Official Nintendo Magazine (ONM) Retrospective Series
ONM interviews President and CEO of The Pokemon Company Tsunekazu Ishihara
Issue 08 August 2007
Archive of the August 2008 interview ONM did with Ishihara-san.
INTERVIEW: Mr Ishihara, I Choose You.
ONM sits down for an exclusive chat with Tsunekazu Ishihara, President and CEO of the Pokémon Company
Pop quiz: If someone from Nintendo called you up one afternoon and offered you the chance to interview the man who put the Pokémon series where it is today, what would you say? If you’re like us, you’d probably panic for a moment, the shout “Yes!”, down the phone a bit too loudly and then worry what to ask him. Fortunately, the man in question, Tsunekazu Ishihara, had plenty of things to say, so we didn’t have to be concerned about running out of questions…
ONM: The Pokémon series is treated with much more care and attention than most franchises. Why is that?
T.Ishihara: The intention is to make the player believe that the world of Pokémon is actually real, so when we design any Pokémon character, we always have this I mind. Ultimately, we try to come up with different ways of making it seem more real, and treating the Pokémon universe almost like a real place is obviously a big part of that.
ONM: Why so you think it’s important to take that approach?
T.Ishihara: Looking at the many Pokémon we’ve designed, each one is quite distinct. Sometimes, the differences are quite subtle but they’re definitely there. That creates a parallel with plants and creatures in the natural world, where everything is different, even if it seems the same – perhaps in strength, colour, personality or other traits. Based on what we see around us every day in the real world, we’ve tried to use that inspiration in the Pokémon world and that perhaps helps to make it more believable, more real.
ONM: As we understand it, the concept of Pokémon stems from bug collecting, which isn’t something you see many kids doing today…
T.Ishihara: The game’s original creator, Mr Tajiri [founder of Game Freak Inc] grew up in the suburbs of Japan and loved going bug catching and fishing when he was young. As he grew up though, he started going to video game arcades instead and it was from there that he had the idea of combining the two hobbies. Unfortunately, these days, development of urban areas means that there’s less wildlife to be found in the areas where people live, which stops children sharing in Mr Tajiri’s childhood passion. However, Pokémon still allows them to do that.
ONM: Diamond and Pearl have the biggest Pokédex so far, totalling nearly 500 Pokémon. Did you see it as essential to include Wi-Fi lay this time around, to give people a real chance to catch them all?
T.Ishihara: In terms of the number of Pokémon that are in Diamond and Pearl, it was all planned over the three years in which we designed the game. In truth though, the best way to complete the Pokédex isn’t to use Wi-Fi trading by actually to transfer your own Pokémon from previous iterations of the game. The Wi-Fi mode acts as a supplement to this method of gameplay.
ONM: Something that’s becoming clear is this idea of convergence with Pokémon games. Ruby and Sapphire link to Diamond and Pearl, as does Ranger, and then Diamond and Pearl link to Battle Revolution. Why not just put everything together instead of spreading it out?
T.Ishihara: It’s quite difficult to fit all the elements of the Pokémon universe into a single product, which is why we have them spread across various different games on different formats. When we design any Pokémon game though, we want people to have their own unique experiences but we also want people to share those experiences with each other, so we offer players the chance to do both by allowing these convergences.
ONM: What about the super-rare Pokémon that are only given out at events? Doesn’t doing that actually alienate some players who can’t get to the special events?
T.Ishihara: The main purpose of Pokémon isn’t necessarily to complete the Pokédex. It’s the ultimate goal, true, but only if you chose it. In Diamond and Pearl, for instance, the main quest is to stop Team Galactic’s evil plans. After that, its up to you to choose to complete the Pokédex. Our intention is for people to want to do that, rather than force the decision upon them. By making some of the Pokémon rare, it satisfies those users who are determined to complete it by investing the time to do so. Even I don’t actually have them all yet!
ONM: When you develop a new Pokémon game then, what’s the most important thing? Is it just adding more Pokémon or something else?
T.Ishihara: We put most of our attention on ensuring that first time players can pick it up and enjoy it, while also making sure that there’s enough bite to the game that experiences Pokémon players have plenty to get their teeth into. It’s a very delicate balance, but I don’t think that we’ve got it wrong yet.
ONM: How much of a hand do you have in Pokémon, not just in the games but also across the movies, TV shows and merchandise? And which medium do you enjoy working on the most?
T.Ishihara: In the beginning, when we initiate any Pokémon product, I’m very heavily involved in the creative process. It’s only once it has begun to take shape that I step back and let the team take over the work. To me, the most important thing is the game development, followed by the trading card game, which I find very enjoyable. Working on films and TV is a bit different, although I do get involved in the creation of scripts and other concepts. It all requires different levels of responsibility.
ONM: Obviously, Pokémon was born as a handheld game but now it’s spread across many formats. Will the heart of Pokémon always lie in handhelds, or is everything as important as everything else?
T.Ishihara: As the name suggests, it was originally designed to have monsters in your pocket, so I feel its very important for Pokémon to be a handheld title. At the same time though, looking at games like Pokémon Pinball, Snap and Colosseum, those are important too, as they help support the Pokémon universe.
ONM: Are you ever surprised at how well Pokémon does around the world?
T.Ishihara: In some cases, yes, I was told that in America, people don’t camp out and queue up for game launches and yet if your look at the New York launch of Diamond and Pearl, the queues were even bigger than in Japan. I was also told that people don’t pre-order games in the US, and yet Diamond and Pearl pre-orders reached in excess of 500,000 so that too was a surprise to me.
ONM: So what does the Pokémon brand mean to you then?
T.Ishihara: I thinks its something that extremely fun to play and if I can feel that way towards Pokémon, then it means that anyone can.
THE POKEMON COMPANY: A HISTORY
So, what exactly is The Pokémon Company? Well, it all dates back to 1995, when Mr Ishihara established Creatures Inc. – the company responsible for producing the original Pokémon games alongside Game Freak, the development studio run by Pokémon creator Satoshi Tajiri. Working
with Game Freak over the six years it took to develop the games, Creatures Inc. released Pocket Monster Aka and Midori for the Game Boy in 1996 and the games later went on to become the Pokémon Red and Blue games.
It didn’t end there though, as Mr Ishihara then went on to both plan and design the hugely successful Pokémon Trading Card Game, as well as oversee the expanding Pokémon world by managing the development of the TV animation series and movies. However, it wasn’t until 1998 that Mr Ishihara played a part in the foundation of Pokémon Centre Co, Ltd (now known as The Pokémon Company) and became its president.
Responsible for the overall brand management of Pokémon, as well as having a hand in every aspect of the creation process across all media, he’s an incredibly busy man… to be honest, we’re surprised he had the time to talk to us! But he did, and for that we’re truly grateful.+