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Pokemon developer confident it can keep making new pokemon forever

News
By Matt Cundy published 9 October 2012

Game Freak points to bugs, goats, cows, pretty much anything at all as a source of bottomless inspiration

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“Can we keep designing pokémon forever? Yes, in a way,” said Game Freak director Junichi Masuda. “Because I come to Europe and they have different goats or different cows, and they have very different species that aesthetically look different; they live in different places. And I enjoy that diversity, its fun and it’s important to have that sort of diversity in Pokémon. In Japan there are a multitude of different bugs and things, and these things have always been an inspiration.”

Game Freak graphic designer Takao Unno also offered his thoughts on the subject.

“Influences for the design of pokémon are everywhere. I look at living things but I look at the design of anything and think, ‘Why is that?’ ‘Why is that designed that way?’ And then sometimes I’m thinking about that and maybe an idea is compatible with my line of thinking for a certain pokémon. And that’s how pokémon are designed. Points of inspiration and influence never really stop.”

You may like
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  • Pokemon Red and Blue key art Pokemon boss has a very straightforward plan for future releases: "keep making fun games"
  • Blastoise seen in the Pokemon Origins anime series. Pokemon Red and Green boss says the RPGs needed "a great deal of trial and error" to realize the devs' "simple concept"

At the time of writing there are 649 different pokémon.

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Matt Cundy
Matt Cundy
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I don't have the energy to really hate anything properly. Most things I think are OK or inoffensively average. I do love quite a lot of stuff as well, though.
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