Nintendo started as a playing-card shop in Kyoto in 1889. More than a century later, the company that made the Wii was struggling with the Wii U, and the Switch became its next big test. This is the story of Nintendo’s unlikely experiments, costly failures, and repeated reinventions, from hanafuda cards and the Game Boy to the Switch comeback.
0:00 The Last Shot
0:52 A Shop Full of Flowers
1:52 When Cards Weren’t Enough
2:53 An Engineer and an Arm
3:36 Light Guns and Arcade Cabinets
4:46 A Console Disguised as a Toy
5:51 The Power of Less
6:58 Playing Beyond the Competition
8:09 The Wii U Problem
9:16 One Console, Two Worlds
10:23 Play Beyond the Screen
11:33 The Business of Reinvention
Which Nintendo gamble taught the company the most: its biggest success or one of its failures? Let us know in the comments.
Sources
Nintendo corporate history: https://www.nintendo.co.jp/corporate/en/history/index.html
Nintendo hardware and software sales: https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/finance/hard_soft/index.html
Iwata Asks — Game & Watch: https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Iwata-Asks/Iwata-Asks-Game-Watch/Iwata-Asks-Game-Watch/2-Using-a-Calculator-Chip/2-Using-a-Calculator-Chip-223003.html
Satoru Iwata’s GDC 2005 keynote: https://www.nintendoworldreport.com/pr/10378/satoru-iwata-gdc-keynote-transcription
Nintendo management briefing, January 2014: https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/events/140130/index.html
Nintendo annual results, March 2014: https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2014/140507e.pdf
Nintendo Switch launch announcement: https://www.nintendo.co.jp/corporate/release/en/2017/170113.html
BBC — Switch sales milestone: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckglk543x3go
The Guardian — Nintendo Museum: https://www.theguardian.com/games/2024/sep/25/pushing-buttons-nintendo-museum-kyoto
Illustrations are stylized and not historical images.
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#Nintendo #BusinessHistory #BusinessDocumentary
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