Zaboru stared at the ASTRO PLAYROOM icon on the finished ZEPS 4 interface for several seconds before a wide grin slowly spread across his face. Seeing the little robot standing there inside the final consumer machine felt strangely different from seeing the same project running through development hardware. He had personally designed Astro Playroom from the beginning, originally as a simple answer to a problem that had bothered him throughout ZEPS 4 development: the machine simply did too many things. ZAGE Network, profiles, friends, messaging, voice chat, Z-Store, media playback, YouTube, ZAGE Forum, downloadable games, physical games, backward compatibility, multiple controllers, screenshots, gameplay clips, Z-Pod synchronization, online services—if ZAGE tried explaining all of it through a thick instruction manual, half the players would never open the damn thing. If they used some lifeless tutorial screen instead, most people would click through it as quickly as possible and forget everything five minutes later. So Zaboru had decided on something much more natural. Teach people how to use ZEPS 4 by giving them a game.
Zanichi stood beside him with his cigar in one hand and glanced toward the television. "You're grinning like you've never seen your own game before." Zaboru laughed. "Designing it and finally playing the complete version on the final retail machine are different things, Dad. Besides, this is the first time I'm seeing everything running exactly the way a normal player will." Zanichi nodded. "Fair enough. Still think you went overboard for something bundled free with the console." Zaboru immediately looked offended. "Free doesn't mean cheap." Zanichi stared at him. "You designed several full mini-games, dozens of collectibles, tutorials for half the system, a museum, hidden characters, secret bosses, and enough ZABO-man nonsense to make people paranoid for years." Zaboru's grin widened. "Exactly. Perfect."
He highlighted the icon. The normal ZEPS 4 background transformed immediately. The screen became a stylized miniature version of the console's internal motherboard, filled with tiny white robots running around like factory workers with absolutely no supervision. One Astro bot rode a memory module like a skateboard. Another struggled to drag a USB cable twice its own size. Two more bounced on a cooling fan before being launched off-screen. A tiny robot wearing a Mario hat chased another dressed like Link while waving a miniature sword then some robots who look like Robo-cop walking around awkwardly while some bots swinging with webs like Spider-man. Then, far in the background, a black-and-silver figure wearing a large helmet, glowing blue visor, and unmistakable Z on its forehead slowly emerged from behind the Raijin processor, looked directly toward the camera for approximately one second, and immediately disappeared again.
Zaboru pointed at the screen. "There."
Zanichi nodded. "ZABO-man."
"Hehehe."
Zaboru had personally designed several ridiculous Astro Playroom variants specifically because he knew the community would tear the entire game apart looking for all of them.
Zanichi watched the animation and said, "You do realize people are eventually going to spend more time looking for that idiot than learning how to use the console." Zaboru nodded proudly. "That means they're still playing." Zanichi exhaled smoke. "You're impossible."
Zaboru pressed the Z button.
The game began loading.
Instead of a standard loading bar, a tiny metallic cube dropped into complete darkness with a soft tok. Another cube appeared beside it. Then another. Each one landed with another short electronic tone. The cubes began moving in sequence, turning sharply, stacking, climbing, and snapping together while the notes formed a tiny melody. Finally the last block landed, completing a large stylized Z. The shape rotated toward the player and burst outward into the words ZEPS 4, accompanied by a short resonant chime.
Zaboru smiled immediately. "Still love this."
Zanichi looked toward him. "You really do have an obsession with startup sounds."
"They matter."
"It lasts six seconds."
"Exactly. Six seconds people remember for twenty years."
Zanichi shrugged. "Psychological manipulation."
The title screen appeared. A small white robot with glowing blue visor-eyes stood beneath the words ASTRO PLAYROOM, noticed the player, then suddenly waved both arms and jumped excitedly. Behind him, dozens of other bots ran through a bright futuristic plaza. One tripped over absolutely nothing and knocked over three others.
Zaboru laughed. "Astro really is stupidly cute."
The screen displayed PRESS START. Zaboru pressed it, and Astro immediately saluted before a message appeared: THANK YOU FOR BUYING ZEPS 4! Another message followed beneath it: MY CREATOR SAYS: "YOU ARE VERY COOL!"
Zanichi slowly looked toward his son.
Zaboru maintained a perfectly serious expression.
Zanichi sighed. "Of course."
"Hehehe."
