LogFAQs > #960999730

Pokemon was inspired by Satoshi Tajiri feeling down that all of the places he used to catch bugs as a kid have been paved over and turned into Arcades or apartment complexes. There's a melancholy there in the original games that were made as a way to show kids what his childhood was like. Grimer and Koffing were made to show kids the dangers of pollution.

And all of that in a fairly good creature catching game too. The guy who sold sea monkeys said that the idea came from isolating the three things kids love most. Toys, pets, and surprises. Pokemon captures that exact same feeling, so it's no wonder the games took off. (The entire creature catching genre itself probably works so well because of this)

Digimon, as much as I love it, has always been a toy first. It would eventually grow into something else. A full media franchise of its own complete with anime, movies, books and card games. But while Nintendo was pushing Pokemon as hard as it could (and still is), Bandai continued treating Digimon as just another one of their many products.

And for anyone curious, Digimon has a new anime airing right now called "Digimon: Ghost Game" and it's pretty good so far. Seems to be angling for some light children's horror, playing up the more monstrous appearances of many Digimon.