Thehistory of Nintendo began when craftsmanFusajiro Yamauchi founded the company to produce handmadehanafuda playing cards. After venturing into various lines of business and becoming a public company, Nintendo began producing toys in the 1960s, and later video games. Nintendo developed its firstarcade games in the 1970s, and distributed its first system, theColor TV-Game, in 1977. The company became internationally dominant in the 1980s after the arcade release ofDonkey Kong (1981) and theNintendo Entertainment System, which launched outside of Japan alongsideSuper Mario Bros. in 1985.
Nintendo was founded as Nintendo Koppai[d] on 23 September 1889[6] by craftsmanFusajiro Yamauchi inShimogyō-ku, Kyoto, Japan, as an unincorporated establishment, to produce and distributeJapaneseplaying cards, orkaruta (かるた, fromPortuguesecarta, 'card'), most notablyhanafuda (花札, 'flower cards').[1][2][3][7][8][9] The name "Nintendo" is commonly assumed to mean "leave luck to heaven",[10][9] but the assumption lacks historical validation; it has also been suggested to mean "the temple of freehanafuda", but even descendants of Yamauchi do not know the true intended meaning of the name.[7] Hanafuda cards had become popular after Japan banned most forms of gambling in 1882, though tolerated hanafuda. Sales of hanafuda cards were popular with theyakuza-run gaming parlors in Kyoto. Other card manufacturers had opted to leave the market, not wanting to be associated with its criminality, but Yamauchi persisted despite such fears to become the primary producer of hanafuda within a few years.[11] With the increase of the cards' popularity, Yamauchi hired assistants tomass-produce them to satisfy the demand.[12] Even with a favorable start, the business faced financial struggles due to operating in aniche market, the slow and expensive manufacturing process, high product price, alongside long durability of the cards, which impacted sales due to the low replacement rate.[13] As a solution, Nintendo produced a cheaper and lower-quality line of playing cards,Tengu, while also conducting product offerings in other cities such asOsaka, where card game profits were high. In addition, local merchants were interested in the prospect of continuous renewal of decks, thus avoiding the suspicions that reusing cards would generate.[14]
According to Nintendo, the business' first western-style card deck was put on the market in 1902,[2][3] although other documents indicate the date was 1907, shortly after theRusso-Japanese War.[15] Although the cards were initially intended to be exported, they quickly gained popularity within and without Japan.[2][3] During this time, the business styled itself as Marufuku Nintendo Card Co.[16] Thewar created considerable difficulties for companies in the leisure sector, which were subject to new levies such as theKaruta Zei ("playing cards tax").[17] Nintendo subsisted and, in 1907, entered into an agreement with Nihon Senbai—later known as theJapan Tobacco—to market its cards to various cigarette stores throughout the country.[18] A Nintendo promotional calendar from theTaishō era dated to 1915 indicates that the business was named Yamauchi Nintendo[e] but still used the Marufuku Nintendo Co. brand for its playing cards.[19]
Japanese culture stipulated that for Nintendo to continue as a family business after Yamauchi's retirement, Yamauchi had to adopt his son-in-law so that he could take over the business. As a result,Sekiryo Kaneda adopted the Yamauchi surname in 1907 and headed the business in 1929. By that time, Nintendo was the largest playing card business in Japan.[20]
1933–1968: Incorporation, expansion, and diversification
Former Nintendo headquarters (1933–1959), rebuilt from the right section of the original building
English company information plate in the former Nintendo headquarters
In 1933, Sekiryo Kaneda established the company as ageneral partnership named Yamauchi Nintendo & Co., Ltd.[f][3] investing in the construction of a new corporate headquarters located next to the original building,[21] near theToba-kaidō train station.[22] Because Sekiryo's marriage to Yamauchi's daughter produced no male heirs, he planned to adopt his son-in-law Shikanojo Inaba, an artist in the company's employ and the father of his grandsonHiroshi, born in 1927. However, Inaba abandoned his family and the company, so Hiroshi was made Sekiryo's eventual successor.[23]
World War II negatively impacted the company as Japanese authorities prohibited the diffusion of foreign card games, and as the priorities of Japanese society shifted, its interest in recreational activities waned. During this time, Nintendo was partly supported by a financial injection from Hiroshi's wife Michiko Inaba, who came from a wealthy family.[24] In 1947, Sekiryo founded the distribution company Marufuku Co., Ltd.[g] responsible for Nintendo's sales and marketing operations, which would eventually go on to become the present-day Nintendo Co., Ltd., in Higashikawara-cho, Imagumano,Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto.[2][3][7]
1949 New Year Nintendo staff commemoration
In 1950, due to Sekiryo's deteriorating health,[25] Hiroshi Yamauchi assumed the presidency and headed manufacturing operations.[2][3] His first actions involved several important changes in the operation of the company: in 1951, he changed the company name to Nintendo Playing Card Co., Ltd.[h][2][3][26] and in the following year, he centralized the manufacturing facilities dispersed in Kyoto, which led to the expansion of the offices in Kamitakamatsu-cho, Fukuine, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto.[2][3][27] In 1953, Nintendo became the first company to succeed in mass-producing plastic playing cards in Japan.[2][3] Some of the company's employees, accustomed to more cautious and conservative leadership, viewed the new measures with concern, and the rising tension led to a call for astrike. However, the measure had no major impact, as Hiroshi resorted to the dismissal of several dissatisfied workers.[28]
In 1959, Nintendo moved its headquarters to Kamitakamatsu-cho, Fukuine, Higashiyama-ku inKyoto. The company entered into a partnership withWalt Disney Productions to incorporate its characters into playing cards, which opened it up to the children's market and resulted in a boost to Nintendo's playing card business.[2][3][26] Nintendo automated the production of Japanese playing cards using backing paper, and also developed a distribution system that allowed it to offer its products in toy stores.[2][21] By 1961, the company had established a Tokyo branch inChiyoda, Tokyo,[2] and sold more than 1.5 million card packs, holding a highmarket share, for which it relied on televised advertising campaigns.[29] In 1962, Nintendo became a public company by listing stock on the second section of theOsaka Securities Exchange and the Kyoto Stock Exchange.[2][3] In the following year, the company adopted its current name, Nintendo & Co., Ltd.[i] and started manufacturing games in addition to playing cards.[2][3]
In 1964, Nintendo earned¥150 million.[30] Although the company experienced a period of economic prosperity, the Disney cards and derived products made it dependent on the children's market. The situation was exacerbated by the falling sales of its adult-oriented playing cards caused by Japanese society gravitating toward other hobbies such aspachinko,bowling, and nightly outings.[29] When Disney card sales began to decline, Nintendo realized that it had no real alternative to alleviate the situation.[30] After the 1964Tokyo Olympics, Nintendo's stock price plummeted to its lowest recorded level of¥60.[31][32]
In 1965, Nintendo hiredGunpei Yokoi to maintain the assembly-line machines used to manufacture its playing cards.[33]
1969–1972: Classic and electronic toys
Yamauchi's experience with the previous initiatives led him to increase Nintendo's investment in a research and development department in 1969, directed by Hiroshi Imanishi, a long-time employee of the company.[3] Yokoi was moved to the newly created department and was responsible for coordinating various projects.[21] Yokoi's experience in manufacturing electronic devices led Yamauchi to put him in charge of the company's games department, and his products would be mass-produced.[34] During that period, Nintendo built a new production plant inUji, just outside of Kyoto,[3] and distributed classictabletop games likechess,shogi,go, andmahjong, and other foreign games under the Nippon Game brand.[35] The company's restructuring preserved a couple of areas dedicated to playing card manufacturing.[36]
