Nintendo

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This article is about the Japanese company. For the console sometimes colloquially referred to as a Nintendo, see Nintendo Entertainment System. For the development team, see Nintendo Entertainment Planning and Development.
Nintendo
Current Nintendo logo (2016-present): On May 11, 2016, several months after when Tatsumi Kimishima took the company helm, Nintendo's logo was changed to white-on-red.
Founded September 23, 1889[?]
First Super Mario game Donkey Kong (1981)
Latest Super Mario game Luigi's Mansion 2 HD (2024)
Current president Shuntaro Furukawa

Nintendo is a video game company with its origins in Japan. Nintendo is the creator of many popular franchises, including the Super Mario franchise, and the company's mascot is Mario himself.

History

The company's signature red logo from 1985 to 2008, used internationally outside of Japan and East Asia (top), and gray logo from 2006 to 2016 (bottom). The gray logo is still used in corporate pages.
The company's signature red logo from 1985 to 2008, used internationally outside of Japan and East Asia (top), and gray logo from 2006 to 2016 (bottom). The gray logo is still used in corporate pages.
The company's signature red logo from 1985 to 2008, used internationally outside of Japan and East Asia (top), and gray logo from 2006 to 2016 (bottom). The gray logo is still used in corporate pages.

Originally founded as a hanafuda playing card manufacturer in Kyoto, Japan, on September 23, 1889, Nintendo began exploring game-making after third president Hiroshi Yamauchi began diversifying the company's ventures. Nintendo entered the arcade industry in 1973 and the home console industry in 1977, simultaneously hiring Shigeru Miyamoto as a product designer. In 1978, Nintendo began making arcade video games, licensing titles to other companies for distribution outside Japan. In 1980, Nintendo established a North American division headed by Minoru Arakawa, and the first game that would be distributed by the American division would be Radar Scope. The game did not sell well in the United States, and a number of unsold cabinets remained in warehouses.

Arakawa asked Yamauchi if a new game could be developed and inserted into the unsold Radar Scope cabinets.[1] Yamauchi went through Nintendo's entire talent pool to see who could head the designing of a potential Radar Scope replacement, and the result was Miyamoto designing Donkey Kong. When Donkey Kong was released in 1981, it became a bestseller and marked the introduction of Mario. In 1983, Nintendo introduced the Family Computer, distributing it abroad as the Nintendo Entertainment System two years later. Its success in Japan and North America resulted in Nintendo becoming a dominant player in the video game industry and the revival of the industry in North America, which had been negatively affected by a crash in 1983. The most successful game for the NES, Super Mario Bros., further cemented Nintendo's dominance in the industry. The Super Mario franchise has since become Nintendo's flagship franchise and one of the most well-known brands to originate from video games.

Supported Regions

Nintendo's commercial zones, divided by colors and according to Nintendo's region selector (https://www.nintendo.com/regionselector/)
Regions with official Nintendo websites

Nintendo has several first-party divisions dedicated to releasing products, including Super Mario games and merchandise, in different areas of the world:

  • Nintendo of Japan
    • Flag of Japan, used officially since August 13, 1999 and in a de facto capacity since February 27, 1868. For Japanese release dates. Japan
  • Nintendo of America
    • Flag of Argentina. For Argentine release dates. Argentine Republic
    • The flag of Canada since February 15, 1965. For Canadian {{flag list}} dates. Canada
    • Flag of the Republic of Chile since October 18, 1817. For Chilean release dates. Republic of Chile
    • Flag of the Republic of Colombia since November 26, 1861. For Colombian release dates. Republic of Colombia
    • Flag of the United Mexican States since 1975, for Mexican {{flag list}} dates. United Mexican States
    • Flag of the Republic of Peru since March 31, 1950. For Peruvian release dates. Republic of Peru
    • Flag of the United States of America since July 4, 1960. For North American (and sometimes South American) release dates. United States of America
  • Nintendo of Europe
    • Flag of the Republic of South Africa since April 27, 1994. For South African release dates within this time frame. Republic of South Africa
    • Flag of the Swiss Confederation. For Swiss release dates. Swiss Confederation
    • Flag of the European Union (previously the European Economic Community). For European release dates. European Union (except Scandinavia)
    • Flag of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from January 1, 1801 to December 6, 1922 and of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland since the latter date. For British release dates. United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
  • Nintendo Australia
    • Flag of New Zealand since March 24, 1902. For New Zealander release dates. New Zealand
    • Flag of the Commonwealth of Australia since December 8, 1908. For Oceanian release dates. Commonwealth of Australia
  • Nintendo of Korea
    • Flag of the Republic of Korea since May 30, 2011. For South Korean release dates. Republic of Korea
  • Nintendo Hong Kong
    • Flag of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China since July 1, 1997, for Hongkonger {{flag list}} dates within this timeframe. Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China
    • Flag of the Republic of China since 1928, used as the flag of Taiwan since 1949. For Taiwanese release dates. Republic of China

