What was the first Nintendo game?
History of Nintendo
Their first video arcade game was 1975's "EVR Race"; a handful of others followed in the next several years, "Radar Scope" and "Donkey Kong" being among the most famous of these. The early 1980s saw Nintendo's video game division (led by Yokoi) creating some of its most famous arcade titles. The massively popular "Donkey Kong" was created in 1981, with Shigeru Miyamoto as its mastermind, and released in the arcades and on the Atari 2600, Intellivision, and ColecoVision video game systems (although Nintendo themselves generally had no involvement with these early console ports). This release method would be used on several later Nintendo arcade games of this same period, including the original "Mario Bros." (not to be confused with the later "Super Mario Bros.") In addition to this arcade and dedicated console game activity, Nintendo was testing the consumer handheld video game waters with the Game & Watch.
History of games
One popular electronic gaming company, Nintendo changed the world of gaming. The founder of Nintendo, Fusajiro Yamauchi, initially created Japanese flower cards. These became a huge hit in the western world. Yamauchi Nintendo & Co. was their first company name, then in 1951, the company changed their name to Nintendo Playing Card Co. Ltd. The company created a laser clay shooting system which many took on as a hobby. Nintendo then developed a 16mm projection system in 1974 which also became a huge hit in the western world. Six years later, Nintendo created “Donkey Kong”, a game in which the “Jumpman” has to rescue his girlfriend from the ape. They later named “Jumpman” to “Mario” after their office landlord. In 1984, the company created split screen multiplayer screens which changed video games forever. As it allowed multiple people to play at time, Super Mario Bros. interested most people in this type of game play. In 1989, the GameBoy was introduced and became the company’s most popular game console. As a result, many of the consoles that came after the Nintendo Gameboy were also very popular like the Nintendo DS, Wii, and DSi. When it comes to gaming consoles, the Nintendo products have been the most versatile systems. While most companies have created stationary systems, not meant to leave the living room, Nintendo has thrived off of mobile gaming systems. Specifically, according to the Nintendo Switch Website, “Nintendo Switch is designed to go wherever you go, transforming from home console to portable system in a snap. So you get more time to play the games you love, however you like.”
GameCube
The console was announced as the Nintendo GameCube at a press conference in Japan on August 24, 2000, abbreviated as "NGC" in Japan and "GCN" in North America. Nintendo unveiled its software lineup for the sixth generation console at E3 2001, focusing on fifteen launch games, including "Luigi's Mansion" and "". Several games originally scheduled to launch with the console were delayed. It is also the first console in the company's history not to accompany a "Super Mario" platform game at launch.
Nintendo DS
Multiple games were released alongside the DS during its North American launch on November 21, 2004. At launch there was one pack-in demo, in addition to the built-in PictoChat program: "Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt" (published by Nintendo and is a demo for "Metroid Prime Hunters", a game released in March 2006). At the time of the "Electric Blue" DS launch in June 2005, Nintendo bundled the system with "Super Mario 64 DS".
Nintendo
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (abbreviated as the Super NES or SNES) is a 16-bit video game console, which was released in North America in 1991, and in Europe in 1992. The console was initially released in Japan in 1990 as the Super Famicom, officially adopting the colloquially abbreviated name of its predecessor. The console introduced advanced graphics and sound capabilities compared with other consoles at the time. Soon, the development of a variety of enhancement chips which were integrated onto each new game cartridge's circuit boards, progressed the SNES's competitive edge. While even crude three-dimensional graphics had previously rarely been seen on home consoles, the Super NES's enhancement chips suddenly enabled a new caliber of games containing increasingly sophisticated faux 3D effects as seen in 1991's "Pilotwings" and 1992's "Super Mario Kart". Argonaut Games developed the Super FX chip in order to replicate 3D graphics from their earlier Atari ST and Amiga "Starglider" series on the Super NES (more specifically, "Starglider 2"), starting with "Star Fox" in 1993. The SNES is the best-selling console of the 16-bit era although having experienced a relatively late start and fierce competition from Sega's Mega Drive/Genesis console.
Lists of Nintendo characters
Nintendo has created many video game series and franchises throughout its history. Their first established series were the "Mario" and the "Donkey Kong" series, established in 1981.
History of Nintendo
In 1993, Nintendo announced plans to develop a new 64-bit console codenamed "Project Reality" that would be capable of rendering fully 3D environments and characters. In 1994, Nintendo also claimed that Project Reality would be renamed "Ultra 64" in the US. The "Ultra 64" moniker was unveiled in arcades on the Nintendo branded fighting game "Killer Instinct" and the racing game "Cruisin' USA". "Killer Instinct" was later released on the SNES. Soon after, Nintendo realized they had mistakenly chosen a name for their new console that the Konami corporation owned the rights to. Specifically, only Konami would have the rights to release games for the new system called "Ultra Football", "Ultra Tennis", etc. Therefore, in 1995 Nintendo changed the final name of the system to the "Nintendo 64", and announced that it would be released in 1996. They later showed previews of the system and several games, including "Super Mario 64", to the media and public. 1995 is also the year that Nintendo purchased part of Rare.
Zelda's Adventure
In 1989, Nintendo signed a deal with Sony to begin development of a CD-ROM-based system known as the "Nintendo PlayStation" or the SNES CD to be an add-on to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System that would allow for FMV and larger games. However, Nintendo broke the agreement and instead signed with Philips to make the add-on, which caused Sony to spin off their add-on into its own console called the PlayStation. Witnessing the poor reception of the Sega Mega-CD, Nintendo scrapped the idea of making an add-on entirely. As part of dissolving the agreement with Philips, Nintendo gave them the license to use five of their characters, including Link, Princess Zelda, and Ganon, for games on Philips's console called the CD-i, after the partnership's dissolution. Contracting out to independent studios, Philips subsequently used the characters to create three games for the CD-i, with Nintendo taking no part in their development except to give input on the look of the characters based on the artwork from Nintendo's original two titles and that of their respective instruction booklets. Philips insisted that the development studios utilize all aspects of the CD-i's capabilities including FMV, high-resolution graphics, and CD-quality music. Because the system had not been designed as a dedicated video game console, there were several technical limitations, such as laggy controls (especially for the standard infrared controller), and numerous problems in streaming-audio, memory, disc access, and graphics.
History of Nintendo
In 1988, Nintendo of America unveiled "Nintendo Power", a monthly news and strategy magazine from Nintendo that served to advertise new games. The first issue published was the July/August edition, which spotlighted the NES game "Super Mario Bros. 2". "Nintendo Power" has since ceased publication with its December 2012 edition.
History of Nintendo
Nintendo had also begun development on a CD-ROM attachment for the SNES/Super Famicom. Their first partner in this project was Sony, whom Nintendo had worked with before to provide the SNES with its SPC sound chip. Development on the "Nintendo PlayStation" CD-ROM add-on and SNES/SFC standalone hybrid console began. However, at the last minute Nintendo decided to pull out of the partnership and instead go with Philips, and while no CD-ROM add-on was produced, several Nintendo properties (namely The Legend of Zelda) appeared on the Philips CD-i media console. Upon learning this, Sony decided to continue developing the technology they had into the PlayStation. The exact reason Nintendo left its partnership with Sony has been the subject of speculation over the years, but the most common theory is that Sony either wanted too much of the profits for the machine or the rights to the CD-ROM attachment itself.
Nintendo Entertainment System
At June 1985's Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Nintendo unveiled the American version of its Famicom, with a new case redesigned by Lance Barr and featuring a "zero insertion force" cartridge slot. The change from a top-loader in the Famicon to a front-loader was to make the new console more like a video cassette recorder, which had grown in popularity by 1985, and differentiate the unit from past video game consoles. This is the system which would eventually be officially deployed as the Nintendo Entertainment System, or the colloquial "NES". Nintendo seeded these first systems to limited American test markets starting in New York City on October 18, 1985, and following up with a full-fledged North American release in February of the following year. The nationwide release was in September 1986. Nintendo released 17 launch titles: "10-Yard Fight", "Baseball", "Clu Clu Land", "Duck Hunt", "Excitebike", "Golf", "Gyromite", "Hogan’s Alley", "Ice Climber", "Kung Fu", "Pinball", "Soccer", "Stack-Up", "Tennis", "Wild Gunman", "Wrecking Crew", and "Super Mario Bros." Some varieties of these launch games contain Famicom chips with an adapter inside the cartridge so they play on North American consoles, which is why the title screens of "Gyromite" and "Stack-Up" have the Famicom titles "Robot Gyro" and "Robot Block", respectively.