In 1970, the company's stock listing was promoted to the first section of the Osaka Stock Exchange,[2][3] and the reconstruction and enlargement of its corporate headquarters was completed.[3] The year represented a watershed moment in Nintendo's history as it released Japan's first electronic toy—theBeam Gun, anoptoelectronic pistol designed byMasayuki Uemura.[3] In total, more than a million units were sold.[21] Nintendo partnered withMagnavox to provide alight gun controller based on theBeam Gun design for the company's new home video game console, theMagnavox Odyssey, in 1971.[37] Other popular toys released at the time included theUltra Hand, theUltra Machine, the Ultra Scope, and theLove Tester, all designed by Yokoi. More than 1.2 million units of Ultra Hand were sold in Japan.[12]
The growing demand for Nintendo's products led Yamauchi to further expand the offices, for which he acquired the surrounding land and assigned the production of cards to the original Nintendo building. Meanwhile, Yokoi, Uemura, and new employees such asGenyo Takeda continued to develop innovative products for the company.[21] TheLaser Clay Shooting System was released in 1973 and managed to surpass bowling in popularity. Though Nintendo's toys continued to gain popularity, the1973 oil crisis caused both a spike in the cost of plastics and a change in consumer priorities that put essential products over pastimes, and Nintendo lost several billion yen.[38]
In 1974, Nintendo releasedWild Gunman, askeet shooting arcade simulation consisting of a16 mm image projector with a sensor that detects a beam from the player'slight gun. Both the Laser Clay Shooting System andWild Gunman were successfully exported to Europe and North America.[3] However, Nintendo's production speeds were still slow compared to rival companies such asBandai andTomy, and their prices were high, which led to the discontinuation of some of their light gun products.[39] The subsidiary Nintendo Leisure System Co., Ltd., which developed these products, was closed as a result of the economic impact dealt by the oil crisis.[40]
Yamauchi, motivated by the successes ofAtari and Magnavox with theirvideo game consoles,[21] acquired the Japanese distribution rights for the Magnavox Odyssey in 1974,[34] and reached an agreement withMitsubishi Electric to develop similar products between 1975 and 1978, including the firstmicroprocessor for video games systems, theColor TV-Game series, and an arcade game inspired byOthello.[3] During this period, Takeda developed the video gameEVR Race,[41] andShigeru Miyamoto joined Yokoi's team with the responsibility of designing the casing for the Color TV-Game consoles.[42] In 1978, Nintendo's research and development department was split into two facilities,Nintendo Research & Development 1 andNintendo Research & Development 2, respectively managed by Yokoi and Uemura.[43][44]
Shigeru Miyamoto brought distinctive sources of inspiration to the company, ranging from thenatural environment and regional culture ofSonobe, to popular culture influences likeWesterns anddetective fiction, and to folkShinto practices andfamily media.[45][46][47][48] They are seen in most of Nintendo's major franchises which developed following Miyamoto's creative leadership.[49]
1979–1987: Game & Watch, arcade games, and Nintendo Entertainment System
Two key events in Nintendo's history occurred in 1979: its American subsidiary was opened in New York City, and a new department focused on arcade game development was created. In 1980, one of the firsthandheld video game systems, theGame & Watch, was created by Yokoi from the technology used in portable calculators.[3][38] It became one of Nintendo's most successful products, with over 43.4 million units sold worldwide during its production period, and for which 59 games were made in total.[50]
Nintendo entered thearcade video game market withSheriff andRadar Scope, released in Japan in 1979 and 1980 respectively.Sheriff, also known asBandido in some regions, marked the first original video game made by Nintendo, and was published bySega and developed byGenyo Takeda andShigeru Miyamoto.[49][51][52]Radar Scope rivaledGalaxian in Japanese arcades but failed to find an audience overseas and created a financial crisis for the company.[53] To try to find a more successful game, they put Miyamoto in charge of their next arcade game design, leading to the release ofDonkey Kong in 1981, one of the firstplatform video games that allowed the player character to jump.[54] The character Jumpman would later becomeMario and Nintendo's officialmascot. Mario was named afterMario Segale, the landlord of Nintendo's offices inTukwila, Washington.[55][56][57]Donkey Kong was a financial success for Nintendo both in Japan and overseas, and led Coleco to fight Atari for licensing rights for porting to home consoles and personal computers.[53]
In 1983, Nintendo opened a new production facility in Uji and was listed in the first section of theTokyo Stock Exchange.[3] Uemura, taking inspiration from theColecoVision,[58] began creating a new video game console that would incorporate aROM cartridge format for video games as well as both acentral processing unit and apicture processing unit.[3][59][60] TheFamily Computer, or Famicom, was released in Japan in July 1983 along with three games adapted from their original arcade versions:Donkey Kong,Donkey Kong Jr. andPopeye.[61] Its success was such that in 1984, it surpassed the market share held bySega'sSG-1000.[62] That success also led to Nintendo leaving the Japanese arcade market in late 1985.[63][64] At this time, Nintendo adopted a series of guidelines that involved the validation of each game produced for the Famicom before its distribution on the market, agreements with developers to ensure that no Famicom game would be adapted to other consoles within two years of its release, and restricting developers from producing more than five games per year for the Famicom.[65]
In the early 1980s, several video game consoles proliferated in the United States, as well as low-quality games produced bythird-party developers,[66] which oversaturated the market and led to thevideo game crash of 1983.[67] Consequently, a recession hit the Americanvideo game industry, whose revenues went from over $3 billion to $100 million between 1983 and 1985.[68] Nintendo's initiative to launch the Famicom in America was also impacted. To differentiate the Famicom from its competitors in America, Nintendo rebranded it as an entertainment system and itscartridges as Game Paks, with a design reminiscent of aVCR.[60] Nintendo implemented alockout chip in the Game Paks for control on its third party library to avoid the market saturation that had occurred in the United States.[69] The result is theNintendo Entertainment System, or NES, which was released in North America in 1985.[3] The landmark gamesSuper Mario Bros. andThe Legend of Zelda were produced by Miyamoto andTakashi Tezuka. ComposerKoji Kondo reinforced the idea that musical themes could act as a complement to game mechanics rather than simply a miscellaneous element.[70] Production of the NES lasted until 1995,[71] and production of the Famicom lasted until 2003.[72] In total, around 62 million Famicom and NES consoles were sold worldwide.[73] During this period, Nintendo created a copyright infringement protection in the form of the Official Nintendo Seal of Quality, added to their products so that customers may recognize their authenticity in the market.[74] By this time, Nintendo's network of electronic suppliers had extended to around thirty companies, includingRicoh (Nintendo's main source forsemiconductors) and theSharp Corporation.[21]
1988–1992: Game Boy and Super Nintendo Entertainment System
In 1988, Gunpei Yokoi and his team atNintendo R&D1 conceived theGame Boy, the first handheld video game console made by Nintendo. Nintendo released the Game Boy in 1989. In North America, the Game Boy was bundled with the popular third-party gameTetris after a difficult negotiation process withElektronorgtechnica.[75] The Game Boy was a significant success. In its first two weeks of sale in Japan, its initial inventory of 300,000 units sold out, and in the United States, an additional 40,000 units were sold on its first day of distribution.[76] Around this time, Nintendo entered an agreement withSony to develop theSuper Famicom CD-ROM Adapter, a peripheral for the upcomingSuper Famicom capable of playingCD-ROMs.[77] However, the collaboration did not last as Yamauchi preferred to continue developing the technology withPhilips, which would result in theCD-i,[78] and Sony's independent efforts resulted in the creation of thePlayStation console.[79]
