This past Sunday I was lucky enough to meet Mike Fitzgerald, who does a number of things but one of them is work for Pokemon USA. Specifically he’s responsible for designing the pre-constructed decks here in American as well as the rarity system for each new set.
From what he explained Japan has a different system of commons, uncommons, rares and all that stuff. So what he does is collect several of the Japanese set releases, put it together and reconstruct the rarity. I didn’t get all the details but I would love to know just what the differences are and what type of work goes into planning out a new American release.
I did get a better understanding of the decks, that he is given the two ’stars’ (like Rhyperior and Electavire) and then gets to build everything from there, like what other Pokemon get included and what type of energies to build on and strategies to come up with. He also play tests them extensively to ensure they’re balanced and actually work.
Oh yeah, he used to work for some wizards and while there he released his own game called Wyvern. Pokemon USA is a part-time job for him, the rest of the time he works in radio.
I have an interest in designing games myself as well as being a Pokemon fan, so I had a blast learning all this! Its also glorious because not that long ago my life was hell. Now I’m starting to live my dream and its taking me to most wonderful places and offering me the chance to meet the most incredible people. Who could have ever known?!
