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Yamauchi Nintendo & Co. was founded in Kyoto in 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi to sell his exquisitely handmade hanafuda cards small playing cards printed with elaborate images of the moon, chrysanthemums, birds, plum blossoms, clover, rain, wind, and other natural motifs, each with their own distinct meaning and point value. Yamauchi's cards made from mulberry bark and block-printed with natural inks, were among the most beautiful of their kind and quickly became the most popular cards in Kyoto.
Hanafuda cards were used to play numerous traditional Japanese games, from simple matching games to a more complex card game similar to bridge. The cards were also used to play a game called "Oicho-kabu," a blackjack-style game played in high-stakes gambling parlours run by the Japanese Mafia, also known as "yakuza." With the rise of the gambling parlour came an increased need for decks of hanafuda cards consequentially, Nintendo prospered.
At the dawn of the 20th Century, Nintendo's business evolved from hanafuda to include Western-style playing cards, or "karuta," which were now in high demand due to the growing popularity of card games like Poker in Japan. To maximise sales, the company expanded distribution from small Nintendo-owned shops to include regional tobacco and gift stores.
In 1951, Yamauchi changed the company name to Nintendo Playing Card Co. Ltd. (the word Nintendo loosely translates to "leave luck to heaven") and moved its corporate headquarters to a central Kyoto location in order to modernise card-making operations and mass-produce new plastic-coated playing cards. Soon, Nintendo signed licensing agreements with such well-known companies as Disney, and began to manufacture a new range of character-based playing cards featuring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck for children. Nintendo's distribution network was again expanded to include department and toy stores throughout Japan. Business boomed.
In 1970, Nintendo now run by Fusajiro's ambitious great-grandson, Hiroshi was interested in expanding operations further into children's games and toys, and launched a new Games division whose research and development was headed up by one of Yamauchi's most trusted employees, Gunpei Yokoi.
Yokoi, who had a background in electronics, was excited about the new product possibilities and quickly demonstrated his creative brilliance with the Ultra Hand, a whimsical expandable arm with gripping hand which sold over one million units. The series grew to include the Ultra Scope periscope, for looking stealthily around corners, and the Ultra Machine ball-toss.
Following the success of the Ultra game series, Yokoi hired Masayuki Uemura from Sharp to assist him in developing a new project called the Beam Gun. The Beam Gun consisted of a light gun, which utilised opto-electronics in connection with solar cell targets to detect the gunshot. The product was a tremendous success, and sold over one million units. The technology was later adopted into large arcade shooting galleries also known as Laser Clay Ranges throughout Japan.
In 1974, Nintendo developed a 16mm film-based projection system used in conjunction with the Beam Gun technology to create a virtual shoot-out experience that was light-years ahead of its time in arcade games like "Wild Gunman" and began to export its first games to the United States and Europe.
In 1976, the name of the game was Pong.
Hiroshi Yamauchi decided that it was now time for Nintendo to expand into the home videogame market in order to compete with American companies like Atari and Magnavox who were already making a killing in the nascent videogame industry with their Pong and Odyssey dedicated TV Ping-Pong systems.
Flashback to the late sixties, and ponder the approximately 80 million television sets in US homes that begged to be used for something other than watching reruns of "Leave it to Beaver." Fortunately, a young television engineer named Ralph Baer was having the very same thoughts, and the concept of TV Games slowly began to take shape in the back of his mind. In 1967, as the manager of equipment design for Sanders Associates in Nashua, New Hampshire, Baer began to research potential hardware platforms for a "Television Gaming Apparatus."
After sketching some notes on possible implementations and applications of TV Games, Baer directed one of his technicians, Bob Tremblay, to build a vacuum tube circuit to produce a simple two-spot display on a TV screen. Tremblay quickly designed the system. It was with this architecture that the team were able to create the first "videogame" played on a television screen: "Fox & Hounds" (or "chase a white phosphorescent spot around on a TV"). However primitive the game may have been, Baer was convinced that this was the future of entertainment.
In 1969, after numerous hardware iterations and the addition of the all important "third spot" which allowed the system to play any possible variation on ball-and-paddle games, Ralph Baer, now working with engineers Bill Harrison and Bill Rusch, finally completed the Brown Box prototype – the first solid state, switch-programmable TV Game system. Made up of 40 transistors and 40 diodes, the system could play TV Ping-Pong as well as hockey, volleyball, ski, tennis, football, soccer, roulette, baseball, and a wide range of maze and target-shooting games on a standard home television set.
In 1971, Baer and Sanders were issued patent #3,728,480 for their TV Game, and the Brown Box technology was licensed and shipped out to Magnavox to be introduced as the Magnavox Odyssey – the electronic game of the future, in 1972. Following the Odyssey's release, the technology was sub-licensed to myriad third-party hardware developers; among them was none other than Nintendo.
Nintendo's first microprocessor-based home videogame, the Color TV Game 6, was a dedicated home videogame console that played six variations of TV Ping-Pong, and was followed a year later by the Color TV Game 15 which played, you guessed it, 15 versions of TV Ping-Pong. They also released a home console that played a dedicated Breakout-esque game called Blok. As a result of the new systems' success, Yamauchi declared that Nintendo would now exclusively sell videogames. In 1978, the company introduced their first original coin-operated videogame "Othello" – and opened a division to develop new coin-operated arcade videogames.
Following the success of Colour TV Game, Gunpei Yokoi and his main development team, now known as R&D1 were asked to create a new home videogame product for the Holiday season to further drive the future of the company. Their answer was Game & Watch.
In 1980, Nintendo opened a wholly-owned US subsidiary in New York City, Nintendo of America, Inc., and launched Nintendo Game & Watch, a series of handheld mini videogame systems that would soon take the kids in America, and the entire world, by storm.
Game & Watch was a battery-operated handheld gaming system that consisted of a compact mini-console complete with a small black-and-white LCD screen (often using printed overlays to simulate colour background graphics) and a push-button control interface mounted to the rectangular console. Classic games like "Fire" and "Parachute" challenged players with simple tasks such as rescuing victims from a burning building or saving a misguided parachutist from viscous sharks.
The series included the original Silver and Gold series models, as well as widescreen, multiscreen, panoramic, and special tabletop versions similar in design to the Coleco mini-arcades.
With Game & Watch, Gunpei also introduced the now ubiquitous "plus-button" directional pad (or "d-pad"), a control interface which is still used today throughout the entire family of Nintendo products. The Game & Watch series would sell over 40 million units worldwide between 1980 and 1989, and lead Yokoi and his team of visionaries to develop Nintendo's next generation handheld game system – the most successful home videogame platform in history – Game Boy.
No doubt inspired by the success of Taito's "Space Invaders" in 1978, Nintendo began to design its own original arcade games including "Othello," "Hellfire," and "Sheriff." Although Nintendo's entrance into the arcade arena was certainly a success, it wasn't until the introduction of Mario that the company would generate the potential to become the industry leader that it is today.
It all started in 1980 when Nintendo released a new arcade game called "Radarscope" in Japan. Designed by Gunpei Yokoi, "Radarscope" was, shockingly, one of the most popular games in Japanese video arcades. But perhaps the most significant contribution the game has made to the history of Nintendo is the fact that had it not been such a crappy game, it is quite possible that Nintendo of America would not exist today.
