nintendo this article is about the nintendo corporation for the thirdgeneration video game console from the company see nintendo entertainment system nintendo co ltdnintendos current logo in use since 2016headquarters in kyotonative nameromanized namenintend kabushikigaishaformerlynintendo karuta co ltdthe nintendo playing card cotypepublictradedastyo 7974industryvideo game industryconsumer electronicsfounded23september 1889 129 years ago18890923founderfusajiro yamauchiheadquarterskyoto japanarea servedworldwidekey peopleshuntaro furukawapresidentshigeru miyamotofellowproductslist of nintendo consoleslists of nintendo gamesproduction outputhardware 2145 millionsoftware 9915 million2018servicesmy nintendonintendo switch onlinenintendo eshoprevenue 1056 trillion2018divisionsentertainment planning developmenteuropean research developmentnetwork service databaseplatform technology developmentsoftware technologytechnology developmentsubsidiaries1up studiomonolith softndcuberetro studiosiquewebsitenintendocom nintendo co ltd founded on 23 september 1889 by fusajiro yamauchi it originally produced handmade hanafuda playing cards from 1992 until 2016 nintendo was also the majority shareholder for the seattle mariners of major league baseball history history of nintendo 18891956 as a card company nintendos original headquarters in the kyoto prefecture in 1889 nintendo was founded as a playing card company by fusajiro yamauchi on 23 september 1889 19561974 new ventures former headquarters plate from when nintendo was solely a playing card production company in 1956 hiroshi yamauchi grandson of fusajiro yamauchi visited the us to talk with the united states playing card company the dominant playing card manufacturer there he found that the biggest playing card company in the world was using only a small office yamauchis realization that the playing card business had limited potential was a turning point he then acquired the license to use disney characters on playing cards to drive sales in 1963 yamauchi renamed nintendo playing card co ltd to nintendo co ltd in 1966 nintendo moved into the japanese toy industry with the ultra hand an extendable arm developed by its maintenance engineer gunpei yokoi in his free time yokoi was moved from maintenance to the new nintendo games department as a product developer nintendo continued to produce popular toys including the ultra machine love tester and the kousenjuu series of light gun games in 1973 its focus shifted to family entertainment venues with the laser clay shooting system using the same light gun technology used in nintendos kousenjuu series of toys and set up in abandoned bowling alleys following some success nintendo developed several more light gun machines such as the light gun shooter game wild gunman for the emerging arcade scene while the laser clay shooting system ranges had to be shut down following excessive costs nintendo had found a new market 19741978 early electronic era the color tvgame was nintendos first foray into video gaming which would soon become its primary focus nintendos first venture into the video gaming industry was securing rights to distribute the magnavox odyssey video game console in japan in 1974 nintendo began to produce its own hardware in 1977 with the color tvgame home video game consoles four versions of these consoles were produced each including variations of a single game for example color tv game 6 featured six versions of light tennis a student product developer named shigeru miyamoto was hired by nintendo at this time in 1975 nintendo moved into the video arcade game industry with evr race designed by their first game designer genyo takeda and several more games followed nintendo had some small success with this venture but the release of donkey kong in 1981 designed by miyamoto changed nintendos fortunes dramatically the success of the game and many licensing opportunities such as ports on the atari 2600 intellivision and colecovision gave nintendo a huge boost in profit and in addition the game also introduced an early iteration of mario then known in japan as jumpman the eventual company mascot 19791988 first video game success game watch nes game boy snes nintendo 64 and game boy advance sp the game watch series was nintendos first worldwide success in video game consoles in 1979 gunpei yokoi conceived the idea of a handheld video game while observing a fellow bullet train commuter who passed the time by interacting idly with a portable lcd calculator which gave birth to game watch 19881989 nes game boy and super mario bros in 1983 nintendo launched the family computer colloquialized as famicom home video game console in japan alongside ports of its most popular arcade games in 1985 a cosmetically reworked version of the system known outside japan as the nintendo entertainment system or nes launched in north america the practice of bundling the system along with select games helped to make super mario bros one of the bestselling video games in history in 1988 gunpei yokoi and his team at nintendo rd1 conceived the new game boy handheld system with the purpose of merging the two very successful ideas of the game watchs portability along with the ness cartridge interchangeability nintendo released the game boy in japan on 21 april 1989 and in north america on 31 july 1989 nintendo of america president minoru arakawa managed a deal to bundle the popular thirdparty game tetris along with the game boy and the pair launched as an instant success 19891995 snes and virtual boy in 1989 nintendo announced plans to release the successor to the famicom the super famicom based on a 16bit processor nintendo boasted significantly superior hardware specifications of graphics sound and game speed over the original 8bit famicom the super famicom was finally released relatively late to the market in japan on 21 november 1990 and released as the super nintendo entertainment system officially abbreviated the super nes or snes and commonly shortened to super nintendo in north america on 23 august 1991 and in europe in 1992 its main rival was the 16bit mega drive known in north america as