History Creator / Nintendo

[[http://nintendo.com Nintendo]] (任天堂) is one of the most successful and widely known video game companies in the world. Headquartered in Kyoto, UsefulNotes/{{Japan}}, it was brought to international prominence with the Platform/NintendoEntertainmentSystem in the mid 1980s. It is best known as the creator of a number of popular video game franchises, such as ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'', ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'', and ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}''.[[note]]Albeit partially. ''Pokémon'' is developed and created by Creator/GameFreak and controlled by The Pokémon Company rather than Nintendo themselves. Though Nintendo still handles the publishing and marketing side of things (as well as provide assistance to Game Freak) and they co-own The Pokémon Company alongside Game Freak and Creatures Inc. They also own all the trademarks for the IP.[[/note]]

Oh, and despite mainly focusing on video games these days, Nintendo still continues to manufacture hanafuda cards.[[note]]Plus other playing cards, TabletopGame/{{shogi}}, and TabletopGame/{{go}}.[[/note]] They also had a stint as the majority-owners of the Seattle Mariners, a UsefulNotes/MajorLeagueBaseball team, from 1992 to 2016 -- with the original purchase being rather controversial at the time, and continue to hold a small stake in the team.

Currently, Nintendo is skillfully riding the Platform/NintendoSwitch wave, which had an overwhelmingly successful launch, outselling [[Platform/WiiU its predecessor]]'s lifetimes sales in under a year and becoming the fastest-selling console ever in the US. A steady stream of strong first-party releases and a large amount of third-party and indie support turned the Switch into a hell of a comeback for Nintendo, and the console now stands as their best-selling home console of all-time. As for the handheld side of things, Nintendo gracefully exited that field with the 3DS's discontinuation in late 2020, shifting focus entirely to the hybrid approach that the Switch offers. Oh, and despite mainly focusing on video games these days, Nintendo still continues to manufacture hanafuda cards.[[note]]Plus other playing cards, TabletopGame/{{shogi}}, and TabletopGame/{{go}}.[[/note]]

On May 7, 2024, Nintendo announced that the successor to the Nintendo Switch was scheduled for release in early 2025, and would be revealed later in 2024.

As a fun side note, they also majority-owned the Seattle Mariners, a UsefulNotes/MajorLeagueBaseball team, from 1992 to 2016 -- with the original purchase being rather controversial at the time. They ended up selling a majority of their ownership in 2016, though they still hold a (much smaller) stake in the team.

Oh, and for the record? The Official (or "Original", in Europe/Australia) Nintendo Seal of Quality? That just meant the game wasn't going to destroy your system if you play it, [[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant not that the game was actually good]].

Those looking for a more detailed history of Nintendo, ranging from its rather humble card-making beginnings up to the start of the N64 era, can find it in the book ''Game Over: Press Start To Continue'' by David Sheff and Andy Eddy.

* 2025-??? - '''Nintendo Switch successor console (name TBD)''': Nintendo's yet-to-be-titled successor to the Nintendo Switch. Little is officially confirmed regarding it, but it has been described by Shuntaro Furukawa [[https://twitter.com/gibbogame/status/1787836562191135212 as being the "next model" of the Switch]].

* 2025-??? - Nintendo Switch successor console (name TBD): Nintendo's yet-to-be-titled successor to the Nintendo Switch. Little is officially confirmed regarding it, but it has been described by Shuntaro Furukawa [[https://twitter.com/gibbogame/status/1787836562191135212 as being the "next model" of the Switch]].

** 2003-2007 - Platform/GameBoyPlayer: An add-on that allowed games from the Game Boy line to be played on a TV, with the additional requirement of a start-up disc. Unlike the Super Game Boy, it did not play original Game Boy games in color and was limited to a single set of interchangeable borders regardless of what game was inserted. Was the last official add-on made for a Nintendo home console.

* ''Samurai Warriors 3''

[[http://nintendo.com Nintendo]] (任天堂) is one of the most successful and widely known video game companies in the world. Headquartered in Kyoto, UsefulNotes/{{Japan}}, it was brought to international prominence with the Platform/NintendoEntertainmentSystem in the mid 1980s. It is best known as the creator of a number of popular video game franchises, such as ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'', ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'', and ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}''.[[note]]Albeit partially. ''Pokémon'' is developed and created by Creator/GameFreak and controlled by The Pokémon Company rather than Nintendo themselves. Though Nintendo still handles the publishing and marketing side of things (as well as provide assistance to Game Freak) and they co-own The Pokémon Company alongside Game Freak and Creatures Inc.[[/note]]

[[http://nintendo.com Nintendo]] (任天堂) is one of the most successful and widely known video game companies in the world. Headquartered in Kyoto, UsefulNotes/{{Japan}}, it was brought to international prominence with the Platform/NintendoEntertainmentSystem in the mid 1980s. It is best known as the creator of a number of popular video game franchises, such as ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'', ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'', and ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}''.

