In this Japanese name, the family name is Tajiri. Satoshi Tajiri (Japanese: 田尻 智 Hepburn: Tajiri Satoshi, born August 28, 1965[1]) is a Japanese video game designer best known as the creator of Nintendo's Pokémon franchise and the founder and CEO of video game developer Game Freak. A fan of arcade games, Tajiri wrote for and edited his own video gaming fanzine Game Freak with Ken Sugimori, before evolving it into a development company of the same name. Tajiri claims that the joining of two Game Boys via a link cable inspired him to create a game which embodied the collection and companionship of his childhood hobby, insect collecting. The game, which became Pokémon Red and Pokémon Green, took six years to complete and went on to spark a multibillion-dollar franchise which reinvigorated Nintendo's handheld gaming. Tajiri continued to work as director for the Pokémon series until the development of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, when he changed his role to simply executive producer. Satoshi Tajiri Native name 田尻 智 Born August 28, 1965 (age 53) Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan Occupation At Game Freak: Founder of Game Freak CEO of Game Freak Video game designer (1989–) Known for Pokémon Tajiri has also worked for other projects including Mario spin-offs. He was also an executive producer on the live-action film Pokémon Detective Pikachu.[2]