Skip to main content

Junichi Masuda Reminds People: Game Freak Makes The Pokémon Games

Kotaku East

East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.

 

 

Quick! Who has made the mainline Pokémon games? That’s right, Game Freak. But some people think the answer is Nintendo. According to Junichi Masuda, lots of people do.

In a recent clip on Game Freak’s official YouTube Channel, Masuda recalled how when Pokémon first came out, it was called a Nintendo game. While the game was released on Nintendo hardware and while Nintendo is involved in publishing, Nintendo did not make Pokémon.

The relationship between Game Freak, Nintendo, Creatures, and the Pokémon Company is rather complex. But as Nintendo World Report explains, Nintendo does the game publishing and distribution, Creatures handles the cards (though it also does games), Game Freak develops the games, and the Pokémon Company seems to handle everything else and have its fingers in all aspects. Granted, this is an oversimplification. Game Freak has released its games on non-Nintendo hardware, including the Mega Drive, PC Engine, Windows, and the PS4.

Plus, Nintendo, of course, does make spin-off games like Pokémon Stadium. Other studios have also developed Pokémon spin-offs, including Jupiter and Spike Chunsoft. However...

Advertisement

“I’ve asked about 200 people who they thought made Pokémon,” Masuda said, adding that almost 100 percent said Nintendo. “Even now, there are those people who think I’m a Nintendo employee.” This notion is so pervasive that when Masuda goes back to his hometown, he’ll overhear people express disbelief to each other that he is actually Junichi Masuda, saying, “Someone from Nintendo would never come to a place like this.”

Advertisement

So remember, Game Freak has made the mainline Pokémon games! Also, I’m sure someone from Nintendo would visit Masuda’s hometown.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fortnite World Cup Players Who Didn't Score Have A Sense Of Humor About It

Photo: Epic Games The point spread at today’s Fortnite World Cup Solo finals was massive, with winner Bugha scoring 26 points more than second place finisher Psalm. But not everyone can win: Four players came away with zero points, but—at least on Twitter—they were good sports about it. All of today’s 100 Solo finals competitors are immensely skilled players, and even those who came in last went home with at least $50,000. Still, it can’t feel good to be at the bottom, even if it’s the bottom of the top. North America West player Herrions, Brazil player Clipnode, North America East player Funk, and Asia player Arius all came in at zero points today. This performance could feel crushing after coming so far, but the four players took it in stride. “Oof,” Herrions tweeted, following with “Well you live and learn.” An hour later, however, he tweeted a sad emoji. Advertisement Clipnode, who is from Argentina, tweeted his thoughts in Spanish, which translate to “Sorry I wasn’t prepared, I w...
Post a Comment
Read more

Weekend Whammy: More Mordhau, Peggle 2 & Why Motivational Mute Is Awesome

Hello again my friends, enemies and people that I barely care about. The weekend has been and gone yet again, leaving in its wake a trail of unconscious bodies. Just one review this week which was of The Sinking City, a new open-world detective game from Frogware based upon the writings of H.P. Lovecraft. Frogware previous made some pretty good Sherlock Holmes games and The Sinking City uses some of the same concepts when it comes to figuring stuff out. It’s the Lovecraftian horror where Frogware kind of struggled, I think, especially the weedy combat. Still, it was an enjoyable game that a niche audience will probably love. More than anything The Sinking City got me thinking about the continued popularity of Lovecraft. Now that his work is public domain Cthulhu and his cosmic brethren keep popping up all over the place. The cynical side of me can’t help but think that the appeal is less Lovecraft’s intriguing writings and more the fact that developers get access to a massive wealt...
Post a Comment
Read more

Defective, Or Effective?

The first mission of Defector is like a glorious homage to every over-the-top spy movie to have ever appeared on a screen. There’s a handler feeding you information, a bad guy to converse with and then the possibility of driving a car out of a plane before leaping out and landing in a different plane. Oh, and then gunning down a bunch of fighter jets using nothing but an assault rifle because that’s how the real world works. It’s a bombastic introduction to Defector , but then the game never does manage to reach the same highs again. It’s perhaps no wonder that it was this first level which was shown off in the demos and previews. But that doesn’t mean Defector doesn’t give it a shot and does so by mixing in a bunch of different ideas. In another of the five missions you get to pose as a masseuse, gently massaging away the suspect’s worries. There’s even an interrogation sequence involving questioning, punching and dangling the target out of a window. Hell, Defector even manages to ...
Post a Comment
Read more