Nintendo
In 1995, Nintendo announced that it had sold one billion game cartridges worldwide, ten percent of those being from the "Mario" franchise. Nintendo deemed 1994 the "Year of the Cartridge". To further their support for cartridges, Nintendo announced that Project Reality, which had now been renamed the Ultra 64, would not use a CD format as expected, but would rather use cartridges as its primary media format. Nintendo IRD general manager Genyo Takeda was impressed by video game development company Rare's progress with real-time 3D graphics technology, using state of the art Silicon Graphics workstations. As a result, Nintendo bought a 25% stake in the company, eventually expanding to 49%, and offered their catalogue of characters to create a CGI game around, making Rare Nintendo's first western-based second-party developer. Their first game as partners with Nintendo was "Donkey Kong Country". The game was a critical success and sold over eight million copies worldwide, making it the second best-selling game in the SNES library. In September 1994, Nintendo, along with six other video game giants including Sega, Electronic Arts, Atari, Acclaim, Philips, and 3DO approached the United States Senate and demanded a ratings system for video games to be enforced, which prompted the decision to create the Entertainment Software Rating Board.
GameCube
Nintendo is traditionally recognized for releasing innovative, first-party games, most notably from the "Super Mario" and "The Legend of Zelda" series. These first-party series continued on the GameCube and bolstered the console's popularity. As a publisher, Nintendo also focused on creating new franchises, such as "Pikmin" and "Animal Crossing", and renewing some that skipped the Nintendo 64 platform, most notably the "Metroid" series with the release of "Metroid Prime". The console also saw success with the critically acclaimed "" and "Super Mario Sunshine", and its best-selling game, "Super Smash Bros. Melee", which sold 7 million copies worldwide. Though committed to its software library, however, Nintendo was still criticized by some for not featuring enough games during the console's launch window.
Nintendo arcade machines
The company's first electronic video game was an adaptation of the board game "Reversi", released in 1978. Many of Nintendo's first coin-operated, electronic arcade games were slight variations on existing games, known as knockoffs or clones. Later in 1978, Nintendo released a "Breakout" clone, based on the popular arcade game. The company's most famous arcade games would be "Donkey Kong" (1981) and "Mario Bros." (1983).
Nintendo Software Technology
The establishment took place in 1998 through a collaboration with the private university DigiPen Institute of Technology, also located in Redmond. The offices opened with several doctorate level instructors and some recent graduates of the university working with several Nintendo of America designers and producers. Their first game, "", was released for the Game Boy Color in 1999 and was a sequel of Capcom's "Bionic Commando".
Radar Scope
Contrary to popular belief, it was not Nintendo's first arcade video game. Prior Nintendo games include "EVR Race" (released only in Japan), "Computer Othello" (released only in Japan), "Sheriff" (released in the U.S. by Exidy as "Bandido"), "Space Fever" (released only in Japan), and "Space Firebird" (released by Nintendo and Gremlin Industries in the U.S.).
History of video games
In efforts to make the Famicom marketable in the US, Nintendo created a completely redesigned version of it, called the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), to be sold in the country as a product unrelated to video gaming. For this same reason, the company also developed a toy robot accessory called the R.O.B. to be sold together with some versions. The NES was released on 18 October 1985 in the US, reviving the video game market in the country and proving successful to the American audience, peaking in popularity between 1987 and the early 1990s. The console was later released in other Western countries, but because of heavy competition from home computers such as the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and Commodore 64, and a lack of marketing, the NES was prevented from having as much success in Europe.
List of best-selling Nintendo 64 video games
The list of best-selling Nintendo 64 games consists of 45 titles which have yielded 1 million or more unit sales each. The best-selling video game on the Nintendo 64 is "Super Mario 64". First released in Japan on June 23, 1996, it was a launch title for the system and the first "Super Mario" game to use three-dimensional graphics. The game went on to sell 11.91 million units worldwide. "Mario Kart 64", the second in the "Mario Kart" series, is the second best-selling game on the platform, with sales of more than 9.8 million copies. The console's top five is rounded out by Rare's "GoldenEye 007" at third, with sales of just more than 8 million units, "" in fourth, with 7.6 million units sold worldwide, and "Super Smash Bros." in fifth, with sales of more than 5.5 million units.
Nintendo
In 2001, Nintendo introduced the redesigned Game Boy Advance. The same year, Nintendo also released the GameCube to lukewarm sales, and it ultimately failed to regain the market share lost by the Nintendo 64. When Yamauchi, company president since 1949, retired on 24 May 2002, Satoru Iwata became first Nintendo president who was unrelated to the Yamauchi family through blood or marriage since its founding in 1889.
History of Nintendo
On January 26, 2006, Nintendo announced a new version of their Nintendo DS handheld, the Nintendo DS Lite, designed to be smaller and lighter, with a brighter screen. It was launched in Japan on March 2, 2006, and three months later in North America and Europe on June 11 and June 23, 2006, respectively.
Nintendo
Nintendo of America has engaged in several high-profile marketing campaigns to define and position its brand. One of its earliest and most enduring slogans was "Now you're playing with power!", used first to promote its Nintendo Entertainment System. It modified the slogan to include "SUPER power" for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and "PORTABLE power" for the Game Boy. Its 1994 "Play It Loud!" campaign played upon teenage rebellion and fostered an edgy reputation. During the Nintendo 64 era, the slogan was "Get N or get out." During the GameCube era, the "Who Are You?" suggested a link between the games and the players' identities. The company promoted its Nintendo DS handheld with the tagline "Touching is Good." For the Wii, they used the "Wii would like to play" slogan to promote the console with the people who tried the games including "Super Mario Galaxy" and "Super Paper Mario". The Nintendo 3DS used the slogan "Take a look inside". The Wii U used the slogan "How U will play next." The Nintendo Switch uses the slogan "Switch and Play" in North America, and "Play anywhere, anytime, with anyone" in Europe.
Nintendo's internal research and development operations are divided into three main divisions: Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development (or EPD), the main software development division of Nintendo, which focuses on video game and software development; Nintendo Platform Technology Development (or PTD), which focuses on home and handheld video game console hardware development; and Nintendo Business Development (or NBD), which focuses on refining business strategy and is responsible for overseeing the smart device arm of the business.
Nintendo World Championships
The first Nintendo World Championships was in 1990, touring 30 American cities. It was based on a custom game cartridge for the Nintendo Entertainment System, which would historically become one of the most rare and valuable NES cartridges. On June 14, 2015, the second Nintendo World Championships took place for its 25th anniversary as part of Nintendo's E3 2015 coverage. The third Nintendo World Championships was held on October 7, 2017.
1980s in video gaming
By 1985, the home market console in North America had been dormant for nearly two years. Elsewhere, video games continued to be a staple of innovation and development. After seeing impressive numbers from its Famicom system in Japan, Nintendo decided to jump into the North American market by releasing the Nintendo Entertainment System, or NES for short. After release it took several years to build up momentum, but despite the pessimism of critics it became a success. Nintendo is credited with reviving the home console market.
Hotel Mario
In 1989, Nintendo and Sony agreed to develop a CD-ROM-based add-on for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), known as the SNES-CD or Nintendo Play-Station, that would allow for full motion video (FMV) and larger games. However, Nintendo instead signed with Philips to make the add-on, and Sony redesigned their console as the PlayStation. By 1993, Nintendo had abandoned plans for the add-on. As part of dissolving the agreement, Nintendo licensed Philips to use some Nintendo characters for their CD-i console, resulting in three "Legend of Zelda" games as well as "Hotel Mario". Another "Mario" game, "Super Mario's Wacky Worlds", was canceled at the prototype stage. Nintendo had no part in the games' development; they were instead created by inexperienced developers.
Argonaut Games
In 1993, Argonaut collaborated with Nintendo during the early years of the NES and SNES, a notable incident being when Argonaut submitted a proof-of-concept method of defeating the Game Boy's copyright protection mechanism to Nintendo. The combined efforts from both Nintendo and Argonaut yielded a prototype of the game "Star Fox", initially codenamed "NesGlider" and inspired by their earlier Atari ST and Amiga game "Starglider", that they had running on the NES and then some weeks later on a prototype SNES. Jez San told Nintendo that his team could only improve performance or functionality of the demonstration if Nintendo allowed Argonaut to design custom hardware to extend the SNES to have true 3D capability. Nintendo agreed, so San hired chip designers and made the Super FX chip. They originally codenamed it the Mathematical Argonaut Rotation I/O, or "MARIO", as is printed on the chip's surface. So powerful was the Super FX chip used to create the graphics and gameplay, that they joked that the Super NES was just a box to hold the chip.
