Difference between revisions of "Nintendo"

Revision as of 15:02, August 9, 2008

Nintendo logo.

Nintendo is commonly known as one of the major video game hardware and software manufacturers in the world.

Origins

Nintendo got its start in Japan in 1889, as a company manufacturing cards for Hanafuda, a Japanese card game. In the 1960s, it diversified into a number of ultimately unsuccessful product lines, including a toy company. In the 1970s, it moved into electronic gaming, where it was ultimately successful.

In 1981, it created the popular arcade game "Donkey Kong", which brought it international attention, and introduced Nintendo to the American market. Nintendo's products in the United States are released through Nintendo of America, their American subsidiary.

The word 'Nintendo' (任天堂株式会社) is said by the companies own sources to literally translate to 'leave luck to heaven'^[1]. The term has its origins in gambling done with Hanafuda cards.

Nintendo Video game systems

An original NES game cartridge.

• NES - Nintendo Entertainment System
• GAMEBOY - A classic handheld games console
• SNES - Super Nintendo, a 16-bit console
• Virtual Boy - A mobile system which utilised 2 screens to provide a 3D view.
• N64 - Nintendo 64, Nintendo's first 64bit console
• GBC - GAMEBOY Color, evolution of the original with a color screen
• GBA - Gameboy Advance, a 32bit handheld.
• Gamecube - Nintendo's entry to the 128bit console war with Sony's PS2 (Playstation2) & Microsoft Xbox
• DS - An innovative 64bit handheld.
• DS Lite - Nintendo DS Lite, an improved version of the original
• Wii - Nintendo Wii, an innovative game console, and Nintendo's latest offering, with sales exceeding expectations against stiff competition between the Xbox 360 & Playstation 3^[2]

Notable series of Videogames by Nintendo

• Super Mario
• The Legend of Zelda
• Metroid
• Pokémon

See also

• Japanese animation
• Sony

References

1. ↑ Touch Generations: What Nintendo Means
2. ↑ http://nexgenwars.com/