[访谈翻译] 时代周刊 田尻智专访：究极的 Game Freak
档案记录
- Date
- 1999.11.22
- Source
- The Ultimate Game Freak: An Interview with Satoshi Tajiri
- People
- 时代周刊, 田尻智
- Game / Work
- 宝可梦
- Page
- 未标注
- Language
- en
- Status
- done
逐段译读
原文
The Ultimate Game Freak - TIME
译文
究极的 Game Freak：田尻智专访（时代周刊）
原文
Monday, Nov. 22, 1999
译文
1999年11月22日 星期一
原文
After first coming up with the idea for Pok駑on in 1990, Satoshi Tajiri labored for nearly six years over the original game. Now 34, he based it partly on things he remembered as a kid. The careful attention paid off. Pok駑on swept Japan and is now doing the same in the U.S. and beyond. Spinoffs include trading cards as closely held as stock options, a TV series and, now, a movie.
译文
1990年首次构思出宝可梦的创意后，田尻智为初代游戏倾注了近六年心血。现年34岁的他，部分灵感源自童年的记忆。这份精心的投入终获回报。宝可梦席卷日本，如今在美国及其他地区同样风靡。衍生品包括像股票期权一样被紧紧持有的卡牌、电视动画，以及如今的一部电影。
原文
A person who usually shuns the limelight, Tajiri talked about his labor of love with Larimer and TIME intern Takashi Yokota at the offices of his small company, Game Freak, in Tokyo’s Setagaya neighborhood, a youth-culture hub with several colleges and universities. His company occupies two floors in a nondescript office building. Sandwiched between the Game Freak floors is a “cram school” for junior high school students who are taking extra paid-for lessons in hopes of improving their next entrance exam scores.
译文
田尻智通常回避公众视线，但这次他在自己小公司Game Freak的办公室里，与Larimer和《时代》实习生横田隆志进行了交谈。公司位于东京世田谷区，那里是青年文化中心，有多所大专院校。他的公司在不起眼的办公楼里占了两层，而两层之间夹着一所“补习学校”，初中生们在那里付费补课，以期提高下次入学考试的成绩。
原文
Tajiri had just finished work on the new series of Pok駑on games for Nintendo’s Game Boy, to be released in Japan Nov. 20. He looked tired. His eyes were bloodshot, there were dark circles under his eyes and his hands and lips trembled while he spoke. He looked like he needed a good long sleep.
译文
田尻智刚刚完成了任天堂Game Boy上宝可梦新系列的工作，该系列将于11月20日在日本发售。他看上去疲惫不堪：双眼布满血丝，眼圈发黑，说话时手和嘴唇都在颤抖。他看起来需要好好睡上一大觉。
原文
TIME: Are you O.K.? You look pretty tired.
译文
《时代》：你还好吗？你看起来很累。
原文
Tajiri: It’s the way I work. I sleep 12 hours and then work 24 hours. I’ve worked those irregular hours for the past three years. It’s better to stay up day and night to come up with ideas. I usually get inspiration for game designing by working this schedule.
译文
田尻智：这就是我的工作方式。我睡12个小时，然后工作24个小时。过去三年我一直这样不规律地工作。为了想出点子，最好日夜颠倒。我通常靠这种作息来获得游戏设计的灵感。
原文
TIME: How did you get started designing games?
译文
《时代》：你是如何开始设计游戏的？
原文
Tajiri: I’m part of the first generation who grew up with manga [comics] and anime [animation], you know, after ‘Godzilla.’ I was absorbed with Ultraman on TV and in manga. The profession of game designer was created really recently. If it didn’t exist, I’d probably be making anime.
译文
田尻智：我是看着漫画和动画长大的第一代人，你知道，就是在《哥斯拉》之后。我沉迷于电视和漫画中的《奥特曼》。游戏设计师这个职业是最近才出现的。如果这个职业不存在，我可能会去做动画。
原文
TIME: Do anime and games require a similar creativity?
译文
时代周刊：动画和游戏需要相似的创造力吗？
原文
Tajiri: The technology in making games and in making anime is really similar. There are common concepts.
译文
田尻智：制作游戏和制作动画的技术非常相似。它们有共通的概念。
原文
TIME: We heard you were a Space Invaders junkie.
译文
时代周刊：我们听说你曾是个《太空侵略者》迷。
原文
Tajiri: I was really into Space Invaders in about 1978. It got me more and more interested in video games. There wasn’t any media to get information about games, so I came up with Game Freak magazine.
