10 Facts About Nintendo
This past Saturday (September 23rd), Nintendo celebrated its 134th birthday. In honor of this occasion, here are ten facts about Nintendo.
- They were a playing card company first – Founded in 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, Nintendo originally produced handmade Hanafuda cards, which are Japanese playing cards. In 1882, Japan banned gambling but allowed Hanafuda as they didn’t associate it with gambling. As a result, Yamauchi created Nintendo Koppai. Nintendo didn’t move into the toy and game industry until the 60’s. Even so, Nintendo still produces playing cards, not forgetting its roots.
- Nintendo’s former location is now a hotel – When it was first founded, it operated at 342 Kagiyacho in the Shimogyo-ku ward of Kyoto. In 1959, when taking the company public and diversifying, it moved to its current location, 11-1, Kamitoba, Hokotate, Minami-Ku, Kyoto-Shi, Kyoto, 601. Nintendo’s former location is now a hotel, but a plaque at the reads. “Playing Cards. Yamauchi Nintendo”, letting visitors know this is the company's birthplace.
- The Second President had to be adopted to run the company – When Yamauchi was to retire, he had a problem. He had no sons, and if Nintendo were to remain a family-run company, he would have to adopt his son-in-law, as dictated by Japanese culture. So, Yamauchi arranged for his daughter Tei to marry Sekiryo Kaneda. Once the marriage was complete, Fusajiro adopted Sekiryo into the family and became the company's second president from 1929 – 1949.
- Hiroshi Yamauchi had Nintendo pursue various ventures – In 1949 after Sekiryo suffered a stroke, he retired and had his grandson Hiroshi Yamauchi take over the company, thus becoming the third president. During the early years of his presidency, he changed Nintendo’s direction when it came to playing cards. He reintroduced Western playing cards to Japan, which were banned in 1633. He licensed a game card deal with Disney and took the company public on the Japanese stock market. He also took Nintendo outside the playing card industry to pursue other markets. This included a taxi service, love hotels, and the food industry. However, they didn’t last long due to various problems, and Yamauchi shuttered them to try and find a new way to diversify.
- Satoru Iwata became the first president unrelated to the Yamauchi family – When Yamauchi retired in 2002, Satoru Iwata, head of Nintendo’s Corporate Planning Division, succeeded him. Though the fourth president, he was the first not to be related by blood or marriage to the Yamauchi family. A beloved man within the video game community, Iwata would be the president of Nintendo until July 15, 2015, when he died of a bile duct growth after battling cancer.
- Ultra Hand was one of Nintendo’s first toys – While visiting the game manufacturing assembly line, Hiroshi saw Gunpei Yokoi, an engineer, playing with an extending arm he designed and built. Hiroshi was amazed and ordered the invention into mass production, naming it Ultra Hand. This was one of several toys that Nintendo released and the start of Yokoi’s influence on Nintendo. Note: Ultra Hand ability from The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom takes its name from the toy.
- Nintendo of America has Nintendo-themed design accents – If you visit Nintendo of America’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington, you probably expect this. There are Mario-themed bathroom signs, conference rooms named after Zelda and other Nintendo games, and benches in the lobbies shaped like D-pads. It only makes sense for NOA’s headquarters to be as fun and creative as Nintendo.
- Nintendo Switch is the best-selling game console for Nintendo in the U.S. – The Nintendo Switch finally surpassed the Wii as the best-selling Nintendo console. TOTK, released in May, is credited to the Switch being able to beat the Wii. It was considered unreachable, but the Switch achieved this milestone seven years later.
- Nintendo has a new employee retention rate of 98.8% - A recent report analyzed different companies and collected data to find the average retention rate of new employees in Japan. While the national average rate was 70%, for Nintendo, it was a whopping 98.8%. Several reasons were given: a good work environment, benefits such as paid leave and childcare, and policies regarding same-sex relationships and diversity.
- Mario originally wasn’t Nintendo’s first choice as their mascot – Nintendo had originally wanted Diskun to be their mascot as he appeared on Famicom (NES) properties. However, the release of Super Mario Bros. led many to find Mario instantly likable. As a result, Nintendo went with Mario being their mascot and hasn’t looked back since.
Sources:
The History of Nintendo Video Games
Nintendo’s new employee retention rate is 98.8%, considerably higher than Japan's average
Switch Sales Finally Surpass Nintendo’s Best-Selling Console