Following the establishment of NOA, the subsidiary's president, Minoru Arakawa, was eager to begin importing more arcade games from his parent company to sell in the United States. So he placed an order for 3000 units – a very ambitious quantity – of Nintendo's latest arcade videogame, "Radarscope," to sell in the US. But upon its arrival, it was quickly apparent that the space-age shooter wasn't the arcade thrill they had been expecting. Seeing the impending disaster, Arakawa demanded that Nintendo send new game chips in order to convert the otherwise doomed game cabinets now sitting idly in their warehouse. But since no new games were available, a young Nintendo designer was assigned the task of creating a new videogame for the fledgling company. That game designer was Shigeru Miyamoto, and the game he created to save Nintendo of America was the infamous "Donkey Kong."
In this exciting platform-based game you play Mario, an Italian carpenter who must save his girlfriend from Donkey Kong – the giant ape that has kidnapped her and taken her to the top of a steel-girder building. The player must brave barrels, fireballs, rivets, cement pies, bouncing springs, and dizzying heights in an attempt to rescue her.
"Donkey Kong" went on to become the second most popular arcade game of the early eighties and sold over 80,000 units in the US alone surpassed only by Namco's "Pac-Man." The game also introduced the characters that would become one of the most successful game franchises in history, spawning such popular games as "Mario Bros." and "Donkey Kong Junior."
"Donkey Kong" saved NOA – securing Nintendo's fate as a multi-billion dollar global interactive entertainment empire, as well as the development of Nintendo's next-generation home videogame system. But more importantly, the game launched the career of one of the videogame industry's most prolific designers, Shigeru Miyamoto, who went on to design such legendary videogame franchises as "Super Mario Bros." and "The Legend of Zelda."
In 1982, Nintendo was enjoying success in arcades with such popular games as "Donkey Kong," "Popeye," and "Donkey Kong Junior," and had licensed the home cartridge version of "Donkey Kong" to Coleco to release with their arcade-quality home videogame system, ColecoVision – but Hiroshi Yamauchi had greater ambitions than licensing deals and arcade action.
Led by chief engineer Masayuki Uemura, Nintendo's R&D2 team was secretly developing what would become one of the most important product launches in the company's one hundred year history: Famicom.
Introduced in Japan in 1983, the Famicom – or Family Computer – was a cartridge-based home videogame console based on MOS Technology's 8-bit 6502 microprocessor (CPU) and custom picture processor (PPU), with 2KB of RAM and expansion port. The red and white system shipped with two hardwired controllers, AC adapter, RF switch, and the comic book "Kore ga Family Computer da!" The games available for the system at launch included "Donkey Kong," "Donkey Kong Junior," and "Popeye." Powered by an aggressive marketing campaign and a low price of $100, the system was a staggering success, selling over 500.000 units its first two months in stores.
But six months later, disaster struck when it was discovered that a malfunctioning circuit was causing games to "freeze" onscreen. In response, Nintendo recalled all of the Famicoms sold and sent them to its new production facility in Uji to be refabricated with new chips. The fiasco cost the company millions – however, Nintendo's honesty, combined with their fast action to rectify the problem built consumer confidence that was worth infinitely more than money. They sold millions more following the recall.
To meet the demand for quality games for the system, Shigeru Miyamoto was given his own research and development team, R&D4, to create new games for the Famicom in 1984. Their first game was the hit "Super Mario Bros." which transformed Mario and pals into celebrities, and was followed by such classic games as "The Legend of Zelda." Soon after, Nintendo began inviting select videogame developers to program games for the system including Bandai, Capcom, Hudson, Konami, Namco, and Tengen, under one of the strictest third-party licensing programs in history.
In return for their sacrifice and loyalty, developers' games would be stamped with the official Nintendo Seal of Quality that stated: "This seal is your assurance that Nintendo has approved and guaranteed the quality of this product." Words that proved to be worth their weight in gold.
At this point, Hiroshi Yamauchi desperately wanted to break into the US home videogame market with his revolutionary Famicom system, yet he was reluctant to enter into foreign territory without an established distribution network.
So, Yamauchi asked his son-in-law, president of Nintendo of America, Minoru Arakawa, to meet with representatives from Atari – the US market leader who had recently licensed the home computer rights for "Donkey Kong" – to discuss the possibility of Atari licensing the Famicom for distribution outside Japan. Arakawa, accompanied by NOA's legal counsel, Howard Lincoln, began negotiations with Atari chairman Ray Kassar and his team. It was an offer Atari couldn't refuse – either they could release the successful console, or kill it to eliminate competition for their upcoming next-generation system, the Atari 7800. After the preliminary details of a deal were worked out, the companies planned to convene in Chicago to sign the final contracts at the summer Consumer Electronics Show.
But, unbeknown to Nintendo, Coleco was running a demo of "Donkey Kong" on its new home computer system; Adam, down on the CES shows floor. This enraged the Atari delegation who felt the company had cheated them on their exclusive license, and prompted Kassar to call off the deal – a decision that would end up costing Atari their very future.
In 1984, the US videogame market was all but dead. Atari was losing over $2 million a day and was soon sold off in pieces by parent company Warner. Mattel dumped its electronics division. Coleco's Adam tanked, and the company went bankrupt shortly thereafter. As a result, the retail climate was not very receptive to the launch of a new home videogame system. But Arakawa was not deterred. He had faith that there was still a bright future for Nintendo in the home videogame industry.
Confident that Nintendo could go it alone, Arakawa convinced Yamauchi to let NOA release the system themselves and was given $50 million for the launch. To help convince retailers to carry the new system, Nintendo absorbed all risk in the form of a sales guarantee and agreed to take care of all in-store displays and promotions.
The Famicom was redesigned for the US market in a high-tech grey casing and renamed the Nintendo Entertainment System. The "original" system set shipped with the games "Duck Hunt" and "Gyromite" along with two controllers, the Zapper light gun, and ROB, the Robotic Operating Buddy, who could interact with games onscreen – and sold for $249. The more affordable "action" set was later released with the 2-in-1 combo game of "Duck Hunt / Super Mario Bros." along with two controllers and the Zapper for only $199. Other peripherals released for the NES included the Power Pad and the Power Glove.
The NES, as it became commonly known, was test marketed in New York City in 1985. After 50,000 units were sold, it was deemed a success and the NES was launched nation-wide in 1986. By the end of the year, over a million systems had been sold, and by its second year, Nintendo sold 3 million more. In its lifetime, the Nintendo Entertainment System sold a total of 65 million units worldwide and was installed in over 30% of American homes, making the catch phrase "Now you're playing with power!" the mantra of the Nintendo generation.
Following the release of the NES in the US, Nintendo of America launched an "official" fanzine for the system called "Nintendo Fun Club News" in 1987. The newsletter was given away free to players and contained news and updates on Nintendo products and events. The following year, NOA revamped the popular 'zine and published the first issue of "Nintendo Power" – a monthly full-colour glossy magazine devoted exclusively to the Nintendo Entertainment System and its legion of fans – in 1988.
Inspired by such videogame publications as "Atari Age" for the Atari 2600 and "Odyssey Adventure" for the Odyssey 2, "Nintendo Power" became the NES players' best source of game previews and strategy straight from the pros at Nintendo. Every issue featured game ratings, secret codes, cheats, level maps, special moves, and more. Over the next decade, the magazine's circulation would grow to over 1 million copies, making it the largest paid-subscription publication for kids.
