Junichi Masuda facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Junichi Masuda
増田 順一
Masuda in 2011
Born	(1968-01-12) January 12, 1968 (age 57) Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
Alma mater	Japan Electronics College
Occupation	Composer director designer producer programmer
Years active	1989–present
Employer	Game Freak (1989–2022) The Pokémon Company (2022–present)
Musical career
Genres	Video game music
Instruments	Piano, trombone

Junichi Masuda (増田 順一, Masuda Jun'ichi, born January 12, 1968) is a famous Japanese video game composer, developer, and producer. He is best known for his amazing work on the Pokémon games!

He was one of the first people to start the company Game Freak in 1989. He founded it with Satoshi Tajiri and Ken Sugimori. In 2022, Masuda became the Chief Creative Fellow at The Pokémon Company. This means he helps guide the creative direction for all things Pokémon.

As new Pokémon games were made, Masuda took on more important jobs. He started to produce and direct games, like Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire. He also became responsible for approving new Pokémon designs. His goal is to make games easy to start, but still add fun challenges as you play. He likes to keep some classic parts of the series, like focusing on handheld game consoles and 2D graphics. His music is inspired by great composers like Dmitri Shostakovich. He also looked at the Super Mario series for ideas on good video game music.

Early Life and Inspiration

Junichi Masuda was born on January 12, 1968, in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. When he was a kid, his family often went on vacation to Kyūshū. There, he loved catching fish and insects. These childhood adventures later inspired him to create the Hoenn Region in the Pokémon series.

In high school, Masuda played the trombone. He also discovered classical music and loved pieces like Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring. He also enjoyed Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5.

Masuda went to the Japan Electronics College in Shinjuku, Tokyo. He studied computer graphics and learned the C programming language. His daughter, Kiri, was born in September 2002. He even named a character in Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire after her!

Creating Pokémon Games

Masuda in 2007

Junichi Masuda has worked at Game Freak since it started in 1989. He has helped create almost every game the company has made. Masuda was one of the first people to develop the Pokémon series. He started with Pokémon Red and Green.

His first job at Game Freak was to compose video game music. His very first game was Mendel Palace, a puzzle game from 1989. After that, he worked on Yoshi, which was Game Freak's first game with Nintendo.

When the first Pokémon games came out, Masuda mainly wrote the music. He also did some programming. Later, he started directing and producing the games. For the first Pokémon games, he wrote the program for the game's audio. He also created the music and sound effects.

Masuda has been very involved in naming and designing many Pokémon. He says it's hard to make sure a Pokémon's name and features appeal to people all over the world. Since Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, Masuda has been a main person who approves new Pokémon designs. He was also on the board of directors at Game Freak.

On September 28, 2018, Masuda shared a scary story. He said that early in Pokémon development, "game data was almost lost in a computer crash." He called it "the most nerve-racking moment." He explained that their computers, called Sun SPARCstation 1s, "crashed quite a bit."

On November 1, 2018, Masuda said that Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! would likely be his last time directing main Pokémon games. The job was passed to Shigeru Ohmori. Ohmori had already directed Pokémon Sun and Moon. However, Masuda later directed Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. These games were made by ILCA.

Masuda also produced Japanese ending songs for Pokémon Journeys. These songs were "Pokémon Shiritori" and "Batsugun Type." He worked with the Japanese electronic group Pasocom Music Club.

On June 1, 2022, Masuda left Game Freak to join The Pokémon Company. He now works as their Chief Creative Fellow.

Creative Style and Influences

Masuda always thinks about new players when making games. He wants beginners to be able to play easily. So, his games start simple and easy to understand. More complex parts are added as players get better.

He believes handheld systems are great for social interaction. You can't always get that on non-handheld console systems. He also thinks that using 2D computer graphics has been very important to Pokémon's success.

Masuda's music style comes from many places. He especially likes classical music and the works of Igor Stravinsky and Dmitri Shostakovich. His favorite music style is techno. He has also looked at the music from the Super Mario series as a great example of video game music.

Most of his ideas come from watching real life. He imagines how he would design or draw things he sees around him. He tries not to use old characters as inspiration for new ones. Instead, he creates each new Pokémon from fresh ideas.

Games Junichi Masuda Worked On

Junichi Masuda has worked on many games. Here are some of the most well-known ones:

See also

In Spanish: Junichi Masuda para niños