Game Freak talks about their philosophy of bringing new non-Pokemon IPs to other platforms
Japanese developer Sport Freak has change into synonymous with the Pokemon line of RPG video games. They rose to fame with Pokemon Purple & Blue in 1996, cementing the long-lasting turn-based formulation for years to return.
That is what pushed them in the direction of stardom, turning into one of the vital in style builders on the Nintendo platform. Nonetheless, they’ve additionally labored on plenty of distinctive IPs, in addition to multi-platform releases over the previous decade.
Talking with VGC, the studio’s key workers, together with normal supervisor Masafumi Saito, shared key particulars in regards to the studio’s journey up to now. They mentioned how new IP releases are necessary to the group and their mindset going ahead. Here is a rundown of the main points.
Sport Freak needs to be referred to as the studio that creates extra than simply Pokemon
Sport Freak’s normal supervisor, Masafumi Saito, had the next to say within the interview:
“It is extremely necessary to Sport Freak to maintain taking up the problem of making authentic video games. I believe that making a recreation from scratch, placing it on the market, and getting an excellent reception is a superb motivator for creators and can also be very important by way of its that means for the expansion of the corporate.”
That is true. Along with their bread-and-butter, the Pokemon sequence, the corporate has been concerned with a wide range of new IPs throughout totally different platforms. The truth is, the primary time a non-monster catcher providing from Sport Freak noticed mainstream success was with Drill Dozer again on Sport Boy Advance in 2005.
For newer choices, this initiative is called the Gear Undertaking. It consists of Tembo the Badass Elephant, Harmoknight, and the Pocket Card Jockey video games.
Saito additional talked about how authentic video games should not be restricted to “small-scale tasks”:
“With that stated, we don’t suppose by way of limiting authentic video games to small-scale tasks. It has been ten years since we established a division that offers with authentic video games.”
Whereas Sport Freak is commonly affiliated with Nintendo, they’re an impartial third-party studio. That is what has enabled them to work on different non-Nintendo video games alongside third-party publishers.
They did face hassle initially with balancing experimental choices alongside Pokemon. Nonetheless, that collaboration course of with different corporations appears to have change into simpler as time went on. Tembo the Badass Elephant, for instance, is a 2.5D platformer launched in 2015 for the PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One platforms and printed by SEGA.
After all, these efforts will proceed for the forseable future, with Saito saying:
“We would like new titles to return out of Gear Undertaking which might be beloved by a lot of individuals the world over, just like the Pokémon sequence has been.”
Whereas some choices like Little City Hero fell wanting expectations, others have seen respectable success. On that be aware, their most up-to-date providing is Pocket Card Jockey: Trip On! for the Apple Arcade.
It is a sequel to the unique Pocket Card Jockey, first launched for the Nintendo 3DS handheld in 2013. It incorporates 3D components for the horse-racing scene, as a substitute of sticking to 2D like the unique. Nonetheless, it’s nonetheless very a lot a hybrid between jockeying and solitaire.
It’s actually refreshing to see Sport Freak engaged on a wide range of tasks. Who is aware of, maybe this expertise could possibly be useful sufficient to be mirrored within the Pokemon entries to return.
