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Origin
(Source: Part 1 Part 2) Nintendo LTD Company is a video game developer, publisher, and home console and handheld manufacturer. The company was founded in September 1889 in Kyoto, Japan by Fusajiro Yamauchi, and was named Nintendo Koppai. At the time it was a manufacturer of Hanafuda playing cards. -
The Beginning of a New Era
(Source: Part 1Part 2)Fusajiro Yamauchi’s son in law, Hiroshi Yamauchi, took over the company for him. But after a visit to the United States, it changed Nintendo forever. He realised how limited the card business was so he expanded it. Following the success of their cards, Nintendo attempted to jump into various other business which failed miserably until their entry into the video game business. After the card making business, they jumped to making toys with a toy named “The Ultra Hand”, an extendable hand. After -
The Beginning of a New Era (Continued)
(Source: Part 1Part 2) After the card making business, they jumped to making toys with a toy named “The Ultra Hand”, an extendable hand. The toy was a success and they continued to making toys. -
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Arcade Games
(Source)In the 1970s Nintendo started experimenting with arcade games and pong clones of tv consoles. -
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The Game and Watch
(Source) In 1980, a handheld console and watch named the Game and Watch, was created. It was inspired by LCD calculators. After their success, the business expanded into America. To set up the branch in America, Hiroshi Yamauchi’s son in law, Minoru Arakawa, at the time was living in Vancouver with Yamauchi’s daughter, went to New Jersey and had a warehouse to start the business in. Their first game was of course the game Radar Scope. -
The Game and Watch (Continued)
Even though they were successful in Japan, they didn’t sell much in America until 1981. -
Donkey Kong
(Source: Part 1Part 2) In 1981, Hiroshi knew that it was best to take a popular character and create a basic game. They finally got an inspiration from Pop-eye. Nintendo attempted to get the rights to use the Pop-Eye characters but failed. But instead, they made a few changes to the characters. In Pop-Eye, they took the Character, Olive, and changed her to a generic “lady”, Bluto was changed to a stubborn ape, while Pop-Eye would leave the navy and become a carpenter. -
Donkey Kong (Continued Part 2)
The love triangle that was between these three characters, played well in the game and sent players off to save the damsel in distress. Compared to Radar Scope, instead of shooting guns, the player had to get to the top while avoiding barrels that were thrown by the ape. This offered a new way to play games. The ape reminded them of King Kong but he was no king. The ape was rather stupid and was rather like a donkey. They finally settled with the name “Donkey Kong”. -
Donkey Kong (Continued Part 3)
But they needed a name for the other two characters. The lady was named Pauline like it was a thanks to the warehouse manager whose wife’s name was named Polly. And the hero’s name was named Mario. They started converting all Radar Scope cabinets into Donkey Kong. It was then released in 1981 and was really successful. -
Donkey Kong Junior
(Source) In July 1982, they said goodbye to the warehouse and bought 27 acres in Redmond. As a sequel of Donkey Kong, Nintendo released Donkey Kong Junior. Instead Mario being the hero, he was instead the villain, kidnapping Donkey Kong at the top of the game in a cage. The hero was instead Donkey Kong’s son who had to climb up to the top while dodging birds. This also was a great success. -
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The Famicon + Super Mario Bros. Debut
(Source: Part 1Part 2) The Nintendo Family System or Nintendo Famicon was released in Japan. This 8 bit console has two controllers that was similar to their earlier invention. The console had came with the games Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Junior, and Pop-eye. Nintendo finally succeeded from getting the rights for Pop-Eye. It was successful in Japan for a while and Nintendo decided to bring this console to America. But there was a problem. -
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The Famicon + Super Mario Bros. Debut (Continued Part 2)
In 1983, the video game market in America crashed due to too many overpriced games and underwhelm of systems competing with each other. By 1984, the idea of a home video game system was popular to American audiences and retailers. That was when Nintendo released the Famicon. Nintendo had spun Mario off into his own game, pairing him with a palette-swapped twin brother, Luigi. The two brothers went with the name the “Mario Bros.”. -
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The Famicon + Super Mario Bros. Debut (Continued Part 3)
These two took place in a pipe-filled sewer, where the pair worked together to knock out as many turtles and crabs as they could. This game made it’s debut later in 1986 with the Nintendo Entertainment System. -
The Famicon's Struggle