In addition to the above, Nintendo currently works with third-party distributors to distribute Nintendo products (including Super Mario products) in the following regions:

  • Active Bokei K.K.[2]
    • Flag of the Republic of Indonesia since August 17, 1945. For Indonesian release dates. Republic of Indonesia
    • Flag of the Republic of Singapore. For Singaporean release dates. Republic of Singapore
    • Flag of the Kingdom of Thailand since September 30, 2017. For Thai release dates. Kingdom of Thailand
    • Flag of the Republic of the Philippines since February 12, 1998. For Filipino release dates. Republic of the Philippines
    • Flag of Malaysia since 1964. Malaysia
    • Flag of the United Arab Emirates since December 2, 1971. For Emirati release dates. United Arab Emirates
    • Flag of the Sultanate of Oman since April 25, 1995. For Omani release dates. Sultanate of Oman
    • Flag of the Kingdom of Bahrain since February 14, 2002. For Bahraini release dates. Kingdom of Bahrain
    • Flag of the State of Kuwait since September 7, 1961. For Kuwaiti release dates. State of Kuwait
    • Flag of the State of Qatar since July 9, 1971. For Qatari release dates. State of Qatar
    • Flag of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. For Saudi release dates. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
  • Bergsala[3]
    • Flag of the Republic of Finland since May 28, 1918. For Finnish release dates. Republic of Finland
    • Flag of the Kingdom of Denmark since 1625. For Danish release dates. Kingdom of Denmark
    • Flag of the Kingdom of Norway since July 13, 1821. For Norwegian release dates. Kingdom of Norway
    • Flag of the Kingdom of Sweden since June 22, 1906. For Swedish release dates. Kingdom of Sweden
  • Tencent[4]
    • Flag of the People's Republic of China since October 1, 1949. For Mainland Chinese release dates. People's Republic of China
  • Tor Gaming[5]
    • Flag of the State of Israel. For Israeli release dates. State of Israel

Appearances in the Super Mario universe

The Nintendo logo appearing on Diddy Kong's cap and on the walls at Nintendo GameCube in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
The Nintendo logo appearing on Diddy Kong's cap and on the walls at Nintendo GameCube in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
The Nintendo logo appearing on Diddy Kong's cap and on the walls at Nintendo GameCube in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!

Home consoles

A collage of Nintendo consoles
A variety of Nintendo consoles and handhelds

Attachments and remodels

These consoles may have different names in different markets. The NES is known as Famicom in Japan; the SNES, subsequently as Super Famicom. In China, the Nintendo 64 was released under the name iQue Player.

1 - Although the Nintendo Switch can also function as a handheld console, it is primarily marketed as a home console by Nintendo.

Handheld consoles

Remodels

Releases of these consoles in China usually replace "Nintendo" in the name with "iQue." Examples are the iQue DS and the iQue 3DS XL.

