Nintendo Life (Alex Olney): First of all, thanks for speaking with us.
Both: Thank you for coming here!
Let’s hit the ground running. So, a lot of fans these days are in less than ideal financial situations due to the economic climate. How much did you consider affordability when it came to these sets?
Sid Muthyala: Well, good question [chuckles]. So as with any Lego product assortment, we have Lego sets across different price points. We have sets starting as low as $14.99 going up all the way to $100 and a little bit more. And for us, it’s all about bringing the Pokémon assortment to life and bringing sets to life from a 6+ age mark all the way up to a 9+ and 12+. So you have an assortment that covers a wide variety of price points. Anyone who is a fan of any of the Pokémon can mix and match and collect them all at some point.
I have questions about mixing and matching which I’ll get onto later, but for now I do want to ask whether there are any plans to have the Smart Bricks purchasable separately in the future?
Sid: We don’t have the exact answers for those, but what we can speak to is the fact that across the entire assortment that we have of 12 sets, 10 of them being compatible, we’ve made them fun Lego play toys [and] play models.
So for example, in the set with Geodude and Charmander at $19.99 — so one of your starter sets — we have a mission and a challenge. Charmander is coming in, discovers a cave, and then Geodude of course is in the cave, so there’s a little like shooter there to defend Geodude. And then we have little doors over there to reveal crystals. Of course, if you have a Smart Brick, Geodude comes off the stand and you can battle with Charmander as well, so we have a lot of just fun stories that kids can play out.
With the Squirtle and the buggy, Squirtle comes to life and it’s fun, but Squirtle can also be a passenger on the buggy and go on adventures. So we’ve really developed all of these sets as just fun toys that have story starters for kids to play with them. And then you add a Smart Brick and there’s another layer of play unlocked.
So would you say the development process was almost equal between a typical sort of Lego playset and this Smart Brick functionality?
Mike Andersen: I think very early on in the process, we learned that it’s the toy that needs to shine, right? Like, the Smart Brick needs to go with something that feels natural for the kids, for them to understand it and for them to have a context for it, right? So, in the Pikachu set, actually just throwing Poké Balls at the bush and opening it is a great toy on its own.
But then, when you add the Smart Brick and you add the character behind it, the Pokémon kind of comes to life in a different way. So it’s a big learning experience for us. We have to make sure to put it into a world that the kids can understand, because that will help us actually onboard the kids and understand how they play with it. Much better than if it was only the Smart Brick doing something special, as it’s hard to understand for kids.
Sid: And I think the Pikachu treehouse is a great example. It has a Smart Brick in there, it’s an all-in-one set, but in the back there’s a kitchen, put the bed down, there’s a small torchlight, there’s a brush, there’s a little bit of a pond. There’s different areas you can play around with, a ladder to climb up.
So, even with the fact there’s a Smart Brick in there to unlock all the Smart Play, we also had a lot of story starters. If you want to just nurture Pikachu with a brush, yeah, go for it. So, a lot of play, even in the all-in-one sets as well, [they] are just toys.
It’s a very small thing, but I love Gengar’s tongue being moveable.
Mike: Yes, yeah, stuff like that!
Little things like that really do make such a difference.
Sid: Yeah, exactly.
Mike: Thanks for noticing!
Do you sort of feel that, in a sense, the Smart Brick is almost realising the sort of imaginations that children have? Children have been playing with toys like this without the Smart Brick for probably thousands of years.
Mike: I actually think it plays an even more important role to some extent of bringing them into the universe in a different way. So, in the Lego Pokémon world, the kid steps in as the trainer – that’s how we have designed it from the start. We wanted them to have an active role so that when they feed Squirtle, for example, either it likes it or it dislikes it, or sometimes it super likes it if you’re very lucky, and then they start bringing the stories in.
