As you can find the information about it
in the August issue of Coro Coro Comics
(a Japanese manga magazine) that is currently on sale,
(this column was written in 2005, and that
issue is no longer available for purchase).
When you play Pokemon Diamond and Pearl,
you can link with Pokemon games for GameBoy Advance,
such as Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire,
FireRed and LeafGreen, and Emerald.

Yes.
You can transfer the Pokemon you raise in
GBA software to the Nintendo DS.

Now, we are thinking discreetly and yet boldly
about the gimmick of transferring Pokemon
but it’s very difficult.
The image or the direction of how it
should turn out has been clear for
a long while, but it’s not easy to determine
the total balance.

To explain it a bit more in detail…
If we choose to focus on the fun aspect,
it’s best to let the players carry Pokemon
for a longer period of time and
have fun with them, but if we focus on the
the players’ desire, they will be
more pleased if they can carry them
instantly.
The balance between the fun aspect and the
player’s desire is difficult to achieve.

In this case, the best scenario would be
to first fulfill the fun aspect (that is
to say, to have the players enjoy the game
for some time) and then to make them satisfy
their desire,
but how long can we make them wait until
they fulfill their desire?
That is the point that’s most difficult to
determine.

Balance is important in anything.

Well, I will take time to think of the way
to make it the best and the most powerful feature.

See ya.

Did everyone see this year’s Pokemon movie?
In this movie, “Mew”, a Pokemon appeared in the
first series, meets ‘Lucario’ introduced in Pokemon
Diamond and Pearl.

Unlike encounters in the game,
you might feel some distance between the two Pokemon,
but I liked the way they met in the movie,
as two Pokemon in a movie.

This movie begins with a war scene.
And what with armors for Pokemon and others,
it includes settings that we at Game Freak had
tough time making decisions about.
At the same time though, there is no certain
opponent this time, and it includes many
challenging ideas while keeping the world-view
of Pokemon intact.
So, I like it very much.
It also brings you to tears.

If ‘Lucario’ will grow in such a nice way,
it might become very difficult for us to try to
incorporate this Pokemon in a game.
(it was very hard with Lugia…)
But this time I came up with ideas like
‘Let’s do this, let’s do that!’ after I saw the movie.

It’s a secret… You’ll be surprised when you play!

In what part of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl does
‘Lucario’ appear?
As you enjoy the movie, don’t forget to keep that
in mind!

By the way, do you remember that thing that
looks like Mew’s family tree at the beginning
of the movie.
That’s based on Game Freak’s confidential documents
about Pokemon Diamond and Pearl .

See ya.