The History of Nintendo
- Nintendo Consoles Timeline & Products
- Nintendo Products & Innovations Throughout the 1990s
- Nintendo’s Transition to 3D & The Nintendo 64
- Nintendo GameCube — Pivoting into the New Millennium
- The Nintendo Wii and Wii U Consoles
Well before it became a household name in the world of video games, Nintendo was a small playing card company in Japan. Founded in 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, Nintendo’s humble beginnings initially produced a card game called Hanafuda, which used playing cards decorated with ornamental flowers. In the 1950s, Nintendo began branching out into numerous, diverse ventures, including offering a taxi service, but it was not until the 1970s that the company found its true calling in the emerging world of video games.
In the 1970s, Nintendo was still primarily a playing card company. However, in 1971, the company released its first electronic, motorized game, the Space Ball. The Space Ball could be played by pressing buttons on the front of the device to spin a disc either on a hard surface or to eject it into the air and attempt to catch back on the launcher device. This device was followed up by the release of Wild Gunman, a light gun game based on the Laser Clay Shooting System that used a CRT television as a display.
Expanding into the new home console market, Nintendo partnered with Magnavox to distribute the Magnavox Odyssey in Japan in 1972. While the console was not a commercial hit in Japan, it did find some success in the United States. In 1975, Nintendo released the Color TV-Game, a series of five home consoles that used cartridges and could be played on a television. However, it was not until the release of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1985 that the company truly began to make a name for itself in the gaming industry.
Nintendo Consoles Timeline & Products
The 1980s were a pivotal decade for Nintendo, as it was during this time that the company cemented its place as a major player in the video game industry. In 1980, Nintendo released its first arcade game, Computer Othello, which was a strategic board game that used a microprocessor. Just one year later, Donkey Kong launched and introduced the world to two of Nintendo’s most iconic characters: Mario (then known as Jumpman) and Donkey Kong. Donkey Kong was a massive hit and it helped establish Nintendo as a major player in the arcade game market. Donkey Kong was not only a hit at launch but has also remained relevant within popular culture and the competitive gaming landscape with the game being prominently featured in the indie cult classic film, ‘King of Kong: Fistful of Quarters’, which was released in 2007, and the ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ in 2023.
The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), also known as the Famicom in Japan, was developed and released by Nintendo in the 1980s. The Famicom was released in Japan in 1983, and it was an immediate success, selling over 500,000 units in its first month. The Famicom used cartridges and featured several innovative design elements, including a microphone and a D-pad controller.
In 1985, following a radical design revision to meet North American consumer expectations of other popular home entertainment players, like the VCR, the Famicom was released in North America as the NES. The NES was packaged with Super Mario Bros. and released in New York City as a test market. To say that the NES was a hit is an understatement and it quickly became one of the best-selling consoles of all time. In addition to Super Mario Bros., the NES also featured several other popular games shortly after launch, such as The Legend of Zelda (released Feb 21, 1986) and Metroid (released Aug 6, 1986).
In addition to the Famicom/NES, Nintendo also released many numerous products in the 1980s, including the Game & Watch series of handheld electronic games, R.O.B. (Robotic Operating Buddy) accessory for the NES, and the Game Boy, a handheld console that also uses cartridges and released in 1989. The Game Boy sold over 118 million units worldwide and helped establish Nintendo as the dominant force in the handheld console market. The Game Boy marked Nintendo’s most recent entry into the handheld market following the Game & Watch product line that was released earlier in Japan. However, the success of Nintendo’s handhelds and its movement into the modern gaming era is a story deserving of a full write-up all its own.
Nintendo’s Rise and Impact on Popular Culture
Inevitably when discussing the NES, it’s difficult not to emphasize the impact that Super Mario Bros. 3 had on the longevity of the NES and Nintendo’s mascot. The launch of Super Mario Bros. 3 was highly anticipated and it was met with widespread critical acclaim. Many praised the game’s graphics, level design, and gameplay mechanics as not only as fun as their first entry but also providing significant additions, notably the ability to fly Mario into the clouds.
Super Mario Bros 3 also significantly impacted popular culture, with the game and its characters appearing in various forms of media. One notable example is the 1989 movie “The Wizard,” which prominently featured the game. The film, which follows a group of children on a quest to compete in a video game competition at Universal Studios in Californnnia, helped to further popularize Super Mario Bros. 3 and the NES. The film had a well-received premiere and a strong performance at the box office.
Overall, Super Mario Bros. 3 is considered to be one of the greatest video games of all time, and its impact on popular culture helped to solidify Mario as a pop culture icon. Its launch was a major event in the history of video games and helped to pave the way for the continued success of the Mario franchise.
Nintendo Products & Innovations Throughout the 1990s
Nintendo was the dominant force in the video game industry in the early 1990s, with several successful console launches throughout the decade and a steady stream of popular game titles. One of the most significant launches of this decade for Nintendo was the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) in 1991. The console was a follow-up to the highly successful Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), and it built upon the NES’s hardware capabilities with a more powerful CPU, more RAM, and advanced graphics capabilities.
The SNES was a commercial success, selling over 49 million units worldwide. With entries from Nintendo franchise pillars, including The The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Super Metroid, and Super Mario World, the SNES is often cited as the ‘Golden Age’ for JRPGs by those who experienced these games at launch and gamers in the modern era as the console saw the release of several timeless classics, like Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, and Final Fantasy III. These games, along with many others, helped establish the SNES as one of the premier home consoles of the 1990s.
In the mid-1990s, Nintendo faced increased competition from Sega, which had released its 16-bit console, the Sega Genesis, in 1989. The Genesis had a strong lineup of sports and arcade-style games, which helped it gain a foothold in the American market. In response, Nintendo focused on promoting its family-friendly image and exclusive franchises like Mario and Zelda to appeal to a broader audience.
