Nintendo Co., Ltd. is a Japanese company that makes and sells video games and game consoles. It is based in Kyoto and operates in many countries around the world.
Nintendo was started in 1889 by a skilled worker named Fusajiro Yamauchi. He created handmade hanafuda playing cards. Over time, the company tried different types of businesses and became a public company. In the 1960s, Nintendo began making toys, and later, it created video games. The company made its first arcade games in the 1970s and released its first system, the Color TV-Game, in 1977. Nintendo became very successful around the world in the 1980s after the release of the arcade game Donkey Kong (1981) and the Nintendo Entertainment System, which was sold outside Japan with Super Mario Bros. in 1985.
Since then, Nintendo has created some of the most popular game consoles, including the Game Boy (1989), the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (1991), the Game Boy Advance (2001), the Nintendo DS (2004), the Wii (2006), and the Nintendo Switch (2017). The company has also created or published many well-known video game series, such as Mario, Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda, Pokémon, Super Smash Bros., Animal Crossing, Splatoon, Metroid, Kirby, and Star Fox. Mario, Nintendo’s mascot, is one of the most famous fictional characters. Other characters, such as Luigi, Donkey Kong, Samus Aran, Link, Kirby, Pikachu, and Fox McCloud, are also widely recognized. Movies and a theme park area based on Nintendo’s games have been created.
As of May 2025, Nintendo’s game consoles have sold more than 860 million units worldwide, and over 5.9 billion individual games have been sold. The company has many subsidiaries in Japan and other countries, as well as other companies that create games for Nintendo, such as HAL Laboratory, Intelligent Systems, and Game Freak. Nintendo is one of the most valuable companies in Japan.
History
Nintendo was started as Nintendo Koppai on September 23, 1889, by a craftsman named Fusajiro Yamauchi in Shimogyō-ku, Kyoto, Japan. It was not officially registered as a company at first and focused on making and selling Japanese playing cards called hanafuda (flower cards). The name "Nintendo" is often thought to mean "leave luck to heaven," but this idea has no historical proof. Some people also suggest it might mean "the temple of free hanafuda," but even Yamauchi's descendants do not know the true meaning of the name.
Hanafuda cards became popular after Japan banned most gambling in 1882, but hanafuda was allowed. Sales of these cards were especially common in Kyoto's gaming parlors run by yakuza members. Other card makers left the market to avoid being linked to crime, but Yamauchi stayed and became the main producer of hanafuda within a few years. As hanafuda grew in popularity, Yamauchi hired workers to make more cards to meet demand. However, the business faced financial problems because it operated in a small market, had slow and expensive production, sold cards at high prices, and the cards lasted a long time, which reduced how often they needed to be replaced. To solve this, Nintendo made a cheaper, lower-quality line of cards called Tengu and sold them in cities like Osaka, where card games were profitable. Local merchants also liked the idea of selling new decks regularly, which helped avoid suspicion about reusing old cards.
Nintendo’s first Western-style card deck was sold in Japan in 1902, though some records say the date was 1907, after the Russo-Japanese War. These cards became popular both in Japan and abroad. At this time, the business called itself Marufuku Nintendo Card Co. The war made it harder for leisure companies to operate, as new taxes were added, such as the Karuta Zei ("playing cards tax"). Nintendo survived and in 1907 partnered with Nihon Senbai (later Japan Tobacco) to sell cards in cigarette stores nationwide. A promotional calendar from 1915 shows the business was named Yamauchi Nintendo but still used the Marufuku Nintendo Co. brand for its cards.
Japanese culture required Yamauchi to adopt his son-in-law to keep the family business running after his retirement. In 1907, Sekiryo Kaneda took the Yamauchi name and became the business leader in 1929. By then, Nintendo was the largest playing card company in Japan.
