[News Figures] 7 Billion Won for One Game Card? 'Tajiri Satoshi,' Creator of Pokemon

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A single card from the popular Japanese game 'Pok?mon' was traded at a high price of 7 billion won, drawing attention to the background behind it. In particular, there is great curiosity about the process of Pok?mon's creation, the character design stories, and who made this game and why.

On the 13th, Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported that a limited edition Pok?mon trading card, '1998 Pok?mon Pikachu Illustrator Card PSA 8,' was sold for 5.25 million dollars (about 7 billion won). The media explained that the reason for such a high price is that this 'limited edition' card was given only to 39 winners of tournaments held between 1997 and 1998, and that only about 10 of these cards remain today, making it highly rare.

Pok?mon tells the story of a fictional creature, 'Pikachu,' who embarks on adventures fighting monsters alongside humans. It has been produced as an animation, movie, and game, gaining huge popularity worldwide. Especially, the augmented reality game , released in 2016, caused a sensation even among people who did not know about Pok?mon.

The father of Pok?mon, Satoshi Tajiri. Photo by Game Freak website capture

The game developer who created Pok?mon, Tajiri Satoshi (58, pictured), was born in Setagaya Ward, Tokyo, in 1965. From a young age, he preferred collecting insects over socializing with friends. It is said that he enjoyed observing insects alone while roaming the hills.

As a boy obsessed with insects, Satoshi once visited an arcade and encountered 'Space Invaders,' which was very popular in the late 1970s, and became fascinated with games. At the age of 16, he entered various game idea contests, and among them, he won the grand prize in a contest hosted by Sega, the company famous for 'Sonic.' Having formed a connection with video games, Satoshi began studying computer programming seriously and developed games, aspiring to work in the game industry. Later, he directly developed the development equipment for Nintendo's Famicom software, famous for 'Super Mario,' and officially entered the game industry.

At that time, Satoshi thought it would be interesting if game users could exchange game items or characters they owned. He then proposed a game plan called 'Capsule Monster,' which he had been conceptualizing in his mind, to Nintendo. Nintendo promised development funding to the still unproven young man in his twenties. This was the moment when the mega-hit 'Pok?mon' was born.

Cover of the 'Capsule Monster' project plan created by Satoshi Tajiri in 1990. Photo by Game Freak website capture

However, the development process was not smooth. Pok?mon was planned to be developed for the new console Game Boy in 1990 and released in 1991, but due to conflicts among developers and resignations, the development period was prolonged, and they faced the reality of wasting production costs. Nevertheless, Satoshi established his own game company 'Freak' and single-handedly developed the game.

It is known that about 300 sketches were made before the current Pok?mon designs were finalized. They carefully selected about 150 Pok?mon by redrawing them and even held an internal popularity vote. Currently, there are over 1,000 characters in Pok?mon. This is related to Satoshi’s childhood as an insect enthusiast, as he showed great affection for the monsters in the game by basing character work on insects.

A boy who lived as an insect enthusiast sublimated his dream into a game, and the born Pok?mon now generates huge profits in the global media mix market (releasing intellectual property through various media such as novels, movies, comics, and games). According to the American mass media 'Vox,' since the game's release in 1996, Pok?mon has generated total sales of 105 billion dollars (about 138 trillion won as of August 2021). This record far surpasses Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse (80.3 billion dollars) and Sanrio’s Hello Kitty (84.5 billion dollars).