译文
田尻智：大约在1978年，我非常沉迷《太空侵略者》。它让我对电子游戏越来越感兴趣。当时没有任何媒体可以获取游戏信息，所以我想到了创办《Game Freak》杂志。
原文
TIME: Weren’t you just a teenager?
译文
时代周刊：那时你不是才十几岁吗？
原文
Tajiri: Yeah. It was handwritten. I stapled the pages together. It had techniques on how to win games, secret tips for games like Donkey Kong.
译文
田尻智：是的。杂志是手写的，我用订书机把页面装订起来。内容包含如何通关的技巧，以及像《大金刚》这样的游戏的秘密提示。
原文
TIME: Did you sell it?
译文
时代周刊：你出售它吗？
原文
Tajiri: The biggest sales were for a special issue on the Zabius game. We sold 10,000 copies. It cost 300 yen each. So when I was 18 I already had a business going. At first I used a photocopy machine–more important than style was selling information. But when sales increased, it was difficult to do it by hand. So I took it to a printer.
译文
田尻智：销量最好的是关于《扎比乌斯》游戏的专刊。我们卖出了一万份，每份300日元。所以在我18岁时，就已经有生意在运作了。起初我用复印机——比起风格，更重要的是销售信息。但当销量增加时，手工制作变得困难，所以我把它交给印刷商。
原文
TIME: How did you move from publishing to designing games?
译文
时代周刊：你是如何从出版转向设计游戏的？
原文
Tajiri: Pretty soon I had some contributors, and we’d all get together and talk about games. The more I learned about games, the more frustrated I became because the games weren’t very good. I could tell a good game from a bad game. My conclusion was: let’s make our own games.
译文
田尻智：很快我有了一些撰稿人，我们会聚在一起谈论游戏。我对游戏了解得越多，就越感到沮丧，因为游戏并不太好。我能分辨出好游戏和坏游戏。我的结论是：让我们自己做游戏吧。
原文
TIME: What were you like as a kid?
译文
时代周刊：你小时候是什么样的？
原文
Tajiri: The place where I grew up [in Machida, a western Tokyo suburb] was still rural back then. There were rice paddies, rivers, forests. It was full of nature. Then development started taking place, and as it grew, all the insects were driven away. I was really interested in collecting insects. [Later, Tajiri’s father tells me the other kids used to call Satoshi “Dr. Bug” as a child.] Every year they would cut down trees and the population of insects would decrease. The change was so dramatic. A fishing pond would become an arcade center.
译文
田尻智：我长大的地方（东京西郊的町田市）当时还很乡村。那里有稻田、河流和森林，充满了自然。后来开发开始了，随着发展，所有的昆虫都被赶走了。我对收集昆虫非常感兴趣。[后来，田尻智的父亲告诉我，其他孩子小时候曾叫田尻智“昆虫博士”。]每年他们都会砍伐树木，昆虫的数量就会减少。变化如此巨大。一个钓鱼池会变成街机中心。
原文
TIME: You liked bugs?
译文
时代周刊：你喜欢虫子？
原文
Tajiri: They fascinated me. For one thing, they kind of moved funny. They were odd. Every time I found a new insect, it was mysterious to me. And the more I searched for insects, the more I found. If I put my hand in the river, I would get a crayfish. If there was a stick over a hole, it would create an air bubble and I’d find insects there. I usually took them home. As I gathered more and more, I’d learn about them, like how some would feed on one another. So I stopped bringing them home. But I liked coming up with new ideas. Like how to catch beetles. In Japan, a lot of kids like to go out and catch beetles by putting honey on a piece of tree bark. My idea was to put a stone under a tree, because they slept during the day and like sleeping under stones. So in the morning I’d go pick up the stone and find them. Tiny discoveries like that made me excited.
译文
田尻智：它们让我着迷。首先，它们动起来很有趣，很奇特。每次我发现一种新昆虫，它对我来说都是神秘的。我越是寻找昆虫，就发现越多。如果我把手伸进河里，我会抓到一只小龙虾。如果洞上有一根棍子，它会产生气泡，我会在那里找到昆虫。我通常把它们带回家。随着我收集得越来越多，我会了解它们，比如有些会互相捕食。所以我就不再带它们回家了。但我喜欢想出新的点子，比如如何捕捉甲虫。在日本，很多孩子喜欢出去通过在树皮上涂蜂蜜来捕捉甲虫。我的想法是在树下放一块石头，因为它们白天睡觉，喜欢睡在石头下面。所以早上我会去搬开石头，然后找到它们。像这样的小发现让我兴奋。
原文
TIME: Did you have friends who collected insects?
