The 15th Annual New York Game Awards were held on Sunday, January 18th, 2026, and The Pokémon Company was the Andrew Yoon Legend Award Recipient, which is an award that recognizes those who have propelled the gaming world forward, celebrating their profound impact.

The Pokémon Company president Tsunekazu Ishihara (石原恒和) pre-recorded a video and former president and CEO of Nintendo of America Reggie Fils-Aimé was on hand to present the award and Nick Salazar and Ari Advincula from The Pokémon Company International were on hand to accept the award.

YouTube Clip - The 15th Annual New York Game Awards

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HNNugGXKQ0

YouTube Clip - The 15th Annual New York Game Awards Mr. Ishihara

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqfdJb-LpU4

Transcript:

So, now it's time for our prestigious Andrew Yoon Legend Award. So, Andrew was an early circle member who was more than a journalist. He worked super hard on a superb card game called Divorce the Game. And then Andrew died too young in a swimming mishap. And we miss him. So, we named our legend award after him. Reggie, let's uh let's start.

Reggie: So, you know, I had a long history with Pokémon when I was at Nintendo. This is a true story. I had just joined the company and there for only about a week when I had to work with our retail partners because they literally did not have enough copies of Pokémon Ruby and Pokémon Emerald for the Christmas Rush. They were a little upset. And believe me, I never let that happen ever again.

I always enjoyed working with The Pokémon Company and I loved all of their games. Even the one the Pokémon Plus controller with the Mew inside. You remember that? One of my favorites. In early December last year, some of our critics and interns got together at the Coexist game house to create this heartfelt video segment. Let's roll that now.

Jordan Minor: To me, one of the most impressive things about Pokémon is that while the video games are excellent, uh they're really just one of many parts that come together to form this whole larger, you know, pop culture juggernaut. Um the cards and the anime and the games, they all reinforce this fantasy universe so expertly that you can get really deep into it, especially if you're a kid, you can get so deep into it that um you don't even realize how deep you're into it.

Ronald Gordon: As a franchise is about the power of friendship and how bonds can follow you throughout every walk of life, no matter how small and no matter how large. And I think that many people can learn the same lesson that bonds mean something and Pokémon means something.

Tina Lam: Growing up, me and my brother didn't really have a deep bond. He was always off hanging around his friends. But I remember this one day, which was on Christmas Eve, me and my family came back home and we saw stacks and stacks of Pokémon cards just lying right outside our door. And I just remember being so excited, like I didn't even know what Pokémon was at the time. But seeing my brother's face and seeing how excited he was made me excited and I realized like maybe this is a moment and a time for me to bond with him.

Luis Aguasvivas: Definitely the one thing that had the biggest impact on my on my formative years. I was completely obsessed. Poke mania came to the United States. I caught the poke flu. I'm not kidding. Um obsessed with the cards, obsessed with with the TV shows, obsessed with the games. It's it was the first nerdy thing that that was cool to do. You know, I grew up in the Bronx. You know, there's just certain things that you don't do, but Pokémon, everybody about my age was engaging in Pokémon in some way or another.

Harold Goldberg: Almost 30 years of Pokémon. And all of these memories are kind of memories that as a writer I treasure, but also as a person that I treasure. I think the Pokémon Company knows how to tug at our heartstrings in a way that uh doesn't feel cheap or manipulative. So that's that's really why I think Pokémon is deserving of our Andrew Yoon Legend Award.

Jordan Minor: Um I remember I was going to a preview event for whatever Call of Duty game was coming out that year and just not caring about it at all. It was the one that had like Jon Snow in it, I think. And I'm like, "All right, it's whatever. He's in space. Sure. And I left that event and everybody was playing Pokémon Go in the park. I'm like, that's video games.

Sherri L. Smith: I want to be the very best like no one ever was. I start there because my favorite memory of Pokémon is um in the laptop office and we were uber geeks and I don't know how we we started talking about Pokémon and then out of nowhere the staff of Laptop magazine broke into three-part harmony for the Pokémon song and it was magical and everyone was looking at as Tom's guy, Tom's Hardware, Live Science. We didn't care. It was whimsical and that's exactly what Pokémon is and that's why I love it so much. Um, from the cartoon, from the card game to the video games, the myriad of video games, uh, to the movies, uh, Pokémon is just ubiquitous at this point. Like, like, if you don't have a favorite Pokémon, I kind of look at you like you're weird. Like, what are you doing? Are you doing Beyblade? Don't let it rip. Get a Pokémon. Like, like, like, come on. Let's let's be real here.

Luis Aguasvivas: It's definitely brought a lot of people together which I think that is what you know that Satoshi Tajiri definitely wanted to do when it came to creating the games with the link cables. Um, and that's really one of the things that is lost, I think, now when a lot of people discuss Pokémon. I mean, they think about how huge it is as a, you know, as a media property, you know, the biggest multimedia property in the world, which it is, and that's impressive, but it's that's built on the back of connecting so many people, connecting everybody across the world, like across different demographics, different countries, different age groups.

Harold Goldberg: You know, having gone to Pokémon Worlds, I-I see how cool it is amongst families. So, it's not just adults going to Pokémon Worlds. It's not just teenagers going to Pokémon Worlds. It's little kids going to Pokémon Worlds and and kind of like being nice to each other while they're competing in car-card games. It it it kind of makes us all feel like we're together, but it also has some rules to live by as well. So, that's that's pretty cool.