Gallery

  • The blue Nintendo logo variant, used in Japanese versions of Nintendo games

    The blue Nintendo logo variant, used in Japanese versions of Nintendo games

  • The gold Nintendo logo from the start-up of Mario Kart 64

    The gold Nintendo logo from the start-up of Mario Kart 64

  • Sprite of a Nintendo logo variant, from Diddy Kong Racing DS

    Sprite of a Nintendo logo variant, from Diddy Kong Racing DS

  • The white Nintendo logo in a black background as seen in the first three Mario Party titles

    The white Nintendo logo in a black background as seen in the first three Mario Party titles

  • The Nintendo logo recreated in the Super Mario Bros. game style in Super Mario Maker

    The Nintendo logo recreated in the Super Mario Bros. game style in Super Mario Maker

  • Background featuring Super Mario characters created by Nintendo

    Background featuring Super Mario characters created by Nintendo

  • Artwork of Nintendo's Kyoto headquarters from its recruitment book, showing a Warp Pipe at the bottom left corner

    Artwork of Nintendo's Kyoto headquarters from its recruitment book, showing a Warp Pipe at the bottom left corner

See also

Names in other languages

Language Name Meaning Notes
Japanese 任天堂
ニンテンドー
ニンテンドウ[?]
Nintendō 		任天堂 is the formal name of the company; in hiragana it is written as にんてんどう, two kanas or moras per kanji. Each of the kanji that make up its formal name mean the following:
  • 任 (nin) means "responsibility", "work", or "obligation".
  • 天 (ten) means "sky".
  • 堂 (dō) meaning "stately", "bless", or "sanctuary".
    • 天堂 (tendō) means "heaven".

ニンテンドー is a rough katakana form is used for the Japanese names of some consoles.
ニンテンドウ is another rough katakana form, written with the kana "u" (ウ) instead of the chōonpu character (ー). This name is only seen in Super Smash Bros.'s Japanese name.

This name comes from the Japanese saying 「運を天に任せる」(un o ten ni makaseru), meaning "To leave one's luck to heaven."

Chinese 任天堂[?]
Rèntiāntáng 		-
Finnish Nintendon (Captain N: The Game Master)
Nintendo[?] 		-
-
Greek Νιντέντο[?]
Ninténto 		-
Hebrew נינטנדו[?]
Nintendo 		-
Korean 닌텐도[?]
Nintendo 		-
Russian Нинтендо[?]
Nintendo 		-

External links

Nintendo coverage on other NIWA wikis:

