I’ve been unable to post new entries because
I’m busy these days, so I’ll write in a different
format.

February 11th (Sunday)
From Feburary 10th to 12th, I participated in an
event called “Kyou Iku Gakuen” (Education College)
hosted by an organization called Engine 01
in Simonoseki, Yamaguchi prefecture.
There, on the 11th, I gave a presentation called
“How to understand Pokemon in 90 minutes for adults.”
It drew a considerable number of people!
I explained in detail what makes Pokemon fun and
why people are enthusiastic about it!

February 17th (Saturday)
Asked to join by Sarugakucho’s chief, Mr. Hashimoto,
(Sarugakucho is a Japanese video game consulting company),
I visited the “Pokemon Battle Party.”
This was an event organized by Pokemon fans
to meet with each other in Roppongi, Tokyo.
I made an appearance for only a short period of
time… but this too was such fun!
I’m happy that people are holding such an event,
and it’s also fun to attend it.

Feburary 20th (Tuesday)
We held a recruiting session at Tokyo Zokei University.
I gave a short speech.
To those who came, despite the rain and cold,
thank you.
The students showed their work to us, and
I was really impressed with their talent!
They gave me inspiration.

Feburary 23rd (Friday)
I visited the Japan Media Arts Festival sponsored by
the Agency for Cultural Affairs.
This was because Pokemon Diamond & Pearl had been
selected a Jury recommended work.

Feburary 27th (Tuesday)
Pokemon celebrated its 11th anniversary!
“Pokemon Red & Green” for the Game Boy was released
on this day, 1996.
From that day on, we have been introducing to you
many kinds of Pokemon, including Pikachu.

And, more than anything!

We are here because of your support and enthusiasm!
Thank you very much!

We are looking forward to presenting to you new
ways of playing and games that will make you happy
in the upcoming years too.
We hope you will keep enjoying our games.

On that day, inside our company…

From 3 pm, every staff in the company watched “the
Making of Pokemon Diamond & Pearl” DVD, produced
exclusively for our staff.
It was a very well-made, wonderful DVD!
Many thanks to the DVD staff! It was of such high
quality and full of creativity! I was most impressed.
Really, it was great!

After that, we had a dinner.
At a quality restaurant that we go to often,
we were talking about the 11th anniversary…
and we were greeted with such a wonderful gift!

It really made me cry. This! I was so moved!
And the quality was unbelievably high!
And the Pikachu was so cute!

It was such a great day, and people around me
made me realize that they have extraordinary
taste and talent!

Feburary 28th (Wednesday)
I spent almost the whole day attending meetings…

The matter of the fact is…
This format… if I write one entry about each
day, they will be normal columns.

Ciao!

This was the first time for us to develop
for the DS, and we wondered if we should
change the traditional control system.
The control system for the the Game Boy Advance,
for which we have been developing, consisted
of the Direction Button and the A, B, L, R buttons.

From the beginning, it was very difficult to
make a decision about this huge problem, and
we had many discussions about how to solve it
until the very end of the development.

We even did an experiment where almost every
command to select, including field menus, can
be touched on the lower screen.

We also tried a feature that enables players
to clean up Boxes by touching them.

Of course, each person has his/her way of
playing.
And the least problematic way is to change
nothing. To keep the way it is.
If we didn’t make no changes in the control
system, it may be OK for our existing users
because they are used to it.

But that would not be the case when we think about
players who play our game for the first time.
This is why we went for changes that fit a new
machine called the DS. We wanted changes that are
appropriate for this new era and the new customers,
and, more than anything, we wanted to make
changes that meet the tastes of today’s
game players.

At the same time, we didn’t try to force players
to touch the screen all the time just because
it’s a new function.

The ease of play when players get the hang of it,
the fun, and the ease with which to handle it, etc.
We carefully examined each detail and made
decisions slowly, asking which way is really right.

Also, we made decisions about what is good
while thinking about the total balance.

In order to create change, to create something new,
that will appeal to many people.

I think it very important to keep the spirit of
always searching for something new.
Also, you need to have the courage to keep
some things as they are.

Which parts to be touched, what about the bag
that is common in the field and in battles,
what are to be different and what are to remain
the same?

You can find the answer in Pokemon Diamond & Pearl.

*You can see the inside of Game Freak again in
Pokemon Sunday that will air on January 28th (Monday)!
(This episode was aired in 2007 and no longer
available.)

Ciao!