Historical Figure
Satoshi Tajiri
b. 1965
Japanese video game designer (born 1965)
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Biography
Satoshi Tajiri is a Japanese video game designer and director who is the creator of the Pokémon franchise and the co-founder and president of video game developer Game Freak.
Timeline
The story of Satoshi Tajiri, told in moments.
Pokemon has sold over 480 million video games and generated over $100 billion in total revenue. Tajiri still oversees the franchise. He rarely gives interviews. The bug-catching kid from Tokyo built the world's highest-grossing media franchise.
Founded Game Freak as a hand-stapled fanzine about arcade games. He reverse-engineered Donkey Kong to write strategy guides. The magazine sold thousands of copies at comic markets.
Saw two kids playing Game Boy with a link cable. He imagined insects crawling between the devices. That image became the concept for a game where creatures could be traded between players.
Pokemon Red and Green released in Japan after six years of development. Game Freak nearly went bankrupt during production. Five employees quit. Tajiri took no salary. He worked so obsessively he slept at the office for days.
Pokemon reached the U.S. and became the fastest-selling game in history. The franchise expanded into cards, an anime series, and a movie. Tajiri was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome around this time. He preferred working alone.
Artifacts (8)
Carle was sent to the small town of Schwenningen to escape the bombings of Stutt...
turned after his military service, recalling Erich was a "sick man. Psychologically, physically devastated." Carle was sent to the small town of Schwenningen to escape the bombings of Stuttgart. When...
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