Nintendo – origin 1889 – the company’s original name was “Nintendo Koppai“, it was a small business based in Kyoto that produced Hanafuda Cards. These were simple playing cards used for playing multiple games that were much like the standard 52 playing card set. The playing cards by Nintendo were hand made and soon gained popularity.
This initiative resulted in dominating the business and proved to be popular. After a visit to the US in 1956, Hiroshi began rethinking its card business’s long term viability. He and the card manufacturer in the nation met and were amazed by their offices. He concluded that the company was far too restricted.
The innovation also came in 1959 in the form of Disney. A deal struck where they could publish Disney characters in Nintendo cards. Up until this stage, playing cards were considered as a device for gaming.
The company decided to go public, and it went the way of Dodo
The successful game was the brainchild of Shigeru Miyamoto. Along with this, the business started experimenting with handheld games like Watch the Game and a predecessor to the Game Boy with the new target market that was much younger and books that mentioned Nintendo created it. Additionally, this venture’s success led to the company deciding to go public in 1962.
You can only guess some new business directions in which their capital went. A sample of those ventures includes a cab company; a short stay hotel chain, a rice food firm; vacuum cleaners that are Chiritorie, and toys. Pretty much all these ventures went to save the latter.
Unfortunately, card company reached its saturation point. Families stopped buying them, and the stock of Nintendo fell from 900 to 60 Yen. All was not lost. In 1965, a maintenance engineer was hired by the company for their assembly line. His title was Gunpei Yokoi, and he would help turn the fortune of Nintendo.
The Ultra Hand earned Gunpei a position in product development and was an immediate hit. Because they were one of the companies developing toys that are such in the moment, this was important. As such, they were able to charge a price that is higher and make a profit margin.
It sold about a million systems and was successful. The business received complaints, and upon evaluation, there was a fault discovered in the processors. All Famicoms on the shelves were recalled. Tired of producing ports, Nintendo decided to branch into the world of development in 1983. The result was the Famicom (short for Family Computer) that was released only in Japan.
Nintendo steps foot in the gaming console arena
The company started taking an interest in video games’ popularity. By securing the rights to distribute the Magnavox Odyssey in Japan, the world’s first home video game console, over the following three years, Nintendo released a lot of house and handheld consoles that need no introduction. They are still a powerhouse in the gaming arena now, and this doesn’t seem to be changing any time soon. It is impressive for a business that started a long back.
Following their success in their new venture, they chose to create their games to arcades and the house. Their first was called EVR Race and premiered in 1975. Others, such as a game by the name of Donkey Kong, followed it.