That same year, the NES game library included sixty five titles and would grow to over one thousand – including such classic games as "Metroid", "Kung Fu", "Excitebike", "Double Dragon", "Mike Tyson's Punch Out!" "Metal Gear", "Kirby's Adventure", "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", "Mega Man", "The Legend of Zelda", and the wildly successful "Super Mario Bros. 3."
But a year before the launch of "Super Mario Bros. 3" in the US, Nintendo would achieve an unprecedented level of publicity and notoriety with the release of "The Wizard" in 1989.
The film, starring teen heart throb Christian Slater and Fred Savage. Play the brother of a young mentally unstable NES wizard who is destined to win the Nintendo World Championship – follows the two brothers as they run away from a broken home and hitchhike cross-country to California, desperately trying to make it in time for the contest. Accompanied by their annoying gal-pal, Haley, the kids must dodge nosy private detectives, their dad, as well as the wizard's Power Glove-wearing nemesis, who will stop at nothing to make sure he doesn't make it to the finals. This is where the never-before-seen "Super Mario Bros. 3" was to be unveiled for the first time on the silver screen. Following the film's release, the videogame went on to sell over 18 million copies worldwide.
In 1989, Nintendo introduced a product that would change the face of handheld gaming and bring the company unprecedented success in the future: Game Boy. Developed by Gunpei Yokoi and the R&D1 team, Game Boy was a cartridge-based portable videogame system created to combine the portability of Game & Watch with the playability of the NES.
Driven by the popularity of such games as "Super Mario Land", "The Legend of Zelda", and Alexey Pajitnov's classic puzzle game "Tetris" Nintendo's Game Boy sold over 32 million units its first three years on the market.
Nintendo redesigned the Game Boy with a more compact case, now available in a spectrum of colours – and released the new improved system as the Game Boy Pocket in 1996. The various colours included red, blue, green, yellow, clear, and black, as well as special "limited edition" colours like Chartreuse and Ice Blue. Then in 1998, Nintendo released Game Boy Light – available in silver, gold, and an exclusive "skeleton" clear model – all with a glowing backlit LCD screen. Unfortunately the glow-in-the-dark system was released in Japan only.
Later that same year, Nintendo introduced one of the coolest game peripherals for the system: Game Boy Camera. Using the camera (which plugged into the cartridge slot), you could take black-and-white bitmapped photos with your Game Boy system, manipulate them onscreen, and print them out on the Game Boy Printer using tiny rolls of thermal paper.
Nintendo was now only weeks away from the most anticipated Game Boy launch since its debut in 1989: Game Boy Colour. The new system was the first Game Boy to generate brilliant full-colour onscreen graphics. Although Game Boy Colour was not the first of it's kind that title goes to the now retired Atari Lynx it was no doubt the most visually stunning and technologically advanced. With the ability to display 56 colours simultaneously from a palette of over 32,000 (Lynx could display 16 of 4096) on its reflective screen, infrared port to exchange game data from one GBC to another, total compatibility with the entire library of Game Boy titles (now in colour!), and battery life of over ten hours on two AAs, it was a dramatic improvement over the original Game Boy system and well worth the month-long waiting list.
Game Boy Colour launched in two super-cool colours. Grape, and clear Atomic Purple. It was later made available in four yummy new colours: Dandelion, Berry, Kiwi, and Teal. The most popular games for the Game Boy Colour included "Tetris DX," "Kirby Pinball," and "Super Mario Bros. Deluxe. But the most important release for the system was no doubt the Pokémon series of games, which included "Pokémon Red", "Pokémon Blue", and "Pokémon Yellow" as well as the top selling "Pokémon Pinball. The success of the Pokémon franchise – as well as its cuddly spokes-monster, Pikachu, drove Game Boy sales into the stratosphere.
At the dawn of the new millennium, Nintendo announced that the range of Game Boy products – including Game Boy, Game Boy Pocket, and the now ubiquitous Game Boy Colour – had sold over 100 million units worldwide, making it the most successful videogame system in history.
In 1994, rumours began to circulate among the game press of top secret Virtual Reality tests being conducted at Nintendo. Gunpei Yokoi and R&D1, working with Massachusetts-based Reflection Technology Inc. who specialised in LED technology – were developing an advanced VR game system that would be released in 1995 as the Virtual Boy. With its high resolution 32-bit ruby red LED graphics and 3D parallax playing field, this inspired yet bizarre portable home videogame system played games like "Mario Tennis," "Wario Land," and "Water World" on a brilliant 3D monochrome display, viewed within a red mounted VR-headset. Unfortunately, like Costner's epic cinematic flop, the Virtual Boy was destined for failure.
Following intense criticism from the media, as well as mounting complaints of motion sickness and fear of potential eye damage, the system was swiftly discontinued.
This first-ever failure in the videogame arena was a sobering embarrassment to the company, and led to Hiroshi Yamauchi's public castigation of Gunpei Yokoi. But a few weeks after the launch of the Game Boy Pocket – and after three solid years of unrelenting disapproval from Yamauchi – Yokoi finally resigned his position at Nintendo, and founded his own company, Koto Laboratory. Where he began to develop a new handheld game system for Bandai, the Wonder Swan. Sadly, the industry suffered a tragic loss when Yokoi was killed in a car accident in October 1997. But in tribute to the great inventor, the first game released for the Wonder Swan was named "Gunpey" – a fitting memorial to the man who helped create the videogame industry, and brought so much happiness to gamers around the world.
Nintendo mourned the loss of the gifted engineering genius. Some even speculate that the reason the popular game "Metroid" (R&D1's best-selling videogame) was never updated for release on subsequent game systems was, in fact, out of respect for the late Gunpei Yokoi.
At the dawn of the 90s, technologically advanced 16-bit home videogame systems including NEC's TurboGrafx-16 (PC Engine in Japan) and Sega Genesis (Mega Drive) were beginning to threaten Nintendo's mighty market share. Nintendo responded by releasing the Super Famicom in Japan.
The Super Famicom boasted a 16-bit CPU and PPU, 128K RAM, 8-channel digital stereo sound, and the ability to simultaneously display up to 256 of over 32,000 colours onscreen. The system also featured new advanced hardware modes such as rotation, scaling, and transparency capabilities for more dynamic real-time rendering of the Super Famicom's up to 128 onscreen sprites. These features combined with the system's increased graphics and memory capabilities allowed for the creation of some of the most technologically advanced videogames ever seen on a TV screen. Some game cartridges, such as starwing, even utilised additional built-in "SuperFX" chips to further improve their game graphics.
Following the release of the next generation console in Japan, the 16-bit Super Nintendo Entertainment System – also known as the Super NES or SNES – was released in the US in 1991 as the successor to the wildly successful NES. Designed in a pale grey case, the system was shipped with the popular game "Super Mario World" and two controllers.
Although the Super NES was not compatible with NES games (much to the chagrin of parents who had invested small fortunes in software for their Nintendomaniacs), with the aid of the Super Game Boy adapter cart players could now play all of their Game Boy games on TV.
Driven by the rabid demand for such popular videogames as "The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past", "Super Mario Kart", "Donkey Kong Country", "Star Fox", "Street Fighter 2" and "Super Metroid" the Super NES sold nearly 50 million systems around the world.