In 1933, Kaneda officially formed the company as a partnership named Yamauchi Nintendo & Co., Ltd. and built a new headquarters near the Toba-kaidō train station. Because Kaneda and Yamauchi’s daughter had no sons, he planned to adopt his son-in-law, Shikanojo Inaba, who worked at Nintendo and was the father of his grandson, Hiroshi, born in 1927. However, Inaba left the family and company, so Hiroshi became Kaneda’s successor.
World War II hurt Nintendo because Japanese authorities banned foreign card games, and people had less interest in leisure activities. During this time, Hiroshi’s wife, Michiko Inaba, from a wealthy family, helped support the company financially. In 1947, Kaneda created Marufuku Co., Ltd., which handled Nintendo’s sales and marketing. This company later became Nintendo Co., Ltd., located in Kyoto.
In 1950, Hiroshi Yamauchi became president after Kaneda’s health worsened. His first changes included renaming the company to Nintendo Playing Card Co., Ltd. in 1951 and centralizing manufacturing in Kyoto, which led to expanding offices in Kamitakamatsu-cho, Fukuine, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto. In 1953, Nintendo became the first company in Japan to mass-produce plastic playing cards. Some employees worried about these changes, leading to a strike, but Hiroshi dismissed some workers who opposed him.
In 1959, Nintendo moved its headquarters to Kamitakamatsu-cho, Fukuine, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto. The company partnered with Walt Disney Productions to include Disney characters on playing cards, which helped attract children and boosted sales. Nintendo also automated card production using backing paper and sold cards in toy stores. By 1961, Nintendo had a Tokyo branch in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and sold over 1.5 million card packs, relying on TV ads. In 1962, Nintendo became a public company by listing stock on the Osaka and Kyoto stock exchanges and changed its name to Nintendo & Co., Ltd. It also started making games in addition to playing cards.
In 1964, Nintendo earned ¥150 million. However, the company became too reliant on children’s markets due to Disney cards and declining sales of adult-oriented cards as people shifted to hobbies like pachinko, bowling, and nightlife. After the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, Nintendo’s stock price dropped to ¥60, its lowest level.
In 1965, Nintendo hired Gunpei Yokoi to maintain the machines used to make playing cards. In 1969, Yamauchi increased investment in a research and development department led by Hiroshi Imanishi. Yokoi was moved to this department and later managed the games division. During this time, Nintendo built a new plant in Uji, near Kyoto, and sold classic tabletop games like chess, shogi, go, and mahjong under the Nippon Game brand. Some areas of the company still made playing cards.
In 1970, Nintendo’s stock was listed on the first section of the Osaka Stock Exchange, and its headquarters was rebuilt and expanded. This year marked a turning point for Nintendo, as it released Japan’s first electronic toy, the Beam Gun, designed by Masayuki Uemura. Over a million units were sold. Nintendo also partnered with Magnavox to create a light gun controller based on the Beam Gun design.
Products
Nintendo's main goal is to research, create, make, and sell entertainment products, such as video game software and hardware, and card games. Its primary markets are Japan, America, and Europe, with more than 70% of its total sales coming from America and Europe. As of May 2025, Nintendo's game consoles have sold over 860 million units, and more than 5.9 billion video games have been sold worldwide.
Since 1977, when Nintendo released the Color TV-Game, the company has made and sold home, handheld, dedicated, and hybrid consoles. In the 1980s, its most successful consoles were the Game & Watch and the Nintendo Entertainment System. In the 1990s, Nintendo introduced new home consoles, including the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and the Nintendo 64, and gained global popularity with the Game Boy handheld console. In the 2000s, Nintendo achieved widespread success with the Nintendo DS and Wii. These consoles include many accessories and controllers, such as the NES Zapper, the Game Boy Camera, the Super NES Mouse, the Rumble Pak, the Wii MotionPlus, the Wii U Pro Controller, and the Switch Pro Controller.
Nintendo's first electronic games were arcade games. EVR Race (1975) was the company's first electromechanical game, and Donkey Kong (1981) was the first platform game ever made. Since then, Nintendo and other companies have created and sold many video games for Nintendo's consoles. Nintendo's games are sold on removable media, such as optical discs and cartridges, and online through services like the Nintendo eShop and the Nintendo Network.