History of the Nintendo Entertainment System
In 2005, Nintendo announced plans to make classic NES titles available on the Virtual Console download service for the Wii console, which is based on their own emulation technology. Initial titles released included "Mario Bros.", "The Legend of Zelda" and "Donkey Kong", with blockbuster titles such as "Super Mario Bros.", "Punch-Out!!" and "Metroid" appearing in the following months.
History of Nintendo
The last major first-party game for the NES, "Super Mario Bros. 3", was released in early 1990, and went on to sell over 18 million units. It was followed by a licensed television adaption named The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, which was released by DIC Entertainment and Viacom Enterprises in that year to capitalise on the game's immense popularity.
Nintendo video game consoles
Released June 23, 1996, The Nintendo 64, commonly called the N64, and codenamed Ultra 64, was Nintendo's third home video game console for the international market. It was released with three launch games in Japan ("Super Mario 64", "Pilotwings 64" and "Saikyo Habu Shogi") and two in North America ("Super Mario 64" and "Pilotwings 64"). PAL regions also had three launch titles ("Super Mario 64", "" and "Pilotwings 64") with "" delayed until three days after launch. Other key games included "Donkey Kong 64", "Diddy Kong Racing", "Banjo-Kazooie", two games in "The Legend of Zelda" series, "GoldenEye 007", "Mario Kart 64", "Super Smash Bros." and "Star Fox 64". The Nintendo 64 sold 32.93 million systems.
Nintendo Entertainment System
The NES can be emulated on many other systems, most notably the PC. The first emulator was the Japanese-only Pasofami. It was soon followed by iNES, which was available in English and was cross-platform, in 1996. It was described as being the first NES emulation software that could be used by a non-expert. NESticle, a popular MS-DOS emulator, was released on April 3, 1997. There have since been many other emulators. The Virtual Console for the Wii, Nintendo 3DS and Wii U also offers emulation of many NES games.
List of commercial failures in video gaming
In 1991, electronics company Philips entered the console gaming business by creating the "Compact Disc Interactive" console, better known as the "CD-i". Like the 3DO, the CD-i was marketed as not only a video game console, but also a multimedia console. Besides CD-i discs, the console was capable of playing Video CDs. The launch price was $700. It was originally intended to be an add-on for the Super NES, but the deal fell through. Nintendo, however, did give Philips the rights and permission to use five Nintendo characters for the CD-i games. In 1993, Philips released two Zelda games, "" and "". A year later, Philips released another Zelda game, "Zelda's Adventure", and a few months later, a Mario game titled "Hotel Mario". All four of these Nintendo-themed games are commonly cited by critics as being among the worst ever made. Much criticism was also aimed at the CD-i's controller. Although it was extensively marketed by Philips, consumer interest remained low. Sales began to slow by 1994, and in 1998, Philips announced that the product had been discontinued. In all, roughly 570,000 units were sold, with 133 games released.
List of Naruto video games
"Naruto" video games have appeared for various consoles from Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft. Most of them are fighting games in which the player directly controls one of a select few characters based on their counterparts in the "Naruto" anime and manga. The player pits their character against another character controlled by the game's AI or by another player, depending on the mode the player is in. The objective is to reduce the opponent's health to zero using basic attacks and special techniques unique to each character derived from techniques they use in the "Naruto" anime or manga. The first "Naruto" video game was "Naruto: Konoha Ninpōchō", which was released in Japan on March 27, 2003, for the WonderSwan Color. Most "Naruto" video games have been released only in Japan. The first games released outside Japan were the "" series and the "" series, released in North America under the titles of "Naruto: Clash of Ninja" and "Naruto: Ninja Council". In January 2012, Namco Bandai announced that they have sold 10 million "Naruto" games worldwide.
Nintendo
Nintendo's first venture into the video gaming industry was securing rights to distribute the Magnavox Odyssey video game console in Japan in 1974. Nintendo began to produce its own hardware in 1977, with the Color TV-Game home video game consoles. Four versions of these consoles were produced, each including variations of a single game (for example, Color TV Game 6 featured six versions of "Light Tennis").
History of Nintendo
In 1966, Yamauchi was observing a hanafuda factory. He noticed an extending arm, which was made by one of their maintenance engineers, Gunpei Yokoi, for his own amusement. Yamauchi ordered Yokoi to develop it as a proper product for the Christmas rush. Released as the "Ultra Hand", it would become one of Nintendo's earliest toy blockbusters, selling over a million units. Seeing that Yokoi had promise, Yamauchi pulled him off assembly line work. Yokoi was soon moved from maintenance duty to product development.
Nintendo arcade machines
Nintendo primarily made toys and trading card games before their arcade games in the mid-1970s. Most of their later releases between 1973 and 1978 were light gun games based on shooting or avoiding things. The cabinets used pre-recorded images and film projection rather than video inside.
Nintendo arcade machines
Many of Nintendo's games were also released for their Japan-only Color TV home console series, which played arcade games on home televisions. Nintendo's first series of home consoles was commercially successful.
History of video games
The generation opened early for handheld consoles, as Nintendo introduced their Nintendo DS and Sony premiered the PlayStation Portable (PSP) within a month of each other in 2004. While the PSP boasted superior graphics and power, following a trend established since the mid-1980s, Nintendo gambled on a lower-power design but featuring a novel control interface. The DS's two screens proved extremely popular with consumers, especially young children and middle-aged gamers, who were drawn to the device by Nintendo's "Nintendogs" and "" series respectively. The PSP attracted a significant portion of veteran gamers in North America and was very popular in Japan, though a large portion of its visual novels and anime-based games have never been localized in the west. This combined allowed Nintendo to continue its dominance in handheld gaming. Nokia withdrew their N-Gage platform in 2005 but reintroduced the brand as a game-oriented service for high-end smartphones on April 3, 2008.
Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword
Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword is a 2008 video game released for the Nintendo DS featuring the Dragon Ninja, Ryu Hayabusa as the protagonist. The game is the first portable video game title in the series to be developed by Team Ninja and the first game developed by this company to be released for the Nintendo system. "Dragon Sword" is set between "Ninja Gaiden" and "Ninja Gaiden II".
Nintendo video game consoles
The Game Boy was the first handheld game console sold by Nintendo that featured interchangeable cartridges for each game, unlike the Game & Watch that had a different system for each game. Released in 1989 in Japan, it is one of the world's best-selling game console lines, with over 100 million units sold worldwide. The classic Game Boy was sold in a number of different revisions and variations, including the streamlined Game Boy Pocket and the Game Boy Light in Japan. In 1998, Nintendo released the Game Boy Color, a new Game Boy platform with color graphics. Combined, the Game Boy and Game Boy Color sold 118.69 million units worldwide.
NES Open Tournament Golf
NES Open Tournament Golf is a sports game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1991. "NES Open Tournament Golf" is the second Nintendo published golf-based video game released for the NES, the first game being "Golf". In addition to the Famicom version of "Golf", there were two other Nintendo published golf-based video games released in Japan. These games were released in disk format on the Family Computer Disk System in 1987. These two games were "Family Computer Golf: Japan Course" and "Family Computer Golf: U.S. Course".
The Legend of Zelda (video game)
"The Legend of Zelda" was a bestseller for Nintendo, selling over 6.5 million copies; it was the first NES title to sell over 1 million. It was reissued in 1992 as part of Nintendo's "Classic Series" and featured a grey cartridge. The game placed first in the player's poll "Top 30" in "Nintendo Power"s first issue and continued to dominate the list into the early 1990s. "The Legend of Zelda" was also voted by "Nintendo Power" readers as the "Best Challenge" in the Nintendo Power Awards '88. The magazine also listed it as the best Nintendo Entertainment System video game ever created, stating that it was fun despite its age and it showed them new ways to do things in the genre such as hidden dungeons and its various weapons. GamesRadar ranked it the third best NES game ever made. The staff praised its "mix of complexity, open world design, and timeless graphics".
Nintendo marketing
Nintendo promoted its first 3-dimensional console, the Nintendo 64, using several slogans. One was "Change the System" while the other was "Get N or Get Out".