The first issue ofNintendo Power magazine, which had an annual circulation of 1.5 million copies in the United States, was published in 1988.[80] In July 1989, Nintendo held the firstNintendo Space Worldtrade show with the nameShoshinkai to announce and demonstrate upcoming Nintendo products.[81] That year, the first World of Nintendostores-within-a-store, which carried official Nintendo merchandise, were opened in the United States. According to company information, more than 25% of homes in the United States had an NES in 1989.[80]
In the late 1980s, Nintendo's dominance slipped with the appearance ofNEC'sPC Engine andSega'sMega Drive,16-bit game consoles with improved graphics and audio compared to the NES.[82] In response to the competition, Uemura designed theSuper Famicom, which launched in 1990. The first batch of 300,000 consoles sold out in hours.[83] The following year, as with the NES, Nintendo distributed a modified version of the Super Famicom to the United States market, titled the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.[84] Launch games for the Super Famicom and Super NES includeSuper Mario World,F-Zero,Pilotwings,SimCity, andGradius III.[85] By mid-1992, over 46 million Super Famicom and Super NES consoles had been sold.[3] The console's life cycle lasted until 1999 in the United States,[86] and until 2003 in Japan.[72]
In March 1990, the firstNintendo World Championship was held, with participants from 29 American cities competing for the title of "best Nintendo player in the world".[80][87] In June 1990, the subsidiary Nintendo of Europe was opened inGroßostheim, Germany; in 1993, subsequent subsidiaries were established in the Netherlands (whereBandai had previously distributed Nintendo's products), France, the United Kingdom, Spain, Belgium, and Australia.[3] In 1992, Nintendo acquired a majority stake in theSeattle Mariners baseball team, and sold most of its shares in 2016.[88][89] On July 31, 1992, Nintendo of America announced it would cease manufacturing arcade games and systems.[90][91] In 1993,Star Fox was released, which marked an industry milestone by being the first video game to make use of theSuper FX chip.[3]
The proliferation of graphically violent video games, such asMortal Kombat, caused controversy and led to the creation of theInteractive Digital Software Association and theEntertainment Software Rating Board, in whose development Nintendo collaborated during 1994. These measures also encouraged Nintendo to abandon the content guidelines it had enforced since the release of the NES.[92][93] Commercial strategies implemented by Nintendo during this time include theNintendo Gateway System, an in-flight entertainment service available for airlines, cruise ships and hotels,[94] and the "Play It Loud!" advertising campaign for Game Boys with different-colored casings. The Advanced Computer Modeling graphics used inDonkey Kong Country for the Super NES andDonkey Kong Land for the Game Boy were technologically innovative, as was theSatellaviewsatellite modem peripheral for the Super Famicom, which allowed the digital transmission of data via acommunications satellite in space.[3]
1993–1998: Nintendo 64, Virtual Boy, and Game Boy Color
In mid-1993, Nintendo andSilicon Graphics announced a strategic alliance to develop theNintendo 64.[95][96]NEC,Toshiba, and Sharp also contributed technology to the console.[97] The Nintendo 64 was marketed as one of the first consoles to be designed with64-bit architecture.[98] As part of an agreement withMidway Games, the arcade gamesKiller Instinct andCruis'n USA wereported to the console.[99][100] Although the Nintendo 64 was planned for release in 1995, the production schedules of third-party developers influenced a delay,[101][102] and the console was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in the United States and March 1997 in Europe. By the end of its production in 2002, around 33 million Nintendo 64 consoles were sold worldwide,[73] and it is considered one of the most recognized video game systems in history.[103] 388 games were produced for the Nintendo 64 in total,[104] some of which – particularlySuper Mario 64,The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, andGoldenEye 007 – have been distinguished assome of the greatest of all time.[105]
In 1995, Nintendo released theVirtual Boy, a console designed byGunpei Yokoi withstereoscopic graphics. Critics were generally disappointed with the quality of the games and red-colored graphics, and complained of gameplay-induced headaches.[106] The system sold poorly and was quietly discontinued.[107] Amid the system's failure, Yokoi formally retired from Nintendo.[108] In February 1996,Pocket Monsters Red andGreen, known internationally asPokémon Red andBlue, developed byGame Freak was released in Japan for the Game Boy, and established the popularPokémon franchise.[109]: 191 The game went on to sell 31.37 million units,[110] with the video game series exceeding a total of 300 million units in sales as of 2017.[111] In 1997, Nintendo released theRumble Pak, a plug-in device that connects to the Nintendo 64 controller and produces a vibration during certain moments of a game.[3]
In 1998, theGame Boy Color was released. In addition tobackward compatibility with Game Boy games, the console's similar capacity to the NES resulted in select adaptations of games from that library, such asSuper Mario Bros. Deluxe.[112] Since then, over 118.6 million Game Boy and Game Boy Color consoles have been sold worldwide.[113]
In May 1999, with the advent of thePlayStation 2,[114] Nintendo entered an agreement withIBM andPanasonic to develop the128-bitGekko processor and the DVD drive to be used in Nintendo's next home console.[115] Meanwhile, a series of administrative changes occurred in 2000 when Nintendo's corporate offices were moved to the Minami-ku neighborhood in Kyoto, and Nintendo Benelux was established to manage the Dutch and Belgian territories.[3]
Nintendo headquarters since 2000
Satoru Iwata, former Nintendo president (2002–2015)
In 2001, two new Nintendo consoles were introduced: theGame Boy Advance, which was designed by Gwénaël Nicolas with stylistic departure from its predecessors,[116][117] and theGameCube.[118] During the first week of the Game Boy Advance's North American release in June 2001, over 500,000 units were sold, making it the fastest-selling video game console in the United States at the time.[119] By the end of its production cycle in 2010, more than 81.5 million units had been sold worldwide.[113] As for the GameCube, even with such distinguishing features as theminiDVD format of its games and Internet connectivity for a few games,[120][121] its sales were lower than those of its predecessors, and during the six years of its production, 21.7 million units were sold worldwide.[122] The GameCube struggled against its rivals in the market,[123][124] and its initial poor sales led to Nintendo posting a first half fiscal year loss in 2003 for the first time since the company went public in 1962.[125]
In 2002, thePokémon Mini was released. Its dimensions were smaller than that of the Game Boy Advance and it weighed 70 grams, making it the smallest video game console in history.[3] Nintendo collaborated withSega andNamco to developTriforce, an arcade board to facilitate the conversion of arcade titles to the GameCube.[126] Following the European release of the GameCube in May 2002,[127]Hiroshi Yamauchi announced his resignation as the president of Nintendo, andSatoru Iwata was selected by the company as his successor. Yamauchi would remain as advisor and director of the company until 2005,[128] and he died in 2013.[129] Iwata's appointment as president ended the Yamauchi succession at the helm of the company, a practice that had been in place since its foundation.[130][131]
In 2003, Nintendo released theGame Boy Advance SP, an improved version of the Game Boy Advance with a foldable case, an illuminated display, and a rechargeable battery. By the end of its production cycle in 2010, over 43.5 million units had been sold worldwide.[113] Nintendo also released theGame Boy Player, a peripheral that allows Game Boy and Game Boy Advance games to be played on the GameCube.
