Game Informer 独家专访：为何《红宝石·蓝宝石》是 Game Freak 史上最艰巨的一役？——增田顺一复盘 GBA 转型阵痛、健康危机与破局之道
在第三世代《宝可梦 红宝石·蓝宝石》开发期间，Game Freak 面临前所未有的生死关头：坊间充斥着‘宝可梦热潮已死’的断言，技术从黑白GB一跃进入GBA色彩绚烂的全新硬件。首次独自挑起总监兼作曲重担的增田顺一，因背负全社命运的极端焦虑与高压突发重度胃病送医急救、佩戴动态心电监护仪坚持研发。本访谈真实还原了增田顺一如何带领团队以特性、性格、双打对战等划时代系统实现逆风翻盘的悲壮历史。
宝可梦 黑·白宝可梦 红宝石·蓝宝石
原始资料
2002年 GBA 原版《宝可梦 红宝石·蓝宝石》封面神兽固拉多与盖欧卡
图像作为阅读入口保留；正文仍以可检索、可对照的文字档案为主。
逐段译读
2002年 GBA 原版《宝可梦 红宝石·蓝宝石》封面神兽固拉多与盖欧卡
原文
The Pokémon series has transitioned between three different handheld generations comfortably (four if you count Game Boy to Game Boy Color), but there is one one in particular that proved more difficult than the rest. Pokémon X and Y may have marked the series’ biggest graphical upgrade, but according to Game Freak co-founder and Pokémon director, producer, and composer Junichi Masuda, the most difficult Pokémon to bring across the finish line were the games that brought the series to the Game Boy Advance.
译文
宝可梦系列曾在三个不同的掌机世代之间平稳过渡（若将Game Boy到Game Boy Color也算作一次，则为四次），但其中有一代被证明比其他世代更为艰难。《宝可梦 X／Y》或许标志着该系列最大幅度的画面升级，但据Game Freak联合创始人、宝可梦系列总监、制作人兼作曲家增田顺一所言，最难跨越终点线的宝可梦作品，恰恰是将该系列带入Game Boy Advance的那几款游戏。
原文
Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire released in 2003 to wide acclaim and impressive sales. In some ways, the technical leap between the Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance helped development. “With Ruby and Sapphire, the screen got a little longer and it was a different aspect ratio, a lot more colors and sound channels so the tech was improved dramatically,” Masuda says. “It allowed us to do a lot more and gave us more freedom, but at the same time it made it take a lot longer to do things and was more resource-intensive.”
译文
《宝可梦 红宝石／蓝宝石》于2003年发售，广受好评，销量惊人。在某些方面，Game Boy Color到Game Boy Advance之间的技术飞跃反而助力了开发。“在《红宝石／蓝宝石》中，屏幕变长了一些，宽高比也不同了，颜色和声道都多了很多，所以技术层面有了显著提升，”增田说道。“这让我们能做更多事情，给了我们更多自由，但与此同时，也让做事情的耗时更长，资源消耗更大。”
原文
The main problem with the game wasn’t the technical side, but rather the general opinion surrounding the franchise in the early 2000s. “After Gold and Silver came out, it was a huge hit around the world, but shortly after everyone was saying, ‘That’s it. The Pokémon fad is over! It’s dead!’,” Masuda says. The games were meant to be the starting line for the next few Pokémon games. “It was a very stressful project, for sure,” Masuda says. “When we were first developing it, I had the idea in mind that it would be Ruby and Sapphire, and then the next games, including the titles, would be Diamond and Pearl, and in between we would do the remakes, FireRed and LeafGreen, so we could create this structure where you could take the Pokémon from the Kanto region to the Diamond and Pearl games.”
译文
这款游戏的主要问题并不在技术层面，而在于2000年代初围绕这个系列的大众舆论。“《金／银》推出后，在全球范围内大获成功，但不久之后所有人都在说，‘就这样了。宝可梦的热潮结束了！它死了！’”增田说道。这些游戏本应是接下来几款宝可梦作品的起跑线。“这绝对是一个压力非常大的项目，”增田说。“我们最初开发的时候，我心中已经有了构想：先做《红宝石／蓝宝石》，然后下一批游戏——包括标题——会是《钻石／珍珠》，在这之间我们会做重制版《火红／叶绿》，这样就能构建一个结构，让你可以把关都地区的宝可梦带到《钻石／珍珠》游戏中。”
原文
Just as development began, however, trademark research revealed the names Ruby and Sapphire may not be usable, which would have hobbled plans for the next three games from the beginning. That coupled with the franchise perception made everything more stressful. “At the time, the atmosphere and general thinking was that the Pokémon fad was over and there was huge pressure to prove people wrong,” Masuda says. Toy stores that used to be filled with Pokémon toys were clearing out their stock, and when visiting America, Masuda says he noticed that all the Pokémon merchandise, including the unofficial toys featured at mall kiosks, were beginning to disappear. “The next time I visited it was all Star Wars. Everyone was saying it was on a downtrend, the fad’s over and I really felt that pressure to make something amazing,” Masuda says.