History of the Nintendo Entertainment System
Bolstered by its success in Japan, Nintendo soon turned its attention to foreign markets. As a new console manufacturer, Nintendo had to convince a skeptical public to embrace its system. To this end, Nintendo entered into negotiations with Atari to release the Famicom outside Japan as the "Nintendo Enhanced Video System". Though the two companies reached a tentative agreement, with final contract papers to be signed at the 1983 Summer Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Atari refused to sign at the last minute, after seeing Coleco, one of its main competitors in the market at that time, demonstrating a prototype of "Donkey Kong" for its forthcoming Coleco Adam home computer system. Coleco had licensed "Donkey Kong" for the ColecoVision home console, but Atari had the exclusive computer license for the game. Although the game had been originally produced for the ColecoVision and could thus automatically be played on the backward compatible Adam computer, Atari took the demonstration as a sign that Nintendo was also dealing with Coleco. Though the issue was cleared up within a month, by then Atari's financial problems stemming from the North American video game crash of 1983 left the company unable to follow through with the deal.
Nintendo video game consoles
The Super NES was Nintendo's second home console, following the Nintendo Entertainment System. Whereas the earlier console had struggled in the PAL region and large parts of Asia, the Super NES was a global success, albeit one that could not match its predecessor's popularity in Northeast Asia and North America—due in part to increased competition from Sega's Genesis console (released in Europe as the Mega Drive). Despite its relatively late start, the Super NES became the best selling console of the 16-bit era, selling 49.10 million systems worldwide. The Super NES library is known for upgrading some of Nintendo's most famous franchises, and making the games even more critically acclaimed, such as "Super Metroid", "", "Final Fantasy IV" and "VI", "Donkey Kong Country" and "Super Mario World", as well starting some popular franchises such as "Star Fox" and "Mega Man X".
Nintendo
In 1979, Gunpei Yokoi conceived the idea of a handheld video game, while observing a fellow bullet train commuter who passed the time by interacting idly with a portable LCD calculator, which gave birth to "Game & Watch". In 1980, Nintendo launched "Game & Watch"—a handheld video game series developed by Yokoi. These systems do not contain interchangeable cartridges and thus the hardware was tied to the game. The first Game & Watch game, "Ball", was distributed worldwide. The modern "cross" D-pad design was developed in 1982, by Yokoi for a "Donkey Kong" version. Proven to be popular, the design was patented by Nintendo. It later earned a Technology & Engineering Emmy Award.
Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power was founded by Nintendo of America marketing manager Gail Tilden in 1988. Predating "Nintendo Power" is the several-page long "Nintendo Fun Club News", which was sent to club members for free. However, in mid-1988 "Nintendo Fun Club News" was discontinued after seven issues in favor of "Nintendo Power". The first issue, dated July/August 1988, spotlighted the NES game "Super Mario Bros. 2". Of this issue, 3.6 million copies were published, with every member of the Nintendo Fun Club receiving a free one.
Shigeru Miyamoto
Miyamoto went on to become the company's first artist. He helped create the art for the company's first original coin-operated arcade video game, "Sheriff". He first helped the company develop a game with the release "Radar Scope". The game achieved moderate success in Japan, but by , Nintendo's efforts to break it into the North American video game market had failed, leaving the company with a large number of unsold units and on the verge of financial collapse. In an effort to keep the company afloat, Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi decided to convert unsold "Radar Scope" units into a new arcade game. He tasked Miyamoto with the conversion, about which Miyamoto has said self-deprecatingly that "no one else was available" to do the work. Nintendo's head engineer, Gunpei Yokoi, supervised the project.
Nintendo 3DS
In June 2010, video gaming website IGN reported that according to "several developers who have experienced 3DS in its current form," the system possesses processing power that "far exceed[s] the Nintendo Wii" and with 3D shaders, they could make games that "look close to current generation visuals on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3". IGN also cited "several developer sources" as saying that the system does not use the Nvidia Tegra mobile chipset.
The system was officially revealed at Nintendo's conference at E3 2010 on June 15, 2010. The first game revealed was "", with several other titles from third parties also announced, including Square Enix with "Kingdom Hearts" and "Final Fantasy", Konami with "", Warner Bros. Interactive with , Ubisoft with "", Capcom with "Resident Evil Revelations" and "", and Activision with DJ Hero. Other Nintendo titles were later revealed after the conference, such as "Mario Kart 7", "", and remakes of "Star Fox 64" and "". Nintendo also demoed 3D trailers for DreamWorks' "How to Train Your Dragon", Warner Bros' "", and Disney's film "Tangled" on the 3DS. The 3DS design shown at E3 was almost final, but subject to minor changes.
History of Nintendo
In 1995, Nintendo released the Virtual Boy in Japan. The console sold poorly, but Nintendo still said they had hope for it and continued to release several other games and attempted a release in the US, which was another disaster.
Nintendo
In 1983, Nintendo launched the Family Computer (colloquialized as "Famicom") home video game console in Japan, alongside ports of its most popular arcade games. In 1985, a cosmetically reworked version of the system known outside Japan as the Nintendo Entertainment System or NES, launched in North America. The practice of bundling the system along with select games helped to make "Super Mario Bros." one of the best-selling video games in history.
Nintendo
In 1988, Gunpei Yokoi and his team at Nintendo R&D1 conceived the new Game Boy handheld system, with the purpose of merging the two very successful ideas of the Game & Watch's portability along with the NES's cartridge interchangeability. Nintendo released the Game Boy in Japan on 21 April 1989, and in North America on 31 July 1989. Nintendo of America president Minoru Arakawa managed a deal to bundle the popular third-party game "Tetris" along with the Game Boy, and the pair launched as an instant success.
Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection
The first Wi-Fi Connection games were "Mario Kart DS" and "Tony Hawk's American Sk8land" for the Nintendo DS, released on November 14, 2005 and November 16, 2005 respectively, followed by "" in Japan on November 23 and in North America on December 5. The first Wii Wi-Fi Connection games were released in 2006 in Japan and in 2007 overseas. In Japan and North America the first game was "Pokémon Battle Revolution". In Europe, Australia, and New Zealand the first game was "Mario Strikers Charged".
Nintendo
The Nintendo Entertainment System (abbreviated as NES) is an 8-bit video game console, which released in North America in 1985, and in Europe throughout 1986 and 1987. The console was initially released in Japan as the Family Computer (abbreviated as Famicom) in 1983. The best-selling gaming console of its time, the NES helped revitalise the US video game industry following the video game crash of 1983. With the NES, Nintendo introduced a now-standard business model of licensing third-party developers, authorizing them to produce and distribute games for Nintendo's platform. The NES was bundled with "Super Mario Bros.", one of the best-selling video games of all time, and received ports of Nintendo's most popular arcade games.
Club Nintendo
On March 17, 2015, after suddenly announcing their business partnership venture with DeNA, Nintendo stated that they were working with them on a new, cross-platform membership service called My Nintendo to supersede Club Nintendo for the Wii U, Nintendo 3DS, and Nintendo Switch, alongside other devices such as tablets, smartphones and PCs. It was initially launched in Japan on March 17, 2016, alongside Nintendo's first mobile title, "Miitomo".
Video game console
In 1983, Nintendo released the Family Computer (or Famicom) in Japan. The Famicom supported high-resolution sprites, larger color palettes, and tiled backgrounds. This allowed Famicom games to be longer and have more detailed graphics. Nintendo began attempts to bring their Famicom to the U.S. after the video game market had crashed. In the U.S., video games were seen as a fad that had already passed. To distinguish its product from older game consoles, Nintendo released their Famicom as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) which used a front-loading cartridge port similar to a VCR, included a plastic "robot" (R.O.B.), and was initially advertised as a toy. The NES was the highest selling console in the history of North America and revitalized the video game market. Mario of Super Mario Bros. became a global icon starting with his NES games. Nintendo took a somewhat unusual stance with third-party developers for its console. Nintendo contractually restricted third-party developers to three NES titles per year and forbade them from developing for other video game consoles. The practice ensured Nintendo's market dominance and prevented the flood of trash titles that had helped kill the Atari, but was ruled illegal late in the console's lifecycle.
Video gaming in Japan
In 1991, "Final Fantasy IV" was one of the first role-playing games to feature a complex, involving plot, placing a much greater emphasis on character development, personal relationships, and dramatic storytelling. It also introduced a new battle system: the "Active Time Battle" system, developed by Hiroyuki Ito, where the time-keeping system does not stop. The fact that enemies can attack or be attacked at any time is credited with injecting urgency and excitement into the combat system. The ATB combat system was considered revolutionary for being a hybrid between turn-based and real-time combat, with its requirement of faster reactions from players appealing to those who were more used to action games.
