Nintendo
Nintendo is a Japanese entertainment company founded in 1889 and headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. The company began as a manufacturer of playing cards, but got into the electronic gaming industry in the 1970s. They are now one of the largest video game companies in the world. Over the years, Nintendo has created arcade cabinets, dedicated home video game systems, video game consoles, hand held gaming devices, hundreds of games, dozens of video game peripherals, magazines, comic books, television shows, and even breakfast cereals. In addition to creating several of the world's largest video game franchises, the company is also responsible for defining many of the video game mechanics and genres in the medium.
Contents
Personal
I became aware of Nintendo in the mid-1980s with the American release of the Nintendo Entertainment System. I first saw it played at my baby-sitter's house who owned an NES with Super Mario Bros. and a couple other games. I remember being amazed by it, but our baby-sitters (whom I hated) wouldn't let us play with it. A short while later, my brother and I bought an NES with our combined paper route money. We both bought and rented various games over the years. Nintendo fever was in full force at this time, and the majority of my friends had an NES and plenty of games. I was severely engrossed in video gaming, and it's mostly due to Nintendo. Around 1992, I got a Super Nintendo Entertainment System for Christmas and played many games. After the Nintendo 64 came out, I was becoming less interested in dedicated video game consoles, and I haven't bought a new console since.
I've read a couple books about the history of Nintendo, and I've become a bit disenfranchised with them. Despite their fun and playful public face they've actually been a very ruthless company that relied on anti-competitive tactics, shady business deals, and sold faulty hardware to become as popular as they were.
Video Game Platforms
These are the Nintendo platforms that are important to me.
Consoles
Handhelds
Games
As far as games go, Nintendo is my favorite video game developer, having created more of my favorite games and franchises than any other company. These are the games Nintendo worked on that are important to me. For all Nintendo games, see the categories for games developed or published.
Famicom Disk System
Game Boy
Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Color
Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo 64
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Publications
Note: Several of these publications were made by other companies on behalf of Nintendo.
- Adventure Hero's Books
- The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (manga)
- Nintendo Comics System
- Nintendo Power
- Nintendo Power Flash
- Nintendo Player's Guide
- The Official Nintendo Player's Guide
- Wanpakku Comics
Film
Note: Several of these films were made by other companies on behalf of Nintendo.
- The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3
- Captain N: The Game Master
- The Legend of Zelda (TV series)
- Super Mario Bros. (film)
- The Super Mario Super Show
- Super Mario World (TV series)
Other
Staff
These are people who are (or were) employed by Nintendo whose work I appreciate.
- Hirokazu Tanaka
- Hiroshi Yamauchi
- Kazuaki Morita
- Koji Kondo
- Shigeru Miyamoto
- Soyo Oka
- Takashi Tezuka
- Toshihiko Nakago
- Yukio Kaneoka
Regional Codes
This table lists the regional codes used by Nintendo in their game catalog numbers. New codes were added over the years as publications became more targeted. Some early NES releases do not have a regional code, but describe the region in text on the box or cartridge label. Manuals often have a different code than the box or cartridge, particularly in regions which use several languages. Some of the codes (EUR and UKV especially) are often used a catch-all codes for many countries.
| Code | Stands For | Potential Nations |
|---|---|---|
| ASI | Asia | China, South Korea (Early NES carts didn't have a region code) |
| ASM | Asia (and Malaysia)? | |
| AUS | Australia | Australia, New Zealand |
| CAN | Canada | Canada |
| CHN | China | China |
| DAN | Denmark | Denmark |
| EAI | ? | Used on the back of GBR games. |
| EAH | Belgium, The Netherlands | |
| EEC | European Economic Community | Finland, Norway, Sweden |
| ESP | España | Spain |
| EUR | Europe | Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom |
| EUT | ? | Finland |
| EUU | European Union ? | Germany |
| FAH | France and Holland | Belgium, France, Luxembourg, The Netherlands |
| FRA | France | Belgium, France, Switzerland |
| FRG | Federal Republic of Germany | Germany, Austria |
| GBR | Great Britain | |
| GPS | ? | |
| GRE | Greece | Greece |
| HKG | Hong Kong | Hong Kong (Early NES carts didn't have a region code) |
| HOL | Holland | |
| ISR | Israel | Israel |
| ITA | Italy | Italy |
| JPN | Japan | Japan |
| KOR | Korea | South Korea (Early NES carts didn't have a region code) |
| LTN | Latin America | |
| MSA | Mexico and South America | |
| NOE | Nintendo of Europe | Austria, Germany, Switzerland |
| NOR | Norway | Norway |
| ROC | Republic of China | China |
| RUS | Russia | Russia |
| SCN | Scandinavia | Finland, Norway, Sweden |
| SWE | Sweden | Sweden |
| UKV | United Kingdom Version? | Australia, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom |
| USA | United States of America | Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, United States of America, Uruguay |
| USZ | ? |
Codes with a ★ are typically those where the only change is the update of Nintendo seal of quality from the circle to the oval, and the addition of a message reading "for sale in the USA, Canada and Mexico only" (though Mexico isn't always present). Codes with a Ⓣ are typically those where the only change is the inclusion of a warning not to play the game on a rear-projection television. Some games have both symbols or neither despite having the messages, as Nintendo wasn't entirely consistent with their markings.
Media
Documentation
Nintendo World Championships 1990 magazine.
The Official 1990 World of Nintendo Buyer's Guide.
The Nintendo Sticker Album.
Fan Art
Nintendo collage.
Andrew Dobson points out Nintendo's localization issues.
Mario Kart 8 - Luigi Death Stare - by Omo Cat.
Hardcore console puns.
Nintendo controllers as weapons.
Logos
Nintendo has many earlier logos, but these are the ones that I'm familiar with.
(1975-2006)
This is the logo I spent most of my childhood seeing. It's simple, yet memorable with its unique font.
(2006-2016)
Changing the logo to gray was a poor decision. All it does is lessen the impact of the logo.
(2016-Present)
Switching back to red was a good choice, but inverted designs like this work much better when the exterior isn't a boring rectangle.
Links
