Video gaming has evolved enormously over the years. A variety of advancements in technology has affected gaming and the experience for gamers. Nintendo has been involved in changing the nature of gaming over the years; from playing cards to household video game systems, to now having the convenience of playing your video games on portable handheld consoles. Nintendo has been a leader in driving the advancements of video game systems.
Before any electronic gaming was created, Nintendo had created playing cards. The very first being Hanafuda cards which were created in 1889 by Fusajro Yamauchi (Nintendo,
Nintendo History). These were flower cards and each card represented one month of the year
(Goldberg 57). The cards became very popular and many people used these to play matching games (Goldberg 57). In 1902, western-styled playing cards were manufactured by Fusajro
Yamauchi in Japan (Nintendo, Nintendo History). These were the classic cards that were numbered (with the exception of the ace, king, queen, and jack) and contained a heart, diamond, club or spade. These also became very popular, not only in Japan, but also all across the world.
Similar playing cards were created later with Disney characters featured on the back of each card
(Goldberg 58). To conclude, these were the first of Nintendo’s creations, and definitely significant to the creation of games.
Years later the era of electronic gaming started. Nintendo’s first household gaming console was the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) which launched in October 1985
(Goldberg 66). The system’s graphics were 8-bit and were deemed definitely marvelous at that time (Goldberg). The NES had interchangeable cartridges, and you could have up to 2 players. In
August 1991, Nintento launched their Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) (Nintendo,
Nintendo History). This upgraded system contained 16-bit graphics, and in 1993 Nintendo released a Super