Did you predict that Pokémon would be such a big hit?
Watanabe: I didn’t think it would be such an explosive hit when we were first making it. I felt the games would be a success if we were able to do what we liked.
Sugimori: Of course, I knew that in order for the whole “trading Pokémon” idea to work, we’d need to sell a certain number of copies. But early on we were aiming for 1,000,000. We didn’t predict we’d be anywhere near this successful. We also didn’t imagine there would be any merchandise based on the characters, so we were really happy with all the stuff that came out.
Nishino:: In the beginning, we were so ecstatic when anything Pokémon-related was released, we’d collect it ourselves!
Morimoto: I was hitting the gachapon machines hard.
Sugimori: We’d tell ourselves “There are 151, so we’ve gotta catch ‘em all!” *laughing*
Watanabe: Even though we were the ones that made them! *laughing*
To wrap things up, why don’t you tell us about Game Freak’s future goals.
Masuda: Game Freak’s development policy is a focus on creating something fun that everyone can enjoy. I want to make something that adheres to this mentality, something that surpasses Pokémon.
Watanabe: I don’t think future Pokémon games will depart from a trading theme. Myself, I’d like to continue making even cooler Pokémon.
Sugimori: I can’t say anything about the new Pokémon games yet, so please be patient and try to imagine what you’re going to see in the next ones. Since you’ve been playing the original games for such a long time, I want to ensure the next Pokémon has a long playability as well. I’m not going to limit myself to merely increasing the number of Pokémon. I want to challenge myself with something new every time, so you’re never left saying “This, again?” when a new game comes out.
