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Pokemon Collectors Message Board
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Pokémon
(ポケモン, Pokemon?, is a multi-billion dollar media franchise[1] controlled
by video game giant Nintendo, and created by Satoshi Tajiri around 1995
(it celebrated its tenth anniversary on February 27, 2006, although the
franchise was copyrighted in the USA as Pokémon by 1995). The original
Game Boy video games have since been merchandised into anime, manga,
trading cards, toys, books, and other media. The name, Pokémon, is the
romanized contraction of the Japanese brand, “Pocket Monsters”
(ポケットモンスター, Poketto Monsutā?), as such
contractions are very common in Japan. Nintendo originally literally
translated Poketto Monsutā – indeed, a "Pocket Monsters" game was
created in early 1995. A naming conflict with the Monster In My Pocket
toy range caused Nintendo to rebrand the franchise as "Pokémon" in early
1996. The game’s catchphrase, in the Japanese language versions of the
franchise is "ポケモンGETだぜ! (Pokémon Getto Daze! - Let's Get Pokémon!)"; in
English language versions of the franchise, it used to be “Gotta catch
’em all!”, although it is now no longer officially used except in the
spin-off series Pokémon Chronicles.
The concept of the Pokémon saga stems from the hobby of insect
collecting, a popular pastime which Pokémon's creator Satoshi Tajiri had
enjoyed as a child. Tajiri’s formula took off in Japan and was adapted
(and translated) in 1998 for the American market, with the release of
Pokémon Red and Blue. These games allowed players to catch, collect, and
train hundreds of creatures, known as Pokémon; and battle them against
each other to build their strength. These Pokémon could then “evolve”
into more powerful Pokémon and learn new and stronger techniques.
Pokémon never bleed or die in battle, only faint – this was a very
touchy subject to Tajiri, as he didn’t want to further fill the gaming
world with "pointless violence".[2]
Pokémon is also the collective name for all of the fictional species
within the Pokémon universe. To date, the franchise has a grand total of
493 unique species that lie at the heart of the series, a figure which
has grown substantially from the 151 species in the original Pokémon Red
and Pokémon Green games, in Japan. The word Pokémon remains unchanged
whether referring to the singular or plural, as is the case with deer or
sheep, and the same applies to each species name. |
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