Nintendo Company , Ltd . Nintendo Co . , Ltd . was founded in September 23 , 1889 , as a producer of playing cards and other toys . By the late 20th century , it was transformed into a video game company , as it had developed a mastery of electronics assembly with its previous experience in toy - making . Today , it stands as one of the world ' s three largest producers of gaming hardware and software , the other two being Microsoft and Sony , and is often credited as the progenitor of the modern home console . History . Successes from the start . Nintendo first found a foothold in the industry by making a series of electronic " microgames " such as the line of the early 1980s . Also around this time , the industry itself was in tumult as large numbers of companies flooded the video gaming market with hardware and software that was assumed to be popular , but was soon found to be of poor quality . These factors resulted in the massive video game crash of 1983 that crippled the North American market and other parts of the world . Even as Japan was largely immune , Nintendo had the foresight to strike at the crash ' s root causes . In response , it released the Nintendo Entertainment System beginning in 1983 , arriving in the US by 1985 . The console was a breakout hit in both regions , and was later released all over the world . For its part , Nintendo was thus instrumental to pulling the industry from the aftermath of the crash . Nintendo soon became a household name , with memorable franchises and characters such as the " " series , " The Legend of Zelda " hero , and from " Metroid " , the first - ever female lead in gaming history . The company was also key to bringing smaller developers into the mainstream , as it did with Square Co . , Ltd . and its eventual rival Enix . It was in this climate that the first three games of the " Final Fantasy " series would not only develop , but flourish , at least in Japan . The original " Final Fantasy " did not reach the US until 1990 . Its rival , " Dragon Quest " , was released one year sooner . The golden age of RPGs . In the early 1990s , the Super Nintendo Entertainment System , was released , and on it , with several new " Mario " and " Zelda " games , were the new installments in the " Final Fantasy " series ; " Final Fantasy IV " ( " II " in the US ) , " Final Fantasy V " and " Final Fantasy VI " ( " III " in the US ) , as well as the Squaresoft productions " Chrono Trigger " and the Nintendo / Square collaboration , " " , which all made Squaresoft one of the biggest names in RPGs at the time . Enix would follow suit with such titles as " Dragon Quest V " and " Dragon Quest VI " , plus the space - opera RPG " Star Ocean " and the " Soul Blazer " trilogy . As this so - called " Golden Age of RPGs " came to a close , Squaresoft left Nintendo for Sony , and did not reconcile with Nintendo until the release of " Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles " . Enix , meanwhile , would stumble to the point of closing several main branches before the year 2000 , releasing only a handful of games ( including a portable reboot of the " Drsgon Quest " Erdrick saga ) before nearly fading to history . The modern era . Today , Squaresoft and Enix , now Square Enix after the two rivals merged in 2003 , work together with Nintendo , and although no new installments in the main series have been released for Nintendo consoles , a host of re - releases , especially of the Super Nintendo " Final Fantasy " games , have been released on the Game Boy Advance , as well as the sequels to " Crystal Chronicles " . Even so , Nintendo in the modern era has lost significant ground in home consoles since the successes of 2001 ' s GameCube and 2006 ' s Wii , in part because the company ' s priorities have shifted away from players ' interests and toward its own ideas of what the gaming experience should be , as evidenced by the collapse of the Wii U in 2017 . It seeks to recapture its former glory with the Switch , a device that functions as a console , tablet , and handheld in a single unit . However , Nintendo already maintains a near - complete monopoly in dedicated portable gaming , which began with the Game Boy in 1989 . Early beginnings with Square . During Nintendo ' s 1980s rise , Square was notable for having created the racing game " Rad Racer " , as the library of games did not see many of said genre in its index . The game fared very well and was considered the premier racing game of the console ; so much so the game was also featured as one of the three title games of the . Although " Rad Racer " held good reviews , Square faced potential bankruptcy . Hironobu Sakaguchi , the designer and supervisor of " Rad Racer " , would then come to create the then swan song , to surprise smash hit , " Final Fantasy " . Nintendo played the role of publisher , having helped distribute " Final Fantasy " to the United States and abroad . " Nintendo Power " . Magazine . Nintendo of America began publishing its own video game magazine , " Nintendo Power " , in 1988 as a successor to their quarterly Nintendo Fun Club newsletter . Though it began as a bi - monthly publication , it soon switched to a monthly format in May 1990 once a strong reader base had been established . Focusing entirely on games for Nintendo systems , the magazine often covered many of the first " Final Fantasy " titles for the NES and SNES , which could be considered the most far - reaching advertising for the series at the time . It is notable for coining the name " Peninsula of Power " , a landmark from the very first game . Some " Final Fantasy " games even made it onto the magazine ' s cover . Because of Square ' s new deal with Sony in the mid ' 90s to create games exclusively for their consoles , there is a sizable gap between cover representations until the contract expired in the early 2000s and company began producing game for Nintendo once more . The magazine ' s final issue was printed in December 2012 . Strategy Guides . In addition to magazine coverage , " Nintendo Power " would sometimes publish their own Strategy Guides ( later called Player ' s Guides ) for " Final Fantasy " titles , usually for games they themselves published in North America , beginning with the series ' inaugural game in 1990 . Nintendo ' s final Player ' s Guides surfaced in 2007 .