Nintendo Co., Ltd. is a Japanese company that makes video games. It is based in Kyoto and creates, sells, and produces both video games and game consoles.

Nintendo was started in 1889 by a craftsman named Fusajiro Yamauchi. He founded the company to make handmade hanafuda playing cards. Later, Nintendo tried many different businesses and became a public company. In the 1960s, it began making toys, and in the 1970s, it created its first arcade games. Nintendo released its first home console, the Color TV-Game, in 1977. The company became popular worldwide in the 1980s after the release of the arcade game Donkey Kong (1981) and the Nintendo Entertainment System, which was launched with Super Mario Bros. in 1985.

Since then, Nintendo has made 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). It has created or published many well-known game series, such as Mario, Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda, Pokémon, Super Smash Bros., Animal Crossing, Splatoon, Metroid, Kirby, and Star Fox. The company’s mascot, Mario, is one of the most famous fictional characters. Other characters, including Luigi, Donkey Kong, Samus, Link, Kirby, Pikachu, and Fox, are also well-known worldwide. Movies and a theme park area based on Nintendo’s games have been made.

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 branches in Japan and other countries, as well as second-party developers such as HAL Laboratory, Intelligent Systems, and Game Freak. Nintendo is one of the wealthiest and most valuable companies in Japan.

History

Nintendo was founded on September 23, 1889, in Shimogyō-ku, Kyoto, Japan, by a craftsman named Fusajiro Yamauchi. It began as an unregistered business that made and sold Japanese playing cards called karuta, including a type known as hanafuda, or "flower cards." The name "Nintendo" is often thought to mean "leave luck to heaven," but this idea is not supported by historical records. Another theory suggests it might mean "the temple of free hanafuda," but even Yamauchi’s descendants do not know the true meaning.

Hanafuda became popular after Japan banned most gambling in 1882, though hanafuda was allowed. Sales of these cards were especially common in Kyoto’s gaming parlors run by the yakuza. Other companies left the market because they did not want to be linked to crime, but Yamauchi continued and soon became the main producer of hanafuda. As demand grew, Yamauchi hired helpers to make more cards. However, the business struggled financially because it operated in a small market, manufacturing was slow and expensive, and the cards were costly and long-lasting, leading to low sales. To solve this, Nintendo made a cheaper line of cards called Tengu and sold them in other 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 1902, though some records say 1907, after the Russo-Japanese War. These cards became popular both in Japan and abroad. At this time, the company was known as Marufuku Nintendo Card Co. The war caused problems for leisure businesses, including new taxes on playing cards. Nintendo survived and in 1907 partnered with Nihon Senbai, later called Japan Tobacco, to sell cards in cigarette stores. A promotional calendar from 1915 showed the company was named Yamauchi Nintendo but still used the Marufuku Nintendo Co. brand for its cards.

Japanese tradition required Yamauchi to adopt his son-in-law to ensure the family business continued after his retirement. In 1907, Sekiryo Kaneda took the Yamauchi name and became the company’s leader in 1929. By then, Nintendo was the largest playing card business in Japan.

In 1933, Kaneda formed a partnership called Yamauchi Nintendo & Co., Ltd. and built a new headquarters near the Toba-kaidō train station. Because Kaneda’s marriage to Yamauchi’s daughter had no sons, he planned to adopt Shikanojo Inaba, an artist and the father of his grandson Hiroshi, born in 1927. However, Inaba left the family and company, so Hiroshi became Kaneda’s eventual successor.

World War II hurt Nintendo because Japan banned foreign card games, and people focused less on leisure activities. During this time, Hiroshi’s wife, Michiko Inaba, from a wealthy family, helped fund the company. In 1947, Kaneda created Marufuku Co., Ltd., which later became Nintendo Co., Ltd. in Kyoto.

