单人问答 2019 Video Games Chronicle
VGC 专访 GAME FREAK 尾上将之：GEAR PROJECT 机制与第一制作组的原创野心——追求超越宝可梦的冲击力
尾上将之 · GAME FREAK 尾上将之谈 Gear Project 与两组分工
Contents 本篇 9 章
- 在这样一家有影响力的开发商工作，是什么感觉？
- 考虑到计划发售的所有作品，您是否认同2019年可能会成为 GAME FREAK 历史上最重...
- GAME FREAK 当然以《宝可梦》最为闻名，但您是否希望有一天它能通过 Gear Pr...
- 1组做不同类型、不同平台的游戏，积累的经验能不能让2组也受益？
- 所以看来，通过 Gear Project 积累的经验能让整个公司受益？
- 您本人在 GAME FREAK 既做过《宝可梦》，也做过新 IP。作为一名创作者，您觉得暂...
- GAME FREAK 推出的游戏好像比以往任何时候都多，光今年就有三款。你们是怎么做到这么...
- 能说说您现在在做什么吗？
- Nintendo Switch 卖得非常好，尤其是在日本。您觉得它作为一个平台，为什么会这...
Pokémon developer Game Freak is increasingly prioritising original game creation as part of its Gear Project initiative.
宝可梦开发商 GAME FREAK 越来越重视原创游戏的创作，把它作为 Gear Project 计划的一部分。
So far Gear Project has resulted in four original games from the Japanese studio; HarmoKnight, Pocket Card Jockey, Tembo the Badass Elephant and GIGA WRECKER, all of which released after 2012. The developer is also working on Town, a Nintendo Switch RPG due out in 2019.
到目前为止，Gear Project 已经让这家日本工作室做出了四款原创游戏：《节奏骑兵》（HarmoKnight）、《口袋卡牌骑师》（Pocket Card Jockey）、《坏坏大象坦博》（Tembo the Badass Elephant）和《千兆破坏者》（GIGA WRECKER），都是在2012年之后发售的。此外，这家开发商还在做《Town》，这是一款预计2019年发售的 Nintendo Switch RPG。
Programmer and director Masayuki Onoue told VGC earlier this year that by taking breaks from its flagship Pokémon series, Game Freak’s creators can return to the franchise “refreshed” and transfer their new experience to the famous series.
程序员兼总监尾上将之今年早些时候告诉 VGC，暂时离开旗舰系列《宝可梦》，GAME FREAK 的创作者们就能以“焕然一新”的状态回归，把新经验用到这个系列里。
Onoue has worked as a programmer on mainline Pokémon games since Black and White, but recently directed his first game, GIGA WRECKER for PC. You can see the full transcript of our interview with Onoue below.
尾上从《宝可梦 黑·白》开始就一直担任主系列宝可梦的程序员，最近他第一次当总监，做了 PC 平台的《千兆破坏者》（GIGA WRECKER）。下面是我们对尾上采访的完整记录。
VGC
What is it like to work for such an influential developer?
在这样一家有影响力的开发商工作，是什么感觉？
尾上将之
I joined Game Freak straight from college in 2010. One of my goals was to work on a game that would get played by as many users as possible, so in that sense I feel very lucky to be at the creator of Pokémon.
我2010年大学一毕业就进了 GAME FREAK。我的目标之一就是做一款能让尽可能多玩家玩到的游戏，所以从这个角度说，能来到《宝可梦》的开发商这里，我觉得非常幸运。
尾上将之
Before I joined Game Freak I was already aware of the company’s Gear Project and it was a hope of mine that I would someday be able to create something new through that. My goal was eventually achieved with Giga Wrecker. All of what’s happened up until this point, with me able to sit in this interview with you, is thanks to Game Freak and I’m very lucky.
进 GAME FREAK 之前我就知道公司的 Gear Project，当时就希望有一天能通过它做出新东西。这个目标最后靠《千兆破坏者》实现了。走到今天这一步，能坐在这里接受您的采访，都要感谢 GAME FREAK，我非常幸运。
VGC
Do you agree that 2019 looks like it could be one of the biggest in Game Freak’s history with all the titles its planning to release?
