The first issue of the Game Freak video-game magazine was published in 1983.
Satoshi Tajiri created the self-published magazine while he was a teenager. It focused on arcade games, strategies, and discoveries at a time when dedicated video-game magazines were not yet common in Japan.
Ken Sugimori later found the magazine in a shop and joined as its illustrator. Their collaboration eventually grew beyond publishing: Tajiri and Sugimori transformed Game Freak from a magazine project into a video-game development company in 1989.
The magazine’s name therefore predates both the Game Freak studio and Pokémon. This is why the 1983 date should not be confused with Game Freak’s company founding date or Pokémon’s 1996 game debut. The early publication also helps explain how Tajiri developed contacts and experience that eventually led to the franchise’s creation.