You’ve just used the term “ultimate” and I feel that even in their names, Gold and Silver were meant to be the ultimate in Pokémon games.
Ishihara:
That’s right. After we released Red and Green, we began working on these titles, thinking that the ultimate in Pokémon games could only ever be Gold and Silver.
Iwata:
Not in your wildest dreams did you think that you’d be making more and more games after Gold and Silver. (laughs)
Ishihara:
The reason that I licensed so many products and developed things like the trading cards was basically to ensure that Gold and Silver were successful. I felt that this was my primary role. So at that time, I worked with the assumption that after we put out Gold and Silver, my work as far as Pokémon was concerned would be done.
Iwata:
I see.
Ishihara:
So for me, Gold and Silver represented the finish line.
Iwata:
They were the finish line?
Ishihara:
I didn’t intend to make any more Pokémon titles. I even thought that once we entered the twenty-first century, it would be time for me to do something else entirely. (laughs)
Iwata:
(laughs)
Ishihara:
I was determined to create the optimum conditions for Gold and Silver’s release. That’s why I initially opposed even the animated series…
Iwata:
Why was that?
Ishihara:
Well, after researching all sorts of previous data, I learned that animated series on television tend not to last very long. So even when a series based on a game starts, it tends to last six months or, at most, a year.
Iwata:
It would be awful if the series was already over before the game was even out.
Ishihara:
Exactly. The animated series started in April 1997, and if it had stopped broadcasting in 1998, what would we have done then? We had made Gold and Silver with the intention of releasing them in 1998.
Iwata:
But you didn’t manage to get Gold and Silver ready in time either, did you? (laughs)
Ishihara:
That’s right. (laughs) We originally started work on Gold and Silver right after releasing Red and Green, and then just when we were racing forward with the development, Tajiri-san came to us and said: "We've finished one!" I thought that this was really quick and asked him what it was, to which he replied: "We've finished 'Blue'!" (laughs)