In 2004, Nintendo released theNintendo DS, which featured such innovations as dual screens – one of which is atouchscreen – and wireless connectivity for multiplayer play.[3][132] Throughout its lifetime, more than 154 million units were sold, making it the most successful handheld console and the second bestselling console in history.[113] In 2005, Nintendo released theGame Boy Micro, the last system in theGame Boy line.[3][112] Sales did not meet Nintendo's expectations,[133] with 2.5 million units being sold by 2007.[134] In mid-2005, theNintendo World Store was inaugurated in New York City.[135]
Reggie Fils-Aimé was the president of Nintendo of America from 2006–2019.
Nintendo's next home console was conceived in 2001, although development commenced in 2003, taking inspiration from the Nintendo DS.[136] Nintendo also considered the relative failure of the GameCube and instead opted to take a "Blue Ocean Strategy" by developing a reduced performance console in contrast to the high-performance consoles of Sony and Microsoft to avoid directly competing with them.[137] TheWii was released in November 2006,[138] with a total of 33 launch games.[139] With the Wii, Nintendo sought to reach a broader demographic than itsseventh-generation competitors,[140] with the intention of also encompassing the "non-consumer" sector.[141] Nintendo invested in a $200 million advertising campaign to that end.[142] The Wii's innovations include theWii Remote controller, equipped with anaccelerometer system and infrared sensors that allow it to detect its position in a three-dimensional environment with the aid of a sensor bar;[143][144] the Nunchuk peripheral that includes an analog controller and an accelerometer;[145] and theWii MotionPlus expansion that increases the sensitivity of the main controller with the aid ofgyroscopes.[146] By 2016, more than 101 million Wii consoles had been sold worldwide,[147] making it the most successful console of its generation, a distinction that Nintendo had not achieved since the 1990s with the Super NES.[148]
Several accessories were released for the Wii from 2007 to 2010, such as theWii Balance Board, the Wii Wheel and theWiiWare download service. In 2009, Nintendo Iberica S.A. expanded its commercial operations toPortugal through a new office inLisbon.[3] By that year, Nintendo held a 68.3% share of the worldwide handheld gaming market.[149] In 2010, Nintendo celebrated the 25th anniversary of Mario's debut appearance, for which certain allusive products were put on sale. The event included the release ofSuper Mario All-Stars 25th Anniversary Edition and special editions of theNintendo DSi XL and Wii.[150]
2010–2016: Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, and mobile ventures
In 2012 and 2013, two new Nintendo game consoles were introduced: theWii U, with high-definition graphics and aGamePad controller withnear-field communication technology,[155][156] and theNintendo 2DS, a version of the 3DS that lacks the clamshell design of Nintendo's previous handheld consoles and the stereoscopic effects of the 3DS.[157] With 13.5 million units sold worldwide,[147] the Wii U is the least successful video game console in Nintendo's history.[158] In 2014, a new product line was released consisting of figures of Nintendo characters calledamiibos.[3]
On 25 September 2013, Nintendo announced its acquisition of a 28% stake in PUX Corporation, a subsidiary ofPanasonic, to developfacial,voice, and text recognition for its video games.[159] Due to a 30% decrease in company income between April and December 2013, Iwata announced a temporary 50% cut to his salary, with other executives seeing reductions by 20%–30%.[160] In January 2015, Nintendo ceased operations in the Brazilian market due in part to high importduties. This did not affect the rest of Nintendo'sLatin American market due to an alliance with Juegos de Video Latinoamérica.[161] Nintendo reached an agreement with NC Games for Nintendo's products to resume distribution inBrazil by 2017,[162] and by September 2020, the Switch was released in Brazil.[163]
On 11 July 2015, Iwata died ofbile duct cancer, and after a couple of months in which Miyamoto and Takeda jointly operated the company,Tatsumi Kimishima was named as Iwata's successor on 16 September 2015.[164] As part of the management's restructuring, Miyamoto and Takeda were named creative and technological advisors, respectively.[165] The financial losses caused by the Wii U, along with Sony's intention to release its video games to other platforms such assmart TVs, motivated Nintendo to rethink its strategy concerning the production and distribution of its properties.[166] In 2015, Nintendo formalized agreements withDeNA andUniversal Parks & Resorts to extend its presence tosmart devices andamusement parks respectively.[167][168][169]
The Wii U's successor in theeighth generation of video game consoles, theNintendo Switch, was released in March 2017. The Switch features a hybrid design as a home and handheld console,Joy-Con controllers that each contain an accelerometer and gyroscope, and the simultaneous wireless networking of up to eight consoles.[176] To expand its library, Nintendo entered alliances with several third-party and independent developers;[177][178] by February 2019, more than 1,800 Switch games had been released.[179] Worldwide sales of the Switch exceeded 55 million units by March 2020.[180] In April 2018, theNintendo Labo line was released, consisting of cardboard accessories that interact with the Switch and the Joy-Con controllers.[181] More than one million units of the Nintendo Labo Variety Kit were sold in its first year on the market.[182]
In 2018,Shuntaro Furukawa replaced Kimishima as company president,[183] and in 2019,Doug Bowser succeeded Nintendo of America presidentReggie Fils-Aimé.[184] In April 2019, Nintendo formed an alliance withTencent to distribute the Nintendo Switch in China starting in December.[185]
Nintendo's Tokyo branch office, located in the 8th floor, since 2020
In early 2020, Plan See Do, a hotel and restaurant development company, announced that it would refurbish the former Nintendo headquarters from the 1930s as a hotel, with plans to add 20 guest rooms, a restaurant, a bar, and a gym. The building is owned by Yamauchi Co., Ltd., an asset management company of Nintendo's founding family.[188] The hotel later opened in April 2022, with 18 guest rooms, and named Marufukuro in a homage to Nintendo's previous name, Marufuku.[189][190][191] In April 2020, Reuters reported thatValueAct Capital had acquired over 2.6 million shares in Nintendo stock worthUS$1.1 billion over the course of a year, giving them an overall stake of 2% in Nintendo.[192] Although theCOVID-19 pandemic caused delays in the production and distribution of some of Nintendo's products, the situation "had limited impact on business results"; in May 2020, Nintendo reported a 75% increase in income compared to the previous fiscal year, mainly contributed by theNintendo Switch Online service.[193] The year saw some changes to the company's management: outside director Naoki Mizutani retired from the board, and was replaced by Asa Shinkawa; and Yoshiaki Koizumi was promoted to senior executive officer, maintaining his role as deputy general manager of Nintendo EPD.[193] By August, Nintendo was named the richest company in Japan.[194] In June 2021, the company announced plans to convert its former Uji Ogura plant, where it had manufactured playing andhanafuda cards, into a museum tentatively named "Nintendo Gallery", targeted to open by March 2024.[195][196] In the following year, historic remains of aYayoi period village were discovered in the construction site.[197]