Sherri L. Smith: Ash took 25 years to finally win the championship. If that isn't a metaphor about life to keep going at it cuz how many times did we watch Ash go to the mountaintop only to come in second place or only to have to drop out or like but he kept going and after 20 like like it was so big that major publications were reporting on it. Ash finally won the championship. We all rejoice like it like we won because like if he can do it, we can do it. Like our our our league battle might be getting that promotion. It might be getting into a new apartment. It might be buying a house. Whatever it is, like you can achieve it if you keep going at it. And I think that's the biggest power of Pokémon. It makes you smile. It makes you feel warm. It gives you lessons. It makes you laugh. And it's for that reason that like Pokémon is way overdue to be honored in this way.

Hey, congratulations to The Pokémon Company and all things Pokémon. You deserve the legend status.

Congratulations to The Pokémon Company and congrats to all things Pokémon.

Tina Lam: Congratulations to The Pokémon Company and all things Pokémon.

Harold Goldberg: So, to The Pokémon Company and all things Pokémon, congratulations.

Sherri L. Smith: Congratulations to The Pokémon Company and all things Pokémon. Thank you for all the laughs, all the joy, all the fun, and keep doing what you're doing.


Reggie: Nick and Ari, please join me at the podium to accept the Andrew Yoon Legend Award on behalf of The Pokémon Company.


Nick Salazar: Good evening to everyone here at the SVA theater in New York City and to all the trainers watching at home and here of course in the theater. Uh we're delighted and humbled to be here this evening...


Ari Advincula: ...and we've got some special guests.


Nick Salazar: We'll give them a quick sec to come up on stage to accept work with us as well. Being upstaged mid-speech is really painful, but it's worth it. On behalf of The Pokémon Company, GAME FREAK, Creatures, Nintendo, and all of our development partners around the world, we're honored to be here to accept the 2026 Andrew Yoon Legend Award.

Ari Advincula: As you saw in the video, Pokémon means so much to so many people. Whether you were forging friendships in Pokémon Red and Green or Blue 30 years ago, or whether you are sitting down and you pass along that passion for Pokémon to your kids in Pokémon Legends ZA just a few months ago, one thing remains certain. Pokémon is for everyone. But now we're going to step aside and let someone who's been there from the very start say more. Mr. Ishihara.


Ishihara: Hello, everyone. I'm Ishihara from The Pokémon Company. I started my Pokémon journey as the producer of the Pokémon Red and Pokémon Green video games, which launched in 1996.

Since then, I've been involved in the development of every Pokémon video game and the production of a wide variety of Pokémon content, including the trading card game, the animated series, movies, merchandizing, and more.


Today, I am truly grateful to accept this prestigious Andrew Yoon Legend Award. I would like to extend my deepest thanks to the New York Videogame Critics Circle; to the current owners of Pokémon at GAME FREAK, Creatures, and Nintendo; to all our business partners who have been involved with Pokémon; and of course, to all of our fans around the world who enjoy Pokémon. Thank you very much for your support.

I believe the true recipients of this award are all of the people who have helped to create, nurture, and elevate Pokémon up until now. The fierce passion and deep love of our fans around the world helped guide Pokémon to where it is today, and it goes without saying that Pokémon as we know it would not exist without the unwavering enthusiasm of the development teams who have worked tirelessly to create the world of Pokémon.

I'd like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to everyone around the world who has been involved with Pokémon. It's been quite some time since I myself first stepped foot into the world of video games. When I started out, I never would have imagined that I would be involved in this industry for so long and to such a degree.

Pokémon originated from a small idea from the GAME FREAK development team: Wouldn't it be fun if you could catch creatures in a game and trade them with your friends?

Everything started from that simple concept. The development process, however was not quite as easy. It took a great deal of trial and error to figure our how to actualize that idea with the limited resource we had available.

In the end, it took six years to complete the first games, Pokémon Red and Pokémon Green. Still, we all felt confident in the main gameplay elements that would become the foundation of the Pokémon video game series: catch, raise, trade, and battle. We felt this way because these elements were tied to experiences everyone had as children when we were out catching bugs and growing plants and raising animals.

With a strong desire to let many people experience that fundamental experience more deply through Pokémon within the game, we were finally able to bring it to completion.

Wbile we faced many challenges along the way, one of our greatest joys was seeing how Pokémon was embraced outside of Japan. To be honest, I was uncertain at first - would this game, created in Japan, really be enjoyed by people overseas?

But here we are today with the Pokémon World Championships, where players compete in our video games, the Trading Card Game, Pokémon GO, and Pokémon UNITE. We see Trainers from around the world battling, trading, and having fun with Pokémon. When I see so many people enjoying Pokémon with simles on their faces, transcending language and cultural barriers, I truly feel that Pokémon has the power to connect the world. That feeling becomes a major driving force for me as I think about how to produce the next game - and how we can make it even more enjoyable for everyone.

I believe that Pokémon has already provided a space where people all around the world can meet, connect, and grow together. I feel that many people have been able to connect and share common experiences with others through their experiences with Pokémon.

And once again, I'm conviced of the richness and depth of the world within the original video games, and their universal appeal that allows anyone to enjoy them.

This year we will celebrate the 30 years of Pokémon. We will continue doing our best to deliver new Pokémon worlds to people all around the world, and we hope that you will all continue to enjoy Pokémon for a long time to come. Thank you very much!