In 1950, Hiroshi Yamauchi became president after Kaneda’s health worsened. He changed the company’s name to Nintendo Playing Card Co., Ltd. in 1951 and moved manufacturing to a central location in Kyoto. In 1953, Nintendo became the first company in Japan to mass-produce plastic playing cards. Some employees were upset about these changes, leading to a strike, but Hiroshi dismissed some workers to keep operations running.

In 1959, Nintendo moved its headquarters to Kyoto. The company partnered with Walt Disney Productions to use Disney characters on playing cards, which helped sell more cards to children. Nintendo also automated card production and sold cards in toy stores. By 1961, Nintendo had a Tokyo branch and sold over 1.5 million card packs. In 1962, the company became public by listing stock on the Osaka and Kyoto Stock Exchanges and changed its name to Nintendo & Co., Ltd. It also started making games.

In 1964, Nintendo earned ¥150 million but faced challenges as Disney cards became too reliant on the children’s market. Sales of adult-oriented cards dropped because people preferred other hobbies like pachinko and bowling. After the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, Nintendo’s stock price fell to ¥60.

In 1965, Nintendo hired Gunpei Yokoi to maintain its card-making machines. In 1969, Yamauchi expanded the company’s research and development department, led by Hiroshi Imanishi. Yokoi was moved to this department and later managed the games division. Nintendo built a new plant in Uji, near Kyoto, and sold tabletop games like chess and mahjong under the Nippon Game brand.

In 1970, Nintendo’s stock was listed on the first section of the Osaka Stock Exchange, and its headquarters was expanded. This year marked a turning point as Nintendo released Japan’s first electronic toy, the Beam Gun, an optoelectronic pistol 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 focuses on creating, making, and selling entertainment products, such as video game software and hardware, and card games. Its main markets are Japan, the United States, and Europe, with more than 70% of its total sales coming from the United States 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, specialized, 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 achieved worldwide success with the Game Boy handheld console. In the 2000s, Nintendo had major success with the Nintendo DS and the 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. In 1975, the company made EVR Race, its first electromechanical game. In 1981, Nintendo released Donkey Kong, which became the first platform game in history. Since then, Nintendo and other companies have created many video games for Nintendo's consoles. These games are sold in physical formats, such as discs and cartridges, and online through services like the Nintendo eShop and the Nintendo Network.

Corporate structure

Nintendo's internal research and development operations are divided into three main divisions:

• Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development (EPD), the main software development and production division of Nintendo, which focuses on video game and software development, production, and supervision;
• Nintendo Platform Technology Development (PTD), which focuses on home and handheld video game console hardware development; and
• Nintendo Business Development (NBD), which focuses on refining business strategy for dedicated game system business and is responsible for overseeing the smart device arm of the business.

The Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development division is the primary software development, production, and supervision division at Nintendo. It was formed by combining its former Entertainment Analysis & Development and Software Planning & Development divisions in 2015. Led by Shinya Takahashi, the division has the largest number of staff at the company, with more than 800 engineers, producers, directors, coordinators, planners, and designers.

The Nintendo Platform Technology Development division was created by combining Nintendo's former Integrated Research & Development (IRD) and System Development (SDD) divisions. Led by Ko Shiota, the division is responsible for designing hardware and developing Nintendo's operating systems, developer environment, internal network, and maintaining the Nintendo Network.

The Nintendo Business Development division was formed after Nintendo began developing software for smart devices such as mobile phones and tablets. It is responsible for refining Nintendo's business model for dedicated video game systems and overseeing development for smart devices.

Notable board members include Shigeru Miyamoto, Satoru Shibata, and Outside Director Chris Meledandri, CEO of Illumination Entertainment. Notable executive officers include Yoshiaki Koizumi, Deputy General Manager of the Entertainment Planning & Development division, and Takashi Tezuka, Senior Officer of the Entertainment Planning & Development division.

