If there is one company in the gaming world that always generates interest in their inner workings, it is Game Freak, the creators of the Pokemon franchise. Part of this goes into the long-term process of designing Pokemon and the Pokemon world, with many always wondering how the process of creating a franchise that millions enjoy began.
The past few years have given us some major insights to that process, thanks to the massive Nintendo leaks that have revealed the Spaceworld Demo for Pokemon Gold and Silver, and unused sprites from Generation 1. Even with these leaks, much of Game Freak's design process is still being uncovered, and is tightly controlled in documents at their headquarters.
Now, on the 22nd anniversary of the release of Pokemon Red and Blue in the United States, it seems Game Freak is taking steps to preserve those documents in a digital form.
A new initiative from Game Freak is to hire the Japanese company Masakatsu Co. to digitize their early documentation. The announcement was made on Masakatsu's website, with an interview with Shiho Hamaguchi, a representative of Game Freaks Business Administration Department.
This preservation, of course, is only for internal use for Game Freak.
"Especially for works with history such as the "Pokemon" series, it is necessary to proceed with development while frequently checking the settings of the works so far, so organizing past materials will produce the next work. It will be important for you to continue." stated Hamaguchi, as translated from the Masakatsu Website.
"The development team is putting all their energy into the work they are working on, so the reality is that there is not much time to look back on the completed project. As a management department, I think it is possible to put in place a system that can provide data immediately when asked, "How was that?"
Though it is unlikely that these digitized scans of Game Freaks external documents will be released officially to the republic, the preservation of such documents are vitally important for the general preservation in the gaming industry. And who knows, with enough fan demand, maybe Game Freak will do an art book that will come to the U.S in the future.
