Zaboru stood at the center of the stage with an increasingly annoying grin while the audience continued chanting for the one thing ZAGE had deliberately refused to reveal for weeks. Behind him, the giant screen remained completely black except for the silver outline of ZEPS 4 glowing faintly in the center. The entire ZEB had become restless. Thousands of people were shouting, journalists were already holding notebooks and calculators, and television crews had their cameras pointed directly toward the stage. After all the specifications ZAGE had revealed, almost everyone had already accepted that the console would probably cost at least ¥50,000. Plenty of people expected ¥60,000 or more, while some analysts had gone as high as ¥70,000 or ¥80,000 because they simply could not understand how ZAGE could pack that much hardware into a console without charging a premium.
Zaboru waited several more seconds purely because he enjoyed making everyone suffer. Then he finally lifted one hand toward the screen. "Alright, alright! You guys asked for it." The chanting gradually stopped as he glanced backward. "This is the official worldwide launch pricing for ZEPS 4."
The screen flashed.
Large silver numbers appeared.
ZAGE ZEPS 4¥44,444$444
For perhaps two seconds, the entire venue became strangely quiet.
Then the reaction hit.
The audience exploded.
People immediately stood from their seats, shouting, clapping, laughing, and looking toward one another as if they needed confirmation that they had actually read the number correctly. Several journalists leaned forward toward the screen. One technology reporter looked down at his notes, checked the manufacturing estimate he had written earlier, then stared back toward Zaboru in visible disbelief. Even the people who had predicted ZAGE would aggressively subsidize the machine had generally expected something closer to ¥50,000.
Instead, ZAGE had gone below it.
Zaboru watched the reaction with obvious satisfaction. "Well?" he asked, spreading his arms. "How is it?"
The response was another roar.
He laughed. "Not bad, right?"
That was an understatement. Considering the estimated production cost circulating online had been roughly ¥40,000 to ¥42,000 per unit, the retail price meant ZAGE was leaving itself with an extremely small hardware margin compared with what most manufacturers would normally want. After distribution, retailer cuts, logistics, packaging, warranties, marketing, regional expenses, and support, there was not much room left.
Zaboru knew everyone was already calculating that.
"Yep," he continued, nodding toward the number behind him. "That is the price. And before people start saying we secretly discovered how to manufacture Raijin processors using magic or something, no. We're just not making very much money from the console itself."
The audience laughed.
Zaboru shrugged casually. "We can still make some profit depending on the model, market, manufacturing batch, and how efficiently everything moves through our own supply chain. Remember, ZAGE and AKAI manufacture a lot of this technology ourselves, so our costs are different from a company that has to buy every component from somebody else. But still…" He pinched two fingers close together. "Hardware profit? Tiny."
That caused another amused reaction.
One journalist near the stage shouted, "Then why price it that low?"
Zaboru immediately looked toward him. "Because I want you to buy it."
The answer was so straightforward that the audience burst into laughter.
"I'm serious!" Zaboru continued. "A console sitting inside our warehouse makes us zero money. A ZEPS 4 sitting under your television means maybe you buy games, maybe you download something from Z-Store, maybe you subscribe to a service later, maybe your friends see it and decide they want one too. The machine itself is only one part of the ecosystem."
He pointed toward the console on display. "So our goal isn't to squeeze the maximum profit possible from you on day one. Our goal is to put ZEPS 4 into as many homes as we reasonably can."
The screen changed again.
This time another number appeared.
ZEPS 4 STANDARD GAME PRICE¥4,500$45
If the console price had shocked everyone, the game price created almost as much noise.
Zaboru laughed at the reaction. "Yeah. Games too."
There had been plenty of speculation that Blue-Ray would lead to more expensive software. The discs were new technology, capacities were dramatically larger than previous formats, and ZEPS 4 games clearly had larger development budgets. Some analysts had predicted game prices would rise noticeably simply because ZAGE now had an excuse to justify it.
Instead, ZAGE was keeping the normal major-game price around ¥4,500.