* ''Bionic Commando: Elite Forces''

* SurprisinglyCreepyMoment: Nintendo has a reputation for making sweet, family-friendly games... and thus a lot of the weirder and scarier elements of said games tend to blindside people, with Japanese fans calling this tonal mix "Nintendo horror". The ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'' games in particular are infamous for this, due to them being in the [[LighterAndSofter Lightest and Softest]] of SugarBowl settings yet still having {{Eldritch Abomination}}s as the {{Final Boss}}es most of the time. Especially notable with ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand3'', which utilizes a cute watercolor painting-esque style for its visuals and features one of the most horrifying final bosses in the franchise's history by way of a flying eyeball that leaks blood (which some fans affectionately nickname "Blood Angel").

* 1977-1983 - '''Platform/ColorTVGame''': MediaNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfVideoGames. A series of Japan-only UsefulNotes/PlugNPlayGame consoles and Nintendo's first attempt at the home video game market. Being some of the many ''VideoGame/{{Pong}}'' clones of the time, the releases consisted of the Color TV-Game 6 and 15, Block Breaker, and Racing 112, which collectively managed to be the best-selling consoles released during the era.

* 1995-1996 - '''Platform/VirtualBoy''': A portable console with a headset form factor that displayed games in [[UsefulNotes/ThreeDMovie stereoscopic 3D]], using a red-and-black color palette due to the commercial & technical practicality of red [=LEDs=] compared to other colors. The system is notable for being a prototype that was rushed to market, becoming both a critical and commercial failure; to this day, it still remains as Nintendo's least successful system.

* 2011-2020 - '''Platform/Nintendo3DS''': On par with the [=GameCube=] in terms of graphical power, its major selling-point was glasses-free [[UsefulNotes/ThreeDMovie stereoscopic 3D]]. Had backwards compatibility with the Nintendo DS, and featured a Platform/VirtualConsole for legacy handheld games. Later gained two variants in the budget-priced [=2DS=] (which lacked stereoscopic 3D) and the more powerful New Nintendo [=3DS=] (with more controls and Toys/{{amiibo}} support).

* {{Bowdlerise}}: Nintendo of America maintained a CensorshipBureau in the 1980s and early 1990s, which forbade (among other things) violence, sexual content, religious and political imagery and [[NeverSayDie references to death]]. This was their way of avoiding the ire of MoralGuardians (Creator/{{Atari}} had been powerless to prevent the release of notoriously controversial games like ''Custer's Revenge''), with them especially wearing it as a badge of honor during the 1993 United States Senate hearings on video games that led to the creation of the [[UsefulNotes/EntertainmentSoftwareRatingBoard ESRB rating system]]. Nintendo would embrace the system and would drop most of their content policies, with the last of them (religious content) disappearing by the time they released the Nintendo Switch. By this point, they're likely the console manufacturer with the most lenient content policies, compared to Sony or Microsoft.

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* Jupiter Corporation: The studio known mostly for their ''VideoGame/{{Picross}}'' series of games, as well as ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou''.[[index]]
* Creator/PlatinumGames: Developers of the ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'' series, of which Nintendo has publishing rights from the second entry onwards, as well as the Nintendo-published ''VideoGame/TheWonderful101'', ''VideoGame/StarFoxZero'', and ''VideoGame/AstralChain'', and the Nintendo-exclusive ''VideoGame/MadWorld'' and ''VideoGame/InfiniteSpace''.[[/index]]

[[index]]

* Left Field Productions: A Western developer that Nintendo held a minority stake in from 1998 to 2002, during which this company developed ''[[VideoGame/{{Excite}} Excitebike 64]]'' and other sports titles. The studio closed in 2011.[[index]]

* Creator/SiliconKnights: Developers of ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid: The Twin Snakes''. Parted ways with Nintendo after they were dissatisfied with the specs of the Platform/{{Wii}}. Filed for bankruptcy in 2014.[[/index]]

* Creator/IntelligentSystems: Responsible for ''Franchise/FireEmblem'', ''VideoGame/PaperMario'', and other titles, as well as Nintendo's development tools.
* Jupiter Corporation: The studio known mostly for their ''VideoGame/{{Picross}}'' series of games, as well as ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou''.
* Creator/PlatinumGames: Developers of the ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'' series, of which Nintendo has publishing rights from the second entry onwards, as well as the Nintendo-published ''VideoGame/TheWonderful101'', ''VideoGame/StarFoxZero'', and ''VideoGame/AstralChain'', and the Nintendo-exclusive ''VideoGame/MadWorld'' and ''VideoGame/InfiniteSpace''.

* Creator/{{Cing}}: Developers of the ''VideoGame/AnotherCode'' and ''[[VisualNovel/HotelDuskRoom215 Kyle Hyde]]'' adventure games. Filed for bankruptcy in 2010.
* Left Field Productions: A Western developer that Nintendo held a minority stake in from 1998 to 2002, during which this company developed ''[[VideoGame/{{Excite}} Excitebike 64]]'' and other sports titles. The studio closed in 2011.
* Creator/{{Rare}}ware: Developed the original ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'' trilogy, as well as countless games for the Platform/Nintendo64. Was sold to Microsoft in 2002.
* Creator/SiliconKnights: Developers of ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid: The Twin Snakes''. Parted ways with Nintendo after they were dissatisfied with the specs of the Platform/{{Wii}}. Filed for bankruptcy in 2014.

[[/index]]

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