Nintendo is a multinational
company that is best known for its video gaming systems. The Nintendo DS
is the highest selling handheld video console, and the Nintendo Wii has
beaten rivals Sony (Playstation 3) and Microsoft (Xbox 360) to be the
top selling console for 2007 and early 2008. But who founded Nintendo?
This article will answer just that question and also give a little
history of the Nintendo Company. I will also list seven interesting
facts about Nintendo.
Who Founded Nintendo
Believe it or not, Nintendo was originally founded as a playing cards company. On September the 23rd, 1889, Fusajiro Yamauchi founded Nintendo in Kyoto, Japan. It was founded to produce playing cards called hanafuda cards. Unbelievably, these cards continued to sell well from their creation (in 1889) to just after the Tokyo Olympics in 1964. During the 1960’s Nintendo started some new ventures, including setting up a taxi company, starting a TV network, selling toys and starting a ‘love hotel’. All of these things, except selling toys, failed and Nintendo was staring down the barrel of bankruptcy.
Believe it or not, Nintendo was originally founded as a playing cards company. On September the 23rd, 1889, Fusajiro Yamauchi founded Nintendo in Kyoto, Japan. It was founded to produce playing cards called hanafuda cards. Unbelievably, these cards continued to sell well from their creation (in 1889) to just after the Tokyo Olympics in 1964. During the 1960’s Nintendo started some new ventures, including setting up a taxi company, starting a TV network, selling toys and starting a ‘love hotel’. All of these things, except selling toys, failed and Nintendo was staring down the barrel of bankruptcy.
A few top selling toys kept them
afloat until 1975 when Nintendo decided to go into the video gaming
business. They sold many arcade games that are still well known today,
including Donkey Kong and Radar Scope. The first time they really
cracked the market was in 1983 when they released the hugely popular
Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). After the success of the NES,
Nintendo released the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), the
Nintendo 64, the GameCube and then the Wii. The Nintendo Wii is the
first console since the NES to dominate the video console market. So now
you know who founded Nintendo and know some history of the Nintendo
Company. Now let’s look at seven great facts about Nintendo
Seven Nintendo Facts
Fact 1: Nintendo is a Japanese word which is loosely translated as ‘leave luck to heaven’.
Fact 1: Nintendo is a Japanese word which is loosely translated as ‘leave luck to heaven’.
Fact 2: Nintendo is the majority owner of the Major League Baseball team the Seattle Mariners.
Fact 3: Nintendo are also partial owners of the NBA team the Atlanta Hawks.
Fact 4: At the end of last year, Nintendo had just under 3600 employees.
Fact 5: Mario is probably the
best known Nintendo video game character. He has appeared in over 200
video games! Mario games are the best selling video game franchise of
all time.
Fact 6: The might highly rated video game on the Nintendo Wii so far is Super Mario Galaxy, followed by Super Smash Bros Brawl.
Fact 7: Nintendo has a market value of US$85 billion.
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