Nintendo Co., Ltd. has been headquartered in Kyoto, Japan, since its founding. It oversees the company's global operations and manages Japanese operations specifically. The company's two major subsidiaries, Nintendo of America and Nintendo of Europe, manage operations in North America and Europe, respectively. Nintendo Co., Ltd. later moved from its original Kyoto location to a new office in Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto. This became the research and development building in 2000 when the head office relocated to its current location in Minami-ku, Kyoto.

Nintendo founded its North American subsidiary in 1980 as Nintendo of America (NoA). Hiroshi Yamauchi appointed his son-in-law, Minoru Arakawa, as president. Arakawa hired his wife and Yamauchi's daughter, Yoko Yamauchi, as the first employee. The Arakawa family moved from Vancouver, British Columbia, to Manhattan, New York, to select an office because of its central role in American commerce. The parent company in Japan provided seed capital and product inventory, with a goal of entering the $8 billion-per-year coin-op arcade video game market, the largest entertainment industry in the United States. During research, NoA hired young gamers to work in a poorly maintained warehouse in New Jersey to receive and service game hardware from Japan.

In late 1980, NoA contracted Far East Video, a Seattle-based arcade sales and distribution company owned by Ron Judy and Al Stone. The two had already built a reputation and a distribution network for importing and selling Nintendo games in the United States. They told Arakawa they could sell all Nintendo inventory if Nintendo produced better games. Far East Video agreed to a fixed per-unit commission for exclusive distribution of Nintendo games in the U.S., to be settled by Howard Lincoln, a Seattle-based lawyer.

Based on favorable test results in Seattle, Arakawa invested most of NoA's limited funds in ordering 3,000 Radar Scope cabinets. He became worried when the game failed in the market after arriving from Japan. Far East Video was already struggling financially, and Ron Judy borrowed $50,000 from his aunt, hoping Nintendo would create a hit game like Pac-Man. Arakawa regretted founding the subsidiary, as Yoko Yamauchi was caught between her husband and father.

To reduce financial stress, Nintendo of America moved from Manhattan to the Seattle area. The Seattle harbor is closer to Japan, with a nine-day boat trip, and the region had a market for arcade cabinets. Arakawa's real estate scouts found a 60,000-square-foot warehouse in Tukwila, owned by Mario Segale, after whom the Mario character was named. The warehouse was initially managed by former Far East Video employee Don James, who later hired his college friend Howard Phillips as an assistant. Phillips eventually became the warehouse manager. For a time, the company had fewer than 10 employees, handling sales, marketing, advertising, distribution, and limited manufacturing of arcade cabinets and Game & Watch handheld units, all sourced and shipped from Nintendo.

Arakawa remained worried about NoA's financial problems. With no new game ideas from the parent company, he repeatedly asked Yamauchi to assign top talent to develop games for America, especially to sell the overstock of Radar Scope cabinets. Yamauchi only allowed the assignment of Gunpei Yokoi's young assistant, Shigeru Miyamoto, who had no engineering background.

NoA's staff, except for Howard Phillips, were upset by Miyamoto's first game, which was imported as emergency conversion kits to turn Radar Scope cabinets into arcade units. These kits transformed the cabinets into a major success, generating $280 million from the hit game Donkey Kong between 1981 and 1983. The game sold 4,000 new arcade units each month in America, making Phillips "the largest volume shipping manager for the entire Port of Seattle." Arakawa used these profits to buy 27 acres of land in Redmond in July 1982 and to launch the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985, which revitalized the video game industry after the 1983 crash. A second warehouse in Redmond was soon secured and managed by Don James. The company remained around 20 employees for several years.

On August 10, 1993, Nintendo of America introduced the Nintendo Gateway System.

Over the following decades, the organization was restructured, and core sales and marketing functions are now directed by the office in Redwood City, California. The company's distribution centers include Nintendo Atlanta in Atlanta, Georgia, and Nintendo North Bend.

