Nintendo is currently the oldest videogame company still in business. Oddly enough, the company started out making Hanafuda cards (a trading card game) on September 23, 1889. Though not breaking in the videogame business until the late 20th century, the company attempted many professions, such as a taxi company and a love hotel. Around 1978, Nintendo produced its first game developed for use on a TV. It was a videogame version of Othello. Only seven years later, Nintendo produced the Nintendo Entertainment System (called Famicom in Japan). Shortly after, Nintendo made the Gameboy portable videogame system. These two devices evolved into the current Wii and Nintendo DS. These systems also propelled Nintendo into becoming a multinational and well respected video game development corporation.
From the year 1979 to the present, Nintendo went from having 1 small corporate office in Kyoto, Japan, to having 7, including one in Canada, Australia, Germany, China, and the United States. Recently another corporate office has opened in Seoul Korea.
Shigeru Miyamoto
Shigeru Miyamoto is often looked upon as a videogame god. After he was hired by Nintendo, Miyamoto took a flopped arcade game console, called Radar Scope, and turned it into a more profitable endeavor, the original Donkey Kong. Miyamoto continued to create games under the Nintendo license for game systems such as the NES, Super Nintendo, all the way through to the Wii and Nintendo DS. He created such notable Nintendo icons as Mario, Zelda and Star Fox.
His works mirror his love for simplicity and channeling the inner child. Miyamoto also reflects Nintendo’s ideals for creating a videogame. They both like to offer unconventional gameplay (i.e. the Nintendo DS and Wii) while not making the experience difficult, complex or intimidating.
Nintendo Seal of Quality
The Nintendo Seal of Quality started as a pseudo advertising ploy to increase sales of games to the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The Videogame crash of 1983 led many designers and backers of the NES to becoming scared their system would be a large flop. As they continued the use of the seal, the quality of the games selected increased and each publisher was only allowed 5 releases per year. Nintendo was now encouraging its publishers to develop high quality games. This still stand true to this day as Nintendo is known for its high quality games with extreme attention to detail.