genesis which had been advertised aggressively against the nascent 8bit nes a console war between sega and nintendo ensued during the early 1990s from 1990 to 1992 nintendo opened world of nintendo shops in the united states where consumers could test and buy nintendo products in august 1993 nintendo announced the sness successor codenamed project reality featuring 64bit graphics the new system was developed as a joint venture between nintendo and northamericanbased technology company silicon graphics the system was announced to be released by the end of 1995 but was subsequently delayed meanwhile nintendo continued the nintendo entertainment system family with the release of the nes101 a smaller redesign of the original nes nintendo also announced a cd drive peripheral called the super nes cdrom adapter which was codeveloped first by sony with the name play station and then by philips bearing prototypes and joint announcements at the consumer electronics show it was on track for a 1994 release but was controversially cancelled in 1995 nintendo announced that it had sold one billion game cartridges worldwide in september 1994 nintendo along with six other video game giants including sega electronic arts atari acclaim philips and 3do approached the united states senate and demanded a ratings system for video games to be enforced which prompted the decision to create the entertainment software rating board aiming to produce an affordable virtual reality console nintendo released the virtual boy in 1995 designed by gunpei yokoi the console consists of a headmounted semiportable system with one redcolored screen for each of the users eyes featuring stereoscopic graphics games are viewed through a binocular eyepiece and controlled using an affixed gamepad critics were generally disappointed with the quality of the games and the redcolored graphics and complained of gameplayinduced headaches during the same year nintendo launched the satellaview in japan a peripheral for the super famicom the accessory allowed users to play video games via broadcast for a set period of time various games were made exclusively for the platform as well as various remakes 19962000 nintendo 64 and game boy color in 1996 nintendo released the ultra 64 as the nintendo 64 in japan and north america the console was later released in europe and australia in 1997 the nintendo 64 continued what had become a nintendo tradition of hardware design which is focused less on high performance specifications than on design innovations intended to inspire game development during the same year nintendo also released the game boy pocket in japan a smaller version of the game boy that generated more sales for the platform on 4 october 1997 famed nintendo developer gunpei yokoi died in a car crash in 1997 nintendo released the sns101 called super famicom jr in japan a smaller redesigned version of the super nintendo entertainment system in 1998 the successor to the game boy the game boy color was released the system had improved technical specifications allowing it to run games made specifically for the system as well as games released for the game boy albeit with added color the game boy camera and printer were also released as accessories in october 1998 retro studios was founded as an alliance between nintendo and former iguana entertainment founder jeff spangenberg nintendo saw an opportunity for the new studio to create games for the upcoming gamecube targeting an older demographic in the same vein as iguana entertainments successful turok series for the nintendo 64 20012003 game boy advance and gamecube in 2001 nintendo introduced the redesigned game boy advance the same year nintendo also released the gamecube to lukewarm sales and it ultimately failed to regain the market share lost by the nintendo 64 when yamauchi company president since 1949 retired on 24 may 2002 in 2003 nintendo released the game boy advance sp a redesign of the game boy advance that featured a clamshell design that would later be used in nintendos ds and 3ds handheld video game systems 20042011 nintendo ds and wii nintendo ds and wii in 2004 nintendo released the nintendo ds its fourth major handheld system the ds is a dual screened handheld featuring touch screen capabilities which respond to either a stylus or the touch of a finger former nintendo president and now chairman hiroshi yamauchi was translated by gamescience as explaining if we can increase the scope of the industry we can reenergise the global market and lift japan out of depression that is nintendos mission regarding lukewarm gamecube sales which had yielded the companys first reported operating loss in over 100 years yamauchi continued the ds represents a critical moment for nintendos success over the next two years if it succeeds we rise to the heavens if it fails we sink into hell thanks to games such as nintendogs and mario kart ds the ds became a success in 2005 nintendo released the game boy micro in north america a redesign of the game boy advance the last system in the game boy line it was also the smallest game boy and the least successful in the middle of 2005 nintendo opened the nintendo world store in new york city which would sell nintendo games present a museum of nintendo history and host public parties such as for product launches the store was renovated and renamed as nintendo new york in 2016 the wii remote along with the wii was said to be revolutionary because of its motion detection capabilities in the first half of 2006 nintendo released the nintendo ds lite a version of the original nintendo ds with lighter weight brighter screen and better battery life in addition to this streamlined design its prolific subset of casual games appealed to the masses such as the brain age series meanwhile new super mario bros provided a substantial addition to the mario series when it was launched to the top of sales charts the successful direction of the nintendo ds had a big influence on nintendos next home console including the common nintendo wifi connection in the latter half of 2006 nintendo released the wii as the backwardcompatible successor