Nintendo History
1889–1956: As a card company[edit]
Nintendo was founded as a card company in late 1889, originally named Nintendo Koppai. Based in Kyoto, Japan, the business produced and marketed aplaying card game called Hanafuda. The handmade cards soon became popular, and Yamauchi hired assistants to mass-produce cards to satisfy demand. Nintendo continues to manufacture playing cards in Japan[13] and organizes its own contract bridge tournament called the "Nintendo Cup."[14]
1956–1974: New ventures[edit]
In 1956, Hiroshi Yamauchi, grandson of Fusajiro Yamauchi, visited the U.S. to talk with the United States Playing Card Company, the dominant playing card manufacturer there. He found that the world's biggest company in his business was only using a small office. This was a turning point when Yamauchi realized the limitations of the playing card business. He then gained access to Disney's characters and put them on the playing cards to drive sales.
In 1963, Yamauchi renamed Nintendo Playing Card Co. Ltd. to Nintendo Co., Ltd.[15] The company then began to experiment in other areas of business using newly injected capital. During this period of time between 1963 and 1968, Nintendo set up a taxicompany, a love hotel chain, a TV network, a food company (selling instant rice, similar to instant noodles) and several other things.[citation needed] All of these ventures eventually failed, and after the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, playing card sales dropped, and Nintendo's stock price plummeted to ¥60.
In 1966, Nintendo moved into the Japanese toy industry with the Ultra Hand, an extendable arm developed by its maintenance engineer Gunpei Yokoi in his free time. Yokoi was moved from maintenance to the new "Nintendo Games" department as a product developer. Nintendo continued to produce popular toys, including the Ultra Machine, Love Tester and the Kousenjuu series of light gun games. Despite some successful products, Nintendo struggled to meet the fast development and manufacturing turnaround required in the toy market, and fell behind the well-established companies such as Bandai and Tomy.
In 1973, its focus shifted to family entertainment venues with the Laser Clay Shooting System, using the same light gun technology used in Nintendo's Kousenjuu series of toys, and set up in abandoned bowling alleys. Following some success, Nintendo developed several more light gun machines (such as the light gun shooter game Wild Gunman) for the emerging arcade scene. While the Laser Clay Shooting System ranges had to be shut down following excessive costs, Nintendo had found a new market.
1974–1983: Early electronic era[edit]
Nintendo's first venture into the video gaming industry was securing rights to distribute the Magnavox Odyssey video game console in Japan in 1974. Nintendo began to produce its own hardware in 1977, with the Color TV Game home video game consoles. Four versions of these consoles were produced, each including variations of a single game (for example, Color TV Game 6 featured six versions of Light Tennis).
A student product developer named Shigeru Miyamoto was hired by Nintendo at this time.[16] He worked for Yokoi, and one of his first tasks was to design the casing for several of the Color TV Game consoles. Miyamoto went on to create, direct and produce some of Nintendo's most famous video games and become one of the most recognizable figures in the video game industry.[16]
In 1975, Nintendo moved into the video arcade game industry with EVR Race, designed by their first game designer, Genyo Takeda,[17] and several more titles followed. Nintendo had some small success with this venture, but the release of Donkey Kong in 1981, designed by Miyamoto, changed Nintendo's fortunes dramatically. The success of the game and many licensing opportunities (such as ports on the Atari 2600, Intellivision and ColecoVision) gave Nintendo a huge boost in profit and in addition, the game also introduced an early iteration of Mario, known then as Jumpman, the eventual mascot of the company.
In 1980, Nintendo launched Game & Watch—a handheld video game series developed by Yokoi where each game was played on a separate device—to worldwide success.