译文
问：你有没有朋友也收集昆虫？
原文
Tajiri: Usually all the kids did it the same way, with the honey. None of my friends would do what I did. I got more insects than anyone.
译文
田尻智：通常所有孩子都用同样的方法，用甜甜蜜。没有一个朋友会像我那样做。我抓到的昆虫比任何人都多。
原文
TIME: So you were collecting Pok駑on a long time ago! Did you make the insects fight against each other?
译文
问：所以你很久以前就在收集宝可梦了！你有没有让昆虫互相打斗？
原文
Tajiri: No, but sometimes they would eat each other.
译文
田尻智：没有，但有时它们会互相吃掉对方。
原文
TIME: Did you get the idea for Pok駑on from these insects?
译文
问：你从这些昆虫身上得到了宝可梦的灵感吗？
原文
Tajiri: Yes. Places to catch insects are rare because of urbanization. Kids play inside their homes now, and a lot had forgotten about catching insects. So had I. When I was making games, something clicked and I decided to make a game with that concept. Everything I did as a kid is kind of rolled into one–that’s what Pok駑on is. Playing video games, watching TV, Ultraman with his capsule monsters–they all became ingredients for the game.
译文
田尻智：是的。由于城市化，可以抓昆虫的地方变得稀少。现在孩子们都在家里玩，很多人已经忘记了抓昆虫的乐趣。我也是如此。当我在制作游戏时，灵光一闪，我决定制作一个以那个概念为核心的游戏。我童年所做的一切都融合在一起——这就是宝可梦。玩电子游戏、看电视、奥特曼和他的胶囊怪兽——这些都成了游戏的素材。
原文
TIME: Why did it take so long to finish the game?
译文
问：为什么完成这个游戏花了这么长时间？
原文
Tajiri: Well, the first game I did all by myself. That was before Pok駑on. I didn’t rely on other companies or programmers. I just started by taking apart the Nintendo system to see how it worked. When I was 16, I won a contest Sega was sponsoring for a game idea. It took me two years to learn the programming, and a year to make my first game [called Quinty].
译文
田尻智：嗯，第一款游戏完全是我自己做的。那是在宝可梦之前。我没有依赖其他公司或程序员。我只是开始拆解任天堂的游戏机，看看它是如何运作的。16岁时，我赢得了世嘉赞助的一个游戏创意比赛。我花了两年时间学习编程，又花了一年时间制作我的第一款游戏（名为《Quinty》）。
原文
TIME: How did you get hooked up with Nintendo?
译文
问：你是如何与任天堂建立联系的？
原文
Tajiri: I saw Game Boy when it was first released. The idea for Pok駑on clicked in my mind. The basic idea for Pok駑on seemed a good fit for Game Boy.
译文
田尻智：我在Game Boy首次发布时看到了它。宝可梦的灵感在我脑海中闪现。宝可梦的基本概念似乎非常适合Game Boy。
原文
TIME: Why did Game Boy seem right for Pok駑on?
译文
问：为什么Game Boy适合宝可梦？
原文
Tajiri: The communication aspect of Game Boy. It was a profound image to me. It has a communication cable. In Tetris, its first game, the cable transmitted information about moving blocks. That cable really got me interested. I thought of actual living organisms moving back and forth across the cable.
译文
田尻智：Game Boy的通信功能。对我来说，那是一个深刻的形象。它有一条通信线。在它的第一款游戏《俄罗斯方块》中，这条线传输着移动方块的信息。那条线真的让我很感兴趣。我想象着真正的生物在线上来回移动。
原文
TIME: Wasn’t the cable being used for players to compete with each other? In Pok駑on, players are sharing, too, aren’t they?
译文
问：那条线不是用来让玩家互相竞争的吗？在宝可梦中，玩家也在分享，不是吗？
原文
Tajiri: Yeah, everyone was using it to compete. The idea I had was for information to go back and forth. It wasn’t about competition. Even before Game Boy, there was a communication capability at game arcades–like two race car drivers sitting next to each other to compete. That’s all anyone was doing, using it to compete.