Nintendo executives were initially reluctant to design a new system, but as the market transitioned to the newer hardware, Nintendo saw the erosion of the commanding market share it had built up with the Nintendo Entertainment System. Nintendo's fourth-generation console, the Super Famicom, was released in Japan on November 21, 1990; Nintendo's initial shipment of 300,000 units sold out within hours. Despite stiff competition from the Mega Drive/Genesis console, the Super NES eventually took the top selling position, selling 49.10 million units worldwide, and would remain popular well into the fifth generation of consoles. Nintendo's market position was defined by their machine's increased video and sound capabilities, as well as exclusive first-party franchise titles such as "Super Mario World", "" and "Super Metroid".
F-Zero (video game)
F-Zero is a futuristic racing video game developed by Nintendo EAD and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). The game was released in Japan on November 21, 1990, in North America in August 1991, and in Europe in 1992. "F-Zero" is the first game of the "F-Zero" series, and was one of the two launch titles (along with "Super Mario World") for the SNES in Japan; but was accompanied by additional initial titles in North America and Europe. It was re-released for the Virtual Console service on the Wii in late 2006, the Wii U in early 2013, and on the New Nintendo 3DS in early 2016. Nintendo re-released "F-Zero" in the United States in September 2017 as part of the company's Super NES Classic Edition.
History of Nintendo
On May 14, 2005, Nintendo opened its first retail store accessible to the general public, Nintendo World Store, at the Rockefeller Center in New York City. It consists of two stories, and contains many kiosks of GameCube, Game Boy Advance, and Nintendo DS games. There are also display cases filled with things from Nintendo's past, including Hanafuda, Nintendo's first product. They celebrated the opening with a block party at Rockefeller Plaza.
History of Nintendo
In 1982, Nintendo developed a prototype system dubbed the "Advanced Video System" (or AVS for short) and had controllers much like the NES. There were accessories such as a tape drive, a joystick and a lightgun, and along with all of that, the system was made of a computer, much like the Atari 400, Commodore Vic-20 and Commodore 64. It was never released and is on display at the Nintendo World Store in New York. In July 1983, Nintendo released the "Famicom" ("Family Computer") system in Japan, which was its first attempt at a cartridge-based video game console. The system sold over 500,000 units within two months at a price around $100 USD. However, after a few months of favorable sales, Nintendo received complaints that some Famicom consoles would freeze when the player attempted to play certain games. The fault was found in a malfunctioning chip and Nintendo decided to recall all Famicom units that were currently on store shelves, which ultimately cost them approximately half a million USD .
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System (or NES for short) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It is a remodeled export version of the company's Family Computer (FC) platform in Japan, also known as the Famicom for short, which launched on July 15, 1983. The NES was launched through test markets in New York City and Los Angeles in 1985, before being given a wide release in the rest of North America and parts of Europe in 1986, followed by Australia and other European countries in 1987. Brazil saw only unlicensed clones until the official local release in 1993. In South Korea, it was packaged as the Hyundai Comboy and distributed by SK Hynix which then was known as Hyundai Electronics; the Comboy was released in 1989.
1980s
The 1980s also was prominent for spawning several popular children's cartoons such as "The Smurfs", "ThunderCats", "Voltron", "The Transformers", "Masters of the Universe", "", "Inspector Gadget", "Muppet Babies", "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", "DuckTales", "Garfield and Friends", "The Raccoons", "Heathcliff" and "Beetlejuice".Popular video games include: "Pac-Man", "Super Mario Bros.", "The Legend of Zelda", "Metroid", "Donkey Kong", "Frogger", "Digger", "Tetris", and "Golden Axe".
"Pac-Man" (1980) was the first game to achieve widespread popularity in mainstream culture and the first game character to be popular in his own right.
Handheld electronic LCD games was introduced into the youth market segment.
The primary gaming computers of the 1980s emerged in 1982: the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum.
Nintendo finally decided in 1985 to release its Famicom (released in 1983 in Japan) in the United States under the name Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It was bundled with "Super Mario Bros." and it suddenly became a success. The NES dominated the American and Japanese market until the rise of the next generation of consoles in the early 1990s, causing some to call this time the "Nintendo era".
Sega released its 16-bit console, Mega Drive/Genesis, in 1988 in Japan and in North America in 1989.
In 1989, Nintendo released the Game Boy, a monochrome handheld console.
Nintendo arcade machines
Computer Othello (June 1978) is a clone of the board game "Reversi". It was the first game produced by Nintendo R&D1, the team that later produced the first "Mario", "Donkey Kong", "Duck Hunt", and "Kid Icarus" games. R&D1 was led by Gunpei Yokoi, who later created the Game Boy, and included "Mario" and "Legend of Zelda" creator Shigeru Miyamoto.
Nintendo video game consoles
Released November 21, 1990, The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, officially abbreviated the Super NES or SNES and colloquially shortened to Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit video game console released by Nintendo in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Oceania and Africa. In Japan it is known as the Super Famicom. In South Korea, it is known as the Super Comboy and was distributed by Hyundai Electronics.
Video gaming in Japan
Because the NES was released after the "video game crash" of the early 1980s, many retailers and adults regarded electronic games as a passing fad, so many believed at first that the NES would soon fade. Before the NES/Famicom, Nintendo was known as a moderately successful Japanese toy and playing card manufacturer, but the popularity of the NES/Famicom helped the company grow into an internationally recognized name almost synonymous with video games as Atari had been, and set the stage for Japanese dominance of the video game industry. With the NES, Nintendo also changed the relationship between console manufacturers and third-party software developers by restricting developers from publishing and distributing software without licensed approval. This led to higher quality software titles, which helped change the attitude of a public that had grown weary from poorly produced titles for earlier game systems. The system's hardware limitations led to design principles that still influence the development of modern video games. Many prominent game franchises originated on the NES, including Nintendo's own "Super Mario Bros.", "The Legend of Zelda" and "Metroid", Capcom's "Mega Man" franchise, Konami's "Castlevania" franchise, Square's "Final Fantasy", and Enix's "Dragon Quest" franchises.
Super Smash Bros. (video game)
Nintendo announced at Electronic Entertainment Expo 2011 that they would be releasing two new "Super Smash Bros." games, "Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS" and "Wii U", making it the first cross-platform and first portable release in the series. Cross-compatibility between the Wii U and 3DS versions was also confirmed, allowing players to customize their characters and transfer them between versions. While development had begun, Sakurai stated that the early announcement was made public in order to attract developers needed for the game. The titles are also the first games to utilize Nintendo's Amiibo platform. "Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS" and "Wii U" were released in late 2014.
Gunpei Yokoi
In 1966, Hiroshi Yamauchi, president of Nintendo at the time, came to a hanafuda factory Yokoi was working at and took notice of a toy, an extending arm, that Yokoi made for his own amusement during spare time as the company's machine maintenance man. Yamauchi ordered Yokoi to develop it as a proper product for the Christmas rush. The Ultra Hand was a huge success, and Yokoi was asked to work on other Nintendo toys including the Ten Billion Barrel puzzle, a miniature remote-controlled vacuum cleaner called the Chiritory, a baseball throwing machine called the Ultra Machine, and a "Love Tester." He worked on toys until the company decided to make video games in 1974, when he became one of its first game designers, only preceded by Genyo Takeda. While traveling on the Shinkansen, Yokoi saw a bored businessman playing with an LCD calculator by pressing the buttons. Yokoi then got the idea for a watch that doubled as a miniature video gaming pastime, and went on to create Game & Watch, a line of handheld electronic games.
In , Yamauchi appointed Yokoi to supervise "Donkey Kong", an arcade game created by Shigeru Miyamoto. Yokoi explained many of the intricacies of game design to Miyamoto at the beginning of his career, and the project only came to be approved after Yokoi brought Miyamoto's game ideas to the president's attention.