References

  1. ^ "IGN Presents: The History of Super Mario Bros."
  2. ^ Active Bokei K.K.. Active Bokei K.K. (English). Retrieved July 3, 2024. (Archived June 3, 2024, 05:14:24 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
  3. ^ Joe Skrebels (December 9, 2019). The Lie That Helped Build Nintendo. IGN (English). Retrieved June 1, 2024. (Archived December 21, 2019, 23:17:14 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
  4. ^ Takashi Moshizuki, Shan Li (April 18, 2019). Nintendo, With Tencent's Help, to Sell Switch Console in China. The Wall Street Journal (English). Retrieved July 3, 2024. (Archived December 6, 2019, 20:13:54 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
  5. ^ March 12, 2019. לראשונה בישראל – תור גיימינג משיקה את נינטנדו בארץ ביבוא רשמ. IGN Israel (Hebrew). Retrieved June 5, 2024. (Archived May 15, 2019, 03:34:09 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
[Edit]
Companies
Game companies Divisions and subsidiaries of Nintendo 1-UP Studio • iQue • Mario Club Co., Ltd. • Next Level Games • Nintendo • Nintendo Cube • †Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development • Nintendo Entertainment Planning and Development • †Nintendo Research & Development 1 • †Nintendo Research & Development 2 • †Nintendo Software Planning & Development • Nintendo Software Technology Corporation • †Nintendo System Development • Retro Studios • Treehouse
Third parties Acquire • †AlphaDream • Arika • ArtePiazza • †Artoon • Arzest • †Atari, Inc. • Bandai Namco Entertainment • †Banpresto • †Bullet-Proof Software • Camelot Software Planning • Capcom • CAProduction • Forever Entertainment • Game Arts • Game Freak • Good-Feel • GREZZO Co., Ltd. • GungHo Online Entertainment • HAL Laboratory • †Hudson Soft • Ikegami Tsushinki • Intelligent Systems • Interplay • Jupiter • Konami • Monster Games • †NovaLogic • Paon DP • Racjin • Radical Entertainment • Rare Ltd. • Royal Philips Electronics • Sega • Silverball Studios • Softnica • Sora Ltd. • Spike Chunsoft • Square Enix • †St.GIGA • †SUZAK Inc. • Tantalus Media • TOSE Software Co. • Treasure • Ubisoft • Velan Studios • †Coleco • †Atarisoft • Sharp Corporation • †The Software Toolworks • Atari Corporation • National Human Electronics • Fantasy Factory • Tokyo Electron • †Software Creations • Nichimen Graphics • EA Canada • †Skip Ltd. • Beenox • indieszero • Vicarious Visions • Mojang Studios • 4J Studios • Playtime • Scientific Toys • Million Colors • Nelsonic Industries • S.I.U. • Mani • Natsume • Vanpool • Armor Project • Dynatech Play2O • T's MUSIC Co., Ltd. • Access Games • TNX • Switch Entertainment Inc. • Digital Works Entertainment • WILL Co., Ltd. • Sound Racer Ltd. • Hexadrive • Other Ocean Interactive • SkyBox Labs • SmileBoom Co., Ltd. • Magnum enter Co., Ltd. • HAMSTER Corporation • Falcon • Iwasaki Engineering • †Gottlieb • Sunwise • †Fabtek • Atlus • Brunswick • Maygay • †Brian A. Rice, Inc. • Presage Software • Digitainment • Brainstorm Entertainment • Codesmith, Inc. • MISA • †Ocean Software • Caroline Software Incorporated • C3 Incorporated • POP Multimedia • Skyworks Technologies, Inc. • VPI.net • Lightmaker • Blit Interactive • NHN Entertainment • †Yutaka • Cosmodog • PlayWorks Digital Limited • Yuke's • Denaris Entertainment Software • Climax • Argonaut Games • Riedel Software Productions • †Boss Game Studios • Orpheus Software • Firebird • Designer Software • †Renegade Kid • Roklan • HAL College of Technology & Design • Neopets
Other companies Book publishers Guinness World Records • Prima Games • Scholastic • Shogakukan • Valiant Comics • Dark Horse Comics • Archie Comics • Fleetway Publications
Animation studios †DIC Entertainment • Illumination • †Medialab • Nelvana • †Pacific Rim Productions, Inc. • †Sei Young Animation Co., Ltd. • Sony Pictures
Home video distributors †Abbey Home Entertainment • Bim Bum Bam Video • Beyond Home Entertainment • Buena Vista Home Video • Disky Communications • Egmont Film • GoodView Home Video • HVN • IDP Home Video • †Kids Klassics • Lionsgate Home Entertainment • Maximum Entertainment • Manga Distribution • MRA Entertainment • NCircle Entertainment • On Air Video • Paramount Home Video • Pickwick Video • Pidax Film • Producciones Panther • Roadshow Entertainment • Sterling Entertainment Group • Shout! Factory • SMI url • Target • The Video Collection • UIG Entertainment GmbH • Universal Pictures • Wendros
Collectible / toy makers †Banpresto • Bioworld • BlackMilk Clothing • ERTL • Fangamer • First4Figures • Furuta • Gelato Pique • Hallmark • Jakks Pacific • K'NEX • LEGO • Mattel • PopCo Entertainment • S.H. Figuarts • San-ei Co., Ltd. • Toy Biz
Food companies Burger King • Freiberger • Keebler • Kellogg's • McDonald's • Nagatanien • Sonic Drive-In • †Sunshine Biscuits • Taco Bell • Wendy's
Cosmetics companies Lush • shu uemura
Miscellaneous †MediaBrowser • Tesla • EMI Music Publishing
† Defunct
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