to the gamecube based upon intricate wii remote motion controls and a balance board the wii inspired several new game franchises some targeted at entirely new market segments of casual and fitness gaming selling more than 100 million worldwide the wii was the best selling console of the seventh generation regaining market share lost during the tenures of the nintendo 64 and gamecube on 1 may 2007 nintendo acquired an 80 stake on video game development company monolith soft previously owned by bandai namco monolith soft is best known for developing roleplaying games such as the xenosaga and baten kaitos series during the holiday season of 2008 nintendo followed up the success of the ds with the release of the nintendo dsi in japan the system features a more powerful cpu and more ram two cameras one facing towards the player and one facing outwards and had an online distribution store called dsiware the dsi was later released worldwide during 2009 in the latter half of 2009 nintendo released the nintendo dsi xl in japan a larger version of the dsi this updated system was later released worldwide in 2010 20112015 3ds and wii u nintendo 3ds and wii u an original model nintendo 3ds in 2011 nintendo released the nintendo 3ds based upon a glassesfree stereoscopic 3d display in february 2012 nintendo acquired mobiclip a francebased research and development company specialized in highly optimized software technologies such as video compression the companys name was later changed to nintendo european research development intending to broaden the 3ds market nintendo released 2013s costreduced nintendo 2ds the 2ds is compatible with but lacks the 3dss more expensive but cosmetic autostereoscopic 3d feature nintendo also released the wii mini a cheaper and nonnetworked redesign of the wii on 25 september 2013 nintendo announced it had purchased a 28 stake in a panasonic spinoff company called pux corporation the company specializes in face and voice recognition technology with which nintendo intends to improve the usability of future game systems nintendo has also worked with this company in the past to create character recognition software for a nintendo ds touchscreen in january 2015 nintendo announced its exit from the brazilian market after four years of distributing products in the country nintendo cited high import duties and lack of local manufacturing operation as reasons for leaving nintendo continues its partnership with juegos de video latinoamrica to distribute products to the rest of latin america on 11 july 2015 iwata died from a bile duct tumor at the age of 55 following his death representative directors genyo takeda and shigeru miyamoto jointly led the company on an interim basis until the appointment of tatsumi kimishima as iwatas successor on 16 september 2015 2015present mobile and nintendo switch nintendo mobile games and nintendo switch longtime employees takashi tezuka shigeru miyamoto and koji kondo in 2015 on 17 march 2015 nintendo announced a partnership with japanese mobile developer dena to produce games for smart devices on the same day nintendo announced a new dedicated games platform with a brand new concept with the codename nx that would be further revealed in 2016 in may 2015 universal parks resorts announced that it was partnering with nintendo to create attractions at universal theme parks based upon nintendo properties in july 2016 the company announced it was bringing back the nes in the form of the nes classic edition called nintendo classic mini in europe the plugandplay console will support hdmi twoplayer modes and have a controller similar to the original nes controller the controller would be able to connect to a wii remote for use with wii and wii u virtual console games the nes classic edition came with 30 games preinstalled including final fantasy kid icarus the legend of zelda zelda ii the adventure of link and dr mario among others it was released in november 2016 additional controllers were also available the july 2016 release of the pokmon go mobile app by niantic caused shares in nintendo to double due to investor misunderstanding that the software was the property of nintendo later that month nintendo released a statement clarifying its relation with niantic nintendo stated it owned 32 of pokmon intellectual property owner the pokmon company and though it would receive some licensing and other revenues from the game it expected the impact on nintendos total income to be limited as a result of the statement nintendos share price fell substantially losing 17 in one day of trading in august 2016 nintendo of america sold 90 of its controlling stake 55 in the seattle mariners to a group of investors led by mobile phone businessman john stanton for 640 million after the announcement of the mobile game super mario run in september 2016 nintendos stock soared to just under its recent high point after the release and success of pokmon go earlier in the year something noted by journalists as even more significant than pokmon go as super mario run was developed inhouse by nintendo which was not the case with pokmon go on 20 october 2016 nintendo released a preview trailer about the nx revealing the official name to be the nintendo switch in september 2017 nintendo announced a partnership with the chinese gaming company tencent to publish a global version of their commercially successful mobile game honor of kings for the nintendo switch the announcement lead some to believe that nintendo could soon have a bigger footprint in china a region where the switch is not sold and is largely dominated by tencent products home consoles color tvgame color tvgame released in 1977 japans highest selling first generation console is nintendos color tv game with over three million units sold nintendo entertainment system nintendo entertainment system and nes classic edition the nintendo entertainment system nintendos first major success in the home console market the nintendo entertainment system abbreviated as nes is an 8bit video game console which released in north america in 1985 and in europe throughout 1986 and 1987 the console was