Greenlit: Masuda - Never gonna give directing up

Title is very filler. =p

An article about Masuda showing up again as Director, despite saying he won't do it again after LGPE. https://daily.pokecommunity.com/201...t-stint-as-director-shares-more-lgpe-details/

There's a few directions this could go, including highlighting how he's still had clearly a lot of influence with SwSh (look at all of his appearences during demos and interviews!), and how he's had a mixed history in the eye of the fandom (now not so popular, but DP days - one of his achievements in directing - he was quite popular, and Rivvon would say similarly for BW too). Can also be a prediction or highlighting concerns and pros of him being a co-director.

Welcoming input and ideas here - more of a brainstorm than a fully fleshed article pitch right now.

Ding ding ding +1 from me!

Could we do like a Masuda timeline, showing what influence/direction he's had on the series as a whole?

+1 from me too

I wonder what Masuda's Method is this time... He's definitely had a lasting impact on the video game franchise, having been credited in over 55 Pokémon games.

Junichi Masuda...man's a big name when it comes to the Pokemon franchise. Dawn would probably like to have a word.
Apart from directing, he's been a popular composer too, he composed Cynthia's theme if I recall correctly. Going back to RGB days, the program he developed was used for making RGB's pokemon cries.
Calling him influential is just the start.

Edit: I like Rabi's idea of Masuda timeline. A small one can be included in a larger article, otherwise we can also go for an independent article.

bobandbill said:

Ping pong

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1 article approved and ready to go - the stage is yours! (When you are ready, of course)

Soaring Sid said:

Junichi Masuda...man's a big name when it comes to the Pokemon franchise. Dawn would probably like to have a word.
Apart from directing, he's been a popular composer too, he composed Cynthia's theme if I recall correctly. Going back to RGB days, the program he developed was used for making RGB's pokemon cries.
Calling him influential is just the start.

Edit: I like Rabi's idea of Masuda timeline. A small one can be included in a larger article, otherwise we can also go for an independent article.

Click to expand...

So with this in mind, i.e. tha magnitude of just how much of a cornerstone Masuda is, would it be worth actually doing a series on this, rather than the one article? Sid mentions for example an independent article for the summarising timeline of Masuda's achievements as it were throughout the years, so could we maybe separate this into some articles going in-depth about things such as:

- Composer
- How Masuda started out
- Key features implemented (so the program for Pokémon cries etc)
- Role in directing

Just throwing these out, not saying these are what need to be looked at etc.

Thoughts?

Article series sounds like a good idea, although idk if I would want to write on all of them... so if someone else were interested in taking up a part, do speak up.

I think the first article could still be a general one discussing Masuda co-directing and the specific implications there, and we can then follow up. HIm announced for the upcoming game is relevant now, and so I'd rather touch on that topic first.

Oh boy here we go

I'd suggest dissecting some of his later interviews especially, as well as some earlier ones if they're around...whenever I go looking for Masuda's interviews I often seem to have trouble finding them, even though I know I read them at the time. They give an interesting insight into his thought process and how he perceives the series, as well as how he feels about each game - I mean, his tone in this one is completely different when compared to a later one here and here. There's an interesting one here about Gen III and the remakes as well.

In the statement about Dexit that he issued he also took personal responsibility for it (which contradicts the Polygon interview, where he specifically states it was a conversation with Nintendo and TCPI) and it'd be interesting to see how perception of him has changed over the years if you're interested in gathering opinions on that, because I think a lot of people (myself included) have lost trust in him in the wake of this, his accomplishments earlier in the franchise notwithstanding. But he's always been a major figure in GF, and it seems like only since Gen VI onwards that he's really started to come out and give interviews about the games...and he's always been the one to take the blame when it's all gone wrong, too. The earliest I can find for an interview is this one from 2009 though, and after that nothing until around 2013...although there is one here from 2012 which I'm sure would set some Gen V fans blood on fire because Masuda kind of implies that he stopped the devs doing more with the characters in the game than they wanted to.

I think even though it's undeniable Masuda has a lot of influence on the franchise and the direction it goes in, it'd be important to have a brief look into what was going on behind the scenes as far as we know, or the environment at the time - note the size of the teams working on each Pokemon title in particular, and contrast that with your average AAA developer. But when I was trying to dig up interviews for this I found the one about Gen III for the first time, and I had no idea that he was stressed about that in particular, or that people were saying Pokemon was on its way out. Gen III was where sales started to slump a bit, and we had the first Dexit of sorts as a lot of Pokemon didn't return - coincidence, or a milder mirror of the circumstances surrounding SnS? I can't help but feel there's a link in there somewhere.

It's interesting that the worse things seem to get, the more interviews Masuda seems to give, and a lot of them are trying to explain the rationale behind the choices made, the vision he had, etc. At only one point - in the Polygon interview - does he refer to outside interference, which is...curious.

EDIT: I will probably edit this more...or make another post. xD

Belated reply!

Dawn said:

Oh boy here we go

I'd suggest dissecting some of his later interviews especially, as well as some earlier ones if they're around...whenever I go looking for Masuda's interviews I often seem to have trouble finding them, even though I know I read them at the time. They give an interesting insight into his thought process and how he perceives the series, as well as how he feels about each game - I mean, his tone in this one is completely different when compared to a later one here and here. There's an interesting one here about Gen III and the remakes as well.

In the statement about Dexit that he issued he also took personal responsibility for it (which contradicts the Polygon interview, where he specifically states it was a conversation with Nintendo and TCPI) and it'd be interesting to see how perception of him has changed over the years if you're interested in gathering opinions on that, because I think a lot of people (myself included) have lost trust in him in the wake of this, his accomplishments earlier in the franchise notwithstanding. But he's always been a major figure in GF, and it seems like only since Gen VI onwards that he's really started to come out and give interviews about the games...and he's always been the one to take the blame when it's all gone wrong, too. The earliest I can find for an interview is this one from 2009 though, and after that nothing until around 2013...although there is one here from 2012 which I'm sure would set some Gen V fans blood on fire because Masuda kind of implies that he stopped the devs doing more with the characters in the game than they wanted to.

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Thanks for the various links. Some I certainly remember seeing, although others I clearly need to review.

I think even though it's undeniable Masuda has a lot of influence on the franchise and the direction it goes in, it'd be important to have a brief look into what was going on behind the scenes as far as we know, or the environment at the time - note the size of the teams working on each Pokemon title in particular, and contrast that with your average AAA developer. But when I was trying to dig up interviews for this I found the one about Gen III for the first time, and I had no idea that he was stressed about that in particular, or that people were saying Pokemon was on its way out. Gen III was where sales started to slump a bit, and we had the first Dexit of sorts as a lot of Pokemon didn't return - coincidence, or a milder mirror of the circumstances surrounding SnS? I can't help but feel there's a link in there somewhere.

Click to expand...

That is something I recall reading @ Masuda being stressed about gen 3.

It's interesting that the worse things seem to get, the more interviews Masuda seems to give, and a lot of them are trying to explain the rationale behind the choices made, the vision he had, etc. At only one point - in the Polygon interview - does he refer to outside interference, which is...curious.

EDIT: I will probably edit this more...or make another post. xD

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Yeah, he's been very central in regards to interviews and appearances these days. Kinda went against him saying he would step back after LGPE - he seemed even more involved if anything.

Never gonna give it up
ALWAYS gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
I'm gonna tell a lie and hurt you!!