Astro suddenly turned around and ran toward an enormous circular door. The player gained control immediately. Zaboru pushed the analog stick forward and Astro sprinted across a bright platform. The first few meters existed purely to make players feel the standard controller. Slight movements produced a walk. Pushing farther transitioned naturally into a run. The first jump crossed a small gap, while a second required holding the button slightly longer. Astro's feet made different sounds depending on whether he landed on metallic flooring, glass, plastic, or exposed circuit-board surfaces.
Zaboru deliberately moved Astro in circles, jumped repeatedly, stopped suddenly, then changed directions.
Zanichi raised an eyebrow. "Testing your own controls?"
"Finished hardware changes feel more than people think."
The analog sticks were slightly tighter than the development controllers. The vibration response was cleaner. Button travel felt better. The weight distribution of the wireless pad changed how quickly Zaboru shifted his hands between inputs.
He smiled.
"Feels great."
Zanichi nodded with obvious pride. "It should."
The opening path led into the ZEPS CORE, Astro Playroom's central hub. Zaboru had deliberately designed the area like a ridiculous miniature city constructed from components inside the console itself. Memory modules formed buildings. Blue-Ray discs rotated vertically like giant monuments. USB plugs became street lamps. Controller buttons floated as moving platforms. Huge silver cooling pipes curved through the skyline. Tiny Astro bots populated the area, each performing some stupid activity. One was trying to climb inside a memory-card slot. Another repeatedly pressed an oversized power button and electrocuted itself. A third stood beside a Blue-Ray disc wearing sunglasses as though it were sunbathing.
At the center of the plaza stood several giant gateways representing different parts of ZEPS 4. CONTROLLER LAB, NETWORK CITY, MEDIA BAY, LEGACY VAULT, PLAY ZONE, and ZEPS MUSEUM floated around the plaza.
Zanichi nodded slowly. "This part I actually like."
Zaboru turned toward him. "Only this part?"
"I said actually."
"Cold."
Zanichi continued, "A player doesn't need to understand what the labels mean immediately. They just explore."
"Exactly."
Zaboru moved toward Controller Lab first. The door opened into an area resembling a giant workshop filled with enormous recreations of controller components. Here, Kong-Tech ZABO-man appeared on a large instructional screen: an absurd black cybernetic gorilla wearing silver armor, a glowing blue visor, and a luminous Z on its forehead. He held a ZEPS 4 controller delicately between two enormous metal fingers
The tutorial began with basic inputs but quickly transformed into actual gameplay. Astro entered an obstacle course where analog movement controlled narrow platforms, triggers operated mechanical doors, and vibration communicated hazards before they became visible. One section required crossing a long metal bridge while giant pistons slammed down from above. Instead of giving the player a visual warning every time, the controller vibrated lightly on the side corresponding to the next impact.
Zanichi's eyes sharpened. "That's good."
Zaboru smiled. "I wanted people to learn that vibration can communicate information, not just make explosions feel stronger."
The next section demonstrated the motion controller without forcing it into the main game. Astro entered a small hoverboard challenge where tilting the controller adjusted balance while traditional buttons handled acceleration and jumping. Zaboru leaned slightly left. Astro shifted his weight naturally. He leaned right. The hoverboard curved around a corner. Then a ridiculous giant fan activated ahead.
Zaboru overcorrected.
Astro flew directly into a wall.
Zanichi burst out laughing.
Zaboru stared at the screen. "That was intentional."
"Of course."
"Testing collision."
"You designed the collision."
"Exactly."
Zanichi continued laughing.
The next area was Network City, which turned ZEPS 4's online systems into a tiny cooperative city. Instead of simply telling players where the Friends List existed, Astro met little holographic bots representing fictional users. Players could practice sending friend requests, accepting invitations, joining parties, muting voice communication, sending messages, and viewing profiles inside a simulated environment that could not accidentally contact real people.
The tutorial guide here was Business ZABO-man, wearing an enormous silver suit over black armor, blue visor, a Z on his forehead, and carrying three briefcases for no apparent reason.
A speech bubble appeared: FRIENDS ARE GOOD. RANDOM PEOPLE SCREAMING INTO YOUR HEADSET ARE OPTIONAL.
Zanichi snorted.
Zaboru grinned. "Educational."
One simulated player immediately joined Astro's voice party and began producing incomprehensible robot screaming.
A button prompt appeared:
MUTE?
Zaboru pressed it.
The screaming stopped.
EXCELLENT DECISION.
Zanichi laughed. "That part stays."