initially released in japan as the family computer abbreviated as famicom in 1983 the bestselling gaming console of its time nintendo also produced a limited run of the nes classic edition in 2016 the nes classic system was a dedicated console modeled after an nes with 30 builtin classic first and thirdparty games from the nes library by the end of its production in april 2017 nintendo shipped over two million units super nintendo entertainment system super nintendo entertainment system and super nes classic edition the super nintendo entertainment system the successor to the nintendo entertainment system the super nintendo entertainment system abbreviated as the super nes or snes is a 16bit video game console which was released in north america in 1991 and in europe in 1992 the console was initially released in japan in 1990 as the super famicom officially adopting the colloquially abbreviated name of its predecessor the console introduced advanced graphics and sound capabilities compared with other consoles at the time soon the development of a variety of enhancement chips which were integrated onto each new game cartridges circuit boards progressed the sness competitive edge while even crude threedimensional graphics had previously rarely been seen on home consoles starting with star fox in 1993 the snes is the bestselling console of the 16bit era although having experienced a relatively late start and fierce competition from segas mega drivegenesis console nintendo also released a limited run of the super nes classic edition in september 2017 through the end of the year like the nes classic edition the super nes classic edition is a dedicated console with 21 builtin games from its library including the neverbeforereleased starfox 2 nintendo 64 nintendo 64 the nintendo 64 named for its 64bit graphics was nintendos first home console to feature 3d computer graphics the nintendo 64 was released in 1996 featuring 3d polygon model rendering capabilities and builtin multiplayer for up to four players the systems controller introduced the analog stick and later introduced the rumble pak an accessory for the controller that produces force feedback with compatible games both are the first such features to have come to market for home console gaming and eventually became the de facto industry standard by way of 64mb writable magnetic disks video editing and internet connectivity eventually released only in japan in 1999 the 64dd peripherals commercial failure there resulted in only nine games being released and precluded further worldwide release gamecube gamecube the gamecube was nintendos first home console to use optical discs as a primary storage medium the gamecube officially called nintendo gamecube abbreviated ngc in japan and gcn in north america was released in 2001 in japan and north america and in 2002 worldwide the sixthgeneration console is the successor to the nintendo 64 and competed with sonys playstation 2 microsofts xbox and segas dreamcast the gamecube is the first nintendo console to use optical discs as its primary storage medium the discs are similar to the minidvd format but the system was not designed to play standard dvds or audio cds nintendo introduced a variety of connectivity options for the gamecube the gamecubes game library has sparse support for internet gaming a feature that requires the use of the aftermarket nintendo gamecube broadband adapter and modem adapter the gamecube supports connectivity to the game boy advance allowing players to access exclusive ingame features using the handheld as a second screen and controller wii wii the wii nintendos best selling home video game console and first to use motion controls the wii was released during the holiday season of 2006 worldwide the system features the wii remote controller which can be used as a handheld pointing device and which detects movement in three dimensions another notable feature of the console is wiiconnect24 which enables it to receive messages and updates over the internet while in standby mode wii u wii u the wii u the successor to the wii the wii u the successor to the wii was released during the holiday season of 2012 worldwide nintendo switch nintendo switch nintendos new hybrid console the switch on 17 march 2015 nintendo announced a new dedicated games platform with a brand new concept with the codename nx that would be further revealed in 2016 handheld consoles game watch game watch game watch is a line of handheld electronic games produced by nintendo from 1980 to 1991 created by game designer gunpei yokoi each game watch features a single game to be played on an lcd screen in addition to a clock an alarm or both game boy game boy line the original game boy after the success of the game watch series yokoi developed the game boy handheld console which was released in 1989 eventually becoming the bestselling handheld of all time the game boy remained dominant for more than a decade seeing critically and commercially popular games such as pokmon yellow released as late as 1998 in japan 1999 in north america and 2000 in europe incremental updates of the game boy including game boy pocket game boy light and game boy color did little to change the original formula though the latter introduced color graphics to the game boy line game boy advance the first major update to its handheld line since 1989 the game boy advance features improved technical specifications similar to those of the snes the game boy advance sp was the first revision to the gba line and introduced screen lighting and a clam shell design while later iteration the game boy micro brought a smaller form factor nintendo ds nintendo ds and nintendo ds family the nintendo ds lite is the bestselling handheld console of all time although originally advertised as an alternative to the game boy advance the nintendo ds replaced the game boy line after its initial release in 2004 nintendo 3ds nintendo 3ds and nintendo 3ds family nintendo 3ds xl further expanding the nintendo ds line the nintendo 3ds uses the process of autostereoscopy to produce a stereoscopic threedimensional effect without glasses