Overview
- In a video shown at the New York Game Awards after Pokémon received the Andrew Yoon Legend Award, Tsunekazu Ishihara reflected on the franchise’s origins.
- He said the concept began with a straightforward idea of catching creatures in a game and trading them with friends.
- Bringing that idea to life took six years of trial and error under limited resources.
- The team stayed confident in the core loop—catch, raise, trade, battle—because it echoed childhood activities like catching bugs and raising animals.
- Looking ahead, he called his belief that Pokémon can connect the world a guiding force, noting the games now transcend language and cultural barriers.