1983–present: Home consoles and handhelds[edit]
Home consoles[edit]
In 1983, Nintendo launched the Family Computer home video game console in Japan (abbreviated "Famicom" and known outside Japan as the Nintendo Entertainment System or NES) alongside ports of its most popular arcade titles. In 1985, the NES launched in North America, and was accompanied by Super Mario Bros., one of the best-selling video games of all time.[18] The Famicom was followed by the Super Famicom in 1990, released outside Japan in 1991 and 1992 as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). This was Nintendo's console of the 16-bit 4th generation, boasting superior graphics, game speed, and sound over the Famicom of the 8-bit 3rd generation, and whose main rival was the Sega Mega Drive (known in North America as Sega Genesis). A console war between Sega and Nintendo ensued during the early 1990s.[19] Although relatively late to market, the SNES considerably outsold the Mega Drive.[citation needed]
Aiming to produce an affordable virtual reality console, Gunpei Yokoi designed the Virtual Boy, a table-mounted semi-portable console featuringstereoscopic graphics. Users view games through a binocular eyepiece and control games using a gamepad. Critics were generally disappointed with the quality of the games and graphics, and complained of gameplay-induced headaches.[20] The system sold poorly and was quietly discontinued.[21] Amid the system's failure, Yokoi retired from Nintendo.[22]
With its market shares slipping to Sega's Mega System and new rival Sony's PlayStation, Nintendo utilized a $185 million marketing campaign, centered around the "Play it Loud" slogan, to revitalize its brand.[23] The company's 5th generation home console, the Nintendo 64, was released in 1996 and features 3D polygon model rendering capabilities and built-in multiplayer for up to four players. The system's controller introduced the analog stick and later introduced the Rumble Pak, an accessory for the controller that produces force feedback with compatible games. Both were the first such features to come to market for home console gaming and eventually became a standard built-in feature for many controllers in the industry.[24] Announced before the console's launch, an expansion device called the Nintendo 64DD ("DD" standing for "Disk Drive") utilizing 64 MB magneto-optical disks was developed and in 1999 eventually released to Japan, but its commercial failure there resulted in only nine games being released and precluded further worldwide release.
The 6th-generation GameCube followed in 2001 and was the first Nintendo console to utilize optical disc storage instead of cartridges.[25] Though only supported by seven games (three of which only support LAN play), the release of the Broadband Adapter and Modem Adapter peripheral made the GameCube Nintendo's first Internet-enabled console. While profitable, sales paled in comparison with new rival Microsoft's Xbox and Sony's latest, the PlayStation 2.[citation needed]
The Wii was released in 2006 and introduced the Wii Remote—with motion sensing and pointing capabilities[26]—and on-board 802.11b/g Wi-Fi functionality, used for services such as Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection and the Internet Channel.[27] Since its release, the Wii has spawned many peripheral devices, including the Wii Balance Board and Motion Plus, and has had several hardware revisions. With the release of the Wii, Nintendo revised the color of its company logo from red to gray. The successor to Wii, the Wii U, features improved, HD graphical capabilities and a new controller, the Wii U GamePad. The GamePad features a touch screen, 9-axis of motion sensors, a microphone and a camera. The Wii U launched in two versions, "Basic" and "Premium" ("Deluxe" in North America), with 8GB and 32GB of on-board flash memory respectively.[28] The "Basic" version was discontinued September 20, coinciding with a drop in price for the "Premium" version.[29]
Handhelds[edit]
After the success of the Game & Watch series, Yokoi developed the Game Boy handheld console, which was released in 1989. Eventually becoming the best-selling handheld of all time, the Game Boy remained dominant for more than a decade, seeing critically and commercially popular games such asPokémon Yellow released as late as 1998 in Japan and 2000 in Europe. Incremental updates of the Game Boys Pocket, Light and Color did little to change the original formula, though the latter introduced color graphics to the Game Boy line.
The first major update to its handheld line since 1989, Game Boy Advance features improved technical specifications similar to those of the SNES. TheGame Boy Advance SP was the first revision to the GBA line and introduced screen lighting and a clam shell design, while later iteration, the Game Boy Micro, brought a smaller form factor.
Although originally advertised as an alternative to the Game Boy Advance, the Nintendo DS replaced the Game Boy line after its initial release in 2004.[30]It was distinctive for its dual screens and a microphone, as well as a touch-sensitive lower screen. The Nintendo DS Lite brought a smaller form factor[31] while the Nintendo DSi features larger screens and two cameras,[32] and was followed by an even larger model, the DSi XL, with a 90% bigger screen.[33]
Further expanding the Nintendo DS line, the Nintendo 3DS uses the process of autostereoscopy to produce a stereoscopic three-dimensional effect without glasses.[34] Released to major markets during 2011, the 3DS got off to a slow start, initially missing many key features that were promised before the system launched.[35] Partially as a result of slow sales, Nintendo stock declined in value. Subsequent price cuts and game releases helped to boost 3DS and 3DS software sales and to renew investor confidence in the company.[36] As of August 2013, the 3DS was the best selling console in the United States for four consecutive months.[37] The Nintendo 3DS XL was introduced in August 2012 and includes a 90% larger screen, a 4GB SD card and extended battery life. In August 2013, Nintendo announced the Nintendo 2DS, a version of the 3DS without a stereoscopic 3D screen. It has a slate-like design as opposed to the hinged, clamshell design of its DS-line predecessors. The 2DS will release on October 12 in North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, although no Japanese release has been announced.
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