the nintendo 3ds xl was introduced in august 2012 and includes a 90 larger screen a 4gb sd card and extended battery life in august 2013 nintendo announced the costreduced nintendo 2ds a version of the 3ds without the 3d display it has a slatelike design as opposed to the hinged clamshell design of its predecessors a hardware revision new nintendo 3ds was unveiled in august 2014 it is produced in a standardsized model and a larger xl model both models feature upgraded processors and additional ram an eyetracking sensor to improve the stability of the autostereoscopic 3d image colored face buttons and nearfield communication support for native use of amiibo products the standardsized model also features slightly larger screens and support for faceplate accessories company structure marketing nintendo marketing nintendo of america has engaged in several highprofile marketing campaigns to define and position its brand one of its earliest and most enduring slogans was now youre playing with power used first to promote its nintendo entertainment system board of directors representative directors shuntaro furukawa president shigeru miyamoto fellow directors shinya takahashi senior managing executive officer general manager of entertainment planning development supervisor of business development and development administration support ko shiota senior executive officer general manager of platform technology development and hardware development department satoru shibata senior executive officer general manager of marketing and licensing in charge of advertising department and global marketing department directors audit and supervisory committee members naoki noguchi naoki mizutani outside director katsuhiro umeyama outside director masao yamazaki outside director executive officers senior executive officers shigeyuki takahashi general manager of general affairs division satoshi yamato president of sales hirokazu shinshi general manager of manufacturing division executive officers reggie filsaim president and coo of nintendo of america yoshiaki koizumi deputy general manager of entertainment planning development division takashi tezuka senior officer of entertainment planning development division hajime murakami general manager of finance administration division finance department and payment services management department divisions list of nintendo development teams nintendos internal research and development operations are divided into three main divisions nintendo entertainment planning development or epd the main software development division of nintendo which focuses on video game and software development nintendo platform technology development or ptd which focuses on home and handheld video game console hardware development and nintendo business development or nbd which focuses on refining business strategy and is responsible for overseeing the smart device arm of the business entertainment planning development epd the nintendo entertainment planning development division is the primary software development division at nintendo formed as a merger between their former entertainment analysis development and software planning development divisions in 2015 led by shinya takahashi the division holds the largest concentration of staff at the company housing more than 800 engineers and designers the division is primarily located in the central kyoto rd building where they are overseen by katsuya eguchi and also has a studio in tokyo overseen by yoshiaki koizumi platform technology development ptd the nintendo platform technology development division is a combination of nintendos former integrated research development or ird and system development or sdd divisions led by ko shiota the division is responsible for designing hardware and developing nintendos operating systems developer environment and internal network as well as maintenance of the nintendo network business development nbd the nintendo business development division was formed following nintendos foray into software development for smart devices such as mobile phones and tablets they are responsible for refining nintendos business model for the dedicated video game system business and for furthering nintendos venture into development for smart devices international divisions the exterior of nintendos main headquarters in kyoto japan nintendo of america headquarters in redmond washington nintendo of europe headquarters in frankfurt germany nintendos tokyo office nintendo co ltd headquartered in kyoto japan since the beginning nintendo co ltd oversees the organizations global operations and manages japanese operations specifically the companys two major subsidiaries nintendo of america and nintendo of europe manage operations in north america and europe respectively nintendo co ltd nintendo of america nintendos north american subsidiary is based in redmond washington originally the american headquarters handled sales marketing and advertising however the office in redwood city california now directs those functions the company maintains distribution centers in atlanta nintendo atlanta and north bend washington nintendo north bend the 380000squarefoot 35000m2 nintendo north bend facility processes more than 20000 orders a day to nintendo customers which include retail stores that sell nintendo products in addition to consumers who shop nintendos web site nintendo of europe nintendos european subsidiary was established in june 1990 nintendo australia nintendo australia nintendos australian subsidiary is based in melbourne victoria it handles the publishing distribution sales and marketing of nintendo products in australia new zealand and oceania cook islands fiji new caledonia papua new guinea samoa and vanuatu it also manufactures some wii games locally nintendo australia is also a thirdparty distributor of some games from rising star games bandai namco entertainment atlus the tetris company sega koei tecmo and capcom ique ique a chinese joint venture between its founder wei yen and nintendo manufactures and distributes official nintendo consoles and games for the mainland chinese market under the ique brand