译文
然而，就在开发刚刚启动之际，商标调查显示“Ruby”和“Sapphire”这两个名称可能无法使用，这将从一开始就阻碍接下来三款游戏的计划。再加上外界对系列的观感，一切都变得更加紧张。“当时的氛围和普遍想法是宝可梦的热潮已经结束了，我们面临着巨大的压力去证明人们是错的，”增田说道。曾经摆满宝可梦玩具的玩具店正在清仓，增田说他在访问美国时注意到，所有宝可梦周边商品——包括商场摊位上的非官方玩具——都开始消失。“我下一次去的时候，全变成了《星球大战》。所有人都在说它在走下坡路，热潮已经结束了，我真的感受到了那种压力，必须做出了不起的东西，”增田说道。
原文
“I got really stressed out and had to go to the hospital and had some stomach issues and had to get a camera inserted and they didn’t know what it was – very stressful,” Masuda says. “The night before release I had a dream that it was a complete failure, a total nightmare.” Alternatively, Shigeru Ohmori, director of Sun and Moon and Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, views the game as a far less stressful time in his career. Ruby and Sapphire were the first Pokémon games he worked on, marking his official transition from fan to creator. “It was actually a lot of fun to work on it and I was able to think, ‘I’m making this’,” Ohmori says.
译文
“我压力大到不得不去医院，胃出了问题，得插管检查，他们也不知道是什么——压力非常大，”增田说道。“发售前一晚，我梦见它彻底失败了，完全是一场噩梦。”而另一方面，《太阳／月亮》及《欧米伽红宝石／阿尔法蓝宝石》的总监大森滋则认为，那款游戏是他职业生涯中压力远没有那么大的时期。《红宝石／蓝宝石》是他参与开发的第一批宝可梦游戏，标志着他从粉丝到创作者的身份正式转变。“实际上做起来非常有趣，我能够想着‘这是我在做的’，”大森说道。
原文
Despite the general perception of the series, and Masuda’s stress-induced hospital visit, he never gave in to the pressure. “We at Game Freak took that as a challenge and said, ‘It’s not dead. We’re going to show you guys you’re wrong!’.” Masuda says, and ultimately, it worked out. Game Freak were able to use the names Ruby and Sapphire and the games sold well. “The morning after, the day of release, I went into the local shop and saw people lining up to buy it and was extremely relieved. It was close. Super scary at the time.”
译文
尽管外界对系列普遍持悲观看法，增田也因压力过大而去了医院，但他从未向压力屈服。“我们Game Freak把这当作一个挑战，说‘它没有死。我们要向你们证明你们错了！’”增田说道，而最终，事情成功了。Game Freak得以使用“Ruby”和“Sapphire”这两个名称，游戏也卖得很好。“发售次日早晨，我走进当地的商店，看到人们排着队购买，我如释重负。真的很悬。当时超级可怕。”
原文
in 2014, Game Freak returned to Ruby and Sapphire for the 3DS remakes, Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, with Ohmori taking on director duties. “I kept hearing from Masuda about how hard the original Ruby and Sapphire games were and I kind of had that pressure in mind while creating Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby,” Ohmori says, “But from my perspective, it was a lot of fun to work on them, so I was super motivated to work as the director on the remakes.”
译文
2014年，Game Freak回归《红宝石／蓝宝石》，为3DS制作重制版《欧米伽红宝石／阿尔法蓝宝石》，由大森担任总监。“我一直听增田说原版《红宝石／蓝宝石》有多艰难，在制作《阿尔法蓝宝石／欧米伽红宝石》时，我心中也带着那种压力，”大森说道，“但在我看来，做这些游戏非常有趣，所以我作为重制版总监的动力超级强。”
Archive record 档案信息
- Date
- 2017.08.14
- Source
- Why Ruby And Sapphire Were The Most Challenging Pokémon To Make
- People
- 增田顺一（GAME FREAK 制作人／《红宝石·蓝宝石》游戏总监兼作曲）
- Game / Work
- 宝可梦 黑·白、宝可梦 红宝石·蓝宝石
- Page
- 未标注
- Language
- en
- Status
- published