A boy's insect collecting in suburban Tokyo, turned into a game built around a link cable (1996)
Satoshi Tajiri's idea; trading between two cartridges was the design's whole point
General knowledge · Film, TV & games
Pokémon
From 27 February 1996
Video games and media — the highest-grossing media franchise in the world
A Japanese media franchise begun by Satoshi Tajiri and Game Freak, published by Nintendo, whose first games, Red and Green, appeared on the Game Boy on 27 February 1996. Tajiri, who had collected insects as a boy in suburban Tokyo, built the game around the Game Boy's link cable so that children would have to meet and trade to complete their collection; the creatures were drawn by Ken Sugimori. From two cartridges it grew into an animated series, a trading card game, films and merchandise, and is now reckoned the highest-grossing media franchise of any kind.
How to spot them
- ▸Creatures caught in balls, trained, evolved and traded; a type chart of strengths and weaknesses
- ▸Paired versions released together, each missing creatures the other has, so players must trade
- ▸Satoshi Tajiri's insect collecting and the Game Boy link cable
- ▸A yellow electric mouse as mascot, and a red-capped trainer from Pallet Town
Key facts
Red and Green, released in Japan for the Game Boy on 27 February 1996 (1996)
Blue followed in Japan, and Red and Blue were the western release in 1998
Originally pitched to Nintendo under the name Capsule Monsters (1990)
The name had to be changed for trademark reasons; development took six years and nearly bankrupted Game Freak
151 creatures in the first games, the last of them slipped in by a programmer without permission (1996)
Mew, inserted by Shigeki Morimoto into spare memory; it was not obtainable in normal play
'Dennō Senshi Porygon', a December 1997 episode withdrawn after flashing lights caused seizures (1997)
Around 700 Japanese children were taken to hospital; the episode has never been rebroadcast
An augmented-reality phone game by Niantic that sent millions into the streets in the summer of 2016 (2016)
It used Google Maps data and became one of the fastest-downloaded apps ever released
The world's highest-grossing media franchise, ahead of Hello Kitty, Winnie-the-Pooh and Star Wars
Estimated lifetime revenue well above $100 billion, most of it from merchandise and cards rather than games
Legends: Z-A, released in October 2025 for two Nintendo consoles simultaneously (2025)
The first mainline title to launch on the Switch and Switch 2 at once, selling 12.3 million copies by the end of the year
Quick-fire facts
- •Created by Satoshi Tajiri with Game Freak; the creature designs are by Ken Sugimori
- •Red and Green were released on the Game Boy in Japan on 27 February 1996; Red and Blue reached the West in 1998
- •The working title was Capsule Monsters; the shortened form gave the franchise its name
- •The original games contain 151 creatures, of which Mew was hidden in the code by programmer Shigeki Morimoto
- •Pikachu was designed by Atsuko Nishida and chosen as mascot for the anime, which began in 1997
- •The 1997 episode 'Dennō Senshi Porygon' triggered photosensitive seizures in hundreds of Japanese children and was pulled permanently
- •The trading card game began in Japan in 1996 and is among the best-selling card games ever made
- •Pokémon Go, developed by Niantic, was released in July 2016
- •More than a thousand distinct species now exist across the games
- •By revenue it is the highest-grossing media franchise in the world
Drill it — 9 cards
1 / 9new card
Sources
- The Outerhaven — Pokémon remains the highest-grossing media franchise ever Consulted for franchise revenue; cited without URL
- David Sheff — Game Over: Nintendo's Battle to Dominate Videogames