The rivalry between Nintendo and Sega during this era was known as the “console wars.” Both companies engaged in aggressive marketing campaigns to promote their consoles, and the competition between the two was fierce. In the end, Nintendo’s focus on a broader audience and its exclusive franchises helped it maintain a lead in the market, and the SNES outsold the Genesis by a significant margin.
Overall, Nintendo’s console launches in the early-to-mid 1990s were extremely successful. The console wars between Sega and Nintendo in the mid-1990s kept the industry exciting but Nintendo’s overall marketing and its strong library of games helped it to come out on top.
Nintendo’s Transition to 3D & The Nintendo 64
The Nintendo 64, also known as the N64, was launched on September 29, 1996, in Japan and was later released in North America on September 26, 1996, and in Europe on March 1, 1997. The console represented a paradigm shift for video games and was initially met with high demand and strong sales, with over 330,000 units sold in its first week of release in Japan, over one million units sold in its first month of release in North America, and ultimately over 32 million units worldwide.
One of the N64’s key selling points was its use of 3D graphics, which not only enabled developers to expand their creative offerings but also provided gamers with an entirely new depth of gameplay landscape to explore. Many of the console’s most popular games, such as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Super Smash Bros., and 007 GoldenEye, made use of this technology to deliver an engaging gaming experience and became a best-selling console of its generation.
Nintendo GameCube — Pivoting into the New Millennium
In the early 2000s, Nintendo’s strategy in the video game market centered around differentiating itself from its competitors, Sony and Microsoft, by once again, appealing to a broader demographic of players. While Sony and Microsoft were primarily targeting older, hardcore gamers with their PlayStation and Xbox consoles, respectively, Nintendo focused on creating a console that would appeal to a wider range of ages and skill levels with the launch of the Nintendo GameCube.
The Nintendo GameCube was first released in North America on November 18, 2001. At launch, the console was priced at $199, which was $100 cheaper than its closest competitor, the Xbox. In addition to its more affordable price point, the GameCube also featured a compact and portable design, as well as a focus on fun and accessibility.
Despite its more affordable price point, the GameCube struggled to match the sales of its competitors, the PlayStation 2 (PS2) and Xbox. With lower graphic fidelity than the competition, the GameCube also lacked other key value propositions, including a DVD player that the PS2 boasted, which at the time, was a huge value add as standalone DVD players were still fairly new and expensive. In total, the GameCube sold around 21.7 million units worldwide during its lifetime, which was significantly less than the 155 million units sold by the PlayStation 2 and 24 million units sold by the Xbox.
Often cited as one of the reasons for the GameCube’s struggle to match the sales of its competitors was its relatively weak lineup of exclusive games, especially compared to the PS2 and Xbox, however, one game that stood out and still today is regarded as one of the best competitive fighting games of all times is Super Smash Bros. Melee.
Super Smash Bros. Melee was released exclusively for the GameCube on December 3, 2001, and is the second installment in the Super Smash Bros. series. The game features a wide variety of characters from various Nintendo franchises, such as Mario, Zelda, and Kirby, as well as several new characters and stages compared to its predecessor. Super Smash Bros. Melee received critical acclaim upon its release, with reviewers praising its tight and responsive controls, deep and engaging gameplay, and its large and diverse roster of characters. The game sold over 7 million copies worldwide making it one of the best-selling games on the GameCube.
Additionally, Super Smash Bros. Melee was also a hit among competitive players, who organized tournaments and events to compete against each other. The game has a dedicated following and is considered one of the most popular games in the competitive scene even in recent years, having regular tournaments and events across the world with $100,000+ prize purses for the champions.
The Nintendo Wii and Wii U Consoles
In the wake of the Nintendo GameCube’s struggle to match the sales of its competitors in the early 2000s, Nintendo shifted its strategy once again with the launch of the Wii console. Instead of targeting the traditional, hardcore gaming demographic, Nintendo diverged significantly from the traditional gaming landscape with an emphasis on accessibility, fun, and most controversially, motion controls.
The Nintendo Wii was first released on November 19, 2006, and was priced at $249, significantly cheaper than its competitors, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The console featured a unique motion-sensing controller, the Wii Remote, which allowed players to control the on-screen action by physically moving the controller. This unique control scheme, combined with strong entries for console-exclusive games, including the Mario, Zelda, and Wii Sports series, helped to make the Wii one of the most successful consoles of all time.
The Wii was a massive hit and its financial success catapulted Nintendo’s market share and financials as it sold over 101 million units worldwide, making it the best-selling console of its generation and one of the best-selling video game consoles of all time. The Wii’s success was in part driven by the console’s appeal to non-traditional gamers, such as women and older adults, who were drawn to the console’s pack-in game, Wii Sports.
However, despite the Wii’s massive success, Nintendo’s dominance in the video game landscape began to wane with the release of the Wii U in 2012. The Wii U was the successor to the Wii and it featured a unique Gamepad controller that included a touchscreen and motion sensing capabilities, which allowed players to play games on both the TV and the Gamepad's screen simultaneously.
Although the Wii U had a strong lineup of console-exclusive games, such as Super Mario 3D World, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD, and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, it failed to garner the same level of success as the Wii. The console struggled to attract a significant audience, due to many factors, such as its high price point, a lack of third-party support, and consumers’ perception that the console was not a substantial enough upgrade over the original Wii. Ultimately, the Wii U sold only 13.56 million units worldwide, making it the worst-selling console of its generation. With the disappointing performance of the Wii U, Nintendo needed to course correct, and course correct they did. Enter, the Nintendo Switch and the modern era of Nintendo, which is a story to be continued.
