Video Games & Consoles

Of the great brand fights of the modern era, the Console Wars are one of the most well known and potentially divisive among gamers and game enthusiasts. Of the companies still in the race, Nintendo is one of the more interesting characters. Not as high powered as Sony or Microsoft, Nintendo stays competitive by appealing to family fun and portability. Granted their leadership is ancient and horribly out of touch with reality and their Western consumer base, but sales are sales and the company remains in the game. It might surprise some just how old Nintendo is, as the company not only predates video games, but even the twentieth century.

Nintendo actually got its start as a playing card company. In 1889 the company started as a maker of Hanafuda cards, a popular card game in Japan, though the game is pretty obscure in the West. Nintendo actually still makes playing cards, both in Japan and the West. As is fitting such a traditional game, the company was formed in the ancient city of Kyoto.

For the majority of its history, Nintendo made playing cards, which makes sense since video games didn’t exist yet. In 1959 the company got a good in with Western markets by obtaining the rights to sell Disney themed playing cards. Still, it wasn’t until 1963 that the company started making games along with playing cards.