The Origin Of Pokemon
Pokemon is the biggest video game franchise ever. Its all-ages appeal, collectability, and colorful characters have made it a worldwide phenomenon for decades with no signs of slowing down. It's spawned movies, a long-running anime series, a trading card game, and an uncountable level of merchandise.
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Today, Pikachu is as ubiquitous as Mickey Mouse. Pokemon was a smash hit from the very beginning, but the original games were a labor of love that grew out of years of dedication. Let's take a look at how this iconic franchise came to be.
Satoshi Tajiri was an enthusiastic collector as a child and developed a love for video games as a teenager. Growing up in '60s and '70s Japan, he was an avid bug collector. While this was a popular hobby among Japanese children at the time, Tajiri took it to such an extreme that his grade-school nickname was Doctor Bug.
By the time he was in high school, Tajiri had discovered arcade games. To the consternation of his father and his teachers, he would frequently cut class to go to the arcade, eventually imperiling his chances of graduating. Refusing his father's entreaties to get a respectable job, Tajiri instead started a video game magazine titled Game Freak.
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Game Freak issues were written, photocopied, and stapled together by hand. Tajiri made the first issues in 1983, selling them for 300 yen apiece - around $4.25 in 2022. The best-selling issue contained a guide for the arcade game Xevious, selling ten thousand copies when Tajiri was eighteen.
One of Game Freak's readers, Ken Sugimori, discovered the magazine at a manga store and offered Tajiri his services as an illustrator for the publication. The
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