The History of Nintendo (1889-1991)
Techquickie
·Techquickie
·2017-05-06
·
1,028 words · ~5 min read
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Although the name Nintendo didn't become super wellknown in the Anglosphere until
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the mid 1980s, their history actually goes back a whole century before Mario
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became a worldwide phenomenon. Nintendo
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started as a small Kyoto-based business in 1989 where it made Hanafuda, a type
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of Japanese playing cards. They quickly found success and in fact the business
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did so well that Nintendo pretty much only made playing cards until the mid
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1960s when the company diversified into fields like toys, taxis, instant
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noodles, and even hourly rate hotels. H
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But these ventures didn't go so well for Nintendo. And by this time, folks in
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Japan weren't really buying playing cards much anymore. So, the company was
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suddenly in dire financial straits until
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employee Ge Yokcoy used his engineering
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background to develop a popular line of electronic toys, including light guns in
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the early 1970s that could be considered the forerunners of the Ness Zapper
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that's responsible for the deaths of millions of digital ducks. You can learn
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more about light guns in this episode. But why make light guns if you don't
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make a game console? Well, some of
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Nintendo's early light guns were used in game systems from other manufacturers
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because Nintendo wouldn't release its own console until 1977.
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The simply titled Color TV Game that was
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only marketed in Japan. Unlike most
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later systems, the Color TV game didn't use cartridges, but instead came in
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several variations that featured different games built in. And that
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wasn't the only primitive thing about it. The first version didn't even have
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true controllers. Instead, players controlled the game by fiddling with
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dials on the console itself, making gameplay a little awkward. But in spite
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of these limitations, the color TV game did fairly well. Though Nintendo's first
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real hit in the video game world came after Yokoy sat beside a passenger on a
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train who was fiddling with a calculator to pass the time. Suddenly he thought,
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"Hey, why can't people cure their boredom with handheld games instead?"
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With that, the Game and Watch was born
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in 1980. a line of simple LCD games with
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clocks built in, hence the name.
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Although each Game and Watch model only included one game due to their use of
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segment displays that could only show a limited number of images, it sold over
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43 million units worldwide before it was
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discontinued in 1991. Nintendo was also developing arcade
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games during this time, including the original Donkey Kong and Mario Brothers,
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released in 1981 and 83, respectively.
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But home consoles continued to gain popularity during the early 80s. So
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Nintendo came out with the Family Computer or Famicom in 1983.
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This was their first console that resembles what we're used to today with
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wired controllers and a cartridge system that allowed it to play lots of
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different games. The Famicom sold very
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well, leading Nintendo to look at releasing it in the United States. But
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by this time, the infamous video game
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crash of 1983 had happened. a huge
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downturn in the video game industry that was caused in large part by the market
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being flooded with very poor quality games and consumer confusion that
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stemmed from dishonest box art and inconsistencies in the game experience
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between consoles even when playing the same game. So Nintendo redesigned the
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Famicom into the Nintendo Entertainment
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System or NES, envisioning it as a
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single ecosystem using proprietary terms
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like control deck and game pack instead
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of console or video game cartridge.
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Nintendo also introduced the seal of quality at this time to show that Nest
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Games had passed Nintendo quality control in an attempt to convince
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consumers they were only licensing worthwhile games for their console.
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Unlike competitors like Atari, the NES finally made it to market in 1986
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and was a runaway hit, trouncing its competitors with games like Super Mario
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Brothers, Metroid, and The Legend of Zelda, which became such enduring
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franchises that they continue to this very day. So successful was the Nest
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that the company rolled out Nintendo Power magazine two years later, which
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served to hype upcoming titles and hardware.
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But Nintendo didn't forget about the handheld market, and Yokoy took his
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handheld game ideas to the next level when he designed the Game Boy, released
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in 1989. Although it was rather simple, featuring
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a black and white nonbacklit screen with
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a low 160x 144 resolution, it was
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inexpensive and durable, allowing it to beat out more advanced rival handhelds
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like the Sega Game Gear. With that, the
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stage was set for a console war that would rage on for many more years. But
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right now, we're out of time. So stay tuned for part two of our history of
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Nintendo where we have a look at the Nintendo Sega conflict of the 1990s,
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ultra rare Charizard cards, and 3D
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