译文
田尻智：是的，每个人都用它来竞争。我的想法是让信息来回传递。这不是关于竞争。甚至在Game Boy之前，街机厅就有通信功能——比如两个赛车手并排坐着比赛。但人们所做的只是用它来竞争。
原文
TIME: But if you’re not competing, games aren’t all that much fun, are they?
译文
问：但如果不竞争，游戏就不会那么有趣了，不是吗？
原文
Tajiri: I liked competition too. But I wanted to design a game that involved interactive communication. Remember, there was no Internet then. The concept of the communication cable is really Japanese: one-on-one. It’s like karate–two players compete, they bow to each other. It’s the Japanese concept of respect.
译文
田尻智：我也喜欢竞争。但我想设计一款涉及互动交流的游戏。记住，那时还没有互联网。通信电缆的概念真的很日本化：一对一。就像空手道——两名选手比赛，互相鞠躬。这是日本人的尊重概念。
原文
TIME: Like the ritualistic elements of sumo?
译文
时代周刊：像相扑的仪式性元素那样？
原文
Tajiri: A more casual form of sumo. Over the Internet, communication can be directed to anyone in the world and it’s anonymous. But with a communication cable, it’s one-on-one and the players pick who they play against. It doesn’t really get aggressive. It’s an intricate style of communication. Almost subtle.
译文
田尻智：一种更随意的相扑形式。通过互联网，交流可以指向世界上任何人，而且是匿名的。但使用通信电缆，是一对一的，玩家选择与谁对战。它不会真正变得咄咄逼人。这是一种复杂的交流方式，几乎微妙。
原文
TIME: How does that translate to the U.S.?
译文
时代周刊：这如何转化到美国？
原文
Tajiri: It’s interesting, because in Japan, everybody goes for Pikachu. In the U.S., the characters Ash [Satoshi in Japan] and Pikachu are grouped together. American kids seem to like that. In America there are more products sold with Ash and Pikachu together, not just Pikachu alone. I think Americans actually understand the concept of Pok駑on better than the Japanese. The Japanese focus on Pikachu, but what I think is important is the human aspect–you need Ash.
译文
田尻智：这很有趣，因为在日本，每个人都喜欢皮卡丘。在美国，小智（日本叫小智）和皮卡丘被放在一起。美国孩子似乎喜欢那样。在美国，更多产品是同时印有小智和皮卡丘的，而不仅仅是皮卡丘单独出现。我认为美国人实际上比日本人更理解宝可梦的概念。日本人关注皮卡丘，但我认为重要的是人的方面——你需要小智。
原文
TIME: Pikachu is sort of marginal in the game. But it’s now the best-known character. How’d that happen?
译文
时代周刊：皮卡丘在游戏中有点边缘化。但它现在是最知名的角色。这是怎么发生的？
原文
Tajiri: When they did the anime, they wanted a specific character to focus on. Pikachu was relatively popular compared with the others and potentially both boys and girls would like it. They heard a lot of opinions about this. It wasn’t my idea.
译文
田尻智：当他们制作动画时，他们想要一个特定的角色来聚焦。皮卡丘相对其他角色来说比较受欢迎，而且男孩女孩都可能喜欢它。他们听取了很多关于此事的意见。这不是我的主意。
原文
TIME: Do you think the TV show now dictates how people play the game?
译文
时代周刊：你认为电视节目现在决定了人们如何玩游戏吗？
原文
Tajiri: At first, I was a little concerned. It depends on how people are introduced to Pok駑on. If they start with the TV show, or with the cards, or the video game, they approach it differently each time.
译文
田尻智：起初，我有点担心。这取决于人们如何接触宝可梦。如果他们从电视节目、卡片或电子游戏开始，每次接触的方式都会不同。
原文
TIME: Why is Pok駑on still so popular?
译文
时代周刊：为什么宝可梦仍然如此受欢迎？
原文
Tajiri: When you’re a kid and get your first bike, you want to go somewhere you’ve never been before. That’s like Pok駑on. Everybody shares the same experience, but everybody wants to take it someplace else. And you can do that.
译文
田尻智：当你还是个孩子，得到第一辆自行车时，你想去从未去过的地方。那就像宝可梦。每个人都分享相同的体验，但每个人都想把它带到别的地方。而你可以做到。
原文
TIME: Are all the goofy-sounding names important for Pok駑on’s success?