History of online games
In 2000, Sony introduced online multiplayer to the PlayStation 2. It was the first time of Sony doing so, and like many major consoles to come, will become a norm in the industry. In 2001, Nintendo introduced online multiplayer to the Nintendo GameCube using an add-on called a Broadband Adapter and Modem Adapter. It, however, came dead last in competing with the likes of the upcoming Xbox and the now icon of modern gaming, the PlayStation 2, both in sales and online impact. Later on, in 2002, Microsoft released the Xbox, which by using Xbox Live, offered online multiplayer and other Internet capabilities to the console and continued doing so for its later consoles, the Xbox 360 and the Xbox One. In 2006, Nintendo released the Wii, which offered online multiplayer gaming and other Internet capabilities over Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection and WiiConnect24, respectively. Both services were shut down on May 20, 2014, along with online capabilities of any games that utilize the feature, such as "Mario Kart Wii" (2008). The same year the Wii hit store shelves, rival Sony introduced its new monster to add to its line of industry icons, the PlayStation 3 which used the brand new PlayStation Network (PSN) for online multiplayer gaming and other Internet capabilities to the system, and continued doing so for later consoles such as the PlayStation 4. In 2012, Nintendo made a successor to the dying Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection involving their next-gen console, the Wii U, and its handheld counterpart, the Nintendo 3DS, by creating the Nintendo Network to continue on its online multiplayer and Internet capabilities, in order to compete against Microsoft's Xbox Live and Sony's PlayStation Network. Nintendo's latest console, the Nintendo Switch, does offer online play via Nintendo Network.
Mario (franchise)
(stylized as "D℞. Mario") is a series of arcade-style action puzzle video game originally developed by Nintendo Research & Development 1, and later developed by Arika and produced by Nintendo Software Planning & Development. The first in the series, "Dr. Mario", was launched in 1990 on the Nintendo Entertainment System and Game Boy to critical and commercial success. In the "Dr. Mario" series, the player character Mario, who assumes the role of a doctor, is tasked with eradicating deadly viruses. The player's objective is to destroy the viruses populating the on-screen playing field by using falling colored capsules that are dropped into the field, similarly to "Tetris". The player manipulates the capsules as they fall so that they are aligned with viruses of matching colors, which removes them from playing field. The player progresses through the game by eliminating all the viruses on the screen in each level.
There have been 4 "Dr. Mario" games released for home consoles and two portable games, for a total of six original titles. As the series has progressed, each new game has introduced new elements in order to keep the gameplay fresh such as new game modes. In 2001, "Dr. Mario 64" for the Nintendo 64 introduced new game modes such as a "Story" mode, "Score Attack" and "Marathon", Wario as a playable character and four-player multiplayer. After a seven-year hiatus, in 2008, "Dr. Mario Express" for the Nintendo DSi's DSiWare service re-introduced the series to the portable gaming market. Also in 2008, "Dr. Mario Online Rx" for the Wii's WiiWare service introduced online multiplayer to the series. In 2013, "Dr. Luigi" for the Wii U's Nintendo eShop introduced Luigi as the playable character as well as a "Operation L" game mode in which all capsules assume the shape of the letter "L".
Nintendo World
Nintendo World is a Brazilian video game magazine, which covers games for the Nintendo Wii, Wii U, 3DS and DS. It was created in 1998 by the Conrad Editora. Initially it covered games for the Nintendo 64 and Game Boy Color consoles, which were very popular in the country at the time. Over 100 issues have been published as of 2006, and the magazine has been awarded by Nintendo of America for its high readership and for being one of the best quality Nintendo magazines in Latin America. Its current editor is Editora Tambor. From issue 60 onwards, the magazine started featuring content from "Nintendo Power".
History of Nintendo
In 1985, Nintendo announced that they were releasing the Famicom worldwide with a different design under the name the "Nintendo Entertainment System" (NES). They used a creative tactic to counter the bad view that the media was giving on video games, and released the NES with R.O.B. units that connected to the console and were synchronised to the games. To ensure the localization of the highest-quality games by third-party developers, Nintendo of America limited the number of game titles third-party developers could release in a single year to five. Konami, the first third-party company that was allowed to make cartridges for the Famicom, would later circumvent this rule by creating a spinoff company, Ultra Games, to release additional games in a single year. Other manufacturers soon employed the same tactic. Also in 1985, "Super Mario Bros." was released for the Famicom in Japan and became a large success.
List of messaging applications for Nintendo game consoles
Ever since the introduction of the Nintendo DS in 2004, which is Nintendo's first gaming console to have wireless communication as a standard, Nintendo introduced a variety of instant messaging applications to suit each gaming console they released ever since. The following is a list of the messaging applications that was developed for Nintendo's consoles.
Nintendo
The GameCube (officially called Nintendo GameCube, abbreviated NGC in Japan and GCN in North America) was released in 2001, in Japan and North America, and in 2002 worldwide. The sixth-generation console is the successor to the Nintendo 64 and competed with Sony's PlayStation 2, Microsoft's Xbox, and Sega's Dreamcast. The GameCube is the first Nintendo console to use optical discs as its primary storage medium. The discs are similar to the miniDVD format, but the system was not designed to play standard DVDs or audio CDs. Nintendo introduced a variety of connectivity options for the GameCube. The GameCube's game library has sparse support for Internet gaming, a feature that requires the use of the aftermarket Nintendo GameCube Broadband Adapter and Modem Adapter. The GameCube supports connectivity to the Game Boy Advance, allowing players to access exclusive in-game features using the handheld as a second screen and controller.
List of Donkey Kong video games
"Donkey Kong" is a video game series created by game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. It is published by Nintendo, with entries in the series developed by Nintendo, Rare, Namco, Retro Studios, and Paon. The series debuted in 1981 with the arcade game "Donkey Kong", which was a sales success that brought Nintendo into the North American market. Most "Donkey Kong" games have either been arcade games or released for Nintendo consoles and handhelds dating from the Nintendo Entertainment System to the current generation of video game consoles. However, some of the original arcade games were ported into versions on third-party home consoles and developed by several companies. "Donkey Kong" is among the best-selling video game franchises, with more than 48 million games sold worldwide.
Platform game
"Donkey Kong", an arcade game created by Nintendo and released in July 1981, was the first game that allowed players to jump over obstacles and across gaps, making it the first true platformer. It introduced Mario, a modern icon of the genre, under the name Jumpman. "Donkey Kong" was ported to many consoles and computers at the time, notably as the system-selling pack-in game for ColecoVision, and also a handheld version from Coleco in 1982. The game helped cement Nintendo's position as an important name in the video game industry internationally.
History of Nintendo
Nintendo test marketed the Nintendo Entertainment System in the New York area on October 18, 1985. They expanded the test to Los Angeles in February 1986, followed by tests in Chicago and San Francisco. They would go national by the end of 1986, along with 15 games, sold separately. In the US and Canada, it outsold its competitors by a wide margin. This was also the year that "Metroid" and "" (the Japanese version) were released. In 1987, "The Legend of Zelda" was released to much critical acclaim.
Nintendo 64
The console's design was publicly revealed for the first time in late Q2 1994. Images of the console displayed the Nintendo Ultra 64 logo and a ROM cartridge, but no controller. This prototype console's form factor would be retained by the product when it eventually launched. Having initially indicated the possibility of utilizing the increasingly popular CD-ROM if the medium's endemic performance problems were solved, the company now announced a much faster but space-limited cartridge-based system, which prompted open analysis by the gaming press. The system was frequently marketed as the world's first 64-bit gaming system, often stating the console was more powerful than the first moon landing computers. Atari had already claimed to have made the first 64-bit game console with their Atari Jaguar, but the Jaguar only uses a general 64-bit architecture in conjunction with two 32-bit RISC processors and a 16/32-bit Motorola 68000.
Later in Q2 1994, Nintendo signed a licensing agreement with Midway's parent company which enabled Midway to develop and market arcade games and formed a joint venture company called "Williams/Nintendo" to market Nintendo-exclusive home conversions of these games. The result is two arcade games, "Killer Instinct" and "Cruis'n USA", which boasted their upcoming debut on the arcade branch of the Nintendo Ultra 64 platform. Completely unrelated to Project Reality's console-based branch of Ultra 64, the arcade branch uses a different MIPS CPU, has no Reality Coprocessor, and uses onboard ROM chips and a hard drive instead of a cartridge. "Killer Instinct" features 3D character artwork pre-rendered into 2D form, and CG movie backgrounds that are streamed off the hard drive and animated as the characters move horizontally.
History of Nintendo
In 1959, Nintendo struck a deal with Disney to allow the use Disney's characters on Nintendo's playing cards. Previously, Western playing cards were regarded as something similar to hanafuda and mahjong: a device for gambling. By tying playing cards to Disney and selling books explaining the different games one could play with the cards, Nintendo could sell the product to Japanese households. The tie-in was a success and the company sold at least 600,000 card packs in a single year. Due to this success, in 1962, Yamauchi took Nintendo public, listing the company in Osaka Stock Exchange Second division.
