The History of Nintendo (completed)

The History of Nintendo


Founded on September 23rd 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi and started producing Hanafunda playing cards in Kyoto, Japan.


In 1902, Fusajiro Yamauchi releases playing cards in Western style.


In 1907, Nintendo partnered with Japan Tobacco & Salt Corporation in order to sell their Hanafuda cards in cigarette stores. They are deemed the first Japanese company to successfully manufacture and sell Western playing cards in Japan.


After Fusajiro Yamauchi retired at the age of 70 in 1929, his son-in-law, Sekiryo Kaneda took over Nintendo from 1929 to 1949.


In 1933, Sekiryo Kaneda established a joint venture with another company and renamed the company Yamauchi Nintendo & Company.


Fusajiro Yamauchi suffered a stroke and died in January 1940


In 1949, Sekiryo Kaneda retired and died when he suffered a stroke. His grandson, Hiroshi Yamauchi, took over in business as president of Nintendo.


In 1956, Hiroshi Yamauchi visited the U.S, to engage in talks with the United States Playing Card Company, the dominant playing card manufacturer in the United States. Yamauchi was shocked to find that the world's biggest company in his business was relegated to using a small office. This was a turning point for Yamauchi, who then realized the limitations of the playing card business.


In 1959, Nintendo struck a deal with Disney to have them allow Nintendo to 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.


By 1963-1968 Nintendo started opening a taxi company, love hotels, and a food company selling instant rice.


In 1966, Gunpei Yokoi invented the Ultra Hand, It is an extending arm that reached out and grab objects.


In 1967, Gunpei Yokoi designed the Ultra Machine.

The Ultra Machine throws very soft balls for people to hit with baseball bats. It was intended for a younger audience.


In 1969, Gunpei Yokoi developed the Electronic Love Tester to prove how much a couple love each other.


Nintendo’s first ever arcade was called EVR Race

Release: 1975


In 1977, Nintendo hired a video game designer named Shigeru Miyamoto to begin its foray in electronic video games & end the era of playing cards.


Nintendo’s first ever console that was released only in Japan was called Color TV Game 6

Sold over one million units It contained six variations of "Light

Tennis" (or Pong). The players controlled their paddles with dials attached directly to the machine. Additionally, as an alternative to the standard version, a white-colored C battery powered model of the Color TV-Game 6 was introduced. With a limited run of only a few hundred units, these white colored units are largely considered to be the most prized by serious collectors.

Release: 1977


Color TV Game 15 Sold over a million units With the two controllers now

on cables (making for much more comfortable play) and 15 slightly different versions of Light Tennis, Two models of the CTG 15 were released, the only difference between the two being a slight color tint change. The yellow-orange version is considered significantly more difficult to find by collectors, while the red-orange version is somewhat more common.

Release: 1978


Nintendo released the Color TV Game Racing 112

A bird's-eye view racing game that implemented a steering wheel and gearshift. Alternatively, two smaller controllers could be used for multiplayer.

Release: 1978


Color TV Game Block Breaker

1-player console ran a ported version of “Block Breaker” one of Nintendo's arcade games based on Atari's Breakout. Like the Color TV-Game 6, the in-game paddle was controlled by a dial attached to the system. The system's external design was one of Shigeru Miyamoto's first video-game projects after joining Nintendo in 1977.

Release: 1979


In 1979, Gunpei Yokoi invented a device called the Chiritorie.

It’s a remote controlled vacuum cleaner where the owner can stay far away from the vacuum and control it with a remote control that came with the package. After a while, the person will be required to empty the dirt in the vacuum cleaner.

They used the stickers to customize the vacuum however they wanted.


Nintendo’s second arcade was Radar Scope.

Release: 1979


Computer TV Game

The final console of the Color TV Game series.

Like other consoles in the Color TV-Game series, it was distributed only in Japan. One of the games in this console was a port of Nintendo's first video arcade game, Computer Othello.

Release: 1980


The first ever handheld system Nintendo released was called Game & Watch.

Sold over 43.4 Million Units

Release: 1980


Donkey Kong was the first major arcade game for Nintendo, and their first big hit, and it was both Mario and Donkey Kong’s first ever appearance.

Release: 1981 (U.S)


Nintendo released the Famicom system in Japan

First cartridge based video game console.

Sold over 500,000 units

Release in Japan: July 1983


NES (Nintendo Entertainment System)

The NES helped revitalize 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 titles for Nintendo's platform.

Release: February, 1985


Gameboy was released

Best selling handheld game system

Release: 1989


Super Famicom was released

Release: 1990


SNES (Super Nintendo Entertainment System)

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is Nintendo's second home console, following the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The console introduced advanced graphics and sound capabilities compared with other consoles at the time. Additionally, development of a variety of enhancement chips (which were integrated on game circuit boards) helped to keep it competitive in the marketplace.

Release: 1991


Game Boy Play It Loud

Came with different colors of the system

Release: January, 1995


Nintendo unveiled the Virtual Boy

First portable 3-D gaming system, but discontinued one year later.

Release: August, 1995


Game Boy Pocket

Slim size, require two AAA batteries for ten hours of gameplay, uses black & white screen instead of the “pea soup” monochromatic LED or LCD screen display.

