Satoru Iwata, the former President of Nintendo, wasn’t just a corporate suit- he was a game developer himself, and a genius programmer. One of his greatest feats of programming wizardry have to do with Pokemon Gold/Silver, the second, and most beloved, games in the long running franchise.
Apparently, Game Freak was having a lot of trouble getting the data for the games to fit on a cartridge- so Iwata came along and compressed the data so effectively that there was excess space left on the cart, space that Game Freak then used to put Kanto from Pokemon Red/Blue into them. Given that the presence of Kanto in the games is one of the reasons they are so beloved, Iwata is in large part responsible for the most loved Pokemon game existing as it does.
Apparently, Game Freak has not forgotten- and in the new Pokemon games, UltraSun/UltraMoon, they have slipped in a heart warming tribute to him. In every Pokemon game, you can visit an in game version of Game Freak. In UltraSun/UltraMoon, the developers at Game Freak say- well, I’ll let you see for yourself.
It’s a really touching tribute to a great, great man. Pokemon UltraSun/UltraMoon are out now on Nintendo 3DS.
#ThanksIwata pic.twitter.com/4U1YSqOwr0
— Joe Merrick (@JoeMerrick) November 23, 2017
