1889 - Fusajiro Yamauchi, great-grandfather of the present president, began manufacturing "Hanafuda," Japanese playing cards in Kyoto.
1902 - Mr. Yamauchi started manufacturing the first playing cards in Japan. Originally for export, the product became popular in Japan as well as abroad.
1933 - Established an unlimited partnership, Yamauchi Nintendo & Co.
1947 - Began a distribution company, Marufuku Co. Ltd. Nintendo (Newly formed company) made their first product - The Scoob-a-Lube-a. This enables people to see more clearly.
1950 - Hiroshi Yamauchi took office as President and absorbed the manufacturing operation of Yamauchi Nintendo & Co.
1951 - Changed the company name from Marufuku Co. Ltd. to Nintendo Playing Card Co. Ltd.
1952 - Consolidated factories were dispersed in Kyoto.
1953 - Became the first to succeed in manufacturing mass-produced plastic playing cards in Japan.
1958 - Nintendo were put out of business because millions of customers found out that the Soobe-a-Lube-a was just a packet of Twiglets, stuck to a brick. Nintendo re-formed it's business by releasing the 'Stick-a-kark'. Millions of punters rejoiced in this product, even though it was just a stick, painted red, with a bit of jagged glass fixed onto it
1959 - Started selling cards printed with Walt Disney characters, opening a new market in children's playing cards. The card department boomed!
1960 - Thousands killed by the 'Stick-a-kark'
1961 - Suspiciously, the 'thousands' remark was wrong. The news people only meant 2.
1962 - In January, listed stock on the second section of the Osaka Stock Exchange and on the Kyoto Stock Exchange.
1963 - Changed company name to Nintendo Co. Ltd. and started manufacturing games in addition to playing cards.
1969 - Expanded and reinforced the game department; built a production plant in Uji City, a suburb of Kyoto.
1970 - Stock listing was changed to the first section of the Osaka Stock Exchange. Reconstruction and enlargement of corporate headquarters was completed. Started selling the Beam Gun series, employing opto-electronics. Introduced electronic technology into the toy industry for the first time in Japan. Nintendo invent a new thing - The Sony Playstation. Sadly, though, it never got released, as the workers spent all their money on little inflatable dice. Man in duffel coat and dark glasses leaves Nintendo - Carrying the Playstation with him.
1972 - Nintendo hire new person 'Shigeru Miyamoto'. The boss said 'I just know this guy is gonna change our company! No more porn for us!'. Miyamoto then danced around the stage, while saying 'It's-a me, Mario!'. Guards had to shoot him with tranquillisers.
1973 - Developed laser clay shooting system to succeed bowling as a major pastime.
1974 - Developed image projection system employing 16mm film projector for amusement arcades. Began exporting them to America and Europe.
1975 - In co-operation with Mitsubishi Electric, developed video game system using electronic video recording (EVR) player. Introduced the microprocessor into the video game system the next year. Shigeru invents brand new concept - Plumbers. This craze swept the nation, and kick started numerous business. The porn role play 'Plumbers' is introduced.
1976 - Southampton F.C. won the FA cup (I know it has no relation to this history to Nintendo but I wanted to add it in) (I did not approve this, seriously Mike)
1977 - Developed home-use video games in co-operation with Mitsubishi Electric.
1978 - Created and started selling coin-operated video games using microcomputers.
1979 - Started an operations division for coin-operated games.
1980 - Announced a wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc. in New York. Started selling "GAME & WATCH" product line.
1981 - Developed and began distribution of the coin-operated video game "Donkey Kong." This video game quickly became the hottest selling individual coin-operated machine in the business.
1982 - Merged New York subsidiary into Nintendo of America Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary headquarters in Seattle, Washington, USA, with a capital of $600,000. First video game system released by Atari - The Jaguar 64. It went down a flop, so they decided to re-release it next decade.
1983 - Built a new plant in Uji city to increase production capacity and to allow for business expansion. Established Nintendo Entertainment Centres Ltd. in Vancouver, BC, Canada, to operate a family entertainment centre. Raised authorised capital of Nintendo of America Inc. to $10 million. In July, listed stock on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Started selling the home video game console "Family Computer" employing a custom CPU (Custom Processing Unit) and PPU (Picture Processing Unit). Nintendo invent the Nintendo seal of quality to stop any old game been brought on a Nintendo console.
