did pokemon start as card game or anime

by Fay Howe 8 min read
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The Pokémon video game series spawned an anime television series that has become the most successful video game adaptation of all time with over 20 seasons and 1,000 episodes in 192 countries. The Pokémon Trading Card Game is the highest-selling trading card game

Collectible card game

A collectible card game, also called a trading card game, among other names, is a kind of strategy card game that was created in 1993 and consists of specially designed sets of playing cards. These cards use proprietary artwork or images to embellish the card. CCGs may depict anything fr…

of all time with over 43.2 billion cards sold.

While the Pokémon video games came first, the anime has had incredible success. Both the Pokémon game series and anime complement each other and help drive success to the franchise as a whole.Jun 22, 2020

Full Answer

What is the history of Pokémon?

Pokémon actually started as a pair of video games published by Nintendo for the Game Boy in 1996. Known as Pokémon Red and Blue (although in Japan the games were released as Pokémon Red and Green), these games were followed up by some short stories.

When did the first Pokemon card game come out?

An instruction game on the rules of the game was released in 1999: Pokémon Play It!, with Pokémon Play It! Version 2 following in 2000. Pokémon Trading Card Game Online is the official digital version of the card game available for Microsoft Windows, OS X, Android and iPad.

What was the first Pokémon manga translated to English?

The Electric Tale of Pikachu became the first Pokémon manga to be translated to English when VIZ Media started publishing it on September 28, 1999. Meanwhile in Japan in 1998, a new spin-off game, Pokémon Stadium, was released for Nintendo 64.

When did the first Pokemon anime come out in Japan?

The popularity of the franchise also led to an anime series based on the games, premiering in Japan on April 1, 1997. The main character was a young Pokémon Trainer named Satoshi (after Satoshi Tajiri, later dubbed in English to Ash Ketchum ), based on Red.

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Was Pokémon Originally a card game?

Pokémon Trading Card Game first debuted in Japan in 1996 alongside the video game and the television show. Like the Game Boy releases, the physical cards were also a major part of the Pokémon phenomenon in the 1990s. Also like the video games, the card game's popularity continues to today.

Is Pokémon a game or anime?

Pokémon is much more than just games though. Over the past two decades, it has evolved into a social and media phenomenon. The franchise ended up with a hugely successful and long-running anime from 1997 in Japan, with more than 900 episodes (!).

When did Pokémon anime start?

April 1, 1997"Pokémon - I Choose You!" (ポケモン! きみにきめた!, Pokemon! Kimi ni Kimeta!) is the first episode of the Pokémon anime series. It was first broadcast in Japan on April 1, 1997, in the United States on September 8, 1998.

When did Pokemon come out?

(In case you are wondering, Mario is the largest, and it also happens to be owned by Nintendo.) 26 February 1996 marks the debut of the Pokémon franchise in the form of both those games on the Game Boy in Japan.

What is the origin of Pokemon?

Pokémon is short for “Pocket Monsters", the original Japanese name. The franchise has its roots in a gaming magazine in the early 1980s in Japan—Game Freak, started by Satoshi Tajiri and Ken Sugimori. Tajiri was the writer, while Sugimori was the illustrator.

What is the name of the game engine used in Pokemon Red and Green?

Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen were remakes of Pokémon Red and Green using the game engine used in Ruby and Sapphire. This trend continued with every new handheld generation getting remakes of old games in addition to new Pokémon titles. The fourth generation of games arrived with Nintendo’s new handheld system, the DS.

What Pokemon are on the Nintendo DS?

The important mainline releases are Pokémon Red and Green (and Blue, a special edition released later) on the Game Boy, Gold and Silver on the Game Boy Color, Ruby and Sapphire on the Game Boy Advance, Diamond and Pearl on the Nintendo DS, Black and White on the DS, and finally X and Y on the 3DS systems.

How many Pikachu movies are there?

Outside of the anime on TV, there have been 18 movies and a few full-length TV specials. Speaking of movies, Legendary Pictures just announced a live-action Detective Pikachu movie that will begin production in 2017. Yes, a spin-off Pokémon game only released in Japan is getting a live-action movie.

What is Pocket Monsters Red and Green?

At its heart, Pocket Monsters: Red and Green was a very basic Japanese role-playing game. You play as a Pokémon trainer travelling the world and collecting the ubiquitous little monsters (inspired by Tajiri’s childhood love for insect collection) and training them in battles with other Pokémon. Expand.

How many copies of Pokemon Black and White were sold in 2011?

The DS also received the fifth generation of Pokémon games in 2011 in the form of Pokémon Black and White, which went on to sell 2.6 million copies in just two days in Japan. These two games have crossed 15 million sales worldwide as of last year. View Full Image.

10 Zatch Bell! Swaps Monsters For Magical Puppets

Teenager Kiyo Takamine gets pulled into a battle for the title of King of the Mamodo World after befriending the mamodo named Zatch Bell. Zatch is a puppet-like humanoid who gets his fighting prowess from Kiyo casting spells from his summoning book.

