Reshiram and Zekrom have taken over Official Nintendo Magazine. With Pokémon Black & White on the way to the UK on 4 March, the Official Nintendo Magazine UK went to Game Freak headquarters in Japan to find out more about the biggest Nintendo games of the year.


How did they make Reshiram and Zekrom, how do they create so many likeable Pokémon and how do they make battle music that doesn't become annoying? All is revealed in the new Official Nintendo Magazine UK. Plus you can find out everything you need to know about Black & White.

How we created 150 new Pokémon - Ken Sugimori

Game Freak has revealed how a trip to the zoo inspired the creation of the 150 new Pokémon in Pokémon Black & White.

In an exclusive interview which appears in the new issue of Official Nintendo Magazine, Pokémon designer Ken Sugimori said: "In the Pokémon World there are Pokémon that look like dogs, that look like horses, deer - as you can see we always look at wild animals to get the inspiration.

"But those Pokémon, the dogs, deer or horses already exist in previous games so we took a fresh start, we went back to basics. We took the designers to the zoo to study different animals."

Of course, not all of the new Pokémon are based on animals. There's a goth girl named Gothitelle, a coffin with arms named Cofagrigus and a gear that goes by the name of Clink.

Sugimori didn't reveal how he found inspiration for these Pokémon but he did shed more light on how he and his 30-strong team of designers make Pokémon likeable.

"The secret is that they're easy to understand and they show diversity," he said. "Its feature or ability or shape is key.

"There's a mixture of cool and cute Pokémon. That makes it easy for the audience to pick their favourite. That's the reason it's popular and the reason it's like all over the world."

Full Interview Available in the February 2011 issue of Official Nintendo Magazine UK.

Source: http://www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/article.php?id=23031