In 1991, Nintendo began developing a new 32-bit CD-based videogame system for the SNES (to compete with the Sega CD) in partnership with Sony and Philips. But when Nintendo later abandoned the project, Sony decided to release a stand-alone version of the system as the PlayStation in 1995. The system would bring an end to Nintendo's reign as the leading hardware developer when PlayStation went on to sell over 75 million units worldwide, thrusting Sony into the coveted top position with over 65% of the videogame market – and inspiring the development of the 128-bit PlayStation 2.
Prompted by the success of Sony's PlayStation and the Sega Saturn, Nintendo announced their much-anticipated follow-up to the Super NES, code-named Ultra 64, in 1995. The console was heralded, as being the world's most advanced videogame system, with true 64-bit graphics and CD-quality sound, running at a blazing processing speed of 93.75 MHz. With its real-time rendering, impressive anti-aliased graphics, and new ergonomic controller, the Ultra 64 had the capability to place gamers in a totally immersive 3D-videogame experience.
In 1996, Nintendo renamed the new system "Nintendo 64" and launched it in Japan. More than 500,000 units were sold on the first day alone. Later that same year, the N64 was introduced in the US along with such exciting games as "Mario Kart 64", "Banjo-Kazooie", "GoldenEye 007", "Super Smash Bros." and "Perfect Dark," as well as 1998's Interactive Game of the Year, "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time." With the release of "Star Fox 64" Nintendo introduced the Rumble Pak which added powerful force-feedback capability to its games. They also released Expansion Pak, a 4MB RAM cartridge, which allowed developers to create games with more expansive worlds, more detailed animation sequences, and more complex game play as evidenced in Rareware's stunning remake "Donkey Kong 64."
Nintendo released myriad special-edition N64 bundles including Donkey Kong 64 Edition (in Jungle Green), Star Wars: Episode 1 Racer Edition, and Pokémon Stadium Edition. In the year 2000, the system was re-introduced in five "Funtastic" colours – Smoke, Fire, Ice, Watermelon, and Grape – for the new low price of $99. Then for Holiday 2000, the company announced the release of a special N64 for Pokémaniacs: the Pokémon Edition. The yellow and blue two-tone system will feature Pikachu on top, complete with light-up cheeks and Pokéball power button.
Although its games were incredibly popular, the Nintendo 64 never achieved the success of the PlayStation, selling a total of only 30 million units.
In 1998, Nintendo introduced Pocket Monsters, also known as Pokémon, a breakthrough game concept for Game Boy, which swiftly evolved into a global pop-cultural phenomenon. This new species of over 150 characters, created by Satoshi Tajiri, was originally featured in the new Game Boy games "Pokémon Red" and "Pokémon Blue," and later in "Pokémon Yellow: Special Pikachu Edition”. These featured the cuddly yellow electrified mouse, where you play a Pokémon trainer who must catch, train, and master all the cute creatures.
Following the release of the videogames, Nintendo rolled-out a staggering range of Pokémon games and merchandise including trading cards, plush toys, comics, and action figures, as well as their own animated TV series. But controversy erupted when the episode "Computer Warrior Porygon" featuring the pulsing electric flash of Pikachu, induced seizures and nausea in a few Japanese Pokémon fans. The episode was swiftly banned.
Even so, Pokémania was sweeping the globe, as kids from Tokyo to Trenton were desperate to collect 'em all. The craze reached a fever pitch with the release of the full-length animated feature film "Pokémon: The First Movie" featuring the Pokémon along with Ash, Professor Oak, and the evil Team Rocket – soon to be followed by the sequel "Pokémon: The Movie 2000."
Further fuelling the hysteria, the November 22, 1999 cover of "Time" magazine featured a handful of Pokémon, along with the cover story "Beware of the Pokémania." But there would be no stopping the Pocket Monsters.
Pokémon made their debut on the Nintendo 64 with the release of "Pokémon Stadium” and were also in "Pokémon Snap" and "Pokémon Puzzle League". Pikachu also made a special guest appearance as a character in the ultra fun fighting game "Super Smash Bros." But perhaps the most engaging Pokémon game for N64 is the revolutionary "Hey You Pikachu!" which features voice-recognition capability to allow Pokémon fans to interact with Pikachu onscreen.
The multi-million selling Red, Blue, and Yellow Game Boy games were followed by the popular "Pokémon Pinball" and "Pokémon Trading Card Game," as well as the new "Pokémon Silver" and "Pokémon Gold". Which feature 100 new Pokémon and boast the largest videogame pre-order in history, collectively selling over 500,000 units prior to launch.
Pokémon is to date the most successful entertainment franchise of all time, selling over 65 million Pokémon videogames and an estimated $5 billion in Pokémon-related merchandise around the world.
Although the videogame press had been breathlessly awaiting the official announcement of Nintendo's next generation 128-bit potential PlayStation 2, killer code-named Dolphin the rumour was that it was not going to happen at Spaceworld 2000.
But to a thrilled audience the lights dimmed, lasers flared, and fog rolled out onto the stage along with the object of so much secrecy and speculation: Nintendo Gamecube.
As the row of sleek pink, purple, silver, gold, and black 6" by 6" home videogame consoles were paraded in front of the stunned yet screaming crowd. The JumboTron flashed to life with a rush of game images. Including a beautifully rendered demo of Samus Aran from the NES classic, "Metroid". This highlighted the advanced graphics capabilities of the powerful 405 MHz IBM PowerPC "Gekko" 0.18 micron copper wire CPU, the custom graphics co-processor engineered by ATI, and over 40MB of memory integrated in a breakthrough design that sets new technological standards.
With the upcoming release of the 32-bit Game Boy Advance handheld videogame system in March and the impending launch of Nintendo Gamecube here in the US, just in time for Holiday 2001, the future has never looked brighter for Nintendo.
The company has restated its commitment to gaming and has stressed that Nintendo will not be influenced by current industry trends in the creation of Nintendo's most powerful home videogame system yet.
"We're building a machine with only one purpose, to play videogames," says Minoru Arakawa, president of Nintendo of America Inc. "This is what Nintendo has always known best, and what consumers have always wanted most. Gamecube's eventual success will come from the combination of Nintendo's dedicated, world-class game designers and our beloved franchise characters – the proven recipe for the world's best interactive fun."
To support the future of online videogames, Nintendo has announced the development of a new broadband modem for the Gamecube, which will allow for multi-player online gaming – what some believe to be the potential future of the videogame industry – and is dedicated to the future of mobile gaming.
With the Pokémon phenomenon still the leading entertainment franchise in the world, the unprecedented market stamina of its existing products, the unbridled genius of Shigeru Miyamoto, and the incredible potential of its latest next generation systems, there appears to be no end in sight for the fairy-tale success story that is Nintendo.
Thanks for reading this very long post :)
Hanafuda cards were used to play numerous traditional Japanese games, from simple matching games to a more complex card game similar to bridge. The cards were also used to play a game called "Oicho-kabu," a blackjack-style game played in high-stakes gambling parlours run by the Japanese Mafia, also known as "yakuza." With the rise of the gambling parlour came an increased need for decks of hanafuda cards consequentially, Nintendo prospered.
At the dawn of the 20th Century, Nintendo's business evolved from hanafuda to include Western-style playing cards, or "karuta," which were now in high demand due to the growing popularity of card games like Poker in Japan. To maximise sales, the company expanded distribution from small Nintendo-owned shops to include regional tobacco and gift stores.