9 Monster Rancher Teaches Breeding Over Fighting

Monster Rancher as a franchise is closer to Digimon than Pokémon, as the series focuses more on raising monsters than battling them, though the anime does feature plenty of fighting. The anime follows Genki Sakura, a tournament winner of the titular game series who's transported into an alternate world.

8 Yu-Gi-Oh! Collects Cards To Win

The original version of Yu-Gi-Oh! was a darker story where Yugi and Atem faced off against villains in a variety of games, from the Monster World RPG to Scorpion Shoe. It eventually found success in the form of the collectible trading card game that fans know and love today.

7 Slugterra Shoots Elemental Slugs Out Of Guns

What if Pokémon trainers used guns to launch their monsters instead of Poké Balls? This series follows Slugslinger Eli Shane and his team as they face off against evil teams that want to change the slugs for their own gain.

6 Beyblade Lets It Rip With Aggressive Top Spinning

One of the few still-ongoing franchises on this list, Beyblade is a competitive top spinner battling game where Bladers, like the original series' Tyson, let it rip. Tyson is notable as his outfit is directly modeled after Red's in the original Pokémon games. Each Beyblade has its own Bit-Beast, which is the spirit that inhabits the Beyblade.

5 Yo-kai Watch Introduces Spirits That Need To Be Stopped

One of the more recent Pokémon-inspired series, Yo-kai Watch follows Nate as he's introduced to the world of the Yo-kai. Bringing its relation to Pokémon home, the very first episode begins with Nate bug hunting. After Nate unleashes a Yo-kai, he begins to see them around humans, causing trouble that only he can fix by battling.

4 Medabots Uses AI-Based Robots To Fight

Instead of focusing on monsters, this series centers on artificially intelligent robots called Medabots. Medabots consists of 3 parts: a skeleton, the armor, which is interchangeable and houses the weapons systems, and a medal, which is where the AI is stored.

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Overview

Pokémon (an abbreviation for Pocket Monsters in Japan) is a Japanese media franchise managed by The Pokémon Company, a company founded by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures. The franchise was created by Satoshi Tajiri in 1996, and is centered on fictional creatures called "Pokémon". In Pokémon, humans, known as Pokémon Trainers, catch and train Pokémon to battle other Pokémo…

History

In 1998, Nintendo spent $25 million promoting Pokémon in the United States in partnership with Hasbro, KFC, and others. Nintendo initially feared that Pokémon was too Japanese for Western tastes but Alfred Kahn, then CEO of 4Kids Entertainment convinced the company otherwise. The one who spotted Pokemon's potential in the United States was Kahn's colleague Thomas Kenney.
In November 2005, 4Kids Entertainment, which had managed the non-game related licensing of …

Name

The name Pokémon is a syllabic abbreviation of the Japanese brand Pocket Monsters. The term "Pokémon", in addition to referring to the Pokémon franchise itself, also collectively refers to the 905 fictional species that have made appearances in Pokémon media as of the release of the eighth generation titles Pokémon Sword and Shield. "Pokémon" is identical in the singular and plural, as is each individual species name; it is and would be grammatically correct to say "one P…

Concept

Pokémon executive director Satoshi Tajiri first thought of Pokémon, albeit with a different concept and name, around 1989, when the Game Boy was released. The concept of the Pokémon universe, in both the video games and the general fictional world of Pokémon, stems from the hobby of insect collecting, a popular pastime which Tajiri enjoyed as a child. Players are designated as Pokémon Trainers and have three general goals: to complete the regional Pokédex by collecting a…

Video games

All of the licensed Pokémon properties overseen by the Pokémon Company International are divided roughly by generation. These generations are roughly chronological divisions by release; every several years, when a sequel to the 1996 role-playing video games Pokémon Red and Green is released that features new Pokémon, characters, and gameplay concepts, that sequel is considered the start of a new generation of the franchise. The main Pokémon video games and t…

In other media

Pokémon, also known as Pokémon the Series to Western audiences since the year 2013, is an anime television series based on the Pokémon video game series. It was originally broadcast on TV Tokyo in 1997. More than 1,000 episodes of the anime has been produced and aired, divided into 7 series in Japan and 22 seasons internationally. It is one of the longest currently running anime series.

Criticism and controversy

Pokémon has been criticized by some fundamentalist Christians over perceived occult and violent themes and the concept of "Pokémon evolution", which they feel goes against the Biblical creation account in Genesis. Sat2000, a satellite television station based in Vatican City, has countered that the Pokémon Trading Card Game and video games are "full of inventive imagination" and have no "harmful moral side effects". In the United Kingdom, the "Christian Power Cards" game was intro…

Cultural influence

Pokémon, being a globally popular franchise, has left a significant mark on today's popular culture. The various species of Pokémon have become pop culture icons; examples include two different Pikachu balloons in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Pokémon-themed airplanes operated by All Nippon Airways, merchandise items, and a traveling theme park that was in Nagoya, Ja…

