Interesting history of Pokémon, Bricker.
But you failed to mention the crucial detail that every capitalist American (indeed, every capitalist everywhere) immediately wonders:
What’s in it for Satoshi Tajiri? Did Nintendo treat him well? Did he become a multi-mega-bazillionaire? Or will he die penniless like Siegel and Shuster? (ETA: And Senegoid for that matter. 
)
Satoshi Tajiri is still in the industry. He’s the CEO and founder of Game Freak. This was the company Satoshi created when he was 17 years old to sell a gaming fanzine of the same name. He later learned to program, and Game Freak became a programming house. It was Game Freak that developed Pokemon. Nintendo is just the publisher.
In other words, Satoshi is doing quite well. After all, he’s now in his 50s and gets paid to play video games all day long. I’m jealous.
[QUOTE=Bricker]
Pokémon isn’t just a game; it’s a socioeconomic force. It can be argued that the franchise, which now includes trading cards, a complex trading card game, plush toys, clothing, board games, and branded toothbrushes in its list of licensed items, was responsible for the success of the early hand-held Nintendo Game Boy system. Indeed, in total sales, Pokémon is eclipsed only by the various Mario character-based games, another Nintendo franchise. It’s an amazing story for a game that began as a metaphor for insect collecting.
[/QUOTE]
Eh? The Game Boy launched in 1989, and 50 million had been sold before the first Pokemon game was released in 1996.
Phrasing!
[/archer]