考虑到计划发售的所有作品，您是否认同2019年可能会成为 GAME FREAK 历史上最重要的一年之一？
尾上将之
2019 will be very exciting, especially following the Pikachu Let’s Go titles which allowed us to start looking seriously at Nintendo Switch as a platform. That was a very important milestone for us before moving on to the next step.
2019年会非常激动人心，尤其是在《宝可梦 Let’s Go！皮卡丘·Let’s Go！伊布》之后，这两款游戏让我们开始真正认真地把 Nintendo Switch 看成一个平台。在迈向下一步之前，这对我们来说是一个非常重要的里程碑。
尾上将之
However, with the Gear Project we were always targeting PS4, Xbox One and PC as well, but our project relied on game engines such as Unity. Looking at that, I feel as a programmer that we need to really grow as a production team in order to target future platforms.
不过 Gear Project 这边，我们一直也把 PS4、Xbox One 和 PC 作为目标，而且我们的项目依赖 Unity 这类游戏引擎。这么一看，作为一名程序员，我觉得我们的制作团队得真正成长起来，才能瞄准未来的平台。
VGC
Game Freak is best known for Pokémon of course, but is your hope that it can one day be known for more than that with the Gear Project?
GAME FREAK 当然以《宝可梦》最为闻名，但您是否希望有一天它能通过 Gear Project 以其他作品而为人所知？
尾上将之
Exactly. There are two different production teams here, simply named Production Team 1 and Production Team 2. Team 1 is fully dedicated to Gear Project, while Team 2 is for the Pokémon operation. What that means is that Game Freak as a company is prioritising Gear Project, which is production team number one, more than Pokémon in general.
确实如此。我们这里有两个不同的制作团队，就叫第一制作组和第二制作组。1组完全专注 Gear Project，2组负责《宝可梦》业务。也就是说，GAME FREAK 作为一家公司，把第一制作组的 Gear Project 放在比《宝可梦》总体上更高的优先位置。
尾上将之
We are always trying to create something that is equally exciting, or more exciting than Pokémon.
我们一直在努力做出和《宝可梦》一样让人兴奋，或者比《宝可梦》更让人兴奋的东西。
VGC
Can the experience Team 1 gains working on different genres and platforms benefit Team 2?
1组做不同类型、不同平台的游戏，积累的经验能不能让2组也受益？
尾上将之
There is a lot of back-and-forth between Team 1 and Team 2. One of the interesting things is that Team 2, which is dedicated to Pokémon, only knows about specific platforms. So with Team 2, engineers can learn about other platforms that he might not have touched before. So by mixing up the teams we are able to create this interesting synergy.
1组和2组之间有很多交流。有趣的一点是，专注于《宝可梦》的2组只了解特定的平台。因此通过团队混合，工程师可以学习到他们以前可能未曾接触过的其他平台。所以，通过混合团队，我们能够创造出这种有趣的协同效应。
VGC
So it seems the experience gained via Gear Project is able to benefit the company as a whole?
所以看来，通过 Gear Project 积累的经验能让整个公司受益？
尾上将之
Yes, I totally agree. Gear Project is supporting the technical strength of Game Freak. Separately, we have an R&D group that directly supports the technical aspects of Game Freak, which also helps.
是的，我完全同意。Gear Project 支撑着 GAME FREAK 的技术实力。另外，我们还有一个研发（R&D）小组，直接支持 GAME FREAK 的技术层面，这也很有帮助。
VGC
You’ve personally worked on both Pokémon and new IPs at Game Freak. As a creator, do you feel like it helps you to be able to take a break from Pokémon and perhaps return reinvigorated?
您本人在 GAME FREAK 既做过《宝可梦》，也做过新 IP。作为一名创作者，您觉得暂时离开《宝可梦》，然后再精神焕发地回来，对您有帮助吗？
尾上将之
Yes, it was a totally refreshing experience when I moved from Pokémon to Giga Wrecker. It’s like a paradigm shift.
