Coming from Game Freak co-founder Junichi Masuda...

“Originally the idea was to use the Super Nintendo Super Scope. I was a programmer on this game and at the time we were making it for the Super Scope and it was pretty difficult to work with. When it was first starting out you would shoot the Super Scope and launch nets to catch monsters but back then most people’s TVs were pretty small and the Super Scope? We couldn’t get it to quite determine the top and the bottom of the TV so there were a lot of situations where it just wouldn’t recognize the net getting shot out.”

This is just one small snippet of an interview with Game Freak about their history. Make sure to check out the entire feature here.