Release: September 3, 1996


N64 (Nintendo 64)

Sold over 500,000 units.

Sported a 64-bit processor and awesome 3-D visuals.

Release: September 26, 1996


Game Boy Light

Never released in the US and Europe

Release in Japan: 1997


Nintendo released the Gameboy Color

First ever Gameboy system to play games in color.

Release: 1998


Game Boy Advance

New graphics on new Game Boy games

Graphics looks identical to the SNES

Release: March, 2001


Nintendo GameCube

The GameCube is the first Nintendo console to use optical discs for its primary storage medium. The discs are similar to the miniDVD format, and as a result of their smaller size, the system was not designed to play standard DVDs or audio CDs. Nintendo presents a variety of connectivity options for the GameCube. It supports online gaming for a small number of games via the broadband or modem adapter, sold separately; and it connects to the Game Boy Advance, which uses the Nintendo GameCube – Game Boy Advance link cable allowing players to access exclusive in-game features using the handheld as a second screen and controller.

Release: November, 2001


In 2002, Hiroshi Yamauchi retired from Nintendo, and Satoru Iwata took over in business as first ever CEO at Nintendo.


Game Boy Advance SP

Release: 2003


Nintendo DS

It introduced distinctive new features to handheld gaming: two LCD screens working in tandem (the bottom one featuring a touchscreen), a built-in microphone, and support for wireless connectivity. Both screens are encompassed within a clamshell design similar to the Game Boy Advance SP. The Nintendo DS also features the ability for multiple DS consoles to directly interact with each other over Wi-Fi within a short range without the need to connect to an existing wireless network. Alternatively, they can interact online using the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service.

Received over 3,000,000 pre-orders

Release: 2004


Game Boy Advance Micro

The world’s tiniest Game Boy handheld system

Release: 2005


On May 25 2006, Reggie Fils-Aime became president of Nintendo of America after Tatsumi Kimishima retired.


Nintendo DS Lite

Release: June, 2006


Nintendo Wii

The first ever console to play with the controllers called the Wiimote and the Nunchuk which can be used as a handheld pointing device and which detects movement in three dimensions. Another notable feature of the console is WiiConnect24, which enables it to receive messages and updates over the Internet while in standby mode. It also features a game download service, called "Virtual Console", which features emulated games from past systems. Since its release, the Wii has spawned many peripheral devices, including the Wii Balance Board and Motion Plus, and has had several hardware revisions.

Wii can play GameCube backwards compatibility.



Nintendo DSi

The Nintendo DSi has some unique features that set it apart from the Nintendo DS Lite and the original style Nintendo DS (often referred to by owners as the "Nintendo DS Phat"). The Nintendo DSi has two cameras that can snap pictures, and it can support an SD card for storage purposes. Additionally, it can access the Nintendo DSi Shop and download games that are referred to as "DSiWare." The DSi also has a downloadable Internet browser.

Consequently, Nintendo removed the Game Boy Advance (GBA) cartridge slot to improve portability without sacrificing durability.

Release: 2008


Nintendo DSi XL

The first ever handheld system to make it larger

Release: 2010


Nintendo 3DS

The first ever handheld system to play games in 3-D without using 3-D glasses.

The handheld offers new features such as the StreetPass and SpotPass tag modes, powered by Nintendo Network; augmented reality, using its 3D cameras; and Virtual Console, which allows owners to download and play games originally released on older video game systems. It is also pre-loaded with various applications including these: an online distribution store called Nintendo eShop, a social networking service called Miiverse; an Internet Browser; the Netflix, Hulu Plus and YouTube streaming video services; Nintendo Video; a messaging application called Swapnote (known as Nintendo Letter Box in Europe and Australia); and Mii Maker.

Uses an auto stereoscopic display technology called a parallax barrier.

As of June 2014, it has sold over 44.14 million units worldwide.

Release: 2011


Nintendo 3DS XL

Release: August, 2012


Nintendo Wii U

The first ever console to play games in 1080p HD

The Wii U is the first Nintendo console to support high-definition graphics. The Wii U's primary controller is the Wii U GamePad, which features an embedded touchscreen, accelerometer, gyroscope, built in camera and microphone. The screen can be used either as a supplement to the main display (either providing an alternate, asymmetric gameplay experience, or a means of local multiplayer without resorting to a split screen), or in supported games, play the game directly on the GamePad without using the television it is connected to. Games can support any combination of the GamePad, Wii Remote, Nunchuk, Balance Board, or Nintendo's more traditionally-shaped Wii U Pro Controller for input. The Wii U is also backwards compatible with most games released for the original Wii. Online functionality on the Wii U centers around the Nintendo Network platform, and Miiverse, an integrated social networking service which allows users to share in-game experiences and content with other players.

As of March 31 2014, Wii U has sold 6.17 million hardware units and 32.28 million software units worldwide.



Nintendo 2DS

Plays games only in 2D

Release: 2013


Former president, Hiroshi Yamauchi (great-grandson of Fusajiro Yamauchi and grandson of Sekiryo Kaneda) had died on September 19, 2013 due to pneumonia.

The End

The History of Nintendo (completed)

Technology

Transcript of The History of Nintendo (completed)