Nintendo

Posted on April 10, 2013 By Peter Brown Brands, Game consoles

About

One of the most influential companies that all kids “from” the 90’s will remember is Nintendo. There are very few kids from around the world who haven’t played Super Mario or Donkey Kong on their consoles. Nintendo originally started to operate as a manufacturer for playing cards or so called hanafuda cards. This successful story lasted until 1956 when Nintendo Koppai was renamed into Nintendo Co. as the company started to experiment in other fields. Furthermore, Nintendo used fresh capital to set up a taxi company, hotel chain, TV network and food restaurants in the period between 1963 until 1968. It was in this period, to be precise in 1966, that the company entered the toy world by producing popular toys like Ultra Machine and Love tester and some other laser gun games.
It wasn’t until 1974 that Nintendo Co. started to take the gaming world seriously with the initial launch of the Magnavox Odyssey video game console in Japan. After the introduction of several games like EVR Race, Nintendo presented their classic Donkey Kong in 1981. The game changed Nintendo’s profits dramatically. What may have been the biggest influence in the history of this company is the creation of the world famous game Super Mario in 1985. Consequently, with new profits on hand, the company started to develop new gaming consoles like Game Boy, Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo 64, Nintendo Game Cube and the most recent Nintendo Wii that uses motion sensing controllers.

Products

Nintendo Wii – The Nintendo Wii is maybe the best product that have brought success to the company over the past two decades. It was launched in November 2006 to compete with console giants on the market such as Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. It started as a slow fight but until 2009 the famous Wii broke records sales for a single month in December that same year. It is much improved compared to previous devices such as Nintendo GameCube, offering motion detection technology that offers playing with wireless controllers in your room. Moreover, it is fully accessible in terms of compatibility with games from previous consoles. Additional versions of the Wii were introduced on the market in the shape of Wii Family edition, the Wii U and the Wii mini. All of these have the same functions as the original Nintendo Wii with small limitations such as GameCube compatibility and online gaming access.

Nintendo DS/3DS – This devices went on sale in November 2004 and was the first hand-held gaming device with two screens. One of the screens was a touchscreen with a built-in microphone and wireless access offering connection with other Nintendo DS users. This product was a success, which was confirmed by the development of improved versions of the DS like Nintendo DS Lite and Nintendo Dsi which also enjoyed big turnover in profits.

In February 2010 the newest model was presented , the Nintendo 3DS, and it was an instant hit offering customers the ultimate 3D technology experience without 3D glasses. The console succeeded its predecessors offering stunning new games and also compatibility with previous games.

Nintendo Games – It will take us many pages to describe the success behind every game that Nintendo has released over the years. We can only mention some of the most popular only to give a glimpse of what Nintendo stands for in the gaming world. Games like Mario Bros., Zelda, Pokemon and Donkey Kong are what Mona Liza is in the Art world, and what “The Godfather” is in Hollywood. Nintendo games were among the first to give a new perspective to the word fun.

Video Adds

Watch the video below to see the newest commercial by Nintendo presenting the features of the Nintendo 3DS.

Retailers & On-line Stores

Nintendo Australia
Scoresby VIC 3179, Australia
+61 3 9730 9822
nintendo.com.au

EB Games Swanston St
67 Swanston St, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia
+61 3 9654 3395
ebgames.com.au

Real Entertainment & Collectables
221 Kororoit Creek Rd, Williamstown VIC 3016, Australia
+61 3 9391 6822
realentertainment.com.au

Interesting facts

* In translation, Nintendo means “Leave luck to heaven”
* Shigeru Miyamoto was only 24 years old when he was named as the first staff artist in Nintendo. Eventually he would go and create Donkey Kong, Zelda, Mario and the Wii.
* All together Mario, Pokemon, and Zelda were sold in 534 millions copies around the world