Nintendo co-produced an animated filmThe Super Mario Bros. Movie alongsideUniversal Pictures andIllumination, with Miyamoto and Illumination CEOChris Meledandri acting as producers.[198][199] In 2021, Furukawa indicated Nintendo's plan to create more animated projects based on their work outside theMario film,[200] and by 29 June, Meledandri joined the board of directors as a non-executive outside director.[201][202] According to Furukawa, the company's expansion toward animated production is to keep "[the] business [of producing video games] thriving and growing", realizing the "need to create opportunities where even people who do not normally play on video game systems can come into contact with Nintendo characters". That day, Miyamoto said that "[Meledandri] really came to understand the Nintendo point of view" and that "asking for [his] input, as an expert with many years of experience in Hollywood, will be of great help to" Nintendo's transition into film production.[203] Later, in July 2022, Nintendo acquired Dynamo Pictures, a Japanese CG company founded by Hiroshi Hirokawa on 18 March 2011. Dynamo had worked with Nintendo on digital shorts in the 2010s, including for thePikmin series, and Nintendo said that Dynamo would continue their goal of expanding into animation. Following the completion of the acquisition in October 2022, Nintendo renamed Dynamo asNintendo Pictures.[204][205]
In February 2022, Nintendo announced the acquisition ofSRD Co., Ltd. (Systems Research and Development) after 40 years, a major contributor of Nintendo's first-party games such asDonkey Kong andThe Legend of Zelda until the 1990s, and then support studio since.[206] In May 2022, Reuters reported thatSaudi Arabia'sPublic Investment Fund had purchased a 5% stake in Nintendo,[207] and by January 2023, its stake in the company had increased to 6.07%.[208] It was raised to 7.08% by February 2023, and in the same week by 8.26%, making it the biggest external investor.[209][210] In November 2024, Saudi Arabia's PIF dropped back to 6.3%.[211]
Nintendo reached an agreement withEmbracer Group in May 2024 to acquire 100% of the shares in Shiver Entertainment, a company that has specialized in porting triple-A games likeHogwarts Legacy andMortal Kombat 1 to the Switch, making it a wholly owned subsidiary of Nintendo, subject to closing conditions.[214][215] In October 2024 Nintendo announcedNintendo Music, a mobile application enabling one to listen to soundtracks from Nintendo games.[216] By November 2024, Nintendo gained full ownership of Monolith Soft, a first-party developer behindXenoblade Chronicles and provided support forThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.[217]
On January 16, 2025, Nintendo announced that the successor to the Switch, theNintendo Switch 2, would be released later in 2025.[218]
Nintendo's central focus is the research, development, production, and distribution of entertainment products—primarily video game software and hardware and card games. Its main markets are Japan, America, and Europe, and more than 70% of its total sales come from the latter two territories.[219] As of March 2023, Nintendo has sold over 836 milliongame consoles,[220] for which more than 5.592 billion video games[221] have been sold globally.
Nintendo's first electronic games are arcade games.EVR Race (1975) was the company's firstelectromechanical game, andDonkey Kong (1981) was the firstplatform game in history. Since then, both Nintendo and other development companies have produced and distributed an extensive catalog of video games for Nintendo's consoles. Nintendo's games are sold in bothremovable media formats such asoptical disc andcartridge, and online formats which aredistributed via services such as theNintendo eShop and theNintendo Network.
Nintendo Business Development (NBD), which focuses on refining business strategy for dedicated game system business and is responsible for overseeing thesmart device arm of the business.
Entertainment Planning and Development (EPD)
TheNintendo Entertainment Planning & Development division is the primary software development, production, and supervising division at Nintendo, formed as a merger between their formerEntertainment Analysis & Development andSoftware Planning & Development divisions in 2015. Led by Shinya Takahashi, the division holds the largest concentration of staff at the company, housing more than 800 engineers, producers, directors, coordinators, planners, and designers.
TheNintendo Business Development division was formed following Nintendo's foray into software development forsmart devices such as mobile phones andtablets. It is responsible for refining Nintendo's business model for the dedicated video game system business and overseeing development for smart devices.
Headquartered in Kyoto, Japan since the beginning, Nintendo Co., Ltd. oversees the organization's global operations and manages Japanese operations specifically. The company's two major subsidiaries, Nintendo of America and Nintendo of Europe, manage operations in North America and Europe respectively. Nintendo Co., Ltd.[225] later moved from its original Kyoto location to a new office inHigashiyama-ku, Kyoto; this became theresearch and development building in 2000 when the head office relocated to its present[update] location inMinami-ku, Kyoto.[226]
Nintendo founded its North American subsidiary in 1980 as Nintendo of America (NoA).Hiroshi Yamauchi appointed his son-in-lawMinoru Arakawa as president, who in turn hired his own wife and Yamauchi's daughter Yoko Yamauchi as the first employee. The Arakawa family moved fromVancouver, British Columbia to select an office inManhattan, New York due to its central status in American commerce. As both were from extremely affluent families, their goals were set more by prestige than money. The seed capital and product inventory were supplied by the parent corporation in Japan, with a launch goal of entering the existing $8 billion-per-yearcoin-oparcade video game market and the largest entertainment industry in the US, which had already outclassed movies and television combined. During the couple's arcade research excursions, NoA hired young gamers to work in the poorly maintained warehouse inNew Jersey to receive and service game hardware from Japan.[227]
In late 1980, NoA contracted the Seattle-based arcade sales and distribution company Far East Video, consisting solely of experienced arcade salespeople Ron Judy and Al Stone. The two had already built a decent reputation and a distribution network, founded specifically for the independent import and sales of games from Nintendo because the Japanese company had for years been the under-represented maverick in America. Now as direct associates to the new NoA, they told Arakawa they could always clear all Nintendo inventory if Nintendo produced better games. Far East Video took NoA's contract for a fixed per-unit commission on the exclusive American distributorship of Nintendo games, to be settled by their Seattle-based lawyer,Howard Lincoln.[227]
Based on favorable test arcade sites in Seattle, Arakawa wagered most of NoA's modest finances on a huge order of 3,000Radar Scope cabinets. He panicked when the game failed in the fickle market upon its arrival from its four-month boat ride from Japan. Far East Video was already in financial trouble due to declining sales and Ron Judy borrowed his aunt's life savings of $50,000, while still hoping Nintendo would develop its firstPac-Man-sized hit. Arakawa regretted founding the Nintendo subsidiary, with the distressed Yoko trapped between her arguing husband and father.[228]
Amid financial threat, Nintendo of America relocated from Manhattan to the Seattle metro to remove major stressors: the frenetic New York and New Jersey lifestyle and commute, and the extra weeks or months on the shipping route from Japan as was suffered by theRadar Scope disaster. With the Seattle harbor being the US's closest to Japan at only nine days by boat, and having a lumber production market for arcade cabinets, Arakawa's real estate scouts found a 60,000-square-foot (5,600 m2) warehouse for rent containing three offices—one for Arakawa and one for Judy and Stone.[229] This warehouse in theTukwila suburb was owned byMario Segale, after whom theMario character would be named,[55][56] and was initially managed by former Far East Video employee Don James.[230] After one month, James recruited his college friendHoward Phillips as an assistant, who soon took over as warehouse manager.[231][232][233][234][235][236] The company remained at fewer than 10 employees for some time, handling sales, marketing, advertising, distribution, and limited manufacturing[237]: 160 of arcade cabinets andGame & Watch handheld units, all sourced and shipped from Nintendo.
