10 Things You Won't Believe Inspired Iconic Video Games
9. Pokémon Was Inspired By Bugs And A Hat
The lead developer of Pokémon, Satoshi Tajiri, stated that the core concept of the game was influenced by Dragon Quest II. Although he adored the game, there were two aspects he believed were lacking. After the player defeats a monster in Dragon Quest II, Tajiri believed the creature should be allowed to join your team.
Also, there was a rare hat in the game that Tajiri coveted but could never find. His friend managed to find two of them. Tajiri believed he should have one of the hats since his friend would still have one to spare. Unfortunately, there was no system to transfer the hat. Tajiri incorporated these ideas into his game, Pokémon.
In case you didn’t notice, Pokémon is not a game about trading hats. This leads me to the other thing that inspired the game. Tajiri was so fanatical about collecting insects as a child that kids called him Dr. Bug. One day, he saw two children playing with their linked Game Boys and thought it would be cool if one console could transfer a bug to the other console. Although this sounds like a silly idea, Tajiri wouldn’t let it go.
Years later, Tajiri turned his bug-trading idea into Pokémon, which earns him at least $1.5 billion annually.