Nintendo has become synonymous to video games after making a mark in the industry as one of the leading video game consoles in the world. Game titles like Donkey Kong, Super Mario, and Legend of Zelda are among the first to be played on Nintendo and has received much acclaim due to the console’s better graphics handling and the games themselves are more challenging compared to its former competitors like Atari.
Interesting facts: Nintendo
The world-famous game console had its roots from a very unlikely source – playing cards. Nintendo started out as a playing card manufacturer for the Japanese card game Hanafuda which was very popular during the late Meiji era. The name Nintendo in Japanese means “leave luck to Heaven,” alluding to the nature of the game (gambling). Nintendo saw the playing card industry as a promising business in the market only to be dwarfed by existing giants like the United States Playing Card Company.
Nintendo ventured into other businesses which proved unsuccessful until, eventually, they were able to come up with another idea – toy making. After some success in toy manufacturing, Nintendo decided to enter the video game scene where they would reign among the biggest and most powerful in the industry. Its world-wide popularity is known today by their names as Nintendo Wii or just Wii, GameCube, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 64, GameBoy, Gameboy Advanced, and the precursor of all Nintendo game consoles, the Famicom (Family Computer).
The Famicom was developed by Nintendo as the best of its kind during the early years of video gaming compared to other game consoles that were riddled with visual and programming defects. The turning point was during the release of the Super Mario Bros game series after which Nintendo reached astronomical success and was named “the best-selling video game of all time.”
Due to the success of the video gaming industry, other consoles emerged and sliced a large amount in the market. Sega, and PlayStation were among the toughest competitors that rivals the quality and popularity of Nintendo. This led the company to create game consoles with added features and functionality that will surpass the quality of other existing consoles. Nintendo’s 32-bit SuperNES was pitted against Sega’s Megadrive, having almost identical features such as improved graphics, sound, and pseudo-3D rendering capability.
In the era of virtual reality, PlayStation would reign supreme until Nintendo comes back with a game console comparable, if not better, to that of Sony’s. This came to be known as the GameCube that utilizes the same features as CD-ROM drive, memory cards, and sophisticated controls. It was later superseded by a much superior console, the Nintendo Wii or Wii, remote control game pad, connectivity (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, LAN, USB 2.0), and will soon be able to use the full functionality of the DVD-ROM drive.
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