Nintendo Co., Ltd. (任天堂株式会社, Nintendō Kabushiki gaisha Kabushiki gaisha or kabushiki kaisha is a type of business corporation (会社, kaisha?) defined under Japanese law^?) is a multinational corporation A multinational corporation or transnational corporation (TNC), also called multinational enterprise (MNE), is a corporation or an enterprise that manages production or delivers services in more than one country. It can also be referred as an international corporation. The International Labour Organization (ILO) has defined[citation needed] an MNC located in Kyoto, Japan Kyoto (Japanese pronunciation: [kjoːto] ( listen)) is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area. Founded on September 23, 1889^[2] by Fusajiro Yamauchi Fusajiro Yamauchi was a Japanese entrepreneur who founded the company that is now known as Nintendo Company Limited. Yamauchi lived in Kyoto, Japan and had a daughter, Tei Yamauchi (who later married future Nintendo president and Fusajiro Yamauchi's successor, Sekiryo Kaneda). Fusajiro has been somehow related to every president of Nintendo except, it produced handmade hanafuda Hanafuda are playing cards of Japanese origin (karuta cards), used to play a number of games. The name literally translates as 'flower cards' cards.^[6] By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel A love hotel is a type of short-stay hotel found in Japan operated primarily for the purpose of allowing couples privacy to have sexual intercourse. Similar establishments also exist in other East Asian countries and regions such as South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong. The same concept also exists in Central and South America,.^[7]

Nintendo soon developed into a video game A video game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. The word video in video game traditionally referred to a raster display device. However, with the popular use of the term "video game", it now implies any type of display device. The electronic systems used to company, becoming one of the most influential in the industry The video game industry is the economic sector involved with the development, marketing and sale of video games. It encompasses dozens of job disciplines and employs thousands of people worldwide and Japan's third most valuable listed company, with a market value of over US$ The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States. The U.S. dollar is normally abbreviated as the dollar sign, $, or as USD or US$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies and from others that use the $ symbol. It is divided into 100 cents85 billion.^[8]

Besides video games, Nintendo is also the majority owner of the Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle, Washington. Enfranchised in 1977, the Mariners are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Safeco Field has been the Mariners' home ballpark since July 1999. From their 1977 inception until June 1999, the club's home park was the, a Major League Baseball Major League Baseball is the highest level of play in North American professional baseball. Specifically, Major League Baseball refers to the organization that operates the National League and the American League by a joint organizational structure that has developed gradually between them since 1901 (the National League having been in existence team in Seattle, Washington Seattle (pronounced /siːˈætəl/ see-AT-əl) is the northernmost major city in the continental United States, and the largest city in the Pacific Northwest and in the state of Washington. A seaport situated on an isthmus between Puget Sound (an arm of the Pacific Ocean) and Lake Washington, about 100 miles (160 km) south of the Canada – United.^[9]

According to Nintendo's Touch! Generations Touch! Generations is a Nintendo brand used for the Nintendo DS and Wii showing games created to appeal to a broader audience than the traditional gamer website, the name "Nintendo" translated from Japanese to English means "Leave luck to Heaven".^[10] As of October 2, 2008, Nintendo has sold over 470 million hardware units and 2.7 billion software units.^[11]

History

As a card company (1889–1956)

Nintendo was founded as a card company in late 1889, originally named Nintendo Koppai. Based in Kyoto Kyoto (Japanese pronunciation: [kjoːto] ( listen)) is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area, Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south. The characters that make up Japan's name mean "sun-origin", which is why Japan is, the business produced and marketed a playing card A playing card is a piece of specially prepared heavy paper, thin cardboard, or thin plastic, figured with distinguishing motifs and used as one of a set for playing card games. Playing cards are typically palm-sized for convenient handling game called Hanafuda Hanafuda are playing cards of Japanese origin (karuta cards), used to play a number of games. The name literally translates as 'flower cards'. The handmade cards soon became popular, and Yamauchi hired assistants to mass produce cards to satisfy demand. Nintendo continues to manufacture playing cards in Japan^[12] and organizes its own contract bridge Contract bridge, usually known simply as bridge, is a trick-taking card game of skill and chance . It is played by four players who form two partnerships; the partners sit opposite each other at a table. The game consists of the auction (often called bidding) and play, after which the hand is scored tournament called the "Nintendo Cup".^[13]

New ventures (1956–1975)

In 1956, Hiroshi Yamauchi (grandson of Fusajiro Yamauchi) visited the U.S. to talk with the United States Playing Card Company, the dominant playing card manufacturer there. He found that the world's biggest company in his business was only using a small office. This was a turning point, when Yamauchi realized the limitations of the playing card business. He then gained access to Disney's characters and put them on the playing cards to drive sales.

