On Sale from Nintendo

Established in 1889, Nintendo started as a playing card company producing handmade hanafuda cards in Japan. According to Nintendo's Touch! Generations website, the name Nintendo translates to leave luck to heaven. The company has come a long way from producing playing cards. Beginning in the 1950's, Nintendo began some new ventures as a result of stunted company growth. These ventures included a taxi company, a chain of love hotels (short-stay hotels found in Japan), a TV network, and a food company that sold instant rice (similar to instant noodles). All of these ventures eventually failed, leaving Nintendo at bottomed out stock levels. It was in 1975 that the company began their electronic era, primarily manufacturing video games and consoles. Today, Nintendo has evolved into a video game company and is one of the most influential players in the industry. The gaming giant is third on the list of Japan's most valuable companies, selling over 470 million hardware units and 2.7 billion software units to date. Their first products included the Color TV Game Machine, arcades such as Radar Scope and Donkey Kong, and FamilyCom (renamed Nintendo Entertainment System for the US version). The Nintendo Entertainment System was Nintendo's true catalyst into the gaming world and its popularity made it one of Nintendo's best selling products of all-time. Some of Nintendo's most popular software titles include their Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong, and Pokémon series of games. The company's current product line includes the Nintendo Wii and the Nintendo Gameboy DS.