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Game Freak on developing brand-new titles alongside Pokemon games, staff size
Coming from a 4Gamer interview with art director Ken Sugimori and director Tetsuya Watanabe.
On planning a completely new game
“If anything, it was something close to the form of a top-down [design]. Whenever a development for Pokémon had calmed down, it was something like, ‘let’s get someone young to do it,’ as we warmed to the idea of whoever was planning it, and advanced from there. Additionally, the advancement of projects were always centered around the planners, but we’ve recently got rid of such limitations, so it has changed into something that gives us more freedom.” - Watanabe
On developing Pokemon games alongside the development of brand-new titles and team size
“It feels like it has finally become that way. Previously, due to the work put into Pokémon, it was virtually impossible to have other lines [of development]. Simply saying ‘that’s difficult’ won’t get you anywhere, and Gear (new game development system) has been put into action so we can say ‘let’s do our best even if it doesn’t seem possible,’ instead. Our company isn’t actually that large in the first place, so having multiple lines of development alone was already tough for us.” - Sugimori
“Right now, we have over 80 employees, but this is the result of expanding for the development of Pokémon X and Y. Previously, we had roughly 50 to 60 people, and before that we had much less. Also, to us, Pokémon is a very important piece of work, so we put a considerable amount of energy into it. So, making something other than Pokémon has always been a tough situation for us. While many of our young staff members have pride in working on Pokémon, I believe that another part of them feel something like, ‘It’s not a game that we created.’
So I think that it’s best for our company’s young staff members to take the opportunity to gain that experience. Working independently, and arguing while advancing through projects might be an experience that won’t end well at first; however, thinking ahead five or ten years, I believe that [experience] will become a necessity.” - Watanabe
Link
On planning a completely new game
“If anything, it was something close to the form of a top-down [design]. Whenever a development for Pokémon had calmed down, it was something like, ‘let’s get someone young to do it,’ as we warmed to the idea of whoever was planning it, and advanced from there. Additionally, the advancement of projects were always centered around the planners, but we’ve recently got rid of such limitations, so it has changed into something that gives us more freedom.” - Watanabe
On developing Pokemon games alongside the development of brand-new titles and team size
“It feels like it has finally become that way. Previously, due to the work put into Pokémon, it was virtually impossible to have other lines [of development]. Simply saying ‘that’s difficult’ won’t get you anywhere, and Gear (new game development system) has been put into action so we can say ‘let’s do our best even if it doesn’t seem possible,’ instead. Our company isn’t actually that large in the first place, so having multiple lines of development alone was already tough for us.” - Sugimori
“Right now, we have over 80 employees, but this is the result of expanding for the development of Pokémon X and Y. Previously, we had roughly 50 to 60 people, and before that we had much less. Also, to us, Pokémon is a very important piece of work, so we put a considerable amount of energy into it. So, making something other than Pokémon has always been a tough situation for us. While many of our young staff members have pride in working on Pokémon, I believe that another part of them feel something like, ‘It’s not a game that we created.’
So I think that it’s best for our company’s young staff members to take the opportunity to gain that experience. Working independently, and arguing while advancing through projects might be an experience that won’t end well at first; however, thinking ahead five or ten years, I believe that [experience] will become a necessity.” - Watanabe
Link