Marketing

Nintendo of America has used many well-known marketing campaigns to show what its brand stands for. One of its earliest and most famous slogans was "Now you're playing with power!" This was first 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 helped create a bold image. During the Nintendo 64 era, the slogan was "Get N or get out." For the GameCube, the slogan "Who Are You?" suggested a connection between the games and players' identities. The Nintendo DS was promoted with the tagline "Touching is Good." The Wii used the slogan "Wii would like to play" to highlight 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 the slogan "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 trademark from becoming a general term, Nintendo encouraged the use of "game console" instead. This helped protect its brand.

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 dedicated to Cygames, a third-party developer and publisher.

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 second-largest launch at the center.

On February 1, 2019, Nintendo announced it would open Nintendo Tokyo at Shibuya Parco department store in the fall of that year. This was its first self-managed store in Japan. The store opened on November 22, 2019.

Since Nintendo Tokyo opened, two more stores have opened in Japan: Nintendo Osaka, which opened on November 11, 2022, at Daimaru Umeda department store in Kita-ku, and Nintendo Kyoto, which opened on October 17, 2023, at Takashimaya Department Store in Kyoto.

In May 2012, Shas Samurai, Nintendo's official representative in Saudi Arabia, opened a "Nintendo World Store" at Al Faisaliah Mall in Riyadh.

Nintendo's first retail store, Nintendo World (now Nintendo New York), opened on May 14, 2005, at the former location of the Pokémon Center in New York City.

Nintendo's second U.S. store, Nintendo San Francisco, opened on May 15, 2025, in the city's Union Square neighborhood.

The Nintendo of America headquarters in Redmond, Washington, has a private store open only to employees and invited guests.

Nintendo also launched official pop-up stores in 2021 in several Japanese cities and later in 2023 in Seoul, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

Nintendo's most recognizable logo, used since the 1960s, is an oval racetrack shape. In Western markets, the red-colored wordmark on a white background was used from 1985 to 2006. In Japan, a monochrome version without a colored background was used on Famicom, Super Famicom, Nintendo 64, GameCube, and handheld console packaging. Since 2006, the logo changed to a gray variant with a transparent wordmark. The official corporate logo remains this version. For consumer products and marketing, a white variant on a red background has been used since 2016, especially with the Nintendo Switch launch in 2017.

• 1889–1950
• 1950–1960
• 1960–1965
• 1965–1967
• 1967–1968
• 1968–1970
• 1970–1972
• 1972–1975
• 1975–present (red coloring in Western markets)
• 1975 logo with grey coloring, 2004–2016
• 1975 logo with red background, 2016–present

Policy

Nintendo, unlike many Japanese companies, has typically kept large amounts of cash saved instead of using it for investments, buying back stock, or paying dividends. This approach was established by Hiroshi Yamauchi. As of September 2025, Nintendo is estimated to have ¥1.5 trillion in cash reserves, which is about 120% of its total sales. This cash helped Nintendo recover from poor sales of the GameCube and Wii U and supported long-term projects.

In March 2026, Nintendo of America filed a lawsuit to request a refund after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the second Trump administration’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose tariffs was illegal. The lawsuit asks for an unspecified refund (plus interest) and claims that Nintendo was harmed by the illegal enforcement of these tariffs. The case also mentions tariffs on countries like Mexico, Canada, and China.

For many years, Nintendo enforced strict content guidelines for games on its consoles. While graphic violence was allowed in Japanese games, nudity and sexuality were not permitted. Former president Hiroshi Yamauchi believed allowing pornographic games would damage Nintendo’s image. Nintendo of America added more restrictions, such as banning nudity, profanity, blood, graphic violence, drugs, political messages, or religious symbols (except for rarely practiced religions like the Greek Pantheon). The Japanese company worried that enforcing these rules on North American and European children might be seen as a “Japanese invasion.” Some exceptions occurred, such as games like Bionic Commando, Smash TV, and Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode, which included violence or implied sexuality.