Stunt Race FX
In 1991, Nintendo began developing a custom 3D cartridge chip called the Super FX chip with Dylan Cuthbert from Argonaut Software (who is now at Q-Games) as their assistant, so that it could be used in Super NES games to create polygonal 3D graphics. The first game that used the Super FX was "Star Fox", which became a success. After the release of "Star Fox", Nintendo and Argonaut began conducting various experiments throughout the co-development of the Super FX chip. The development of "Stunt Race FX", which was tentatively titled as "FX Trax" back then, started when Giles Goddard and Colin Reed joined in and later became Nintendo employees. Nintendo used the polygon concept to create a 3D-animated racing game filled with high-flying stunts and obstacles, as well as normal racing. While the game was solid, the overall product quality and timing of release weren't favorable to its success. Nintendo has since discontinued the idea of franchising the series. The one prior incident took form with a canceled sequel on the Nintendo 64 called "Buggie Boogie". created the official clay models of the "Stunt Race FX" vehicles used on the Japanese version's box art and the instruction booklet of all versions.
Blue Ocean Strategy
While Kim and Mauborgne propose approaches to finding uncontested market space, at the present there are few success stories of companies that have actively applied their theories. One success story that does exist is Nintendo, who first applied the blue ocean strategy to create the Nintendo DS handheld game system which was the first portable gaming system to offer dual-screen gaming and a touch screen in 2004. In 2006, Nintendo released the Wii, which used unique motion controls. The 3DS is Nintendo's third endeavour for its blue ocean strategy. Its first two attempts, the Nintendo DS and Wii, were wildly successful, becoming some of the biggest selling platforms in history. Nintendo revealed their Blue Ocean Strategy during an E3 press conference during the hype build-up of the Wii.
History of the Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo initiated a limited test launch process prior to nationwide release. The first test launch saw the NES and its initial library of eighteen games released in New York City on October 18, 1985, with an initial shipment of 100,000 systems. Each set included a console, two gamepads, a R.O.B., a Zapper, and the Game Paks "Gyromite" and "Duck Hunt". The library of eighteen launch titles are "10-Yard Fight", "Baseball", "Clu Clu Land", "Duck Hunt", "Excitebike", "Golf", "Gyromite", "Hogan's Alley", "Ice Climber", "Kung Fu", "Pinball", "Stack-Up", "Tennis", "Wild Gunman", and "Wrecking Crew". Lucas M. Thomas wrote for IGN that he considered the "Baseball" title to be a prominent key of success at the test launch event.
History of Nintendo
In 1996, "Pocket Monsters" (known internationally as "Pokémon") was released in Japan to a huge following. The "Pokémon" franchise, created by Satoshi Tajiri, was proving so popular in America, Europe, and Japan, that for a brief time, Nintendo took back their place as the supreme power in the games industry.
The Legend of Zelda
Since the original "The Legend of Zelda" was released in 1986, the series has expanded to include 19 entries on all of Nintendo's major game consoles, as well as a number of spin-offs. An American animated TV series based on the games aired in 1989 and individual manga adaptations commissioned by Nintendo have been produced in Japan since 1997. "The Legend of Zelda" is one of Nintendo's most prominent and successful franchises; many of its games are considered by critics to be among the greatest video games of all time.
Nintendo Entertainment Analysis &amp; Development
One of the first games developed by the R&D4 department was "Mario Bros." in 1983, designed and directed by Miyamoto. The department was, however, unable to program the game with such an inexperienced team, and so counted with programming assistance from Gunpei Yokoi and the R&D1 department. One of the first completely self-developed games was "Super Mario Bros.", the sequel to "Mario Bros." The game set standards for the platform genre, and went on to be both a critical and commercial success. In 1986, R&D4 developed "The Legend of Zelda", for which Miyamoto again served as a director. The phenomenal sales of "Super Mario Bros." and "The Legend of Zelda" fueled the expansion of the department with young game designers such as Hideki Konno, Katsuya Eguchi, Kensuke Tanabe, Takao Shimizu, who would later become producers themselves.
Nintendo Switch
Known in development by its codename NX, the concept of the Switch came about as Nintendo's reaction to several quarters of financial losses into 2014, attributed to poor sales of its previous console, the Wii U, and market competition from mobile gaming. Nintendo's then-president Satoru Iwata pushed the company towards mobile gaming and novel hardware. The Nintendo Switch's design is aimed at a wide demographic of video game players through the multiple modes of use. Nintendo opted to use more standard electronic components, such as a chipset based on Nvidia's Tegra line, to make development for the console easier for programmers and more compatible with existing game engines. As the Wii U had struggled to gain external support, leaving it with a weak software library, Nintendo preemptively sought the support of many third-party developers and publishers to help build out the Switch's game library alongside Nintendo's own first-party titles, including many independent video game studios. While Nintendo initially anticipated around 100 titles for its first year, over 320 titles from first-party, third-party, and independent developers were released by the end of 2017.
Nintendo
Nintendo was founded as a playing card company by Fusajiro Yamauchi on 23 September 1889. Based in Kyoto, the business produced and marketed "Hanafuda" cards. The handmade cards soon became popular, and Yamauchi hired assistants to mass-produce cards to satisfy demand. In 1949, the company adopted the name Nintendo Karuta Co., Ltd., doing business as The Nintendo Playing Card Co. outside Japan. Nintendo continues to manufacture playing cards in Japan and organizes its own contract bridge tournament called the "Nintendo Cup". The word "Nintendo" can be translated as "leave luck to heaven", or alternatively as "the temple of free hanafuda".
Super Mario Land
"Super Mario Land" was developed by Nintendo R&D1 and published by Nintendo in 1989 as a launch title for their Game Boy handheld console. Nintendo CEO Hiroshi Yamauchi believed that fun games sold consoles, so when the company created the Game Boy handheld console, he wanted a fun game that would feature Nintendo's mascot, Mario, and subsequently sell consoles. The job fell to Nintendo R&D1, a development team led by Game Boy inventor Gunpei Yokoi. Yokoi had previously created the Game & Watch series and worked with his protégé, Shigeru Miyamoto, on the game that invented Mario, "Donkey Kong". "Super Mario Land" was the fourth "Super Mario" title, the first portable Mario game, and the first in the series to be made without Miyamoto.
Nintendo 3DS
Nintendo began experimenting with stereoscopic 3D video game technology in the 1980s. The Famicom 3D System, an accessory consisting of liquid crystal shutter glasses, was Nintendo's first product that enabled stereoscopic 3D effects. Although very few titles were released, Nintendo helped design one—called ""—which was co-developed by Nintendo and HAL Laboratory and released in 1988. The Famicom 3D System failed to garner market interest and was never released outside Japan.
Game &amp; Watch
Game & Watch ( "Gēmu & Uotchi"; called Tricotronic in West Germany and Austria) was a line of handheld electronic games produced by Nintendo from 1980 to 1991. Created by game designer Gunpei Yokoi, each "Game & Watch" features a single game to be played on an LCD screen in addition to a clock, an alarm, or both. . It was the earliest Nintendo product to gain major success.
Nintendo Campus Challenge 1992
The rules are the same as the 1991 version except with three Super NES minigames. The first minigame of the competition is "Super Mario World", where players must collect 50 coins (very similar to "Nintendo World Championships" 1990's first minigame, "Super Mario Bros."). The second game is a version of "F-Zero" where players must complete two laps. The final minigame is "Pilotwings" where players must land on two targets successfully. Once time does expire, a player's score was totaled using the following formula:There are only two known "1992 Campus Challenge" cartridges. One was found at the same New York City garage sale by Rob Walters as the 1991 cartridge. The cartridge is owned by a video game collector named Rick Bruns. The second one was found in an attic of a former employee of a company who did projects for Nintendo. Nintendo sent the cartridge to the company along with systems and other games.
Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise
Back in 2005, Electronic Gaming Monthly reported that Rare was hard at work on two projects for the Nintendo DS. Their first Nintendo DS game released was "Diddy Kong Racing DS", so that game and "Viva Piñata" were most likely the two projects mentioned.
Nintendo Selects
In April 2006, the "Player's Choice" was applied to Game Boy Advance games, which sell for $19.99 in the United States.