So, it’s a story starter in that way of them being like, “Oh, did I put a bit too much broccoli in the sandwich this time?” And then they didn’t like it, and then it’ll be, “That’s probably why; let’s try and put some ketchup in.” It’s not just bringing what they’re imagining, it’s opening the world for them and starting the story.
parents and kids can play this together because both have a reference for it
One thing that I also really like that we are seeing in the testing is when the parents come in. So parents and kids can play this together because both have a reference for it; the kids have some reference, and the parents have probably had some cards back in the day – ‘I’ve seen the anime.’ So, they come in with a reference and they can join the play, and they both are in the same universe together, and that’s also super cool to see. And then battling together and seeing how it’s a social aspect, and the brick really enables this social play.
So, I would say it helps them. Like, they can make the walking sound themselves, right? But they are really feeling that they are part of the play in a different way.
Sid: I think for us, the idea of children being Pokémon trainers and having their Pokémon come alive and reacting [is important], so it’s not just sound that plays or light that plays, it’s more the interactions. They might think “What happens if I do this with Pikachu?” and “What happens if I do this with Squirtle?” and having that magic reaction…
Almost a ‘Tears of the Kingdom’ moment.
Sid: Yeah, pretty much! [chuckles]
Mike: We have a cool story from one of the tests where we were doing some battle tests. First, they were training, and it was at the prototyping stage, and we had one Pikachu, and the kids were training with that Pikachu. And then, to do the battle, we had to give him another Pikachu in order for it to work, because it was a prototype, right? But he was like, “No, I don’t want that, I want this one. This is the one I’ve bonded with. This is the one I like.” He knew they were identical, but no, he didn’t want it. [chuckles]
that’s the magic we’ve had of kids emotionally connecting with a Pokémon Lego model, and it’s because of Smart Play, because of the reactions
Sid: I think that’s the magic we’ve had of kids emotionally connecting with a Pokémon Lego model, and it’s because of Smart Play, because of the reactions. They formed this bond with it, which we’re really surprised by, but very happy.
The sounds that the Pokémon make in these sets are quite essentially animalistic, as opposed to, for example, the anime where they very famously say their own names, regardless of the sort of sense that makes. What was it that drove that decision to go for a more sort of ‘broad’ sound?
Mike: I think there, of course, is a constraint with the size and what this can do, right? What’s really cool is that in here we have a synthesiser, so all the sound is generated. It’s not playback sound.
Sid: It’s an instrument.
Mike: It also means that it’s slightly new every time, slightly different. So therefore we can’t put like Wave files on it – we wouldn’t have enough for all our creatures. So it’s also down to the fact that this is the technology that we have to work with, and then figuring out how we can make these Pokémon feel unique when you’re playing with them in the room. Because we know sound depends so much on the room you’re in as well.
So the sound team helped us and, of course, [we] really closely collaborated with The Pokémon Company International to get feedback for how we get the right tone for each of them. So it’s a close collaboration and then designing something for the toy and for the tech as well.
Sid: I think what’s also important to point out is these are different Pokémon, so if you bring Squirtle to life, Squirtle has that raspy sound that it’s known for, and Charmander has more of the gruff, fire sound, which is different from Charizard, a much bigger dragon with a more gruff sound. So when they talk, you’ll hear the differences in the tone and the fact that every Pokémon is different and they have a different reaction, different sound, different tonality, all of that.
Given the broadness, do you foresee children sort of, I don’t want to say ‘exploiting’ that broadness, but say for example they don’t want a Gengar, so they build a Haunter [and] put Gengar’s smart tag in, and it sounds just close enough, and the typing’s just about right, but they end up saying to their friends “I’ve got Haunter, and there isn’t an official Haunter, but I’ve made my own Haunter” – do you foresee that happening?
Sid: These are Lego bricks, right, Lego toys, so you can build any Pokémon you want.
Make your own!
Sid: Yeah!
Mike: But that’s super cool, right? I think what we really want [is] to just provide [the sets] and kids can make up their own stories, their own universes.
Many thanks to Sid and Mike for speaking to us, and to Lego and The Pokémon Company for inviting us to the event. The next wave of Lego Pokémon sets launches on 1st August, available to order from Lego’s website in your region.
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