Corporate structure
Nintendo's research and development work is organized into three main groups:
The Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development division is the main group responsible for creating, producing, and managing software at Nintendo. It was formed in 2015 by combining two earlier groups: the Entertainment Analysis & Development division and the Software Planning & Development division. Led by Shinya Takahashi, this group has the most employees at Nintendo, including more than 800 engineers, producers, directors, planners, and designers.
The Nintendo Platform Technology Development division was created by combining two earlier groups: the Integrated Research & Development (IRD) division and the System Development (SDD) division. Led by Ko Shiota, this group designs hardware and develops Nintendo's operating systems, tools for game developers, and internal networks, as well as maintaining the Nintendo Network.
The Nintendo Business Development division was formed after Nintendo began making software for smart devices like mobile phones and tablets. This group works to improve Nintendo's business model for video game systems and oversees development for smart devices.
Important members of Nintendo's board include Shigeru Miyamoto, Satoru Shibata, and Chris Meledandri, who is the CEO of Illumination Entertainment. Key executives include Yoshiaki Koizumi, who is the Deputy General Manager of the Entertainment Planning & Development division, and Takashi Tezuka, a Senior Officer in the same division.
Nintendo Co., Ltd. has been based in Kyoto, Japan, since its founding. It manages the company's global operations and oversees activities in Japan specifically. Two major subsidiaries, Nintendo of America and Nintendo of Europe, manage operations in North America and Europe, respectively. In 2000, Nintendo moved its headquarters from Kyoto to a new location in Minami-ku, Kyoto, after previously relocating to Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto, which became a research and development building.
Nintendo established its North American subsidiary, Nintendo of America (NoA), in 1980. Hiroshi Yamauchi, the company's president, appointed his son-in-law, Minoru Arakawa, as the president of NoA. Arakawa hired his wife, Yoko Yamauchi, as the first employee. The Arakawa family moved from Vancouver, British Columbia, to New York City because it was a major center for business. The parent company in Japan provided the initial funding and game supplies for NoA. The goal was to enter the $8 billion-per-year coin-operated arcade video game market in the United States, which was the largest entertainment industry in the country. During their research, NoA hired young gamers to work in a warehouse in New Jersey to handle game hardware from Japan.
In late 1980, NoA signed a contract with Far East Video, a Seattle-based company that specialized in arcade sales and distribution. Far East Video was run by Ron Judy and Al Stone, who had already built a strong reputation for distributing Nintendo games in the United States. They agreed to help NoA sell its games in exchange for a fixed commission per unit. Their Seattle-based lawyer, Howard Lincoln, handled the contract.
Based on positive test results from arcades in Seattle, Arakawa invested most of NoA's limited funds in ordering 3,000 Radar Scope arcade cabinets. However, the game failed in the market after arriving in the United States. Far East Video was already struggling financially, and Ron Judy borrowed $50,000 from his aunt to help. Arakawa felt regretful about starting NoA, as Yoko Yamauchi was caught between her husband and father during the crisis.
To reduce stress and financial strain, NoA moved from New York City to the Seattle area. Seattle's proximity to Japan, with a nine-day boat trip, and its lumber industry for arcade cabinets made it a better location. A warehouse in the Tukwila suburb was rented from Mario Segale, after whom the Mario character would later be named. The warehouse was initially managed by Don James, who later hired his friend Howard Phillips as an assistant. For a time, NoA had fewer than 10 employees, handling sales, marketing, and distribution of arcade cabinets and Game & Watch handheld units from Nintendo.
Arakawa remained worried about NoA's financial situation. He repeatedly asked Yamauchi to send top talent from Japan to create games for the American market, especially to sell the overstock of Radar Scope cabinets. Yamauchi only sent Shigeru Miyamoto, a young assistant to Gunpei Yokoi who had no engineering experience.