Zaboru gestured toward the screen. "Despite Blue-Ray being new technology, we're not planning to use that as an excuse to suddenly increase normal game prices. Obviously special editions, huge collector packages, or games with extra physical stuff can cost more. That's different. But the standard major release? ¥4,500."
He chuckled. "You guys already know how ZAGE works. We hate increasing prices unless we actually need to."
That statement received loud applause.
Zaboru continued, "And Blue-Ray being ours helps a lot. ZAGE and AKAI already invested heavily into the technology, manufacturing, replication, licensing, and production infrastructure. If we had to buy every disc from another company and pay huge licensing costs on top of it, maybe this conversation would be different. But we don't."
He paused before grinning.
"Benefits of making too much stuff yourself."
A few people laughed.
Zaboru then pointed toward the game-price figure. "And before somebody asks whether ¥4,500 means developers make nothing—no. First-party games can still make healthy money at that price, especially once volume becomes high. Physical games obviously have manufacturing, packaging, distribution and retailer costs, but when you sell millions of copies, even a relatively modest contribution per game becomes very large."
He raised one finger. "For example, imagine we only make around ¥800 to ¥1,000 operating contribution from one first-party physical game after the important costs. Sounds small, right?"
The audience murmured.
Zaboru smiled. "Now sell ten million."
Several people immediately understood.
"That's ¥8 billion to ¥10 billion."
The crowd reacted again.
"So no, don't cry for us yet," Zaboru said, laughing. "ZAGE still knows how money works."
He started walking slowly across the stage. "Digital games are even more interesting because you remove physical manufacturing, boxes, discs, shipping, warehouse space and some retail costs. That means we have more flexibility there. Sometimes digital games might stay at normal price, sometimes we can discount them harder, sometimes smaller games can be much cheaper from the beginning. That's one reason I keep talking about the digital era."
Then he suddenly stopped and looked toward the audience with a completely serious face. "But we still need money."
A few people laughed already, knowing exactly where this was going.
Zaboru pointed toward the crowd. "So make sure you guys buy our console and our games, okay!?"
The entire venue erupted into laughter.
"I'm being generous here!" he added dramatically. "You need to cooperate!"
Someone shouted, "JUST BUY IT, OKAY!"
Zaboru immediately pointed toward the voice. "Exactly! That guy understands business!"
The audience laughed even harder.
Once the noise settled slightly, Zaboru looked back toward the giant screen. The price remained visible beside the ZEPS 4 image, and seeing ¥44,444 displayed publicly made him smile. The number was strange enough to be memorable while still fitting the playful personality ZAGE had built around the launch.
Then he changed the subject. "You might also have noticed that our release date is kind of beautiful."
The screen changed.
02.02.2002
Zaboru looked toward it proudly. "Come on. Look at that. How could I not use it?"
The audience chuckled.
He continued, "Yes, it's Monday. And yes, normally companies like weekends because people have more time. But honestly?" He shrugged. "We don't care."
That immediately earned another wave of laughter.
Zaboru grinned. "Besides, I'm sure some of you already have your 'sick plan' prepared, right?"
The audience erupted.
Some people actually raised their hands.
Zaboru stared at them in mock disappointment. "Wow. I shouldn't have asked."
The room became even louder.
"Sure, we'll have delivery options," he continued, "and obviously stores around the world will carry ZEPS 4. But I know gamers. Some of you love standing in line at stupid hours just because it makes launch day feel special."
Several audience members cheered.
"See? Exactly!" Zaboru laughed. "You guys voluntarily enjoy suffering."
He added that ZAGE was also genuinely interested in observing how a major worldwide console release performed on a weekday rather than automatically following the normal weekend pattern. If demand remained healthy despite the inconvenient date, that information could influence how ZAGE scheduled major hardware or software launches in the future.
"But hopefully you guys won't mind being our experiment," he said.
That earned another collective groan.
Zaboru smiled innocently. "Thank you for volunteering."
He then returned to the center of the stage and looked toward the camera. "So, ¥44,444 for ZEPS 4. ¥4,500 for standard major games. February second. Worldwide."