是的，我从《宝可梦》转到《千兆破坏者》的时候，感觉完全焕然一新。就像是换了一种思维模式。
尾上将之
On Pokémon, of course I contribute to the project, but it’s not like I’m looking at the whole picture of the project. However with Giga Wrecker, as a director I’m constantly supervising the whole picture and need to be aware of what’s going on. So yes, it was a very interesting and refreshing experience for me.
做《宝可梦》的时候，我当然也为项目出力，但我不是从项目全貌的角度去看的。而在《千兆破坏者》里，作为总监，我要一直盯着整体，需要知道正在发生什么。所以是的，这对我来说是一次非常有趣、耳目一新的体验。
尾上将之
When you’re a programmer working on Pokémon, you’re one of many programmers. However, as a director on Giga Wrecker the experience opened my eyes to the other aspects of game creation, all the way up to users playing the game. It’s really difficult to expect a programmer to have that kind of perspective, but as director I learned how to make a game more appealing and accessible to players, plus aspects of marketing as well.
做《宝可梦》的程序员，你只是众多程序员中的一个。但作为《千兆破坏者》的总监，这段经历让我看到了游戏创作的其他方面，一直到玩家玩上游戏。很难指望一个程序员有这样的视角，但作为总监，我学到了怎么让游戏对玩家更有吸引力、更容易上手，还有市场营销方面的东西。
尾上将之
Gear Project has helped me become more creative. I’ve now seen the whole process of creation all the way to marketing and selling the game to players. I can now bring that knowhow back to the Pokémon team and try to create something different for Pokémon. So it’s a good synergy between Gear Project and Pokémon creation.
Gear Project 让我变得更有创造力。我现在看到了从创作一直到营销、把游戏卖到玩家手里的整个过程。现在我可以把这些经验带回宝可梦团队，试着为《宝可梦》做出一些不一样的东西。所以 Gear Project 和宝可梦开发之间有很好的协同效应。
VGC
Game Freak seems to be putting out more titles than ever before, with three this year alone. How have you managed to become so efficient?
GAME FREAK 推出的游戏好像比以往任何时候都多，光今年就有三款。你们是怎么做到这么高效的？
尾上将之
In terms of the number of titles we are releasing this year, it’s happened coincidentally. It’s not like we’re trying to put everything together in 2019 – it just happened.
今年发布的游戏数量，其实是碰巧。我们并不是要把所有东西都凑到2019年——只是刚好赶上了。
尾上将之
R&D is a newly founded division which is creating the basic library, which used to be created every single time we made a project. That helps the efficiency of our production for sure. Also we are looking at what’s going on in the future, from a technical perspective, and that’s something else that we’ve never had before. I think that R&D division will certainly contribute to the future of Game Freak.
研发（R&D）是新成立的部门，负责做基础库。以前我们每做一个项目，都得重新做一遍。这肯定提高了我们的生产效率。另外，我们还从技术角度去看未来会怎样，这也是我们以前从来没有过的。我觉得研发部门一定会对 GAME FREAK 的未来有贡献。
VGC
Can you tell us what you’re working on right now?
能说说您现在在做什么吗？
尾上将之
I’m taking care of multiple projects. I’m working on Giga Wrecker now and working on another project as well. It’s stimulating, yet challenging as well.
我在管好几个项目。现在在做《千兆破坏者》，同时还在做另一个项目。很刺激，但也很有挑战。
VGC
Nintendo Switch is performing incredibly well, especially here in Japan. What do you think makes it so popular as a platform?
Nintendo Switch 卖得非常好，尤其是在日本。您觉得它作为一个平台，为什么会这么受欢迎？
尾上将之
I think the unique nature of the hardware has inspired creators to come up with something different. That’s why Switch has a very unique library of games that appeal to a wide range of users.
我觉得这台硬件很独特，激发了创作者去想一些不一样的东西。所以 Switch 上才有那么独特的游戏阵容，能吸引各种各样的用户。
Index 本篇提到
- 宝可梦 1
- 皮卡丘