The Player's Choice label was renamed Nintendo Selects on May 15, 2011. The first Wii games added were "", "", "Mario Super Sluggers" and "Wii Sports". The New Play Control! version of "Pikmin 2" debuted in North America as a Nintendo Selects title, alongside New Play Control! "Mario Power Tennis". On February 28, 2013, Nintendo announced that the UK would receive two new Nintendo Selects games: Mario Party 8 and Wii Sports Resort. These launches coincided with the Wii Mini launch, on March 22, 2013. On October 22, 2013, was announced "Super Smash Bros. Brawl", "Mario Kart Wii", "Super Mario Galaxy", "" and "Wii Sports + Wii Sports Resort" for the new Nintendo Selects Australian line by price AU$49.95 and NZ$59.95 with the release date of November 7, 2013. On September 28, 2015, Nintendo of Europe announced a Nintendo Selects range of games for the Nintendo 3DS. The label was then expanded to the Wii U alongside select Wii and Nintendo 3DS titles in Canada, released on March 11, 2016, priced at CA$29.99. On March 10, 2016, a range of Nintendo Selects were announced for release on April 15, 2016 in Europe.
Nintendo
In 1966, Nintendo moved into the Japanese toy industry with the Ultra Hand, an extendable arm developed by its maintenance engineer Gunpei Yokoi in his free time. Yokoi was moved from maintenance to the new "Nintendo Games" department as a product developer. Nintendo continued to produce popular toys, including the Ultra Machine, Love Tester and the "Kousenjuu" series of light gun games. Despite some successful products, Nintendo struggled to meet the fast development and manufacturing turnaround required in the toy market, and fell behind the well-established companies such as Bandai and Tomy. In 1973, its focus shifted to family entertainment venues with the Laser Clay Shooting System, using the same light gun technology used in Nintendo's "Kousenjuu" series of toys, and set up in abandoned bowling alleys. Following some success, Nintendo developed several more light gun machines (such as the light gun shooter game "Wild Gunman") for the emerging arcade scene. While the Laser Clay Shooting System ranges had to be shut down following excessive costs, Nintendo had found a new market.
History of Nintendo
In October 2016, Nintendo revealed a new system called the Nintendo Switch, which was released on March 3, 2017. It is a hybrid video game console with detachable controllers with an emphasis on portability and on the go multiplayer in contrast of the then competitors PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. In the year the Switch was released Nintendo put out "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild" and "Super Mario Odyssey", both games with critical acclaim that helped sell millions of units in the first year of the new console, eventually culminating with the "Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild" being named Game of the Year 2017.
History of Nintendo
Following the aforementioned success, in 1963 "Nintendo Playing Card Co., Ltd." was renamed to "Nintendo" by Yamauchi. Nintendo now began to experiment in other areas of business using the newly injected capital. During the period of time between 1963 and 1968, Nintendo set up a taxi company, "love hotel" chain, food company (trying to sell instant rice, similar to instant noodles) and several other things (including a vacuum cleaner, Chiritory, which later appeared in a two-player minigame in "" in 2003). All these ventures eventually failed, except toymaking, where they had some earlier experience from selling playing cards. In 1964, while Japan was experiencing an economic boom due to the Tokyo Olympics, the playing card business reached its saturation point. Japanese households stopped buying playing cards, and the price of Nintendo stock fell from 900 yen to 60 yen.
Playtronic
The announcement of the fusion attained great attention on the media, considering that Playtronic was the first company in the world to produce Nintendo products outside Japan. Shortly thereafter, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System was the first console to be announced and then produced already in August 24, 1993, adapted to the Brazilian's PAL-M analog TV system and bundled as Control Set (with one controller) and Super Set (with two controllers and the Super Mario World game cartridge) versions. The initial distribution included the Super Scope light gun and 12 games shipped and later sold separately. Even with the late release, the success of its sales snapped up 60% from the 16-bit video game consoles local segment in April, 1995.
Nintendo video game consoles
Released July 15, 1983, the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit video game console released by Nintendo in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Oceania and Africa and was Nintendo's first home video game console released outside Japan. In Japan, it is known as the "Family Computer" (or "Famicom", as it is commonly abbreviated). Selling 61.91 million units worldwide, the NES helped revitalize the video game industry following the video game crash of 1983 and set the standard for subsequent consoles in everything from game design to business practices. The NES was the first console for which the manufacturer openly courted third-party developers. Many of Nintendo's most iconic franchises, such as "The Legend of Zelda" and "Metroid" were started on the NES. Nintendo continued to repair Famicom consoles in Japan until October 31, 2007, attributing the decision to discontinue support to an increasing shortage of the necessary parts.
Nintendo Switch
The Nintendo Switch was unveiled in October 2016 and was released in most areas worldwide on March 3, 2017. The console shipped nearly three million in the first month of its launch, exceeding Nintendo's initial projection of two million, and within a year of release achieved over 14 million units sold worldwide, outselling total lifetime sales of the Wii U. By the start of 2018, the Switch became the fastest-selling home console in both Japan and the United States. , Nintendo Switch has sold more than 32 million units worldwide. Switch sales have been strongly tied to sales of Nintendo's first-party titles, with five games, "", "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate", "Super Mario Odyssey", "Mario Kart 8 Deluxe", and "" having sold over ten million units each.
Super Mario Kart
Super Mario Kart is a 1992 kart racing video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game console. The first game of the "Mario Kart" series, it was released in Japan and North America in 1992, and in Europe the following year. Selling 8.76 million copies worldwide, the game went on to become the fourth best selling SNES game of all time. "Super Mario Kart" was re-released on the Wii's Virtual Console in 2009, and on the Wii U's Virtual Console in 2013. Nintendo re-released "Super Mario Kart" in the United States in September 2017 as part of the company's Super NES Classic Edition.
List of best-selling Nintendo Entertainment System video games
The best-selling video game of all-time on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) console, known as the Family Computer (Famicom) in Japan, is "Super Mario Bros." First released in Japan on September 18, 1985, it went on to sell over 40 million units worldwide, making it the fifth best-selling video game of all-time. The game's two sequels on the NES are also featured in the top five best-selling games on the platform – "Super Mario Bros. 2" sold 7.46 million units to rank fourth, while "Super Mario Bros. 3" sold in excess of 17 million copies to rank third. "Duck Hunt" is the second best-selling game on the NES, selling over 28 million copies worldwide.
Handheld game console
In 1979, Gunpei Yokoi, traveling on a bullet train, saw a bored businessman playing with an LCD calculator by pressing the buttons. Yokoi then thought of an idea for a watch that doubled as a miniature game machine for killing time. Starting in 1980, Nintendo began to release a series of electronic games designed by Yokoi called the Game & Watch games. Taking advantage of the technology used in the credit-card-sized calculators that had appeared on the market, Yokoi designed the series of LCD-based games to include a digital time display in the corner of the screen. For later, more complicated Game & Watch games, Yokoi invented a cross shaped directional pad or "D-pad" for control of on-screen characters. Yokoi also included his directional pad on the NES controllers, and the cross-shaped thumb controller soon became standard on game console controllers and ubiquitous across the video game industry since. When Yokoi began designing Nintendo's first handheld game console, he came up with a device that married the elements of his Game & Watch devices and the Famicom console, including both items' D-pad controller. The result was the Nintendo Game Boy.
Nintendo Entertainment System
On July 14, 2016, Nintendo announced the November 2016 launch of a miniature replica of the NES, titled Nintendo Entertainment System: NES Classic Edition in the United States and Nintendo Classic Mini: Nintendo Entertainment System in Europe and Australia. The console includes 30 permanently inbuilt games from the vintage NES library, including the "Super Mario Bros." and "The Legend of Zelda" series. The system features HDMI display output and a new replica controller, which can also connect to the Wii Remote for use with Virtual Console games. It was discontinued in North America on April 13, 2017, and worldwide on April 15, 2017. However, Nintendo announced in September 2017 that the NES Classic Mini would return to production on June 29, 2018. In 2018, Nintendo will add 20 NES games to be playable on the Nintendo Switch via its Nintendo Switch Online service. The games will feature online gaming capabilities.
History of Nintendo
In 1949, Hiroshi Yamauchi was attending Waseda University in Tokyo, however, after his grandfather died he left to take office as the president of Nintendo. In 1951, he renamed "Marufuku Co. Ltd." to "Nintendo Playing Card Co., Ltd." In 1953, Nintendo became the first company in Japan to produce playing cards from plastic.