Junichi Masuda Opens Twitter Account, the Internet Gets Confused
Was going to post this yesterday but wanted to wait for an accurate translation before jumping the gun.
Junichi Masuda, director of Gamefreak, opened a Twitter account last week and has been posting on it every since. A few days ago, one user posted on Mr. Masuda’s account that he wants Ruby and Sapphire remakes, to which Mr. Masuda responded, “Thanks! We’ve heard you loud and clear. R/S is very near and dear to me. I want to make good products. Thanks!”
Naturally, many websites interpreted his comment as meaning Gamefreak may consider creating Ruby and Sapphire remakes. Unfortunately, this interpretation is simply not the case (and thankfully some of these websites have since edited their news stories, though the rumor is now all over the Internet). Bangiras, who translated Mr. Masuda’s comment above, feels his response was just out of courtesy and that nothing is being implied in his statement (she put it into her own words as, “Thanks for the comment! I worked really hard on R/S and I strive to make good products, so your feedback means a lot to me! Thank you!”). In other words, his Tweet meant nothing and said nothing other than “thank you, random person, for your comments.”
Nevertheless, going by previous years, it is probable Gamefreak is working on Ruby and Sapphire remakes right now. Of course, they’re not going to tell you that – they have a business plan to stick to and they would not be hinting at the possibility of the remakes through a Twitter account. They have official means of getting that sort of news out, partnerships with magazines like CoroCoro who probably have deals with Pokemon to break that sort of news first, a business plan to create hype, etc. So, for now, we have no official confirmation – or even a hint – that Ruby and Sapphire remakes are in the works. That doesn’t mean they’re not in the works, it just means there is no proof of their existence yet.
However, Mr. Masuda did write one interesting comment: one user asked, “Will Pokemon Gray really be released?” His response was, “I can’t answer that yet.” That comment, if you ask me, is what should have gotten all of the attention! Though like the R/S comment, it means nothing.