"It was always staying."
From there, Astro entered a fake Z-Store environment where players could browse fictional demos, check download progress, and understand storage management without purchasing anything. One fake game was called ACCOUNTANT EXTREME 2002, whose cover showed a muscular accountant firing numbers from a calculator. Another was ZABO-MAN TAX EVASION, marked NOT AVAILABLE IN YOUR REGION.
Zanichi stared at his son.
Zaboru smiled innocently.
"I have questions."
"Don't."
They continued into Media Bay, where the game taught music, video, photo, and Z-Pod functions through small challenges rather than menus. In one section, players sorted songs by moving Astro across giant spinning records. In another, they assembled photographs in the correct order while Disco ZABO-man danced in the background wearing a gigantic afro over his helmet, silver sunglasses somehow placed over the blue visor, and a sparkling black jacket.
The YouTube portion used an entirely simulated version of the service filled with joke videos. CAT SLEEPS FOR 8 HOURS, TORO KAMI SCREAMING COMPILATION, HOW TO COOK RAMEN WITHOUT DESTROYING YOUR KITCHEN, and ZABO-MAN SIGHTING??? DEFINITELY REAL!!! appeared among the fake selections.
Zaboru immediately selected the ZABO-man video.
The video opened.
ZABO-man appeared inside it.
He slowly looked toward the player.
Then reached outside his own video frame, grabbed the window, and pulled it shut.
A message appeared.
ZABO-MAN DOES NOT CONSENT TO OBSERVATION.
Zanichi stared for half a second before laughing openly.
Zaboru pointed toward the screen. "See? Masterpiece."
"You wrote that yourself, didn't you?"
"Obviously."
Completing tutorials awarded collectibles for the ZEPS Museum. That section was one of Zaboru's favorite ideas. Instead of meaningless trophies, players gradually unlocked miniature models of old ZAGE hardware: early ZEPS prototypes, ZEPS 1 cartridges, ZEPS 2 peripherals, ZEPS 3 controllers, ZGB models, ZGBA shells, arcade boards, discarded concepts, and even joke items from ZAGE history. Each model contained short descriptions written to be entertaining rather than encyclopedic.
One early ZEPS prototype had the description: IT WORKED. BARELY. WE DO NOT TALK ABOUT THE HEAT.
Then they entered the PLAY ZONE.
This was where Astro Playroom stopped pretending to be merely a tutorial.
Several mini-games appeared around the room: Z-KART, ASTRO BRAWL, CIRCUIT RUNNER, Z-BEAT, BOT OPS, and MINI QUEST.
Zaboru selected Z-Kart first.
Eight tiny Astro racers appeared on a track built directly across a giant motherboard. The race began beside enormous memory modules before diving beneath cooling pipes and launching across spinning Blue-Ray discs. Boost strips shaped like USB ports accelerated the karts, while small battery pickups acted as temporary energy items.
The first lap was simple.
The second introduced environmental hazards.
A cooling fan suddenly activated beside the track and pushed Zaboru sideways.
"Whoa—"
His kart hit a capacitor.
Astro spun.
Two racers passed him.
Zaboru immediately sat forward.
Zanichi noticed.
"It's your own game."
"Competition is competition."
"You built the AI."
"And apparently I built disrespectful AI."
By the final lap, Zaboru was cutting corners aggressively, drifting around circuit traces, and using a risky shortcut across a narrow silver rail that required delicate analog control.
He crossed the finish line first.
Zaboru raised one fist. "There."
Zanichi stared. "Congratulations on defeating children's tutorial AI."
"Victory doesn't care."
Next came Astro Brawl, a surprisingly competent miniature fighting game with intentionally simple inputs. Astro, Heavy Astro, Speed Astro, Guard Astro, and Robo Astro each represented a slightly different play style. Zaboru selected Speed Astro and immediately began experimenting with movement.
Within less than a minute, he discovered an aerial cancel into a wall bounce.
Zanichi stared.
"You've never played the finished version."
"No."
"You already found that?"
Zaboru continued juggling Heavy Astro. "I made the system."
"That doesn't mean you should bully it."
Then, after three victories without losing a round, the arena suddenly darkened.
A black portal opened.
Zaboru stopped moving.
Zanichi smiled slightly. "You put that trigger there."
"Still cool."
A silhouette walked through.
Black armor.
Silver plating.
Glowing blue visor.
Large Z across the forehead.