In 1963, Yamauchi renamed Nintendo Playing Card Company Limited to Nintendo Company, Limited. The company then began to experiment in other areas of business using newly injected capital. During this period of time between 1963 and 1968, Nintendo set up a taxi A taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire, with a driver, for a single passenger, or small group of passengers, typically for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice. In modes of public transport, the pick-up and drop-off locations are determined by the service provider, not by the company, a love hotel A love hotel is a type of short-stay hotel found in Japan operated primarily for the purpose of allowing couples privacy to have sexual intercourse. Similar establishments also exist in other East Asian countries and regions such as South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong. The same concept also exists in Central and South America, chain, a TV network and a food company (selling instant rice, similar to instant noodles Instant noodles are dried or precooked noodles fused with oil and often sold with a packet of flavoring. Dried noodles are usually eaten after being cooked or soaked in boiling water for 2 to 5 minutes, while precooked noodles can be reheated or eaten straight from the packet. Instant noodles were invented by Momofuku Andō of Nissin Foods, Japan). All of these ventures eventually failed, and after the 1964 Tokyo Olympics The 1964 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan in 1964. Tokyo had been awarded with the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subsequently passed to Helsinki because of Japan's invasion of China, before ultimately being canceled, playing card sales dropped, leaving Nintendo with ¥ The yen (sign: ¥; code: JPY) is the currency of Japan. It is the third most-traded currency in the foreign exchange market after United States dollar and the euro. It is also widely used as a reserve currency after the U.S. dollar, the euro and the pound sterling. As is common when counting in East Asia, large quantities of yen are often counted60 in stocks.

In 1966, Nintendo moved into the Japanese toy industry with the Ultra Hand, an extendable arm developed by its maintenance engineer Gunpei Yokoi Gunpei Yokoi, also spelled Gumpei Yokoi (September 10, 1941–October 4, 1997), was a video game designer in Japan. He was a long-time Nintendo employee, creator of the Game Boy, and producer of the long-running Metroid series. Yokoi's games have been seen on every Nintendo video game console, with his earliest work appearing on arcade machines in his free time. Yokoi was moved from maintenance to the new "Nintendo Games" department as a product developer. Nintendo continued to produce popular toys, including the Ultra Machine, Love Tester and the Kousenjuu series of light gun games. Despite some successful products, Nintendo struggled to meet the fast development and manufacturing turnaround required in the toy market, and fell behind the well-established companies such as Bandai Bandai Co., Ltd. is a Japanese toy making and video game company, as well as the producer of a large number of plastic model kits. It is the world's third largest producer of toys. Some ex-Bandai group companies produce anime and tokusatsu programs. Its headquarters is located in Taitō, Tokyo and Tomy Takara Tomy Co., Ltd. is a Japanese toy, children's merchandise and entertainment company created from the merger of two companies: Tomy (founded in 1924 as Tomiyama, changing the name to Tomy in 1963) and long-time rival, Takara (founded in 1955), on 1 March 2006.

In 1973, its focus shifted to family entertainment venues with the Laser Clay Shooting System, using the same light gun technology used in Nintendo's Kousenjuu series of toys, and set up in abandoned bowling alleys. Following some success, Nintendo developed several more light gun machines for the emerging arcade scene. While the Laser Clay Shooting System ranges had to be shut down following excessive costs, Nintendo had found a new market.

Electronic era (since 1975)

In 1974, Nintendo secured the rights to distribute the Magnavox Odyssey The Magnavox Odyssey is the world's first home video game console. It was first demonstrated on May 24, 1972 and released in August of that year, predating the Atari Pong home consoles by three years video game console A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or modified computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game. The term "video game console" is used to distinguish a machine designed for consumers to buy and use solely for playing video games from a personal in Japan. In 1977, Nintendo began producing its own Color TV Game home video game consoles. Four versions of these consoles were produced, each including variations of a single game (for example, Color TV Game 6 featured six versions of Light Tennis).

