Nintendo

**Nintendo** is the company that got the world gaming (besides Atari and Sega). It's the creator of Miiverse, the social media website that inspired this wiki. Nintendo is the source of many iconic video game characters, such as Mario (from The Super Mario Bros. series), Link (from The Legend of Zelda series), Pikachu (from The Pokemon series), Samus (from the Metroid series), and Fox (from StarFox).

## History

Console History/Company History

* 1889: Nintendo is founded in Kyoto, Japan by Fusajiro Yamauchi. Nintendo started out as a card company, originally named "Nintendo Koppai". The company began production by introducing a playing card game in Japan by the name of "Hanafuda". It's unique use of illustrated cards as opposed to numbered cards helped it to become a success in Japan.
* 1960s: Nintendo begins operating Love Hotels, special hotels in Japan that were windowless.
* Early 1970s: Nintendo starts to shift from love hotels into the electronics department.
* 1977: Nintendo creates it's first video game console, the Color Game TV. They end its production in 1980, with fifteen games being released on the console.
* 1981: Nintendo becomes very successful with arcade games, particularily with the release of Donkey Kong, which debuted future star character such as Mario (who, at the time, was called "Jumpman") and Donkey Kong.
* 1983: Nintendo revives the video game industry from its famous "crash" with the Famicom, or the NES in the United States and Europe. Mario Bros. is also released for arcade this year, marking the introduction of the Luigi character, who is Mario's brother, and is normally held back into Mario's shadow.
* 1985: Nintendo releases the iconic Super Mario Bros. It featured numerous levels spanning across 8 worlds. This game also marked the introduction of famous Nintendo villain Bowser (King Koopa in Japan). It is currently the second best selling video game of all time, only falling to Wii Sports, which was originally bundled with the Wii console.
* 1986: The first Legend of Zelda, Metroid, and Kid Icarus games are released, becoming three of Nintendo's best franchises.
* Early 1990s: Sega and Nintendo unleash the very first console war, featuring Nintendo's Super Nintendo Entertainment System (Super Famicom in Japan) and SEGA's SEGA Genesis. Regularly the rivals would air commercials downing the other, often featuring the publisher's mascot character (SEGA's Sonic the Hedgehog and Nintendo's Mario).While Nintendo did beat Sega in terms of worldwide sales, Sega beat Nintendo is the American Sales.
* 1995: Nintendo creates a VR headset console called Virtual Boy. Most regard the console as a "flop" due to the high price (180$ USD) and eye strain on certain viewers due to the monochromatic colours.
* Mid 1990s: Sony releases the PlayStation. Nintendo had originally partnered with Sony to release the console together. But Nintendo, out of the blue, announced that it would partner with Phillips to create the "Phillips CDI". Before the announcement, the pair of Sony and Nintendo were as far as a prototype for an up and coming console. This sparked the rivalry between Nintendo and Sony. Many third party developers who supported Nintendo from the NES and SNES days left for the rival PlayStation. Nintendo lost the war, only selling 32 million N64s compared to the PlayStation's 100 million, but did beat Sega Saturn's 9 million.
* 1999: The first Super Smash Bros. game is released and becomes a huge hit.
* 2001: Nintendo releases the GameCube, a console that was Nintendo's worst selling home console on selling 22 million units. Though the GameCube did not sell well, it had solid titles such as Super Smash Bros. Melee and Luigi's Mansion.
* 2002: Satoru Iwata (pictured on right with bananas) is named President and CEO of Nintendo, becoming the first CEO of the company who was not related to the Yamauchi family.
* 2006: Nintendo releases the Wii and it becomes their best selling home console. Some consider Nintendo a pioneer for adding motion controls that were not seen before. The console defeated the rivals of the Xbox 360 and PS3 in terms of sales.
* 2012: The Wii U is released. The console was struggling at first, but after releases such as Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros for Wii U, the console is now a competitor to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. They also revealed Miiverse, their very own social network for their games.
* 2015: Nintendo President and CEO Satoru Iwata, who was named president in 2002, dies of a bile duct growth at the age of 55 on July 11th. Shigeru Miyamoto and Genyo Takeda were Iwata's temporary replacements until Tatsumi Kimishima, former director of The Pokemon Company and Nintendo of America president between 2002 and 2006, was named the new CEO. Nintendo also begins talks with Japanese mobile developer DeNA to produce mobile games in 2016 and the further future.
* 2016: An upcoming Nintendo console, codenamed "NX", is rumored throughout the internet. Numerous supposed controller designs and spec details are leaked over the course of the early year. Later on, the NX recieves an official release date, March 2017. Many hope that it is an eventful successor to the underselling Wii U. The first Nintendo mobile game, Miitomo, is released on March 17th by DeNA. It focuses on conversing with friends and provides Twitter and Facebook connection. Much of the team that worked on the Nintendo 3DS hit Tomodachi Life also worked on this mobile project.

### Handheld History

* 1980: Nintendo releases the first handheld console, the Game & Watch. Mr. Game & Watch was the key character in most games, and he was regarded as the very first Nintendo mascot (until Mario, that is).
* 1989: The Game Boy was the first handheld that had changeable cartridges, and a powerful CPU. It's competitors was the Atari Lynx, and the Sega Game Gear. The Game Boy defeated both.
* 1998: Nintendo released the more powerful Game Boy Color, a Game Boy that features a color display and a smaller build and design.
* 2001: The Game Boy Advance was released. The console was even more powerful than the Game Boy Color. It also featured smaller cartridges for easier storage.
* 2003: Nintendo released the Game Boy Advance SP, a handheld that was the first to have a rechargeable battery, the first Nintendo handheld to have a clamshell design since the Game & Watch, and the first Nintendo handheld outside of Japan to have a backlit screen. It's design was similar to the DS (which was released the next year), except it was of a smaller build.
* 2004: Nintendo released the DS , the best selling handheld in history, and the second best selling console in history after the PS2 which sold 155 million units. The DS sold 153 million units. The DS was known for it's new touch screen functions and backtracking feature, which allowed you to play Game Boy Advance titles.
* 2006: The DS Lite releases. It features a better display and is more sleek in appearance.
* 2008: The DSi is released. It improves the CPU performance, and adds a camera.
* 2009: The DSi XL is released, which has bigger screens and size than the regular DSi.
* 2011: Nintendo announces and releases the 3DS , the successor to the DS. The 3DS features a 3D display, and a special GPU to render the 3D effects. It feautures a backtrack mode, like the DS before it, that lets you play DS games.
* 2012: Nintendo announces and releases the 3DS XL, which is a bigger 3DS, with a better battery life. Nintendo also announced the Wii U which would be released soon after.
* 2013: Nintendo announces and releases the 2DS, which was targeted for younger audiences. It featured a bit bulkier of a design and had no hinges, taking after the Game & Watch.
* 2014: Nintendo announces and releases the New Nintendo 3DS and New 3DS XL in Japan. It adds a C-Stick and a better CPU.
* 2015: Nintendo announces and releases the New Nintendo 3DS XL in North America and The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D is released on the same day.