In 1951, Yamauchi changed the company name to Nintendo Playing Card Co. Ltd. (the word Nintendo loosely translates to "leave luck to heaven") and moved its corporate headquarters to a central Kyoto location in order to modernise card-making operations and mass-produce new plastic-coated playing cards. Soon, Nintendo signed licensing agreements with such well-known companies as Disney, and began to manufacture a new range of character-based playing cards featuring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck for children. Nintendo's distribution network was again expanded to include department and toy stores throughout Japan. Business boomed.
In 1970, Nintendo now run by Fusajiro's ambitious great-grandson, Hiroshi was interested in expanding operations further into children's games and toys, and launched a new Games division whose research and development was headed up by one of Yamauchi's most trusted employees, Gunpei Yokoi.
Yokoi, who had a background in electronics, was excited about the new product possibilities and quickly demonstrated his creative brilliance with the Ultra Hand, a whimsical expandable arm with gripping hand which sold over one million units. The series grew to include the Ultra Scope periscope, for looking stealthily around corners, and the Ultra Machine ball-toss.
Following the success of the Ultra game series, Yokoi hired Masayuki Uemura from Sharp to assist him in developing a new project called the Beam Gun. The Beam Gun consisted of a light gun, which utilised opto-electronics in connection with solar cell targets to detect the gunshot. The product was a tremendous success, and sold over one million units. The technology was later adopted into large arcade shooting galleries also known as Laser Clay Ranges throughout Japan.
In 1974, Nintendo developed a 16mm film-based projection system used in conjunction with the Beam Gun technology to create a virtual shoot-out experience that was light-years ahead of its time in arcade games like "Wild Gunman" and began to export its first games to the United States and Europe.
In 1976, the name of the game was Pong.
Hiroshi Yamauchi decided that it was now time for Nintendo to expand into the home videogame market in order to compete with American companies like Atari and Magnavox who were already making a killing in the nascent videogame industry with their Pong and Odyssey dedicated TV Ping-Pong systems.
Flashback to the late sixties, and ponder the approximately 80 million television sets in US homes that begged to be used for something other than watching reruns of "Leave it to Beaver." Fortunately, a young television engineer named Ralph Baer was having the very same thoughts, and the concept of TV Games slowly began to take shape in the back of his mind. In 1967, as the manager of equipment design for Sanders Associates in Nashua, New Hampshire, Baer began to research potential hardware platforms for a "Television Gaming Apparatus."
After sketching some notes on possible implementations and applications of TV Games, Baer directed one of his technicians, Bob Tremblay, to build a vacuum tube circuit to produce a simple two-spot display on a TV screen. Tremblay quickly designed the system. It was with this architecture that the team were able to create the first "videogame" played on a television screen: "Fox & Hounds" (or "chase a white phosphorescent spot around on a TV"). However primitive the game may have been, Baer was convinced that this was the future of entertainment.
In 1969, after numerous hardware iterations and the addition of the all important "third spot" which allowed the system to play any possible variation on ball-and-paddle games, Ralph Baer, now working with engineers Bill Harrison and Bill Rusch, finally completed the Brown Box prototype – the first solid state, switch-programmable TV Game system. Made up of 40 transistors and 40 diodes, the system could play TV Ping-Pong as well as hockey, volleyball, ski, tennis, football, soccer, roulette, baseball, and a wide range of maze and target-shooting games on a standard home television set.
In 1971, Baer and Sanders were issued patent #3,728,480 for their TV Game, and the Brown Box technology was licensed and shipped out to Magnavox to be introduced as the Magnavox Odyssey – the electronic game of the future, in 1972. Following the Odyssey's release, the technology was sub-licensed to myriad third-party hardware developers; among them was none other than Nintendo.
Nintendo's first microprocessor-based home videogame, the Color TV Game 6, was a dedicated home videogame console that played six variations of TV Ping-Pong, and was followed a year later by the Color TV Game 15 which played, you guessed it, 15 versions of TV Ping-Pong. They also released a home console that played a dedicated Breakout-esque game called Blok. As a result of the new systems' success, Yamauchi declared that Nintendo would now exclusively sell videogames. In 1978, the company introduced their first original coin-operated videogame "Othello" – and opened a division to develop new coin-operated arcade videogames.
Following the success of Colour TV Game, Gunpei Yokoi and his main development team, now known as R&D1 were asked to create a new home videogame product for the Holiday season to further drive the future of the company. Their answer was Game & Watch.
In 1980, Nintendo opened a wholly-owned US subsidiary in New York City, Nintendo of America, Inc., and launched Nintendo Game & Watch, a series of handheld mini videogame systems that would soon take the kids in America, and the entire world, by storm.
Game & Watch was a battery-operated handheld gaming system that consisted of a compact mini-console complete with a small black-and-white LCD screen (often using printed overlays to simulate colour background graphics) and a push-button control interface mounted to the rectangular console. Classic games like "Fire" and "Parachute" challenged players with simple tasks such as rescuing victims from a burning building or saving a misguided parachutist from viscous sharks.
The series included the original Silver and Gold series models, as well as widescreen, multiscreen, panoramic, and special tabletop versions similar in design to the Coleco mini-arcades.
With Game & Watch, Gunpei also introduced the now ubiquitous "plus-button" directional pad (or "d-pad"), a control interface which is still used today throughout the entire family of Nintendo products. The Game & Watch series would sell over 40 million units worldwide between 1980 and 1989, and lead Yokoi and his team of visionaries to develop Nintendo's next generation handheld game system – the most successful home videogame platform in history – Game Boy.
No doubt inspired by the success of Taito's "Space Invaders" in 1978, Nintendo began to design its own original arcade games including "Othello," "Hellfire," and "Sheriff." Although Nintendo's entrance into the arcade arena was certainly a success, it wasn't until the introduction of Mario that the company would generate the potential to become the industry leader that it is today.
It all started in 1980 when Nintendo released a new arcade game called "Radarscope" in Japan. Designed by Gunpei Yokoi, "Radarscope" was, shockingly, one of the most popular games in Japanese video arcades. But perhaps the most significant contribution the game has made to the history of Nintendo is the fact that had it not been such a crappy game, it is quite possible that Nintendo of America would not exist today.
Following the establishment of NOA, the subsidiary's president, Minoru Arakawa, was eager to begin importing more arcade games from his parent company to sell in the United States. So he placed an order for 3000 units – a very ambitious quantity – of Nintendo's latest arcade videogame, "Radarscope," to sell in the US. But upon its arrival, it was quickly apparent that the space-age shooter wasn't the arcade thrill they had been expecting. Seeing the impending disaster, Arakawa demanded that Nintendo send new game chips in order to convert the otherwise doomed game cabinets now sitting idly in their warehouse. But since no new games were available, a young Nintendo designer was assigned the task of creating a new videogame for the fledgling company. That game designer was Shigeru Miyamoto, and the game he created to save Nintendo of America was the infamous "Donkey Kong."
In this exciting platform-based game you play Mario, an Italian carpenter who must save his girlfriend from Donkey Kong – the giant ape that has kidnapped her and taken her to the top of a steel-girder building. The player must brave barrels, fireballs, rivets, cement pies, bouncing springs, and dizzying heights in an attempt to rescue her.
"Donkey Kong" went on to become the second most popular arcade game of the early eighties and sold over 80,000 units in the US alone surpassed only by Namco's "Pac-Man." The game also introduced the characters that would become one of the most successful game franchises in history, spawning such popular games as "Mario Bros." and "Donkey Kong Junior."