Early Days

  • With the help of Ken Sugimori and other friends, Tajiri formed Game Freak and much later the design studio known as Creatures. When Tajiri discovered the Game Boy and the Game Boy Game Link Cable, it gave him the image of insects traveling along the wire. Tajiri was also heavily influenced by the Ultraman fantasy television show, Ultra Seven, in which the protagonist used gi…
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Generation I

  • Taking over Japan
    The first Pokémon games, Pokémon Red and Green Versions, came to the Nintendo Game Boy system in Japan on February 27, 1996, which was the fulfillment of Satoshi Tajiri's dream and allowed people of all ages to catch, train and trade 151 creatures and become a Pokémon Mast…
  • Conquering the world
    Due to Pokémon's success in Japan, the series was released overseas. Before the games were released in North America, the localization team attempted to change the Pokémon designs, fearing that the cute designs would not appeal to western gamers; however, the proposal was re…
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Generation II

  • Winds of new beginnings
    Almost since the very beginning of the series, it had been apparent that the first 151 Pokémon would not be the last. Ho-Oh was seen as early as the first episode of the anime, Togepi was owned by a main character, and others like Marill, Snubbull and Donphan were seen in the first …
  • Anime and manga in GS
    On December 30, 2000, the first feature-length special of the Pokémon anime was released in Japan as a sequel to Mewtwo Strikes Back, titled Mewtwo Returns. It was later released on DVD in the United States on December 5, 2001. In June 2000, a manga series by Muneo Saitō titled Pok…
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Generation III

  • Advancing to a new age
    In July 2001 an episode of the anime aired in Japan featuring a Pokémon never previously seen - Kecleon. Soon, Kecleon and others like Wynaut, Azurill, Duskull and Volbeat showed up in theaters in two Pikachu shorts while Wailmer, Latias and Latios were featured in the fifth Pokémon movie…
  • More spin-offs
    To solve the problem of limited Pokémon storage in the continuously growing Pokémon world, Pokémon Box Ruby & Sapphirewas released May 30, 2003 in Japan, July 11, 2004 in North America, allowing Trainers to store up to 1,500 Pokémon from their Generation III games. A sma…
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Generation IV

  • Diamond and Pearl
    Just like with Kecleon in Generation III, the public learned of Generation IV through a new Pokémon — Munchlax — in May 2004. Munchlax was soon featured in Pokémon Dash, as well as the seventh movie and later the main anime. Others such as Lucario, Bonsly, Mime Jr., and Weav…
  • New sequels
    On December 14, 2006, two weeks after the launch of Nintendo's Wii console, Generation IV Pokémon turned 3D in the form of Pokémon Battle Revolution. It was released in the United States on June 25, 2007. Several manga series were written for the fourth generation. The first volume …
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Generation V

  • A fresh start
    On February 7, 2010, Pokémon Sunday revealed a new Pokémon: Zoroark. Generation V was dawning, and it quickly became clear that even though the new games, Pokémon Black and White, would again be on the Nintendo DS platform, everything about them would be quite new. In an u…
  • It's a second step into Unova
    It was always anticipated that Black and White would eventually get a third version, as past generations have. Many assumed it would be called "Pokémon Grey Version". However, this time there would be sequels, and with a different plot altogether. Sequels to Black and White, Pokém…
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Generation Vi

  • The next evolution
    On January 8, 2013, Nintendo simultaneously announced to the world that a new generation of Pokémon will be coming to the world through a special edition of Nintendo Direct, called Pokémon Direct. Pokémon X and Y, the first games in Generation VI, were revealed and were rel…
  • Welcome back to Hoenn
    Just like the Generation III remakes for the incompatible Generation I Red and Green games and the Generation IV remakes for the incompatible Generation II Gold and Silver games, Pokémon fans have widely speculated that remakes of the Generation III Pokémon games, Ruby and Sapp…
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Generation VII

  • Seven's a lucky number
    The seventh generation of Pokémon was announced on February 27, 2016, the franchise's 20th anniversary with the new games Pokémon Sun and Moonand was released on November 18, 2016. The anime was quick to follow with a new series, Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon. As wit…
  • A New Light Shines on Alola
    Two follow-up games, Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, were announced during a Nintendo Direct presentation on June 6, 2017. The games were released exclusively on the Nintendo 3DS on November 17, 2017, featuring an alternate storyline set in Sun and Moon's world, and will feat…
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Generation VIII

  • Forge a path to greatness
    The eighth generation of Pokémon was announced with the reveal of Pokémon Sword and Shield on February 27, 2019. These games were released internationally on November 15, 2019. Fewer Pokémon were revealed prior to the game's release compared to other generations to increase a…
  • Twenty-five years worth of memories
    2021 was officially designated as the 25th anniversary of Pokémon, similarly to past celebrations in 2006 and 2016. In addition to several pieces of special merchandise, a music album featuring celebrity singers such as Katy Perrywas announced in January.
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Generation IX

  • Yet another world to discover
    The ninth generation of Pokémon was announced with the reveal of Pokémon Scarlet and Violeton February 27, 2022, the first pair of mainline games to return to the classic tradition of naming versions after colors since the fifth generation.
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