Nintendo’s Greatest Hits
A 1889 playing-card company that saved video games, invented Mario and Pokémon, and keeps winning with weird ideas.
1889
Playing cards in Kyoto
Nintendo starts out making hanafuda playing cards in Kyoto, Japan. Video games come almost a century later.
1981
Jumpman
In the arcade game Donkey Kong, designer Shigeru Miyamoto creates a little guy called Jumpman. He’s renamed Mario soon after.
1983
The crash
The US video game market collapses, flooded with bad games. Atari’s infamous E.T. game ends up buried in a New Mexico landfill.
1985
The NES saves games
The Nintendo Entertainment System launches in the US with Super Mario Bros. and brings video games back from the dead.
1986–1989
Zelda and the Game Boy
The Legend of Zelda invents the open-ended adventure. The Game Boy (1989) puts games in everyone’s pocket, with Tetris in the box.
1996
Pokémon
Pokémon Red and Green come out in Japan. Pokémon goes on to become the highest-grossing media franchise ever.
2006
The Wii
Motion controls. Suddenly grandparents are playing Wii Sports bowling.
2017–2025
Switch and Switch 2
The Switch works on your TV and in your hands, and becomes one of the best-selling consoles ever. The Switch 2 follows in June 2025.
2023
Mario goes Hollywood
The Super Mario Bros. Movie makes about $1.36 billion worldwide.
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