Chapter 1480 1398 Fighting Game Future

Friday, 27 February 2002.

Inside ZAGE Tower, Zaboru was currently holding another meeting, although this one wasn't with one of the usual game-development teams responsible for ZEPS 4's launch lineup. Sitting around the conference table were four people representing one of the more unusual divisions within ZAGE: Team NEXUS.

Unlike most ZAGE development teams, Team NEXUS wasn't concentrated entirely in Japan. It had two major branches, one operating in Japan and another in the United States, with both constantly exchanging technology, programmers, artists, hardware engineers, and game-development techniques. While Team NEXUS had originally become famous internally for its arcade work and fighting games, their expertise had slowly expanded far beyond simply creating arcade cabinets. Their engineers specialized in high-performance rendering, animation technology, motion capture, extremely responsive input systems, arcade hardware, networking, and pushing graphical technology harder than most normal development groups. That expertise had become surprisingly valuable during development of both ZEPS 4 and Unreal Engine 4, particularly when it came to low-latency input, high-performance 3D rendering, animation blending, and maintaining stable performance even when games became visually demanding. It made sense too; fighting games were unforgiving. In an RPG, losing several frames occasionally might be irritating, but in a competitive fighting game those same frames could determine whether someone blocked an attack or got punched directly in the face.

Now, however, NEXUS had another project, and it was something Zaboru had been thinking about for years: the next generation of arcades. ZAGE arcades were already significantly more advanced than traditional arcades had been years earlier. Cabinets had stronger hardware, digital networking between nearby machines, large-scale tournament support, downloadable updates, and increasingly sophisticated 3D graphics. But Zaboru wanted something more. He wanted the arcade to stop behaving like an isolated machine and instead connect directly with ZEPS 4, Steam, ZAGE Forum, ZAGE Network, and most importantly, the player's own identity.

Sitting around the table with Zaboru were the four current leaders overseeing Team NEXUS's two branches. From Japan were Masaru Yama and Yumi Uehara, while the American branch was represented by Leonardo Patterson and Kimberly Ninario, both of whom had flown to Japan because the current project required both divisions to cooperate closely.

Zaboru leaned against his chair with a grin. "So... what do you guys think about my idea?"

Masaru immediately smiled. "We're already used to your absurd ideas, boss. But we're not overwhelmed! You always help us whenever your absurd ideas become too difficult!"

Yumi slowly turned toward him. Leonardo closed his eyes while Kimberly quietly sighed. Everyone who had worked with Masaru long enough understood that he wasn't insulting Zaboru. That was simply how the man spoke. Unfortunately, Masaru had a remarkable talent for making completely sincere compliments sound like personal attacks.

"Masaru-san..." Yumi muttered.

"Hmm?"

"Perhaps don't call the company owner's ideas absurd directly in front of him."

Masaru blinked. "But they are absurd."

Yumi's eye twitched while Zaboru suddenly burst out laughing. "Hahahaha! My absurd ideas, huh?"

Masaru smiled brightly. "Yes!"

"At least you're honest."

Yumi facepalmed. Leonardo shook his head and muttered, "I'm amazed he's still alive."

Kimberly chuckled. "Boss probably likes him because nobody else would say it."

"Exactly!" Zaboru replied before leaning forward and activating the display on the table. A diagram appeared showing several different platforms connected around one central ZAGE Network account. "But seriously, think about it. Arcades are already popular again, especially with the stuff you guys have been making. Dead or Alive 2 and Bloody Roar 2 are still packed with players. Soulcalibur 2 cabinets are still running well. Mortal Kombat: Armageddon still has its audience, and Tekken still has competitive players everywhere."

The four nodded. Team NEXUS's recent games had done extremely well. Dead or Alive 2 and Bloody Roar 2, released only several months earlier, had become two of the most popular modern fighting games in arcades. Dead or Alive 2 attracted players with its smooth 3D fighting, counter-heavy combat, throws, multi-level stages, breakable environments, and enormous roster, while Bloody Roar 2 occupied a slightly different space, faster and more savage, where fighters could transform into beasts and completely change the rhythm of a fight. Even older NEXUS projects continued circulating through arcades. Soulcalibur 2 remained one of ZAGE's strongest weapon-based fighters, Mortal Kombat: Armageddon continued attracting players who enjoyed its enormous roster and ridiculous violence, and Tekken 2, although no longer the newest fighter on the market, remained historically important as one of the projects that established NEXUS's reputation in the first place.

Zaboru tapped the display. "We've already proven people still want arcades. So instead of treating them like leftovers from the old gaming industry, let's make them part of the modern gaming industry."

Another diagram appeared showing the ZAGE ARCADE CARD, or ZAC.

"Every player gets one of these," Zaboru said.

Yumi adjusted her glasses. "Connected directly to their ZAGE ID?"

"Exactly. Your ZAGE Forum account, Steam account, ZEPS profile, and Arcade Card shouldn't behave like four completely unrelated identities. They're all you."