Arakawa was still panicked over NoA's ongoing financial crisis. With the parent company having no new game ideas, he had been repeatedly pleading for Yamauchi to reassign some top talent away from existing Japanese products to develop something for America—especially to redeem the massive dead stock ofRadar Scope cabinets. Since all of Nintendo's key engineers and programmers were busy, and with NoA representing only a tiny fraction of the parent's overall business, Yamauchi allowed only the assignment ofGunpei Yokoi's young assistant who had no background in engineering,Shigeru Miyamoto.[238]
NoA's staff—except the sole young gamer Howard Phillips—were uniformly revolted at the sight of the freshman developer Miyamoto's debut game, which they had imported in the form of emergency conversion kits for the overstock ofRadar Scope cabinets.[230] The kits transformed the cabinets into NoA's massivewindfall gain of$280 million from Miyamoto's smash hitDonkey Kong in 1981–1983 alone.[239][240] They sold 4,000 new arcade units each month in America, making the 24-year-old Phillips "the largest volume shipping manager for the entire Port of Seattle".[235] Arakawa used these profits to buy 27 acres (11 ha) of land in Redmond in July 1982[241] and to perform the $50 million launch of theNintendo Entertainment System in 1985 which revitalized the entire video game industry from itsdevastating 1983 crash.[242][243] A second warehouse in Redmond was soon secured, and managed by Don James. The company stayed at around 20 employees for some years.
The organization was reshaped nationwide in the following decades, and those core sales and marketing business functions are now directed by the office inRedwood City, California. The company's distribution centers are Nintendo Atlanta inAtlanta, Georgia, andNintendo North Bend inNorth Bend, Washington. As of 2007[update], the 380,000-square-foot (35,000 m2) Nintendo North Bend facility processes more than 20,000 orders a day to Nintendo customers, which includeretail stores that sell Nintendo products in addition to consumers whoshop Nintendo's website.[245] Nintendo of America operates two retail stores in the United States:Nintendo New York onRockefeller Plaza in New York City, which is open to the public; and Nintendo Redmond, co-located at NoA headquarters in Redmond, Washington, which is open only to Nintendo employees and invited guests. Nintendo of America's Canadian branch, Nintendo of Canada, is based inVancouver, British Columbia with adistribution center inToronto.[246] Nintendo Treehouse is NoA's localization team, composed of around 80 staff who are responsible for translating text from Japanese to English, creating videos and marketing plans, and quality assurance.[247]
Nintendo of America announced in October 2021 that it will be closing its offices in Redwood City, California, and Toronto and merging its operations with its Redmond and Vancouver offices.[248] In April 2022, an anonymousquality assurance worker filed a complaint with theNational Labor Relations Board, alleging Nintendo of America and contractor Aston Carter had engaged in union-busting activities and surveillance. The employee had been fired for mentioning unionizing efforts in the industry during a company meeting.[249][250] The companies agreed to a settlement with the employee in October 2022.[251] In March 2024, Nintendo of America restructured its product testing teams, resulting in the elimination of over 100 contractor roles. Some of the affected contractors were given full-time roles.[252]
Nintendo of Europe (NOE)
Nintendo's European subsidiary was established in June 1990,[253] based inGroßostheim, Germany.[254] The company handles operations across Europe (excludingScandinavia, where operations are handled byBergsala on behalf of NOE),[255] as well as South Africa.[253] Nintendo of Europe's United Kingdom branch (Nintendo UK)[256] handles operations in that country and in Ireland from its headquarters inWindsor, Berkshire. In June 2014, NOE initiated a reduction and consolidation process, yielding a combined 130 layoffs: the closing of its office and warehouse, termination of all employment, in Großostheim; and the consolidation of all of those operations into, and terminating some employment at, itsFrankfurt location.[257][258] As of July 2018, the company employs 850 people.[259] In 2019, NOE signed with Tor Gaming Ltd. for official distribution in Israel.[260]
Nintendo's Australian subsidiary is based inMelbourne. It handles the publishing, distribution, sales, and marketing of Nintendo products in Australia and New Zealand. It also manufactured some Wii games locally.
Nintendo of Korea
Nintendo's South Korean subsidiary was established on 7 July 2006 and is based in Seoul.[261] In March 2016, the subsidiary was heavily downsized due to a corporate restructuring after analyzing shifts in the current market, laying off 80% of its employees, leaving only ten people, including CEO Hiroyuki Fukuda. This did not affect any games scheduled for release in South Korea, and Nintendo continued operations there as usual.[262][263]
Subsidiaries
Although most of theresearch and development (R&D) is being done in Japan, there are some R&D facilities in the United States, Europe, and China that are focused on developing software and hardware technologies used in Nintendo products. Although they all are subsidiaries of Nintendo (and therefore first-party), they are often referred to as external resources when being involved in joint development processes with Nintendo's internal developers by the Japanese personnel involved. This can be seen in theIwata Asks interview series.[264]Nintendo Software Technology (NST) and Nintendo Technology Development (NTD) are located inRedmond, Washington, United States, whileNintendo European Research & Development (NERD) is located in Paris, France, and Nintendo Network Service Database (NSD) is located inKyoto, Japan.
Most externalfirst-party software development is done in Japan, because the only overseas subsidiaries areRetro Studios and Shiver Entertainment in the United States (acquired in 2002[265] and 2024,[266] respectively) andNext Level Games in Canada (acquired in 2021).[267] Although these studios are all subsidiaries of Nintendo, they are often referred to as external resources when being involved in joint development processes with Nintendo's internal developers by theNintendo Entertainment Planning & Development (EPD) division.1-Up Studio andNintendo Cube are located in Tokyo, Japan, andMonolith Soft has one studio located in Tokyo and another inKyoto.
