During a recent Nintendo shareholders meeting, Shigeru Miyamoto revealed a light-hearted origin story for the dual-version releases of mainline Pokémon games. The anecdote involves Pokémon creator Satoshi Tajiri joking about surpassing Mario's success by selling two copies to each customer. This approach, starting with Pokémon Red and Green in Japan in 1996, has become a hallmark of the series despite mixed sales results against Mario titles.
Background on Dual Versions
The Pokémon series has long released mainline games in paired versions, each featuring subtle differences like exclusive Pokémon to encourage trading among players. This tradition began with the original Japanese releases of Pokémon Red and Green in 1996, followed by a Blue version later that year. Internationally, they launched as Red and Blue in 1998. While this strategy can confuse newcomers, it fosters community engagement for fans and has contributed to the franchise's massive success.
Miyamoto's Revelation
In the shareholders meeting, Miyamoto recounted a conversation with Satoshi Tajiri before the first Pokémon game's creation. Via machine translation shared by Genki_JPN on X, Miyamoto quoted Tajiri: “A long time ago, Tajiri-san, the director of Pokémon, before creating the first Pokémon game, once joked to me ‘If you want to surpass Nintendo’s Mario you’ll have to sell two copies of the game to each customer.’ This was one of the reasons why Pokémon Red and Green were created.” The story highlights a playful competitiveness between the Pokémon and Mario franchises at Nintendo.
Sales Context
Despite the dual-version approach, Pokémon has not consistently outsold Mario on shared platforms. Wins for Pokémon include Gold and Silver on Game Boy Color and Ruby and Sapphire on Game Boy Advance. On DS, 3DS, and Switch, Mario leads, with no mainline Pokémon on Wii or Wii U. Recent figures show Pokémon Sword and Shield at 26.84 million copies and Scarlet and Violet at 27.15 million, compared to Mario Kart 8's 69.56 million, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's 36.93 million, and Super Mario Odyssey's 29.84 million.