Satoshi Tajiri

Satoshi Tajiri (Japanese: 田尻 智 Hepburn: ' Tajiri Satoshi', born August 28, 1965 ) is a Japanese video game designer best known as the creator of Nintendo's Pokémon franchise and the founder 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.

Tajiri is a high-functioning Autistic. Pokémon Go has helped many kids on the spectrum to become sociable, make friends, and be a real part of communities. Some parents are very grateful of the impact that the game has done in the lives of their Autistic kids, as some were introverts before playing Pokémon Go. Tajiri has a high IQ qualifying him as a genius, reportedly sometimes working up to 24 hours straight. He is very quiet about his original Asperger’s diagnosis, but he’s definitely not ashamed of it.