(Source) The Famicon was trying to hit the market but it wasn’t a popular hit compared to Japan. Nintendo attempted to hide the package’s true nature by having a toy robot on the package known as the Robotic Operating Buddy, or R.O.B., along with games Gyromite and Stack-Up. But sadly no one was fooled. It wasn’t until Nintendo reassured retailers that they could get full refunds on any unsold systems. Although this was a risky move from Nintendo, the gamble paid off. -
The Famicon's Debut in America + Renaming of the console
(Source) The Famicon was renamed to the Nintendo Entertainment System ( or the NES) and was finally released in America. But the console came with the game called Super Mario Bros and it was a huge success. To this day, Super Mario Bros. is holding the record of best-selling video game. for many years. -
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Legend of Zelda + Super Mario Bros Sequel
(Source) A game called Legend of Zelda, a questing game, had deeper exploration than Super Mario Bros. The game had a grand scope and massive dungeons that made gamers like. This was another hit. Following up to the original Super Mario Bros, Nintendo created a sequel that wasn’t released in America because Nintendo thought is was too challenging. -
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Legend of Zelda + Super Mario Bros. Debut (Continued Part 2)
The sequel was similar to the original game except some mushrooms made Mario super, but some actually killed him. Nintendo thought it was more sadistic than satisfying. But Super Mario needed a sequel. So Nintendo converted into another game. Instead of a Mushroom Kingdom and Bowser, in their place was a Subcon, a dream world players had to free from the clutches of Wart, an evil frog. -
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Legend of Zelda + Super Mario Bros Sequel (Continued Part 3)
Instead of jumping on enemies to stomp them, players could ride them, pick them up, and toss them at other bad guys. It was finally released in 1988 and was named Super Mario Bros. 2. -
Game Boy Debut
The Game and Watch LCD toys was one of Nintendo’s earliest success in the video game game industry. For the past few years, Nintendo has been working on a portable version of the Famicon (NES). Nintendo’s final design was finished and was released as the Game Boy in April 1989. This was an 8-bit, two button console took four AA batteries that lasted at least 10 hours, all for about 90 dollars. -
Game Boy Debut (Continued)
Although the Game Boy’s monochromatic, greenish display wasn’t the best and sadly couldn’t be seen in the dark, it gave consumers one of the most successful pack-in-titles: Tetris, an addictive Russian Game for which Nintendo had purchased the console rights. The game was so addictive that the Nintendo sold millions of Game Boys in a few weeks from it’s release date. It was until a few months later in September where Nintendo had a rival. -
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Super Mario Bros. 3
(Source) Nintendo still wanted a proper sequel. Their next project was a continuation for Super Mario that would both bring the game back to its roots while moving the series forward. In February 1990, Super Mario Bros. 3 was finally released in America. -
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The Battle Between Consoles (Continued)
Sega’s 8-bit Game Gear was released a year later and sold more profits that the Lynx, it was impossible to catch up to the profits the Game Boy had made. After the Game Boy’s debut, shortly after Nintendo released Super Mario Land. Mario left the Mushroom Kingdom for a place called Sarasaland, Instead of rescuing Princess Toadstool from King Koopa, Mario fought a “Mysterious Spaceman” named Tatanga to rescue Princess Daisy. Of course, the differences didn’t matter and the game sold 18.4 million. -
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The Battle Between Consoles
Atari released a handheld 16-bit Lynx that had backlit and full-colour. It didn’t stand a chance. Even though the The Lynx may have been more powerful, Nintendo knew that power came with a cost. The Lynx’s six AA batteries could only power for about half the time the Game Boy and was twice as much than the Game Boy ($190). The Game Boy continued to be a huge success. -
The Battle Between Sony and Nintendo
(Source) In June 1991, only a few months after the Super Nintendo’s American debut, Nintendo announced that they were teaming up with Sony. But later, Nintendo announced the breaking of their contract. This is where is leaded up to the battle between Nintendo and Sony. Sony started threatening Nintendo with lawsuits. This battle continued on for many years. -
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The Battle Between Sega and Nintendo
(Source)Other famous names appeared on the Gameboy like Metroid II, The Return of Samus and The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, that was published a year later. But not every Game Boy star came from the N.E.S first. In 1992, Nintendo-sponsored developer, HAL Laboratory, created a new platformer called Kirby’s Dream Land, which starred a flying pink puffball who could swallow enemies like a vacuum cleaner. -