NoA's staff, except for Howard Phillips, were surprised by Miyamoto's first game, which was delivered as emergency conversion kits for the Radar Scope cabinets. These kits transformed the cabinets into arcade units for the hit game Donkey Kong, generating $280 million in profits for NoA between 1981 and 1983. The game sold 4,000 units each month in the United States. Arakawa used these profits to buy land in Redmond, Washington, in 1982 and to launch the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985, which helped revive the video game industry after the 1983 crash. A second warehouse in Redmond was later secured and managed by Don James. NoA remained at around 20 employees for several years.
On August 10, 1993, Nintendo of America introduced the Nintendo Gateway System. This system was used in participating airlines and hotels and was an early form of interactive in-flight entertainment that allowed users to play games, listen to music, and watch videos.
Over the following decades, Nintendo of America's structure changed, and its sales and marketing functions are now managed from an office in Redwood City, California. The company's distribution centers include Nintendo Atlanta in Georgia and Nintendo North Bend in Washington. As of 2007, the 380,000-square-foot Nintendo North Bend facility processes more than 20,000 orders daily for customers, including retail stores and individuals who shop on Nintendo's website. Nintendo of America also has a Canadian branch, Nin.
Marketing
Nintendo of America has used many well-known marketing campaigns to explain and show its brand. One of its first and most famous slogans was "Now you're playing with power!" This was used to promote the Nintendo Entertainment System. The slogan changed to "SUPER power" for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and "PORTABLE power" for the Game Boy.
In 1994, Nintendo used the "Play It Loud!" campaign, which focused on teenage rebellion and created a bold image. During the Nintendo 64 era, the slogan was "Get N or get out." For the GameCube, the "Who Are You?" campaign connected games to players' identities. The Nintendo DS was promoted with the tagline "Touching is Good." The Wii used the slogan "Wii would like to play," with games like Super Mario Galaxy and Super Paper Mario. The Nintendo 3DS used "Take a look inside," and the Wii U used "How U will play next." The Nintendo Switch uses "Switch and Play" in North America and "Play anywhere, anytime, with anyone" in other regions.
During the 1990s, when Nintendo was very successful, its name was often used to describe any video game console, no matter the manufacturer. To stop its name from becoming too common, Nintendo promoted the term "game console" and succeeded in protecting its trademark.
Nintendo operates or licenses retail stores worldwide. In Hong Kong, a third-party company runs several Nintendo Switch-focused stores under the name NSEW. The first store opened in March 2020 in Sham Shui Po. Two more stores opened later, along with a temporary pop-up store at Hong Kong International Airport.
Another Nintendo Switch-focused store, Assemble, is in Wan Chai. It opened on November 14, 2024, and has a section for Cygames, a third-party developer.
In June 2019, Nintendo's official distributor in Israel, TorGaming Ltd., opened the second physical Nintendo retail store in the world, called Nintendo Israel, at Dizengoff Center in Tel Aviv. This was the center's second-largest launch.
On February 1, 2019, Nintendo announced it would open Nintendo Tokyo at Shibuya Parco department store in the fall of that year. The store opened on November 22, 2019.
Since Nintendo Tokyo opened, two more stores in Japan have opened. Nintendo Osaka opened on November 11, 2022, in Daimaru Umeda department store. Nintendo Kyoto opened on October 17, 2023, in Takashimaya Department Store in Kyoto.
In May 2012, Shas Samurai, Nintendo's representative in Saudi Arabia, opened a "Nintendo World Store" at Al Faisaliah Mall in Riyadh.
Nintendo's first retail store, Nintendo World (now called Nintendo New York), opened on May 14, 2005, at Rockefeller Center in New York City.
Nintendo's second U.S. store, Nintendo San Francisco, opened in Union Square on May 15, 2025.
The Nintendo of America headquarters in Redmond, Washington, has a private store open only to employees and invited guests.