Kimberly leaned forward, interested. "So someone enters an arcade, inserts or taps their card, and the cabinet automatically recognizes them?"

"Yep."

"Saved settings?"

"Yep."

"Player name?"

"Obviously."

"Online ranking?"

"That's the important part." Zaboru grinned. "Imagine walking into an arcade in Tokyo, putting your ZAGE Arcade Card into a Guilty Gear machine, and it immediately knows who you are. Your name appears, your ranking appears, your match history appears, your preferred control settings load automatically..."

Masaru's eyes widened. "And unlocked characters?"

"Depending on the game, yeah."

"Costumes?"

"Could work."

"Player titles?"

"Absolutely."

"Match records?"

"Of course."

Masaru slammed both hands onto the table. "Boss! That's absurd!"

Yumi looked exhausted while Zaboru laughed. "See? This is why I like this guy."

But the concept went beyond simple profile information. Zaboru changed the diagram again, and three large boxes appeared labeled ARCADE, ZEPS 4, and STEAM, with lines connecting all three.

Leonardo immediately became more serious. "This is the part I'm more worried about."

"Cross-play?"

"Exactly. Account integration is possible. That's mostly an infrastructure problem. The arcade reads the card, talks to ZAGE Network, loads account information, and sends results afterward. Difficult, but manageable. Actual matchmaking between arcade cabinets, ZEPS 4, and PC is different." Leonardo pointed toward the three platforms. "Let's say Tekken 2 receives a ZEPS 4 and PC version. Arcade hardware has completely standardized performance. Every cabinet is running exactly what we expect. ZEPS 4 is also standardized. PC isn't. Someone could have an extremely powerful computer while someone else has the absolute minimum hardware required to run the game. If that second machine can't maintain stable performance, competitive matches become a mess."

Zaboru nodded casually. "That's mostly a PC problem."

Leonardo stared at him. "Boss."

"What?"

"You say that very casually."

"Because we literally can't stop people from owning shitty computers."

Kimberly tried not to laugh. Zaboru shrugged and continued, "We'll establish minimum requirements properly. Our games also need to be optimized so even the minimum required specifications can maintain the intended framerate. If someone's machine still can't pass a performance test, then don't allow ranked cross-play. Let them play offline or casual matches, but competitive matchmaking needs stable performance."

Leonardo paused. "...That's actually reasonable."

"Of course it is!"

Yumi immediately added, "After the part where you said people own shitty computers."

"That part is also reasonable."

Masaru nodded enthusiastically. "I agree."

"Don't encourage him," Yumi muttered.

Leonardo continued, "There's another issue. Arcade players might have an advantage. The cabinet hardware will always run perfectly, the displays are selected specifically for fighting games, arcade sticks have extremely low input latency, and the entire environment is built around the game. Someone playing from home might have a worse display or controller."

Zaboru laughed. "Then that's their problem too!"

Leonardo covered his face.

"Come on, Leo. We're never going to make every environment identical. Even two PC players could have different monitors, controllers, keyboards, audio equipment, whatever. If somebody actually gets dressed, leaves their house, travels to an arcade, pays to play, sits in front of dedicated hardware and uses a proper cabinet..." Zaboru grinned. "Let them have the nice setup. They earned it!"

Kimberly laughed. "That's a strange philosophy."

"But I'm not wrong."

"No, unfortunately."

Zaboru leaned back. "The important part is that the game itself remains synchronized properly. Same balance patch, same character data, same collision, same frame behavior, same ranked rules."

Yumi nodded slowly. "That part will require strict version control. We can't have an arcade cabinet running version 1.02 fighting someone on ZEPS 4 running 1.03."

"Exactly."

"So ZAGE Network checks every version before matchmaking."

"Correct."

Yumi sighed while Zaboru smiled. "See? Easy."

"No, boss. You just described several months of engineering work."

"But you already know how to do it now."

Yumi's expression went blank.

Masaru smiled. "Boss is helping us!"

Yumi turned toward him. "I hate both of you."

Everyone laughed.

Kimberly looked back toward the platform diagram. "So this means the next fighting game will release across all three?"

"That's the plan."

"Arcade, ZEPS 4 and PC?"

"Yep."

"Then Guilty Gear XRD will be the first proper demonstration?"

Zaboru's grin widened. "Exactly."

The game was currently scheduled for August 2002, and Team NEXUS had already been pushing its visual technology extremely hard. Zaboru wanted Guilty Gear XRD to look unlike almost anything players expected from a fighting game, with highly stylized characters, dramatic animation, enormous attack effects, and a presentation designed to make people initially question whether they were watching hand-drawn 2D animation or real-time 3D graphics. It wasn't simply supposed to be another fighting game; it would become a technological showcase for NEXUS.

Kimberly crossed her arms. "So it launches in arcades first?"

"Close together."

"Then ZEPS 4?"

