page_title: Nintendo of America, Inc. vs. Blockbuster LLC.
section_title: Nintendo in 1989
hierarchical_section_title: Nintendo of America, Inc. vs. Blockbuster LLC. / Background / Nintendo in 1989
caption_attribution_description: English: An original Nintendo Game Boy.Deutsch: Der originale Nintendo Game Boy
context_page_description: On August 4, 1989, Nintendo of America filed a copyright lawsuit through the District Court of Newark, New Jersey against Blockbuster LLC, seeking injunctive relief and damages. The dispute was raised after multiple Blockbuster locations across the United States of America were accused of allegedly photocopying and reproducing Nintendo's video game manuals when renting out Nintendo titles. The game company claimed this was an infringement of their intellectual property, and hoped to change the laws on renting video games and rentals. After one year of battle in the District Court, the court ruled in favor of Blockbuster, as the House and Senate verdicts determined the law on video game rentals remain unchanged.
context_section_description: In 1989 Nintendo prioritised the release of the Game Boy handheld system, appearing on the Japanese market on April 21, 1989 alongside the title Super Mario Land. The system was later released on July 31, 1989 in North America, with the president of Nintendo of America  Minoru Arakawa seeking to bundle the Game Boy with the third-party title Tetris. In securing the deal, the console launched to instant success. In Japan, new titles such as Mother and Zelda Game and Watch were released by Nintendo. In North America, Nintendo of America introduced the Dragon Warrior franchise, a series of three games that had previously released in Japan on the NES.
  It is estimated that in 1989, Nintendo sold $2.7 billion in video game software and games, accounting for 80% of the market. This number does not include the toys, apparel and miscellaneous merchandise that Nintendo was beginning to introduce into the market. Peter Main, the vice president of Nintendo of America at the time was named "Marketer of the Year" by Adweek's Marketing Week Magazine, and it was estimated that 15 million homes in America were in possession of a Nintendo product; this estimation raising to 20 million in consideration of the post-Christmas season. Rick Anguila, editor of Toy and Business World, said of Nintendo and its products in America: "The kids of America are saying 'This is great, we've got to have one.' For boys in this country between the ages of 8 and 15, not having a Nintendo is like not having a baseball bat.''. One of every four houses in America had a Nintendo product.
caption: Nintendo Game Boy, released in 1989
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