During a recent shareholders meeting, Nintendo's legendary designer Shigeru Miyamoto shared an amusing and insightful story about the creation of the Pokémon franchise. The story reveals one of the creative reasons for the emergence of Pokémon Red & Green.
Miyamoto recounted that before the development of the first game, Satoshi Tajiri once joked about how to surpass the Mario series in sales.
«A long time ago, Tajiri-san, the director of Pokémon, even before the creation of the first game, jokingly told me: "To surpass Nintendo's Mario, you need to sell two copies of the game to each player." This is also one of the reasons for the emergence of Pokémon Red & Green».
This playful conversation between two leading Japanese developers reflects the friendly rivalry and creativity that have defined Nintendo's success. The concept of "two copies" became key to the series, stimulating Pokémon exchange and player interaction — a tradition that continues today.
The story was shared in response to a shareholder's question about whether a future game for the Nintendo Switch 2 could surpass Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in sales. Miyamoto acknowledged that it is possible, but noted that success may not be repeated if Mario Kart 8 Deluxe continues to stay on top.
