Nintendo History
While the video game industry seems fairly new, the truth is, Nintendo has been around longer than any other video game company and longer than even some other entertainment companies
Nintendo got its start in Japan in 1889 when Fusajiro Yamauchi began manufacturing exquisite Japanese playing cards called "Hanafuda" in Kyoto. Nintendo's cards were some of the most popular in all of Japan and Nintendo kept producing quality playing cards all the way through the 1960s. What changed Nintendo's products? Electronics!
Ever since the television was invented, men have been trying to come up with some type of electronic type game people could play on television, using computer technologies. The first types of such games were Game and Watches. These were produced by Nintendo and are similar to the LCD screen based games on today as often produced by Tiger Electronics.
Electronic games evolved beyond this as one (or supposedly two) men developed the world's first video game, Pong. Pong was a simple tennis game with two rectangles and a square to be played with two players each using a paddle to control their rectangle. (or racket)
Pong was a delight (especially at home with the home version) and inspired many different companies like Atari, Magnavox, Mattel, and even a former leather producer Coleco to get into the game industry.
From 1975 to 1982, many companies tried and failed with multiple systems. Magnavox, the television producer, failed miserably with two home systems. Mattel challenged Atari with good games, but a complicated system. In the end, only one system stood strong; Atari, who had backed Pong and purchased the rights to the game. Among the years their sytems existed, they had purchased the rights to many popular games such as Missle Command, Defender, and more. Nintendo still succeeded with its cheaper Game and Watch handheld systems and a few hit arcade machines such as Donkey Kong and Mario Bros., but in 1984, Nintendo was going to be even more popular than ever expected......
1984 was the year the Nintendo Entertainment System (known as Famicom, or Family Computer in Japan) launched into the lives of gamers. The system featured quality 8 bit graphics, (the best to date) an easy to use controller, and incredible games, which included great Nintendo Hits like Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, and more. Part of the success of the system was the fact Nintendo packaged Super Mario Bros. with most of its different NES packages. Gamers got hooked on a great Nintendo title and wanted more. Nintendo also had packages with included other greats like the Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt pack which came with a light gun for hunting and a package with included Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt/ which came with a large pad for stepping on.
Another major company, Sega (originally Service Games) developed and produced the Sega Master System. Sega had its own hit titles, but few gamers followed Sega like Nintendo followers followed Nintendo.
1989, the first 16 bit system launched. NEC's Turbo Graphix 16 featured amazing graphics and sound, but Nintendo still reigned supreme with its qualtiy titles. In 1990, Sega launched its own 16 bit system called the Genesis, but without the major support of big hit titles, it didn't sell too well in its first year. Even NEC produced a CD based game system that year, but it too failed.
In 1991, the game industry was going to get big. Sega finally had a big hit title, Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic was fasted paced and had lots of action. It drew in many Sega fans, but the same year, Nintendo launched its own 16 bit system, the Super NES. (or Super Famicom) It featured the huge hit, Super Mario World which has sold well into the high millions. Sega tried many things, such as releasing two add-ons to the Genesis and producing 3 different models of the Genesis to attract fans, but in the end, Nintendo won. The Genesis died and that was that. Nintendo was recognized as king of the game industry.
In 1995, the first 32 bit and 3D based system was launched by Sega. It was a big hit at release (even at $400), but a few months later, Sony, a famous hardware maker of chips and such joined the gaming fray. It's CD based Playstation was cheaper than Sega's CD based Saturn and had newer, different games. The Saturn still had an audience, but it wouldn't last. Atari even launched its own 64 bit cartridge system and a CD based add-on, but without big 3rd party support, its couldn't succeed. Atari finally gave up the hardware business and continued to do what it did best. Produce games.
In August of 1996, Nintendo launched a 64 bit cartridge based system. The graphics were twice as good as Playstation and even better than twice as good as the Saturn's. A year later, the Saturn died and Sega fans went out and bought Playstations.
It was a tough time. Sony continued to do well in the game industry, but Nintendo retained its own fans. In America, the Nintendo outsold the Playstation, but worldwide, Sony won the title of Gaming King.
In 1998, in Japan, Sega made its last return in the hardware business. It released the 128 bit, CD based Dreamcast. The Dreamcast sold extremely well with incredible graphics and games like Soul Caliber and Sonic Adventure. It had huge 3rd party support from companies like Capcom and Namco, but 1999 changed that.
Sony released a Playstation 2 which played DVDs and even original Playstation games. Nintendo had still sold many 64 games during the Dreamcast's reign, but now, Nintendo had to seriously think about producing it's next-generation system.
In November of 20001, Nintendo released the 128 bit, mini-DVD based GameCube. The GameCube has sold quite well, but not as well as the Playstation 2. Microsoft, the world's leader in computer software also joined the fray that year. They have not been able to surpass Nintendo, but has done quite well themselves. More and more people play video games now, so perhaps there are enough gamers to support three major companies, but we won't know until a few years from now.
Even with troubles in the console industry, since 1989, Nintendo has done well with its many models of the handheld black and white, 8 bit system, the Gameboy. Currently, Nintendo is selling the 32 bit, color system, the Gameboy Advance. There have been other challengers in the handheld gaming industry, but no other company has lasted. Nintendo has always been full of ideas such as Poke'mon, the 3D FX chip in its Super NES games, and other ideas. Nintendo's only flop? The Virtual Boy, which featured a red and black screen and was not very portable as you had to use a stand and separate controller to play, and perhaps not making the N64 a non-CD based system.
In all, Nintendo has done well and always come up with interesting games. They recently stated that their focus will still be games, not hardware, so perhaps we won't see another Nintendo system, but we will continue to see their excellent quality game work.
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