need somebody to explain twenty buttons before you understand the basic idea."

Kiara nodded vigorously without speaking.

Junpei glanced at her. "Very good."

She narrowed her eyes at him but kept quiet, causing Mitsu to chuckle.

Junpei moved on. "Halo: Combat Evolved gives the console a strong science-fiction FPS, and honestly the online multiplayer feels incredibly natural. Then Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas…" He paused briefly. "That one is probably the easiest launch game to point at and say, 'This could be Game of the Year.' Obviously the year has barely started, but the scale and amount of systems packed inside it are ridiculous. The world is huge, CJ changes physically, there are gyms, martial arts, cars, properties, gangs, basketball, gambling, side activities… and somehow there's still a proper story underneath everything."

Kiara visibly inhaled as though she wanted to say something.

All three men turned toward her.

She froze.

Then she silently gave them a thumbs-up instead.

Junpei started laughing. "She really is trying."

Nigo gave a small nod. "Improvement."

Kiara finally muttered, "You guys are annoying," but she was smiling as she said it.

Junpei finished with Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, describing it briefly as a completely different technical showcase. "MGS2 demonstrates the more realistic side of the hardware. Human faces, expressions, environmental details, lighting, stealth AI, cinematic presentation—it looks insane while still actually using the hardware for gameplay systems rather than just prettier characters."

He then leaned back slightly and looked over the lineup as a whole. "But the important thing isn't simply that all twelve games are good. Look at how different they are. Stylish action, JRPG, street racing, co-op beat-'em-up, party racing, hunting, platforming, Pokémon, motion sports, FPS, open world, stealth. ZAGE didn't release twelve games competing for one audience. They released twelve different reasons to buy ZEPS 4."

Nigo nodded slowly. "That's probably what makes the launch difficult to answer competitively."

"Exactly," Junpei said. "If ZAGE released twelve action games, then fine, maybe people who don't like action simply ignore the machine. But here almost everyone can look at the lineup and find something specifically for them."

He paused, then smiled as another thought occurred to him. "And technically, saying twelve is still not entirely accurate."

Mitsu immediately understood. "Astro Playroom."

"Exactly." Junpei chuckled. "And honestly, that might be one of the smartest ideas of the entire launch. ZEPS 4 is a complicated machine with a ridiculous number of features, so instead of throwing a huge manual at the customer, ZAGE made a free game that teaches them how to use it. You explore, learn the controller, discover system functions, see ZAGE history, mess around with mini-games, and there are enough secrets and jokes that people continue playing even after they understand the console."

Kiara's eyes brightened again at the obvious mention of what she loved most about Astro.

She opened her mouth.

Then immediately covered it with both hands.

Junpei stared at her for a moment before laughing. "ZABO-man?"

Kiara enthusiastically nodded through her hands.

Mitsu laughed. "Good restraint."

Nigo added, "Technically she didn't interrupt."

Kiara lowered her hands and smiled proudly. "I'm learning."

Junpei shook his head, still amused. "Anyway, Astro Playroom is genuinely something I wouldn't have thought of before seeing it. Turning a hardware tutorial into an actual game is extremely clever."

Kiara finally spoke once Junpei had clearly finished. "You really are impressed, Hoshida-san."

"I am."

"And honestly, me too. I'm especially obsessed with Devil May Cry and Halo right now."

Nigo looked toward Junpei before offering his own conclusion. "The most absurd part remains that all of this released simultaneously. Most companies attempting twelve projects of this size alongside an entirely new console would probably collapse under their own production schedule."

Junpei chuckled. "Exactly. And that's why I said earlier that it would be foolish for Sonaya to simply run headfirst into ZEPS 4 right now. We have to be realistic. Competing doesn't mean pretending your opponent isn't doing something exceptional."

Mitsu smiled, then naturally turned that statement into another direct question. "So ZEPS 4 really is something special. Which means I have to ask—when Sonaya eventually releases its next console, will it exceed ZEPS 4?"

Junpei immediately laughed. "You people really do enjoy trying to get me fired."

Mitsu shrugged casually. "Hey it's my job i have to ask."

Junpei shook his head and answered carefully. "Our goal is obviously to build something capable of at least matching the standard ZEPS 4 established. Beyond that, I'm not saying anything."

Kiara finally frowned playfully. "Stingy!"

Junpei chuckled. "Alive and employed."

That brought another laugh from the table. The conversation had remained surprisingly relaxed despite discussing direct competitors, and Junpei himself had become much more comfortable as the podcast continued. Nigo kept the discussion grounded whenever it drifted too far, Mitsu remained relaxed but never hesitated to ask something blunt, and Kiara—after exactly three enthusiastic interruptions—had somehow managed to restrain herself for the rest of Junpei's review.

Mostly.

Clearly ZEPS 4 are loved but not everyone feel that way…

To be continued.