43 Bizarre Facts About Nintendo

Nintendo has been around since 1889 and originally made hanafuda cards.

Mario became Nintendo's mascot and disco was buried.

Nintendo pivoted from a card company to a toy company with the invention of the Ultra.

Gunpei Yokoi played a key role in Nintendo's success, creating the Game and Watch and Game Boy.

🎮 Nintendo's success is based on innovative thinking and not just cutting-edge technology.

🧩 Nintendo's early products, like the game and watch and the Nintendo switch, used older technology, but still achieved great success.

🏰 Nintendo started making their own building blocks after the success of Lego, but their design didn't work as well.

💪 Nintendo's durability is impressive, with the Nintendo DS surviving a trip to the top of Mount Everest.

A Game Boy survived a bombing in the Gulf War and still worked

The Game Boy was taken to space by a cosmonaut and played Tetris

Nintendo's characters, like Mario and Donkey Kong, have interesting origins

🔑 Nintendo originally planned to have time travel in their games.

😊🤔 Kirby's box art differs between Japan and the US due to market research.

⚖️🚢 Nintendo's lawyer, John Kirby, owns the rights to name sailboats Donkey Kong.

🎮💡 Nintendo introduced innovations like the d-pad, analog stick, and cartridge save feature.

Nintendo introduced innovative features in gaming such as shoulder buttons and controller rumble.

The Virtual Boy, Nintendo's first virtual reality system, had limitations and was not well-received.

Nintendo executives like Shigeru Miyamoto played a significant role in shaping the company's success.

🎮 Nintendo's previous president, Reggie Fils-Aimé, had iconic moments and fan interactions.

👑 Satoru Iwata, the former president, made significant contributions to the company and saved the development of Pokemon games.

🕹️ The launch of the Nintendo Switch included a hidden Easter egg as a tribute to Iwata.

⛳ The golf course in Wii Sports is based on the layout of the original NES golf game from 1987.

💡 Using compression technology, Iwata enabled the inclusion of both the second and first generation regions in the Pokemon games.

🎮 Nintendo reuses courses in different games and adds hidden Easter eggs as nods to its history and culture.

🎵 The GameCube launch jingle has secret alternatives, including a traditional Japanese drum theme.

🎂 Nintendo includes special features in its consoles to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries.