The moment the ZGB commercial premiered, it took Japan by storm. Across the country, ZAGE fans—especially those who already owned a ZEPS—were buzzing with excitement. Social media, gaming arcades, electronics stores, and even school hallways became flooded with talk about the new ZAGE handheld ZGB. The hype was unstoppable.
One guy said to his friends "Man! I can't believe something like that is possible! gaming in your pocket!? that's straight for Sci-fi man!". his friend then answered "I know right!? and I'm really excited about it! Especially Pokemon games! It looks like you collect cool animals! I'm really excited".
Similar conversations played across Japan.
It wasn't just the fans who were excited. Third-party developers were instantly intrigued. Several studios reached out to ZAGE directly, eager to learn how they could create games for the ZGB. Zaboru, ever forward-thinking, responded positively. He assured them that ZAGE was working on a development guideline book and would distribute it to interested developers soon.
Meanwhile, back at home, Sanika—Zaboru's younger sister couldn't hold her excitement any longer. She stormed into her brother's office, practically bouncing in place. "Nii-san! I want one! Please! Just let me try it!"
Zaboru sighed, gently patting her head. "You have to wait like everyone else, Sani-chan. It will be released next week. Just hang on a little longer."
Sanika pouted but she said "You promise me I would get one right!?" Zaboru smiles and nods "Of course Sani-chan".
Meanwhile, James Yoel—who had flown to Japan after Zaboru promised him a surprise—caught the ZGB commercial and was absolutely floored. The sleek design, the bold features, the catchy theme song, the vibrant energy—it all screamed global phenomenon to him. Stunned, he didn't waste a second. He picked up the phone and demanded a meeting with Zaboru. Grinning, Zaboru told him to come by his office right away.
"Zaboru! That thing's insane! When can we release it in the U.S.? This is going to be huge!"
Zaboru chuckled. "Hold your horses, James. We need to stabilize sales in Japan first. Once we have enough data and stock, I promise, you'll be the first to know." James nodded and reluctantly waited for Zaboru to ready release this on the US market.
Not everyone was thrilled, though. Over at Sonaya HQ, Hikaru Kurata—Sonaya CEO and ZAGE's biggest rival—was furious. He had heard rumors about ZAGE working on a secret project and was prepared for something big, but not this.
Hikaru quickly arranged an emergency meeting with his top executives at Sonaya.
Inside the sleek executive boardroom, tension filled the air as Kurata paced furiously in front of a projection screen still frozen on the final frame of the ZGB ad. Seated across from him were Aoyama, the CTO; Makoto, head engineer; and Junpei, the composed head of the home console division. None of them spoke at first, waiting for their furious CEO to break the silence.
"So, you all saw the ZGB ad," Kurata snapped.
They nodded.
"Can we replicate it?" he asked sharply.
Aoyama hesitated. "Possibly, but we'd need to examine the device first. It might take months to develop something comparable, and we still need to assess whether the ZGB will truly resonate with the audience," he said, trying to remain composed.
Hearing this, Hikaru Kurata's forehead throbbed with frustration, and he slammed his palm onto the desk with a loud thud.
"Even a brain-dead person could tell that thing's going to sell like crazy! Why? Because you can play games anywhere, you fool! The aspect of playing game On the go is really appealing!. Why can't you grasp that, Aoyama!? I don't care—get our R&D team on it right now and start figuring it out! And you too, Makoto! I don't care how, but you're going to study that damn thing inside and out!"
Kurata's voice echoed through the room, red-faced with anger, while Aoyama wiped the sweat from his brow and replied in a strained voice, "Understood, boss."
Then Junpei calmly interjected. "I don't think rushing is the answer, sir."
Kurata paused, his expression shifting from rage to curiosity. "Go on," he said, giving Junpei the floor. Kurata trusted Junpei more than most—after all, Junpei had a sharp eye for both market trends and game development, and his instincts in the gaming sector had proven right more than once.
"Yes, the ZGB will likely succeed, but we don't know the full specs. We don't know the software ecosystem, the player preferences, or the tech behind their battery.
I think we need to observe how ZAGE rolls out their game library for the handheld—what genres work best, how players respond, and which features are most utilized. Also, they mentioned something called Z-Batteries that allow 9 to 10 hours of playtime. That's clearly not a standard battery. It's probably a proprietary power cell developed specifically by ZAGE for the ZGB. At this point, we have no idea if we'll even be able to source them. If we can't, we might have to develop our own custom battery tech. I believe Sonaya has the technical expertise to pull it off, but still it's going to require time, resources, and a solid understanding of ZAGE's battery chemistry and optimization. Without knowing more, we might waste time replicating something we don't understand."
Kurata considered this, nodding slowly. "Alright. We wait. But the moment it launches, I want our best people analyzing it thoroughly—no shortcuts, no surface-level guesses."
He narrowed his eyes and continued, his tone sharper. "And when we do analyze it, I want real results this time. No vague reports, no half-baked theories. I want detailed findings, actionable insights, and I want them fast. No excuses—are we clear?"
The team nodded. The race had begun.
And across Japan, excitement for the ZGB only continued to grow.
To be continue
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