The Pokémon Company president and CEO Tsunekazu Ishihara has accepted the Andrew Yoon Legend Award, appearing in a pre-recorded video that was shown at The 15th Annual New York Game Awards.
The award is named after Andrew Yoon, who was a founding member of the New York Game Critics Circle, and recognises “industry icons and organisations that exhibited a significant, sustained body of work demonstrating exceptional artistic achievement and innovation.”
Previous Andrew Yoon Legend Award recipients include Sam Lake, Neil Druckmann, Reggie Fils-Aimé, Phil Spencer, Tim Schafer, Jerry Lawson, Jade Raymond, Richard Garriott, Todd Howard, Ralph Baer and Hideo Kojima.
“Hello, everyone. I’m Ishihara from The Pokémon Company. I started my Pokémon journey as the producer of the Pokémon Red and Pokémon Green video games, which launched in 1996. Since then, I’ve been involved in the development of every Pokémon video game and the production of a wide variety of Pokémon content, including the trading card game, the animated series, movies, merchandising, and more,” Ishihara began in his acceptance speech.
“Today, I am truly grateful to accept this prestigious Andrew Yoon Legend Award. I would like to extend my deepest thanks to the New York Game Critics Circle; to the current owners of Pokémon at Game Freak, Creatures, and Nintendo; to all of our business partners who have been involved with Pokémon; and, of course, to all of our fans around the world who enjoy Pokémon. Thank you very much for your support.
“I believe the true recipients of this award are all of the people who have helped to create, nurture, and elevate Pokémon up until now. The fierce passion and deep love of our fans around the world helped guide Pokémon to where it is today, and it goes without saying that Pokémon as we know it would not exist without the unwavering enthusiasm of the development teams who have worked tirelessly to create the world of Pokémon.
“I’d like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to everyone around the world who has been involved with Pokémon. It’s been quite some time since I myself first stepped foot into the world of video games. When I started out, I never would have imagined that I would be involved in this industry for so long and to such a degree.
“Pokémon originated from a small idea from the Game Freak development team: Wouldn’t it be fun if you could catch creatures in a game and trade them with your friends? Everything started from that simple concept. The development process, however, was not quite as easy. It took a great deal of trial and error to figure out how to actualise that idea with the limited resources we had available.
“In the end, it took six years to complete the first games, Pokémon Red and Pokémon Green. Still, we all felt confident in the main gameplay elements that would become the foundation of the Pokémon video game series: catch, raise, trade, and battle. We felt this way because these elements were tied to experiences everyone had as children when we were out catching bugs and growing plants and raising animals.
“With a strong desire to let many people experience that fundamental experience more deeply through Pokémon within the game, we were finally able to bring it to completion. While we faced many challenges along the way, one of our greatest joys was seeing how Pokémon was embraced outside of Japan. To be honest, I was uncertain at first – would this game, created in Japan, really be enjoyed by people overseas? But here we are today with the Pokémon World Championships, where players compete in our video games, the Trading Card Game, Pokémon GO, and Pokémon UNITE.
“We see Trainers from around the world battling, trading, and having fun with Pokémon. When I see so many people enjoying Pokémon with smiles on their faces, transcending language and cultural barriers, I truly feel that Pokémon has the power to connect the world. That feeling becomes a major driving force for me as I think about how to produce the next game and how we can make it even more enjoyable for everyone.
“I believe that Pokémon has already provided a space where people all around the world can meet, connect, and grow together. I feel that many people have been able to connect and share common experiences with others through their experiences with Pokémon. And once again, I’m convinced of the richness and depth of the world within the original video games, and their universal appeal that allows anyone to enjoy them.
“This year we will celebrate 30 years of Pokémon. We will continue doing our best to deliver new Pokémon worlds to people all around the world, and we hope that you will all continue to enjoy Pokémon for a long time to come. Thank you very much!”
