Pokemon

            The history of the Pokémon media franchise spans over two decades from when work began officially on the first game to now, and has roots even older. It started simply enough as a hobby of Satoshi Tajiri, who as a child had a fondness for catching insects andtadpoles near his home in suburban Tokyo. Over time, Tajiri decided to put his idea of catching creatures into practice, to give children the same thrills he had as a child.

             With the help of Ken Sugimori and other friends, Tajiri formed Game Freak and much later the design studio known asCreatures. When Tajiri discovered the Game Boy and the Game Boy Link Cable, it gave him the image of insects traveling along the wire, which led to the concept for a new game called Capsule Monsters. After several failed attempts at pitching this idea toNintendo, Tajiri's new friend Shigeru Miyamoto pitched it to the company, and Nintendo began to fund the project, spending six years developing the games that would become a worldwide sensation. Due to trademarking issues, the name "Capsule Monsters" was changed to "Pocket Monsters".

The original artwork for the games was drawn by Tajiri's friend, artist Ken Sugimori, while the music and sound effects were composed by Junichi Masuda.

          After debugging was completed, Shigeki Morimoto programmed Mew into the game. However, Game Freak planned to keep the 151st Pokémon hidden from the public unless it was needed for a post-launch event.

The project nearly drove Game Freak to bankruptcy. Five employees quit due to the financial conditions, and Tajiri worked many unpaid hours.