A student product developer named Shigeru Miyamoto Shigeru Miyamoto (born November 16, 1952 in Sonobe, Kyoto, Japan) is a Japanese video game designer and producer. Miyamoto was born and raised in the Kyoto Prefecture; the natural surroundings of Kyoto inspired much of Miyamoto's later work. He is mainly known for his work at the video game production company Nintendo, where he created some of the was hired by Nintendo at this time.^[14] He worked for Yokoi, and one of his first tasks was to design the casing for several of the Color TV Game consoles. Miyamoto went on to create, direct and produce some of Nintendo's most famous video games and become one of the most recognizable figures in the video game industry.^[14]

In 1975, Nintendo moved into the video arcade game An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, public houses, and video arcades. Most arcade games are redemption games, merchandisers , video games, or pinball machines industry with EVR Race, designed by their first game designer, Genyo Takeda,^[15] and several more titles followed. Nintendo had some small success with this venture, but the release of Donkey Kong Donkey Kong is an arcade game developed by Nintendo, released in 1981. It is an early example of the platform genre, as the gameplay focuses on maneuvering the main character across a series of platforms while dodging obstacles. The storyline is thin but well-developed for its time. In it, Jumpman (now known as Mario) must rescue a damsel in in 1981, designed by Miyamoto, changed Nintendo's fortunes dramatically. The success of the game and many licensing opportunities (such as ports on the Atari 2600 The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in. The first game console to use this format was the Fairchild Channel F; however, the Atari 260, Intellivision The Intellivision is a video game console released by Mattel in 1979. Development of the console began in 1978, less than a year after the introduction of its main competitor, the Atari 2600. The word intellivision is a portmanteau of "intelligent television". Over 3 million Intellivision units were sold and a total of 125 games were and ColecoVision) gave Nintendo a huge boost in profit.

In 1980, Nintendo launched Game & Watch Game & Watch is a line of handheld electronic games produced by Nintendo from 1980 to 1991. Created by game designer Gunpei Yokoi, each Game & Watch features a single game to be played on an LCD screen in addition to a clock and an alarm (thus, 'Game & Watch')—a handheld video game A handheld video game is a video game designed for a handheld device. In the past, this primarily meant handheld game consoles such as Nintendo's Game Boy line. In more recent history, mobile games have become popular in calculators, personal digital assistants , mobile phones, MP3 players, and other similar portable gadgets series developed by Yokoi where each game was played on a separate device—to worldwide success. In 1983, Nintendo launched the Family Computer (commonly shortened "Famicom"), known outside Japan as the Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe and Australia in 1985. In most of Asia, including Japan (where it was first launched in 1983), China, Vietnam, Singapore and the Philippines, it was released as the Family Computer (ファミリーコンピュータ?), commonly (NES), home video game console in Japan, alongside ports of its most popular arcade titles. In 1985, the NES launched in North America, and was accompanied by Super Mario Bros., currently the second-best-selling video game of all time.^[16]

In 1989, Yokoi developed the Game Boy The Game Boy is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on April 21, 1989), in North America on July 31, 1989), and in Europe on September 28, 1990). In Southern Asia, it is known as the "Tata Game Boy"[vague] It is the first handheld console in the Game Boy line, and was handheld game console A handheld game console is a lightweight, portable electronic device with a built-in screen, games controls and speakers. Handheld game consoles are run on machines of small size allowing people to carry them and play them at any time or place. Unlike video game consoles, the controls, screen and speakers are all part of a single unit.

The Nintendo Entertainment System was superseded by the Super Famicom, known outside Japan as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia (Oceania), and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the Super Famicom (スーパーファミコン?, officially adopting the abbreviated name of its predecessor, (SNES). This was Nintendo's console of the 16-bit 4^th generation, following the Famicom of the 8-bit 3^rd generation, whose main rival was the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis The Mega Drive is a fourth-generation video game console released by Sega in Japan in 1988 and Europe in 1990. The console was released in North America in 1989 under the name Genesis, as Sega was unable to secure legal rights to the Mega Drive name in that region. The Mega Drive, heavily marketed as "16-bit" due to its hardware, was. A fierce console war between Sega and Nintendo ensued,^[17] in which the SNES was victorious^{[citation needed]}. The SNES eventually sold 49.10 million consoles^[18], around 20 million more than the Mega Drive.