译文
时代周刊：所有那些听起来傻乎乎的名字对宝可梦的成功重要吗？
原文
Tajiri: What’s more important is that the monsters are controllable by the players. It could be the monster within yourself, [representing] fear or anger, for example. And they are put in capsules. Plus, everybody can give them their own names. Pikachu is like the name of the species. But each player can name their own Pikachu. So kids can relate to it more. They get more attached to them that way.
译文
田尻智：更重要的是怪物能被玩家控制。它可能是你内心的怪物，比如代表恐惧或愤怒。而且它们被放在胶囊里。此外，每个人都可以给它们起自己的名字。皮卡丘就像是物种的名字。但每个玩家可以给自己那只皮卡丘命名。所以孩子们能更与之产生共鸣。他们因此会更依恋它们。
原文
TIME: Did you name all those beetles and spiders and bugs?
译文
时代周刊：那些甲虫、蜘蛛和虫子都是你命名的吗？
原文
Tajiri: No. I had a cat, though. I wanted to name the frogs, because I watched them grow, but there were too many.
译文
田尻智：不是。不过我养过一只猫。我想给青蛙命名，因为我看着它们长大，但太多了。
原文
Are the Pok駑on names related to those insects?
译文
宝可梦的名字和那些昆虫有关吗？
原文
Yeah. Like Nyoromo [Poliwhorl in the U.S.]. It looks like a tadpole. There’s little whirls on it because I remembered that when you pick up a tadpole, you can see its intestines because it’s transparent.
译文
是的。比如蚊香蛙（在美国叫Poliwhirl）。它看起来像蝌蚪。它身上有小漩涡，因为我记得当你捡起蝌蚪时，因为它是透明的，你能看到它的肠子。
原文
Do the names mean anything or are they just gibberish?
译文
这些名字有意义吗，还是只是胡编乱造？
原文
They all have meaning. Like Nyarth. It’s from a Japanese proverb about a cat with money on his head that doesn’t know it’s there. It’s about understanding the value of money. I don’t think they have that concept in the U.S., so the name is different. And Pikachu. ‘Pika’ is the sound Japanese say an electric spark makes. And ‘chu’ is the sound a mouse makes. So Pikachu is like an electric mouse.
译文
它们都有意义。比如喵喵（Nyarth）。它来自一个日本谚语，关于一只头上顶着钱却不知道钱在那里的猫。这是关于理解金钱的价值。我认为美国没有这个概念，所以名字不同。还有皮卡丘。’皮卡’是日语中电火花的响声，’丘’是老鼠的叫声。所以皮卡丘就像一只电老鼠。
原文
None of the monsters is really evil. So how do you know if one of them is with you or against you?
译文
这些怪兽中没有真正邪恶的。那么你怎么知道它们是与你是敌是友呢？
原文
Think of it like this. If a horse runs over you and you die, then the horse is bad. But if you’re riding the horse, the horse is your ally. So, if you have a monster in your collection, then it’s considered good. But if not, it’s still not considered bad, because it could be your friend one day.
译文
可以这样想。如果一匹马踩死你，那么这匹马就是坏的。但如果你骑着马，马就是你的盟友。所以，如果你收服了一只怪兽，它就被认为是好的。但如果没有，它也不被认为是坏的，因为它可能有一天成为你的朋友。
原文
What’s the story with Mew? Some kind of a secret character?
译文
梦幻是怎么回事？某种秘密角色吗？
原文
Yes, this was done on purpose. Mew was not originally included in the games for people to acquire. You had to get it from interacting with Game Freak or Nintendo. There were 150 characters, and Mew was number 151. You can’t ever get a Mew without trading for it. It created a myth about the game, that there was an invisible character out there. Someone gives me Mew, then I give Mew to you, then you pass it on. Introducing a new character like that created a lot of rumors and myths about the game. It kept the interest alive.
译文
是的，这是有意为之。梦幻最初并没有被设计成玩家可以在游戏中获得的角色。你必须通过与Game Freak或任天堂互动才能得到它。游戏中有150只宝可梦，而梦幻是第151只。如果不通过交换，你永远无法得到梦幻。这为游戏创造了一个神话，即存在一个看不见的角色。有人给我梦幻，然后我把它给你，你再传下去。像这样引入一个新角色，为游戏制造了许多谣言和传说，保持了玩家的兴趣。
原文
The main human guy is named Satoshi. That’s your name. Is he your alter ego?