"Donkey Kong" saved NOA – securing Nintendo's fate as a multi-billion dollar global interactive entertainment empire, as well as the development of Nintendo's next-generation home videogame system. But more importantly, the game launched the career of one of the videogame industry's most prolific designers, Shigeru Miyamoto, who went on to design such legendary videogame franchises as "Super Mario Bros." and "The Legend of Zelda."
In 1982, Nintendo was enjoying success in arcades with such popular games as "Donkey Kong," "Popeye," and "Donkey Kong Junior," and had licensed the home cartridge version of "Donkey Kong" to Coleco to release with their arcade-quality home videogame system, ColecoVision – but Hiroshi Yamauchi had greater ambitions than licensing deals and arcade action.
Led by chief engineer Masayuki Uemura, Nintendo's R&D2 team was secretly developing what would become one of the most important product launches in the company's one hundred year history: Famicom.
Introduced in Japan in 1983, the Famicom – or Family Computer – was a cartridge-based home videogame console based on MOS Technology's 8-bit 6502 microprocessor (CPU) and custom picture processor (PPU), with 2KB of RAM and expansion port. The red and white system shipped with two hardwired controllers, AC adapter, RF switch, and the comic book "Kore ga Family Computer da!" The games available for the system at launch included "Donkey Kong," "Donkey Kong Junior," and "Popeye." Powered by an aggressive marketing campaign and a low price of $100, the system was a staggering success, selling over 500.000 units its first two months in stores.
But six months later, disaster struck when it was discovered that a malfunctioning circuit was causing games to "freeze" onscreen. In response, Nintendo recalled all of the Famicoms sold and sent them to its new production facility in Uji to be refabricated with new chips. The fiasco cost the company millions – however, Nintendo's honesty, combined with their fast action to rectify the problem built consumer confidence that was worth infinitely more than money. They sold millions more following the recall.
To meet the demand for quality games for the system, Shigeru Miyamoto was given his own research and development team, R&D4, to create new games for the Famicom in 1984. Their first game was the hit "Super Mario Bros." which transformed Mario and pals into celebrities, and was followed by such classic games as "The Legend of Zelda." Soon after, Nintendo began inviting select videogame developers to program games for the system including Bandai, Capcom, Hudson, Konami, Namco, and Tengen, under one of the strictest third-party licensing programs in history.
In return for their sacrifice and loyalty, developers' games would be stamped with the official Nintendo Seal of Quality that stated: "This seal is your assurance that Nintendo has approved and guaranteed the quality of this product." Words that proved to be worth their weight in gold.
At this point, Hiroshi Yamauchi desperately wanted to break into the US home videogame market with his revolutionary Famicom system, yet he was reluctant to enter into foreign territory without an established distribution network.
So, Yamauchi asked his son-in-law, president of Nintendo of America, Minoru Arakawa, to meet with representatives from Atari – the US market leader who had recently licensed the home computer rights for "Donkey Kong" – to discuss the possibility of Atari licensing the Famicom for distribution outside Japan. Arakawa, accompanied by NOA's legal counsel, Howard Lincoln, began negotiations with Atari chairman Ray Kassar and his team. It was an offer Atari couldn't refuse – either they could release the successful console, or kill it to eliminate competition for their upcoming next-generation system, the Atari 7800. After the preliminary details of a deal were worked out, the companies planned to convene in Chicago to sign the final contracts at the summer Consumer Electronics Show.
But, unbeknown to Nintendo, Coleco was running a demo of "Donkey Kong" on its new home computer system; Adam, down on the CES shows floor. This enraged the Atari delegation who felt the company had cheated them on their exclusive license, and prompted Kassar to call off the deal – a decision that would end up costing Atari their very future.
In 1984, the US videogame market was all but dead. Atari was losing over $2 million a day and was soon sold off in pieces by parent company Warner. Mattel dumped its electronics division. Coleco's Adam tanked, and the company went bankrupt shortly thereafter. As a result, the retail climate was not very receptive to the launch of a new home videogame system. But Arakawa was not deterred. He had faith that there was still a bright future for Nintendo in the home videogame industry.
Confident that Nintendo could go it alone, Arakawa convinced Yamauchi to let NOA release the system themselves and was given $50 million for the launch. To help convince retailers to carry the new system, Nintendo absorbed all risk in the form of a sales guarantee and agreed to take care of all in-store displays and promotions.
The Famicom was redesigned for the US market in a high-tech grey casing and renamed the Nintendo Entertainment System. The "original" system set shipped with the games "Duck Hunt" and "Gyromite" along with two controllers, the Zapper light gun, and ROB, the Robotic Operating Buddy, who could interact with games onscreen – and sold for $249. The more affordable "action" set was later released with the 2-in-1 combo game of "Duck Hunt / Super Mario Bros." along with two controllers and the Zapper for only $199. Other peripherals released for the NES included the Power Pad and the Power Glove.
The NES, as it became commonly known, was test marketed in New York City in 1985. After 50,000 units were sold, it was deemed a success and the NES was launched nation-wide in 1986. By the end of the year, over a million systems had been sold, and by its second year, Nintendo sold 3 million more. In its lifetime, the Nintendo Entertainment System sold a total of 65 million units worldwide and was installed in over 30% of American homes, making the catch phrase "Now you're playing with power!" the mantra of the Nintendo generation.
Following the release of the NES in the US, Nintendo of America launched an "official" fanzine for the system called "Nintendo Fun Club News" in 1987. The newsletter was given away free to players and contained news and updates on Nintendo products and events. The following year, NOA revamped the popular 'zine and published the first issue of "Nintendo Power" – a monthly full-colour glossy magazine devoted exclusively to the Nintendo Entertainment System and its legion of fans – in 1988.
Inspired by such videogame publications as "Atari Age" for the Atari 2600 and "Odyssey Adventure" for the Odyssey 2, "Nintendo Power" became the NES players' best source of game previews and strategy straight from the pros at Nintendo. Every issue featured game ratings, secret codes, cheats, level maps, special moves, and more. Over the next decade, the magazine's circulation would grow to over 1 million copies, making it the largest paid-subscription publication for kids.
That same year, the NES game library included sixty five titles and would grow to over one thousand – including such classic games as "Metroid", "Kung Fu", "Excitebike", "Double Dragon", "Mike Tyson's Punch Out!" "Metal Gear", "Kirby's Adventure", "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", "Mega Man", "The Legend of Zelda", and the wildly successful "Super Mario Bros. 3."
But a year before the launch of "Super Mario Bros. 3" in the US, Nintendo would achieve an unprecedented level of publicity and notoriety with the release of "The Wizard" in 1989.
The film, starring teen heart throb Christian Slater and Fred Savage. Play the brother of a young mentally unstable NES wizard who is destined to win the Nintendo World Championship – follows the two brothers as they run away from a broken home and hitchhike cross-country to California, desperately trying to make it in time for the contest. Accompanied by their annoying gal-pal, Haley, the kids must dodge nosy private detectives, their dad, as well as the wizard's Power Glove-wearing nemesis, who will stop at nothing to make sure he doesn't make it to the finals. This is where the never-before-seen "Super Mario Bros. 3" was to be unveiled for the first time on the silver screen. Following the film's release, the videogame went on to sell over 18 million copies worldwide.
