Pokémon was created by Satoshi Tajiri in 1996 and published by Nintendo. It is the second most successful and lucrative game franchise worldwide. The first Pokémon games, Red, Green, and Blue, were released in Japan in 1996 and in other regions in 1998-1999. As a role-playing game, it tasks players with collecting all 151 Pokémon characters across the fictional Kanto region. Pokémon Red and Blue received critical acclaim and commercial success, becoming best-selling RPGs of all time.