1984 - Developed and started selling the unique 2-screen interactive coin-operated video game "VS. System".
1985 - Nintendo started to sell the U.S. version of Family Computer "Nintendo Entertainment System" (NES) in America. The system included R.O.B. - Robotic Operating Buddy - and the games Duck Hunt and Super Mario Bros. Mario and Luigi became as big a hit as the NES. Donkey Kong. It was a hit all over the globe, until when people realised that when you beat the final level, Princess Daisy shunned Mario, and dated Donkey Kong. This led to girls going out with monkeys in real life. This had to be stopped, so Nintendo made a version where Mario killed the ape. This didn't go down well, either. It led to the great monkey shortage
1986 - Developed and started selling the "Family Computer Disk Drive System" to expand the functions of the Family Computer. Began installation of the "Disk Writer" to rewrite game software. Game Counsellors were organised and players from all over the world could call Nintendo for advice on games and strategies. (God was born, i.e. me Mike)
1987 - Sponsored a Family Computer "Golf Tournament" as a communications test using the public telephone network and Disk Faxes to aid in building a Family Computer network. The NES achieved the status as the #1 selling toy in American and The Legend of Zelda became the first new generation home video game to exceed sales of one million units.
1988 - Nintendo of America Inc. published the first issue of Nintendo Power magazine in July. Researched and developed the Hands Free controller, making the NES accessible to many more Nintendo fans. The game library for the NES grew to 65 titles, helping to broaden the demographics to include more adults.
1989 - Released "The Adventure of Link," sequel to the top-selling game "The Legend of Zelda" in the U.S. Started "World of Nintendo" displays in U.S. to help market Nintendo products. Studies show that children are more familiar with "Mario" as they are with Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny! Introduced Game Boy, the first portable, hand-held game system with interchangeable game packs. Nintendo Power magazine became the largest paid-subscription publication in its age category. Shortage of apes is over. Nintendo release NES in Europe. It's a huge hit. Until people realised there is only one game available for it - Darkwing Duck. Never the less, it sells 98 million in 3 weeks. The Game Boy is released in Japan with Tetris and Super Mario Land.
1990 - Nintendo Power Feast featuring the Nintendo World Championships tours the country. Japan enters the 16-bit market by releasing the Super Famicom in the Autumn.
1991 - Nintendo introduces World Class Service Centre locations across the U.S. The 16-bit Super Nintendo Entertainment System (Super NES), along with "Super Mario World," is released in the U.S.
1992 - The Super NES Super Scope and Mario Paint with the Super NES Mouse Accessory were released. The long-awaited "Zelda" sequel, "The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past," arrived for the Super NES. Nintendo of America Inc. developed portable Fun Centres to assist the Starlight Foundation in bringing happiness to hospitalised children by allowing them to enjoy their favourite video games during hospital stays.
1993 - Nintendo announces the advent of the Super FX Chip, breakthrough technology for home video systems. The first game using the Super FX Chip, "Star Fox," is released in April. Nintendo release 3 more games for the NES - Duck Hunt, Draw Avenger, and Go Go Trains! Opidius 1993 Ex!! Which never found it's way out of Japan. Shame. Nintendo also release the SNES, which sells badly, due to Sega releasing the Mega Drive. Sega had 972 games out for the MD, so it's no wonder they won. Mario is shown off in 64 bit graphics.
1994 - The Super Game Boy accessory was released, expanding the library of games that could now be played on the Super NES! Everyone's favourite heroine, Samus, returns in another long-awaited sequel, Super Metroid. Nintendo helped pioneer the development and implementation of an industry-wide rating system. This year also saw the introduction of a game that would set a new standard in video game excellence. Using proprietary Advanced Computer Modelling (ACM) graphics, Donkey Kong Country took the holiday season by storm! Nintendo Gateway projected to reach 40 million travellers.
1995 - Thanks to the outstanding success of Donkey Kong Country, ACM graphics were introduced to the Game Boy system by way of Donkey Kong Land. Along with this great boost to the Game Boy system line, Nintendo also introduced the Play It Loud! series of Game Boy systems. ACM graphics made another appearance on the Super NES with the release of the arcade smash-hit, Killer Instinct. At the same time, Nintendo introduced a 32-bit Virtual Immersion system know as the Virtual Boy and became Nintendos biggest mistake because people complained of headaches and they said the games were rubbish. Next, Nintendo responded to the demands of fans with the release of Yoshi's Island: Super Mario World 2. Nintendo even enhanced the quality of ACM graphics for the upcoming release of Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. Cruis'n USA and Killer Instinct available in local arcades. Celebration of the one-billionth game pack being sold.