In 1989, Nintendo introduced a product that would change the face of handheld gaming and bring the company unprecedented success in the future: Game Boy. Developed by Gunpei Yokoi and the R&D1 team, Game Boy was a cartridge-based portable videogame system created to combine the portability of Game & Watch with the playability of the NES.
Driven by the popularity of such games as "Super Mario Land", "The Legend of Zelda", and Alexey Pajitnov's classic puzzle game "Tetris" Nintendo's Game Boy sold over 32 million units its first three years on the market.
Nintendo redesigned the Game Boy with a more compact case, now available in a spectrum of colours – and released the new improved system as the Game Boy Pocket in 1996. The various colours included red, blue, green, yellow, clear, and black, as well as special "limited edition" colours like Chartreuse and Ice Blue. Then in 1998, Nintendo released Game Boy Light – available in silver, gold, and an exclusive "skeleton" clear model – all with a glowing backlit LCD screen. Unfortunately the glow-in-the-dark system was released in Japan only.
Later that same year, Nintendo introduced one of the coolest game peripherals for the system: Game Boy Camera. Using the camera (which plugged into the cartridge slot), you could take black-and-white bitmapped photos with your Game Boy system, manipulate them onscreen, and print them out on the Game Boy Printer using tiny rolls of thermal paper.
Nintendo was now only weeks away from the most anticipated Game Boy launch since its debut in 1989: Game Boy Colour. The new system was the first Game Boy to generate brilliant full-colour onscreen graphics. Although Game Boy Colour was not the first of it's kind that title goes to the now retired Atari Lynx it was no doubt the most visually stunning and technologically advanced. With the ability to display 56 colours simultaneously from a palette of over 32,000 (Lynx could display 16 of 4096) on its reflective screen, infrared port to exchange game data from one GBC to another, total compatibility with the entire library of Game Boy titles (now in colour!), and battery life of over ten hours on two AAs, it was a dramatic improvement over the original Game Boy system and well worth the month-long waiting list.
Game Boy Colour launched in two super-cool colours. Grape, and clear Atomic Purple. It was later made available in four yummy new colours: Dandelion, Berry, Kiwi, and Teal. The most popular games for the Game Boy Colour included "Tetris DX," "Kirby Pinball," and "Super Mario Bros. Deluxe. But the most important release for the system was no doubt the Pokémon series of games, which included "Pokémon Red", "Pokémon Blue", and "Pokémon Yellow" as well as the top selling "Pokémon Pinball. The success of the Pokémon franchise – as well as its cuddly spokes-monster, Pikachu, drove Game Boy sales into the stratosphere.
At the dawn of the new millennium, Nintendo announced that the range of Game Boy products – including Game Boy, Game Boy Pocket, and the now ubiquitous Game Boy Colour – had sold over 100 million units worldwide, making it the most successful videogame system in history.
In 1994, rumours began to circulate among the game press of top secret Virtual Reality tests being conducted at Nintendo. Gunpei Yokoi and R&D1, working with Massachusetts-based Reflection Technology Inc. who specialised in LED technology – were developing an advanced VR game system that would be released in 1995 as the Virtual Boy. With its high resolution 32-bit ruby red LED graphics and 3D parallax playing field, this inspired yet bizarre portable home videogame system played games like "Mario Tennis," "Wario Land," and "Water World" on a brilliant 3D monochrome display, viewed within a red mounted VR-headset. Unfortunately, like Costner's epic cinematic flop, the Virtual Boy was destined for failure.
Following intense criticism from the media, as well as mounting complaints of motion sickness and fear of potential eye damage, the system was swiftly discontinued.
This first-ever failure in the videogame arena was a sobering embarrassment to the company, and led to Hiroshi Yamauchi's public castigation of Gunpei Yokoi. But a few weeks after the launch of the Game Boy Pocket – and after three solid years of unrelenting disapproval from Yamauchi – Yokoi finally resigned his position at Nintendo, and founded his own company, Koto Laboratory. Where he began to develop a new handheld game system for Bandai, the Wonder Swan. Sadly, the industry suffered a tragic loss when Yokoi was killed in a car accident in October 1997. But in tribute to the great inventor, the first game released for the Wonder Swan was named "Gunpey" – a fitting memorial to the man who helped create the videogame industry, and brought so much happiness to gamers around the world.
Nintendo mourned the loss of the gifted engineering genius. Some even speculate that the reason the popular game "Metroid" (R&D1's best-selling videogame) was never updated for release on subsequent game systems was, in fact, out of respect for the late Gunpei Yokoi.
At the dawn of the 90s, technologically advanced 16-bit home videogame systems including NEC's TurboGrafx-16 (PC Engine in Japan) and Sega Genesis (Mega Drive) were beginning to threaten Nintendo's mighty market share. Nintendo responded by releasing the Super Famicom in Japan.
The Super Famicom boasted a 16-bit CPU and PPU, 128K RAM, 8-channel digital stereo sound, and the ability to simultaneously display up to 256 of over 32,000 colours onscreen. The system also featured new advanced hardware modes such as rotation, scaling, and transparency capabilities for more dynamic real-time rendering of the Super Famicom's up to 128 onscreen sprites. These features combined with the system's increased graphics and memory capabilities allowed for the creation of some of the most technologically advanced videogames ever seen on a TV screen. Some game cartridges, such as starwing, even utilised additional built-in "SuperFX" chips to further improve their game graphics.
Following the release of the next generation console in Japan, the 16-bit Super Nintendo Entertainment System – also known as the Super NES or SNES – was released in the US in 1991 as the successor to the wildly successful NES. Designed in a pale grey case, the system was shipped with the popular game "Super Mario World" and two controllers.
Although the Super NES was not compatible with NES games (much to the chagrin of parents who had invested small fortunes in software for their Nintendomaniacs), with the aid of the Super Game Boy adapter cart players could now play all of their Game Boy games on TV.
Driven by the rabid demand for such popular videogames as "The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past", "Super Mario Kart", "Donkey Kong Country", "Star Fox", "Street Fighter 2" and "Super Metroid" the Super NES sold nearly 50 million systems around the world.
In 1991, Nintendo began developing a new 32-bit CD-based videogame system for the SNES (to compete with the Sega CD) in partnership with Sony and Philips. But when Nintendo later abandoned the project, Sony decided to release a stand-alone version of the system as the PlayStation in 1995. The system would bring an end to Nintendo's reign as the leading hardware developer when PlayStation went on to sell over 75 million units worldwide, thrusting Sony into the coveted top position with over 65% of the videogame market – and inspiring the development of the 128-bit PlayStation 2.
Prompted by the success of Sony's PlayStation and the Sega Saturn, Nintendo announced their much-anticipated follow-up to the Super NES, code-named Ultra 64, in 1995. The console was heralded, as being the world's most advanced videogame system, with true 64-bit graphics and CD-quality sound, running at a blazing processing speed of 93.75 MHz. With its real-time rendering, impressive anti-aliased graphics, and new ergonomic controller, the Ultra 64 had the capability to place gamers in a totally immersive 3D-videogame experience.
In 1996, Nintendo renamed the new system "Nintendo 64" and launched it in Japan. More than 500,000 units were sold on the first day alone. Later that same year, the N64 was introduced in the US along with such exciting games as "Mario Kart 64", "Banjo-Kazooie", "GoldenEye 007", "Super Smash Bros." and "Perfect Dark," as well as 1998's Interactive Game of the Year, "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time." With the release of "Star Fox 64" Nintendo introduced the Rumble Pak which added powerful force-feedback capability to its games. They also released Expansion Pak, a 4MB RAM cartridge, which allowed developers to create games with more expansive worlds, more detailed animation sequences, and more complex game play as evidenced in Rareware's stunning remake "Donkey Kong 64."