the product lineup for the chinese market is considerably different from that for other markets for example nintendos only console in china is the ique player a modified version of the nintendo 64 the company has not released its more modern gamecube or wii to the market although a version of the nintendo 3ds xl was released in 2012 as of 2013 it is a 100 nintendoowned subsidiary nintendo of korea nintendos south korean subsidiary was established on 7 july 2006 and is based in seoul subsidiaries although most of the research development is being done in japan there are some rd facilities in the united states and europe that are focused on developing software and hardware technologies used in nintendo products although they all are subsidiaries of nintendo and therefore first party they are often referred to as external resources when being involved in joint development processes with nintendos internal developers by the japanese personal involved this can be seen in a variety of iwata asks interviews nintendo software technology nst and nintendo technology development ntd are located in redmond washington united states while nintendo european research development nerd is located in paris france and nintendo network service database nsd is located in kyoto japan most external firstparty software development is done in japan since the only overseas subsidiary is retro studios in the united states although these studios are all subsidiaries of nintendo they are often referred to as external resources when being involved in joint development processes with nintendos internal developers by the nintendo entertainment planning development epd division 1up studio and nd cube are located in tokyo japan while monolith soft has one studio located in tokyo and another in kyoto retro studios is located in austin texas nintendo also established the pokmon company alongside creatures and game freak in order to effectively manage the pokmon brand similarly warpstar inc was formed through a joint investment with hal laboratory which was in charge of the kirby right back at ya animated series logos 18891950 19501960 19601965 19651970 19671975 19681975 19701975 1972 19752006 20062016 2016present policy content guidelines for many years nintendo had a policy of strict content guidelines for video games published on its consoles although nintendo allowed graphic violence in its video games released in japan nudity and sexuality were strictly prohibited former nintendo president hiroshi yamauchi believed that if the company allowed the licensing of pornographic games the companys image would be forever tarnished the japanese parent company was concerned that it may be viewed as a japanese invasion by forcing japanese community standards on north american and european children despite the strict guidelines some exceptions have occurred bionic commando though swastikas were eliminated in the us version smash tv and golgo 13 top secret episode contained human violence the latter also containing implied sexuality and tobacco use river city ransom and taboo the sixth sense contained nudity and the latter also contained religious images as did castlevania ii and iii a known side effect of this policy was the genesis version of mortal kombat selling over double the number of the super nes version mainly because nintendo had forced publisher acclaim to recolor the red blood to look like white sweat and replace some of the more gory graphics in its release of the game making it less violent in 1994 and 2003 when the esrb and pegi respectively video game ratings systems were introduced nintendo chose to abolish most of these policies in favor of consumers making their own choices about the content of the games they played today changes to the content of games are done primarily by the games developer or occasionally at the request of nintendo the only clearset rule is that esrb aorated games will not be licensed on nintendo consoles in north america another example is in the game boy advance game mega man zero 3 in which one of the bosses called hellbat schilt in the japanese and european releases was renamed devilbat schilt in the north american localization in north america releases of the mega man zero games enemies and bosses killed with a saber attack would not gush blood as they did in the japanese versions however the release of the wii was accompanied by a number of even more controversial games such as manhunt 2 no more heroes the house of the dead overkill and madworld the latter three of which were published exclusively for the console license guidelines nintendo of america also had guidelines before 1993 that had to be followed by its licensees to make games for the nintendo entertainment system in addition to the above content guidelines guidelines were enforced through the 10nes lockout chip licensees were not permitted to release the same game for a competing console until two years had passed nintendo would decide how many cartridges would be supplied to the licensee nintendo would decide how much space would be dedicated for articles advertising etc in the nintendo power magazine there was a minimum number of cartridges that had to be ordered by the licensee from nintendo there was a yearly limit of five games that a licensee may produce for a nintendo console this rule was created to prevent market oversaturation which had contributed to the north american video game crash of 1983 the last rule was circumvented in a number of ways for example konami wanting to produce more games for nintendos consoles formed ultra games and later palcom to produce more games as a technically different publisher in 1993 a class action suit was taken against nintendo under allegations that their lockout chip enabled unfair business practices the case was settled with the condition that california consumers were entitled to a 3 discount coupon for a game of nintendos choice emulation this section needs expansion you can help by adding to it october 2014 nintendo is opposed to any thirdparty emulation of its video games and consoles stating that it is the single largest threat to the