During the dominance of the Game Boy line, its creator, Yokoi, designed the Virtual Boy Nintendo's Virtual Boy (also known as the VR-32 and Virtual Utopia Experience during development) was the first portable game console capable of displaying "true 3D graphics" out of the box. Most video games are forced to use monocular cues to achieve the illusion of three dimensions on a two-dimensional screen, but the Virtual Boy was, a table-mounted semi-portable console featuring stereoscopic graphics Stereoscopy is any technique capable of recording three-dimensional visual information or creating the illusion of depth in an image. Users view games through a binocular eyepiece and control games using a gamepad. Rushed to market in 1995 to compensate for development delays with the upcoming Nintendo 64, the Virtual Boy was a commercial failure due to poor third-party support and a large price point. Amid the systems's failure, Yokoi was asked to leave Nintendo.^[19]

The company's next home console, the Nintendo 64 The Nintendo 64 , often abbreviated as N64, is Nintendo's third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil. It is Nintendo's last home console to use, was released in 1996 and features 3D graphics 3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data (often Cartesian) that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images. Such images may be for later display or for real-time viewing capabilities and built-in multiplayer A multiplayer video game is one which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time. Unlike most other games, computer and video games are often single-player activities that pit the player against preprogrammed challenges and/or AI-controlled opponents, which often lack the flexibility and ingenuity of regular human for up to four players. The system's controller introduced the analog stick An analog stick, sometimes called a thumbstick or control stick, is an input device for a controller that is used for two-dimensional input. An analog stick is a variation of a joystick. It consists of some sort of protrusion from the controller, and the input is based on the position of this protrusion. While a digital joystick relies on single. Nintendo later introduced the Rumble Pak, an accessory for the Nintendo 64 controller that produced force feedback Haptic technology, or haptics, is a tactile feedback technology that takes advantage of a user's sense of touch by applying forces, vibrations, and/or motions to the user. This mechanical stimulation may be used to assist in the creation of virtual objects , for control of such virtual objects, and for the enhancement of the remote control of with compatible games. It was the first such device to come to market for home console gaming and eventually became an industry standard.^[20]

The Nintendo GameCube The Nintendo GameCube , officially abbreviated as GCN in Western regions[citation needed] and as NGC in Japan, is Nintendo's fourth home video game console and is part of the sixth generation console era. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 and predecessor to the Wii followed in 2001 and was the first Nintendo console to utilize optical disc In computing and optical recording, an optical disc is a flat, usually circular disc which encode binary data in the form of pits and lands (binary value of 1 or on, due to a reflection when read) on a special material (often aluminium[citation needed]) on one of its flat surfaces. The encoding material sits atop a thicker substrate (usually storage instead of cartridges.^[21] The most recent home console, the Nintendo Wii, uses motion sensing controllers^[22] and has on-board online functionality used for services such as Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection and Internet Channel^[23] (in contrast to GameCube's limited functionality on select games with an additional modem accessory^[24]). The Wii's success, as well as the success of the DS, introduced a change in audience to broader and non-traditional demographics, a business model with which Nintendo has had success.^{[citation needed]} Contrarily, the new business model has also resulted in some long-time gamers abandoning the Nintendo console for its competitors.^[25]

Nintendo is the longest-surviving video game console manufacturer to date.^{[citation needed]}

Handheld console history

After the successful Game & Watch, the handheld development continued with the Game Boy, the Game Boy Pocket and Game Boy Color, with the latter two differing in fairly minor aspects. The Game Boy, the best-selling handheld and third best-selling console of all time, continued for more than a decade until the release of the Game Boy Advance, featuring improved technical specifications similar to those of the SNES. The Game Boy Advance SP, a frontlit (backlit in later editions), flip-screen version, introduced a rechargeable, built-in battery, which ended the need for AA batteries in previous consoles. The Game Boy Micro was released in 2005, after the Nintendo DS's release, but did not sell as well as its predecessors.

The Nintendo DS replaced the Game Boy line sometime after its initial release in 2004, originally advertised as an alternative to the Game Boy Advance.^[26] It was distinctive because it had two screens and a microphone, in a clamshell design continuing on from the Game Boy Advance SP.

