What Is Nintendo
“What is Nintendo?” proves to be a multifaceted question, with multiple correct answers. The Nintendo company and their products are arguably the greatest platform(s) for video gaming in the world, with thousands of excellent, exciting, and entertaining game titles available. Throughout their long history, Nintendo has been an industry leader in both innovation and implementation, making them a giant of the electronic gaming industry, with a deserved reputation of excellence and innovation.
The question “What is Nintendo” has a storied and complex history, the Nintendo company started out manufacturing playing cards in 1888, (can you believe it?), but progressed to become the electronic gaming giant it is now, the third most profitable corporation in Japan, and arguably the most influential game-changer in the world of console and handheld gaming. In the 1970’s, Nintendo was involved in arcade gaming, but after 1981’s release of Donkey Kong, their star began its ascent to a zenith not yet attained. Donkey Kong was hugely successful and was licensed to several existing video game consoles, including Atari, Intellivision and ColecoVison. In 1983, Nintendo launched the NES home video game console in Japan, by 1985 the console was released in the United States, along with the game Super Mario Brothers, one of the highest selling video games in the world to this day. In an industry that counts its profits in the billions, Nintendo was rapidly becoming a heavy hitter. In late 1989, Nintendo released their first handheld console designed by one of their in-house designers, Yokoi. Around this time, the NES was replaced by the Super NES, or SNES, which initiated a console war between Sega and Nintendo. SNES went on to sell over 50 million consoles, while the Game Boy entirely dominated the hand-held console market. In 1996, the company released the Nintendo 64 which introduced the rumble pak, and later, the analog stick. The Nintendo 64 was followed by the astonishing GameCube, which did away with the bulky cartridges in favor of a small optical disc. Following the Gamecube were the Wii Home, and the WiiU, Nintendo’s current home console release. Both the Wii Home and WiiU incorporatemotion sensing technology.
What Is Nintendo- Nintendo Defined cont.
The games designed for Nintendo, whether internal or external, have always been one of the biggest selling points for their various consoles. Any discussion of “what is Nintendo” is incomplete without a commensurate discussion of the exceptional games available for their various consoles. Ranging from titles that appeal to children, adults, and everyone in between, there is a game that can be found to delight anyone, from ages 8 to 80. Although 80 might seem to be a little bit old for gaming, Nintendo has aggressively pursued both the middle-aged and older markets, as world-wide baby boomer populations are ageing. This again highlights Nintendo’s original and aggressive marketing, setting them apart from the other console manufacturers, who traditionally marketed only to what they considered their core client group: Males aged 12 to 32.
The introduction of the Wii Home and the WiiU opened up entire new markets for exercise and interactive games. As of 2009, Wii Sports is the best-selling game of all time, outstripping even Super Mario Brothers in sales. Wii Sports; with a core purchasing demographic of consumers in the 28 to 56 year old range blew out of the water preconceived notions of what constitutes the game and console purchasing demographic. It also helped to usher in significantly higher percentages of female purchasers than ever before. As with most of what Nintendo does, all other console and device manufacturers jumped on the bandwagon partially established by Wii consoles and interactive sports game titles.
What Is Nintendo- Nintendo Defined cont.
Since imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, the question of, what is Nintendo, is again validated as being apparently the best innovator in the gaming world. From console development to games and peripherals, Nintendo has been there from the very beginning, with ground-breaking marketing, creation, design and development. No absolute answers exist for the question of ” What is Nintendo?” but I hope I have given you a skilled primer on what is possibly the most successful electronic gaming company icon the world.
All logo’s and pictures depicted throughout this website are the right of their respective owners.



