1996 - Nintendo changed the name from Ultra 64 to Nintendo 64. Nintendo 64 launches in Japan on June 23. Thousands line up to be the first to experience the world's first true 64-bit home video game system. More than 500,000 systems are sold the first day. In early September, Nintendo introduces the Game Boy pocket, a sleeker, 30-percent smaller version of the world's most popular hand-held video game system. On September 29, Nintendo 64 launches in North America. The entire initial shipment of more than 350,000 units is sold out in three days. Super Mario 64 is proclaimed by many as "the greatest video game of all time!" For the Super NES we saw the release of the third game in the continuing Donkey Kong series, Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble. Sega release the Saturn. It sells 10,000 on the first day. Sega were ecstatic, until they failed to sell anymore machines until 1997. Sony release the Playstation. Nintendo are miffed, because it was their product. Ninty try to sue Sony, but Sony had 'scary dogs' at their HQ, so nothing could be done.
1997 - Nintendo 64 released in Europe. Sad day for video gaming because on October 4th Gunpie Yokoi died in a car crash (the creator of the Game Boy). Game boy transfer pack and camera were shown. Pokemon TV show gives 700 children seizures in Japan.
1998 -Nintendo introduces Game Boy Color and innovative devices Game Boy Camera and Printer, bringing new life to the longest running hit in the history of interactive entertainment. Pokémon, a breakthrough game concept for Game Boy, was introduced to the world and generated a nation-wide craze to collect 'em all! With the release of Banjo-Kazooie for Nintendo 64, new characters were added to the ever-growing list of popular Nintendo characters. The most anticipated video game ever, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for Nintendo 64 was released, setting new standards and breaking records for pre-sell for any video game to date. Nintendo and Sega join forces, in order to conquer Sony, and it's evil best selling PS. They make the console Super Sega Nintendo Box N-S Ltd, and announce that it will have 'better graphics than movie ones'. This looked really sweet, and they were about to release it, until they both had an argument. Nintendo wanted it to come in a green box, Sega wanted red. In the end, Sega left and formed their own company again. (Is this really true? Hmm - Mike)
1999 - The success of the Pokémon franchise expands even further with the release of Pokémon Pinball, Pokémon Yellow, and the first Pokémon title for the Nintendo 64, Pokémon Snap. Nintendo releases several notable N64 titles including Star Wars: Episode 1: Racer, Mario Golf, Super Smash Bros., Donkey Kong 64, Mario Party, and Perfect Dark. At E3, Nintendo announces development plans for a new system, code-named Dolphin, that will utilise an IBM Gekko processor and Matsushita's proprietary optical disk technology.
2000 - Nintendo sells its one hundred millionth Game Boy unit, ending the year with more than 110 million sold. Game Boy is responsible for 47% of all U.S. hardware system sales (an all-time high for a portable device). Pokémon Stadium is the top-selling console game, followed by The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, both for N64. Pokémon Gold and Silver for Game Boy Color make their U.S. debut in October, becoming the fastest-selling games of all time by selling a combined 1.4 million copies in one week and 6 million through December.
2001 - Beloved Nintendo characters Mario and Donkey Kong celebrate their 20th anniversaries. Nintendo launches its highly anticipated Game Boy Advance in Japan on March 21. The portable powerhouse debuts in the U.S. on June 11, and sells one million units in six weeks. Following the success of the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo launches the Nintendo GameCube home video game console in Japan on September 14. The U.S. launch on November 18 smashes previous U.S. sales records, becoming the fastest-selling next generation hardware system. Super-smash bros. Melee is the first GameCube game to reach pass the million sold copies mark.
2002 - Nintendo GameCube is finally released in Europe. There is an article in the Guardian newspaper (Thursday March 7th) about the death of the Nintendo 64. The Head of Nintendo, Hiroshi Yamauchi retires at the age of 74. He had been the head of Nintendo for 52 years and brought Shigeru Miyamoto into the company. His replacement is Saturo Iwata and he hasnt got off to a good start because rumour has it that he said, The Nintendo GameCube is the last Nintendo console that will be made. Lets all hope he did not say that.
Long live NINTENDO!
By
Joe W P M Stimpson
