Game Freak: Difference between revisions

'''Game Freak, Inc.''' (Japanese: '''株式会社ゲームフリーク''' ''{{wp|Kabushiki gaisha}} Game Freak''), officially stylized as '''GAME FREAK inc.''' or less commonly as '''GAMEFREAK inc.''', is a Japanese game development company founded on April 26, 1989 by [[Satoshi Tajiri]], [[Ken Sugimori]], and [[Junichi Masuda]]. Game Freak is responsible for the development of the [[core series]] [[Pokémon]] games, as well as the free-to-play spin-off game {{g|Quest}}, and shares ownership of [[The Pokémon Company]] with [[Creatures, Inc.]] and [[Nintendo]].

The origin of the name "Game Freak" refers to a nickname used in Japan to refer to avid arcade game fans during the 1980s. At this point, competitive players including children used the term Urawaza (Japanese: 裏技, ''Secret Technique'') in the context of video game strategy, although {{wp|Masanobu Endo}} (creator of {{wp|Xevious}} himself) was not a fan of the potential conflict at the arcades (this atmosphere is also covered in Satoshi Tajiri's 1990 book about his youth as an arcade game fan "[https://www.amazon.co.jp/パックランドでつかまえて―テレビゲームの青春物語-田尻-智/dp/4880638242 A Catcher in Pac-Land]" (Japanese: パックランドでつかまえて), as this included video game secrets that were proven to be false (such as the Xevious Star (Japanese: ゼビウス星)) and their veracity was subject to heated debate. He also did not want players to be spreading falsehoods and reportedly got angry regarding an interview about Xevious Star, but at the same time settled fans down from arguing during a visit. Another issue is that some of these techniques were (sometimes unknowingly) actually bugs (glitches) in the code.<ref>[https://www.kinephanos.ca/2015/game-freaks-who-play-with-bugs/ The Game Freaks Who Play With Bugs – Discussions on the Video Game Xevious] (Japanese: ゲームフリークはバグと戯れる―ビデオゲーム「ゼビウス」論) (Nakazawa Shinichi) (1984) (Translations from Jérémie Pelletier-Gagnon and Tsugumi Okabe for Geemu Media Mix Volume 5, Issue 1, December 2015, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada)</ref>

Furthermore, Tajiri stated in a May 2000 interview at Game Freak headquarters that the concept for the Pokémon {{p|Mew}} (although [[Shigeki Morimoto]] programmed and designed it into the game) as an "illusory Pokémon" was inspired by rumors at the arcades (including from the Game Freaks), specifically a hidden/unused F4 phantom fighter ship in Xevious. This was republished for a Japan-exclusive December 2000 book called [https://www.amazon.co.jp/ポケモン・ストーリー-畠山-けんじ/dp/4822241998 Pokémon Story].<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esIL1W_QBns Mew's Origins: A Story of Secrets, Rumors & Legends Ft. maxmoefoe (Pokémon) - DidYouKnowGaming?]</ref>

In 1989, Tajiri published and directed GAME FREAK's first video game, Quinty, (Japanese: '''クインティ''') for the Famicom. The player's character, Carton, ("Bon-Bon" in the American release) must rescue his girlfriend Jenny from his younger sister, Quinty, who is jealous of the attention that Jenny gets from him. Quinty can be played cooperatively, and involves a player(s) flipping adjacent tiles from a top-down perspective to throw the enemies into walls, where defeating all of them will finish the stage. Each world has ten individual levels with a variety of enemies that all have unique abilities, before battling Quinty at the end of the game.

To help finance their work on [[Capsule Monsters|what would later become Pokémon]], GAME FREAK created a variety of games for other consoles whilst they worked on [[Generation I]] for over six-years. The first of these games was a cutesy 2D-platformer known as Jerry Boy (Japanese: ジェリーボーイ) for the Super Famicom in 1991. According to the credits, this job was shared with {{wp|System Sacom}}, who handled the actual programming whilst the game design was done at GAME FREAK. The player controls a young boy named Jerry, who is transformed into a blob by an evil wizard at the behest of his jealous brother, Tom, who has a crush on the young princess Emi.