"Yes."

"And Steam?"

"Absolutely. And ideally, you can use the same profile everywhere."

Masaru immediately understood. "So if I play fifty ranked matches at the arcade..."

"Your account remembers."

"Then go home and play on ZEPS 4..."

"Same ranking."

"And tomorrow I use Steam..."

"Same identity."

Masaru's grin became enormous. "That's cool!"

Zaboru pointed toward him. "Exactly!"

Yumi adjusted her glasses. "But we're going to need ranking separation somewhere. For example, arcade rankings could still have local records. An arcade in Shinjuku might want its own leaderboard even if the player's global ZAGE ranking exists."

"Ohhh." Zaboru immediately smiled. "That's actually better."

"Global ranking, regional ranking, and local arcade ranking," Yumi continued.

Kimberly nodded. "That would preserve arcade rivalry."

Leonardo smiled slightly. "People would still know who the strongest player inside a specific arcade is."

Zaboru snapped his fingers. "Yes! That's important."

He didn't want internet integration to destroy arcade culture. Arcades weren't special merely because they provided access to games; they were social places. Players gathered around machines, someone developed a reputation, a powerful player suddenly entered and spectators noticed, tournament matches drew crowds behind the competitors, and local rivalries formed naturally. Online gaming was convenient, but it could never completely reproduce that atmosphere. Zaboru wanted both. A player could become the strongest fighter in one local arcade while simultaneously participating in a worldwide ranking. Someone in Osaka could build a reputation there, travel to Tokyo, insert the same card, and immediately have people recognize their global record. Eventually, that same person could challenge someone sitting at home on ZEPS 4.

"That's what I mean by next-generation arcade," Zaboru said with a smile.

The room became noticeably quieter. Even Yumi, despite already imagining the mountain of work waiting for her team, couldn't deny that the concept was interesting. Arcades would no longer exist separately from home gaming; they would become another doorway into the same ecosystem.

Kimberly looked toward Zaboru. "But boss... does this mean every future fighting game follows this model?"

"That's what I want."

"Every one?"

"Well, as long as the game makes sense for competitive play. Arcade release, ZEPS release, Steam release, shared updates, shared account, cross-platform matchmaking where technically possible, tournament integration, replays, rankings."

Leonardo whistled quietly. "You're basically trying to make every fighting game one giant competitive network."

"Exactly."

Yumi suddenly looked suspicious. "And how many fighting games are you planning for ZEPS 4?"

Zaboru smiled innocently.

"Boss."

"What?"

"How many?"

Masaru leaned forward excitedly while Zaboru chuckled. "We already have several."

"Several meaning?"

"Several."

"Boss."

"Hehehe."

Yumi fixed her glasses and sighed. "I'm completely aware that you've already assigned Team NEXUS a ridiculous amount of work. Guilty Gear XRD isn't even finished. We still maintain Dead or Alive 2 and Bloody Roar 2 arcade updates. The networking group is working on this account system. The American branch is helping with hardware development. So please... do not walk into this office tomorrow and hand us another six fighting games."

Masaru immediately smiled. "Why not, Yumi-san? That sounds fun!"

Yumi slowly turned toward him. "No."

"But boss helps us too!"

"No."

"Masaru-san."

"Yes?"

"Please stop giving him ideas."

Zaboru burst out laughing while Leonardo shook his head and Kimberly leaned back with an amused smile.

Despite the complaints, none of them actually disliked the direction. Team NEXUS existed precisely because ZAGE refused to treat fighting games as a small genre. Zaboru loved competitive games and loved watching people slowly discover mechanics that initially looked simple, and fighting games were one of the purest examples of that philosophy. Two players, same rules, same characters available, no excuses. One person won, one person lost, and then they played again. And again. And again.

Fighting games had been part of ZAGE's identity since its earliest years. Street Fighter, Tekken, Mortal Kombat, Soulcalibur, Guilty Gear, Bloody Roar, Dead or Alive, Darkstalkers, Fatal Fury, Killer Instinct, Rival Schools, Marvel vs. ZAGE and plenty of others had all contributed to the company's arcade history. There was no chance Zaboru intended to abandon them during the ZEPS 4 era. If anything, he had deliberately been waiting.

That was why some players had found it strange that ZEPS 4's enormous launch lineup didn't include a major traditional fighting game. Zaboru had seen those discussions. Some wondered whether fighting games were becoming less important to ZAGE, others thought Team NEXUS had become too busy with arcade hardware, and a few even believed ZAGE might slowly move away from the genre now that open-world games, RPGs, shooters, and online multiplayer games were becoming much larger.

They were completely wrong.

Zaboru had deliberately held the genre back because when fighting games properly entered the ZEPS 4 generation, he didn't want to simply release another fighter with prettier graphics. He wanted the entire way people played fighting games to move forward with them.

And when he finally revealed what he had planned for them, the fighting-game world was going to become much larger.

To be continued.