This version of ZABO-man looked like a compact cybernetic martial artist with twin energy batons attached to his forearms.
SECRET CHALLENGER — ZABO-MAN
The hidden boss moved instantly.
Astro was kicked across the arena.
Zaboru's grin disappeared.
"Oh?"
ZABO-man vanished.
He reappeared behind him.
Another hit.
Zaboru sat forward.
Zanichi laughed quietly. "You look offended by your own boss."
"I told the combat programmer to make him difficult."
"And?"
"They listened too well."
The fight became genuinely intense. ZABO-man could counter repetitive attacks, punish missed throws, cancel recovery animations, and temporarily disable the arena floor beneath the player. Zaboru lost the first attempt, nearly won the second, then completely changed strategy on the third. He began baiting counters, delaying attacks, abusing spacing, and saving his heavy strike specifically for the moment ZABO-man attempted to transition between phases.
The final hit landed.
ZABO-man collapsed.
For several seconds he remained on one knee.
Then he stood, gave Astro a slow thumbs-up, and vanished.
SECRET FOUND — 1 OF ???
Zanichi noticed the question marks.
"How many are there?"
Zaboru smiled.
"I'm not telling."
"You created the game."
"Exactly."
Zanichi sighed.
They played several other mini-games afterward. Circuit Runner became a fast puzzle-platformer where Astro rerouted electricity through moving components while avoiding overloaded circuits. Z-Beat used standard controller inputs for rhythm patterns while optional motion gestures added performance flourishes without being required. Mini Quest was an absurdly compressed RPG with one village, one dungeon, three enemy families, equipment upgrades, a dramatic final boss, and a secret merchant who looked suspiciously like ZABO-man wearing a fake beard over his helmet.
Finally came Bot Ops, a tiny third-person shooter designed to demonstrate dual-stick aiming, trigger response, vibration feedback, and online-style party communication without requiring actual online play. Zaboru moved Astro through a training facility while robotic targets attacked from elevated platforms. Cover could be destroyed. Certain enemies required switching between rapid-fire and charged shots. A simulated teammate occasionally shouted useless advice through voice chat.
"Behind you!"
Zaboru turned.
Nothing.
Then an enemy shot Astro from the opposite side.
Zaboru stared.
Zanichi laughed.
Zaboru muttered, "I forgot I wrote that joke."
After nearly an hour, Zaboru finally returned Astro to the central hub. He leaned back in the chair and looked toward the screen while dozens of tiny robots continued running around the miniature ZEPS city.
"Hehehe… yeah."
Zanichi glanced toward him. "Yeah what?"
"This is exactly what I wanted."
"You made the damn thing."
"I know." Zaboru smiled. "But seeing the concept finished is different. The controls feel better on the retail pad. Loading is faster. The transitions are cleaner. Some of the sound implementation is better than my original notes."
Zanichi nodded. "It does the job. Someone buys ZEPS 4, plays this for an hour, and they already understand a large part of the system without reading anything."
"Exactly."
Zaboru looked toward the main ZEPS 4 interface again. Even at launch, the machine would already feel absurdly broad. Online play, voice communication, friends, messaging, profiles, Z-Store, media, YouTube, ZAGE Forum, backward compatibility, downloadable content, screenshots, gameplay clips, standard controls, motion controls, old games, new games, physical games, digital games.
And both father and son already knew ZEPS 4's launch form was only the beginning.
There were things deliberately left for later. Features that were finished only partially, others still being refined, ideas that required broader infrastructure, and several surprises Zaboru had no intention of throwing at the public all at once.
Zanichi noticed the familiar grin appearing on his son's face.
"Don't start."
Zaboru looked innocent. "I didn't say anything."
"You don't need to."
Zaboru laughed. "I'm just thinking that people are going to have fun watching this machine grow."
Zanichi took another drag from his cigar. "As long as 'grow' doesn't mean you walk onto the twelfth floor next month with another twenty impossible requests."
Zaboru looked toward him.
Zanichi immediately narrowed his eyes.
"Boss."
"No promises."
"Goddammit."
Zaboru laughed and looked once more toward the finished ZEPS 4 glowing beneath the television. The hardware was complete. Astro Playroom was ready. Most launch games were nearly finished. The ecosystem was coming together exactly as he had envisioned.
ZEPS 4 itself was done but not everything needed to be released at the same time..
Zaboru grinned look at one things like Rulers near the ZEPS 4 then he took it…
To be continued.
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