Satoshi Tajiri

Who is Satoshi Tajiri?

Satoshi Tajiri is a Japanese video game designer best known as the creator of Pokémon and the founder of video game developer Game Freak, Inc. An avid fan of arcade games, Tajiri wrote for and edited his own video gaming fanzine Game Freak with Ken Sugimori, before evolving it into a development company of the same name. Tajiri claims that the joining of two Game Boys via a link cable inspired him to create a game which embodied the collection and companionship of his childhood hobby, insect collecting. The game, which became Pokémon Red and Pokémon Green, took six years to complete and went on to spark a multi-billion dollar franchise which reinvigorated Nintendo's handheld gaming. Tajiri continued to work as director for the Pokémon series until the development of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, when he changed his role to simply executive producer.

Tajiri has also worked for numerous big game projects, including Mario spin-offs and the Legend of Zelda. His work has earned him numerous accolades from his peers.