Pokemon was created in 1996 by Nintendo for their best selling portable video game system, “Game Boy”. Originally released in Japan, Pokemon are a class of unique little Pocket Monsters that battle each other when instructed to do so by their trainer. The original term for Pokemon was “Poketto Monstaa”, the coined Japanese term for Pocket Monster. Soon the Japanese shortened the name to “Pokemon”. A Japanese game designer named Satoshi Tajiri invented Pokemon based on childhood memories of collecting bugs in jars and wishing he could make them fight like the monsters in his favorite science fiction movies. The game was so intricate that it took Tajiri six years to develop the Pokemon game. Once released, the rest is history. The overwhelming popularity of the game prompted the creation of a Japanese Pokemon television series and a Japanese Pokemon CollectibleTrading Card Game, both of which also became tremendous successes.

The Pokemon phenomenon began in the U.S. in 1998 with the release of the original Red and Blue Game Boy games, the debut of the animated Pokemon television series on Warner Brothers, and the release of the English version of the Pokemon Trading Cards. The Pokemon television series immediately catapulted Kids Warner Brothers to the top of the cable ratings for kids shows. According to a February 2001 Nintendo press release, the Pokemon television show continued to be ranked No. 1 among kids 2 to 11, and among boys 6 to 11. Warner Brothers also released the first three big screen animated Pokemon feature films in North America: “Pokemon: The First Movie”, also known as “Pokemon The Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back” (released in 1999), “Pokemon The Movie: 2000”, and “Pokemon 3 the Movie (2001)”.

For those of you unfamiliar with Pokemon, they are creatures who possess unique powers or special abilities. In the Pokemon world, human beings act as Pokemon trainers and capture as many of the Pokemon creatures as they can. The captured Pokemon then join the trainer’s team and help them capture other Pokemon, enabling the trainers to become “Pokemon Masters”. Pokemon battles have a rigid code of rules that do not allow dirty tricks or easy ways out. Also, Pokemon battles never end with a creature’s death. The successful end to a Pokemon match occurs when one of the battling monsters faints and is rushed to a Pokemon Center for recovery, or when it is captured by a trainer and put in a ball called the Poke Ball. Lastly, the Pokemon storyline encourages cooperation and teamwork.

Some interesting statistics from Nintendo on Pokemon interactive video games:

• During Pokemon’s first 24 months of availability in the United States, Nintendo of America reported a total sales of 20 million Pokemon video games for Game Boy Color and Nintendo 64.
• Six of the industry’s 10 top-selling video games in 2000 were Pokemon titles.
• Seven Pokemon titles were responsible for 10 percent of all software units sold in year 2000.
• As of February 2000, there were 12 Pokemon games for both Nintendo 64 and Game Boy.
• As of February 2000, nearly 27 million Pokemon games had been sold in the United States and more than 74 million Pokemon games had been sold worldwide.

Pokemon continues to be an outstanding entertainment and retail property in today’s international market. Its success can be attributed to Pokemon’s incredible appeal to children from diverse cultures and across sex and age barriers. Although originally designed for adolescent boys, Pokemon’s popularity quickly spread to include girls, elementary age school children and even preschoolers. As summarized by Galil Tilden, Nintendo’s Vice President, “Pokemon is much more than a phenomenon – It’s now a children’s entertainment staple here in America and globally… From the video games, to the toys, to the TV series, Pokemon’s staying power is evident in its multifaceted appeal to its broad fan base."