The Pokémon video games came first, specifically Pokémon Red and Green, which were released in Japan in 1996. The anime series first aired in Japan in April of 1997, following the success of the video games. The trading cards were released in Japan in late 1996, followed by the manga a month later. In North America, both the game and the cartoon were released at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Atlanta in 1996. Therefore, the games came before the anime, trading cards, and manga. However, the Pokémon franchise has been successful because the anime and games complement each other and help drive success to the franchise as a whole.