Nintendo establishedThe Pokémon Company alongsideCreatures andGame Freak to manage thePokémon brand. Similarly, Warpstar, Inc. was formed through a joint investment withHAL Laboratory, which was in charge of theKirby: Right Back at Ya! animated series as well as the web seriesIt's Kirby Time. Both companies are investments from Nintendo, with Nintendo holding 32% of the shares of The Pokémon Company and 50% of the shares of Warpstar, Inc.
Bergsala, a third-party company based in Sweden, exclusively handles Nintendo operations in the Nordic region. Bergsala's relationship with Nintendo was established in 1981 when the company sought to distributeGame & Watch units to Sweden, which later expanded to the NES console by 1986. Bergsala was the only non-Nintendo owned distributor of Nintendo's products until 2019,[268] when Tor Gaming gained distribution rights in Israel.
Tencent
Nintendo has partnered withTencent to release Nintendo products in China, following the lifting of the country's console ban in 2015. In addition to distributing hardware, Tencent helps with the governmental approval process for video game software.[269]
Tor Gaming
In January 2019,Ynet andIGN Israel reported that negotiations about the official distribution of Nintendo products in the country were ongoing.[260] After two months, IGN Israel announced that Tor Gaming Ltd., a company established in earlier 2019, gained a distribution agreement with Nintendo of Europe, handling official retailing beginning at the start of March,[270] followed by opening an official online store the next month.[271] In June 2019, Tor Gaming launched an official Nintendo Store atDizengoff Center inTel Aviv, making it the second official Nintendo Store worldwide, 13 years after the first, opened in New York City.[272]
Its 1994 "Play It Loud!" campaign played upon teenage rebellion and fostered an edgy reputation.[275] During theNintendo 64 era, the slogan was "Get N or get out".[274] During the GameCube era, the "Who Are You?" suggested a link between the games and the players' identities.[276] The company promoted its Nintendo DS handheld with the tagline "Touching is Good".[277] For the Wii, they used the "Wii would like to play" slogan to promote the console with the people who tried the games includingSuper Mario Galaxy andSuper Paper Mario.[278] The Nintendo 3DS used the slogan "Take a look inside".[279] TheWii U used the slogan "How U will play next".[280] TheNintendo Switch uses the slogan "Switch and Play" in North America, and "Play anywhere, anytime, with anyone" elsewhere.[281]
Trademark
During the peak of Nintendo's success in the video game industry in the 1990s, its name was ubiquitously used to refer to any video game console, regardless of the manufacturer. To prevent its trademark from becominggeneric, Nintendo pushed the term "game console", and succeeded in preserving its trademark.[282][283]
Logos
In use since the 1960s, Nintendo's most recognizable logo is theovoid racetrack shape, especially the red-colored wordmark typically displayed on a white background, primarily used in the Western markets from 1985 to 2006. In Japan, a monochromatic version that lacks a colored background is on Nintendo's own Famicom, Super Famicom, Nintendo 64, GameCube, and handheld console packaging and marketing. Since 2006, in conjunction with the launch of the Wii, Nintendo changed its logo to a gray variant that lacks a colored background inside the wordmark, making it transparent. Nintendo's official, corporate logo remains this variation.[284][failed verification] For consumer products and marketing, a white variant on a red background has been used since 2016, and has been in full effect since the launch of the Nintendo Switch in 2017.
1889–1950
1950–1960
1960–1965
1965–1967
1967–1968
1968–1970
1970–1972
1972–1975
1975–present
1975 logo with grey coloring, 2004–2016
1975 logo with red background, 2016–present
Policy
Content guidelines
For many years, Nintendo had a policy of strict content guidelines for video games published on its consoles. Although Nintendo allowedgraphic violence in its video games released in Japan,nudity and sexuality were strictly prohibited. Former Nintendo presidentHiroshi Yamauchi believed that if the company allowed the licensing of pornographic games, the company's image would be forever tarnished.[285] Nintendo of America went further and games released for Nintendo consoles could not feature nudity, sexuality,profanity (including racism,sexism orslurs), blood, graphic ordomestic violence, drugs, political messages, orreligious symbols—with the exception of widely unpracticed religions, such as theGreek Pantheon.[286] The Japanese parent company was concerned that it may be viewed as a "Japanese invasion" by forcing Japanesecommunity standards on North American and European children. Past the strict guidelines, some exceptions have occurred:Bionic Commando (thoughswastikas were eliminated in the US version),Smash TV andGolgo 13: Top Secret Episode contain human violence, the latter also containing impliedsexuality andtobacco use,River City Ransom andTaboo: The Sixth Sense contain nudity, and the latter also contains religious images, as doCastlevania II andIII.
Nintendo's content policy is responsible for theGenesis version ofMortal Kombat having more than double the unit sales of the Super NES version, largely due to Nintendo forcing its publisherAcclaim to recolor red blood to look like white sweat within the game and to tone down its gorier and more violent graphics.[287] By contrast,Sega allowed blood and gore to remain in the Genesis version (though a code is required to unlock the gore). Nintendo allowed the Super NES version ofMortal Kombat II to ship uncensored the following year with a content warning on the packaging.[288]
Certain games have continued to be modified, however. For example,Konami was forced to remove all references to cigarettes in the 2000 Game Boy Color gameMetal Gear Solid (although the previous NES version ofMetal Gear, the GameCube gameMetal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, and the 3DS gameMetal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater 3D, included such references), and maiming and blood were removed from the Nintendo 64port ofCruis'n USA.[290] Another example is in the Game Boy Advance gameMega Man Zero 3, in which one of the bosses, called Hellbat Schilt in the Japanese and European releases, was renamed Devilbat Schilt in the North Americanlocalization. In North American releases of theMega Man Zero games, enemies and bosses killed with a saber attack do not gush blood as they do in the Japanese versions. However, the release of the Wii was accompanied by several even more controversial games, such asManhunt 2,No More Heroes,The House of the Dead: Overkill, andMadWorld, the latter three of which were initially published exclusively for the console.
License guidelines
Nintendo of America also had guidelines before 1993 that had to be followed by its licensees to make games for theNintendo Entertainment System, in addition to the above content guidelines.[285] Guidelines were enforced through the10NES lockout chip.
Licensees were not permitted to release the same game for a competing console until two years had passed.
Nintendo would decide how many cartridges would be supplied to the licensee.
Nintendo would decide how much space would be dedicated such as for articles and advertising in theNintendo Power magazine.
There was a minimum number of cartridges that had to be ordered by the licensee from Nintendo.
There was a yearly limit of five games that a licensee may produce for a Nintendo console.[291] This rule was created to prevent market over-saturation, which had contributed to thevideo game crash of 1983.