Nintendo also opened pop-up stores in 2021 in several Japanese cities and later in 2023 in Seoul, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
Since the 1960s, Nintendo's most recognizable logo is the oval racetrack shape, especially the red wordmark on a white background, used in Western markets from 1985 to 2006. In Japan, a black-and-white version without a colored background was used on Famicom, Super Famicom, Nintendo 64, GameCube, and handheld console packaging. In 2006, with the launch of the Wii, Nintendo changed its logo to a gray version without a colored background, making it transparent. The official corporate logo remains this version. Since 2016, a white version on a red background has been used for consumer products and marketing, especially with the Nintendo Switch in 2017.
Policy
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Unlike most Japanese companies, Nintendo has usually kept a large amount of cash instead of using the extra money for investments, buying back stock, or paying dividends. This policy was started by Hiroshi Yamauchi. As of September 2025, Nintendo is estimated to have ¥1.5 trillion in cash, which is about 120% of its sales. This large cash reserve helped Nintendo recover quickly from poor sales of the GameCube and Wii U, and it also provided financial support for long-term projects.
In March 2026, Nintendo of America filed a lawsuit to get a refund after the Supreme Court of the United States said that the second Trump administration's use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose tariffs was illegal. Nintendo of America's lawsuit is asking for an unspecified amount of money (plus interest). The lawsuit says that the company was harmed by the illegal use of Executive Orders and the payment of IEEPA duties. It also mentions tariffs on other countries, including Mexico, Canada, and China.
For many years, Nintendo had strict content guidelines for video games on its consoles. Although Nintendo allowed graphic violence in its video games released in Japan, nudity and sexuality were not allowed. Former Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi believed that allowing pornographic games would damage the company's image. Nintendo of America had even stricter rules: games on Nintendo consoles could not have nudity, sexuality, profanity (including racism, sexism, or slurs), blood, graphic or domestic violence, drugs, political messages, or religious symbols, except for widely unpracticed religions like the Greek Pantheon. The Japanese parent company was worried that enforcing Japanese standards on North American and European children might be seen as a "Japanese invasion." Some exceptions happened over time: Bionic Commando (with swastikas removed in the US version), Smash TV, and Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode contained human violence, the latter also had implied sexuality and tobacco use. River City Ransom and Taboo: The Sixth Sense had nudity, and the latter also had religious images, as did Castlevania II and III.
Nintendo's content policy affected the sales of the Genesis version of Mortal Kombat, which sold more than double the Super NES version. This was because Nintendo forced its publisher, Acclaim, to change the game's blood to look like sweat and reduce its violent graphics. By contrast, Sega allowed the Genesis version to keep its blood and gore (though a code was needed to unlock it). Nintendo allowed the Super NES version of Mortal Kombat II to be released uncensored the next year, with a content warning on the packaging. Early Megami Tensei titles were not released in the West because of Nintendo's content rules about religious symbols. The first Megami Tensei title to be localized was the Virtual Boy game Jack Bros., and mainline titles started being localized with Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey in 2010. The series, along with the spin-off Persona games, have since been released on Nintendo platforms worldwide. Shin Megami Tensei V became exclusive to the Nintendo Switch at release, and Persona 5 Royal was released on the Switch.
Video game rating systems were created with the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) in 1994 and the Pan European Game Information (PEGI) in 2003. Nintendo stopped most of its censorship policies and let consumers decide what to play. Today, changes to games are mostly done by the developers or, sometimes, at Nintendo's request. The only clear rule is that ESRB AO-rated games will not be allowed on Nintendo consoles in North America. This rule is also followed by Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo's main competitors. Nintendo has allowed several mature-rated games to be published on its consoles, including Perfect Dark, Conker's Bad Fur Day, the Doom series, BMX XXX, the Resident Evil series, Killer7, the Mortal Kombat series, the Wolfenstein series, Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, BloodRayne, Geist, Dementium: The Ward, Bayonetta 2, Devil's Third, and Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water.
