Since Pokemon Diamond & Pearl went on sale in
Japan, exactly one year has passed today.

Thanks to you, the total copies sold worldwide
surpassed 10 million at the end of July,
and more than 1.4 million Pokemon
have been traded worldwide in August only.
Even now so many players seem to be enjoying
it, and I’m really grateful for that.
Thank you very much!

It brings me back so many memories of one year
ago, such as the countdown at Takashimaya
department store in Shinjuku.

We are determined to keep creating games
that will be much more than just innovation,
so please keep supporting Game Freak and Pokemon!
I’m counting on your enthusiasm!

Also…
As most of you must already know,
I’d like to introduce our GTS website that went
public the other day simultaneously for the
whole world.

http://www.pokemon-gts.net/

Doesn’t it look cool?
It’s fun just to look at it, isn’t it?
The site gives you so much information almost
like a stock price list.
You got to check out this website!

See ya!

No. 103
category: information

On September 23rd (Sun) and 24th (Mon),
I went to Matsuyama in Shikoku Island!

One of our staff who left the company to
get married invited me to their wedding and
the following banquet.
I’m so happy for her. Thank you!

Shikoku was much warmer than in Tokyo and
I was almost sweating!
With such nice weather, they had a truly
wonderful wedding.
The bride, you were so pretty and elegant!

And the next day!
I had some time to spare so I went on
sightseeing!

From my hotel I walked to Matsuyama castle.
There, you can choose to ride either the lift
or the ropeway. Isn’t it rare!
Either way, they take you to the middle.

From there you have to walk!
The hill is rather steep and I was losing
my breath. I got all sweaty!

The stonewalls, the gates, the trees, the castle…
Japanese castles are designed so that they
can best defend against an enemy, so that
enemies find it the most difficult to attack.
They are, in a word, a fortress.
I was moved by the beauty of the rounded stone
walls.
At the gate, you could see the castle tower
in the distance, with its intimidating posture.
And the pine trees were planted because they
could be turned into torches and medicine.
And the building has numerous holes so that
you could attack the enemy with spears through
these holes.
I learned a lot from these techniques.

Matsuyama caslte in Ehime prefecture.
It was a wonderful construction with particular
emphasis on defensive strategies.
I’d recommend you visit there!
I’m sure you can sense the philosophy of
attack and of defense.

See ya.

Yesterday, I went to the awarding ceremony of
the Japan Game Awards organized by CESA
(Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association)
in Makuhari (Chiba prefecture).

To my surprise! Pokemon Diamond & Pearl recevied
two awards, Best Sales Award and Award for Excellence.

This is all thanks to so many of you who played
and supported the game.
I’m so happy.
Thank you very much!!!

I’d also like to express my deepest gratitude
to our development staff. They showed the best
of their powers in this difficult project.
I’m also very grateful for those who helped us
promote Pokemon, in advertising, public relations,
and promotional events.
I’m sure that without the countless number of
those people involved in this project it wouldn’t
have been possible to receive these awards.

Pokemon has the power to connect people, and
in creating it too it made us work in a united way.
Again, I’m really grateful to all of you.
Thank you very much!

And I’m looking forward to your support from
now on too!

In the last, 102nd column I wrote ‘I took
a ride in a Formula One car!!’ but…

As it turned out, I didn’t. I’m shocked…

I have to thank one of our staff who thoughtfully
pointed it out to me!

In fact, it was a race car specified
to run in Formula Nippon races!!

I was so excited that I didn’t notice it!
So, it might be better to rewrite the 102nd
column…
But I’m of the opinion that when you write
incorrectly, it’s better to write again when
you learn that what you’ve written is incorrect.
So I’m writing a column that says I made a mistake.

This idea… is also good for games…

Anyhow, the fact that I gave out misinformation
remains…
I apologize.

But then, I’d still recommend it if you live
nearby…

See ya.

I took a ride in a Formula One car.
Well, not on the road but in a showroom on
the first basement of the DOCOMO Building in
front of Osaka station.

My cell phone was running out of battery,
so I went in there to recharge it.

I used to love Formula One races.
Especially Monaco Grand Prix and Italian
Grand Prix, because both the circuits and
the audiences were fantastic. I never missed
those races when they were aired on TV at midnight.
I even taped them on VHS cassettes.

Oh, those exhaust notes
(it’s beautiful to call them ‘notes’).
And the strategy to carefully aim for
the top position.
Teamwork.
The tension you feel when they change the
tires.
And the latest, most powerful machines.

They are so cool…

When inside a F1 car, I found to my
surprise that the width was wide enough for
my body and comfortable. Rather, I was
surprised to find how small the leg room
was.
And the gigantic tires without fenders
looked really intimidating in front of my eyes.
It will be quite scary if I drive it at
300 km (186 miles) per hour.

With a grin on my face, I asked a sales lady
to take a picture of me inside the car…
and I got a commemorative card.
On its back, the number of people who sat
on the car was printed! I was the 2925th!
More people than I expected, I thought.

Well, I felt really happy just to sit on it.
It was exciting.

If you live close by, I’d recommend you try it!

See ya.

I went to Palcity held in Osaka on September
2nd (Sun)!

Yes.
The final battle to decide the Japanese
champion of Pokemon League Diamond & Pearl 2007
was held there!
Who was going to win the trophy that I
was going to hand?
I was full of anticipation.

First we started battles between the winners of
the two leagues in each of the six regions
(Fukuoka, Sapporo, Makuhari, Nagoya, Yokohama, and Osaka),
which brought us a total of 12 contestants!

The number of the audience was huge!
And they got insanely excited when a player
successfully made a move!
With each of 12 players trying to win the
championship, the hall became really hot! Hot!

And 4 people made it to the final game.

The final game to decide the Japanese champion
was held up on the stage.

Two players battling on the stage, and the
audience who looked intently on them.
Yes, that very situation was what we call a game!
Yes, it was as spectacular as any other games.
As in a sports game, a baseball or soccer game,
those players brought excitement to the audience!
It was really moving.
I felt afresh how powerful games can be.

And…
In the category of under age 12, a cute
girl from Nagoya won the national championship!!
In the above age 12 category, a boy from Osaka
who won the championship of the Osaka region
that same day won the national championship!

They must have taken a lot of time to raise Pokemon
and to develop strategies, and they calculated the
opponent’s move and selected their move carefully
and precisely.
I think this was how they won.
They have huge talent, don’t they?
From the bottom of my heart, I want to say
Congratulations!

And also to those 10 players who gave out all
they had but couldn’t win the final game!
You too are the regional champs!
It’s great! I’m looking forward to your joining
us at the next championship! Thank you!

I hope to keep holding these championship games
of a nationwide scale.
Pokemon battle games that are open to public where
the audience can feel the sense of unity with the
players, just like a live sports game.
It was terrific!!

Last but not least!!!
I can’t help dreaming about the worldwide
championship of a global scale!!!

See ya.