译文
主角叫小智（Satoshi）。那是你的名字。他是你的另一个自我吗？
原文
Basically, he’s me when I was a kid.
译文
基本上，他是我小时候的自己。
原文
His main rival is named Shigeru. That’s the first name of Miyamoto, the famous game designer at Nintendo who did Donkey Kong, Super Mario Bros. Do you consider him your rival?
译文
他的主要劲敌叫小茂（Shigeru）。那是宫本茂的名字，他是任天堂的著名游戏设计师，创作了《大金刚》和《超级马里奥兄弟》。你把他视为你的劲敌吗？
原文
No! I really look up to Miyamoto-san. In the TV series, Shigeru is Satoshi’s master. In the game, they are rivals. Shigeru is always a little bit ahead of Satoshi.
译文
不！我非常尊敬宫本先生。在动画中，小茂是小智的劲敌。在游戏中，他们是劲敌。小茂总是比小智领先一步。
原文
Does Satoshi ever catch up with Shigeru?
译文
小智有没有追上小茂的时候？
原文
No! Never!
译文
没有！从来没有！
原文
Have you caught up with Miyamoto-san?
译文
那你追上宫本先生了吗？
原文
Tajiri: I think very highly of him. I’d memorize each piece of advice he gave.
译文
我非常敬重他。他给我的每一条建议我都铭记在心。
原文
TIME: But Pok駑on is more popular than anything Miyamoto-san has done. Hasn’t the student passed the teacher?
译文
但是《宝可梦》比宫本先生做过的任何作品都更受欢迎。这难道不是青出于蓝而胜于蓝吗？
原文
Tajiri: No, because Pok駑on was made with Miyamoto-san’s advice. Since I was a teenager, playing Donkey Kong, he’s always been my role model. He’s a mentor for my heart.
译文
不，因为《宝可梦》是在宫本先生的建议下诞生的。从少年时代玩《大金刚》起，他就一直是我的榜样，是我心灵的导师。
原文
TIME: You know what Miyamoto-san said? He said, half-jokingly, that Pok駑on wouldn’t stay popular forever because he was developing a new version of Mario Bros.
译文
你知道宫本先生说过什么吗？他半开玩笑地说，《宝可梦》不会永远流行，因为他正在开发新版的《超级马里奥兄弟》。
原文
Tajiri: Is that what he said?
译文
他真是这么说的？
原文
TIME: Did the Nintendo people expect Pok駑on to be such a big hit?
译文
任天堂的人预料到《宝可梦》会如此大获成功吗？
原文
Tajiri: Not at first. They didn’t expect much from the game. Game Boy’s popularity was declining. Just when I finished the game and took it to Nintendo, I felt like a baseball player who slides into second base even though you know you’re going to be out–but then it turns out you are safe.
译文
起初并没有。他们对这款游戏期望不高。当时Game Boy的热度正在下降。当我完成游戏并将其交给任天堂时，我感觉自己就像一名棒球手，明知会被封杀却仍滑向二垒——结果却意外安全上垒。
原文
TIME: You really thought Nintendo would reject it?
译文
你真的认为任天堂会拒绝它吗？
原文
Tajiri: Always. I was told they couldn’t really understand the concept of the game.
译文
一直如此。有人告诉我，他们其实不太理解这款游戏的概念。
原文
TIME: A lot of people blame violence in video games for violent things young people do, especially in the U.S. Do you feel guilty about that?
译文
许多人将青少年的暴力行为归咎于电子游戏中的暴力内容，尤其是在美国。您对此感到内疚吗？
原文
Tajiri: In Japan, violence in games is pretty much self-regulated. In the 1980s, there was a game called Bullfighter where the matador stabbed the bull and red blood squirted out. The day after it was released, they changed the blood to green. There’s more violence in games in the U.S., in things like Mortal Kombat, where they rip out hearts and cut off heads. Japanese people wouldn’t come up with ideas of blood splattering all over. Japanese focus more on the intricacies of the actions, the motion.
译文
在日本，游戏中的暴力内容基本上是自我约束的。上世纪80年代，有一款名为《斗牛士》的游戏，斗牛士刺伤公牛，鲜血喷涌而出。发售第二天，他们就把血改成了绿色。美国的游戏中有更多暴力内容，比如《真人快打》，里面有掏心、斩首等场面。日本人不会想出鲜血四溅的点子。日本人更注重动作的精细和动态。
原文
TIME: The TV people in the U.S. were worried about violence in Pok駑on. Can you believe that?
