First generation of video game consoles
This was also the first involvement of Nintendo in video games. According to Martin Picard in the "International Journal of Computer Game Research": "in 1971, Nintendo had -- even before the marketing of the first home console in the United States -- an alliance with the American pioneer Magnavox to develop and produce optoelectronic guns for the Odyssey (released in 1972), since it was similar to what Nintendo was able to offer in the Japanese toy market in 1970s".
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.