The last rule was circumvented in several ways; for example, Konami, wanting to produce more games for Nintendo's consoles, formedUltra Games and laterPalcom to produce more games as a technically different publisher.[285] This disadvantaged smaller or emerging companies, as they could not afford to start more companies. In another side effect,Square Co. (nowSquare Enix) executives have suggested that the price of publishing games on theNintendo 64[292] along with the degree of censorship and control which Nintendo enforced over its games,[citation needed] most notablyFinal Fantasy VI, were factors in switching its focus towardsSony'sPlayStation console.
In 1993, aclass action suit was taken against Nintendo under allegations that their lockout chip enabledunfair business practices. The case was settled, with the condition that California consumers were entitled to a $3 discount coupon for a game of Nintendo's choice.[293]
Nintendo has generally been proactive in ensuring that its intellectual property in both hardware and software is protected. Nintendo's protection of its properties began as early as the arcade release ofDonkey Kong which was widelycloned on other platforms, a practice common to the most popular arcade games of the era. Nintendo did seek legal action to try to stop the release of these unauthorized clones but estimated they still lost$100 million in potential sales to these clones.[294] Since then, Nintendo has been proactive in preventing copyright infringement of its games byvideo game emulators andfan games and other works using the company's intellectual property. The company has also suffered from variousdata breaches and has sought action against those that have released these leaks.
The gold sunburst seal was first used byNintendo of America, and later by Nintendo of Europe. It is displayed on any game, system, or accessory licensed for use on one of itsvideo game consoles, denoting the game has been properly approved by Nintendo. The seal is also displayed on any Nintendo-licensed merchandise, such as trading cards, game guides, or apparel, albeit with the words "Official Nintendo Licensed Product".[295]
In 2008, game designerSid Meier cited the Seal of Quality as one of the three most important innovations in video game history, as it helped set a standard for game quality that protected consumers fromshovelware.[296]
NTSC regions
InNTSC regions, this seal is an elliptical starburst named the "Official Nintendo Seal". Originally, for NTSC countries, the seal was a large, black and gold circular starburst. The seal read as follows: "This seal is your assurance that NINTENDO has approved and guaranteed the quality of this product." This seal was later altered in 1988: "approved and guaranteed" was changed to "evaluated and approved". In 1989, the seal became gold and white, as it currently appears, with a shortened phrase, "Official Nintendo Seal of Quality". It was changed in 2003 to read "Official Nintendo Seal".[295]
The official seal is your assurance that this product is licensed or manufactured by Nintendo. Always look for this seal when buying video game systems, accessories, games, and related products.
PAL regions
InPAL regions, the seal is a circular starburst named the "Original Nintendo Seal of Quality". Text near the seal in the AustralianWii manual states:
This seal is your assurance that Nintendo has reviewed this product and that it has met our standards for excellence in workmanship, reliability, and entertainment value. Always look for this seal when buying games and accessories to ensure complete compatibility with your Nintendo product.[298]
Charitable projects
In 1992, Nintendo teamed with theStarlight Children's Foundation to build Starlight Fun Center mobile entertainment units and install them in hospitals.[299] By the end of 1995, 1,000 Starlight Nintendo Fun Center units were installed.[299] The units combine several forms of multimedia entertainment including gaming, and are a distraction as well as brightening moods and boosting children's morale during hospital stays.[300]
Environmental record
Nintendo has consistently been ranked last inGreenpeace's "Guide to Greener Electronics" due to Nintendo's failure to publish information.[301] Similarly, they are ranked last in theEnough Project's "Conflict Minerals Company Rankings" due to Nintendo's refusal to respond to multiple requests for information.[302]
Like many other electronics companies, Nintendo offers a recycling program for customers to mail in unused products. Nintendo of America claimed 548 tons of returned products in 2011, 98% of which became reused or recycled.[303]
Legacy
The Nintendo Difference: Nintendo's Impact On Gaming
"Nearly every generation, Nintendo has led a charge of innovation that has fundamentally reshaped the gaming world. These innovations haven't always been well received, but Nintendo's fingerprints are so firmly etched into our industry, that the company is arguably the most important figure in it."
It is considered that Hiroshi Yamauchi's strategic decisions, mainly to take Nintendo into the world of electronic games, ensured not only the success of his company but the survival of the industry as a whole, as it "restored public confidence in electronic games after the gloomy collapse of the U.S. market in the early 1980s". The company was already the most successful in Japan by 1991, with its products having "redefined the way we play games" and its business model having prioritized title sales strategies over consoles, unlike what most distributors at the time were doing.[305]
Its social responsibility policy and philosophy focused on quality and innovation have already led to Nintendo being classified as a "consumer-centric manufacturer", something that has allowed it to differentiate itself from its direct competitors, Sony and Microsoft.[305] Forbes magazine has since 2013 included Nintendo in its list of the "World's Best Employers", which takes into consideration work environment and staff diversity.[306][307] Time magazine in turn chose Nintendo in 2018 as one of the "50 Genius Companies" of the year, saying that "resurrection" has become a "habit" of the company and highlighting the success of the Nintendo Switch over the Wii U.[308] Its capital in 2018 exceeded ten billion yen and net sales were over nine billion dollars, mostly in the North American market,[309] making it one of Japan's richest and most valuable companies.[310][194]
Nintendo characters have had a significant impact on contemporary popular culture. Mario has gone from being just a corporate mascot to a "cultural icon",[311] as well as one of the most famous characters in the industry. According to John Taylor of Arcadia Investment Corp. the character "is by far the biggest single property in electronic gaming."[312] Other prominent company characters includePrincess Peach,Pikachu,Link,[313]Donkey Kong,Kirby, andSamus Aran.[314]
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^abKohler, Chris (17 February 2012)."Game Life Podcast: When Jay Mohr Met Tomonobu Itagaki".Wired. Archived fromthe original on 17 April 2014. Retrieved28 September 2024.And so we thought, 'This guy [Segale] is a recluse. No one's ever actually met him.' So we thought, 'Wouldn't it be a great joke if we named this character Mario?' And so we said, 'That's great,' and we sent a telex to Japan, and that's how Mario got his name. Interview with Don James starts at 51:16. Quotation occurs at 52:00.
^ab"Nintendo Treehouse Live - E3 2018 - Arcade Archives Donkey Kong, Sky Skipper".YouTube. Nintendo Everything. 14 June 2018.Archived from the original on 3 October 2023. Retrieved28 September 2024.Mr. Arakawa, who was the president, and myself looked at the character, and we had a landlord that happened to be named Mario as well, and we'd never met the guy, so we thought it'd be funny to name this main character Mario after our landlord in Southcenter. And that's actually how Mario got his name. Quotation occurs at 2:25.
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^Ziesak, Jörg (2009).Wii Innovate – How Nintendo Created a New Market Through Strategic Innovation. GRIN Verlag. p. 2029.ISBN978-3-640-49774-4.Archived from the original on 18 April 2016. Retrieved9 April 2011.Donkey Kong was Nintendo's first international smash hit and the main reason behind the company's breakthrough in the Northern American market. In the first year of its publication, it earned Nintendo 180 million US dollars, continuing with a return of 100 million dollars in the second year.
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