intellectual property rights of video game developers seal of quality media all and maxwidth720pxmwparseroutput tmultithumbinnerwidth100importantmaxwidthnoneimportantmwparseroutput tmulti tsinglefloatnoneimportantmaxwidthnoneimportantwidth100importanttextaligncenternintendo seal of qualityseal in ntsc regionsseal of quality in pal regions the gold sunburst seal was first used by nintendo of america and later nintendo of europe it is displayed on any game system or accessory licensed for use on one of its video game consoles denoting the game has been properly approved by nintendo the seal is also displayed on any nintendolicensed merchandise such as trading cards game guides or apparel albeit with the words official nintendo licensed product in 2008 game designer sid meier cited the seal of quality as one of the three most important innovations in video game history as it helped set a standard for game quality that protected consumers from shovelware ntsc regions in ntsc regions this seal is an elliptical starburst named the official nintendo seal originally for ntsc countries the seal was a large black and gold circular starburst the seal read as follows this seal is your assurance that nintendo has approved and guaranteed the quality of this product this seal was later altered in 1988 approved and guaranteed was changed to evaluated and approved in 1989 the seal became gold and white as it currently appears with a shortened phrase official nintendo seal of quality it was changed in 2003 to read official nintendo seal the seal currently reads mwparseroutput templatequoteoverflowhiddenmargin1em 0padding0 40pxmwparseroutput templatequote templatequotecitelineheight15emtextalignleftpaddingleft16emmargintop0the official seal is your assurance that this product is licensed or manufactured by nintendo always look for this seal when buying video game systems accessories games and related products pal regions in pal regions the seal is a circular starburst named the original nintendo seal of quality text near the seal in the australian wii manual states this seal is your assurance that nintendo has reviewed this product and that it has met our standards for excellence in workmanship reliability and entertainment value always look for this seal when buying games and accessories to ensure complete compatibility with your nintendo product charitable projects in 1992 nintendo teamed with the starlight childrens foundation to build starlight fun center mobile entertainment units and install them in hospitals environmental record nintendo has consistently been ranked last in greenpeaces guide to greener electronics due to nintendos failure to publish information like many other electronics companies nintendo offers a takeback recycling program which allows customers to mail in old products they no longer use nintendo of america claimed that it took in 548 tons of returned products in 2011 98 of which was either reused or recycled trademark during the peak of nintendos success in the video game industry in the 1990s their name was ubiquitously used to refer to any video game console regardless of the manufacturer to prevent their trademark from becoming generic nintendo pushed usage of the term game console and succeeded in preserving their trademark list of nintendo development teams lists of nintendo characters lists of nintendo games lewis galoob toys inc v nintendo of america inc universal city studios inc v nintendo co ltd notes bibliography kent steven l 2001 the ultimate history of video games the story behind the craze that touched our lives and changed the world roseville california prima publishing isbn0761536434 oclc47254175 sloan daniel 2011 playing to wiin nintendo and the video game industrys greatest comeback wiley isbn9780470825129 oclc707935885 wikimedia commons has media related to nintendo wikiquote has quotations related to nintendo official website nintendo navboxes vtenintendopresidents fusajiro yamauchi 18891929 sekiryo kaneda 19291949 hiroshi yamauchi 19492002 satoru iwata 20022015 tatsumi kimishima 20152018 shuntaro furukawa 2018present locations nintendo mgadme nintendo new york shigureden productsvideo games video games mobile games consoles controllers toys love tester nintendo tumbler puzzle ultra hand ultra machine services nintendo eshop nintendo network nintendo network service database club nintendo publications nintendo fun club nintendo la rivista ufficiale nintendo magazine system australia nintendo players guide nintendo power official nintendo magazine events camp hyrule classic tetris world championship nintendo direct presentations iwata asks interviews nintendo campus challenge nintendo campus challenge 1991 nintendo campus challenge 1992 nintendo fusion tour nintendo powerfest 94 nintendo world championships legal cases atari games corp v nintendo of america inc lewis galoob toys inc v nintendo of america inc universal city studios inc v nintendo co ltd nintendo of america inc v ntdec related history development teams characters my nintendo nintendo australia marketing nintendo power line nintendo selects nintendo space world symphonic legends music from nintendo billy berghammer vtenintendo development teamsdivisions entertainment planning development european research development network service database platform technology development software technology subsidiaries 1up studio monolith soft ndcube retro studios ique affiliated alphadream creatures camelot software planning cygames dena game freak genius sonority goodfeel grezzo hal laboratory hatena headstrong games indieszero intelligent systems next level games the pokmon company vanpool former divisions research development 1 research development 2 entertainment analysis development ead software planning development spd integrated research development ird system development nsd vtenintendo video game hardwareconsoleshome nes famicom titler twin famicom nes101 sharp nintendo television nes classic edition accessories super nes newstyle sf naizou tv sf1 super nes classic edition nintendo 64 ique player gamecube panasonic q accessories wii wii u switch handheld game boy game