He paused.
Then grinned.
"Just Buy It, Okay?"
The crowd erupted.
Zaboru bowed as applause filled ZEB, but the presentation still had one final announcement.
The screen changed again.
ZEPS 4 PRE-ORDERSOPEN NOW
That created immediate chaos.
People throughout the venue instinctively reached for their Black Berry phones, while viewers watching from home rushed toward ZAGE.com, Z-Store, retail partner sites, and whatever preorder system was available in their region. Zaboru laughed as he watched several people in the audience begin typing while the presentation was still running.
"You guys are fast!"
ZAGE had deliberately limited the first preorder allocation to keep manufacturing and shipping manageable. The company already had enormous quantities prepared for launch, but it did not want online preorder demand consuming every unit before physical stores received inventory.
Alongside the standard console preorder, ZAGE also revealed several limited launch packages. The most popular immediately became a special software bundle containing all twelve ZEPS 4 launch games. Buying the twelve games individually at ¥4,500 each would normally cost ¥54,000, but the limited launch set was offered for ¥50,000, giving early buyers a modest discount while packaging all twelve launch titles together as a collectible first-wave bundle.
Zaboru looked toward the bundle graphic and laughed. "Yes, twelve games. Monster Hunter, Devil May Cry, Nocturne, Pokémon Colosseum, Mario Sunshine, Need for Speed: Underground, Metal Gear Solid 2, TMNT, Halo, GTA: San Andreas, ZAGE Kart and ZAGE Sports. If you were planning to buy everything anyway, there you go."
He paused.
"And if you weren't planning to buy everything…"
His grin widened.
"Maybe now you are."
The audience laughed.
Preorders officially opened before the presentation had even completely finished.
The results were immediate.
By that evening, ZAGE's online systems were being hammered by demand from Japan, the United States, Korea, China, Europe, and numerous other markets. Z-Store engineers had prepared for extreme traffic, yet activity still exceeded several internal estimates. Retail partners reported the same situation. Allocation counters dropped continuously throughout the day while physical stores received calls asking whether additional preorder inventory would become available.
By Sunday, the first worldwide preorder allocation had sold out.
ZAGE had intentionally limited the batch, but it was not a tiny symbolic number. The company had allocated a substantial quantity specifically to measure demand and ensure the distribution network could handle launch week properly. Selling through that supply so quickly confirmed what everyone had already suspected.
ZEPS 4 demand was enormous.
But something even stranger happened afterward.
Once people began calculating the console economics more carefully, a surprisingly widespread sentiment appeared online.
ZAGE was being too generous.
One thread on ZAGE Forum became especially popular:
ZAGE IS TOO GENEROUS. IF THEY KEEP THIS UP THEY'LL GO BROKE.
The original poster argued that selling hardware so close to estimated production cost, maintaining ¥4,500 game pricing despite Blue-Ray, including Astro Playroom for free, supporting backward compatibility, offering extensive online functions, and providing multiple built-in services seemed almost financially irresponsible.
Most replies immediately pointed out that ZAGE was an enormous corporation with software revenue, digital sales, licensing, hardware manufacturing, Steam, Unreal Engine, media businesses and countless other sources of income.
That did not stop the joke.
Soon, wealthy fans began posting deliberately absurd demonstrations of "support."
One user uploaded a photograph showing dozens of newly purchased ZEPS 3 games stacked across his floor with the caption:
"I SUPPORT ZAGE AND THEY CAN'T STOP ME."
Another bought multiple copies of several ZAGE games and claimed he was "repairing the ¥44,444 damage personally."
Someone else purchased extra ZEPS 3 controllers he did not even need.
A collector posted a receipt long enough to reach the floor and simply wrote:
"DON'T WORRY ZABORU, I GOT YOU."
Naturally, other users mocked them for behaving as though one of the largest companies in the world needed emergency donations.
But the joke kept spreading.
Then came 02.02.2002.
And it was quite chaos...
To be continued.
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