The Nintendo DS Lite, a remake of the DS, improved several features of the original model, including the battery life and screen brightness. It was designed to be sleeker, more beautiful, and more aesthetically pleasing than the original, in order to appeal to a broader audience.^[27] On November 1, 2008, Nintendo released, in Japan, the Nintendo DSi, an improved version featuring larger screens, improved sound quality, an AAC music player and two cameras—one on the outside and one facing the user.^[28] It was released in the USA, Europe, and Australia at the start of April, 2009. The most recent Nintendo handheld console, with an expanded screen, is the Nintendo DSi XL, which was released on November 21, 2009 in Japan and the first half of 2010 in other regions.^[29]

Nintendo is planning to release a brand new handheld console, provisionally called the Nintendo 3DS, with three-dimensional graphics that don't require special headwear to view. It is intended for release by March 31, 2011.^[30]

Offices and locations

Nintendo Company, Limited (NCL) is based in Minami-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan (34°58′11.89″N 135°45′22.33″E / 34.9699694°N 135.7562028°E). Its pre-2000 office, now its research and development building, is located in Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan (34°58′29.00″N 135°46′10.48″E / 34.97472°N 135.7695778°E). Its original Kyoto headquarters can still be found at (34°59′30.03″N 135°45′58.66″E / 34.991675°N 135.7662944°E).

Nintendo of America, Incorporated (NOA), its American division, is based in Redmond, Washington. It has distribution centers in Atlanta, Georgia (Nintendo Atlanta) and North Bend, Washington (Nintendo North Bend).

Nintendo of Canada, Limited (NOCL) is based in Vancouver, BC, with its distribution center in Toronto, Ontario. Nintendo Australia Pty Ltd (NAL) is based in Melbourne, Victoria. It handles the distribution, sales and marketing of Nintendo products in Australia and New Zealand. It also manufactures some of the Wii games locally. Nintendo of Europe is based in Großostheim (established in 1990),^[31] Germany. iQue, Ltd., a Chinese joint venture between its founder, Doctor Wei Yen, and Nintendo, manufactures and distributes official Nintendo consoles and games for the mainland Chinese market, under the iQue brand. Nintendo also established Nintendo of Korea (NoK) on July 7, 2006.

Policy

Emulation

Nintendo, particularly Nintendo of America, is known for a "no tolerance" stance for emulation of its video games and consoles, stating that it is the single largest threat to the intellectual rights of video game developers.^[32] Nintendo claims that copyright-like rights in mask works protect its games from the exceptions that United States copyright law otherwise provides for personal backup copies. Nintendo uses the claim that emulators running on personal computers have no use other than to play pirated video games, though a use that doesn't involve intellectual property in this way is seen in the development and testing of independently produced "homebrew" software on Nintendo's platforms. It is also claimed that Nintendo's claims contradict copyright laws, mainly that ROM image copiers are illegal (they are legal if used to dump unprotected ROM images on to a user's computer for personal use, per 17 U.S.C. § 117(a)(1) and foreign counterparts)^[33] and that emulators are illegal (if they do not use copyrighted BIOS, or use other methods to run the game, they are legal; see Console emulator for further information about the legality of emulators). This stance is largely apocryphal, however; Nintendo remains the only modern console manufacturer that has not sued an emulator manufacturer (the most public example being Sony vs. the bleem company).

Emulators have been used by Nintendo and licensed third party companies as a means to re-release older games (e.g. Virtual Console).

Content guidelines

For many years, Nintendo had a policy of strict content guidelines for video games published on its consoles. Although Nintendo of Japan allowed graphic violence in its video games, nudity and sexuality were strictly prohibited. Former Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi believed that if the company allowed the licensing of pornographic games, the company's image would be forever tarnished.^[34] Nintendo of America and Nintendo of Europe went further in that games released for Nintendo consoles could not feature nudity, sexuality, profanity (including racism, sexism or slurs), blood, graphic or domestic violence, drugs, political messages or religious symbols (with the exception of widely unpracticed religions, such as the Greek Pantheon).^[35] The Japanese parent company was concerned that it may be viewed as a "Japanese Invasion" if it introduced adult content to North American and European children. U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman praised this zero tolerance policy, but others criticized the policy, claiming that gamers should be allowed to choose the content they want to see. Despite the strict guidelines, some exceptions have occurred: Bionic Commando (though swastikas were eliminated in the US version), Smash TV and Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode contained blood and violence, the latter also containing implied sexuality and tobacco use; River City Ransom and Taboo: The Sixth Sense contained nudity, and the latter also contained religious images, as did The Legend of Zelda, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, and Castlevania II and III.