boy color virtual boy game boy advance sp micro dockable entertainment pokmon mini nintendo ds lite dsi nintendo 3ds 2ds new 3ds new 2ds xl dedicatedhome color tvgame nes classic edition super nes classic edition handheld game watch mini classics pokmon pikachu arcade vs system playchoice10 super famicom box nintendo super system peripheralsaddons 3d system data recorder disk system satellaview super nes cdrom unreleased super game boy game boy camera game boy printer 64dd rumble pak ereader game boy player connectivity nes four score nes satellite game link cable gcngba link cable controllers family basic nes advantage nes zapper power pad rob speedboard snes mouse super scope nintendo 64 controller gamecube controller wavebird wireless wii balance board wii remote classic controller motionplus wii zapper thirdparty accessories wii speak wii u gamepad wii u pro controller joycon networking family computer network system teleplay modem xband satellaview nintendo wifi usb connector other nintendo power nintendo ds dsi browser amiibo technologymedia nes game pak snes game pak n64 game pak game boy advance video nintendo optical discs nintendo game card processors 2a03 ppu 5a22 gsu rcp gekko broadway hollywood pica200 espresso erista allwinner r16 list of products vtenintendo network nintendo 3ds system software wii u system software user information nintendo wifi connection absorbed mii games virtual console communication swapnote spotpass and streetpass streetpass mii plaza entertainment nintendo video list of nintendo direct presentations internet navigation internet browser nintendo 3ds loyalty program club nintendo defunct nintendo eshop my nintendo vtenintendo franchisesmario super mario mario party mario kart donkey kong luigi yoshi wario mario rpg dr mario mario sports mario vs donkey kong other 1080 animal crossing another code art academy art style balloon fight big brain academy bit generations boxboy brain age card hero chibirobo custom robo daigasso band brothers dillons rolling western endless ocean excite famicom tantei club fzero fire emblem fossil fighters golden sun kid icarus kirby kururin hotel dusk room 215 the legendary starfy the legend of zelda metroid mother nintendogs osu tatakae ouendan picross 3d pikmin pilotwings polarium pokmon pushmo punchout puzzle league rhythm heaven sin and punishment splatoon startropics star fox steel diver style savvy super smash bros tomodachi touch generations wars wave race wii xenoblade chronicles x vtemario franchiselist of video games featuring mariogame seriesmain super mario mario kart mario party mario vs donkey kong genre educational games puzzle games racing games roleplaying games sports games subseries donkey kong luigi wario yoshi lcd games game watch other games mario bros pinball mario paint hotel mario marios game gallery mario clash mario artist super mario ball super princess peach captain toad treasure tracker cancelled games super marios wacky worlds super mario 128 super mario spikers universecharacters mario luigi wario waluigi princess peach princess daisy rosalina toad bowser bowser jr koopalings donkey kong diddy kong king k rool birdo yoshi fawful other mushroom kingdom recurring enemies goomba koopa troopa hammer bro lakitu boo super mario bros theme world 11 other media tv series nintendo comics system film anime film super mario adventures gamebooks unofficial media people satoru iwata yoshiaki koizumi koji kondo charles martinet shigeru miyamoto takashi tezuka mahito yokota yichi kotabe see also nintendo super smash bros mario video games mario characters mario category mario portal vtethe legend of zelda seriesmain seriesconsole games the legend of zelda the adventure of link a link to the past ocarina of time majoras mask the wind waker hd four swords adventures twilight princess hd skyward sword breath of the wild handheld games links awakening oracle of seasons and oracle of ages a link to the past and four swords the minish cap phantom hourglass spirit tracks ocarina of time 3d a link between worlds majoras mask 3d tri force heroes spinoffs lcd games cdi games faces of evil and wand of gamelon zeldas adventure satellaview games freshlypicked tingles rosy rupeeland links crossbow training irodzuki tingle no koi no balloon trip hyrule warriors universe characters link princess zelda ganon navi epona tingle midna recurring enemies triforce i am error its dangerous to go alone media cartoon comics gamebooks hyrule historia symphony of the goddesses people eiji aonuma hidemaro fujibayashi yoshiaki koizumi koji kondo yichi kotabe toru minegishi shigeru miyamoto tadashi sugiyama kensuke tanabe takashi tezuka companies nintendo animation magic capcom dic entertainment 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kasei bridgestone chubu electric power concordia financial daiichi life daiichi sankyo daikin daito trust construction daiwa house daiwa securities eisai fast retailing fujifilm fujitsu hoya inpex isuzu itochu japan airlines jr west jfe jxtg kao kepco keyence kirin komatsu kubota kyocera marubeni mazda mitsubishi chemical mitsubishi electric mitsubishi heavy industries msad nidec nintendo nitto denko nssmc ono pharmaceutical oriental land orix osaka gas otsuka pharmaceutical rakuten resona secom sekisui house shionogi shiseido smc sompo holdings subaru sumitomo corporation sumitomo electric sumitomo metal mining sumitomo mitsui trust sumitomo realty suzuki td holdings tokyo electron tokyo gas toray toshiba unicharm yamato transport vtemajor video game companiesannual revenue of over us1 billion as of 2017 activision blizzard atari bandai namco entertainment capcom deep silver disney mobile electronic arts epic games gameloft glu mobile google play games gungho online entertainment koei tecmo konami lucasarts marvelous microsoft studios ncsoft netease nexon nintendo nippon ichi software perfect world games riot games sega snk sony interactive entertainment square enix taketwo interactive tencent thq nordic ubisoft valve corporation warner bros interactive entertainment zenimax media category list nintendo portalvideo games portalcompanies portaljapan portal 