Introduction

Whether you want to accept it or not, Nintendo is the greatest video game company ever. They completely revolutionized the video game world and invented some of the things we nowadays take for granted. Nintendo were the first to step away from the traditional joystick and begin using their invention, the control pad. Nintendo also introduced the D-Pad, the Analogue Stick, the rumble function (no it wasn’t Sony), the RF controller, and the light gun, although it isn’t much used by Nintendo and is used a lot more by arcade machines. So you see, the original and extremely innovative Nintendo invented almost everything about video games today. Nintendo started to work in the business they’re in now from scrap, and they ended up as the biggest multi-billion dollar video game company. They virtually started the video game industry so you can be sure they will be around for a long, long time. It’s no wonder that countless people use the word “Nintendo” to refer to video games, like we use “Kleenex” for tissue and “Xerox” for copy or paper.

July 21, 2012

The History of Nintendo 10


Gunpei Yokoi Turns In Resignation Form


People in Nintendo and around the world keep on blaming Gunpei Yokoi for the failure of the Virtual Boy, even after the success of the Game Boy Pocket. They said it was his fault, when in reality it was Nintendo’s for not advertising it properly and not releasing it at the right time. Who would release the Virtual Boy right before the popular Playstation? Well, it wasn’t even a week after the Game Boy Pocket hit the shelves when Gunpei Yokoi decided to leave Nintendo on August 15th, 1996 after over 30 years of working there. He went off and started his own company, Koto and made another handheld, the Wonderswan (this handheld did terribly against the Game Boy due to its lack of games).


Finally, anxious Europeans get the Nintendo 64 in 1997. Pokémon is released in that same year and helps boost sales of the Game Boy.


The Fall Of A Great One


One day, Gunpei was riding in a car in the passenger seat when the driver rear-ended a truck in front of them. They both stepped out of the car to examine the damage when a car sped by and ran them both over. They were both quickly sent to the nearest hospital. The driver was diagnosed with just some minor rib fractures, but Gunpei was in critical condition. He was pronounced dead two hours later. Gunpei Yokoi died on the 4th of October 1997 at the age of 57. The whole video gaming world grieved at the death of one of the most innovative minds ever.


Game Boy Color Released Along With Several Accessories


The Game Boy Color stunned the world when it was released in 1998. The Game Boy Camera and Printer accompanied it. The Pokémon games saw an American release this year. The revolutionary The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time was released this year and this was called the greatest game of all time and the game of the century and countless of other praises.


Pokémon Galore


In 1999, Nintendo took advantage of the Pokémon franchise by coming out with Pokémon Yellow, Pokémon Pinball, and Pokémon Snap, which was the first Pokémon game for the N64. This year the highly anticipated Donkey Kong 64 was released along with Mario Golf, Mario Party, and Super Smash Bros. At the 1999 E3, Nintendo announced a system that was under work that would use IBM Gekko processor and Matsushita DVD technology code-named Dolphin. This system ended up as the GameCube and was released in 2002.


The new millennium year saw the release of many good games, like The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, Pokémon Stadium, Pokémon Gold, and Pokémon Silver. Gold and Silver would go on to become the fastest selling game with a combined (they were almost identical) sales amount of 1.4 million in just one week. Also, Nintendo sold its 100 millionth Game Boy; by the end of the year 10 million more will have been sold.
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