''Yoshi'' was the first collaboration between GAME FREAK and [[Nintendo]] as a publisher, which would play a big part in helping to finance their development on [[Pokémon Red and Green Versions|Pokémon Red & Green]]. The project was offered by Nintendo<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20201112022755/https://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2017/08/09/game-freaks-origins-and-non-pokemon-games.aspx</ref> and suggested by Tajiri's friend, [[Tsunekazu Ishihara]], then member of Ape Inc..<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20151113010805/http://www.nintendo.co.jp/nom/0007/taidan1/page02.html</ref> Yoshi was developed in six months, and directed by Tajiri.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20151113010805/http://www.nintendo.co.jp/nom/0007/taidan1/page02.html</ref>

Ken Sugimori acted as both a game designer and as a graphic artist on the project, which was largely unknown for some time given that the game has no ending or credits. The score was handled solely by [[Junichi Masuda|Masuda]], who returns from his absence on the co-developed Jerry Boy titles. Despite being part of the existing {{wp|Super Mario|Super Mario series}}, all of Masuda's compositions on ''Yoshi'' are purely original, and are not arrangements of any Mario music. Masuda also mentioned that GAME FREAK wanted to add in a realistic sounding Yoshi voice to the game, but Nintendo disapproved.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20210109201340/https://www.siliconera.com/game-freak-director-junichi-masuda-on-the-making-of-yoshi-and-pokemon/</ref>

Most of Masuda's compositions are relatively new here, though some stand out by virtue of being tied to the television anime that the game is based on. The game begins with the {{wp|SEGA}} jingle arranged by Masuda but with the voice of {{wp|Tarako}}, who voices the titular character of Tarurūto. Additionally, the '''Title Screen''' song is an arrangement of the first opening of the TV series, composed by {{wp|Kenji Yamamoto (composer, born 1958)|Kenji Yamamoto}}, {{wp|Yukihide Takekawa}} and [[Dai Satō]], the final of whom would join the Pokémon team over 30 years later as the lead scriptwriter of [[Pokémon Horizons: The Series|Pokémon Horizons.]] The song '''Battle! (Raivar)''' bears a striking resemblance to much of Masuda's later work on Pokémon, with several similarities to '''Battle! (Giratina)''' which he composed for [[Pokémon Black 2 & Pokémon White 2: Super Music Collection|Pokémon Platinum]].

* [[Satoshi Tajiri]] (田尻智) (founder, CEO, chairman of the board)

* [[Ken Sugimori]] (杉森建) (founder, board member, art director)

* [[Takenori Ohta]] (太田健程)

* [[Shigeki Morimoto]] (森本茂樹)

* [[Motofumi Fujiwara]] (藤原基史)

* [[Kōji Nishino]] (西野弘二)

* [[Jun'ichi Masuda]] (増田順一) (founder, former board member, former head of development)

In some of the core games the player can also fight against some members of the Game Freak's team. In {{game|Black and White|s}}, the player can battle a character representing [[Shigeki Morimoto]] in the office after stopping [[Team Plasma]]. In {{2v2|Black|White|2}}, they can also battle [[Kōji Nishino]], who uses a {{p|Snorlax}} as his highest leveled Pokémon, a reference to his nickname カビゴン ''Kabigon'', after which Snorlax is named (in the English versions, he calls himself Snorlax). Both Morimoto and Nishino have the Trainer class {{tc|GAME FREAK}}. In {{g|Sun and Moon}}, the player can battle Shigeki Morimoto in the Game Freak office after becoming [[Champion]], who will give the player an [[Oval Charm]] the first time he is defeated. He can be battled once a day. In {{g|Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon}}, the player can battle Morimoto again but this time [[Kazumasa Iwao]] will also be present and it is a [[Double Battle]] against the two. Morimoto reappears once again in [[Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!]] with his battle being located at [[Celadon Condominiums]]; in {{g|Sword and Shield}}, his battle is in {{DL|Circhester|Hotel Ionia}} and in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl at the [[Hotel Grand Lake]].