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The Battle Between Sega and Nintendo (Continued Part 2)
Like Mario who was named after Nintendo’s landlord, Kirby was named after John Kirby, the attorney who defended the Company in Universal’s 1993 Donkey Kong Lawsuit. Even though Nintendo was handily the battles for handheld consoles, the home console war was getting tense. Although the Famicon was king in Japan, 1990 Sega’s 16-bit Genesis was making serious waves. Sega had taken advantage of their competitor’s relationship with third-party developers, -
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The Batlle Between Sega and Nintendo (Continued Part 3)
For years, Nintendo had held developers hostage by rationing out lockout chips. Without it, games wouldn’t play on the Famicon/NES. According to the book, Super Mario: How Nintendo Conquered America, it talks about why Sega came out with the Genesis due to the fact so many third-party developers flocked them because Sega treated their developers well while Nintendo didn’t. Nintendo was able to get away with it because they were the only game in town and had 92% of market share. -
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The Battle Between Sega and Nintendo (Continued Part 4)
But when the Genesis came out and started to gain speed, people started realising that there was finally a company that can go against Nintendo. Sega churned out arcade ports and secured exclusive third-party releases—a side effect of a clause in Nintendo’s contracts forbidding developers from making games for other consoles. Sega released their home-grown killer app: a new, high-speed platformer called Sonic the Hedgehog. -
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The Battle Between Sega and Nintendo (Continued Part 5)
Suddenly Sega had their own Mario, but one with wild hair, a ‘90s ‘tude, and the remarkable ability to finally threaten Nintendo’s stranglehold on the American console market. But, of course, Nintendo had long been working on the NES’s successor. The 16-bit follow-up was released in the fall of 1990 in Japan as the Super Famicom, and in summer 1991 in America as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. -
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The Battle Between Sega and Nintendo (Continued Part 6)
Despite Super Mario World’s brilliance, Sonic’s rush onto the scene had suddenly made Nintendo seem…uncool. Sega seemed to represent everything that was hip and new in video games, while Nintendo looked safe, stodgy, and downright old. Nintendo started having cracks appearing making the company reputation going lower. But Nintendo was a fighter. They were very successful with many games and consoles. Nintendo’s reputation went higher! -
N64 Debut
(Source) The N64 was released. The console had amazing graphics and gameplay. Also releasing that year was the Game Boy Pocket. It was smaller than the original Game Boy and came in many colours. -
Game Boy Advance Debut + Nintendo Game Cube
(Source) The Game Boy Advance was released. It had better graphics than the previous versions of Game Boy. Also in this year, the Nintendo Game Cube had improved the graphics and gameplay of the N64. It was the first Nintendo systems to use optical discs instead of cartridges for its games. -
Game Boy Advance SP Debut
(Source) The Game Boy Advance SP had the same size as the Game Boy Advance, but it was smaller, lighter, and folded in a clamshell design. This also came with a rechargeable battery and backlit screen. -
Nintendo DS Debut
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The Nintendo DS was released. This had 2 screens that had a touch screen, a mic, built-in WI-FI capability, and backward compatibility. -
Nintendo DS Lite + Wii Debut
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The Nintendo DS lite was released and was smaller, lighter, and had brighter screens than the previous version. The Wii was introduced and had wireless motion-sensitive remote controllers, built-in WI-FI capability, and a host of other features. -
Nintendo DSi Debut
(Source) A revised version of the Nintendo DS Lite was released and was called the Nintendo DSi. It was like the previous version except two cameras were added and wireless access to downloadable games. -
Nintendo DSi XL Debut
(Source) Another game console had made another debut with yet again, a revised version of the previous DS’. It had screens that were 93% larger than the screens on the Nintendo DS Lite. This was the Nintendo DSi XL. Nintendo and Netflix announced a partnership that would allow most Netflix subscribers to stream movies and tv shows through their Wii consoles. -
Nintendo 3DS Debut
(Source) Nintendo released the Nintendo 3DS system that allowed users to view 3D content without the use of 3D glasses -
Wii U Debut
(Source) Nintendo released yet another product called the Wii U. The Wii U was similar to the normal Wii but the controller was a game pad that had been embed with a touch screen.