A known side effect of this policy was the Sega Genesis version of Mortal Kombat selling over double the number of the Super NES version, mainly because Nintendo had forced publisher Acclaim to recolor the red blood to look like white sweat and replace some of the more gory graphics in its release of the game, making it non-violent.^{[citation needed]} By contrast, Sega allowed blood and gore to remain in the Genesis version (though a code was required to unlock the gore). Nintendo allowed the Super NES version of Mortal Kombat II to ship uncensored the following year with a content warning on the packaging.^[36]

In 1994 and 2003, when the ESRB and PEGI (respectively) video game ratings systems were introduced, Nintendo chose to abolish most of these policies in favor of consumers making their own choices about the content of the games they played. Today, changes to the content of games are done primarily by the game's developer or, occasionally, at the request of Nintendo. The only clear-set rule is that ESRB AO-rated games will not be licensed on Nintendo consoles in North America,^[37] a practice which is also enforced by Sony and Microsoft, its two greatest competitors in the present market. Nintendo has since allowed several mature-content games to be published on its consoles, including: Perfect Dark, Conker's Bad Fur Day, Doom and Doom 64, BMX XXX, the Resident Evil series, killer7, Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, BloodRayne, Geist and Dementium: The Ward. Certain games have continued to be modified, however. For example, Konami was forced to remove all references to cigarettes in the 2000 Game Boy Color game Metal Gear Solid (although the previous NES version of Metal Gear and the subsequent Gamecube game Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes both included such references, as did Wii title MadWorld), and maiming and blood were removed from the Nintendo 64 port of Cruis'n USA.^[38] Another example is in the Game Boy Advance game Mega Man Zero 3, in which one of the bosses, called Hellbat Schilt in the Japanese and European releases, was renamed Devilbat Schilt in the U.S. localization. In the U.S. releases of the Mega Man Zero games, enemies and bosses killed with a saber attack would not gush blood as they did in the Japanese versions. However, the release of the Wii has been accompanied by a number of even more controversial mature titles, such as Manhunt 2, No More Heroes, The House of the Dead: Overkill and MadWorld, the latter three of which are published exclusively for the console. The Nintendo DS also has violent games, such as Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, Dementium: The Ward, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 and Resident Evil: Deadly Silence.

License guidelines

Nintendo of America also had guidelines before 1993 that had to be followed by its licensees to make games for the Nintendo Entertainment System, in addition to the above content guidelines:^[34]

• Licensees were not permitted to release the same game for a competing console until two years had passed.
• Nintendo would decide how many cartridges would be supplied to the licensee.
• Nintendo would decide how much space would be dedicated for articles, advertising, etc. in the Nintendo Power magazine.
• There was a minimum number of cartridges that had to be ordered by the licensee from Nintendo.
• There was a yearly limit of five games that a licensee may produce for a Nintendo console.^[39] This rule was made to prevent market over saturation, which caused the North American video game crash of 1983.

The last rule was circumvented in a number of ways; for example, Konami, wanting to produce more games for Nintendo's consoles, formed Ultra Games and later Palcom to produce more games as a technically different publisher.^[34] This disadvantaged smaller or emerging companies, as they could not start additional companies at will.^{[citation needed]} In another side effect, Square Co. (now Square Enix) executives have suggested that the price of publishing games on the Nintendo 64 along with the degree of censorship and control that Nintendo enforced over its games, most notably Final Fantasy VI, were factors in switching its focus towards Sony's PlayStation console.^{[citation needed]}

Seal of Quality

The Nintendo Seal of Quality (currently Official Nintendo Seal in NTSC regions) is a gold seal first used by Nintendo of America, and later Nintendo of Europe, displayed on any game, system, or accessory licensed for use on one of its video game consoles, denoting the game has been properly licensed by Nintendo (and, in theory, checked for quality). It is a golden starburst with the text "Original Nintendo Seal of Quality" or "Official Nintendo Seal". The starburst is circular in PAL regions, such as Europe and Australia, and elliptical for NTSC regions.