Nintendo released myriad special-edition N64 bundles including Donkey Kong 64 Edition (in Jungle Green), Star Wars: Episode 1 Racer Edition, and Pokémon Stadium Edition. In the year 2000, the system was re-introduced in five "Funtastic" colours – Smoke, Fire, Ice, Watermelon, and Grape – for the new low price of $99. Then for Holiday 2000, the company announced the release of a special N64 for Pokémaniacs: the Pokémon Edition. The yellow and blue two-tone system will feature Pikachu on top, complete with light-up cheeks and Pokéball power button.
Although its games were incredibly popular, the Nintendo 64 never achieved the success of the PlayStation, selling a total of only 30 million units.
In 1998, Nintendo introduced Pocket Monsters, also known as Pokémon, a breakthrough game concept for Game Boy, which swiftly evolved into a global pop-cultural phenomenon. This new species of over 150 characters, created by Satoshi Tajiri, was originally featured in the new Game Boy games "Pokémon Red" and "Pokémon Blue," and later in "Pokémon Yellow: Special Pikachu Edition”. These featured the cuddly yellow electrified mouse, where you play a Pokémon trainer who must catch, train, and master all the cute creatures.
Following the release of the videogames, Nintendo rolled-out a staggering range of Pokémon games and merchandise including trading cards, plush toys, comics, and action figures, as well as their own animated TV series. But controversy erupted when the episode "Computer Warrior Porygon" featuring the pulsing electric flash of Pikachu, induced seizures and nausea in a few Japanese Pokémon fans. The episode was swiftly banned.
Even so, Pokémania was sweeping the globe, as kids from Tokyo to Trenton were desperate to collect 'em all. The craze reached a fever pitch with the release of the full-length animated feature film "Pokémon: The First Movie" featuring the Pokémon along with Ash, Professor Oak, and the evil Team Rocket – soon to be followed by the sequel "Pokémon: The Movie 2000."
Further fuelling the hysteria, the November 22, 1999 cover of "Time" magazine featured a handful of Pokémon, along with the cover story "Beware of the Pokémania." But there would be no stopping the Pocket Monsters.
Pokémon made their debut on the Nintendo 64 with the release of "Pokémon Stadium” and were also in "Pokémon Snap" and "Pokémon Puzzle League". Pikachu also made a special guest appearance as a character in the ultra fun fighting game "Super Smash Bros." But perhaps the most engaging Pokémon game for N64 is the revolutionary "Hey You Pikachu!" which features voice-recognition capability to allow Pokémon fans to interact with Pikachu onscreen.
The multi-million selling Red, Blue, and Yellow Game Boy games were followed by the popular "Pokémon Pinball" and "Pokémon Trading Card Game," as well as the new "Pokémon Silver" and "Pokémon Gold". Which feature 100 new Pokémon and boast the largest videogame pre-order in history, collectively selling over 500,000 units prior to launch.
Pokémon is to date the most successful entertainment franchise of all time, selling over 65 million Pokémon videogames and an estimated $5 billion in Pokémon-related merchandise around the world.
Although the videogame press had been breathlessly awaiting the official announcement of Nintendo's next generation 128-bit potential PlayStation 2, killer code-named Dolphin the rumour was that it was not going to happen at Spaceworld 2000.
But to a thrilled audience the lights dimmed, lasers flared, and fog rolled out onto the stage along with the object of so much secrecy and speculation: Nintendo Gamecube.
As the row of sleek pink, purple, silver, gold, and black 6" by 6" home videogame consoles were paraded in front of the stunned yet screaming crowd. The JumboTron flashed to life with a rush of game images. Including a beautifully rendered demo of Samus Aran from the NES classic, "Metroid". This highlighted the advanced graphics capabilities of the powerful 405 MHz IBM PowerPC "Gekko" 0.18 micron copper wire CPU, the custom graphics co-processor engineered by ATI, and over 40MB of memory integrated in a breakthrough design that sets new technological standards.
With the upcoming release of the 32-bit Game Boy Advance handheld videogame system in March and the impending launch of Nintendo Gamecube here in the US, just in time for Holiday 2001, the future has never looked brighter for Nintendo.
The company has restated its commitment to gaming and has stressed that Nintendo will not be influenced by current industry trends in the creation of Nintendo's most powerful home videogame system yet.
"We're building a machine with only one purpose, to play videogames," says Minoru Arakawa, president of Nintendo of America Inc. "This is what Nintendo has always known best, and what consumers have always wanted most. Gamecube's eventual success will come from the combination of Nintendo's dedicated, world-class game designers and our beloved franchise characters – the proven recipe for the world's best interactive fun."
To support the future of online videogames, Nintendo has announced the development of a new broadband modem for the Gamecube, which will allow for multi-player online gaming – what some believe to be the potential future of the videogame industry – and is dedicated to the future of mobile gaming.
With the Pokémon phenomenon still the leading entertainment franchise in the world, the unprecedented market stamina of its existing products, the unbridled genius of Shigeru Miyamoto, and the incredible potential of its latest next generation systems, there appears to be no end in sight for the fairy-tale success story that is Nintendo.
Thanks for reading this very long post :)
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Woth the GC!
That console certainly was a bit of a waste of money.
cookie monster wrote:
> SonicRav wrote:
> Where's the 64DD!!!!
Sonic
Stuck in
> Japan.
lol! Now redundant that everyone's fed up with all 3 games, and the net adapter has ceased top ,allow web conections!
Sonic
> SonicRav wrote:
> Where's the 64DD!!!!
Sonic
Stuck in
> Japan.
lol! Now redundant that everyone's fed up with all 3 games, and the net adapter has ceased top ,allow web conections!
Sonic
SonicRav wrote:
> Where's the 64DD!!!!
Sonic
Stuck in Japan.
> Where's the 64DD!!!!
Sonic
Stuck in Japan.
Where's the 64DD!!!!
Sonic
Sonic
Sorry I am confused I always see it as Melta gear
and Netal gear solid &2 I got confused again
and Netal gear solid &2 I got confused again
I'm gona clear up the mess for you.
Metal Gear is on the NES
Metal Gear 2 is on the NES
Metal Gear Solid is on the PS1
Metal Gear Solid 2 is on The PS2 (WOW)
some other games like special missions and other versions are around but these are the main games.
Metal Gear is on the NES
Metal Gear 2 is on the NES
Metal Gear Solid is on the PS1
Metal Gear Solid 2 is on The PS2 (WOW)
some other games like special missions and other versions are around but these are the main games.
Yeah and they made a few N64 game too.
New Jimmy do you have an Msn?
New Jimmy do you have an Msn?
cookie monster wrote:
> zeldapro wrote:
> Well its not called Metal gear SOLID for
> nothing
I thought the snes game was just called "metal
> gear".
I know but I was referring to the PSX version!
How come It is not on Nintendo anymore
> zeldapro wrote:
> Well its not called Metal gear SOLID for
> nothing
I thought the snes game was just called "metal
> gear".
I know but I was referring to the PSX version!
How come It is not on Nintendo anymore
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