译文
美国的电视从业者曾担心《宝可梦》中的暴力内容。您能相信吗？
原文
Tajiri: I’m very careful about violence in games. I’m not interested in creating violent effects.
译文
我对游戏中的暴力内容非常谨慎。我对制造暴力效果不感兴趣。
原文
TIME: It seems like role-playing games are more popular in Japan than the U.S. Why’s that?
译文
角色扮演游戏在日本似乎比在美国更受欢迎。这是为什么呢？
原文
Tajiri: Well, one reason is that back when we had arcade games only, they cost 100 yen for one game. I think in the U.S. it was always [much cheaper at] 25 cents. So 20 years ago we thought it was very expensive, but when role-playing games were introduced in Japan, it was revolutionary because once you bought the software, no matter how many times you played, it was free.
译文
嗯，一个原因是，在只有街机游戏的时代，玩一次要花100日元。我记得在美国只要25美分，便宜得多。所以20年前我们觉得街机很贵，但当角色扮演游戏传入日本时，它带来了革命性的变化，因为一旦你购买了软件，无论玩多少次都是免费的。
原文
TIME: So Japanese game designers aren’t making violent games?
译文
时代周刊：那么日本游戏设计师不制作暴力游戏吗？
原文
Tajiri: No, they make them. But only to sell in the U.S.
译文
田尻智：不，他们也做。但只是为了在美国销售。
原文
TIME: Still, American kids like Pok駑on, even without the blood.
译文
时代周刊：尽管如此，美国孩子还是喜欢宝可梦，即使没有血腥场面。
原文
Tajiri: I was really careful in making monsters faint rather than die. I think that young people playing games have an abnormal concept about dying. They start to lose and say, “I’m dying.” It’s not right for kids to think about a concept of death that way. They need to treat death with more respect.
译文
田尻智：我非常小心地让怪物晕倒而不是死亡。我认为玩游戏的年轻人对死亡有异常的概念。他们开始失败时会说“我要死了”。孩子们以那种方式思考死亡的概念是不对的。他们需要更尊重死亡。
原文
TIME: Well, there’s a preacher in the U.S. who says Pikachu is the devil.
译文
时代周刊：嗯，美国有一位牧师说皮卡丘是魔鬼。
原文
Tajiri: I never heard of that! [Laughs] I heard there was a guy who criticized [kid’s book character] Harry Potter because of the magic. But I saw the author, and she seemed really nice. The critic seemed like a grouchy mean guy.
译文
田尻智：我从没听说过！[笑]我听说有个人因为魔法而批评[儿童书角色]哈利·波特。但我见过作者，她看起来真的很好。那个批评者看起来像个脾气暴躁的刻薄家伙。
原文
TIME: What do you think about that weird incident in Japan in 1997, when 700 kids had seizures while watching Pikachu’s blinking lights on the Pok駑on TV show?
译文
时代周刊：你对1997年日本那起奇怪的事件怎么看？当时有700名儿童在看宝可梦电视节目中皮卡丘闪烁的灯光时癫痫发作。
原文
Tajiri: When I was a kid, I was taught to sit far away from the TV while watching. Then TVs got bigger. That was O.K. in the U.S., because you have big rooms. But in Japan, the rooms are small. So people got in the habit of watching TV close to the screen.
译文
田尻智：我小时候，被教导看电视时要坐得离电视远一些。后来电视变大了。在美国这没问题，因为房间很大。但在日本，房间很小。所以人们养成了靠近屏幕看电视的习惯。
原文
TIME: Is it a good idea for kids to spend so much time playing Pok駑on?
译文
时代周刊：孩子们花这么多时间玩宝可梦好吗？
原文
Tajiri: I think a lot about kids and what they need and want to make their lives better. You know, the cram school industry started when I was young. There was so little time to play. During school breaks, we’d run to the arcade to play games. Right now, there isn’t much time for kids to relax. So I thought of games that could help kids fill in those five- or 10-minute gaps.
译文
田尻智：我经常思考孩子们需要什么、想要什么来让他们的生活更好。你知道，补习班行业在我小时候就兴起了。玩耍的时间太少了。课间休息时，我们会跑去游戏厅玩游戏。现在，孩子们没有太多时间放松。所以我想到了能帮助孩子们填补那些五分钟或十分钟空档的游戏。