Originally, for NTSC countries, the seal was a large, black and gold circular starburst. The seal read as follows: "This seal is your assurance that NINTENDO has approved and guaranteed the quality of this product." This seal was later altered in 1988: "approved and guaranteed" was changed to "evaluated and approved". In 1989, the seal became gold and white, as it currently appears, with a shortened phrase, "Official Nintendo Seal of Quality". It was changed in 2003 to read "Official Nintendo Seal" rather than "Official Nintendo Seal of Quality". Currently, the seal makes no guarantee of quality software, instead referring to the fact that the item is published or licensed by Nintendo.

Gamers, understandably, were wary of publishers at the time of the release of the Nintendo Entertainment System, due to the market crash of 1983. The 10NES lockout chip solved the problem of unapproved games gaining access to the market, but the issue of general consumer confidence remained. Publishers were therefore encouraged to create high-quality titles - for example, with the limit of yearly output.

Environmental record

Greenpeace's May 2010 "Guide to Greener Electronics" report ranks Nintendo last on a list of electronics manufacturers, with a score of 1.8 out of 10 (with a trend of increase). The report cites increasing carbon dioxide emissions (failed to be reduced per target) and a lack of waste management. Limited praise focuses on satisfactory energy efficiency of the DSi's AC adapter, the reduction of PVC usage in wiring (and new chemical regulations) and the disclosure of carbon dioxide emissions.^[40] Its previous score (January 2010) was 1.4^[41], at which, three days later, Nintendo issued a response that addressed primary concerns, highlighting a policy to indicate the materials used in each product, which makes end-of-life recycling of products easier.^[42]

See also

• History of video games
• History of Nintendo
• Lewis Galoob Toys, Inc. v. Nintendo of America, Inc.
• List of divisions of Nintendo
• List of franchises established on Nintendo consoles
• List of Nintendo characters
• List of Nintendo developers
• List of Nintendo games
• List of video games published by Nintendo
• Multinational corporation
• Nintendo World Store
• Player's Choice
• Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Nintendo Co., Ltd.
• Video games censored by Nintendo of America
• Microsoft
• Sony
• Sega

Notes

1. ^ "Nintendo News:Nintendo switched logos "two years" ago". ComputerAndVideoGames.com. http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=202585. Retrieved 2010-06-01.
2. ^ ^{a b} "Company History" (in Japanese). Nintendo. http://www.nintendo.co.jp/n05/index.html. Retrieved 2006-07-29.
3. ^ "International Distributors - Company List". Nintendo. http://www.nintendo.com/corp/distributors_international.jsp. Retrieved 2008-11-17.
4. ^ ^{a b} "Fiscal year report". Gamespot. 2010-03-31. pp. 1. http://www.gamespot.com/news/6261400.html?tag=recent_news;title;1. Retrieved 2010-05-06.
5. ^ ^{a b c} Nintendo's Earnings Release: Fiscal Year ended March 31, 2009
6. ^ "Company History". Nintendo. http://www.nintendo.com/corp/history.jsp. Retrieved 2006-06-04.
7. ^ "Nintendo History Lesson: The Lucky Birth". N-Sider. http://www.n-sider.com/articleview.php?articleid=45. Retrieved 2006-06-04.
8. ^ Reuters: Nintendo sets $85 bln high score, thanks to Wii, Nintendo DS
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12. ^ "Nintendo's card game product". nintendo. http://www.nintendo.co.jp/n09/index.html. Retrieved 2009.
13. ^ "list of japan contract bridge league tounaments" (in japanese). jcbl. http://www.jcbl.or.jp/english/tournament.html. Retrieved 2005.
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17. ^ Kent (2001), p. 431. "Sonic was an immediate hit, and many consumers who had been loyally waiting for Super NES to arrive now decided to purchase Genesis.... The fiercest competition in the history of video games was about to begin."
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33. ^ 17 U.S.C. § 117
34. ^ ^{a b c} Game Over, David Sheff, 1993.
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References

• Kent, Steven L. (2001). The Ultimate History of Video Games: The Story Behind the Craze that Touched our Lives and Changed the World. Roseville, California: Prima Publishing. ISBN 0-7615-3643-4.

External links

• Nintendo official website
• Nintendo Software Development Support Group
• Nintendo Power
• Official Nintendo Magazine (UK)
• NinDB
• The History of Nintendo at Jap-Sai.com
• Nintendo in Depth Archive by The Daily Telegraph
• Nintendo of America's Press Site
• Official Nintendo America twitter page

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• Nintendo Software Technology: Encyclopedia

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