Some games have still been modified. For example, Konami had to remove all references to cigarettes from the 2000 Game Boy Color game Metal Gear: Ghost Babel (though earlier versions of Metal Gear, the GameCube version of Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, and the 3DS version of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater 3D had such references). Blood and maiming were also removed from the Nintendo 64 version of Cruis'n USA. Another example is the Game Boy Advance game Mega Man Zero 3, where the boss named Hellbat Schilt in the Japanese and European versions was renamed Devilbat Schilt in the North American version. In the North American versions of the Mega Man Zero games, enemies and bosses killed with a saber attack do not bleed like they do in the Japanese versions. However, the release of the Wii was accompanied by more controversial games, such as Manhunt 2, No More Heroes, The House of the Dead: Overkill, and MadWorld, the latter three of which were initially available only on the console. The Call of Duty franchise, which includes strong violence and depictions of blood and gore, was also released on the Wii and Wii U.
Some mature-rated titles for the Nintendo Switch and its successor, the Nintendo Switch 2, were not changed. Games like CD Projekt Red's The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Cyberpunk 2077 were released without changes on both consoles. In 2026, the game Dispatch was released on both consoles, but it was censored, with the developers stating that Nintendo's content policies were the reason. This led to new discussions about Nintendo's policies.
Before 1993, Nintendo of America had guidelines that licensees had to follow to make games for the Nintendo Entertainment System, in addition to the content guidelines mentioned earlier. These guidelines were enforced through the 10NES lockout chip. The license guidelines stated:
The last rule was avoided in several ways. For example, Konami wanted to make more games for Nintendo's consoles, so it created Ultra Games and later Palcom to produce more games as a different publisher. This made it harder for smaller or new companies to compete, as they could not afford to start more companies. Another result was that Square Co. (now Square Enix) executives said that the cost of publishing games on the Nintendo 64 and the level of censorship and control Nintendo had over games, especially Final Fantasy VI, were reasons for switching to Sony's PlayStation.
In 1993, a class action lawsuit was filed against Nintendo for using the lockout chip, which was said to support unfair business practices. The case was settled, with the condition that California consumers received a $3 discount coupon for a game of Nintendo's choice.
Nintendo has generally been proactive in protecting its intellectual property in both hardware and software. Nintendo's protection of its properties began as early as the arcade release of Donkey Kong, which was widely copied on other platforms, a common practice for popular arcade games at the time. Nintendo tried to take legal action to stop the release of these unauthorized clones, but it is estimated that it still lost $100 million in potential sales due to the clones. Since then, Nintendo has been proactive in preventing copyright infringement of its intellectual property.
Legacy
Nintendo has often led the way in creating new ideas that changed the way people play games. These changes were not always popular, but Nintendo's influence on the gaming industry is so strong that the company is considered one of the most important in the field.
Hiroshi Yamauchi's choices, especially his decision to bring Nintendo into the world of electronic games, helped his company succeed and kept the gaming industry alive. His actions helped rebuild trust in electronic games after the U.S. market for games fell apart in the early 1980s. By 1991, Nintendo was the most successful company in Japan, and its products changed how people played games. Unlike many other companies, Nintendo focused on selling game titles instead of selling consoles.
Nintendo's focus on quality and innovation made it known as a company that puts customers first. This helped it stand out from competitors like Sony and Microsoft. Since 2013, Forbes magazine has listed Nintendo as one of the "World's Best Employers," considering factors like how well the company treats its workers and the diversity of its staff. In 2018, Time magazine named Nintendo one of the "50 Genius Companies" of the year, noting that the company has a habit of making a comeback, such as with the success of the Nintendo Switch compared to the Wii U. In 2018, Nintendo's capital was over ten billion yen, and its sales reached more than nine billion dollars, mostly from the North American market, making it one of Japan's wealthiest companies.
Nintendo's characters have had a big influence on modern culture. Mario, once just a company mascot, is now a famous cultural icon and one of the most well-known characters in gaming. John Taylor of Arcadia Investment Corp. said Mario is the most valuable property in electronic gaming. Other famous Nintendo characters include Princess Peach, Pikachu, Link, Donkey Kong, Kirby, and Samus Aran.