Nintendo’s content policies influenced the success of the Mortal Kombat game. The Genesis version sold more than double the Super NES version because Nintendo required its publisher to change red blood to look like white sweat and reduce violent graphics. In contrast, Sega allowed blood and gore in the Genesis version. Nintendo later allowed the Super NES version of Mortal Kombat II to be released uncensored with a content warning. Early Megami Tensei games were not localized for Western markets due to religious symbol restrictions, but later titles like Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey and Persona 5 Royal were released globally.

Video game ratings systems, such as the ESRB (1994) and PEGI (2003), were introduced, and Nintendo reduced its censorship policies, allowing developers to make choices about content. Today, Nintendo only prohibits ESRB AO-rated games on its consoles in North America, a rule also followed by Sony and Microsoft. Examples of mature-rated games released on Nintendo consoles include Perfect Dark, Conker’s Bad Fur Day, Doom, Resident Evil, and Mortal Kombat.

Some games were still modified. For example, Metal Gear: Ghost Babel had cigarette references removed, and Cruis’n USA had blood and maiming removed. In Mega Man Zero 3, a boss named “Hellbat Schilt” was renamed “Devilbat Schilt” for North American releases. Enemies killed with a saber attack in the North American versions of Mega Man Zero games do not bleed, unlike in Japanese versions. The Wii and Wii U hosted controversial games like Manhunt 2, No More Heroes, and MadWorld. The Call of Duty franchise also appeared on these consoles.

Some mature-rated games on the Nintendo Switch and its successor, the Nintendo Switch 2, were released without changes, such as The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Cyberpunk 2077. However, Dispatch was censored in 2026, with developers citing Nintendo’s content policies as the reason.

Before 1993, Nintendo of America required licensees to follow strict rules for games on the Nintendo Entertainment System, enforced through the 10NES lockout chip. Rules included:
– Licensees could not release the same game on competing consoles for two years.
– Nintendo decided how many cartridges to supply and how much space to allocate for ads in Nintendo Power magazine.
– Licensees had to order a minimum number of cartridges.
– Licensees could only produce five games per year to avoid market oversaturation, a rule linked to the 1983 video game crash.

This rule was avoided by companies like Konami, which created new publishing companies to produce more games. Smaller companies struggled to follow these rules. Square Co. (now Square Enix) shifted focus to Sony’s PlayStation due to Nintendo’s strict control and censorship, such as on Final Fantasy VI.

In 1993, a class-action lawsuit claimed Nintendo’s lockout chip enabled unfair business practices. The case was settled, allowing California consumers to receive a $3 discount coupon for a Nintendo game.

Legacy

Nintendo has often been at the forefront of innovation in the video game industry, changing how people play games over many years. Some of these changes were not always popular at first, but Nintendo’s influence on gaming is so strong that the company is widely seen as one of the most important in the field.

Hiroshi Yamauchi’s decisions to help Nintendo enter the world of electronic games were key to the company’s success and helped the industry survive. After the video game market in the United States struggled in the early 1980s, Nintendo’s actions helped rebuild trust in electronic games. By 1991, Nintendo was the most successful company in Japan, and its products changed how games were played. Unlike many companies at the time, Nintendo focused on selling game titles rather than selling consoles.

Nintendo’s focus on quality and innovation has made it a company that puts customers first. This has 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 workplace conditions and diversity. In 2018, Time magazine named Nintendo one of the "50 Genius Companies" of the year, noting that the company often comes back strong after challenges. The Nintendo Switch’s success was highlighted as an example of this. 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.

Nintendo’s characters have had a major influence on modern culture. Mario, once a simple company symbol, is now a well-known cultural icon and one of the most famous video game characters. John Taylor of Arcadia Investment Corp. said Mario is the most valuable property in electronic gaming. Other famous characters from Nintendo include Princess Peach, Pikachu, Link, Donkey Kong, Kirby, and Samus Aran.